PrinceFielderx1

Jim Breen from disciples of Uecker. I used to post with him on the jsonline site way back. Another blogger there is Nicholas Zettel, who I like even more who I also posted with way back on the jsonline site and who I still post with from time to time. Extremely smart nice guy who is correct more often than not. I like that rotation from Jim, btw. Thanks for referencing it.

I think that is a terrible idea. Do you guys remember how long it took Doug Melvin to pull the plug on Suppan when it was obvious he was done? We had to deal with a few months of that crap, and it wasn't a short stint. I think the Brewers have a legit shot to be contenders this season and the last thing I want is for an ineffective pitcher to be blocking Peralta for month(s).

Bombers, If there is a 1 game playoff at Great American ballpark I will be in attendance, and the Brewers will win. I live 2 hours away in Columbus, OH.

Record 94-68 Division: Division winners All Stars: Gallardo, Braun, Ramirez (Wily Peralta a close 4th) Disappointments: Narveson, Gomez Surprises: Segura, Schafer, Rogers, Olmsted World Series: Brewers over Blue Jays Brewers pitching will send shock waves throughout the NL starting this season and for years to come. They will shock the Reds right out of the playoffs.

Does Olmsted have to make the team out of spring training or he's a FA again?

Would anybody be in favor of signing Lohse to a deal 2 years guaranteed or less? Perhaps his asking price came down that much.

The Brewers were 2nd in the NL in 2008 with an ERA of 3.85. And that's the entire season. 4th with giving up 4.25 runs/game. 4th with a 1.335 WHIP. In 2011, they were actually only 7th but a 3.63 ERA and 6th in runs/game at 3.94 and 3rd in WHIP at 1.24. So yes, the 2 times that the Brewers have made the playoffs since 1982 has been with great pitching. The 2011 staff was better on the season compared to 2008 but so was the rest of the NL. And we don't make the playoffs in 2008 without CC pitching on 3 days rest. More often than not, you need good to great pitching just to make the playoffs. You can make that case for the 2011 Brewers and that's about it, because their rotation and bullpen were both good, but they didn't barely make the playoffs they clearly won the division and won 96 games to boot. In 2008, they had a rocky bullpen and that blew a ton of saves, which included players like Gagne, Turnbow, Riske, Taveras, Dillard etc.. There bullpen was a mess for a wile that season. They got lucky that Torres, Villanueva, Mota, Shouse stepped up big. I stand by my statement that should the Brewers have an average to above average rotation, and a stable "bullpen" to go along with that top offense that they will make the playoffs. They will win at least 90 games.

Thanks for mentioning this, because it made my game experience much better.

That isn't necessarily true. Look at the Brewers offenses when they had Braun, Fielder, Weeks, Hart, Hardy, etc. They were always near the top in offense but when they had average pitching, they didn't do much. The only times they made the playoffs was with great pitching (CC/Sheets, Greinke/Marcum/Yo). Great pitching will usually beat great hitting. You can't expect to win 7-6 every game. The focus should be on improving the pitching, even if that means the offense takes a little bit of a hit. When has the Brewers ever made the playoffs with "great" pitching? Maybe 1 time? Sheets/Sabathia is 2 pitchers out of 5, and Sabathia was acquired at mid-season. 5 is a starting pitching staff. Also, when I say pitching I mean bullpen included, which includes the entire pitching staff. With an average Starting pitching staff and a stable bullpen the Brewers in my opinion are a lock for the playoffs in 2013.

What "some" fans don't understand and some sports analysts as well, is that the Brewers just need a average to a little bit above average pitching staff in 2013 to be in serious playoff contention, because they are going to have one of the top if not the top offense in the NL and MLB. Peralta doesn't necessarily need to be a number 2 or ace for that to happen.

There were many Boston fans that were upset that they (Boston) didn't add him to their 40 man roster and prevent him from being a FA. They knew they were letting go a good high potential reliever. The guy doesn't have any control issues, can hit 97 MPH 95-96 regularly, throws at a 3 quarter angle which is very deceptive, and is a beast on the mound. Boston let go of a good player to make room for a good player, which was likely very hard for them to do. Good for us, though, because we got him.

Is that a fair to Olmsted who clearly doesn't have Axford and Turnbow's history of control problems? Not at all.

Michael Olmsted is back in the news in a positive way for the "Brewers." http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/192100851.html

I believe that Narveson without question has a leg up, because he's the only lefty.

This is correct. I get the sports pack (direct tv) and I'm located in Ohio (Reds, Indians), and this allows me to see some additional Reds and Pirates games.

Rogers is out of options so he has to make the team, right? If that's the case, since he only pitched 135 IP last season (which is way behind Fiers and Peralta), I'd just assume he's a lock for the bullpen. The Brewers in my opinion will eventually make him a starter, but not at the start of the season. Which makes the rotation, Gallardo Estrada Peralta Fiers Narveson

I don't see this happening at all. If anybody is going to the pen it's Rogers.

Trust me Trwi7 when a batter knows that Gallardo's curveball is coming 7/10 times the batter can square up on it and it's going to go far. I know a good curveball when I see one. Gallardo's curveball is 3rd best behind Sheets and Fiers for starting pitchers. A curveball isn't a great curveball, because of how hard it's thrown. Ben Sheets/Gallardo have more of a power curveball. It's a great pitch when it has a huge break to it, changes they eye angle (12/6), and when a hitter doesn't know it's coming, and it can be thrown for a strike from time to time. I have seen Fiers make some of the best hitters in the NL look like 8th graders in high school ball trying to hit a curveball even when he hanged a couple of them. I know that some of those mlb batters even knew the curveball was coming and the only contact they made was while they were on their knees and the ball didn't go up, but rather was hit so poorly that it bounced on home plate and rolled 2-3 feet and that was that. I have seen batters look really off balance (seem drunk) when trying to make contact with a Fiers curveball. I stick by my statement 100%, and I'm also aware that he has other great pitches which is why he could be a 1-2 in the future.

You must have just started watching baseball. Care to elaborate? That is a snide comment if I've ever heard one. If you trust Keith Law and believe that he knows what he is talking about when it comes to the Brewers system as a whole, then you must be new to the game. That's me being nice, btw.. I haven't see that many batters fail to make solid contact on a cuveball like that since Been Sheets. There have been other Brewers starting pitchers with good cerveballs, but none this good. I'm sorry you're not able to see it.

Monty, I've really learned really not to put much stock in the prospect rankings; especially the top 100. It changes way too often to really mean anything. Heading into the season the top 100 could mean one thing, and then by mid-season could mean something completely different. It's very fluid in my opinion. The top 20-25 prospects, however, most of the time stay consistent for the whole season. In regards to Peralta being the only one ranked in the top 100 in the Brewers system, I think whoever does that hasn't really paid much attention to the Brewers system much including the major league team, but not just that, it's really hard to project the level of major league success. Peralta - This kid is in my opinion going to be special. He's could be one of those true aces in baseball. Better than Gallardo. Gallardo isn't a true ace in my book at least not yet. He's going to be an innings eater and a pitcher who can hit 98 mph for the whole game when he needs too. He reminds me a lot of CC Sabathia in terms of durability and velocity. Big guy. Fiers - in my head I just know he's going to be at least a mid-rotation starting pitcher and possibly as good as a number 1-2. Why? His mechanics are super good and consistent, which explains his excellent control. He has a excellent curveball, which is probably one of the best curveballs from a Brewers starting pitcher I have seen since Ben Sheets, and one of the best in the Majors. My philosophy when it comes to projecting pitchers success is that if you have good location on your fastball, curveball, change-up you are going to have lot's major league success no matter how hard you throw, because you are going to be very deceiving with that arm slot. I believe he throws all of those pitches from the same overhead arm slot, fyi, which is so hard for a batter to pick up and to know what's coming. The sky is the limit with him. He needs to be in the top 100 and possibly closer to top 50. He can handle pressure very well and that's hard to put a price on. Rogers - It's nearly impossible to put this guy in the top 100, because he's been injured way to often to know what he's really capable of. Also, I believe he's had more success in the Majors, then he has in the minors, which is kind of backwards. He just seems like better pitcher when he's with the Brewers ball club, and we will find that out when he pitches more innings this year in the majors. We all know he has wicked stuff. Give this guy lot's of playing time and let him off his leash in Milwaukee and should he prove to be durable, and get ahead of batters, he could be a 1-2 starting pitcher, as well. 52 SO in 49IP in the majors says to me he can do that. btw.. If he would have been more healthy over his minor league career I'd bet he would have cracked the top 50 prospect lists, but that's just my opinion/speculation. Estrada - is very aggressive in the strike zone and has the velocity and stuff to be able to do that and be effective. He's a good 3-4 Starting pitcher. Bottom line: I don't care at all about under rating the Brewers prospects. As long as they get to the Majors and have some sort of success I'm satisfied. Scouts have such a hard job if you really think about it. These sports writers who make these projections or top 50-100 prospect lists have a nearly impossible job, and it's really unnecessary if you think about it. They just do it to gather interest in them and their opinions.

You know this is easy to look up. From 2010. From 2011 And he had him ranked the 39th best prospect in baseball in the beginning of 2012. You guys who think Law is just being biased against the Brewers are ridiculous, what he's saying is spot on. There are a lot of mid to back of the rotation starters and maybe a couple of starters on the position player side but there is no monster upside potential superstar like a Braun or a Trout in the system. He better have made that projection. It was the obvious one.

Insurance. Insurance I believe covers "some" of what is owed, but not all of it. Perhaps very little when compared to 25 million.

Turbo, You can say that every player that signs a deal prior to FA could have gotten more and is a discount, but the fact is it's market rate for someone in his position. He's now the highest paid pitcher in the MLB.

He's going to be dead wrong as soon as the end of this season. The Brewers farm system is going to have at least a couple of player explode. I wouldn't be surprised if we have 2-3 top 100 prospects by seasons end. He probably said Peralta is a back end rotation starter back in the day, and he's likely going to be wrong about that as well. He's going to in shock about our MLB starting rotation about how wrong he was.

It makes him the highest paid pitcher, right? No way this is a discount. You pay these players the money and they will stay.