HiAndTight

I really see no reason why he couldn't come up and perform like Wacha did last year for the Cardinals. Wacha pitched 85 innings in the minors, 90 in the big leagues...he was apparently up and down and the Cards did use him as a reliever, and then he threw 30.2 IP in the playoffs. Of course Wacha had only thrown 20 professional innings before last season and was only 22 years old.

That would certainly limit his innings count, but he'd have be used extremely conservatively. If they did this, I wouldn't want him used as a traditional late inning reliever. I wouldn't want him to get up 2-3 days in a row, maybe not come into a game, just do something that his arm isn't used to doing and then have him go back to starting. I'd rather just shut him down for a couple weeks, give him 2 starts, 5 inning starts, bring him up July 22nd. Either way, you have to do something to limit how many innings he's throwing right now. As it stands right now he's heading towards 200+ IP if he's a reliable part of the big league rotation down the stretch.

Lets call up Jeffress before we give up a good prospect for a 36 year old who costs 7 million per year. I think he's starting to get to the point that he's a viable SU option. Last 10 outings, he's walked just 2 while striking out 13 and has 9 scoreless apperances. For the year in AAA he's got 40 Ks to 15 BB's. Not sure what we're waiting for. I realize the 40 man thing is an issue, I would think there would be a couple of options to transfer to the 60 day DL at the very least.

The national TV deal is enough to keep us competitive as long as we have guys like Arcia, Coulter, Taylor and ESPECIALLY Nelson coming up (the revenue sharing from big market deals like the Dodgers/Angels and others is actually more beneficial to the small market teams.) But this idea that since we drafted 4 talented young players, not one of which I would put a single dollar on developing into an All Star or 4 WAR type player at this point given they've proven absolutely nothing at this point, that we can afford to give away a young defensive stud at SS who's starting to hit and is very young for his level, a big power bat who is also developing as a catcher, an elite defensive CF'er, and worst of all, a guy who MIGHT well end up being our best pitcher in a year or two is just baffling to me. And we're going to be paying Price 20+ million dollars when he's in his mid to late 30's? Have the countless contracts that have blown up with pitchers said anything to you? CC Sabathia, Johan Santana, two guys who were better than Price who signed shorter deals that were awful in the last two years(luckily they were signed by New York teams who could absorb such hits). And by the way, those three players(it's actually 4) are NOT blocked for the next 3 years. Nelson will likely be starting for the Brewers in a month and I think it's reasonable that the difference between Price and Nelson will be more than made up by the salary difference over the next 6 years. Arcia is a wizzard with the glove and could easily see big league action next season either due to injury or due to ineffectiveness. Coulter is blocked if he stays at catcher, but if he moves to 3rd, who knows how fast he'll move and Taylor should start the year in AA next year. And if you start the season in AA, you can get called up at any time. Make a move like this, and in a couple years you're going to be a 65 win team with some massive contracts. We've finally got some valuable assets, assets we desperately need as we can't afford to fill multiple positions by giving guys like Ramirez 16 million a year. And if those 4 players we acquired this year are successful, you're going to want to trade all 4 of them in a years time for....whoever the top pitcher on the market is. The thing is....if we keep these current prospects and the next 4 develop, and we get our farm system built back up....we might actually be able to make one of those CC type moves in the future. But that comes from having patience and developing young players. Not selling them the second they start to ascend and have any value.

I'm not sure what projections you're using, but the couple I've heard I disagree with pretty strongly. You stated about 3 weeks ago Estrada projected better than Nelson this year in the big leagues, and now Zarraga is a 1.8 catcher? Then there is also the fact that the Rockies have a 25 year old catcher who's put up big numbers the last two seasons .282/.314/.507 with a OPS of .820 and hit 28 and 21 HR's at ages 23 and 24. Given that the Rockies aren't competitive this year, I'm guessing they'd rather stick with the guy with big upside over the guy the same age who's minor league numbers are worse than Rosario's MAJOR league numbers (career .792 OPS for the 25 year old Rosario, .767 career minor league OPS for the 25 year old Zarraga who's played 4 games above AA ). Don't get me wrong, I like Zarraga, and he might be finally realizing his potential, but he's yet to play more than 74 games in a single season, and when you're talking about how bad another team is at a certain position, yet you're suggesting that a guy who's minor league numbers are worse than their current starters major league numbers, I think you're overvaluing him. The Rockies have their catcher of the future and they'll give him more than 60 games in which he hasn't even been that bad to right the ship. They need pitchers who can get ground balls. I think aside from the obvious young arms like Peralta and Nelson, Jungman is a better fit in Colorado than Zarraga.

I'm not even going to bother to argue that Coulter has the ability to stay behind the plate right now, but I am really curious as to why people(some people) seem to think it's either Catcher, or 1st base for him? He's not some big plodding catcher who's defense is questionable. He's a very good athlete who's catching is not refined(and may never be enough to stay behind the plate, but not for lack of athletic ability. And his bat would be just fine at 1st base.

The only comment I've heard on Henderson's progress is that his velocity was still poor in his first appearance in Arizona. If that's the case, then he's no closer than he was on opening day. If he starts throwing 96-97 again and Thornburg comes back healthy, then we probably don't need to worry about the BP. We also have Jeffress throwing darts down in AAA and not walking anyone. Morneau at 1st base would be ideal. It would be even better because he's a left handed bat and you could just plug him into the #5 spot and have one helluva offense. Gomez/Braun/Luc/Aram/Monreau/Davis/Gennett/Segura since RR seems to want Gomez back in the leadoff spot. But beyond him, Loney would be a great fit. Not the power, but we don't need power as much as a good consistent hitter, also a lefty. Beyond that, Martin Prado would be the best fit. He can fill in any OF spot, he could play anywhere in the IF save for short, and he could be a major contributor the next couple of years. The D-backs would have to send at least 6-7 million back if they want a good prospect though. I believe he's owed 22 million from '15-16.

Aside from what Trwi said that you don't know what market value is until you're actually ON the FA market, how is this logic working out for the Tigers who offered Sherzer a 6 year 144 million dollar deal that he turned down? If you're that worried about the Cubs not being able to put together a winner, they can go out and sign Max Sherzer, David Price, and trade for a Jimmy Nelson type pitcher(at least) and still put a team on the field that would have a payroll around 100 million dollars(meaning they likely could spend more if they had any desire to do so) and in addition to Rizzo and Castro put 7 other top 70 prospects on the field. I would MUCH rather a team build this way than go half way. What's the difference between winning 75-80 games and winning 70 games from a fans perspective? They weren't going to compete this year, so Hammel doesn't hurt them. They weren't going to compete next year, so Samardzjia doesn't hurt them. The only thing going your suggested route does(ie, trading FOR David Price now) is take Addison Russel and the rest of the haul they got from the A's out of the equation, and probably two top 25 prospects out of the equation for when the Cubs ARE actually ready to contend. Herb Kohl annoyed me for years by trying to pacify fans by being "good enough," to keep fans mildly interested until the bottom totally fell out. Cubs fans have been dealing with this for years. So what the hell, if you're not a playoff team and you know you're not, save your money, turn the assets you have who won't be there when you're ready to contend into assets who will be, and pile up the top draft picks. And do it with a payroll of 90 million dollars as opposed to 150 million(they're probably only paying players ON the team 60 million or so..I haven't bothered to look). In addition to that whole sick list of elite prospects the Cubs have(and they could easily have 10-12 top 100, and 6 top 30 next year) they could also next the top overall pick and add an elite young pitcher. As much as I hope PrinceFielderx1 is right with his Brewers optimism and Cubs pessimism, I think the Cubs and Cards are built to dominate this division in that not too distant future. Sure, things can go wrong with prospects. Can't miss guys can miss, guys can under perform. But when you accumulate THIS much talent, you're likely to hit on several of them. And they're getting out of debt and they'll be able to spend.

It's certainly encouraging to see him putting up such video game like numbers even if he's only doing what he's supposed to do. He also was the leading hitter on IU's team with Schwarber hitting .378(though Schwarber hit for more power). The thing I'm most intrigued about right now as far as this farm system is to see what type of jump they make as a group in the rankings next year. Gone from the list will likely be Nelson and Nelson alone while guys like Arcia and Coulter (and hopefully Devin Williams) may have played their way into top 100 rankings, Lopez could be a top 150 type guy and the incoming 4 young guns are highly regarded. I thought this system was underrated coming into the year, but just about everything has gone well. Most guys have moved up and at least maintained their status while several others have improved their value. I'm actually really interested to see where Arcia and Coulter end up. Questions about Coulter's Defense will hold him back and propel Arcia, but both are so young and performing very well.

Sounds great, but I'm not going to get too excited until I hear his velocity is up. Roenicke didn't sound to enthusiastic for that very reason after his first outing. But it's a lot better than him not pitching obviously. Still hoping we get him and Thornburg back as we're going to need those arms with Smith.

If this is the case, then why are you adding up the 30 days he's got between last year and this year(29 last year and 1 this year) to how many games the Brewers have remaining this year to come up with the August 5th date? Based on your explanation, the 86 days would be relevant next year as that would be the year immediately preceding his potential super 2 status. I'm not arguing with you or disagreeing with you, I'm just having trouble reconciling the date we would be eligible to call him up safely and avoid super 2 status with the 86 days you're referencing. I don't read that as meaning you have to add up his time from last year and this year and stay under the 86. As best as I can understand it, if we called him up immediately following the ASG, we'd be safe from super 2 status. And you could even hold off a bit longer and call him up on the 22nd vs Cincy(as opposed to the 18th as we wouldn't need him to start until the 5th game after the break).

I don't follow what you mean by, "he might have to move to 1B AT BEST?" There is no world in which that is a "best case," scenario for Coulter. He's not just a big plodding guy. He's an plus athlete. He would almost certainly move to 3rd, RF or LF before 1st base unless it was based on an organizational need. Keep in mind these scouting reports you're citing are rating a kid off of how he performed at age 19 coming out of HS. The same ones that said Lucroy's defense may hold him back and at best he would be a backup catcher. I believe BA Callis said Weeks was a 40/40 type player. Sickels(IIRC) said Lawrie's upside was that of Rogers Hornsby. And Coulter is "crushing," the ball, especially for a 20 year old kid(who by the way, has played 118 games at C and 32 at DH). I don't know what you expect out of the kid, but he's doing pretty damn well. He's performing similarly at A ball to what Fielder did. Even if the kid does have to move out from behind the plate, and by the way, it seems as though it's a prerequisite to throw in something when writing up a scouting report about how whatever prospect that is being discussed MIGHT have to move off his position at increasingly and ridiculously young ages. But even if he does, his bat should play just about anywhere. As for Lara, I just believe ranking him ahead of Coulter is akin to ranking Rolando Pascual ahead of Gallardo in 2006, or just as they did a couple of years ago, ranking Jungman and Bradley ahead of Peralta. Ranking high profile signings/draft picks ahead of other players who were highly touted, but have actually produced. Prospect rankings are interesting, but as many scouts will even admit, they're ranking guys based on what someone else has said about a player or from one game. This is how Mark Rogers was ranked 44th in 2005 despite walking 6.6 per 9 and posting a ERA of 5.00 in A ball at 20 years of age. I'll admit to be bullish on Coulter as I've seen him play for a few years not( prior to being drafted a couple times and several times in Appleton). So I think as splashy as the signing of Lara is, and I do love that signing(along with the top 3 picks) I just don't agree with placing them above a former 1st rounder who's performed very well. I'll be surprised if Coulter isn't a top 100 prospect after this season, but I guess we shall see.

There's your problem. Didn't he do the world a favor and retire last year? http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/COL/COL201406250.shtml Actually the problem is that you only gave BBref about 10 minutes to update the player stats.

I don't see either the Reds or Pirates as that big of threats. Pirates rotation isn't nearly what it was last year, and even with Polanco, who has all of 3 extra base hits in 80 ABs, their lineup doesn't compare with the Brewers. As for Reds, does anyone really believe 33 year old mostly career minor leaguer/middle reliever like Alfredo Simon can repeat his first half? Reds will certainly be in the wild card mix, with that awesome back end of the bullpen of Broxton and Chapman, but if the Brewers stay healthy, I don't see the Reds making up 7 games. The pirates problem is they arent coming through in clutch hitting, RISP w/ 2 outs they're hitting .217/.350/.650. their pitching has actually been rather good this year considering they lost AJ Burnett, Wandy was DFA'd, Liriano and Cole have been on the DL and they've been operating with AAAA arms for the last month in Cumpton/Pimentel with a little Vanimal action thrown in there to boot. I dont think many thought Volquez would still be on the team at this point, either, but thanks to MLB injuries and TJ surgery to Tallion, he's still getting the ball every 5th day. The pitching has kept them in games, their bats have just let them down. they're 19-15 in one run games They rank 22nd in starters ERA and 14th with RISP w/2 outs.

I would rank them: 1) Nelson 2) Medeiros 3) Gatewood 4) Harrison 5) Arcia 6) Lara 7) Taylor 8) Coulter Wow...this is just each person's opinion based on limited information(unless there is someone who somehow gets to watch all of these guys play) but I just do NOT get the Coulter ranking. I personally think he's closer to Nelson than he is to anyone not named Arcia. 6'3 220, big time power, great plate discipline, incredibly talented pure athlete, huge arm. He's struggled a bit the last month or so, but you're still talking about a 20 year old kid with a .400 OBP, .500 SLG and someone who could be an elite defensive catcher. He's either going to be a really good catcher IMO or he's not going to stick there. My reason for that is he can catch and throw really well. Using the scouting scale I'd rate his throwing arm at about a 65. Maybe a 70. He's really agile. His problem right now is just getting down and blocking balls from time to time. Last year he had a problem with his hands. He didn't have very soft hands when receiving the ball. That seems to have improved a great deal. So the one area he really struggles is the easiest area for a catcher to improve. It's just muscle memory and repetition. And he's extremely dedicated to sticking behind the plate. As a former 1st rounder who's played pretty damn well thus far, I can't drop him behind 3 18 year old rookies who haven't played yet, and a 16 year old kid. I see the argument for Arcia, but just as a cold spell with Coulter isn't going to make me drop him, Arcia's hot spell hasn't bumped him above Coulter or Nelson yet for me (though it's incredibly encouraging to see him raking with his already impressive defensive ability). 1-Nelson 1a-Coulter-Obviously I'm a big fan. 3-Arcia 4-Taylor- Obviously a toolsy player 5-Devin Williams- Projectable 19 year old with over a K per IP and his BB's are down this year a big. 3 good starts. 6-Jorge Lopez-Really looks like he's turned the corner. 7-Harrison-Just gets the early nod for his BB ratio, albeit a small sample size, but was supposed to be extremely raw. 8-Kodi Medeiros- Hoping there is something to the Sale comp and his slider is as dominant as advertised. 9-Lara-Obviously as unproven as you can get, but arguably the top international FA should land in the top 10 10-Gatewood 11-Taylor Williams- I've seen him a few times. Looks like he could be really effective late inning reliever 12-Demuth- Was arguably the best hitter at Indiana, yet fell to us in the 4th round while the Cubs took his teammate 4th. 13-Haniger- Still a big fan, but was hoping for more of a breakout year. Though he's been pretty solid. 14-Yadiel Rivera- Very good defender. Hope the bat comes around. I think he could add some power with his frame. Could be a ideal utility guy in the near future and possibly even part of a loose platoon with Gennett. His splits vs lefties (317.338/.508) are encouraging as they were in 2012. 15-Hellweg- Yeah, he's had TJ, but during recovery pitchers often place more of an emphasis on repeating their delivery which hopefully improves his control. Hard to give up on a 6'9 pitcher who throws in the upper 90's. 16-Bradley- Has come along pretty slowly, but lefties often do. Control was outstanding in BC, but has been awful in AA. 17-Jungman- Hasn't really shown signs of the guy who could hit the upper 90's and was the most or one of the most advanced pitchers out of Texas, but gets GB's and should be nice long reliever, back end type guy. 18-Victor Roache-HUGE power, but looks as though he's lost at the plate right now. Still too much talent to give up on yet. 19-Tyler Cravy- Hard to ignore his performance since he moved back into the rotation despite average stuff. 20-Tucker Delmanico-Neither Newhaus or Delmonico have shown much this year, but both 3rd basemen have the tools to perform much better. I'm sure this will differ greatly from others, but it's how I like them. I DO believe the Brewers farm system is going to see the biggest jump in rankings from different sites this off-season, even sans Nelson. A LOT of really impressive young talent with a lot of high ceilings. I think there are several guys in this system with the potential to be well above average regulars, a couple with the upside to be an all star caliber player like Coulter, Arcia, the trio of position players drafted/signed this year, as well as several pitchers who are really breaking out this year who could be top 100-150 prospects like Lopez, Williams, Mereiros. But the strength of our system right now might be having a lot of those guys who can fill roles. Good 4-5 starters like Bradley, Jungman, Cravy, utility players like Rivera, a number of hard throwing relievers. The types of players we had to go out and trade for when we made our runs in 2008 and '11. And the only guy I see graduating from this list is Nelson next year. By the way, I have no idea where to place Diaz at the moment. One publication had him as a top 100 prospect going INTO this season. That may be a huge omission on my part, and then I don't know what to do with Demuth. I know he should be hitting in rookie ball, but he's been dominant.

It reads to me that he would have to fit both criteria. Have 86 days of service during the immediately preceding season AND rank in the top 22%. Or is that worded incorrectly or am I understanding that incorrectly? You're adding up the two numbers to come up with the August 5th date. So is it supposed to mean seasons as in plural. 86 service days in the preceding seasons? I agree with Trwi, at some point, you're no longer getting better. Nelson is at that point. He doesn't have anything left to do in AAA. Plus, he's eating up innings down there. Which is great...unless you get into a situation where he is one of their best pitchers down the stretch, but you have to make the choice to either limit his innings or push him and extend him and risk injury by having him throw 195-200 innings if we make the playoffs. And, this may not be an immediate concern, but a power pitcher is almost EVERY case is going to wear down and have at least one major injury. Maybe Nelson won't. But when you combine the unquestionable fact that he is ready with the probability that he will eventually suffer an injury, doesn't it just make more sense to get him up here as quickly as possible? Granted, that shouldn't be THEE reason and we should wait until we're clear of super2 status, but it's not like there aren't downsides to him going 7 strong every time out in Nashville. Even if he can do it on 85 pitches.

I think they keep Kintzler up. I get the feeling that they believe they need him to return to 2013 form in order to fortify their bullpen. Unfortunately he's been struggling as of late. Well, the last two outings. I thought he had a nice stretch in there where he was locating better and had added some zip to his fastball. But Jeffress really does need to be brought up. From what I've heard his curve has improved, his command LOOKS as though it's improved a great deal from his lines, and 98 MPH is hard to hit even if his command isn't great. Maybe we luck out and he comes up and pitches great, maybe he walks too many and struggles. But isn't now the time to figure that out? I'd hate to see Tyrone Taylor or Arcia going somewhere in a trade before we at least try a couple different things. Jeffress/Duke/Gorz in the 7th, Smith and then hopefully Henderson/Thornburg in the 8th and K-Rod in the 9th. And Kintzler coming in the 6th if a starter gets into trouble to try and get ground balls if he can get the ship back on course. I know Estrada is likely to figure in there somewhere after Nelson's inevitable callup(hopefully inevitable) but I don't think he's a good fit in the pen. I think he's just about done as an effective big league pitcher.

I agree. There is no crystal ball. They took what most appear to believe were three very talented players with very high ceilings in the draft and went over slot to sign them, and then went out and got arguably the most talented Latin American player on the market. If these guys top out at BC or Huntsville, it won't change my opinion that they had the right mindset. Great to see him signed after all the hand wringing over how the Yankees were going to swoop in and take him away from us.

Exactly. I agree with you here. Far too often we say someone is more likely to move based on A-probability as most often the best players when you're 14,15,16 play SS, and B-With SO little information available on him, to have a strong opinion on how he projects as a major leaguer at this point is just kinda silly. But when I initially asked the question responding to the comment, "it LOOKS to me like he'll end up at 3rd base," I was asking if that poster had even seen him play other than the 30 second highlight clips they show you. I've read for he's fluid, has good hands and a very strong arm. And he's 16. So it sounds like as much as anything, some are just guessing that he's going to get bigger and as such, when he's 24, he won't be able to play SS. That's kinda intellectually lazy to me. It's perfectly fine to say, he plays SS now, he MIGHT not stick there. Exactly Logan. We're talking about guys who are more than likely never going to be regular big league starters. Don't get me wrong, all three have a ton of talent and that's why the last two were drafted/signed in Gatewood and Lara. But at 16 and 18, what percent of the time do they develop into such good players(both of them along with Arcia mind you) that the Brewers are ALREADY counting on moving him because he's "blocked." It's a lifetime from now until when either would most likely be ready for the big leagues even if everything goes well. Arcia is looking very good, but he may end up being a really good utility IF'er. Point is, when you have a guy who is athletic, and reportedly has good hands, and a really good bat, throw him out there at SS. If we're lucky enough to see Gatewood and his massive power develop, Arcia and his great glove continue to impress defensively and Lara come through and hit his ceiling, well how hard is it for a SS to move in AA from SS to 3rd or 2nd or the OF? Give me a team of big, physical, power hitters who have played SS, have good hands and good athletic ability, and I feel pretty confident you can move them later on if the need arises and they'll adjust just fine. And you make a great point with Lucroy. There were a lot of questions about his defense and that was coming out of college. Let these kids play for at least a LITTLE while at the premium positions before we declare him unable to play there long term. And notice, I'm not even suggesting he can play there. I've only seen short video's as opposed to Coulter whom I've seen on several occasions and clearly has the potential and ability to stick behind the plate. There was also an ACTUAL consensus that Segura couldn't hack it at SS by BA and other outlets(in large part because of his size and build) and he certainly has proven that wrong.

I really doubt the Brewers are going to impose any type of limit on a guy like Estrada. At least not for health concerns. I don't think teams are all that concerned with 31 year old journeymen type pitchers.

Actually the way I see it STL by the time a trade for Price will be made will be fighting for a WC spot and will be more that 8-9 games out of 1st. Just look at the 7 games they play prior to ALL start break. PIT has proven they can beat up on the Cards, and so have we. Due to this I see the Cards looking more future this year than anything. They have to keep their farm system if they expect to be able to compete with us and the reds and Pitt in the many years ahead. I would trade Nelson and the farm for Price. Look at it this way, we will have Hellweg still next season, and we just had a terrific draft that could make our farm way better than it is currently, all the positions in the line-up are filled for the long term with young players except 1B. I'd trade the entire farm for price, and I would trade Estrada and Kintzler for a good 1B man. Have fires as the back up SP in Nashville and call up Jeffress, healthy Thornburg to the pen, then the Brewers would have just upgraded the Rotation with a true Ace, and the bullpen big time, and we can start thinking WS. That is if you haven't already. Go all in for Price. We're 3-3 vs St Louis and we won two of those games in 11 and 12 innings. I don't think we've "proven," anything yet when it comes to them. And we haven't faced Wainwright yet. So I think we're a ways away from declaring we've proven anything regarding the defending NL Champs. As for trading Nelson, I don't want to under almost any reasonable circumstance for a player that's not going to be here long term. And certainly not with the thought that having Johnny Hellweg coming back next year fills up a starters spot. Hellweg had almost a walk per inning in his brief time in the big leagues and it's pretty ugly in the minors as well. He's a guy you HOPE figures it out. If he becomes the type of guy we start counting on to figure it out we're going to be in trouble. What's more, the players we drafted this year added with the probable signing of Lara should NOT be taken into account. The chances we get one All-Star caliber season out of them aren't great. Much less using them to "rebuild our farm system." If you REALLY want the statement you made to be true, how St Louis needs to keep their farm system in tact in order to be able to compete with us in the future, we can't empty out our system now just as it's getting back on it's feet. Arcia, Coulter, Taylor, Williams and especially Nelson are keys to US being able to keep up and compete with STL, Cincy, Pitt and Chicago long term, all of whom could potentially be really good teams in the next 5 years. I don't want to trade would could be a VERY good farm system at this time next year(or at least the core players in it) for the hope that David Price is going to get us into the playoffs. All it takes is one injury, one serious injury to a key position player(Aram, Braun, Segura, Gomez, Davis, Luc) and we're going to struggle. Just keep building the way we are and then maybe we'll find ourselves in the Cardinals position of being a contender EVERY year. The Cards go to the playoffs every year and once in a while they're hot going in, and make a run like they did last year. But they sure don't count on pitchers with Johnny Hellweg's credentials to do it. They count on pitchers like Jimmy Nelson to develop, Devin Williams, Jorge Lopez, etc...etc..they count on players like Arcia, Coulter, Taylor to develop. So yeah, I don't like the "go all in," idea this year. I like the Brewers team this year, but I don't want to keep sitting through sub .500 seasons to have a playoff season every now and then. I think most would prefer we remain competitive year in and year out, and guys like Jimmy Nelson and the 1.5 he'll cost his first 3 years help us do that. They allow us to sign guys like Ramirez. This year is a really nice surprise season, but paying the money to guys like Lohse, Ramirez, Weeks..at their ages and health histories could have really led to an ugly year had we had health issues or our younger guys not performing. We can't afford to have so little margin for error(look at the injuries the Cards have dealt with this year and they're still contending).

Especially since Cincy is getting hot. The Brewers are not set up well for a one game winner take all type playoff game. Who would you even start? Lohse I guess?

1-1 @ TOR 1-2 @ CIN 2-2 vs PHI 1-2 vs STL 1-2 @ WAS 1-2 vs CIN 3-1 vs NYM 2-1 @ TB 12-13

I do. I think Kidd would be awful running this team. I really don't know how good of a GM John Hammond is. He's been great at drafting, terrible at signing FA's and making trades, BUT it's my suspicion that the trades and signings have been at the behest of Kohl and his deluded desire to try and make this team competitive with second tier players. And Drew? C'mon...he had a snow balls chance in hell of doing anything last year with the poor talent and then the injuries on top of that. He was successful in Atlanta. More than any of that though, I just think Kidd is terrible. Just really, really awful. I think the Nets would have been better off making KG or Pierce the head coach last year. That Nets team was extremely talented. Yeah, they had some older players, but they also had guys like Deron Williams, Johnson, Teletovic, Blatche to go with KG and Pierce. He just strikes me as an Isaiah Thomas type of GM. Terrible off the cuff deals that handcuff the team while trading away valuable young assets in an attempt to win immediately.

Kiley McDaniel: MLB.com: Baseball America: Baseball America a few weeks later: Baseball America yet again: That thing you quoted, from a Toronto Blue Jays fan blog: So basically, we have Baseball America sourcing scouts saying he can't play shortstop, Kiley McDaniel not even providing it as an option, MLB.com hazy at best about the prospect, and some Blue Jays blog saying he looks like Curtis Granderson on the infield, but he's certainly no either. You are, of course, free to draw your own conclusions, but to me Baseball America and Kiley McDaniel hold more water than the grammar-impaired Breaking Blue. It actually says;Defensively Lara shows good range and fluidity and enough arm strength for the left side of the diamond. If I had to bet I would say he has a better chance of staying at short than his countryman Garcia, but he’s no certainty either. How exactly is there a problem with the grammar there? You realize you changed not only the order of the words, but the actual word when you quoted it at the bottom. "he's not certainty either." As in, he's not certainty to stay at SS either. He has the hands and fluid body, but it's no certainty. Which is my entire point. It has nothing to do with me taking one blog and you taking Baseball America saying it several times, and then McDaniel or who "holds more water," it's the absurdity of stating that a 15 or 16 year old kid won't be able to stay at a certain position. I just find it kinda asinine. It's one thing if they're talking about Jimmy Nelson being a reliever as BA as has done. He was at least in his 20's and had two really good pitches before rounding out his arsenal a bit. And by the way, ONE site(Baseball America) saying he'll move, one(MLB.com) saying he could stay, he could move) and a third writer getting his current position wrong(as I don't think there is any question he IS currently a SS) does not make a consensus. I imagine the "consensus," would have been that Ripken and Tulo would have been future 3rd basemen or RF'ers when they were 16 years old as well. They would have been wrong. They also very likely would have said that Carlos Gomez would move off of SS. They obviously would have been correct. But why is there any need to guess right now? He's 6 years away right now, and even these reports you cite, don't give any reasons as to why he'll move off of short. So it sounds like it's a "just because," situation. But as you said, I am free to draw my own conclusions. And my conclusion is that we make these determinations on where players can play, that they'll out grow a position, that they'll have to move, WAY too early and that at some point we're just flat out guessing. And in that event, BA is smart, but it's far more likely that a 16 year old will end up at another position.