HiAndTight

Yeah, to get Headly, I think you're going to have to bite the bullet and give up a couple pieces that match in SD. Kyle Heckathron jumps to the top of the list of pitchers that could thrive in Petco. Hecakthorn+Gennet+perhaps someone like Farris. That with the contract of Bartlett could be enough to pry the two away. At that point, I do think we'd be just about set.

Bruce Levine just said that there is no vesting option, simply that he gets a 1 million dollar "relocation" bonus.

I would trade Hart just because I don't really trust him, and I think he's got a nice enough contract that you could get something back for him. I'd like to make our lineup a lot more balanced. Morgan Swisher SH Braun Gamel * Weeks Green* Lucroy SS(Furcal,Carroll...) Not !%!!#% in the lineup and while we don't have anyone replacing Prince, Swisher over Hart, Green over McGehee, SS over Beteancourt and then Gamel would make up that gap IMO. And our pitchers would thank us.

And when was the last time he was healthy? Most of this year...... Either way, what are you saying? He doesn't have to have a health history of Nolan Ryan in order to be valuable. And he's a complete waste to us. He doesn't have a great injury history, so there is some risk, and we'd have to give up a lot to get him. And for what? To upgrade our #5 spot? Maybe our #4 marginally?

The worst is when they take some of the dumbest comments and post them in the paper. The one about how the trade for K-rod was a terrible trade because Melvin just invested 20+ million into a closer...and he's ruining our future by giving up our prospects was particularly humorous.

You wouldn't make a successful starter with a 3.00 ERA and 8.5 K's per 9 a loogy. I don't think it'd make sense to make Narveson a loogy, but certainly not Bedard.

Bartlett's been better both in the field and at the plate. Bartlett's got a WAR of .3 whereas Betancourt is -.7. He also has better defensive ratings according to fangraphs, and he's hitting about .240/.305. I'll take that, even with very little power any day over Betancourt.

I agree that Braddock is too much to give up for Furcal. I just have a gut feeling that something like this could happen because he's deep in the doghouse right now. I suppose, I'm just hoping that's Roenicke's doghouse and not Melvin's. It just seems to me we have a ton of players to give up for the type of players we're looking at. We've got so many C to C+ type prospects that I don't think we're going to have a huge problem working out a deal with the Dodgers for either of their SS's. I'm still holding out hope for Jamey Carroll though.

You make way too many absolute statements. There was absolutely no chance we'd trade for K-Rod either... If Hawkings keeps pitching well, it's not that unreasonable that we'd offer him arbitration. In particular with all the money coming off the books this year.

I can't see him being a salary dump though. He's having a very good year. 3.27 FIP, 8.5 K/9... I just don't see any reason they'd want to dump him. A team like the Yankees will likely offer up a B prospect for him as they have to know that the likes of Colon and Garcia aren't going to give them a 2nd half like their 1st.

I think giving up Braddock would be a terrible move at this point. I understand he hasn't been great this year, but he's still got the stuff to be a future closer, and he's all of what, 23 years old? Furcal would be a guy we'd take a flier on, not someone you give up someone like Braddock for. We'd be doing the Dodgers a favor in taking Furcal off their hands. Anyway, I'd much rather see them go after Jamey Carroll with someone like Kottaras and someone in the 5-12 range of prospects. In the last two years Carroll's been about a .292/.376 guy who's played very solid defense. Much safer bet than Furcal.

The Yankees hold an option on him for next year, and without looking I thought it was for roughly 10 million. I think it's about 50/50 they pick up that option. I suspect they'll be in on Beltran next year to play RF for them. So in the event that they were to decline the option, who'd be in favor of going after Swisher for 3/30? Obviously in conjunction with that, you'd have to shop Corey Hart which I'd have absolutely no problem with. I think plugging the switch hitting Swisher into the #2 hole would go a long way to balancing out our lineup and his 13.4 BB% would look great in front of Braun, Gamel and presumably Weeks. Not to mention, it'd be one step to improving this laughably bad defensive team we're throwing out there...which is just killing our starting pitching. So what would it take to get him and what would we be able to get for Hart in this scenario?

It's funny, I was reading JSO, and there were a couple posters hoping Khris Davis would be in the trade as they were absolutely positive he would never play for the Brewers.

I'm 28, haven't played hardball in 8 years, blew out my shoulder and had total reconstructive surgery....and the last time I DID play SS, as a Sr, I made 2 errors...and I'm fairly certain I would be an upgrade over Betancourt! Ok, not really, but he's just too annoying.

Agreed. I have no problem with that statement. Save for the unique situations like this one, I don't really want a manager-managing in a playoff chase based on someone getting a 500K bonus for 650 AB's. There is seldom any reason for him to know the particulars of a contract.

I think Melvin has done a great job of the trades he has made. In all honesty I believe trades should be made often. Especially by teams like the Brewers. Trade 2 prospects for K-Rod, offer him arby, which he will decline. (If anyone disagree's he will decline ... He is 29 years old and has aspirations to pass Rivera & Hoffmann on the all times saves list. His agent is Scott Boras. He will be someone elses closer next year.) Then we get 2 draft picks. So the 2 guys we got rid of are basically back next June. Look at our outfield. Braun is locked for an eternity. Morgan is a FA after the 2014 season. Hart is a free agent after the 2013 season. Any outfielder who is "ready" before 2014 is expendible. For the right guy, I make that trade every day of the week. Trade, trade, trade and trade again. We get a bizillion picks every year and I have confidence in our scouting and ability to raise our positional players. So we stink at drafting pitching. Whatever. Keep doing what your good at and trade positional picks for pitching. I am fine with it. Take a look at the Rays. They had a huge opportunity the last few years to make a splash and didn't. They could have traded a Helickson lead package for Fielder. But they held tight and what did they get? Lost the World Series. I don't want to lose the World Series. I want to win it. Hind sight is always 20-20 but we should have traded Escobar when his value was at the highest, not lowest. Maybe signed Hardy to a 4 year deal in 2009. That contact would look especially good now as I am sure it would have been cheap. I agree with you that we cannot have multi-million dollar players at every position, but you can have some. Look at the starting 8, Lucroy, Morgan, McGehee are all minimum salary players. Braun, Hart, Weeks have decent deals and Fielder gets a lot. Yuni sucks and should be collecting unemployment. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif All in all, I like the trades and I trust in Melvin. If he moves some outfielders, and a pitcher for Hardy. Fine with me. I trust he has done his homework. Hind sight is always 20-20 but we should have traded Escobar when his value was at the highest, not lowest. Maybe signed Hardy to a 4 year deal in 2009. That contact would look especially good now as I am sure it would have been cheap. You're exactly right, hindsight is always 20-20, so I don't see the point of this. Never mind that if you want to argue about what the height of Escobar's value has been, he's probably at it right now. So then we should have held onto him for another year? Trading Escobar at the height of his value and then signing Hardy in 2009 at his lowest value is just a bit too much benefit of hindsight.

I think it's dumb because I don't think he's worth the money it will cost to resign him (7-8 being on the cheaper end). Would I like to have him now? Well yeah because he's better than Yuni. But would I like to sign him to an extension for what he would want? No. A defensive stud that puts up a .750-.800 OPS? What do you think a guy like that is going to get on the open market? I think 7-8 million is on the low end for him, so I'm surprised you'd have a problem giving him that even. I also don't see Hardy as being the missing piece to put them over the top. Nobody said he was. I don't understand why people look at it this way either. It's not as if there is always that one player who just tips the balances. It's a cumulative effort. Hardy himself isn't going to put them over the top, but the question is, is he worth the contract. I think most would say yes, and looking at his production over his career, 7-8 million figures to be a steal for him. Sure they could sign Prince next year but they'd still have an aging, declining Guerrero (not sure what his contract is like), strikeout/mendoza line king Reynolds, as well as various other pieces that IMO, are overrated (or in some cases, just haven't played up to their potential). Adam Jones is a stud and Markakis has had a couple good early years but has struggled this year. Wieters is still young but is struggling to put up a .700 OPS in his 3rd year. Brian Roberts is aging and declining (and is owed a lot) and Luke Scott hasn't done much either. There are 25 guys on a team. There are always going to be lesser players. The question is does their core, with the addition of someone like Prince offer the potential to turn it around and contend. As for Markakis, he has several years in where he's been a stud and he's back up to .292/.342 this year, so...early season struggles aren't that important to me.

Your "feeling," has me "feeling," sick to my stomach. I see no way that can possibly happen though. Just far too unlikely. He's just too terrible and Melvin knows it.

And our farm system would look much better with Brett Lawrie and Jake Odorizzi. So what? You gotta give to get. Though I still don't like the Marcum for Lawrie trade. Lawrie would be getting ready to step into the 3rd base role right now.

This is why I think you'll see Peralta up this year working out of the pen...

Yeah, that's a good point. I guess the more I think about it, I could pretty see them being back around 80-85 next year. I just don't see where they would spend that money unless they go out and get a Shortstop, but if Hardy signs with Baltimore, there really isn't one in the 7-10 million dollar range I'd want, and Reyes is too expensive. But to answer the previous question, I've said for the last couple years I believe the Brewers are capable of going over 100 next year and the year following with the TV deal. I've also believed that Mark A was going to make a very real effort to sign Prince. Not that I think that'd be wise per say, but he's always seemed to allude to a strong commitment to re-signing him. Just an inkling I have from some of his comments. Though the ability to add additional payroll should come in handy with Greinke coming up. Perhaps if they are around 80 to start next year, they'll do like Ted and re-sign Greinke in season and give him a bonus...

Yeah, he uses his father. LaRussa said something when McGwire and their other hitting coach was getting questioned about why Rasmus isn't hitting. He said something to the effect of, "they're not the ones working for him. If he's going to give credit elsewhere when he hits, the blame shouldn't come here when he doesn't.

Who said he'd get 16 million per? I don't believe anyone said that. But I'd feel better about getting him for the remainder of his contract this year and then 16 million for ONE year than sign him for 4/48 where you can pretty reasonably expect his production to greatly diminish. So the question is, is that 16 million, lets say 4-5 million more than he'd get ANNUALLY worth it when you factor in this years potential impact and the prospect of a playoff run, plus the additional money it'll cost to sign him in the off-season(which again, you're missing out on most important portion of that time, this season). So...I don't think anyone's going to sign Aramis to a 16 million dollar per year deal as a FA, and again, nobody's suggested they would.

No, my main reason would not be to replace Fielder. I think that would be a foolish decision. My thought process is that you would vastly upgrade 3rd base this year, thereby solving two issues(or more like one and a half). You get one of the most productive 3rd basemen offensively as he's posting an .843 OPS, and, at least by the metrics this year, he's slightly above average defensively. As a whole though, he won't kill you with the glove. But, again, with that type of bat you don't need to trade for even a JJ Hardy type. You just need a Jack Wilson type if you deem his glove worthy. Or peruse the min leagues and look for a veteran guy with a great glove and no bat. But that is the main impetus. Because this team is SO close this year and because this team is historically bad at both 3rd and SS making it that much easier to find an appreciable upgrade. It's a LOT easier to upgrade over a -.8 WAR or whatever than a 1.5 WAR obviously. Aram's already been worth 2.4. I expect him to end up around 4.0. So replacing Prince was just an added benefit to my way of thinking. This year is the priority obvious and I don't think the addition of Aram can be understated. He's expensive, but again, he replaces Princes salary next year, and the Brewers will have more money to spend the next couple of seasons with the new TV deal. You run out a lineup of; 2B-Weeks CF-Morgan LF-Braun 1B-Prince 3B-Aram RF-Hart SS-Warm Body- C-Jonathand Lucroy Now for a team that just addressed it's bullpen by adding one of the best closers in the game. Addressed starting pitching by making two of the biggest trades in the off-season.......it just seems to me that the team that made those moves wouldn't stop there and would try to take that extra step and acquire that impact bat at a major position of weakness.

Of course not, but they are more likely to be. Greinke has to put together a string of 3 or 4 quality starts in a row before I am willing to consider him an ace of this staff. Based on? We're not saying that it's more likely that Wolf is better the 2nd half than Greinke because of 85 games? We throwing out their entire careers and their peripherals? Greinke has yet to show any of the domination you speak of and I don't think the Brewers should throw him out there as their #1 or #2 under the assumption he'll get better. Of course you do. If we're not counting on Greinke to bounce back then we might as well set a match to the whole thing and have a firesale because we're not a legit contender in that scenario. Greinke has yet to show any of the domination you speak of and I don't think the Brewers should throw him out there as their #1 or #2 under the assumption he'll get better. Have you watched him this year? Of course he's been dominant at times. Hence the 12 K's per 9. That's a ridiculous ratio, and the 6 K/BB ratio. Dominating. I think Marcum, Gallardo, and Wolf have all pitched better than him so far and should be facing the opponents best pitchers. Well, since few teams are coming out of the break with their 1-2-3 set up the first three days, I suppose this is a moot point.