HiAndTight

I'm honestly not trying to be a jerk here at all, but should this be in blue? Is this a little "tongue in cheek" type comment? I mean, 12 at bats? Anyway, as for the greater point, I would take Parra over him all day long. Owings to me isn't a good pitcher and there's little to no hope he will become a good pitcher. Parra at least offers hope he will become good. Owings for his career; 5.11 ERA, 5.03 FIP, 5.10 FIPx Parra for his career; 5.22 ERA; 4.46 FIP, 4.20 FIPx Plus Parra's throwing about 93 MPH this year whereas Owings is sitting at about 89. Not that that in and of itself is a significant stat, but I prefer to go with the power arm who can miss bats and hope he can improve his command than the guy who doesn't miss a whole lot of AB's. Plus, for their career, Owings has about a .289 BABIP. Parra's got a .352. One can only hope Parra's comes down, though I'm guessing it'll always be higher than average, even bringing it down to a .315 would be a monumental improvement to his overall numbers. Basically, if he can do that, and cut down on the walks, no small order, but if he can he at least offers the ability to be a #3 starter(or better). Owings offers the ability to be a #5 who can hit.

This is likely a bit naive, but I'd really love to see them hold back just a bit this year on Free Agency, cut their big league payroll about 10 million and just go wild next year. Grab the two BEST players at 12 and 15 and just make sure they sign, and then if a Stetson Allie type falls, lock him up. Go after a couple of the big names on the LA market. A little bit of luck, a little bit more money, and a lot of aggression and you could have a franchise changing draft/FA period next year.

Saying it's a "truly idiotic decision" and implying multiple times that taking the money was the right decision sounds pretty judgemental to me. Apologies as I did not see the "truly idiotic" statement. I agree that's a little bit insensitive. However questioning the decision to not take the money, and go into professional baseball where the Brewers have a very large incentive, 2 million dollars being the least of it, to ensure this kid stays healthy vs going to college, probably the most unhealthy place in the world outside of Amsterdam and Bourbon Street(though College, at least my days seemed to be both wrapped into one) is a valid opinion...at least in MY opinion it is. However the truly idiotic statement is a bit over the line. I was going off of the last couple pages, so I opened my mouth(or hands I guess you could say) prematurely). If the family knew what they wanted to do once they found out, what is the point of dragging it out until the 11th hour? Because it's a decision about their sons FUTURE!! Why rush the decision? At the end of the day, it's their right, no question about it. But it's also HIS right to question their decision as on the outside looking in, it doesn't make sense that his son is going to get better medical care 2 million dollars richer and going to college rather than minor league baseball as a 1st round pick where the team has a vested interest in making sure he receives the best medical attention. There aren't a great deal of successful MLB pitchers who are type I diabetics - odds are he will get better medical care by staying in the same place for the next 4 years and living in an area well known for quality medical care than he would have playing minor league baseball. It will also give him time to develop a routine to deal with his diabetes and develop good eating habits without having to worry about or deal with the pressure of feeling like he has to deliver on the brewers $2 million investment. There aren't a lot of MLB pitchers with Type I diabetics, and I don't agree that the odds are better he will receive better medical care, and there are a whole lot of places, "known for quality medical care". It's also putting him in a position to live the college life style, just about the most unhealthy life style there is. And pressure? Having 2 million dollars and being set for the rest of your life for playing a game is not pressure. Passing UP 2 million dollars and having to prove yourself over the next 3-4 years just so you can MAYBE get back and make 2 million dollars and then at that point being behind where you would have been had he climbed the ladder in our system.

I haven't seen anything from X that's the least bit over the top. I also don't see how he's judging this kid? He's saying they should have taken the full amount of time to consider it. Yes, it's very sad that he's got this medical issue to deal with, but this is a business. I don't see anything wrong with looking at it from that perspective while all the while giving your condolences to the kid and his family.

Man alive that would be a incredible, amazing return for Prince, and if Doug Melvin were able to do that, I would advocate giving him a life-time contract in Milwaukee and pray at the altar which is "the stache". But I just don't see the Mariners even considering doing that. You mention the CC trade, well, LaPorta was not as good as either Ackley or Pineda, and neither Brantley, nor Bryson(who's looked amazing this year by the way with a video-game-esque 15.3 K/9 ratio). Frankly, were the Brewers able to swing a "Prince for Ackley" OR "Prince for Pineda" deal, I'd be happy with that. If it's the later, we get our young arm we so desperately crave. If it's Ackley, we could turn around and trade him for pitching, or make someone else expendable. Still, I don't see the Mariners being interested in Prince.

Could not agree more. We've made our mini-resurgence on the back of our offense, and while it certainly has not gotten us to where we need to be, and we need pitching and defense about as much as Joe Morgan needs an "off the air" job, I love the look of the offensive unit we're putting together and project to have in a year or two. It's going to lack the big Superstar slugger in the middle of the order as I believe Prince is, and always has been the top offensive player we've had with his consistent power numbers, and more importantly, his huge OBP skills in the middle of our lineup. However I think Lawrie is a guy who could put up HUGE numbers, a peak line of .300/.400/.550 isn't out of the question for him. When you look at the rest of the guys we've got, we won't have a guy mashing 50 bombs in the middle of our lineup, but I also don't see a hole with Weeks/Gamel/Braun/Lawrie/Hart/Cain/Lucroy/Escobar. Aside from the defensive stalwart Escobar, I see an entire lineup that could post a minimum of a .350 OBP and just be far more consistent top to bottom. I'd just hate to see this group broken up in search for a pitching prospect. I see other avenues we could explore in order to address that obvious and glaring need.

We'll have to agree to disagree as it's not worth arguing when we are in complete agreement on the larger point. I've long been driving the "trade Casey McGehee" bandwagon(well, as long as one can given his short history of success). Again, I believe McGehee's defense over time will be looked at as being closer to average than it is now, but I also believe his peak offensive seasons are behind him. A 2 year line of; .292/.351/.482 with an .833 OPS and a 123 OPS+ Is nothing to sneeze at. I just really hope we can convince some team out there to buy high on him. Frankly, I know I'm in the minority on this one, but I wouldn't mind packaging him with Axford at all to a team perhaps such as the Braves as mentioned initially after the season. He could fill in for Chipper at 3rd, Chipper with his injury concerns could slide over to 1st base next year, and Axford could replace Wagner as the Braves closer(if he does indeed decide to retire), and the Braves certainly have a number of viable starting pitching prospects available. I doubt trading Axford will be popular, but he's another guy that I would like to trade high on. He's a likable guy and a easy guy to root for, but ultimately, I question if he can continue to pitch with the type of command he has thus far. If throwing him into a package to the Braves could net us a guy like Minor, Delgado, Vizcaino, or Teheran, I'd jump all over it. Either way, the last thing I want to see the Brewers do is deal Gamel and hold onto McGehee simply because he's put up two regular big league seasons.

Oh yeah; and I'm sure the Twins are glad they have Hardy at his salary and healthiness versus a cheap, young player with upside, like Escobar, right? Huh? Hardy was traded for Escobar? What are you saying? I'm sure the Twins are esctatic they have Hardy instead of Gomez, as they're almost 2 wins better because of it. You're the one inferring that Hardy's far more valuable than Escobar and drew the direct comparision from Hardy to Escobar in this thread, one that I, along with a great many others would strongly disagree with. I like applying WAR in a great many situations, but it's a measurement of players, it's not a literal value of wins. To pretend the Twins have 2 more wins and 2 less losses had they played the season with Escobar rather than Hardy is simply impossible to accurately quantify. Not to mention that the vast majority of Hardy's value over Escobar is directly derived from defensive value over 3/4ths of a season and it renders their seasonal "WAR's" that must less reliable in my opinion.

I also think this is pretty exaggerated. Don't get me wrong, I don't think Hardy was ever keen on moving, but he never refused or said he wouldn't. I think he made some comments about "believing he was a SS and that he'd prefer to stay at SS, but I don't think he was ever asked point blank to change position. I also don't think that had anything to do with him getting shipped out of Milwaukee.

What's "every time"? I can think of two possible situations, Sheets and Hardy, and I can't see what we did wrong in the Sheets situation. We offered him arbitration with a bad wing and he turned it down. Hardy may be upset about the extra year of Free Agency, but he wasn't exactly lighting it up. That one's understand about though, Sheets being mad? If he even is, as I haven't seen any comments where he blasts the Brewers at all...

Agreed, I like these a lot. Let me 2nd the motion. I wish we could get these from all the affiliates. I found it interesting that Isom described Kentrail's arm as above average. Its the 1st time I've seen anyone compliment his arm. Now he's getting time in RF. With Braun in LF for a longtime, its a lot easier to project Kentrail into future lineup's if he's a viable RF. Oh, without a doubt, it's absolutely awesome IMO. With scouting reports, everyone and their Grandmothers have noticed that once a scouting report gets out, so often all the rest of the "scouts" or experts in the media tend to regurgitate the exact same things with a few notable exceptions. They fill their paper/blog/book, and if it's wrong they can simply fall back on the "well, he's worked to improve it", or some variation of "well, WE got it wrong". Isom doesn't seem to pull any punches. He won't come out and say for example, "Gennett can't play short", but he will say essentially the same thing by saying "I think he's a 2nd basemen, that's his best chance to make it to the big leagues". It certainly gives him a lot more credibility than Garth Iorg(And this is not meant to be disparaging in ANY way) who seemingly has to give more glowing reports of his players. Being there day in and day out offers a much clearer and concise evaluation of their true strengths/skills and flaws.

I almost feel dirty for saying this, but am I the only one who's thinking this might POSSIBLY be a good thing? Obviously you never want to hear about a young man suffering a serious injury, but this could at least account for the loss in velocity, and the remarkably bad control. College pitchers with mid 90's fastball's who have what scouts generally agree is a "plus-slider", and who, on top of that, dominated the collegiate level, seldom bust onto the scene by posting an ERA of 6.88 his second year out while splitting time between Rookie Ball and Low A, and you hear comments like, "cannot repeat his delivery, his delivery is all over the place", and his velocity is reportedly between 8-10 MPH lower than what he was topping out at in college, an elbow injury may actually be a good thing. In that scenario you get it fixed and you can still be reasonably confident that he can come back and be an effective pitcher once again. In the other scenario, it's a matter of his stuff just not being major league caliber. I know it goes against everything fans of young pitchers in their farm systems root for, but it would explain a whole lot and offer some measure of hope that it may improve moving forward.

Please elaborate, what mental bug are you refering to? I have not heard of Parra being diagnosed with anything. This isn't in blue, so I don't think you're being sarcastic. What he's referring to is Parra's tendancy to seemingly break down anytime something doesn't go his way, and his apparent lack of confidence when he's out there in himself and in his stuff. He's stuff is as good as Gallardo's, and his control coming up through the minors was as good, if not better than Yo's, and he's a kid you can see throw a 1-1 splitter that makes the hitter look like an absolute fool and send the bat 15 rows up behind the dugout, and he can come back and groove a 94 MPH fastball waist high and right down the shoot. Those are the mental issues that seem to have marred Parra's career this far and threaten to relegate him to a mediocre to bad big league starting pitcher. The good news is often times with kids like him, they start to have some success, it builds upon itself and he can turn it around in a hurry. So hopefully that's what'll happen here.

Earliest overreaction ever?God you need to get out and read some other message boards! And trust me, this is a COMPLIMENT to this board. I'd worry about being a "baseball snob" on here, but since all of the rest of the posters who post here are, what the hell! Most fans just don't get it. Not just talking about Arnett(And not trying to talk about Stevo, there is some evidence he's going to be a bust) as you see the MJO threads, ESPN threads and others just light up when a guy has a bad months, weeks, or hell, even games/starts(pitchers). I saw a LOT of people who hadn't followed Zach Braddock post a lot of things about him when he first came up and his ERA was inflated from a couple outings in which he gave up a run. I saw people all over Prince when he started out 0-9 with 6 K's and not in that welcomed 'blue font that you use here, but in the red font...as in angry red font. As a fan base, Rickie Weeks was public enemy Numero Uno during his "struggles" and there were calls to "cut him", along with other things, all while he was putting up average offensive numbers for a 2nd basemen. Why? Because most fans don't concern themselves with things like sample sizes, they didn't see Weeks obvious talent, or know his history and the average fan doesn't have the baseball attention span that almost everyone who posts on here has. With that said, I will NOT proclaim Arnett a bust yet. I also won't call Justin Harrell a bust quite yet, or AJ Hawk, so I probably go to the other extreme. That said, when it comes to Arnett, it IS easy to see why a lot of people are writing him off. He hasn't just been bad, he's been completely AWFUL. A 6.5 K/9, 3.9 BB/9, 10.7 H/9, and a 1.66 Whip for a college pitcher in Low A ball screams injury OR huge bust. Now those screams should be dramatically muffled at this point, but to my way of thinking, he has a couple weeks this year, instructional league, and then the first month or two of next year to show ANY signs of life, or I think we need to start seriously considering that he was a terrible pick(not terrible decision to pick him, but ultimately a bad pick) and resolve ourselves to the fact that any modicum of success is a bonus...again, that is if he doesn't show anything by next May or so.

Hey, again, Great Minds think alike.... I'd still look seriously at the Marlins next year as trading partners. Rickey Nolasco and Andrew Miller. Not sure what it'd take to get the deal done. Perhaps we trade Prince for a young pitcher and a position player, use the position player and a prospect of our own to try and complete the deal? Here's where Salome and his issues hurt as I think he could have been a very nice trade chip if he had even a decent year in AAA. Something like .285/.345/.450 would have made him desirable to many teams out there. Perhaps Casey McGehee+ a young arm, Kyle Heckathorn perhaps? Or would the Marlins have any interest in a John Axford? McGehee+Axford+Gomez for Nolasco and Miller? I don't know, just spitballin here. Miller's the type of kid who could go from a 5.60 ERA in AA to a 3.50 ERA in the big leagues on a years time. We just need Eddison to turn that damn light bulb on! Same with Parra. I'd gladly go into next year with a Gallardo/Prince Trade/Nolasco/Wolf/Parra/Miller type rotation. And god knows we've got a plethora of BP arms available. Now we make set the record for walks by lefties in a single season, but who knows, they could also be pretty good.

With respect, I think this is absolutely ridiculous. They've sent a clear message how? Because they drafted a large 1st basemen who was the youngest in the game to hit 50 HR's, and who has been one of the games top power hitters the last 5 years and is just now 26 years of age?Or because McGehee is 15 pounds heavier in your opinion, though I'm not sure what that's based off of as he doesn't look much different than he did with the Cubs. I think that's a number you just kinda picked up out of thin air. What's more, I think it was his knee injury more so than this "15 pounds" that may have caused any decreased mobility. Either way, you're definitely exaggerating with the whole 1 step thing. McGehee's definitely not a defensive stalwart, but his arm is certainly more than "pedestrian". His range going to his right is actually just fine as well. He struggles coming in on the ball, be it a bunt or a slow roller, and he doesn't move to his left well. I believe he's better than his defensive metrics suggest, though I won't argue that he does have poor range for a 3rd basemen. That's undisputed. I also take issue with your "two fat boy" comments, though I'm guessing most everyone does. I'd trade Prince because he's got one year of team control left, and for NO other reason. That "fat boy" plays every single day, and in fact has started more games in a row than anyone in the game. He's also just built thick. No question he's got fat, but he's also a helluva athlete for his size. And I'd trade McGehee, again, not because of his size, that doesn't play into it one iota, I'd trade him because we've got Gamel who is left handed, and I think will be substantially better over the course of his career, AND because we've got Brett Lawrie who I think is going to be an outstanding hitter and after watching him in Wisconsin last year, I think he profiles perfectly at 3rd base. Very nice, smoot hands, and a very strong arm. But the "fat boys" comment I think is just ridiculous. I'm guessing Babe Ruth never would have donned Pin Stripes had you been running the show in New York back then...which might have been a good thing. They may be the San Fran Yankee's now.

I think pretty much all of these are. I do like getting another big LH'ed bat in there to replace Prince. In another year or two, trade Hart, and that could be the best offensive team we've put on the field since Harvey's wallbangers!

Right, which is what we'd be doing if we traded Prince to the Rays for Garza and Moore. Obviously more than Prince, but Prince+whoever+money.

A-Why is Gamel "still not adequate defensively at 3rd"? Trying not to sound like a jerk here, but I can only assume you haven't seen him play this year. I CAN assume you saw him play last year, and unless you're allowing pre-conceived notions to dictate your evaluation of him, you had to have come away from his short time at 3rd being very impressed when compared to the scouting reports he recieved. I was stunned that this guy who looked like he had just exceptional footwork, a cannon for an arm, an made some incredibly spectacular plays over there showing he's got everything needed to be a fantastic 3B in the bigs. On top of him of course we've got; Taylor Green who I believe is Mark Loretta with more power, Cutter Dykstra, Zealous Wheeler, by FAR heads and shoulders the best of the lot, Brett Lawrie, a guy whom after watching him play at Atppleton I've been his leading advocate offensively and I think he's a guy who would just thrive playing 3rd base where his bigger lower half, which is expected to get even bigger, incredibly soft hands, a strong and accurate arm. The problem is at 2nd, he doesn't have the quickness required to play there, or he won't as he grows in my opinion. And of course I've left other options within the organization out, but 3rd base most assuredly is not a weak position behind Mr. McGehee.

I do not believe that McGehee's defense is the worst for an 3B in the NL. I missed the article on JSO, and if you have it handy, I'd love to read it(not that I don't believe you, or you need to post the article for me to believe you as is sometimes the case when someone asks, I'm just genuinely eager to see what it says). McGehee in the last few weeks in particular has been playing extraordinarily well at 3rd base in terms of getting a quick first step, making some nice diving plays and getting a guy out at 1st. Now I know, I know, a few plays does not a characteristic make, nor does McGehee have what anyone would describe as good range, but I also think it's taken a bit too far. I think at the end of the day, he's a guy who's got a great first step, particularly to his right, a cannon for an arm so he can go behind the bag and make some very impressive throws. I still agree he's below average, and I think Gamel would be much better at getting to balls, and I think he'd be a much better hitter, I DO also believe that Casey McGehee can more than hold his own at 3rd base.

You can't do it without getting MLB approval obviously, correct? Otherwise what's the difference between the trade we made with the Mariners taking almost all of Hall's contract for the next year and a half, and getting back Flores(I believe it was Reuben Flores, was it not?).

Don't you still need to account for the $8 million you sent to Tampa? Yes, and to be honest, this was something that was done in about 10 minutes, so there are flaws, and it's really only a rough draft and a general idea of what I THINK would be the best way to go next season and one that I legitimately would give us a chance to win. I suppose a couple changes would be; Scratch Hinkse=save 3 million. Kearns I think we could get for 2.5 million actually, so that'd be about 4.5 million. -Fielder to Texas for LHP Derek Holland, RHP Brandon McCarthy, and RHRP Pedro Strop I like this a little bit. To be honest, I'd almost prefer to put Prince in a bigger trade so we could get maybe someone who's got a bit of a higher ceiling, but all things considered, a good, and pretty equitable deal. McCarthy's value has plummeted, so this is a good time to snap him out, Holland has had some ugly shoulder problems in the past, and I think there is a chance there he could have something serious going on there. But hey, again, address the SP'ing in a BIG way, and you make a couple additions to the Defense. To be honest though, I'd focus more on the defense and the depth of the team and aim a big lower on the starting pitching. Nolasco is alright, try to pry Andrew Miller out of there with him, and give up a Kings ransom for Matt Garza AND-AND-Matthew Moore. People tend for forget just how good HE is. He'll likely end up the better of two. In fact, in 2' years we could easily see a rotation of; 1-Moore 2-Gallrdo 3-Garza 4-Odorizzi 5-Rivas With Moore leading the staff as the ace. He's THAT good. -McGehee, Kottaras and Carlos Gomez to Florida for RHP Ricky Nolasco (Florida's annual budget cutting trade) LOVE the idea, but I can't see this being enough to get Nolasco. I don't mean to pick about your trades, just as you didn't mean to pick apart mine but rather point out some possible issues and question a couple things. I think Nolasco's going to be a pretty highly sought after commodity this off-season IMO. ERA/FIP/FIPx 2009-.506/.335/.328 K/9 9.46 BB/9 2.14 BABIP-.336 2010- 4.33/3.98/3.56 K/9 8.30 BB/9 1.74 BABIP-.331 That's a pitcher who should very easily post 3.50-3.75-ish ERA's and be that viable #3 starter we need. So I love that move. I just don't think Gomez and Kottaras are going to interest the Marlins very much at all. McGehee should interest them a bit, but they've also got Matt Dominguez on his way up who's a fantastic defensive 3rd basemen defensively and who's offense is coming around a bit. As a 20 year old in AA .229/.329/.408 with a .737 OPS, so he's not a sure fire thing, but still, a viable option. I suppose they could bring in McGehee to play right now and then turn around and deal him again in 2-3 years when he starts making more money and get back a couple prospects then. I think though for Nolasco it'd have to be something more like McGehee+Axford for Nolasco+Andrew Miller(yes, I'm all over Andrew Miller's pure stuff) would be a little closer. But I absolutely love the idea of getting Nolasco. -Eric Farris to Baltimore for 3B/OF/C Jake Fox (Fox gives the Brewers a righty swinging option to Gamel at 3B, an emergency 3rd catcher, and RH PH, Farris is rule 5 eligible, but the Brewers have no room for him on the 40 or at AAA with Lawrie moving up, though Lawrie also plays 3B.) I like Farris quite a bit actually, and I think he quite desperately needs to start taking some GB's at 3rd, SS, as well as some fly balls in the OF if he truly wants a spot on this team as a utility player, a spot that I truly think he could thrive. He's showing us he's a legit prospect this year(not a great one, but a guy who is showing without a doubt he can play in the big leagues). I can see your choice of Fox for Farris however, even despite not agreeing with it. I DO think that the Brewers could make room on the 40 ma without any real trouble. But if Farris can't prove he can play elsewhere, there's little to no reason to keep him around with Weeks, Lawrie, Green, Counsell, Luis Cruz, as well as several others who can play 2nd base. I'm glad to see someone finally penciling in Gamel at 3rd base however. -Sign LHP Cliff Lee 5yr/125 M Respectfully, this is where I vehemently disagree. Cliff Lee will almost certainly get offered more by the Yankee's as they appear to be rather obsessed with adding him, so much to the point where one of their top execs announced to the team they just acquired the best pitcher in the game and they WILL sign him to a long term contract. I also worry that we're going to sign a 32 year old pitcher to a 6-7 year deal(as I think that's at least what the Yanks will be willing to go) But he is amazing. He's pitched at least 7 IP 18 times this year, 8 IP's 15 times this year, 7 Complete games, and in his two "blow up's", he's gotten into the 7th each time, going 6 1/3rd giving up 4 ER's and 7 ER's respectively. That's just...amazing. But I don't think paying a guy who'll be 37 by the end of the contract is a fiscally responsible way to go,and I don't think it'll be as much. HOWEVER-I think of all the pitchers in the game right now I'd feel comfortable giving that kind of money to, my list goes; 1A-Strasburg 1B-Cliff Lee But I simply don't think we can afford that type of money. Difference of opinion obviously, but I'd feel so much better spending 10 million on Raffy Soriano as our closer, 4 million on Austin Kearns in RF, 1 million on Henry Blanco, 2 million on Christian Guzman, and 6 million on Matt Garza next season, and then have some additional money to throw to the Rays in an attempt to snatch one of their top pitching prospects as well. They may well be a team that would be willing take back 10 million and give us a good prospect in return. Or hell, how about the Marlins? Throw in a few million dollars along with a lesser package and getting Nolasco is far more feasible. -Sign Henry Blanco 1M Man you're a helluva smart guy. Henry Blanco for a million dollars! LOL...what's the saying, great minds? -Sign OF Reed Johnson 1M ( I sign Johnson instead of Kearns because he's a better fit to platoon. Kearns is equal against lefties and righties, whereas Johnson kills lefties, he's had an OPS over 900 against them 3 of the last 4 years.) That's certainly not a bad option, but the difference TO ME is that Kearns is a vastly superior defensive OF'er accounting for about 55 runs saved above average, and in about the same time span Johnson has accounted for roughly 20. Kearns has a much stronger arm as well, and while Johnson has a ISO SLG pct of merely .098 this season, and an OPS this year of .713 and .753 for his career while Kearns is about .169 for his career and an OPS of .781 this year and .780 for his career. Just to be PERFECTLY clear, I think every idea you had was a sound one and addresses the issues that need to be addressed. You revamp our rotation and you do so in a huge, ready-for-the-playoffs-now type huge, and one that keeps our incredible rotation in position for a couple years. This is a fun discussion and really I'm just trying to debate a couple of these moves with you, not trying to be critical of them as each and every one makes this team much better and none, other than the Lee one IMO is unrealistic. I would say though, we both have the same idea's. 1-Improve our Defense. Throwing Dickerson and Kearns in RF and Hart to 1B improves our D exponentially just right there. Henry Blanco behind the plate is a great idea to help and take some pressure off Lucroy and it would be huge to learn from a guy like that. 2-Our pitching You add arguably THEE best pitcher in the game of baseball right now, and a guy whom you can hand the ball to and tell your BP to take a rest, another in Nolasco who appears with his peripherals to be on the verge of busting out and becoming a top 10 pitcher in the game, and a guy in Holland who

Yeah, I actually went and looked after that. But my point is that's is completely irrelevant as it's simply two starts. I don't think I'm right because of them, and I don't think those on this board who thought it a bad move would think they're wrong as a result. I tell ya what, if I were the GM, first of all, I'd be terrible as would anyone on here despite many having very good suggestions and knowing the sport better than 99.99 pct of the population as there's a whole lot behind the scenes I don't think we appreciate, all the little nuances of being a GM. Most of us would make some fantastic moves, ie, I wanted us to go after Greinke when he was still in the Royals pen and offer up what most would have considered too much at the time, and this is coming from a guy who absolutely hates trading any prospects...in fact, I hated the Felipe Lopez for Cole Gillespie+Roque Mercedes trade despite the fact that most would agree that was a good deal. And most of us would make more TERRIBLE moves, ie, the year that Percival, Wood and Lidge were all available, the first two as FA's, the later in a trade for a relatively low price. In fact, I was driving the bus for Percival after his year with the Cards suggesting we give him 2 yr 9 million, 2/10 for Wood and just trade for Lidge. All would have looked great and we'd have had the best BP in baseball the 1st year. And then they'd have looked downright awful and we'd have fallen apart shortly thereafter. So I don't pretend to be some GM savant, like most, I just like having fun tossing idea's around on here. But the one thing I wish to hell Melvin would do was try and pry away some of these types of pitchers, the guys with the filthy arms, guys who can throw in the mid to upper 90's, but haven't had any success and just kinda cross your fingers and hope that light goes on. Right now, one of the top that fits that criteria would be Andrew Miller, yes, he's back down to AA with a ugly line, but he's also got a fantastic arm. Anyway, Jackson fits that category, though I'd have preferred to trade for him before Detroit did, but I still would have gladly grabbed him from the D-backs this year.

Agreed X 1000. Parra WILL be a pitcher who puts together at LEAST one 195 IP; 3.30 ERA 185 K 1.25 Whip seasons, much like Jonathan Sanchez has. I believe that wholeheartedly. IN fact, I think he'll put up a couple very good seasons at SOME point. We trade him, we'll have a Chris Narveson in the rotation with a 5.50 ERA and we'll be looking at Parra as we did JDL with the Rox and say, "man, it'd be nice to have him". Parra=Weeks. It's just a matter of time. Of course it's ALSO a matter of time before he has another serious shoulder injury and or elbow injury IMO with his history and with how much he throws that splitter. But either way, the Brewers will get peanuts for Parra at this point in time. You're going to have probably 20 teams who'd look at him and say, "hey, why not, kid's got a helluva arm", but you ain't getting Jesus Montero for him....(which is a bit of a joke, the point is you're not getting anyone who could come CLOSE to matching his ceiling). So why trade him?

I was actually surprised to see how well he played 3rd last year (in an admittedly short sample) compared to what I was expecting from the negative reports.Yes, I don't want to go overboard on it, as you said, it was a small sampling. However, he looked so much better than I thought he was going to look. I pictured a guy who had, slow feet, bad feet, who flew open when throwing to 3rd. To me he looked very quick for a 3rd basemen, made some exceptional players, went to his right much better than I expected for a lefty, and to his right just so much better than McGehee can. It was different from when Braun came up(though....I have to admit, I believe had Braun come up when Weeks did, ie, when we weren't desperately fighting for a playoff spot, that he'd have been given the opportunity to develop into a solid defender over there. He too had good range(literal range, the ability to get to balls most 3rd basemen would not have been able to do. In addition to that, without belaboring this same point, he had just about the prettiest swing I've seen any Brewer have for a long time. He's just got very little moving parts, is quite, short to the ball, yet long through the zone. Needs to be less patient as he struck out an exceedingly high number of times last year on called 3rd strikes. Can't help be being very, very excited about him IMO. I view his stint up here last year as being far more reassuring rather than troubling. Not sure how/why so many are down on him....but I digress, I've made that point enough already.