DHonks

DHonks, just wondering what the character issues are that you referred to. I haven't heard that about him. Do you have insider knowledge from the AFL? he qualifies as a train wreck. The AFL is a league where most players don't want to be there, but are willing to put off the offseason for a few weeks for extra money and to go the extra mile for the organization. Over time, they generally form a bond and come together as a team. Barton never formed any bond with anyone. He never showed any concern for his coaches, teammates, or the staff. He treated people like crap, and his on/off field demeanor was disturbing to say the least. About the best thing I can say about him is that he has a nice swing, and he has plenty of years to overcome his flaws. But if the bars, casinos, and whatnot were able to distract him in the AFL, when all of baseball was watching him closely, I find it hard to believe that he'll be going to bed before 7 am in the big leagues, giving it his all, and being a teammate to root for. I view him as a disruptive presence, and someone the A's will trade within 1 1/2 years of his arrival in the big leagues. Since they place an emphasis on character, it's quite possible he'll either give up on the organization (and demand a trade) or he'll get himself shipped off for his behavior. He's someone who possibly could be out of baseball by age 25, despite all of his talent and skills. I hope he grows up, I just don't see it happening. When I got to know guys like Huston Street and Ryan Howard, I knew they would make it in the big leagues. They're the kind of guys that organizations like. They have good skills, are good people, and work their butts off. I just don't see either of the latter two with Barton.

I still think they have Daric Barton rated too highly. For a short, fat, unathletic DH with questionable power, non-existent defensive skills, and more character flaws than a typical Bruce Willis character, I have a hard time believing in him. Pretty much the rest of the A's mentioned seem to be rated appropriately. Komine is someone fun to watch. Not many 5'5" guys who throw 93 mph.

That's true Al. I guess I would have expected his father to help support him while he tries to make a go of professional baseball. But at the same time, construction likely keeps him physically strong and works many of the same muscles.

Ben has said that contracts are not at all based on expected future performance. He's a big believer in the market and PAST performance being the reasons that players are paid what they are. So hopefully he understands that there's a premium being paid for durability.

thanks mass. I still wonder why he was converted to a 1b. A solid hitting catcher or a weak hitting 1b? Seems easy to me.

I still envision Suppan signing before Christmas. That means Friday is the day it needs to be done by. I guess maybe not signing, but agreeing to basic terms by then. It would help settle things for him and his family for the holidays, as little usually happens from Christmas through new years.

exactly Pogo. Given the ease of Mitchell Field, He can be through security and have landed in about 5 hours total. He could drive from LA to San Fran in 5.5-7 hours. Or he can fly from LA to SF in probably 3-3.5 hours (budgeting more time, as San Fran's airport is a bit of a pain). Really not much of a difference, and the cost of living and taxes are lower in WI, amazingly

Al, if he's in SoCal, he's more like 5-9 hours by car from San Fran. edit: mapquest shows it's roughly 5.5 hours. Meaning in CA, it's more likely to be 6-7, as San Jose to LA is 5-5.5

although Colby, wasn't there another rather polished lefty in recent years who hasn't reached the big leagues yet? I want to say there was someone we all liked, like Sowers, but who has been derailed by injuries. I think one thing we liked about Sowers was that due to lower velocity, he didn't seem as likely to get hurt. The other I wanted this year was that HS lefty, I think his last name was Anderson. The Dbacks took him, but I think he's unsigned.

oops , you got me there Colby. He's been one of the bigger disappointments in my book, as I loved his mechanics. I was encouraged to hear he's now throwing pain-free, something he hasn't experienced since his JR year of HS. But you're right. Wouldn't Sowers and Gallardo have been a sweet tandem?

colby, I really wanted Sowers, although I was willing to go for Rogers or Bailey since their mechanics looked a lot better than the other college pitchers

Taveras has tools which are not measured by today's standards. The current metrics out there place little importance on defense, range, speed, and base stealing. I think we all would acknowledge that the current metrics are biased against these. However, there are currently no better stats than OPS and its derivatives. His defense and speed would create threats. However, at this point in time it's hard to argue that his OPS or OBP would help us. As some have said, Gwynn may be just as good right now, and he'd be free. The only situation when acquiring Taveras might make sense is if it helps get rid of the salary necessary to sign Suppan.

Bad defense played a sizable part in Davis' 4.91 ERA last year. not as big of a part as walks!

Except for the move where his defense at catcher went down Except for years Estrada was known as a defensive catcher, hence why the Braves traded for him from the Phillies. The Dbacks traded for him more because he'd had success both offensively and defensively, and they wanted a bridge to let Snyder, Montero, Avlas, etc have the time necessary to be ready for a big league job.

Think they'll need to dump any salary after this one? nope. They are committed to spending big bucks. It would be foolish to spend that kind of money on Burnett, Ryan, Glaus, and Wells if they are afraid to spend any more. When spending that much on 4 guys, they just can't get stingy elsewhere.

Prince wasn't a Gold Glover there and probably never will be but he is in no way a poor defender. 1b is still the toughest position to gauge. Prince is far better with lateral range and arm strength than Overbay was. However, Lyle was much better with glovework...that is, when he got his glove on it, he almost always recorded an out. Prince is young enough that he can get much better. Remember, his dad was a very good fielder until his later years. And we all know Prince is more agile than his father was.

Yeah, Donnelly and Romero to Boston pretty much squashes anything regarding Turnbow to the Red Sox this offseason. not really. We know from reports (and on the BoSox own site) that they still want to find a closer. Neither of these guys is a closer

I like what I'm reading. Normally in baseball, when a team has an article or two written proclaiming their desire to sign someone, it happens fairly often. In Milwaukee, we rarely have articles about guys. Instead, we get small bits and pieces in the news and notes section, stating, "Brewers GM Doug Melvin has been in contact with the agent for X to gauge any possible interest."

For what it's worth, Davis has pitched 200+ innings the last 3 years simple flaw with this is managerial style. Ned trusts his pitchers to get out of their own jams, and often pushes them an extra inning, going from 90-100, or 100-110 pitchers. Yet he can't be accused of overworking pitchers. LaRussa is known for micro-managing. With a weak left handed hitter at the plate, and one man on, he'll go to the pen for a lefty to ensure the out occurs. Then he'll go back to a righty. I think having him as a manager likely kept Suppan's IP down. Plus, he only made around 31 starts each year...is that because of minor injuries or being skipped to keep Carpenter and Mulder on 5th day schedules?

endaround, once again this is a problem with the perception of Brewers' fans. They assume that signing a guy means we are stuck with him and his contract in its entirety. The reality of the situation is that if he continues pitching well, he'll have a lot of trade value. It sure would be nice if Jackson, Gallardo, Inman, Rogers, Jones, Parra, etc would force the Brewers to find room.

I was just thinking that perhaps we should shut down this thread and open one on the Major League board, since the Brewers' interest is no longer speculation

Having said that I think Suppan is a pretty average pitcher, I ammended my statement saying he was a #4/#5 and he's probably really a #3/#4 I thought I remembered one of the baseball experts stating a few months back that league average isn't actually equivalent to the #3 spot. It was closer to one of the ends...does anyone remember which?

Suppan=Vargas that seems crazy. By the stats, Suppan has been solid-to-good since 1999. Vargas is a fairly young guy who hasn't done much, but has shown glimpses of what he can do. I was looking at stats more like ERA+, and that shows that Suppan is consistantly above league average. It's not just a 3 year window as people would have us believe. I was rather shocked by how good his numbers have been, as I had branded him a journeyman long ago.

brewers-circa-2002 mode had a great bullpen. I'd take Weathers, Wickman, DeJean, King, or the other solid relievers we had in the 1999-2003 period over Capellan and others

To be honest, I would think our rotation would suddenly change a lot. It's debatable where Suppan would slot, however, the case could be made that he'd be our #2 all the way to our #4. I would think that on paper (perhaps not in practice), our rotation would suddenly feature a #1, 2 #2/3's, a #3/4 (Bush), and a #4/5 (Vargas). Additionally, signing Suppan would cause a dramatic shift in the depth, as suddenly we'd have Villanueva as the emergency option, with Jackson and Gallardo as the potential impact callups. The problem without Suppan is that if Villanueva struggles, then we are turning to Jackson, who showed little other than poise. That would in turn likely lead to us promoting Gallardo too soon. Suppan makes a lot of sense for us, and I hope something will happen soon. I figure he could sign by Monday, as he's in demand, and likely will want to be introduced by Christmas, which means by next Thurs.