Warning Track Power

A couple things here: 1. This stinks. I hate the Cardinals with a passion equaled only by the Vikings, however I don't like seeing marquee players get hurt even theirs. What they do on the field is the reason most of us watch this game. 2. This likely means Pujols re-signs in StL and so does Wainwright. Wainwright was likely to get a huge deal after the season to the tune of $20MM per. Now, I think he'll be forced to take a one year deal to prove he is the same pitcher. This frees up some cash to sign Pujols in my opinion as I doubt Wainwright will ever see a $20MM per contract ever now. 3. I didn't think the Cards posed much of a threat in the first place to us but now I really see it as a two team race between us and the Reds. Pujols situation is going to be a distraction all season. An old Berkman in the OF. Rasmus and LaRussa situation. Question marks about Freese at 3B and Theriot at SS. Carpenter is mid to late 30s or right in the area where pitchers can expect decline. Garcia's rookie season was out of nowhere. I just don't see them matching up well with the Brewers or Reds. I believe the Cubs will pass them now for 3rd in the division as I like the Cubs pitching way more than the Cards and their lineup, outside of Pujols, arguably is better than the Cards as well.

Fun Flickrpage for a bunch of concepts proposed by designers far more talented than I.

Leave it to Kenny Williams to start putting some sense back into the game of baseball and the salary structure for it. I can't believe the big market White Sox GM is actually ok with a work stoppage in order to get a salary cap? Interesting...

Really? Last years numbers: 112 Rs (previous high 89) 32 2Bs (previous high 22) 29 HRs 83 RBIs (almost doubling his previous highs of 16 HRs in 2007 and 46 RBIs in 2008) .269 AVG (from 2005-2008 he hit .239, .279, .235, .234) Rickie's OBP was in line with what he always has done but his SLG went up, as well as OPS. Maybe you attribute that all to being healthy all season for the first time, but I would say that other than the beginning of the 2009 season until he got hurt, we never saw Rickie play at such a high level.

In this article it talks about Rickie dropping a good portion of his bat waggle at the plate. With the bat waggle a thing of the past, maybe the injury concerns with his wrists have gone away as well. On a side note, combining the way Rickie and Corey held the bat in 2010 versus how they held it in previous seasons (Weeks less waggle and Hart dropping his hands) and the breakouts both had, you have to say that Dale Sveum is the MVP of the coaching staff. Now do that magic on CarGo in 2011!

This is just an awful deal. It would be the equivalent of the Brewers giving Hall this deal after his one season. You could even argue that Hall would have been the better bet to produce based on his limited track record. Look at the comparison: Bill Hall Batting Stats for Years 2002 to 2006 Year Tm G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB 2002-2006 MIL 491 1763 1606 239 428 108 16 67 225 39 24 132 425 .267 .322 .479 .801 104 769 33 4 11 10 9 Average 98 353 321 48 86 22 3 13 45 8 5 26 85 154 7 1 2 2 2 per 162 games 163 582 530 79 142 36 6 23 75 13 8 44 141 Jose Bautista Batting Stats for Years 2006 to 2009 Year Tm G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB 2006-2009 PIT,TOR 500 1911 1638 232 396 86 8 59 208 13 8 210 387 .242 .334 .412 .746 95 675 49 26 21 16 9 Average 125 478 410 58 99 22 2 15 52 3 2 52 97 169 12 6 5 4 2 per 162 games 162 620 531 76 129 28 3 20 68 5 3 69 126 This has the potential to be a historically bad deal. I would be real nervous as a Blue Jay fan today.

If Greinke would accept this, I would be ecstatic. I thought my idea of the Prince deal (5yr/$100MM) for Greinke is the mid-to-low end of what it will take. As it is now, a 4yr/$70MM deal added to his current 2yr/$27MM deal would give us Greinke for 6yrs/$97MM. Yes please!

(Sorry to continually bring this up guys but I am on a mission to get some changes to the uniform) Do you have a picture of this cheap knockoff? Because this is what I think would look awesome. Looking specifically at the Brewers across the chest is what I would love to see the Brewers do. Simple tweak. Darken the navy to almost-but-not-quite black, and add a more golden yellow instead of glitter gold. Get rid of the white outline around Brewers. Look at my avatar. That's the color scheme I would like to see regardless of the uniform be it the current design or the retro stuff. The navy is just a little washed out on the current design. It looks like it's gone through the washer/dryer a few too many times. Additionally, tweak the script so it is always straight across the chest just like the link above. That's perfect. I have noticed on some jerseys the B in Brewers almost starts at the stomach and S at the end is at the left shoulder whereas some actually are straight. This lack of (pardon the pun) uniformity is ugly. And please get rid of the Times New Roman name and numbers. Go to a more traditional block name and number. Throw the Milwaukee on the gray away and call it a day. Like I said before, I apologize for constantly bringing this up guys but I think the Brewers uniform needs some tweaks. With a few minor tweaks it could be one of the best in baseball and as it is now, it isn't; and apparently isn't for a lot of other fans who prefer the retro stuff to the current. I wish I was handier with photoshop/graphic design and I would draw some up and submit to the Brewers as a suggestion.

It's funny that you say this because I almost wish Prince would have been dealt before this season as I feel a little animosity towards him for his apparent lack of interest in even discussing a long term deal in Milwaukee last offseason and into this one. Like I heard on MLBNetwork Radio today, does Pujols have to make more per year than A-Rod to validate his place as the best player in baseball? I don't think so. We all know he is. If the Cards offered say 8 years/$220MM, shouldn't that be worth something to the player considering they aren't the Yankees or Red Sox and that they are extending their mid-market budget to the max to sign you? I know millions of dollars are millions of dollars but what's the difference when you start talking about hundreds of millions of dollars? Those numbers are so astronomical when you consider someone making $50k/year for 40 years would make $2MM in their lifetime.

Noooooo!! With all the good news today, a small gray cloud.

Now that Rickie is signed into a long term extension, we have a good core four offensive players to build this team around for the foreseeable future (Braun, Weeks, Hart and McGehee). Looking into my crystal ball I fully expect that talks with Greinke and Marcum will begin at midseason to gauge their interest in hanging around Milwaukee longterm. However, let's say that Prince has a change of heart and decides that he wants to continue on Milwaukee, goes to the press and says he wants to stay and is willing to sign the 5year/$100MM deal that was offered to him during last offseason. You are now locked into Braun, Weeks, Hart and Gallardo for: 2012: $30.5MM = RB($6), RW($10), CH($9), YG($5.5) 2013: $36.2MM = RB($8.5), RW($10), CH($10), YG($7.7) 2014: $32.2MM = RB($10) , RW($11), YG($11.2) Given that these are the long term deals currently in place and barring a longterm Casey McGehee deal buying out a year or two of FA, you would be looking at 3 vital pieces to pick from: Greinke, Fielder and Marcum. I believe that Marcum could be had for $10MM/year and, in the scenario, Fielder for $20MM/year. Greinke, assuming he pitches to form, will likely command $20MM as well. It's a given we won't be able to sign Greinke and Fielder together as no matter which way you slice it that would be adding $40MM to the already locked in deals long term deals of $30ish MM. The Brewers just couldn't operate at $70MM to 5 players in 2014. If you are Doug Melvin, what do you do? Do you sign Prince, the homegrown guy who is willing to take the 5year/$100MM deal now? Or do you hold out the hope, and its unknown whether he would stay after 2012, and save that money for Greinke? Keep in mind in this scenario Prince will sign the deal today and you don't know if Greinke will sign the deal in 2012. Whichever one you sign, you will still be able to afford to sign Marcum as well to a longterm deal to the tune of $10MM/year. What do you Mr. Brewer GM?

Thanks for the hat SoCal! Man what a great offseason this was for the Brewers. Having Rickie locked in gives us a still very solid #3 and #4 in the lineup after Prince leaves. I couldn't be more happy for Rickie personally and for us as Brewers fans as I have always felt he and Braun were the two cogs for the offense we could least afford to lose. Knowing that we now will have Braun, Weeks, Hart and McGehee locked in for the next 3 years at least gives us some serious thump in the lineup and will allow for Lucroy and hopefully Gamel to develop on their own schedule and not be rushed into mandatory production. On to worrying about Greinke and Marcum extensions! Just kidding. Let's let this one soak in for a few. A great day for Brewer fans.

Whatever gave you that impression? http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif http://yogibrewer.mlblogs.com/my_weblog/images/not_again.jpg Ouch...I just liked Turnbow and not just because he played for us. He just seemed like a good dude. I always hoped he would turn it around either here or in Texas.

Whoever voted for YuBet is the most optimistic Brewers fan I have ever seen. I think I'd pick Jeffrey Hammonds or Sean Berry over him for 2011 MVP.

Same here. It stinks when the Brewers have Saturday day games because they are always blacked out in Southern California. Stupid Fox. On a side note, when is XM going to have both home and away feeds for games? I can't stand listening to Houston's (Milo Hamilton) and Cincinnati's (Marty Brennamen) announcers when the Brewers are playing at those locations. Homerism and constant whining. As strange at it may sound, the Cubs (Pat Hughes) and the Cardinals (John Rooney/Mike Shannon) announcers are pretty enjoyable to listen.

Years: Spot On. 4 years + 1 Arbitration year. Dollars: Under 2011: $6MM 2012: $9MM 2013: $10MM 2014: $11MM 2015: $12MM Total Contract: 5 years/$48MM. AAV($9.6MM)

Good call John. Weeks and Johnson's offensive stat lines really are quite similar when you look at them side by side. Haudricourt also feels they're moving in a "positive" direction.

Reading between the lines: For Ash to comment on Saturday that there would be no further comment on this and then to give Rosenthal a quote like this makes me believe an extension is inevitable.

For some reason I think Ryan Braun will put up a monster season this year and have a run at MVP. I am thinking something along the lines of .340, 25 HR, 110 RBI with 45 to 50 doubles. I think Braun is going to continue on his career trend where he continues to sacrifice some power for average and start going gap to gap more, hence the increase in doubles. Barring an injury like last year (thank you Tommy Hanson), I expect an average and on base explosion from Braunie. EDIT: I also think Rickie is going to go all Ignitor on us, raise his average to the .280-.290 range and have an OBP close to .400. If he does this and we don't sign him longterm before Thursday, my god will he get expensive. Rickie won't exactly replicate Prince's power after 2011 but he has the potential to replace everything else in my opinion.

I know that Ash said there would be no more comments on this but we are getting closer and closer to Thursday with no news. Getting a little anxious for some sort of resolution...

Breakout - Carlos Gomez I know, I know but my expectations are rather muted. I don't think he's going to set the world on fire by any stretch of the imagination but I do think he will be better than what he has shown in the past. I think he posts a .265 avg, .315 obp, 35 steals 2011. I think most of us do backflips if he has this season. Disappointing - Casey McGehee AND Corey Hart Just like Gomez, I don't expect massive dropoffs from McGehee and Hart but I do see a little regression. McGehee has been fantastic but maybe playing over his head a little in terms of HR and RBI. I expect him to be around .275, 17 HR and 80 RBI. Nothing drastic, but just a small dropoff. Similar with Hart. Last year was amazing but I doubt his power #s stay that high. I expect something along the lines of .270, 25 HR and 90 RBI. Obviously these aren't drastic either way for breakout/disappointing. These are more about playing to what I believe will be career norms. If we can get this production out of McGehee, Hart and Gomez while Braun, Weeks and Fielder do what they are capable of, this team will have a great season.

I understand this point Joe and it does make sense. However, can you extend this now further to say how a salary cap wouldn't limit the Yankees spending of this money? I know Yankee fans would hate the fact that the Steinbrenners would then theoretically be pocketing a half billion dollars but who cares. Speaking to you endaround; when only two teams are pushing into the luxury tax territory it really doesn't hold much weight. If the Yankees and Red Sox are the only teams who can realistically reach the luxury tax threshold, $170ish million, it doesn't do anything. If you don't believe in a hard cap, then the threshold for this tax has to be pushed way down to something like $100 million giving teams serious pause before crossing into the $100 million payroll. According to bizofbaseball , there were 8 teams with a 2010 opening day payroll of over $100 million. Wouldn't this help the disparities more?

I honestly believe the Brewers best option is for him to sign a $30MM/year deal with StL. That deal would severely limit them in future years to sign other free agents and almost ensures Wainwright signs elesewhere. I think a Pujols deal relegates them to signing the Lance Berkmans of the world and praying the Rasmuses and Freeses can provide cheap production.

The only way I could agree with you on this statement is if the Rangers pay a majority, to the tune of $12 of the $16MM per year and even then I can't see a good reason for us to invest heavily in a 34 year old Michael Young. If we lose Prince, it is more prudent to use the funding available to attempt to re-sign Greinke and play Gamel. And if we were to lose Rickie and Prince, I would rather us spend money in other places and allow Gamel to replace Prince and Farris/FA to replace to Rickie. I'm not convinced a 35 year old Young season would be much more than what Gamel would produce hence my hesitance to take on even a portion of his deal.

I think this is an excellent point and this might deserve it's own topic as to how and why the NFL system works versus MLB's. I keep reading about how a salary cap in MLB wouldn't work and have yet to hear a compelling argument as to why it wouldn't. How can the NFL support the Green Bays, Indianapolis and Kansas Citys of the world and MLB can't support a franchise in Indianapolis and the Kansas City is doomed to losing its decent players to the larger markets? Someone who doesn't believe a salary cap in MLB would solve the Prince Fielders from leaving Milwaukee, the Adrian Gonzalez from leaving San Diego and the Carl Crawfords from leaving Tampa Bay convince me. Because by all rights, those players should never have any reason to leave those cities. MLB can't keep touting competitive balance and parity in the league when the best players always seem to end up in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Detroit, Chicago (White Sox) and L.A.