Warning Track Power

Trying to be a realist here and simplify things: SIGNED *Corey Hart: 3Yr/$26.5MM. 2011-2013 ~ $8.8MM/year *Ryan Braun: 5Yr/$40.5MM. 2011-2015 ~ $8.1MM/year *Yovani Gallardo: 5Yr/40.75MM. 2011-2015 ~ $8.15MM/year Hart, Braun and Gallardo are already locked in for the unbelievably affordable price of $25MM/year. Now do the Brewers financials afford the following: UNSIGNED *Shaun Marcum: 4Yr/$40MM. 2011-2014 ~$10MM/year *Zack Greinke: 5Yr/$100MM. 2013-2017 ~ $20MM/year *Rickie Weeks: 5Yr/$50MM. 2011-2015 ~ $10MM/year Now the extensions for Marcum and Weeks are at the top end of what I believe they can realistically expect and what I believe the Brewers limit should be. So that's the max I would probably give them. Greinke's is the Prince deal, which I honestly believe will keep him in Milwaukee. I don't expect him to jump to a big market in the future and the only way I see him leaving for a bigger amount is if a team like the Cardinals offer a 7 year $140MM deal or the like. I like Greinke's chances of staying in Milwaukee, assuming we can lock up Weeks to compliment Hart and Braun on offense and lock up Marcum to join Gallardo. At the conclusion of this, we would have a core 6 guys, 3 hitters and 3 pitchers, signed for $65MM. That leaves 19 other roster spots to occupy approximately $25-$30MM of payroll. With Gamel, Lucroy, Axford, Braddock not likely to command huge salaries anytime soon, the cheap young players in the bullpen that have worked for the Crew over the past few seasons and the influx of cheap talent like Schafer in CF, can we realistically afford to give these deals out to Weeks, Greinke and Marcum? I don't feel like my predictions in terms of contracts are all that far off. Plus by the time McGehee is getting close to FA, Hart's deal will be up allowing some flexibility. It gives us little wiggle room in the future in the event of injuries, but I'd be more than happy to lock this core in and give it a true shot at contending for the next five seasons. That window from 2011-2015 sure would provide some fun baseball in Milwaukee.

If Weeks was being offered 5yr/$50MM, he would already be extended. I would offer him this, but this is the limit of my comfort in terms of years, money and AAV. If he has been offered this and is still holding out for more, Rickie will be wearing a different uniform next season.

Reyes is one of my favorite players in baseball. I love his game and would absolutely love to see him in Milwaukee. Having said that there are a number of things that I would have concerns with: 1. Based on the Mets financial situation, I think they are going to be looking for prospects instead of major league talent. We may not match up with them because of this. Let's assume that finances don't play a role for them, trading for him would likely mean dealing Corey Hart. I would be fine with this. 2. My real issue with Weeks potentially not being re-signed is that when was the last time the Brewers attracted a player of even his caliber to Milwaukee through free agency? We need to either re-sign our own studs or trade for them like Greinke, Sabathia, Sexson. The Sean Berrys, Jeffrey Hammonds, Franklin Stubbs of the world are the free agents attracted to Milwaukee. Nothing in our recent history makes me think we can attract a Jose Reyes to Milwaukee. Maybe we have a chance to extend Reyes if we deal for him but he will cost more than Weeks leaving less $$ to re-sign Greinke and Marcum. This necessitates Hart being included. However, as I mentioned previously I doubt the Mets financial situation allows them to take on Hart's contract. 3. Does having Reyes necessarily upgrade us from having Weeks? I don't believe so and he will cost us more money. I'd rather pay Rickie a little more to ensure he stays rather than give up the player/prospects and extra $$ to lock in Reyes.

Carlos Zambrano will seek out new teammate Matt Garza and show him how to do things the "Cub" way...

Never say never. Look at the Vernon Wells deal. Even in an all in year, this makes no sense. Need as much money free as possible to try to extend Weeks/Greinke/Marcum and sign a decent SS after the season. If YuBet is abyssmal come June, I could see a trade for Reyes or rental equivalent or an Erick Aybar or longer term, no budget buster alternative. Guaranteed loss of one or two of Weeks/Greinke/Marcum is the likely result of a Young deal. Pass.

Maine with an invite to Spring Training. He's only going to be 30 this year. Lightning in a bottle maybe, insurance in the event of an injury.

I will emphasize again that I think the real thing that can't be overlooked regarding Pujols is the Adam Wainwright situation. Pujols will likely get something between $25-30MM per and Wainwright should be right at $20MM per. With both of these guys FAs after the season, will the Cards actually spend the $45-50MM per season it will take to lock both of these guys up long term? So if your the Cards and can only afford one, who do you sign? I know our situation isn't exactly similar but it's the Fielder/Greinke dillema. If you could only afford one and both were willing to sign who do you sign? With us its much easier to answer, as we already have some hitting in place (Braun, Hart, hopefully Weeks) who can make up for Fielder's departure, so it's Greinke. For the Cards, I doubt they have the bats to make up for Pujols departure and I don't think they have the arms to make up for Wainwright's departure. I can't imagine their budget will allow them to sign both. For me it's Wainwright, but I am guessing the Cards pick Pujols.

Not saying we have an excess of pitching or anything but would we match up anywhere in our rotation/bullpen to make a trade for Brett Gardner? I love this guy and think he would fit perfectly at the top of our lineup and playing CF. With the Yankees signing the Freddy Garcias of the world I wonder if they would be interested in trading for a young upside pitcher like Parra? I know I know...Parra can't handle Milwaukee pressure how would he handle New York pressure? But this doesn't stop the fact that the guy has some legit pitching talent that just needs to click, see de La Rosa, Jorge. Would a Manny Parra/Carlos Gomez for Gardner work? It may seem light on our end but these are the type of risks the Yankees can afford to make. I think most of us would be shocked to see the Yankees take this, but what would it take to get Gardner?

100% agreed, assuming he isn't asking for AAV more than $10MM. Like I have said previously, I'm a pretty big Melvin guy but he has been the guy to give Suppan/Gagne $10MM AAV contracts and Riske/Hawkins $3.5-$4MM AAV contracts. To all of a sudden go cheap on a player like a homegrown phenomenal talent like Rickie when we're already losing Prince's bat, would make me join the "blinded-by-rage member of a lynch mob" with TLB. Get this done guys.

Someone on the JS boards made the comparison of Weeks to Brandon Phillips and used his extension, 4yr/$27MM signed in 2008, as a jumping off point for Rickie. Phillips 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 2002-2007 CLE,CIN 442 1751 1618 215 424 77 9 53 207 61 17 87 289 .262 .306 .419 .726 85 678 58 22 12 12 7Weeks 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 2003-2010 MIL 642 2823 2413 446 610 109 24 89 265 91 20 303 648 .253 .355 .429 .784 106 1034 31 87 8 12 8While the stats aren't exactly comparable, as Rickie has 200 more games and almost 700 more PAs over that time, I think it gives a very low end for what Rickie would be looking for. Phillips has been a wonderful player for the Reds over the past few years and has arguably been a bargain. 4yrs/$27MM is almost $7MM per season and undoubtedly less than what Rickie is asking for but still is a good comparison when considered it was signed in 2008. FWIW, Phillips is making $11MM this season.

I wish we knew what both sides were offering long term. I know its difficult to find comparables for Rickie but it sure does seem like both sides may be having a little unrealistic expectations. I wonder if the sticking point is years, money or both. I really thought Weeks extension was inevitable and now it sure does seem like it's less than 50-50 whether he gets extended. I hope he does because realistically, when was the last time the Brewers were able to sign a free agent of Rickie's ability? I think he's irreplaceable in the short term.

Ridiculous numbers. I could not give one player $30MM in any large, medium or small market. Even Pujols. Put another way, if Pujols were the Brewers 1B and the option was to sign Pujols long term to a $30MM/year contract and be stuck with mediocre to league average players at other positions or to have Braun, Hart and Weeks locked up long term for $30MM combined with just an average 1B I go the second route. I just don't think the Cards could afford to pay their other players like Wainwright when the time comes. If Pujols is signed to this deal, Holiday is already locked in for $17MM a year and Wainwright will likely command a $20MM per season when his contract ends after this season, the Cards would be looking at $67MM per season tied up in three players...WOW! And we think we have problems with Greinke, Weeks and Marcum getting extended.

(Excluding Miller Park and County Stadium) It's gotta be Petco Park. Living in Southern California has its advantages as I have 3 stadiums within an hour from my front door. But of those three Petco shines pretty brightly and would imagine the ambiance around that park would rival any other in baseball. Its location in the Gaslamp District of San Diego is the equivalent of the Brewers building Miller Park around Water Street with the party atmosphere before and after the game. More specifically, the building types would be more like the Third Ward i.e. renovated old brick buildings once your in close to the ballpark. Great bars and great eats all around when your there. Plus its San Diego...the talent is off the chart. Angel Stadium is great for the game specifically but they really are ridiculous when trying to tailgate about drinking; to the tune of $350 tickets. Plus there really isn't much to do before or after the game. Like Miller Park, you're driving to the next event. Dodger Stadium is the most overrated ballpark ever. Terrible food, terrible fans, terrible seats. Bad location other than when the smog allows you to see the mountains.

Count me in the camp that believes Fielder ends up with the Angels. Even with the Angels owing $20MM+ per year to Wells over the next few years, Prince is the type of bat that fits perfectly in that lineup. With that rotation and a middle of the lineup that has Wells, Fielder, Morales, Hunter...wow. The AL West could have some seriously offensive battles between the Angels and Rangers. Even though Prince has snubbed the Brewers in re-signing attempts, I don't believe him to want make enemies by signing with the Cubs. Of course if they offer the most, he will go there. But all things being equal, I would expect him to go to the Angels or Orioles before going to a Cubs team where he would easily become the most despised player in baseball for Brewer fans.

After reading up and looking at the renderings of the new ballpark in Miami, I couldn't help but think of the monstrosity that has become of Soldier Field. Nothing is as bad as Joe Robbie, Pro Player, LandShark or whatever its called now but man this place just reeks corporate office building and not a ballpark. I hope I am wrong once the stadium is finished but it doesn't look good from my outsiders perspective. Take a look

After reading the Fangraphs article, I switched the Brewers into the West and the Astros into the East. It makes more sense from a geographical standpoint for the Brewers as they already have the geographical closeness to and rivalry with the Cubs and Cards. It also makes more sense for the Astros as the closest teams in proximity for them are the Cards, Braves, Marlins, Reds or 3 teams from the east. Houston really has no traditional rival and their location puts them where travel is going to be almost equal whether they are in the east or west. Because of this, I believe the Brewers would hold the rivalry chip and that would swing them into the west.

Oh man...this is an idea that gets me pumped up. Realignment's time has come again especially with the inevitable addition of a 5th playoff team in each league. My thoughts on this topic: #1. 2 divisions in each league: East and West. By doing this, the horribly imbalanced AL West and NL Central problem goes away as each team will compete with the same number of teams for balance. 8 teams in each NL division and 7 teams in each AL division. #2. 2 division winners and top 3 records make the playoffs regardless of division. Guarantees 4 of the top 5 records in each league will make the playoffs. This should do away with the "AL East problem" of the past few years where a 90 win team misses the playoffs in favor of a lesser division winner. #3. Seeding is based on record. Division winners aren't guaranteed home field. For example, 4 teams make the playoffs in the new AL East and the AL West winner has a worse record than all four of them, the AL West winner will not have homefield advantage. My divisional alignment: NL West Brewers Dodgers Giants Padres Diamondbacks Rockies Cardinals Cubs NL East Astros Reds Pirates Nationals Mets Braves Marlins Phillies AL West Angels Rangers Mariners A's White Sox Royals Twins AL East Yankees Red Sox Rays Orioles Tigers Indians Blue Jays I think this is the most realistic scenario. As much as I would not mind RyDogg's suggestion of all west and all east teams in the same division, baseball purists will never allow this in my opinion.

Absolutely agree. I've always felt like the outside exterior of the stadium should have been continued on the inside beyond the OF wall. Don't know how I would actually pull that off and how much cost that would have added to the total cost of Miller Park, but the concrete and green does make it look awfully industrial and bland as sbrylski stated. As long as we're on the topic of ballpark improvements, I miss the old manual scoreboards in the fence in LF. Wish those would return. Never been a fan of the videoboards in the fence

If I can't get a total uniform rehaul, I am all for changing the shimmery gold on the current uniform to the yellowish gold that is in the new Miller Park sign. That's a much better looking color than the sparkly one we currently have.

WTP: No. If that's the holdup, then I agree with you. KRAMNOJ: Why do you have any reason to believe this isn't the holdup? Sure, we can't trust everything a person in a front office says completely, but I don't think it's a coincidence that Weeks agent waited until after Uggla got his deal before exchanging offers. RESPONSE: Not trying to get into a battle with you over this but do you know they waited until after Uggla got his deal before they exchanged offers? The first reports I heard regarding talks of an extension came was at the Winter Meetings when Melvin said he spoke with Genske or well before Uggla got his deal. Do you think they just said "hey Rickie interested in an extension" and then dropped the conversation? I'm guessing they at least talked about some parameters of an extension i.e. years, salary. WTP: But as an organization, with the arbitration number offered, the Brewers front office is telling me they believe Corey Hart is worth almost double 3yrs/$26.5MM (Average annual salary approximately $9MM. Hart's 2011 salary is $6.5MM) then Rickie Weeks in 2011. KRAMNOJ: This isn't a valid comparison. You are comparing salaries in free agency years to an arbitration offer. RESPONSE: You left out me mentioning the gamesmanship of arbitration hearing. I alluded to this in my previous post. WTP: POINT #3: My pure speculation is that I do not believe that is what is holding up this deal and the Corey Hart contract is really the baseline Weeks is looking at for his extension. KRAMNOJ: If all you have is speculation, you are throwing out some pessimistic words out there: sickens, ridiculous, absurd RESPONSE: All you have is speculation as well. How do you know Rickie is asking for Uggla's deal ($12.5MM average per season) when he asked for $7.2MM in arbitration? I don't think offering a lowball salary of $4.85MM to Rickie is the right way to start of negotiations for an extension. As the extension talks have now been shelved in favor of a 1 year deal, I feel sickens, ridiculous, absurd is quite fair to use in this situation where we lowball a player who wants to play in Milwaukee.

And if these guys develop we have 3 stud pitchers in Marcum, Gallardo and Greinke with cheap options to fill the rest of the rotation. Even if paying Rickie qualifies as an overspend, we still need offense! Additionally, we will likely have relatively inexpensive players at SS, CF and C and we all seem to agree that having a cheap bullpen works for the Brewers. I don't see why we can't have Corey and Rickie for cheaper than we were willing to pay Prince. I'm not saying over 5 years they should both equal the $100MM. I'm saying that I would much rather have Corey and Rickie making a combined $20MM per year over the next 5 than spend that money on Prince. Apparently we have the money for that. And like Logan said, Greinke is as good as gone after 2012 if Rickie joins Prince in leaving and we are left with Farris and Gamel as replacments.

You're right. I do not know what they are offering Rickie. However, we do know they are offering him $4.85MM for 2011 which is low for a player of his caliber. Yes it may be arbitration gamesmanship. But as an organization, with the arbitration number offered, the Brewers front office is telling me they believe Corey Hart is worth almost double 3yrs/$26.5MM (Average annual salary approximately $9MM. Hart's 2011 salary is $6.5MM) then Rickie Weeks in 2011. As I stated previously, the Brewers have set the market for homegrown players wth the Hart deal. If I am Rickie, I want $9MM average per season at least on my new deal. Hence the breakdown of my proposed deal. Do I think Rickie deserves the Uggla deal? No. If that's the holdup, then I agree with you. My pure speculation is that I do not believe that is what is holding up this deal and the Corey Hart contract is really the baseline Weeks is looking at for his extension.

This entire thing sickens me as a fan after the amazing offseason we have had. Losing Fielder after 2011 and potentially losing Weeks after 2011 looks like an enormous step backwards regardless of Greinke and Marcum's presence in 2012. Like a lot of others on this board have already said, injuries can't be predicted and considering this with Weeks is ridiculous. Yes his wrists might always be a concern but who are we going to get to replace him? Farris? Please. A lineup with Betancourt, Gomez, Farris sure does ring of 2001-2003 all over again. Looks like another JJ Hardy situation to me where we essentially push the player out the door. I hope I am wrong but I am getting the same feeling based on what was offered and what Rickie is really worth. I for one believe him to be a $7MM player now and would have no problem offering him a 4 year deal where his salary extends $1 per year or something along these lines: 2012: $8MM 2013: $9MM 2014: $10MM 2015: $11MM 4 year/$38MM An organization that willingly will spend $10MM on pitchers like Suppan, Gagne or Wolf (who I like but not at $10MM) won't spend the money on a legitimate Top 5 2B/leadoff hitter in all baseball is absurd. They set the homegrown Brewer market with the Hart deal at 3yr/$26MM. Weeks is worth more than Hart already and should be paid accordingly.

Human Growth Hamburgers?

Jon Heyman on MLB Network said last night that he thinks Jones could be had for $2MM. Appears like Gomez can match his D and BA, but Jones far outpaces him in OBP. Still, I think Gomez is a better fit than Jones. Jones strikes me as the poster boy for suspicions of some kind of HGH/steroid use. He really fell off a cliff in 2007 in his age 30 season. Pass.