ramssuperbowl99

Thanks guys. Appreciated.

Disagree if the deferred money is without interest. I'd much rather pay Ramirez that money when a dollar is worth less.

Current Payroll:C – Jonathan Lucroy ($400k)C - George Kottaras (estimated $800k)1B – Mat Gamel ($400k)2B – Rickie Weeks ($10M)SS – Alex Gonzalez (estimated $3M)3B – Aramis Ramirez ($12 M)LF – Ryan Braun ($6M)CF – Carlos Gomez (estimated $2M)CF - Nyjer Morgan (estimated $2M)RF – Corey Hart ($9M)UTIL OF - Logan Schafer ($400k)UTIL IF - Taylor Green ($400k)UTIL SS - ? ($400k) Total - $45.8 M Fairly reasonable total for what I think is a solid lineup. No blatant overpays - in fact, there aren't any really bad contracts for 2012 at all here. SP – Zack Greinke ($13.5M)SP – Yovani Gallardo ($5.5M)SP – Shaun Marcum (estimated $6M)SP – Randy Wolf ($9.5 M)SP – Chris Narveson ($400k)SP - Wily Peralta ($400k) Total - $35.8 M Wolf is the only real overpay here. Greinke is expensive, but you get what you get. Gallardo and Marcum are bargains. Narveson and Peralta couldn't be cheaper. CL – John Axford ($400k)SU – Francisco Rodriguez ($13 M)RP – Jose Veras ($2.5 M)RP – Kameron Loe ($2.8 M)RP - Marco Estrada ($400k)RP - ? ($400k)RP - ? ($400k) Total - $19.9 M K-Rod is the blatant "ZOMG" here. Without his contract out bullpen takes up a mere $7M of our payroll (and Axford provides more value than that on his own!). This is why K-Rod needs to be traded and the Brewers need to hope that Zack Braddock and Mark DeFilice come back to form. Grand Total - $101.5 M Wow. Big number here. Bullpen is partially responsible, but what it really is are the extensions from the young guys we kept around (Weeks, Braun, Hart, Yovani) combined with a couple free agents or trade acquisitions (Wolf, Greinke, Marcum, Ramirez). Pretty shocking, no? Big ups to Mark A for biting the bullet on the $100 M mark. EDIT: And, as if to laugh at me, Tom Haudricourt invalidates my calculations:Haudricourt Tom Ramirez's 3-year, $36 million deal will have some deferred money in it to try to help #[/s]Brewers[/b] with payroll in 2012. EDIT #2: So does Doug Melvin, apparently.Haudricourt Tom Melvin, on where #[/s]Brewers[/b] already are with 2012 payroll: "We've stretched it well beyond where we wanted to go."

Interesting math for 2012: Casey McGehee + Yuni Betancourt + Prince Fielder = 6.3 WAR Aramis Ramiez (3.6 WAR in 2011) + Alex Gonzalez (1.1 WAR in 2011) + Mat Gamel (estimated at 1.5 WAR) = 6.2 WAR

You may not care, others here may not care but it doesn't really matter what we think. All that matters is what MLB thinks and MLB thinks players deserve suspensions for stuff like this. Which is why I'm hoping that Braun gets found innocent.

http://steroids-and-baseball.com/ Read and learn BF.net File me squarely under the "I really hope he's not suspended but couldn't give a care what he puts in his body" group

This organizational philosophy brought to you by the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Aram turned down a guaranteed $15m for 2012 from the Cubs. He's not signing a 2 year deal for $20m unless the market completely collapses. I'm assuming that you are talking about arbitration. As I said, I'd kick in few few million per year in incentives as well. He also got $2 million from the Cubs to go away. If that's not good enough, he can take his talents elsewhere. I've went back and forth on this guy, and I've decided that I wouldn't go more than two years. If Melvin won't go two years on guys like Hinske or JHJ, why should he go three or even four years on Ramirez? Much more risky if you ask me, especially when I'm not convinced that anyone will give him three years.Because Ramirez is better than JHJ or Eric Hinske and it's not even close? That's almost like saying, "If the Cardinals were only willing to give Rafael Furcal 2 years why did they offer Albert Pujols 10?"

People who are expecting a legitimate prospect are kidding themselves. Robbie Erlin or Koji Uehera? This would be like the Brewers taking Chris Davis for Wily Peralta. In reality, we might be able to squeeze a mediocre reliever prospect or a low level guy they don't like out of them if we throw in some cash considerations. But that's it.

Do we actually know anything about this guy? I can't find anything so far.

This. Scooter is one of those guys overrated by scouts because they see a great hit tool and forget that he isn't that great at getting on base.

As for Thornburg's innings, I don't think IP is a great way to evaluate pitchers' workload - it's more of an approximation that we have to use since better data isn't always available. Thornburg threw several outings in excess of 130 pitches as his season wound down, and often pitched on short rest. That can be far more damaging than throwing 30 more IP spread throughout the season. Further, the Brewers' handling of TT after he signed was evidence they clearly thought he was overworked. He pitched sparingly on very strict pitch counts. And while Roy Oswalt and Tim Lincecum come to mind, they are really the only workhorses I know that are TT's size. In general, small size like that tends to limit the player based on the sheer physics of throwing a baseball that hard. I hardly think my opinion on this is controversial. That said, Thornburg is an impressive prospect who would probably find his way into the Top 150 of overall prospects. He's dominated his level, smoothed out his motion, and demonstrated absolutely outstanding velocity. Further, his mechanics seem to work for him. However, when provided with two players of similar upside, I'm going to take the one who has a more traditional frame. That's really the reason I have Bradley and Jungmann over him. It's certainly close and I wouldn't criticize someone who went with Thornburg as the 2nd best prospect in the system. As for Scarpetta, you're right. It was Peralta that had TJS and came back from it. Thank you, that's noted. When I saw Jungmann he was 91-93 with good run. Is it possible that you saw him on a back night or did I just see him amped up?

1. He's a terrible hitter. 2. He's a terrible defender.3. Yuni doesn't have a prime. There might be a period on his aging curve where he sucks marginally less than the rest of his career, but that is not a "prime".

While there are many "make or break" prospects for the Brewers in 2012, no one is up against the clock more so than these two. Personally, I think we are going to end up with at least one outstanding bullpen arm out of the two. Scarpetta's stuff would be particularly wicked out of the 'pen.

2. It mostly just has to do with the fact that taller people weigh more and, in general, you sacrifice the quick lateral movement a SS needs for the power that comes from an extra inch or two in your frame. It's not even really about being "fat", as plenty of guys are too big for the position and ripped. You just don't have the agility to get to grounders that shorter players do. It's the same reason NFL corners tend to be shorter, if that helps. 3. I didn't see him at A+, I saw him at AAA so I can't speak to any adjustments he made. That said, his pitch recognition is fine, but, and this might sound blunt, he just can't hit. He doesn't have the bat speed. He's not going to hit for power. I don't think he'll make enough solid contact to be anything more than an empty .220-.240 hitter. Even with his great defense, that's pretty much just a backup catcher, which are a dime a dozen. That's why I'd take a young guy with upside for a more prominent role over him, and that's why he's not on the list. As for the two first rounders above Thornburg, it's because Thornburg is short, has violence in his delivery and was overworked to hell in college. I think he's a huge injury risk, and if I told you to list the aces that are Thornburg's height and weight, you'd name Tim Lincecum. That comparison is about as valid as the Dustin Pedroia - Scooter Gennett (read: not at all). Thornburg won't be able to pitch 200 IP a year in the big leagues for an extended period of time, whereas a guy like Jed Bradley or Taylor Jungmann has the frame to be a workhorse. Further, the main reason someone would rank Thornburg ahead of Bradley or Jungmann is that he's had success already and is closer to the majors. That said, I'd expect Bradley and Jungmann to debut for High A and move quickly, so that's not as big of a gap as you might think. Ultimately for me, upside wins out. Thornburg might be a mid rotation starter who is hurt a bunch and a good pitcher when he's healthy. Bradley might be an ace. Jungmann might be a consistent, 200 IP workhorse #3/#2.