Crewin06

Offense - A : When you have the best OPS in the NL and the only NL team in the top 5 in the league, you are a pretty good offensive ball club. Other Notable include #2 in the league in HR's 12 in front of the 3rd place team. 2 all-star position players but really could have up to 5. I don't understand how the offense doesn't get an A. Defense - B : The Brewers around league average for number of errors. On merit alone they probably don't deserve a B, but considering the mess that this team was supposed to be, the team deserves this grade. Starting Pitching - B- : I am suprised they werent better. Suppan has struggled, Bush has struggled, Capuano has been injured, Vargas doesn't want to throw on the inside part of the plate. This grade would be lower if not for Sheets who has been a rock. The saving grace is they are healthy and usually get to the 6th inning. I expect the staff to pick it up in the second half. Relief pitching - A : Villanueva is rediculous, Cordero is amazing, When everyone currently in your bullpen has an ERA under 3.2 except for your setup man, you know they have done the job. Turnbow the Black sheep of the pen has a 3.7 ERA. I think it is time to dump him. . Manager - A : Everyone has given Yost a tough time but he has done one hell of a job so far. Does not make things to complicated. Sticks to the plan. Gets people days off when needed. The Brewers are currently in first place in the NL and 3 games off the lead for best record overall. I say that is pretty darn good. And the best part of it is the Brewers have played the tough part of their schedule. Overall - A : They have the best record in the NL and 6.5 games up in the division. An A is the type of Grade these teams get.

And I think it is an exageration to think that Gwynn, Jackson, Sarfate, Etc. could be the main pieces to anything that would remotely upgrade the current team.

I know Texas isn't going to give Otsuka away, But in the same token the Brewers shouldn't give away their players either. And I understand that Otsuka would really help going forward as well, that is why I brought up his name. However Otsuka is 35 years old and a reliever that will probably pitch 70 innings a year and will likely be with the Brewers for only 2.5 more years. If that is worth a 24 year old power lefty with a 1.29 ERA and in AAA and a 2.7 ERA in AA this year AND a 28 year old Major League starting pitcher that the Brewers still control for another year that is sporting a 4.3 ERA then I would tell Texas to go pound sand. The Brewers got Cordero and Mench last year for a 2 month rental of Carlos Lee and draft pick compensation. And Mench was expected to be decent. The Braves got Wickman for a High A ball catcher. I would like to go after Otsuka but Melvin needs to know when the price is to high and when the price is Parra and Vargas it is definitely too high.

I couldn't agree with this more. However I think Melvin will wait till the off-season to find such players. Maybe he can find a Villanueva type for Jackson, Sarfate or Rottino. That is part of the reason I really liked the Cappellan trade of today, although I wish the guy was a little younger.

With so many righties in our order Left handed pitchers really don't stand a prayer. I mean Braun, Hall and Hardy completely destroy lefties. Mench and Weeks are not horrible and Fielder destroys any pitcher. Then you have Hart who is pretty darn good against both. Estrada is worse against lefties but that is one out of 8.

Woe, Woe, Woe. I am the one that started the thread 2 weeks ago and love the idea of adding Otsuka, But a competent starter with a 4.3 ERA AND a power lefty high ceiling prospect at AAA for a 35 year old reliever? I don't know if I could give up that much for Otsuka

I hope Melvin is smart enough to build this team in the off-season but explore the options available at the deadline for decent deals such as Grafinino and Bell last year and I hope he looks into Otsuka or some other reliever this year. No need to mortgage the farm but don't be affraid to part with prospects. This off-season should be pretty active as ussual with Gallardo and Villanueva deserving of spots and all 5 starters locked up for another season it should be fun to watch who stays and who goes. I think Vargas is a lock to be moved this off-season because of his good play and the fact he is easily replacable. As for now though I would stand pat unless a really good deal presents itself. Such as Buehrle for Vargas and Jackson or Buerle for Parra.

If Griffey doesn't end up in Dodger Blue by the the end of the season, someone will have dropped the ball. I would love for him to be a Brewer but it is not going to happen. I would think Griffey is worth Kevin Mench and Tim Dillard. If Cincy eats some salary I would think more along the lines of Manny Parra. Back to the dodgers though. Great staff, Good on base guys, no power in the middle of the lineup. If he went to the Cubs I would Cry.

Let' not forget that it was only 2 months worth of that leftfielder and draft pick compensation that would come later and the Brewers got 1.5 years of Cordero and what was percieved to be a competent Left Fielder (Mench) in the trade. I would assume that Parra in the deal would easily get the negotiations started. It might take a little more to get Otsuka but let's not forget Otsuka is 35 years old and Parra has 6 years of Major League Control left. That would be a huge part of the deal. If Parra turns out it to be even an average starter I would think that it would be a good deal for Texas. If Parra can put it all together and stay Healthy it could be a steal for Texas. Then again Parra could get injured after one start and Texas could get burned. All things to weigh out. However Texas would be willing to come to the table if we offered Parra

Who would be up for Piggybacking Vargas and Gallardo and moving them to the number 4 spot and put Bushy in the number 5? I know its not done to much in the majors and relatively new in the minors ( I think they only do it in the very low minors) But have Vargas and Gallardo start every other time and have the other guy finish out the game or go as far as they can. This would keep both fresh for the postseason and limit Gallardo's innings total, keep him on regular starters work regiment and give him good exposure to the major league experience without him being relied upon to much. The only problem I might see is that Vargas and Gallardo seem to have the same types of pitches. I don't know just a suggestion.

JJ Hardy has to make it, doesn't He? He has fallen off lately but he is still #4 in the NL in HR's, #7 in RBI's. And his defense is the best aspect of his game. That has to count for something. I would say that 3 S.S. make it in the NL, seeing how bad the 2nd base crop is. I think JJ has to be one of those 3

Exactly. I think it would take a player like Parra to get Texas interested. Maybe some people think that is to much but we are talking about a proven reliever that has been pretty reliable over the past three years. Personally I don't know if it is enough. I know we couldn't get him for Sarfate. Parra has a lot of potential though, being lefty is another big plus along with the fact that he has been doing pretty well this year. With that said it looks like we have a ton of young starters for the next couple of years (though you can never have enough) and the brewers are probably going to lose Cordero in the off-season leaving a hole at the closer position.

It's a possibility that they keep one or maybe even both. But both have decent value and considering Texas is not going anywhere this year and both are on the wrong side of 30, I wouldn't be suprised if both are gone after the deadline. I would bet that it is a around 50-50 that Otsuka would be gone after the deadline. I would think that he is more likely to get dealt than most of the players that are discussed around here regularly

I look at this guy as the perfect pickup. Arbitration eligible through 2009. An older pitcher that doesn't make a ton of money. I think he makes about a million this year. He would be perfect for the pen this year and a possible replacement for Closer a year down the road. He is 35 years old but has a 2.1 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP in the AL I was thinking about something along the lines of Manny Parra. But I know some would say that is to much. So what would you guys give up for him?

Isn't it rediculous that we are let down when he lets up a couple of runs. I am the same way but when you look at it 4 hits, 1 walk, 8 strikeouts through 5 innings. That is rediculous. To bad about those 2 runs.

I was thinking pretty similar. I wouldn't say anything of Value though. I would more along the lines say anything they might use. As an example Jorge De La Rosa. I am glad he is doing well. It bodes well for the Brewers in future trades. As for items we might not use in the future. I would throw Manny Parra, Zach Jackson, Maybe Angel Salome or Captain Lou's name out there. I would also throw any of our A or A+ outfielders names out there. Go after some players becoming Free Agents and see what is needed to get them. With that said. I don't think Graffy has much value. Same with Mench. They are probably more valuable to us than they are to any other team. So I wouldn't go trading them just yet. Maybe we will get lucky and Mench learns how to take a walk like he used to and can get some value before the deadline. Until then I would say hold onto the low value guys. Hopefully Cappellan, Mench, Aquino, Spurling, and others build up some value before the deadline and we can get some quality players for them.

Actually Peavy that is what I thought also. I just read Cott's page though and I guess that the 2008 Option is waived if Adam Dunn is traded before 2008. That is one hell of a contract the Reds signed him to. Avoided the second year of Arbitration with a 7.5 million dollar offer in 2006. The Target was 7.1 to 9. The 2007 contract is 10.5 (which would have been the last year of arbitration) and his 2008 is 13 million team option that can increase to 16 million based on awards bonus's and is voided if he is traded. That is one hell of an agent. Get basically what he would have received anyways plus an option that is on par with the elite sluggers in the league and the option is voided if he is traded. Nice!!!! Either Brian Peters is a genious or the Red's GM that signed him to that is a damn fool. I will take the latter. Either way I don't think Dunn will be traded this year based on this new information.

If 135 Innings is his limit this year, this discussion is also moot. There is a fine line between coddling and babying and I think 135 innings for someone who will have 80 innings in the first half of a season is babying. Gallardo had 154 last season. Tim Dillard had 180+ in his first crack at A+ at 21/22 up from 70 the previous season. Now I am not saying going Dillard's route with Inman would be smart but it can be done without the player killing himself. If Inman's limit is really only 125 - 135 then he would need to be shut down 3/4 through the season. The 180 would also be asinine, but a happy medium of what Gallardo established last season would be right about where I would expect him to be. That way in 2008 he can try to build up to 180-190 and in 2009 as a 22 year old he can be ready as a full time starter to put up 210-230 Good point on the options also. but really how many options does a player have? I am not really on the up and up on player option aspect of the game. It seems like Zach Jackson has been bumped up and down a couple of times, same with Jose Cappellan. Dana Eveland was shuffled around a bit as was Ben Hendrickson. Did Hendrickson pass through waivers a couple of times over the last few seasons. I know he was out of options this season but he was also 26 and I believe he was with the club since High School. The reason I brought this up is the point of the Minors is to help build up talent for the Big League club. If Inman can help the big league club and is one of the best pitchers in the organization than what would you rather do have him get his innings at AA or have him get his innings in MLB. The more I think about it the more improbable I think it becomes but personally I think I would rather see Inman out there in September or October than someone like Cappellan or Spurling. But this is also coming from someone that hasn't seen Inman pitch. So there is probably a huge gap between my perception of their ability to perform and their actual ability to perform.

No problem I totally understand. Just thought I would throw it out there as a suggestion. I kind of figured you guys were working on it but didn't know for sure if it was a time constraint or just a random oversight. I appreciate all the time and effort you guys put into it. Now the quest for the next one begins with all the new players that will be added to the power 50. How many of the newbies will be on and where will they land? The next one should be just as entertaining as this one is to read.

Thanks Bill Scott. This is the type of discussion that I was looking for. I don't really think it is probable. But I do think the option is there and it has a possibility of happening, I was just raising the question. I do think that the IP limit has a lot of weight in the decision. But our estimations on the IP limitation differs slightly. I agree that the Brewers aren't building towards this year alone. But if you can win this year than I see no reason in shielding a player from playing in the Majors if he can help right now. I am not saying that we should make him a starter and run up 240 innings on his arm. However if he dominates AA and he is on of the best pitchers in the organization then I see no reason why he shouldn't get some work in the majors as long as he stays within the limitations that the Brewers have set for him. Now if the Brewers feel that he isn't one of the 12 best pitchers at this point in the organization then it is a moot point. I know that he has a future as a starter and would probably go back down to AAA or something next year to build up endurance. I was just throwing a hypothetical out there. Personally I don't think it is going to happen either. It is an option though that I could see happening in the right circumstances.

Great job guys. I love going down the list, good comments on everyone. One humble request though. If it is possible, could you guys update the players' I.D.s. I like clicking into the player and looking at their 2007 stats and age and looking at why they are ranked so high or low. I know if I put a little effort into it I can just go to the Brewers site and look at their 2007 stats which I do now. I just like it more if it is all in one place. It's not a big deal if it's not done. Just a little request. Great work, the Power 50 is always fun to read through.

Because he could probably help the Brewers without getting in the way of his own personal Growth. It worked last year with Villanueva. I don't really see what is so different. It's not like we have to leave him on the roster at the beginning of next season. Send him to the next step of AAA with a probable mid-season call-up. Just like Gallardo. The only difference is that the Brewers probably have something to play for this September/October. If Inman makes our team the best possible, why not have him on the roster?

I don't see IP as the big determinant as much as pitch count. He has been getting through Innings pretty quick. Right now he is on pace to pitch 160 innings. His next start will probably be his last for Brevard County. Say through his first 7 starts for the Stars he has a rediculous sub 2 ERA with 120-130 Innings pitched and it is now Late August. You couldn't see the Brewers bumping him up to the big club to help during the stretch run and into the playoffs if it is determined that he is one of the 12 best pitchers in the organization? In the Bullpen he would probably get another 30 innings and would still be at his target of 150-160.

There is no links or anything like that. I was just discussing a Buehrle for Inman Deal with someone and he brought up the point that Inman won't be able to help the Brewers for another couple of seasons. I didn't really argue it at the time but it got me thinking. How long until Inman helps the big club? Now we all know that Gallardo is going to be on the Brewers in one form or another at season's end and Inman is on the same track as Gallardo was last season. So what happens if Inman is moved up at the mid-season point for the minors to AA and he dominates it like he dominated A+ and Gallardo dominated AA last season? Is he one of the Brewers 12 best pitchers? Could he help the team in the post season? Would the Brewers actually bring up a AA pitcher? My answer to all 3 questions is Probably. I mean there is Precedent for this with Villanueva last year and Eveland the year before that. So what do you guys think? Even if injuries don't happen could you see Inman called up in August or September to help solidify the Bullpen to go into the post season with a starting rotation of Sheets Capuano Suppan Bush And a bullpen of Vargas Villanueva Gallardo Inman Shouse Wise Turnbow Cordero Maybe they will keep another bat instead. But the question still remains could Inman be called up at season's end?

So, You mean that we pray that JJ goes down with an ankle injury in mid may so that Billy can play Short stop everyday, right? Again. Billy was a top 5 SS in the league last year. Give him time to learn his position so he can focus on hitting again. He will do fine as a CF.