randybreuerfan

Not a big fan of Houston the city. Lots of traffic, rain, humidity, and with a culture that, in my opinion, is in the lower quartile of big league cities despite its population base. I'd be partial to barbecue-based names, and here are some other options that have no chance of happening and have some relevance to baseball, the city, or its culture. Houston Tylers Houston Streets Houston Human Traffickers Houston Aliens Houston Cowboy Hats Houston Beyonces

I would like to know how past tests for Braun turned out.

3. - I wonder where Braun's sample was obtained. St. Louis maybe?

3 thoughts: 1) Braun had amazingly high trade value until today. 2) I wonder if he will ever have as good of a season as any of his first 5. 3) MM: "Hey Braunie, how are you doing, pal?" RB: "Hey, get out of here, McGwire, you creep. Get over to your own clubhouse." MM: "Hey Braunie, did you hear your name came up for testing today? Here's the letter. Our guys just picked it from out front." RB: "Let me see that... why'd this come to you? (reads the sheet, then looks up) You still here? Get outta here, you creep. You trying to watch me piss or something?" MM: "Just making sure you read the sheet. Don't ask too many questions. We've got our eyes on you. You know they're going to catch you, right?" RB: "Get out of here, you creep.' MM: "Just put the cup in the window over there when you're done. We'll make sure it gets to the right place."

Nice task! Bye You Runt.

What field are you going into?

Happy Thanksgiving, Mass Haas, thanks for everything!

1year -$23m 2 years - $45m 3 years - $66m 4 years - $85m 5 years - $100m 6 years - $110m 7 years - $115m

It's hard to know what the Brewers are going to be able to do at SS without knowing what their budget will be. Option 1: Get Reyes. Price: 1 draft pick, $125 million (higher price to get him here) This option is being discussed elsewhere. My opinion is that Reyes will not be worth the money he signs for. Option 2: Get Barmes. Price: $6 million (higher price to get him here) This damages our offense but shores up our defense. There remains some flexibility for other upgrades. There will need to be offensive upgrades elsewhere, or else Green and Gamel will be relied upon heavily. I think this is the whack-a-mole solution to the 2011 season, and it doesn't move the team forward enough on its own. Option 3: Keep Betancourt. Price: $4 million. This is the don't-whack-a-mole solution. It is a money saver, but it's not going to make the Brewers any money in the short or long run. That extra $2 million would need to go to a true difference maker somewhere. Option 4: Trade for Ramirez. Price: $46 million remaining on his contract + trade: At his peak, beyond anything we could offer. Now, given his injury, his 2011 performance, and his marginalization on his current team, Greinke or at least 2 of Weeks, Marcum, Wolf, Peralta + high-level throw-ins (Narveson?) would be generous to the Marlins. At this price, maybe even Logan Morrison or Gaby Sanchez could come our way, too. Ramirez, once healthy, more than makes up for the loss of Fielder for offense. It leaves us with other problems including continued low-average defense at SS. But would the holes created by the trade be bigger than they would be after dumping salary to afford Reyes? Not necessarily. The commitment would be dozens of millions of dollars less for a (more) talented and younger player. Option 5: Do both of # 2 and # 4. Put Ramirez at 3B. Assuming Weeks is part of the package, our offense looks like this: Hart Morgan Braun Ramirez Gamel Hairston Green Barmes Lucroy P (1B/OF, Gomez, Gindl, Maldonado, backup SS/3B/2B) If Weeks stays somehow - say we lose Greinke: Hart Morgan Braun Ramirez Weeks Gamel Barmes Lucroy P (Gomez, Kotsay-type, McGehee, Hairston, Maldonado)

If Fielder were to return, there would seem to be little reason to change much other than dropping off some dead weight (McGehee, Yuni, Counsell) and replacing old parts (Saito, Kotsay). It's not like the Brewers could buy a ton of stars and get closer to the Phillies' talent level, so slight rearranging would have to do. But even with Fielder, the 2011 Brewers in 2012 would probably not win 96 games again. They would not have the same chemistry, luck, and string of 31 magical games. Everyone would be a year older and slower. If Fielder does not come back, there can be no pretending the Brewers are anywhere close to a 96-win team. Making a few minor changes + getting a budget replacement for Fielder (Gamel or otherwise) would mean a very low chance of having even 55% success. ___ If things stay about the same, our lineup next year looks something like this: Hart RF Morgan/Gomez CF Weeks 2B Braun LF Gamel/journeyman RH 1B Green/McGehee 3B Lucroy C SS P (I put McGehee in instead of Hairston on purpose: If I were Hairston, I would be looking for either more money, more playing time, or more of a certainty of getting to the playoffs than I would have penciled in on the short side of a platoon on a team that looks to be on the wrong side of 88 wins.) With this lineup, our defense may be slightly better in 2012. Our pitching will likely be worse - because our bullpen was stacked and performed well for much of 2011. And, our offense would be several steps in the wrong direction - probably to about average or below. Beyond that, from anticipating Braun/Fielder every 2nd or 3rd inning to watching that lineup? meh. It's an anticlimactilineup. It's filled with players who were complimentary pieces on the 2011 Brewers but don't necessarily compliment the Brewers of the future. My hope: those complimentary players may have more perceived value to other teams than they actually have with the Brewers in 2012 and beyond. (That's what seems to be unusual this offseason - usually Brewers are undervalued by outsiders and have the potential to be very useful going forward.) Players - from most likely to least likely - fitting that bill: Corey Hart: getting older, getting slower, getting worse in the field, but a power hitter who puts up good numbers and is not terribly expensive. He could play 1B for the Brewers, but then, so could Gamel or any number of low-priced veterans. Randy Wolf: He is a solid #2-4 SP whose contract will be up soon. He can pitch like a mid-rotation pitcher pretty consistently, and his numbers looked good in 2011. If the Brewers were "all-in" in 2012, he would be all-in with them. But he might bring back a very good prospect or maybe even two from a team who has more reason to be excited about next year. Shawn Marcum: In 2011, we needed Marcum more than Lawrie. It worked out for us, almost. Now, maybe that's not the case. If he could get a great prospect back to us, it would be very tempting. Of course, he has more value to us if Wolf or another pitcher is traded away. Casey McGehee: He's only this low on the list because his value to other teams is not likely to be very high. But why spend millions of dollars on someone who can't move in the field and will no longer be able to bat behind Fielder? It's hard to imagine the Brewers having a good answer for that, especially with Green available. Nyjer Morgan: Hawkins and Fielder kept him in line in 2011. Who will keep him in line next year? His numbers are shiny. Maybe he can tickle us back a young solid shortstop who is a year or two away from the big show. Zack Greinke: I'd at least listen to offers. If a truly elite C or CF or several top-level pitching prospects are offered, I could be swayed. Rickie Weeks: Personally, he is my favorite player. If his speed doesn't come back, can he become a consistent power hitter with close-to-average defense? Probably. Who besides the Brewers wants to take that chance, and what are they willing to give us? Jonathan Lucroy: He's only 25, and he's clearly improving. He's much easier to cheer for than, say, Yadier Molina. What's that worth around the league? What's that worth to the Brewers? Hard to know if he belongs on this list. But if there's a star catcher available further up, then I wouldn't stop the deal just because Lucroy is here. Now is one time that could work to trade production for talent. If a combination of the above players could lead to the Brewers acquiring young, star-potential players at any position, but especially in the middle of the defense or SP, and the new Brewers could competently accompany Gallardo and Braun from 2012-2016, suddenly next year's team will be much more interesting, at least to me.

one run each inning - not bad. But at some point, they need to stop scoring and we need a crooked number.

Mr. Golden Hands!

suck on rainy butteye!

Berkman's not so bad as a diplomat - and he even agrees the Cardinals are like Darth Vader: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/story/2011-10-08/Brewers-Cardinals-rivalry/50705330/1

Hey Arizona are you watching? ok last anagram. (NSFW) suck on rainy butteye