chad25

I would like melvin to go after both. offer both guys 1 yr deals backloaded with incentives. beneficial to the brewers because it would give us veteran bullpen arms and (hopefully) good 7th & 8th inning guys. Plus if the season isnt going well, we could trade them. We only need either of them for 1 year because by then we should have a better look at the minor pitchers and if we could move any to the bullpen (Rogers, Thornburg, Pena). Realistically, I would think Melvin will make an offer to one of them. Make an offer to J.P Howell or Affeldt. Make an offer to Mike Adams or Jason Grille. So I think our bullpen will look like: Axford Henderson Kintzler Narveson *Madson *Howell *Adams

If we traded for Haren it wouldn't surprise me and I wouldn't be upset about it. 1 yr quality starter to fill in while our young arms get more seasoned. But I am in the camp of wanting to trade for James Shields. We would definitely have to give up more talent but I would love to see him pitch in the NL. The Rays probably will not be able to resign him after next year and they have the depth in pitching where they can afford to lose Shields. That would allow the Rays some extra cash to go after a big bat in the outfield like Ryan Ludwick or Torii Hunter. They also need a 1B so they could make a run at Adam LaRoche. He will probably get a similar offer to what ARam got last year, 3 yr/$35-40 million. So ideally I would trade for James Shields and Jose Molina. I would give up Maldonado and Morris. Ishikawa can be added in as well. It gives the Rays a cheap, young solution at catcher. Maldonado is great defensively, which is something they need to improve on at every position. And Morris a potential long-term solution at 1B. If thats giving up too much for 1 yr guys, then they send us some cash as well. I just don't know how the Rays value what I would offer.

I would be ok with the brewers going into next year with a rotation of: Gallardo Fiers Peralta Estrada Rogers Its young and potentially dangerous but as has been said, we have depth in Stinson, Thornburg, and Burgos. Keep Axford, Kintzler, Henderson and then revamp the bullpen with new guys, whether thats by signing FA's or trades. The Lineup should continue to be solid and produce runs. The odds that our bullpen has ANOTHER implosion like last year is unlikely. So in my opinion, we could go young in the rotation and spend the extra money on the bullpen and extend some everyday players.

I don't think they will bring him up. He's already pitched 171 innings, 50 more than last year. I would just name him minor league pitcher of the year and let him get some rest after his awesome year.

I had a couple of questions about the rest of the season so I just put them here: Who pitches in Rogers spot in the rotation? -->Peralta. He last pitched on the same day Rogers did. No pitch limits on his starts. When do you shut down Fiers? and Who pitches in his spot? -->I would have made today his last start but since that isn't the case, his next start, this Saturday should be his last. I think Thornburg will be in his spot and if they still have him on a pitch count, it's fine because of the extra relievers. Do you shut down Estrada? If so who is in his spot? -->Yes. Let him pitch 3-4 more starts, that would put him at around 130-140 innings. He hasn't pitched that many since 2009, and most of those came in the AAA. Livan can pitch in his spot (I know, everyone is groaning.....) because at that point he would only have to give us 2 starts. Yes the Brewers have a "chance" to make the playoffs but I'm more concerned about taking care of our young arms. We'll still win games because of our strong lineup and our bullpen seems to be improving. I think we will finish around .500 even if we shut down 3 pitchers.

Gord Ash was just interviewed during the game and he said that they won't bring up that many guys like last year because he wants playing time for the people they do bring up. So maybe just 5 guys. Rogers has already been shut down and I think its a foregone conclusion that Peralta gets called up to pitch Wednesday against the Marlins. He last pitched Friday, which is also Rogers last day he pitched. Fiers I'm guessing will pitch his last start tomorrow. He's already pitched 30 innings more than his previous high. Thornburg pitches tonight and likely will be called up to take over Fiers spot in the rotation. Both (Peralta and Thornburg) probably will be brought up Tuesday. I dont think they will bring up Davis, nor do I think that Gindl or Schafer gets the call. Gord Ash didn't have a lot of positive things to say about either guy. I would guess the other 3 callups will be bullpen guys and Taylor Green.

I was with some friends the other week and we were thinking of ridiculous trades but one came across that really intrigued me........ 1)Say Mark A buys the Bucks from Herb Kohl. 2)Mark A then offers to sell the Bucks to the owner of the Seattle Mariners for $0. In return, the Brewers get Felix Hernandez and their top pitching prospect Hultzen. The Mariners would also have to pay for King Felix's salary with the Brewers until he retires. Felix's salary would be set at equal to what the highest paid pitcher is for that year. This idea was just so interesting and off the wall that I wanted to bring it up. It obviously will never happen but if this mythical trade interest were to come to fruition, I would do it. But then again, I don't like basketball that much. Would you do it?......

I just want to warn you to be careful with how you state things. You are stating these things as if they are fact when they are actually your opinion. There is a very real possibility that Beckett's and Crawford's best days are behind them and they never return to form. It's hard to take people seriously when they state things like this so matter-of-factly. It seems like that has become a problem with a lot of posters recently, not just you. Yeah I understand that I'm stating things but I think people can understand that it's my conjectures, not actual fact. I don't see why stating things, which are opinions, makes it hard for you to take people seriously. But I will state things less adamently. If I had to guess their lineup for next year, it would be... 1-Dee Gordon, 2B* 2-Carl Crawford, LF 3-Matt Kemp, CF 4-Adrian Gonzalez, 1B 5-Hanley Ramirez, SS* 6-Andre Ethier, RF 7-Luis Cruz, 3B* 8-A.J. Ellis, C *I'm not sure which position he will play.

I view this as a great trade for both sides. Dodgers gave up a rental 1B, 2 backups, bullpen guy and 1 good prospect to get an elite 1B, a frontline starter, and a top of the order bat. Gonzalez will return to form playing in L.A., Beckett's ERA will go down pitching in the NL west, and Crawford will return to form next year because their will be less pressure on him to produce playing in a lineup that includes Ramirez, Kemp, Ethier, and Gonzalez. Money isnt an option to them so go for it. Red Sox dumped a ton of salary so they can start fresh in the post Epstein era. Young cheap backups, a bullpen arm, and an advanced minors pitcher. Still have Pedroia, Ellsbury, Buchholz and Lester. Pedro Ciriaco and Mauro Gomez are young talents along with upper-level prospects Bentz, Bogaerts, and Webster. A core is there, just need to spend their newfound money wisely. I dont see anything wrong with it.

Now..... I'm guessing Peralta, Thornburg, De Los Santos, Hand and Sanchez for pitchers. I know they need to limit Estrada, Fiers, and Rogers innings. Emergency guys (in case of injury) Kintzler, Stetter, or Dillard. For position guys I'm guessing Green and Schafer. But could see Quintero (3rd catcher), Farris, and Gindl.

Sounds like a great trade If we could get Hellickson but I think he's too good for the Rays to let go. But if we could get Shields for 1 yr (his club option) with the possibility to resign him (4 yr 68-75 million) I would be all for it. I would offer up Maldonado, Gamel, Bradley, and Scarpetta. Ask for Shields and J Molina (backup catcher for 1 yr) plus 500k cash. Rotation of Gallardo, Shields, Marcum (1 yr deal), Peralta, and Fiers.

My starting 5 for 2013 1)Yovanni Gallardo =>I hope he's a brewer for life. 2)Shaun Marcum, Roy Oswalt or Jeremy Guthrie to 1 yr deal. =>Try and give Marcum a chance. If they want to go with someone else, I would look into Oswalt. Im surprised people haven't thought of him as an option (could be his health). Then Guthrie should be looked at. Not great career numbers but he played in the AL East almost his whole pro life. He should get better moving to the NL against weaker lineups (I know he pitched in the NL this year for Colorado but that place kills pitchers). 3)Rich Harden, Colby Lewis, or Chris Young to 1 yr deal. =>All three pitchers coming off injuries and should be cheap options. Harden took the whole year off because of muscle problems. Lewis, if all goes well (and depends on if Texas lets him go), should be able to pitch around the start of next year. And Young came back this year off injuries to pitch with the Mets. Yes very risky but cheap, especially Harden and Young. Basically hoping to hit a "Flash in the Pan" year. 4)Michael Fiers =>Looked good all year minus a couple blowup starts. Deserves the chance to pitch 180-200 innings next year. 5)Wily Peralta =>I think he has nothing left to do in the Minors. He's finishing this year strong and I believe he is the most MLB ready of our pitchers in the minors. Estrada, Rogers, and Hernandez in the bullpen. And with how risky my rotation could be, it would be nice to have 3 guys who are stretched out and can start in a pinch. I also like having Livan in the bullpen to provide veteran bullpen presence. Do you think he could be a Player/Coach, maybe offer him the bullpen coach job too? killing 2 birds with one stone

Ok well besides arguing over the "an out is an out" phrase, Do any of you realistically see Ransom with the team next year? We have other, younger options and there might be players who we could sign very cheap with lots of incentives.

In most situations, a strikeout is exactly the same as any other out. In some situations it's better, and in some it's worse. Cesar Izturis came to the plate 47 times with a runner on first and less than two outs this year, and he GIDP'd seven times. That's significantly worse than a strikeout. Izturis doesn't have a job on a MLB team right now, the Nationals kept him for about two weeks before releasing him. He hasn't been a MLB starter since 2010. And clearly there have been many horrible players who have not belonged on MLB rosters who continued to get a roster spot; that's hardly sufficient to say that they're worthwhile MLB players. Ransom is not a problem as a bench guy on a mediocre ballclub. He plays solid defense at three difficult positions. This is the first season where he's had a chance to put up over 200 PA's, and he's hitting .204/.297/.379. Again, you can't just ignore his performance with Arizona. But, given that this team is out of the running this year I'd have absolutely no problem if they decided to let him go and plug in Taylor Green and Jeff Bianchi to get them a few more PA's when the MiLB season ends. If you have the stats of when Ransom has come to the plate with a runner on first and less than two outs, I'd like to know how he compares... You might say that Izturis isnt a worthwhile MLB player but this is the first year of Ransom's 10 yr MLB career where he has had over 100 PA's. Izturis has had only 1 yr of less than 100 PA's. Ransom is not a worthwhile MLB player. Izturis and Ransom play the same defensive positions and have played a similar number of games. Izturis has 3 errors and Ransom 4...... so they both play solid defense at difficult positions. I just do not see how anyone can make a solid argument for us keeping Ransom the rest of this year and having him be a backup candidate next year O yeah and I dont know if this has been said but he strikes out at a very high rate....

I guess I'm the only person who would rather have Cesar Izturis over Cody Ransom. As has been said before, he strikes out way too much, the most unproductive out. Izturis at least put the bat on the ball. He has a better career batting average and with many more at-bats. Defense is about the same between the two. If Izturis is as bad as everyone on here thinks he is than why has he continued to find a job on a major league team? Yes Ransom has more power and a higher OPS but I cant get over the strikeouts. If your reasoning behind keeping Ransom as a backup IF is that he gives us some power, then my question would be Why do we need our backup infielder to have pop in his bat? I think its some people's obsession with home runs. Its just a matter of how you want your bench to look like. Some people want everyone to have HR power. I want our bench to give us quality defense and productive at-bats (limit the strikeouts). We already have tons of pop in our everyday lineup so I just don't see the need for our bench to look the same.