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.

O yeah I meant that what they do with Ishikawa will determine what happens to our bench. Hart, Ramirez, or Marcum are more determining factors.

To anyone who still thinks the bullpen hasnt cost us this season, I disagree entirely. Yes, "You win as a team and you lose as a team." But everyone has a job to do so we can win. The bullpen's main job isnt getting done: minimizing the runs scored/holding the lead. When they convert 50% of save opportunities, theres a huge problem. 22 saves blown saves. 17-29 record and 4.85 ERA. Even our starters are NL average, and thats with 2 starters out and another traded away. At this point in time, I dont what Roenicke can do other than what he has been doing: closing his eyes and hoping for the best. Relievers are up and down sometimes but for EVERY reliever we have to be equally terrible, is not a coincidence. Just have to revamp it for next year. Get rid of many, sign a FA/FA's, or trade for young help (my choice). What a heartbreaking year to be a Brewer fan who expected so much.......

I dont think Ransom will be back. He has nothing to offer us. I would rather have Cesar Izturis than him. Yes he's a righty with power but he strikes out WAY too much. I hope he's not back. Thats why I want the brewers to sign a backup in the offseason. Im not sure if they will keep Ishikawa. What they do with him will decide who they might sign in free agency. --->If they keep him, I'd like them to sign Jeff Keppinger, Marco Scutaro or Freddy Sanchez. Whoever is the cheapest. Then bring up Bianchi to be middle IF depth. --->If they dont offer him arby, I'd like to see them get Eric Chavez, but I think he might be too expensive. They could go after Mark Teahen. He'd be real inexpensive and can play 3B, 1B or RF. Lefty too. I went with Jose Lopez. He's young, bats right, and can play 3B 2B and 1B Yeah your right, if we had an injury we would have very little depth but only in the IF. We will have Gindl, Prince, Haydel, and both Davis's in AAA (Im sure one of those guys will remain in AA) so there is organizational depth. Maybe not as good as Schafer could be, but depth nontheless. Sign a free agent IFer for depth there. Injuries happen but you dont plan for them. The Brewers have shown that even when you lose 2 starters and a third for 2 months, you can still have a productive lineup. In the NL: 4th in runs scored, 1st in HRs, 4th in SLG, 4th in OPS. I'll stick by my opinion that we should trade Green, Gamel, Maldonado, and Schafer (most hesitant to trade him) but you do have really valid points.

Monty57 For those talking about trading away our good young players for relievers... really!?! That's like trading someone a $20 bill for a $5 bill. I understand that our bullpen has cost us a lot this season, but let's not go overboard. We should be able to get some of our 2013 bullpen from the minors, and I have no problem with Melvin offering one-year deals to some veteran relievers. I really hope he doesn't trade away our decent trading chips for relievers. They're the least valuable players on a team, and they are a crapshoot from one year to the next. It's very possible that Loe, Parra, Veras and K-Rod are all good relievers next year, and it's very possible that whatever relievers we'd buy with Gamel, Green, young pitching, etc would be every bit as bad as this year's Brewer bullpen has been. Melvin has a habit of getting himself in a situation where he's stuck with the underperformers because he can't send them to the minors to get things figured out. Hopefully soon we will have a bunch of guys from our farm who can fill out out 'pen for league minimum and with options remaining. We're not quite there yet, but should be in a year or two. I think thats just me. I said I'd trade Logan Schafer, Taylor Green, and possibly Cody Scarpetta (if they wanted an extra arm in the deal, and Scarpetta might have to go to the bullpen with his arm issues). And to clarify, the Phillies would give us Aumont and De Fratus, but you could possibly ask for 3B prospect Maikel Franco if they really value what we offer (Im just not sure of other teams opinions on Green and Schafer, we all seem to look at them highly). Aumont and De Fratus are major league ready prospects that the Phillies are probably going to bring up this sepmtember so if we traded for them, and they started underperforming, we could send them back down. They have options. I dont want to spend money on another FA reliever because the only "good" ones might cost us a fair amount of money. I dont view Schafer and Green as valuable to this team next year (and future years) as others on this forum do. Pertaining to that, those guys have nothing left to prove in AAA and would just be backups on this team (without trades done). I want to reward them with the chance to start somewhere else, and not just use them as fill-ins because they are cheap. So thats why I would trade them this offseason.

Ok Ill just refine my opinion on "Which way would I go".......For 2013 In MY perfect world...... Rotation 1)Yovani Gallardo 2)Shaun Marcum (resign him) 3)Roy Oswalt 4)Michael Fiers 5)Wily Peralta -Average Rotation with potential to be very good. Bullpen John Axford Donovan Hand Livan Hernandez Mark Rodgers Marco Estrada Phillipe Aumont Justin De Fratus -Id trade Taylor Green, Logan Schafer, Cody Scarpetta to the Phillies for RP Phillipe Aumont and Justin De Fratus. Have 3 long relievers to backup injuries and young end of rotation. 2 young power arms through trade and let De Fratus set up for Axford. If he slumps again, put one of them in as closer. Lineup C: Jonathon Lucroy, John Buck 1B: Corey Hart 2B: Rickie Weeks 3B: Aramis Ramirez SS: Jean Segura Backup IF: Eric Farris, Jeff Bianchi, Jose Lopez LF: Ryan Braun CF:Carlos Gomez RF: Norichika Aoki 4th OF: Caleb Gindl -You get John Buck through a trade with the Miami Marlins. Trade Mat Gamel and Martin Maldonado for John Buck (they pay $4 mil of his $6 mil salary), Adam Conley, Adam Brice, Jose Urena, and Jose Alvarez. Just adding more arms to the minors. Sign Lopez in free agency to backup 3B and 1B I KNOW, I KNOW.... only 1 lefty bat on the bench and no lefty arms at all on the pitching staff. Now tear it apart, thats my favorite part

I keep seeing people say "we don't have a long-term plan". But in my opinion they do. We have a talented lineup for years to come. Our pitching staff is getting younger due to the influx of talent ready to come up in the next few years. The only older players I dont see in their long-term plans are Ramirez and Marcum. But Aram can be useful for the next 2 years while we look for a young 3B/prospect and Marcum is just a stop-gap starter until our young arms come up. And we are rebuilding our Farm system..... No team is ever complete, having no questions or aging players that are just fill-ins.

I would like Schafer replace Morgan as well but if the Phillies were to offer up two major league ready relievers with back-end of the bullpen stuff for a 4th OF and backup IF (at least thats what Schafer and Green would be on our team next year, unless trades are made), I'd take it in a heartbeat. I just think both Aumont and De Fratus have more value to us next year and the years beyond than Green and Schafer. Of course I wouldn't be thinking of this trade if our bullpen hadn't lost us 30 games this year (that number might me off). Ok here's another trade I thought of: Trading Mat Gamel and Martin Maldonado to the Miami Marlins for John Buck and prospects Adam Conley, Jose Urena, and Brian Flynn....... John Buck makes 6 million next year so they'd have to pay 4 million of it. That would give us some more quality young arms that can all start or relief and Buck to backup Lucroy for a year. The Marlins need a young, cheap 1B and C (both of whom could be good). I don't think the Marlins would give up any of their top prospects for a guy coming off a torn ACL and a C with one good 2/3 of an MLB year. So thats why I chose those prospects..... what do you think?

So we have all talked about trading Hart and Ramirez. What about making trades to pick up bullpen guys? I know we could go after guys like Mike Adams, Grant Balfour, or Brandon League. But Im curious as to think what we would have to trade to the Phillies to get 2 of the following players: Relievers Phillipe Aumont and Justin De Fratus, and 3B Maikel Franco. I dont think they want to move either of them because they have had recent Bullpen struggles as well but they are looking to get cheaper at CF and 3B. Could we send them Logan Schafer and Taylor Green? Maybe throw in a lower level arm too. They would have more money to sign some decent relievers. Although Im not sure how valuable other teams view both Schafer and Green.....

who does everyone think will get called up this september?? my guess is they will bring up 2 position players and 3 Pitchers. So you have 11 relievers, more than enough for when/if we shut down Fiers. I'd personally like to see them bring up Bianchi, Schafer and Farris. I want to see how Farris looks on the field. Just because he would be a cheap option for backup middle IF next year. I dont think he has much left to prove in AAA. Same thing with Bianchi, he just only plays SS though. For pitchers, I'd like to see them bring up Peralta, De Los Santos, and either Sanchez or Hand (would have to make room for them on the 40-man). Thoughts??

haha..... I love that some people take what is said on this forum so seriously. These are just people's thoughts and ideas. I might say something you dont agree with or get my facts incorrect but jeez relax a bit. You'll live longer. I see what you mean by key free agents Peralta is unproven in the majors and yes, his ERA is high this year. He had some real bad starts but he's starting to clean it up. I think over his last 6-7 starts he's looked very good. I think a lot of people see him in our rotation next year. I hope he gets his chance next year. And ok the worst case scenario for him could be worse than I put it. Ill change it and say "worst case scenario" is his ERA matches Wolf's of this year, mid 5's. And related to Narveson, if they dont look to use him in our rotation next year it wouldn't bother me. Sign a Free agent pitcher to a 1yr deal.