Austin Tatious

I wonder if someone like Reid Nichols would be considered to slide over? I hope it's not someone from within the organization. I'd like a Cards influence. Shelby Miller, Wacha, Lance Lynn. How about that for pitching identification? That's damn impressive. In the lineup, you can look at Adams, Carpenter, Jay and Wong just in recent years. Some of these guys were low draft picks, and so arguably there is some luck involved, but the Cards know what they are looking for. Hitting on home grown talent like that is what we desperately need.

I would have a hard time giving up Nelson for just two months of Lester. I can't see that at all. One of the lower levels guys, like Jorge Lopez? Lopez and Haniger? That's two top 10 prospects. Lopez has a high ceiling.

1. But why is KC motivated to move Gordon? 2 Don't they have young talent coming together finally such that they are trying to win and stop perpetual rebuilding? 3. Assuming KC would move him, what do they truly need? 4. Can Gordon be a legit 3b solution?

Beede is interesting because this time last year he was considered a top 5 guy, if not top 3. I saw him projected up there with Rodon in some projections in the early post 2013 write ups. I would take Kyle Schwarber over Pentecost hands down. Pentecost may be a true catcher but I don't care. Schwarber will be a plug and play 1st baseman very rapidly. He is a very sophisticated bat. He has prodigious power, but he is a beautiful hitter because he also hits for high average. He takes what the pitcher gives you. He will go the other way; he can work the pitcher. He would finally give us a left handed stick at first base that can hit for average and power. I would be really impressed if the Brewer brass pulled the trigger on Schwarber. Make no mistake though, he has rocket power too.

The Bosox have about 4 advanced arms that they are excited about so they may want a next generation arm, maybe more like a strong single A prospect? How are they looking on young outfielders? I am in the camp that I wouldn't give up too much for Middlebrooks. He could be a AAAA player and product of the NE media bias. We've heard for the past couple of years that the the Brewers' system is completely barren and look at Khris Davis, Gennett, Thorny, Kintzler, and Peralta right now, with Fiers, Nelson and others in the wings. Meanwhile, you hear about some of these Yankee or Redsox prospects like they just split the atom and they aren't all that. The baseball media apparatus is heavily slanted toward the northeast so when Brewer prospects are downgraded and northeastern prospects upgraded, you can disregard it to an extent.

We've been hanging in there with Khris Davis. Hopefully it will pay off. He is already up to .244. We need him to be a run producer.

Good, get that punk into the AL.

Good points, Danizig. His contract value helps. Also, keep in mind, he still gets to around an average of 190 IP per year....I can't deny that he does labor a bit...but keep in mind, he misses a ton of bats. His strikeout numbers are impressive, and his won/loss percentage and career ERA are impressive. At an average of 190 IP and 15 wins per year, you have to consider that a winner and a workhorse. At age 27, you have to expect more to come. The one year he got hurt was '08, it was a knee, not an arm. He goes out there, takes the ball and produces. In a down year, he is 6-7 with a 4.20 and is on an uptick on an awful team extrapolating to 66 wins right now with the entire middle of the order impotent right now. This guy is marketable despite the laughable velocity shrieking.

Ken Rosenthal or Olney said that Arizona would deal Skaggs in the right deal. Also, one of those sources said that Arizona is said to covet Gallardo because (1) of his Mexican heritage which will be marketable in Arizona, and (2) he is under team control for a couple of seasons, i.e., he is not a one year rental. So, while Gallardo is not as talented as Greinke, when factoring in the package he can command, keep these factors in mind.

OMG thank God you are not our GM because Melvin is not as short sighted as you are. Someone like you, with a sky is falling mentality, could never have pried away Segura last season with all the Debbie Downer stuff. No hyperbole, that's what you are engaged in. Gallardo's velocity has fallen off a bit this season and he did have a stretch earlier where he wasn't pitching well. That's not everything, son. You look at his overall track record, not a stretch of a few starts where he struggled or else you will get robbed. He is trending better again except for his last start. You look at someone's overall track record, not a short snapshot. Yovani was never a 97 mph guy with any regularity, so just ignore that. That was never his game. If you want to exaggerate then your whole point can just be thrown out. Let's operate in the real world. If you want to be taken seriously, talk seriously. His velocity dropoff is way, way, way overblown. It's slight, and you act like that trend will continue. If it did, he would be throwing 83 in a few years. Get real, kid. As pitchers age, the ones with savvy, like Yovani, make up with with it by knowing how to pitch. Listen to the pitcher that know how to pitch with experience. The Seavers, the Carltons, they will explain it to you. You dismiss the idea that Gallardo doesn't credit for being a 15 game winner year after year? I don't even know what to say. You have to understand the sport and pitching. Certainly there are guys that go out there every 5th day and know how to win games for you. Yovani is that type of guy and he knows how to do it. Some guys do and some guys don't. No hyperbole on prospects. The vast majority never amount to a hill of beans. And I'm talking about the ones that are supposed to be good. You don't trade proven studs for fool's gold. Melvin did it right for Greinke and he will do it right for Gallardo. Last year Texas wouldn't give up Olt for Greinke and last I heard Olt was struggling as Melvin alluded to. Middlebrooks is foundering now for Boston. These guys aren't sure bets, Davidson included. Yovani is a proven guy and will continue to be a solid starter. Only a complete buffoon gives him away. Mevin, luckily, understands value, and Milwaukee will get value for Gallardo. That's just how it will be, and I don't really need to debate it with faux accusations of hyperbole.

Some type of Gallardo, K Rod and Aram for Lee, Seager, and Pederson deal would be interesting. Pederson has a high ceiling and I see no need to flip him. Roll with a stud outfield of Braunie, Gomie, and Pederson. We would have to wait on Seager and he is extremely young too, so there is a chance he won't pan out. Lee's ceiling may also be a question. I like the possibilities with the Dodgers, but honestly, my first choice would be a deal with the D backs for Yo involving Davidson and Skaggs.

Gallardo is only 27 and a proven starting pitcher, a workhorse, who is good for 15 wins, year-in-year-out on a contender. Prospects come and go. Regarding the D backs, Davidson's profile sounds alot like one Mat Gamel circa 2009, good line drive hitter to all fields with a glove that's a work in progress. Skaggs has a high ceiling, but you just don't know. Yo is proven, and still young. Melvin is saying he needs to be blown away, and I applaud him. I say it takes Skaggs and Davidson, and maybe a lower minor leaguer. If need be, Milwaukee sends back someone else like a K Rod and maybe a minor leaguer we can live with to balance it out. If the Dodgers want to outbid, have at it. Zach Lee, Pederson, and their young 3b all look interesting. The point is none of these young guys is proven, and a certain percentage of prospects are flat out fool's gold.

I'd let him start this year. He has good stuff. There is a school of thought that he is a reliever at the end of the day but we don't know yet for sure.

Thanks Homer. Other than his last start, seems like he's been trending better.

I know he struggled early (0-6 with 6 plus era), but has he settled down since then? Anyone have his June stats?

How'd he do?

Man, Roenicke is one stubborn dude. It's like he is ticked off that people want him to sit Weeks and he doesn't want to look like he is falling for outside pressure.

Totally agree with this. Salary relief might be enough for me to bite so we don't have to worry about the 2015 option vesting. Agreed. We are all savvy enough to understand that the Brewers don't need anything back of consequence. This would be an addition by subtraction deal. Take an older class A reliever with an ERA above 5 and call it a day. Weeks is a rally killer. Strikeouts, hitting into double plays, mediocre defense, no clutch gene, it's just so disheartening when you get excited with a rally and then he strolls to the plate and your heart sinks and he never surprises you. It's sad when you pray for a walk or an HBP. He has even lost his speed.

We still have the bulk of 2013, all of 2014, and an easy vest for 2015. That's pretty bad.

I agree that Burgos should have been done by the 7th or 8th run. I realize it taps your bullpen but he only lasted through 3 anyway. We are talking about two more outs. And we need a true long reliever. Someone stretched out who can go 3-4 innings. Frankly, that's what Estrada should be doing and what Narveson can do when he gets healthy since we're stuck with Estrada in the rotation. And for you Estrada lovers out there, spare me your venom. I don't want to hear your BS "stats." The fact he is he tires after about 5 innings, he gives up the gopher ball at an alarming rate, doesn't have great stuff, etc. Estrada is holding a place until the young pups come up. Estrada would have been a perfect guy to bring in the 3rd. He's a classic long reliever, a good one. As a number 3 starter? No way. We've gotta get 2 of Thornburgh, Nelson, Jungmann, Hellweg and Bradley into the rotation by 2014.

I agree Prince. Segura is phenomenal. Just making the observation about the infield as a whole.

I was just perusing minor league stats and we have a number of prospects struggling so far. Granted, it's super early and stats have a way to return to the norm. But it is a bit of an epidemic. Guys like Thornburgh, Jungmann, Hellweg, Coulter, Morris, Roache and company are struggling. On the plus side, Bradley is rebounding. Jimmy Nelson is looking good again. Maybe Nelson can end up like a Chris Carpenter or Adam Wainwright someday? A guy can dream. He seems like the type of pitcher the Cards would trot out there every fifth day. Mitch Haniger is another kid who just goes out and produces. I don't know if he profiles as anything more than a 4th outfielder, but he looks interesting to watch. If we continue to struggle and we trade assets at the trade deadline, maybe we can find a way to get some toolsy, 3b, 2b, and SS prospects. We need athletic talent at those positions. I wouldn't put a 98 pound weekling like Gennett in the toolsy category.

Haudricourt or someone posted his average velocity by year and he's dropped off precipitously considering he's young. The really good pitchers compensate for this phenomenon by using their experience to pitch smarter. Let's hope Yo can adjust better than what we have seen so far.

Weeks' salary is an albatross of epic proportions. He can't be moved and Milwaukee is stuck with him. The Brewers don't have a young 2B that can produce anyway. The Brewers also don't have a young 3B. The young SS are years away. This team needs to re-load infielders in the worst way. The Brewers have a number of young outfielders with promise, but not so much in the infield aside from 1B. But with Weeks' salary, Milwaukee is stuck. Just bat him 8th and treat anything he does as a bonus but don't rely on him for the heavy lifting.

Thanks - what channel on DirecTV? MLB shows something else.