Jose Cardenal1

No Alonso doesn't excite me. His 2.0 WAR is his cummulative number over 5 years (383 games) not his per year contribution. Honestly I think Hunter Morris could put up similar numbers.

As for the $7.5 some should get picked up by the White Sox or covered by sending them Overbay and/or Gorzelany as part of the trade. Why would anyone hate hitting at Miller Park? Seems pretty hitter friendly, especially to LH's. Dunn is also hitting at a 910 OPS against Righties. (vs. 644 OPS against righties for Overbay). More than makes up for worse defense.

Yeah Dunn. The guy with an 846 OPS. They guy who no matter how low his average goes will always take alot of walks and hit HR's (yes your right the mirror image of Mark Reynolds). A guy who won't cost much in terms of prospects. A guy who you are not tied to past this season. Most importantly for the Brewers, a middle of the order guy who bats LH. Listen there are plenty of guys I would rather have at 1b, but you have to be realistic about who will be available and the Brewers really need a LH power bat.

I am rooting for the White Sox to slide out of contension early and pick up Adam Dunn as a rental.

I would offer Gomez a 3 year $60 million extension right now. As in today. I would structure it as adding $5 mill to each of '15 & '16 salaries and then salaries of $16, $17 & $17 for '17-'19. It would be hard for a guy to turn down a guaranteed $60 million when he is 2.5 years away from FA. Plus if he is healthy he can still command a good salary for years '20 - '23 (age 34-37) like a Mike Cameron or Tori Hunter.

Colby, PG has Stokes listed at 5'11" but MLB has him at 5'8". Which do you think is more accurate?

and in the 4th round..... Troy Stokes CF/HS

Yeah Mayo had him at #178 so maybe we can save a little here.

btw I want Jackson Reetz - C/HS

Well it would be nice not to have someone at the mothership always denigrating the things your favorite team does. Other than that no it doesn't matter. 3rd round kicked off who do you want

You have to wonder what Melvin and Ash have done to offend Keith Law. He never likes anything the Brewers do and sometimes seems to go out of his way to insult the front office.

Assuming we can get the three signed, love the picks. However, could the Brewers ever draft a LH bat high in the draft (1st or 2nd rd)? Just a dearth of LH bats in the organization from Arizona through the big club. Morris and Gindl are likely 4A players after that Denison and Delmonico are the high ceiling guys who very well may never get past AA. I guess there is Neuhaus too, but sheesh. At least we added a LHP which is also a scarcity in the organization.

I am of the opinion that the Rangers will overpay for Morales, leaving the Brewers to figure out a 1b upgrade another way. As soon as Morales signs with someone else I would cut Overbay and bring up Morris to see what he can do for a month or so before the trade deadline. With the WC it is hard to say who will or won't be available. But besides needing a 1b the Brewers really need a LH power bat too so the focus needs to be on filling both with one player. So if Morales is signed by the Rangers and Morris does not pan out I would target: Adam Dunn (hopefully he still has a glove sitting around) Ryan Howard (at this point the Phillies have to be [worried] with how much they owe him and will be happy to have someone pay a fraction of it) Nick Swisher (off to bad start, currently on DL and 3 years left on contract but at least he has a hot wife) Justin Smoak (not a huge upgrade but still an upgrade)

Here is mine: 1 Jimmy Nelson 2 Clint Coulter 3 Tyrone Taylor 4 Jed Bradley 5 Orlando Arcia 6 Taylor Jungman 7 Devin Williams 8 Victor Roache 9 Hunter Morris 10 Mitch Haniger 11 Nick Delmonico 12 Tyler Wagner 13 Drew Gagnon 14 David Denson 15 Chris McFarland 16 Tucker Neuhaus 17 Jorge Lopez 18 Michael Reed 19 Nick Ramirez 20 Damien Magnifico For having a bad system, there were quite a few guys I left off that very well could see time in the majors. Ex. D.Goforth, Hobbs Johnson, A.Weisenberger, C.Garfield, J.Pena, S.Zarraga

While I understand where your coming from HiandTight, I do not agree. If the Brewers are approaching the deadline with a playoff contending club and the starters are healthy and effective (presumably the reason why they would be contending) no way do I risk trading away Gallardo (and I love Jimmy Nelson). That wouldn't be just outside of the box thinking that would be unheard of thinking. Trading away your defacto #1 starter in the middle of a pennant race?? I realize that Gallardo isn't really a #1, but I think last year really soured the view of him. I believe he has returned to his 2007-2012 form. I am perfectly fine holding onto Gallardo through his '15 option and then offering him the QO and when he turns it down let some other team pay him $75-$80 million for his early to mid 30's years and get the draft pick.

Looking ahead to what hopes to be a pennant race and playoff baseball, the Brewers bench as currently constructed is very weak. My guess at this point is that R.Weeks never does get his bat going and the Brewers end up cutting him loose mid-season. So with that said I have started to look for some veteran guys who could play an important role for a contending team. I didn't have to look much farther than the team in town right now to take on the Brewers. The Cubs are going nowhere and will be willing to part with players who they are not building around by early June. Emilio Bonifacio is off to a very hot start which won't hold up. He will revert back to his more normal slash lines of .265/.325/.345 but with speed, switch-hitting and more importantly the ability to play 2b, 3b, SS and OF. He is a FA in the offseason and thus only a couple month rental so the price should not be to high. Maybe a Fiers, Burgos or Gindl would do. Thoughts on Bonifaciao? Other bench upgrades that wont cost more than a Fiers type prospect?

Thinking ahead to the offseason (or I suppose maybe even this summer), what kind of return do you think the Brewers could get on Estrada? Assuming he pitches 175+ IP with an ERA in the 3.60 - 3.80 range , and given he would be under team control for two years, do you the Brewers could pull off a reverse Shawn Marcum deal? Seems crazy to think about a Brewer team trading away starting pitching but it may be realistic and smart if the return is useful. I am a big believer in Jimmy Nelson and think he can step into Estrada's spot easily. On the down side we have 2 starting pitchers who will be free agents after 2015 (Gallardo (assuming '15 option picked up) and Lohse) and having Estrada under control for '16 would be nice. On a related note would Lohse ironically except a Qualifying Offer after the '15 season given his age at that point? Gallardo would surely turn a QO down (assuming health) and net us a draft pick.

After seeing Heckathorn's good 3IP spot start last night in place of a late scratch Chris Naverson it made me take a look at his season so far. First, overall he now sports a very solid 3.15 ERA in 60IP and also has a very nice 2.31 GO/AO ratio. A closer look reveals that he really has been pitching even better almost all year but one awfull outing on April 22nd (5 ER in 0.2 IP) which really masks how good he has been pitching. Without that outing Heckathorn has pitched 59.1 IP with a 2.43 ERA and 1.08 WHIP. Really solid numbers. I am not saying he should be in the discussion of top prospects in the system (which is dissapointing considering the small number of elite prospects in the system and his draft position) but he seems to have fallen off of everyone's radar. I would like to see him get a September call up and would not be suprised to see him in the Brewers bulpen to break camp next year.

Because of Tim Hudson's injury I looked at his career stats. He has had a really nice consistent career with the exception of one outlier of a season. In 2006 (at age 30/31) he made 35 starts with a 4.86 ERA. He got hit often and hard that year with no warning...and then returned back to a low to mid 3's ERA pitcher. Could it be that 2013 is Yo's outlier year?

I think the idea behind this is to: - give fans more incentive to keep coming to games this year - give fans something positive to think or talk about so they have a good feeling towards the Brewers - with the ultimate goal being to stem further attendence erosion in 2014 (don't fool yourself that is what is behind this) So my idea is to hold in game raffles between innings for the rest of the home games. As you come into the stadium everyone gets one raffle ticket for that day. Announcements are then made periodically between innings with the winning numbers and what they get. With the biggest prizes being say $200 credit to use on Brewer merchandise or tickets (inluding those for 2014). This way you thank the fans who still show up at the games by giving away a host of prizes, build good will, get rid of stuff in the brewers warehouses (old bobleheads, jerseys, etc), and ensure some people come back for 2014. This wouldn't cost much. Besides the give-aways of old stuff, you could give away 50 - $200 credits a game for the next 26 home games and it is only costs $260,000.

Bruce, you and many on the site go out of your way to attack the accusers (ESPN & MLB). This is the standard operating procedure for defense of a guilty person. Proclaim innocence, even if the story of innocence defies logic. Attack the accusers. Attack the system. What is more believable, the story that Braun's side has given or that he has been using PED's? You still need evidence, but the most believable is that Braun cheated. Kind of ironic that in the end Braun would have been better off not fighting the initial 50 game suspension. Getting caught buying or owning PED's, is going to be a greater sin than using them. And of course every scandal is made worse by lying or attempting to cover up, which in the end I think we will all see is exactly what Braun has been doing.

Really?!? I didn't say that if I was a juror in this case that I would find Braun guilty with the little evidence we have seen. I am saying that I am no longer a denier and have come around to the idea that MLB may have some pretty damning evidence. Raw Biz so you never believe in anything without hard evidence? So I assume you are not a religious man? You have never just felt like someone was lying to you without any proof to the contrary? We all have beliefs, and make judgements with the facts and circumstances as we know them. My belief at this point is that it is more likely that Braun has been lying than MLB has a trumped up case. You can hide behind the thought that MLB is only out to get Braun because he beat the rap once, but MLB wouldn't be going to the extent it has if they don't feel they have a case.

I did find the timing of the bereavement to be curious, but people die every day, and players have every right to be nearest their loved ones when that happens. And while I'd like to know about the details, this is one of many things that fall under the category of "None of My Business". I agree that it is none of our business. But...search mlb player and bereavement and every time a player goes on bereavement the reason has been disclosed right away. The player has the right to secrecy but never takes it, because what is the point of not telling the public that you had a death in the family. But then again if I recall, the announcement talked about a family medical issue not an actual death. I hope all is well with Ryan and/or his family, but there is enough suspiscion for me that this is some kind of smokescreen for something else. We should know in a couple days I guess. Over the last few weeks I have gone from a fervent Braun supporter, to one that knows in his heart that Braun did it and will get punished hard. For those still clinging to the Braun is innocent angle, trust me, there is actually a peacefull feeling that comes over you when you finally admit to yourself that you believe he did it. That doesn't mean I condone at all the way MLB has gone about its business and I don't think I can ever watch ESPN and that A$$ Buster Olney again.

http://yanksinexile.com/alex-rodriguez-may-be-seeking-a-plea-deal-after-mlb-meeting-friday/ According to this A-Rod may be in negotions for a plea deal and the best outcome may be a 150 game suspension. A-Rod's missing game on Friday along with R.Braun's bereavement leave, for still unkown reasons, has me believing Braun has been negotiating with his lawyers and MLB this whole time. Of course the whole bereavement leave could be true and Braun had the right to not comment and the Team could not say anything even if they knew the issue, but when was the last time a player, especially of his stature, went on bereavement leave with no known reason stated. The whole thing seems odd. Even odder, is that not a single person has posted to the topic thread of the initial bereavement announcement. I assume everyone else is either not very inquisitive or they have better manners than me to bring this up in polite company. Probably more of the later than the former.

I'll play along 1 Jimmy Nelson - will be one of the starting 5 in '14 2 Johnny Hellweg - Starter or bulpen? Either way should be part of team in '14 3 Tylor Jungman - ceiling of a #3 starter but starting to think he has a floor of a #4 4 Tyler Thornburg - probably should take J.Axford's spot as a late setup man in '14 5 Hunter Morris - isn't special but could hold down 1b better than average for a few years 6 Orlando Arcia - opposite of Morris. He very well could be special and kick Segura to 3b/2b in '17 7 Ariel Pena - Really solid year 8 Scooter Gennett - not convinced he will be more than ML average, but that is probably what they said about Gantner 9 Jed Bradley - crossing fingers that he continues the recent improvement 10 Devin Williams - clearly just a projection at this point 11 Victor Roache - hopefully tears it up in July & August but not looking good right now 12 Mitch Haniger - should be a ML contributor 13 Clint Coulter - An assignment to Helena next week would help 14 Tyrone Taylor - nice athlete with projection 15 Michael Reed - see Tyrone Taylor 16 Jorge Lopez - has the stuff, just doesn't know how to pitch 17 Tyler Wagner - kind of a pet prospect for me. Like his frame and movement 18 Damien Magnifico - Would be cool for a rotation to include a Figaro and Magnifico 19 Kris Davis - seemed lost at the plate with the Brewers and hasn't been much better back in Nashville 20 Tucker Neuhaus - Projection 21 Drew Gagnon - Good arm at a higher level has to mean something 22 Kentrail Davis - Time to move him to AAA. Not going to be a star but should contribute in the bigs 23 Yadiel Rivera - keep telling myself he is young, that can only last so long 24 Carmeron Garfield - still have some hope for this 2nd rd pick, not that old either 25 Caleb Gindl - shocking to see that he isn't as old as you would suspect. Has spent more time in Nashville than (fill in a country star)