Boomer5

I'm sure Oakland would do that. Two buy low guys for Gray? Moneyball indeed. Still this just highlights that the only meaningful ammo left for the Cubs is their MLB roster.

Not picking on you, but every time I have read a statement like this over the past 19 years it has driven me crazy. Dallas had the #6 pick, Milwaukee had picks #9 and #19. This trade was a pre-draft deal. If the Bucks did not agree to this deal, Dallas would have simply picked Dirk at #6. Dallas made the deal because the Bucks were willing to trade them #19 (which they flipped to Phoenix for Nash). There is no scenario in which the Bucks could have ended up with Dirk. They could not have "kept" him because he was never theirs. As soon as the deal was made prior to the draft, he always belonged to Dallas, and if the deal had never been made, he would have been picked by Dallas. The Bucks have made some incredibly dumb moves over the years, but this one should not be included since they really did not "trade away a future HOFer" which is how people tend to characterize this deal. The criticism they truly deserve from that draft? Paul Pierce was pick #10. This is very polite spin from the Bucks over the years. If the Mavs wanted Dirk that bad they would have just taken him at 6 and Bucks would have messed up 9 and 19 just fine on their own. To risk 7 and 8 taking Dirk would make no sense for Dallas.

If they trade a number 1 to unload Henson so they can sign Rose to a $20M per year deal I might be officially done with this leadership. He is fragile and a bad fit for us. I'd rather they just coach up their bad contracts and hope one or two produces rather than trade a number one and lock up Rose to a big deal.

With that, I have the espn Insider have access to Keith Laws prospect updates. Brewers ranked in the top 50 for April and July as well as the top 100 he created in January January 2017 ranking(top 100) - April Rankings update(Top 50) - July ranking update(Top 50) Ray 34 - 27 - NR Brinson 38 - 31 - 30 Diaz 41 - 30 - NR Burnes - NR - NR - 38 Clark - 67 - NR - NR Erceg - 70 - NR - NR Hader - 71 - NR - NR Ortiz - 79 - NR - NR Woodruff - 100 - NR - NR It will be interesting when MILB updates there top 100 but from the update ranking between BP, Law, and BA. It seems a lot of scouts are down on Ray. Keith Law was the biggest fan out of those three scout sites before and after the draft. Having Law drop Ray out of the top 50 says alot. For people who don't have access, Burness is right behind Mckay (first rounder from Louisville by Atlanta) and right ahead of Gohara (ATL) and Triston Mckenzie (stud pitcher for the Indians). Seeing him ahead of Mckenzie puts a smile on my face because I know a lot of scouts love Mckenzie and myself view Mckenzie as a future TOR pitcher (Carolina has faced him twice these year and he dominated them both times). I don't know if that is Law and his "love" for the Brewers or reality but that is one sad state of affairs. Only Brinson and Burnes are up there. Maybe Hader is off because he is in the majors? Clark, Ray, and Diaz have all been major disappointments. Yes there are excuses I suppose but Tim Tebow is at 972 in high A and he hasn't picked up a bat since HS and had another job in between if I recall.

Schwarber alone is probably more valuable than any one piece the Brewers could offer. Ian Haap also. In my post I said Happ would be enough to aquire Gray but that takes away from the MLB roster. Schwarber is in the eye of the beholder. Who do they see? The guy who looked like the next great LH slugger or the guy who can't field at all and is hitting .178 in mid July with a -0.6 WAR and has his service clock already running?

The question is what do the Cubs trade for Gray? They've traded their top guys. Candelario is interesting - but nothing great. I'm guessing they would have to dip into their major league roster - Happ, Baez, Schwarber, and Russell are a few names. Perhaps the A's like their lower level prospects - never know with Beane. I doubt the Cubs have the ammunition left to either acquire Gray or raise the cost to the Brewers unless they want to include Happ. I'm not even sure Baez or even Schwarber is all that exciting and even if they were, it would take away from the MLB roster.

The Cubs rotation problems are going to end their hope of a dyanasty, so getting a quality young lefty with 3 1/2 more years was a necessity.

The thing i like about this trade is if Webb does become a quality bullpen arm, we have him controlled a long time vs trading for some veteran on say a one or two year deal. Agreed. It would be tough to find flaws in this trade despite giving up a real prospect. The math says if we play 500 ball the rest of the way, the Cubs have to play 580 ball. That means the division is viable. If this guy can help, he was worth Cooper.

You have to give up something to get something. Cooper was a fairly high price to pay for a 27 AAA guy but the Brewers needed a LOOGY and this seems like a quality guy for a reasonable price. Bullpen guys are not a dime a dozen, they are highly, some might say over, coveted. Let's beat those Cubs!

Lol yeah they totally envisioned being 49-40 and in first place on this date. Doesn't mean you sign the worst option in Feliz regardless of expected record.

They needed to sign Holland. Knebel would have been an excellent 8th inning guy. It's a different game in the 9th.

Calf tightness for Braun. Amazing.

The players association really needs to do a long term study on the effects of PEDs on the body. I have zero idea if that is the issue but he is relatively young to have this many nagging injuries.

It's amazingly how successful this team has been leading the league in strikeouts and errors.

they do, they really need to draft well and now with a more competitive team, somehow do it in the middle to back of the draft, which is very hard in the NBA. its why the GM fiasco is so concerning. By the way, did anyone else see Thornwell's NBA SL debut last night, 26 points. him and McCaw would either / both look really good in bucks uniforms. I hate giving away picks for cash. It drives me nuts that a team with cap problems and billionaires for owners are selling draft picks. Those guys are super cheap rotation types. Just horrible horrible management. Business guys yes, basketball guys no.

You can't be any further from the truth than what you just said. The cap increased so much last year and that is why so many players got contracts more than what they should have. The cap was supposed to increase higher than it did this year and that is why teams are struggling to keep and sign players. There will not be bargains galore in 2018 not sure what you are basing this off of as the cap is supposed to increase again in 2018 though not as much as it did in the summer of 2016. Plus Tim Hardaway Jr. just signed a 4-year $71m deal. If Tim Hardaway Jr. is getting a 4-year $71m deal this year there is no way there is going to be bargains galore next summer when the cap increases again. You need to look at the FA signings this past week before you make that attack on my post. Teams are capped out and now useful rotation types are going for $5M or so. Yes Hardaway gets $71M - From the Knicks who are somehow worse run than the Bucks. Cap space is far more important that rushing to sign Delly, Telly, and now Snell for 8 digits per year. That's just silly cap management.

Craig has these guys playing at career highs almost across the board except for Braun. I trust the man. Speaking of line ups, what's with managers these days? Didi is hitting clean up for the Yankees btw. Shwarber is not a lead off man and the pitcher shouldn't be hitting 8th.

The Yankees are in free fall now. We should at the very least win the series if not a sweep. Vogt might be the oldest looking and least athletic 32 year old I have ever seen. But if he keeps hitting the way he has it's all good. I love that swing in Yankee stadium.

We need another star. Depth is a dime a dozen. Especially since cap space is at such a premium, in 2018 there will be bargains galore like there is now, IF the Bucks manage their cap better. I do think Middleton will have an excellent year but will Parker come back strong and will Thon get to the next level? He was horrible last night which was surprising to see.

Hader and Brinson would be untouchable for me unless we can get a truly elite guy back for 1 1/2 years. Woodruff would be close too. Ray and Clark still have first round pedigrees so I'd think they'd have some value.

Not really.... still a small lead in the grand picture. If we lost the last two instead of winning, the lead would be 1.5 games. Now, If it was September 6...... they would be sweating. I'm really not referring to the 4.5 game lead. I'm suggesting that this is a team that has shown no signs of the 2016 team at all.

Cubs have to be sweating now.

Unless they are playing in the Grand Canyon, it's hard to see Diaz ranked as the 38th best prospect in baseball.

The NBA is in such bad shape these days. I feel bad for those fans. Giannis will do the thing to us if our owners don't figure out how to run a basketball program too. You can't add that second star if you are giving $44M to Tony Snell and last year's disastrous FA when you know teams are begging for cap space to dump good players and giving us draft pics to take them on. Everyone in the league knew teams would be begging for cap space to set themselves up for 2018 and we filled it up with junk.

This might be the Brewers year. When one guy goes down either by injury or falling apart, guys like Sogard and Garza step up. We have so many having career years that it's bordering on the absurd. Combined with a division that had 3 97 game plus winners in 2015 to now have every single one drop into oblivion, and the you have a scenario where the Brewers could win this thing. Had they signed Holland instead of Feliz this thing might already be over.