MrTPlush

His option is based on games pitched in not started the way I have read it. Bullpen would be worse. It is based on starts, he needs 110 starts between 2014-2017. He is at 52 and need 58 the next two years. Do you have a link for that specific information? Everywhere I have found it they explain it as games pitched which does not specify starting/relieving. Maybe it was just assumed as starts because why would one expect him to suck so bad to relieve? I'm not doubting you aren't right as starts would make most sense, but I have not seen that specific explanation anywhere.

Why does a weak farm system matter? We are trading Braun and his hefty contract not Lucroy. I wouldn't expect Braun to bring back any top tier prospects so their system along with just about any system is perfectly fine. They have a ton of guys I would love to have for Braun. If you are expecting some Top 50 prospect someday for him you are going to be very disappointed.

I am pretty sure this rule isn't all that original. There was already a rule in place against players trying to actually tag the bag. I know some players would go waaaay off the base to interfere with the fielder. However this call was rarely if ever called. The other problem with the past rule is flying straight over the base was ok...because well technically you touched the base at one point. This new rule is just taking the old rule to a whole new level. One thing that might become a problem is the part of the rule, "makes attempt to stay on the base". This is something that is up to the umpires to decide. Does it have to be blatantly obvious he had no intention to stay on the base? Because it isn't uncommon to unintentionally over slide the base. It almost makes me think of when a pitcher intentionally throws at a batter. Yes we are all 99% it was intentional, but how do you truly know? How will we truly know he made no attempt to stay on the base?

That isn't a Free Agent value it is his value based on WAR. Saying he is worth spending $22.7mil a year on because of some fake number based on WAR is inaccurate and flat out wrong. -Yoenis Cespedes had a value of $50mil+ and got approximately $25mil a year. -Justin Upton was worth $28.5mil and only got $22mil at a very young age for a FA. -Alex Gordon worth $22.3mil and got $18mil. Not to mention(minus Gordon) these players don't have a bum thumb and a crippled back. If Ryan Braun ended up a FA this past winter he would be lucky to match Gordon's $18mil average and would probably get less due to his injuries.

His option is based on games pitched in not started the way I have read it. Bullpen would be worse.

I agree. I would hate to trade Nelson on principle, even in what is going to be a lost 2-3 years. That surely would bring back a blockbuster package. Then even you would have to use the T word I would be hesitant to trade him too because of his potential upside, but then again I heard the same about Gallardo/Peralta and neither of them ever became something.

Yah how Wisconsin is still a bubble 8/9 seed is a bit surprising. Yah they have some pretty horrid losses, but they were long ago. Texas has been pretty similar(ignore tonight) to Wisconsin of late and are all the way up to a #5 seed. To me Wisconsin is a #7 right now and could argue to be a #6 seed if they can have a nice conference tourney. I don't think their big wins of late have really been considered such big wins.

Just curious, why do you say that? Did you read something? People want the Arcia Brothers together...but it makes no sense.

[sarcasm]If Melvin was still around maybe[/sarcasm] but a low OBP, no defense corner outfielder has not been Stearns MO so far. No...it makes no sense to acquire any OFer at this point...none. I don't care who is steering the ship.

No way to know that at this point. Right now he would be a serious reach and big health risk.However if he comes back strong he could be worthy of a Top 10 pi and possibly someone we reach on to save some pool money. Hard to put any value on him before he pitches this Spring. I wouldn't take him over any of the Big 4. Regardless I think we will be fine. I bet a couple offensive players shoot up boards and if we really want to draft an ace type pitcher we will have that chance. If all the Big 4 pitchers get drafted before us I guess we will have one solid bat to draft. Quantrill just seems like a reach at #5.

Brewers probably have the same mind set a lot of us have here...if we get prospects we like before the season starts we need to take it. Too much risk going into the season with little, if any, positive to holding onto him.

Someone did this for a recent opening(football I believe) and I think he got a nice call...no interview though. Had 15minutes of fame though.

No this is confusing in its own way. What the heck is "making contact with the ground"? Is that like the runners knee? Butt? Arm? What is it? I am also concerned how "changing direction" will be interpreted. I am just not sure what this really prevents. Slides into second will still be very dangerous. You can easily do a hard/dangerous slide while following those rules. Also what is attempting to stay on the base? What exactly is an attempt? One can make a pretty poor attempt to stay on the base...but hey it is an attempt. Hopefully it doesn't create as much confusion as the home plate rule. I don't think it will, but you can bet some weird calls will be made and games will be decided by some of them.

A take out....you aren't trying to secure the base. I don't think the Utley slide was really that bad. If anything it was a little late, but even an earlier slide would have nailed him pretty hard. I have seen much much worse quite often. I am just not really sure how this rule is going to be interpreted and supposably it is reviewable? I don't know it seems like a rule destined for strange calls/decisions. It should interesting to see how it plays out. Hopefully it won't end up like the collision rule at home.

I am hoping Hansen personally, but regardless I don't think their ability to sign Pint or not will effect their decision. I also think if he really does want to pass up $5mil he will make that known well in advance to draft day. It would be very very unprofessional of him not to. I don't think he passes up the money if drafted Top 5 though...it just won't happen. I know he says how much he wants to play college ball, but it is all just a show. Much like an elite freshman in NCAAB talking about if they are returning next year...no they are leaving. I think the Brewers are pretty safe drafting him at #5...anything past that may be concerning for a team though.

Maybe Nelson/Braun and you could get some interesting offers.

I agree with where you are coming from. They played a Maryland team that the next week lost to a 7 win team. Then they played an Iowa team that lost to IU, barely beat the sad Minnesota squad, and lost to a mediocre PSU team before playing Wisconsin. Regardless if those teams were playing like Top 10 teams or not they are still quality opponents they beat on the road. I don't care who you are it is hard to win road games in today's game. Whether you are a 7 win team or #1 in the nation. You can't just walk into a place and get an easy win. Even the bad teams have a lot of talented players that can make your day miserable.

I think when it comes to ballpark factors it really is more than just the overall dimensions. Some ballparks have very deep gaps, but still only go to 400ft. in center. If you aren't a gap hitter those big gaps aren't going to effect your HR totals very much. AT&T Park is widely considered very pitcher friendly due to an extremely deep RF gap. In 2014 Khris Davis would have had 5 HRs swallowed by the spacious RF gap. In 2015 he would have had only 2 HRs denied by the RF gap. Why? Because Khris Davis was an extreme gap hitter in 2014 hitting nothing to dead center, but in 2015 he hit a lot of his HRs to dead center. Ballpark factors depend largely on what type of hitter you are. I bet Ichiro loves hitting in pitcher parks. Regardless I think Khris Davis is going to fair just fine going just about anywhere when averaging 411ft. on his homers.

That is a pretty cool graphic and makes one think he will be fine in a more spacious field. However, his SLG was over 200 points higher at home last year than on the road. While he did hit 11 of his 27 HR's on the road, he literally only had two additional extra base hits outside of Miller Park. That is true, but 2014 tells an entirely different story. He had 20 doubles on the road compared to 17 at home. He was about as even as you can get across the board stat wise. I think 2015 is more of a weird occurrence than something real with Khris Davis. Nothing about him from 2014 to 2015 says Khris Davis would have such an extreme change. By the way this is the site the graphic comes from...great site to play around with: http://www.hittrackeronline.com/index.php?h=MIL&p=&b=

I heard there was concern with Khris Davis' power leaving Miller Park: http://m.mlb.com/video/v398874083/milwsh-davis-blasts-a-solo-home-run-to-left-field/?c_id=mlb http://m.mlb.com/video/v469675983/milpit-davis-crushes-tworun-homer-to-center-field/?c_id=mlb http://m.mlb.com/video/v111320383/cwsmil-davis-demolishes-a-solo-homer-to-left/?c_id=mlb On top of this other interesting facts: -Khris Davis was #7 in all of baseball when it came to average HR distance, clocking in at 412 feet. Here is all of his homeruns from last year and where they would land in O.co: http://i1241.photobucket.com/albums/gg515/TonyPlush/O.co%20Coliseum.jpg EDIT: I'd like to add these are "true" distances and doesn't take into account the wall. However Khris Davis typically doesn't hit liners so most of these would likely go over. You could make an argument a few of the gap homers might hit the taller walls. Bottom line Khris Davis has the power to hit a lot in O.co

Prince Fielder 2007 matched Khris Davis with 20 also.

Braun for Bundy is a very interesting concept. I feel it is an easy decision for the Orioles, but the Brewers not so much. Trading away one of your franchises greatest players for a extreme risk high reward player would be quite the gamble. Though by far the best player we could hope for in a Braun trade. I like Bundy and all, but the injuries are scary. I just don't know if he will ever last the way he is going. I would love to add an ace type prospect to this team, but I just don't like Bundy's chances. I would rather Braun just be a leader on the rebuilding team. Its Bundy plus $95M for Braun essentially. Im more luke warm on Braun's contract after seeing JHey's but lets face it, Braun the 850 guy will not be present for the next good Brewer team. I dont think its a stretch that Braun will be a 100 to 120 game guy in year 3-5. His production by then is anyone's guess. I too don't like Bundys chances to ever be an ace, but it is a chance, and other than perhaps Nelson, I dont think there is a guy currently in the system that profiles as a legitimate Ace. The way I look at it is with the $95M on the books, the Brewers could in theory make 1-2 Diamondback type trades a year for the next 5 years by picking up a bad expiring contract in exchange for taking on a Diaz or a Toussaint type guy. To take that to the next (admittedly wild suggestion) level for discussion purposes only on use of the $95M asset, that would be Bundy plus the equivalent of 8-9 Toussaints/Diaz's. Of course a lot depends on what they would do with that money. If they would put it towards the team that would be cool...but good chance most of it is just pocketed if he is traded. I really don't care if Braun is here or not. If they are willing to put all that money into the team then I am all for trading him for Bundy or even less than Bundy. However realistically it would end up as Braun for Bundy and more money in Attanasio's pocket. At that point one must wonder if his veteran presence is worth more than the way outside shot Bundy becomes an ace for us. He has a lengthy history of arm injuries and has no options left. I am not really picking a side just stating the pros/cons of each option.

Braun for Bundy is a very interesting concept. I feel it is an easy decision for the Orioles, but the Brewers not so much. Trading away one of your franchises greatest players for a extreme risk high reward player would be quite the gamble. Though by far the best player we could hope for in a Braun trade. I like Bundy and all, but the injuries are scary. I just don't know if he will ever last the way he is going. I would love to add an ace type prospect to this team, but I just don't like Bundy's chances. I would rather Braun just be a leader on the rebuilding team.

I bet they will. They were getting some votes from ESPN this past week so a big win like this on the road should get them in there somewhere. Will be interesting to see if they can nab a 7 seed for the tourney. Now they will really be floating on that 8/9 line.

better and better? At this point it only looks worse with every nagging injury. Alex Gordon, who is pretty comparable value wise, got a similar deal to Braun. At best Ryan Braun has a market deal and at worst he is slightly overpaid. Ryan Braun doesn't have a whole lot of trade value. Really trading Braun comes down to whether they have another use for the money they are paying him and if they find value in his veteran presence on a rebuilding team. When it comes to actually competing Braun will most likely not be of much use on the next competing team.