paul253

The last 5 weeks doesn't add more clarity to the situation than any other 5 weeks from last year. You need to look at the big picture. In a sense it does mean more. Even though a win in April counts as much as a win in September, the pressure is certainly greater in September, and when the team takes a dump when the pressure is on, that doesnt bode well. Maybe they'll learn from last season's near disaster, maybe not, but considering where they could have been last season compared to where they ended up, it doesnt look so good. An NFL team that starts off 10-0 and finishes 10-6 may still make the playoffs. And if you tell the fans ahead of time the team will finish 10-6 and make the playoffs, they might be happy. But after week 10 they are 10-0 and you tell the fans the same thing, that they will finish 10-6 and make the playoffs, the fans wont be quite as happy, they'll probably be pretty mad. Last season on July 27th the Brewers were tied with the Cubs for first place. If at the time you told the fans they were going to finish 7.5 games behind the Cubs (and they'd have to go on a mini run in the last week just to get that close) I dont too many of us would have been satisified.

Thats a good deal for Cincy. Although Dye is up there in age, Bailey seems destined for the bullpen.

I have a bad feeling the Cubs are going to get him. They have a hisotry of acquiring allstar caliber players (Lee, Ramirez, Harden) for garbage. We have much more to offer...its just a matter of whether we want to. Personally a rotation led by Peavy, Gallardo, and Parra for the next 4 years would be pretty amazing, but if you can sign Sabathia I'd prefer that. It'll cost more in terms of money but we'll save some prospects. We make up the Sabathia money by replacing guys like Hart and Fielder with Cain and Gamel.

But if the core remains intact, nearly all of that money will be given to the likes of Hardy, Hart, Fielder, Gallardo, Braun, Weeks, etc In two years though the core will also consist of Gamel, Gillespie, Cain, Escobar and Salome, so you probably arent going to be giving huge raises to all the players you mentioned, you'll probably trade a few of them. The Brewers complete inability to develope pitching is really showing its ugly face right now because not only are we looking for starters, but also relievers, and we have zero options in house to fill them, except for possibly Dillard and Stetter. I realize that these comments mean nothing. But to me, after watching last season, and seeing the offense disappear for 5 weeks and almost blowing the wildcard when it was seemingly in your back pocket, the weaknesses of the lineup were as clear as day. Even when the offense wasnt on, we had Sabathia and Sheets to fall back on, It almost seems as though Melvin is ignoring those weaknesses and making it sound like its not a big deal. When pitchers know that you dont have to throw strikes to get hitters out, it makes it that much harder for the offense to be effective. I think the biggest offensive problem is lack of discipline and lack of OBP, people getting on for Braun and Fielder. Thats why i'd love to see them trade Cameron and sign Abreu. I know it would be a huge dropoff in defense, but the offense would be much better. You'd always have Gwynn and hopefully Kapler for defensive replacements. I'd be more than happy with an outfield of Braun, Hart, Abreu, Kapler, and Gwynn. Quite honestly, I wouldnt mind seeing Sheets back either, even if its for a 2 year deal, because pitching will probably be a problem next offseason too (this is assuming Sabathia isnt back). Its high risk high reward, but whatever the contract is isnt going to kill you. So now you have Gallardo, Sheets, Parra, Bush, and Suppan, at least until Sheets gets hurt, which is definitely good enough to compete and win. You add some more guys for depth, maybe like a Capuano to thow in Nashville, maybe Braden Looper as the #5 pushing Suppan to the pen plus whoever you get back for Cameron. A roster of the following would satisfy me. Infielders Fielder Weeks Hardy Hall Lamb Loretta Catchers Kendall Rivera Outfielders Braun Hart Abreu Kapler Gwynn Starters Gallardo Sheets Bush Parra Looper Relievers Suppan McClung Julio Villanueva Stetter Riske Hoffman You'd have to sign Abreu, Looper, Hoffman, Lamb, Kapler, Sheets and Loretta, and you'd have to trade Cameron. It may be asking a lot but i think its doable. Add Capuano to Nashville. If a pitcher goes down you can have Suppan, McClung or Capuano replace him. Its not a great bullpen, but it can hold i guess. You have Dillard in Nashville to fall back on. What does everyone think of that roster?

If we sign him, we are a small market team for the next 6 years. We might get to brag about 1 player out of our 25 man roster, but all of our extra money will be taken up and our buying power will be extremely limited--possibly for as long as the next decade. Just because we are a small market team doesnt mean we have to....for lack of better term....act like it. St Louis isnt that much bigger of a market and they have been successful for years. When you go around making comments like how you are baffled about a contract offer to one of the best pitchers in the game, you tell everyone that you are "wooing" that you arent going to overpay them. The good players know they will be overpayed and wont even bother with you if you have an attitude like that. I'm not saying you have to overpay to get everyone, but you also dont have to advertise how small your pockets are. Also, lets not forget we have some huge contracts coming off the books in a year or two. Assuming we dont trade Cameron, thats $10 million. Hall and his $5 million, Kendall I believe is maknig close to $5 million, Suppan of course and his ridiculous contract. All in 2 years they will be gone. Yeah you're going to have to pony up to resign Hardy/Weeks/Fielder/Parra?Gallardo, but i think Fielder will be gone, possibly Hardy, and Weeks hasnt played his way to a big contract yet. And we have a lot young position players to replace them on the cheap. Giving Sabathia $23 million over 5 isnt going to kill us any worse than $20 million over four. We're talking about a backup infielder for that kinda of money. And considering how dominant he's been and the fact he's only 27 (i think) makes me willing to take that chance on the extra year. I know its early, and I know comments dont really mean much, but I'm not very confident about this offseason. We have too many holes to fill with no really good options to fill them with.

To me these comments just echo that of a small market team, something that I thought we had put behind us once we were able to get Sabathia. The Brewers offer to Sabathia really isnt that much worse that the Yankees, about $3 million less per year. Why not just add on $3 million to the current 5 year offer. Yes, it's still a year less, but he's made it clear he'd prefer to be in the National League. It'd be a much more competitive offer. Instead...he says stuff like how the Yankees offer "baffles" him. A Hall/Lamb platoon wouldnt be terrible, I guess, but in essence you're putting the same team on the field that played horrible, horrible baseball for the final 5 weeks of the season and took a dump in the playoffs. I went to a game vs the Cubs in Chicago during that losing streak and I was honestly embarrassed at the time to be cheering for the Brewers, thats how bad they were playing. Now we're going to trot that same team, with the same weaknesses out there, while throwing out a noticably worse bullpen and a noticably worse rotation, which currently has no depth. Also, I hate to tell you this Doug, but you cant play 2 shortstops. You have an allstar shortstop now, so why are you so unwilling to trade the other one to fill a glaring need in the rotation? Unless you are planning on moving Hardy to third next year, you are going to have to trade him, and everyone knows you have to trade him if Escobar pans out, which will reduce his trade value. If Escobar doesnt pan out, then his trade value is shot and you get nothing in return. I realize the offseason is far from over, but from the way its shaping up so far, and from the comments he is making, I cant see any possible way this team is going to be any better, and I cant see any possible way in which the team can compete with Chicago. So far the major signing has been a reliever who couldnt even hold a roster spot last season until they expanded in September. Nice.

Yeah I dont understand why, if you're trying to improve the bullpen, you trade one of your better arms. Yeah, Jenks is probably better than Villy, but Villy might be the best current pitcher we have in the pen.

Let's not forget Bush was so horrible on the road he had to be "platooned". He is consistantly inconsistent, and I hate counting on him as anything more than a #5. That being said, we are still looking for a pitcher, so I dont think trading one is a good idea. Bush wouldnt bring back much, so, as someone already pointed out, his value to us is higher than his trade value. We could package him with Prince, but I'd ask for at least one major league ready starter and two high ceiling pitching prospects in return.

I'd take anyone one of those deals, actually. It would have to come with other moves of course, but shedding the salary of both Cameron AND Suppan would allow us to sign two or three guys to fill some holes (Sheets, Abreu, bullpen, etc)

I agree with Rydogg, I'd make him a top priority. You wanna fix your OBO and your lack of lefthanded hitters problem, he is a step towards solving them both. We arent going to sign Sabathia, and we lose Gagne's $10 million, so why not? Im sure trading Cameron or Hart wont be too difficult...hell if i could get one decent pitching prospect for Cameron after signing Abreu I'd do it in a heartbeat. Sign Abreu, Sheets, and two bullpen arms and, along with a trade of either Hart or Cameron (preferably Cameron) for a starting prospect, and I'd be more than satisfied with the offseason, even if it means a Hall/Lamb platoon at third base.

Signing Sheets to any kind of deal is going to be like getting a lump of coal in our stocking. I dont think thats true. It would be a huge risk, but at this point what are the better alternatives? There arent any #1 or #2 guys that we are going to be able to sign, and Sheets is a #1 when he's healthly, which is not very often. But the lack of pitchers in the farm system and the abundance of 4s and 5s on the roster does not spell good things next season for Milwaukee. C-Vill and Hall could be traded in my mind for another 3B or some pitching help. C-Vill is always goint to be a guy in the pen and Hall has reached his peak and time to move on. The problem with trading C-Vill is that you are making a weak bullpen even weaker, and you arent exactly going to get an allstar 3rd basemen for those two. Everyone keeps saying all we have to do is upgrade third base and we'll be fine, but nobody says how we can significantly upgrade it. I was ripped for saying we should have considered alternatives to Cameron, but at least I made some suggestions (Edmonds, Abreu, Dejesus, etc) that would have been offensive upgrades in areas we need offensive upgrades. So far it seems as though the best solution offered to 3rd base is either Teahen or a Hall/Branyon platoon. I'm sorry, but I'm not entirely excited over those options, and the free agent market doenst seem to have any solutions either. Unless Melvin gets extremely creative, I think its going to be a long year next season.

I'd be on board with signing Fuentes at 3/30. The deal is not absurdly long, and he fills one of the most glaring needs. Plus it doesnt force you to throw someone at closer who has never been a closer before, like CV or McClung. If you do that, and sign Sheets to a deal at either 2/24 or maybe a similiar 3/30, I'd be satisfied. You can then turn your attention to the offense, which I unfortunately see anything major happening now that we resigned Cameron. I just dont see any thirdbasement out there that are going to make that much of a difference. I just assume see a platoon of Mike Lamb and Bill Hall then to sign an average playter to a 3 year deal. On a side not, does anyone know if we are going to offer arby to Shouse? I reasoned before that we should because either way is good. He's a type B so if he declines you'd pick up a second round pick which we could use on a pitcher, and if he accepts we have a fairly effective LOOGY in the pen.

I thought last nights episode took a little too long to develope, and honestly other than having Jack Bauer, President Daniels, and his chief of staff in there, there wasnt really anything "24" about it. But it did kind of set up where they are going to take season 7. I have to admit though, being set in a different city with no CTU (from what i heard), I am a little worried that next season is going to be quite the same.

I hope this is true...less money for them to throw at CC. Not that I mind them getting him, its just that if they do we only get a 2nd round pick.

Wow....7 of their top 10 are pitchers. Any chance we can match up as trading partners. I know prospect for prospect trades are rare, but we seem to have a lot of decent catching prospects, maybe a pitcher for Lucroy or Salome?

Why not put Gamel at 1st? Fielder doesnt appear to be wanting to resign for anything other than top flight money, and we have no replacement for him. Put Gamel there and you can trade Prince, get some pitching, and allowed Green or Lawrie to play third. I also think Lawrie should be at third, and they should move Green to second.

So instead of a Hall/Counsell platoon, we have a Hall/Branyon platoon, and everything is better?

If Hall/Branyon is back for next year, the offense is essentially the same as this year. Are you ok with that?

Well who is it? Youre going to end up overpaying Glaus or Beltre and watch their numbers decline every year, or you could move Hardy, who is in his prime. You upgrade the offense at third base and the defense.

Why is that foolish? Its foolish to pay Glaus or Beltre $12 million to play third when their best days are long behind them. If Hardy can hit well enough to play third, which I think he can, whats wrong with putting him there? His value goes down if he plays third.......his value to who? As a Brewer his value goes up because he's playing a position where we havent had a decent player is years, it allows us to bring up a top 3 prospect to play shortstop, and its probably an upgrade defensively at both ends. His trade value goes down......so what, you're not going to trade him so what difference does it make. Besides, its not like a team that trades for cant just move him back to shortstop. Now remember, I'm not saying this should happen this year, as I dont think Escobar is ready to hit MLB pitching, so I suppose if you wanna do the Hall/Branyon thing, you got a year to do that. But that leaves you with the exact same offense as last season, which I dont think is going to cut it. I don't think Gamel is a viable option. I admit I havent ever seen him play, but I have heard his defense is about as bad as it gets. I think he ends up at first replacing Fielder after this season. Branyan wasn't hurt for most of the year My bad, I thought he was on the DL for a good portion of August and September, which is why Counsell got all those at bats.

I just wonder who this third basemen is? We havent had a good hitting third basemen in years. Cirillo is the last one I can think of, and he had average to below average power. Yeah Braun was there for most of a season, but his defense was so bad they had to move him. Yeah we have Gamel at third but his defense is worse than Braun's, from what I hear. A platoon of Hall/and Branyon is not good enough. For one, Branyon was hurt most of the year, and Hall cant hit righties for anything. Plus I think Hall is more valuable to us as a utility guy who can spell Weeks and Hardy when they need a break. And if you go with Hall/Branyon at third your offense is identical to what it was last season, which I dont think is good enough, especially considering the pitching is most likely going to be worse. I dont think Escobar is ready to hit at the major league level yet and should be in AAA all year, but after that, I'd like to see them sign Hardy to a long term deal and move him to third. I just dont see this magical third basemen that is going to solve everything. The pickings are certianly slim out there.

I'd be ok with Weeks. Who do you bring in to play second though? Durham? Hall?

Its certainly a curious move if they dont plan on trading DeJesus. The Brewers need to jump on this, but if you trade Hart, do you put DeJesus or Cameron in right? I still like Hart. I'd like to see them try to trade a prospect for Dejesus and then turn around and trade Cameron for some bullpen help.

I'd have a hard time seeing Sabathia take 2 years and $40 million less. Unless Melvin is going to offer more he should be able to figure the CC isnt going to resign. If I were Melvin, I'd increase it to 5 years at $125 million and hope for the best. Really whats extra year? This isnt Suppan we're talking about. In those 5 years, though, you can theoretically develop a lot of your own pitching. The only problem, of course, if that we havent developed anything. Sheets, Parra, and Gallardo were really the only good starters we've developed in the last 6 or 7 years, meaning we've had to spend big on average pitchers (Suppan) and go in with guys pitching higher in the rotation than they should be (Bush, Capuano, Doug Davis). Its a big risk, but I think you go for it. Offer more money and fewer years than the Yanks. If they counter to 6 years at $150 million, oh well, you did all you can.

Maybe we should push for Zambrano, Hardin, and Lilly to participate.