paul253

I kind of wish I hadn’t read so many of the now “legends” books before Disney bought Lucasfilm. I thought, minus a few stories that were way out there, the general plot was much better than the one Disney put out. I think there is just too much random stuff in the sequel trilogy that should have been explained but wasn’t. First off, did we ever figure out who Snoke was or where he came from? Also, the Knights of Ren? Where did they come from and what was their purpose? Why did Han and Leia separate? I think Luke was completely underutilized. And barely any mention of the New Republic? The whole trilogy feels disjointed, kind of like they were making it up as they went.

The Admirals are looking pretty darn good!

Isn’t Rasmussen still consider a starting pitching prospect? Why do we constantly feel the need to take our better starting pitching prospects and throw them in the bullpen?

Milwaukee has to recycle it’s talent to compete. They can’t sign top free agents and it’s looking like they won’t even sign middle of the road free agent starting pitchers. Remember a few years ago when the Brewers were desperately trying to win and held onto the best players for awhile, guys like Lucroy and Gomez? Did eventually trading them kill this team? No, it got them to where they are today. Had they hung onto those guys they would have continued their slow descent to mediocrity. Trading Hader is not going to kill us and it’s not even remotely similar to trading Yelich.

I proposed earlier but I think most people missed but Hader straight up for Mackenzie Gore of SD. SD seems to be a win now mode and they have a top farm system, maybe the top farm system so losing a guy like Gore wouldn’t kill them. If they absolutely refuse to move Gore then maybe Luis Patino + (Ryan Weathers?) Both Gore and Patino would likely start in Biloxi but could easily be in Milwaukee by the end of the year.

And meanwhile we have next to nothing in terms of quality starting pitching to rely on. Yes Woodruff looks good but really who else do we have that can help get us over the top in the rotation? If this is our “three year window” I don’t feel particularly great about it relying on people like Josh Lindlom and Eric Lauer to get us over the top. We just can’t compete with the Dodgers and the Cardinals of the world with our current rotation. Unless you’re satisfied with a wild card and possibly a division championship every now and then then we need to drastically improve our rotation. I don’t see an impact starting pitcher in the minor leagues coming up any time soon and we sure a heck aren’t signing one. So that leaves a trade as our only option. We can probably trade Hader for a potential ace. Other than Yelich, who is much more valuable than Hader, there is nobody else we can do that with. So why not trade Hader, assuming we get a quality return, while his value is likely as high as it ever is? It’s not going to hurt us as much as some around here seem to think. Bullpen is the easiest and cheapest position to fill and they have plenty of money to spend on the bullpen if need be. I say try to mover Hader for a controllable, potential top of the rotation prospect plus another arm and then sign a reliever or two to make up for it.

What about Hader to SD for Mackenzie Gore?

We don’t need a salary cap. The luxury tax works in the same way. Right?

We should be adding younger cheaper controllable talent, not hanging onto relief pitchers, no matter how good they are. Given the economics of baseball a franchise like Milwaukee has to survive by recycling talent. Yeah it sucks but we don’t have the money to buy out mistakes like other teams do. Hader has been really really good for us but if you can turn him into cheaper controllable high end talent you do it. Our farm system is, by all accounts, below average at best. Two of the three homegrown starters we were so high on just last off-season had dreadful years as starting pitchers. We can’t continue to survive on one year deals with the Wade Miley’s and Gio Gonzalez’s of the world. Our starting pitching is holding us back. Yes the offense needs to improve to but it’s generally much easier and much cheaper to find hitting than pitching. My proposal was Hader to the Dodgers for Dustin May and Josiah Gray. If they go for it we’d get two quality starting pitching prospects, one of whom may be MLB ready and the other who is no more than a year away.

I’d argue starting pitching is a higher priority than SS which is why I’d center the deal around May. If he’s not already MLB ready he’s close. His ceiling is probably a #2, which is higher than anyone we currently have. Obviously you want to acquire the best talent available but I’m not sure LAD would move Lux, even for Hader. Josiah Gray is another name that intrigues me. According to that simulator Hader for May and Gray is about even.

Maybe the Dodgers bullpen will blow a playoff series and then we could offer Hader up to them Dodgers for a package centered around Dustin May.

I had the same issue. Had to reset my password

I’m hoping we get extra picks for offering the QO to both Grandal and Moose. We need a major influx of talent in the system.

I’ll add Sean Berry, just because he was such a big free agent signing for us at the time. Ditto for Ben McDonald. Then I’ll say Mat Gamel, Eric Arnett, Jungmann and Bradley of course, Jeffrey Hammonds, Mark Rogers, Mike Jones, Kentrail Davis, Manny Parra and Dana Eveland. Oh and Ben Hendrickson.

Uh.....are people forgetting the Wave???? Seriously though, don’t forget about the Dwayne Wade led MU team that beat that #1 overall Kentucky team only to be blown out by Kansas in the Final Four. And the other MU team, too lazy to look it up, that laid an egg against Syracuse when they had the chance to make the Final Four. What’s most disappointing is that a number of these teams were better than the teams they lost to. They 2011 Brewers and this years Bucks especially.

I’m organizing a work outing and renting a party suite in May. I was wondering if anyone here is ever rented a suite and if so if they’d care to share their thoughts? My main question is this. The food package choices say they are good for 30 people. Is it really enough for 30 people or should I plan on adding some additional food items? I’m also wondering if the price they say it is (in this case $3800) is the actual total price or if they add on a sales tax or fees to that? Anyway, if anyone would care to share their thoughts or experiences on a party suite please do.

But absent the owners there are no players.

Ok. But it still doesn’t restrict any one player’s salary. If anything it restricts what other players the team is willing to sign. Just because, say, the Yankees didn’t get involved for Machado or Harper that doesn’t mean Harper and Machado had their salary restricted. Machado still received the largest contract in the history of baseball. Maybe now the Padres aren’t able to go out and get anothe expensive free agent but again, that doesn’t mean any individual player has his salary restricted. The point was to point out how out of touch the players are when they claim they are being treated unfairly. Kind of like “you think you’re being treated unfairly? I’m paying $15 to park a car a quarter mile from the stadium. And unlike you I’m not making $550,000 minimum each year I work so I apologize for not having any sympathy”. I’d love to be treated as unfairly as Major League Baseball players are.

Luxury tax does not limit how much any individual player can earn. Same with salary cap, depending on how it’s set up.

The players will have to decide if they are still willing to play for what is being offered. Obviously it’s their choice but I just don’t have any sympathy for them given their circumstances. I’d be ok with a change with younger players getting more of the pot but as another poster said all that this will result in is older players asking for even more.

I think you’re hurting your own argument here. Yes we pay that amount because we are willing to. But what happens when we aren’t willing to pay that anymore? The price would have to go down for the same product. That’s exactly what’s happening here. Owners are no longer willing to pay what they were willing to pay before. So basically the system in baseball is mirroring the system everywhere else and yet somehow that’s bad? Who said it’s not ok for them to be greedy? I said the complete opposite in fact. Absolutely they should be trying to get every dollar they can. But when people are no longer willing to throw stupid contracts your way that doesn’t mean you are being unfairly or the system is broke somehow. Couple of things. One, I never said that they were tied together. I was simply trying to point out how much the average person has to pay for basic things like parking a car while millionaire players are complaining they are being treated unfairly because they aren’t being overpaid as much now as they used to be. Second, what I think is cute is that you bring up supply and demand while apparently not seeing that it is supply and demand that is exactly what is driving the plasters salaries down. The demand for the players’ services, or at least the demand for their services at the price the player expects, is going down. So therefore supply and demand would dictate their salaries would go down too. If that’s the case then what is the problem?

I’m not sure I follow your argument. Regardless of whether or not franchise values are increasing, average to below average players were still having ridiculous amounts of money thrown at them. Kyle Lohse, whose career numbers scream “blah”, made over $89 million for 16 years of work. He retired at about the same age I am now. I’m sorry but nothing is going to convince me that these guys are somehow being treated unfairly because owners have finally realized how stupid it was to pay that kind of money for the results they were getting. Heck I’m glad they are starting to do it. Well apparently there is a shortage of wealthy people who want to own them, or at least own them at the price the player wants. Isn’t that what the players are grumbling about? Five years ago a player like Keuchel probably would have been signed to a 5 or 6 year deal worth $20 million a year by now. But owners are realizing that that was stupid and aren’t willing to do it anymore. So like your wine bottle comparison, if all of a sudden people aren’t willing to pay the same price that they were five years ago then the value drops. That’s how it works in every aspect of life. So why should baseball or other sports be any different? I’m not disagreeing with that. They made as much as as owners were willing to pay them which is absolutely what they should have been doing. But now it’s time to accept that perhaps owners aren’t willing to give you as much anymore which is exactly what the owners should be doing.....paying as little as possible to acquire your services. So if there is a strike because players don’t think they are being paid what they are worth then someone needs to explain to them how values are determined. As for the owners, yes absolutely they are being greedy. But it’s their money and that’s their right.

Why? In what other area of life other than sports do we expect the employees pay to go up every time revenue goes up? And I’m sure these players who demand more pay if profit goes up will gladly take lower salaries if the owner loses money right? Players need to understand one thing. They are worth what the owners decide to pay them. For years and years and years players were getting absolutely absurd amounts of money in contracts that were terrible for the teams. Owners finally wised up and said “screw that” and stopped paying huge amounts for average to below average output. But let’s face it, they are still getting huge amounts of money (on top of all the other perks pro athletes get). The minimum salary.....the absolute lowest amount of money you can be paid, is over $550k. It takes me 6-7 years to make that. And that’s just for the bad players. If you are even halfways decent you’re a millionaire. And if you’re smart with your money you can retire in your mid thirties. I’m sorry but I will NEVER side with players on money issues. Safety issues? Sure. Money? Never. Owners are businessmen whose goal is to make money. Are they greedy? Sure. But what business owner isn’t? I’m sitting here paying $15 to park a car within walking distance of Miller Park and $4.50 or whatever it is for a friggen hot dog and I’m supposed to feel sorry for pro athletes who want more money to play baseball for a living? Sorry.

I just can’t see a pitch clock working. First off what’s the penalty for violating the clock? Second what if it’s the batter that’s causing the delay? Third cant the catcher just call timeout if they are getting close? Lowering the mound? No way. This would effect literally every level of baseball from high school up. Colleges and minor leagues would have to follow suit or else pitchers would come into the majors and have to adjust at the top level. Then eventually high schools would have to consider changing suit. And what’s the point? More offense? Who cares about that? The DH to the NL will add offense, as will making pitchers face multiple hitters. Universal DH I like. I don’t like the idea of draft changes unless it actually makes a draft that makes sense. I swear MLB has the convoluted non sensical draft rules on the planet. What’s wrong with a worldwide draft where compensation is based on the entirety of the offseason personnel moves like in the NFL?

I guess it would be hard back then to have foreseen the explosion in franchise values but I wonder if the decision makers (i realize both Lloyd and Jane passed away) could go back if they’d make the same decision. The expansion fee was $50 million but according to Forbes the Lightning and Senators are both valued around $440 million. That’s a hell of an investment. Sports franchises seem to be one of the better investments out there. When has a franchise ever lost value over a multi year period of time?