paul253

I think the Brewers should look at 2017 as the season to really make the turn around. Spend the next two seasons acquiring players who will help win a championship that year and every year after. Winning a World Series should be their only goal. We are past the "get to .500" and "make the playoffs" goals. That's not good enough anymore. So if I were them I'd make every move based on getting players that will be around in and after 2017. So that means I would: 1) Trade Gomez for the highest rated pitching prospect I can find. I'd shoot for pitchers that pitched at High A or higher this past year or for anyone who has the ability to move through the system quickly. 2) Extend Lucroy. I think he is the new franchise player and is just coming into his prime. 3) Not sign any free agents for more than 2 years this offseason. Nobody they are likely to sign is a long term solution. Don't drag your future down with bad contracts. 4) Continue to draft the high risk high reward players. I like what they did in this past draft. They need to keep it up. 5) Not trade any of our top prospects. Guys like Coulter, Arcia, Taylor, Williams, Medeiros and Harrison are the future of the franchise. Don't even entertain offers for them. 6) Allow guys like Nelson and Thornburg (if healthy) to sink or swim in the rotation. We need to see what we have in them. Having them rot in the bullpen while 36 year old Kyle Lohse and clearly past his prime Gallardo go out there every give days does them no good. Ideally I'd like them to move Lohse or Gallardo but I really don't expect much return for either. Maybe move one of them for a low level, high ceiling prospect that a win-now team might be willing to give up. I think the best thing the Brewers can do is accept the reality that they are not a championship caliber team right now and they are not 1 or 2 players away from being there. They aren't a lost cause either so they don't have to move all their best players but they need to realize that Milwaukee isn't going to get excited about a .500 team that finishes 5-6 games out of the playoffs like they may have gotten excited about 8 years ago.

The Cubs have the resources to sign Lester this offseason & probably also Price the next offseason. Think about that for a second. Lester? Price? Please. What are the Cubs going to do when we sign Wandy Rodriguez and Bud Norris to three year deals?

To say you felt they were that poor of a team all along, especially when it took a 11-25 stretch to close the season to get to that barely-over-.500 record, is probably still fair but seems a bit too convenient. I'm not necessarily saying they were a poor team. I've thought all along they were an average team. Certainly not the worst team but not championship material. There weren't as bad as that 11-25 stretch but they weren't as good as the 20-8 record either. So take away the 20-8 start and the 11-25 finish. That leaves 98 games. 51-47. 4 games above .500. Usually, not always but usually, that's not good enough to make the playoffs. And I don't know about you but I don't want a team that finishes 4 games over .500 every year. To me that's not the sign of a successfully run franchise. By your logic, if Melvin's a failure as a GM because his team had flaws and his approach resulted in the Brewers missing the playoffs again, the majority of GMs also are failures, and most to a worse extent than Melvin. That's not true at all. I'm not basing my attitude entirely on playoff appearances. I'm basing it on other things, such as what he had to do to even make the playoffs (trade away top prospects to obtain the ace he has been completely unable to acquire any other way), the fact the the team took fairly large steps back after each playoff appearance (10 game dropoff from 2008-2009 and 13 game dropoff from 2011-2012) and the fact that in his 12 seasons as GM we've only finished higher than third place in the division three times. If the organization looked as though it were at least going in a positive direction that would be different. But to me it just seems like this organization is stuck in a rut. No young talent like Braun or Hart or Fielder or Weeks or Hardy or Escobar or Cain or Lucroy coming up. And huge holes in several positions. As far as the overpaid comment. Perhaps "overpaid" isn't the best term. Maybe "unnecessary" is better. We didn't have to sign Garza. We didn't have to sign Lohse. I always thought Ramirez was a panic signing to help offset the loss of Fielder. Free agency should be used to supplement young talent, not take its place. And what has all of that money got us? 8 games under .500 over the last three years. I understand that it's hard to predict how a free agent will do. But I've always thought that with our limited resources we need to be real careful in who we sign. Thornburg or Nelson could have been in the rotation to start the year but Melvin thought we needed another veteran starter in order to make a playoff run. I realize its only been one year with Garza but now with Peralta, Lohse, Gallardo, Fiers, Nelson, Thornburg, as options there are going to be two capable starters, probably young guys, who will be in the bullpen next year. We finally had internal options for the rotation and we didn't even use them. Melvin's preference for vets over young guys is not a secret and I think in some cases its hurt the franchise.

that is not what I said, but if thats what you read.. okay? nowhere did I say the brewers should wait for other teams... I said we, as in THE FANS. That is my mistake. When you said "we" I thought you we referring to the Brewers organization, not the fans. So my comments reference the Brewers waiting to see what other teams do in the offseason. I apologize. Even if you think you have a mediocre team you don't hold a fire sale. Nobody is advocating for a fire sale though. We're talking about moving one or two guys that aren't part of the long term picture. Nobody is suggesting we move Lucroy or Peralta or Nelson or even Davis. Plus, the Brewers and Royals are in different places. The Royals are where the Brewers were around 2007-2008 with all their homegrown talent finally putting it together. As a team they are definitely on the rise, depending on what happens with Shields I guess. Much more so than we are. As I pointed out, the Brewers were 10 games under .500 after April. They may not be that bad of a team but I'd put them closer to that than the team that was 12 games over in March and April. Of course anything can happen. But you don't throw together a bunch of overpaid vets in search of a fluke. The Brewers definitely need an infusion of young talent to turn the corner, but it's something they clearly lack at the upper levels of the system right now. All I want them to do is not give up a Coulter or a Taylor or a Williams or an Arcia or even the 17th pick to get someone who brings them from a 79 win team to an 82 win team. I actually think the drafts have been better (Coulter, Mederios, Williams, Gatewood, Harrison, Taylor, Diaz, Denson all in the past three drafts, plus Arcia and Lara in international free agency) but we still need many more high ceiling arms. All I'm hoping for in that they don't make the mistake of continuing to give away loads of prospects for a season of success.

"Why decide that the Brewers are goners in 2015 before the 2014 World Series is over and other teams make their offseason moves?" I guess I am not seeing it as a valid point. Yes you can look at 2014 and say anything is possible. Fine. But the fact is the Brewers played better than anyone expected them to in April and were 10 games under .500 the rest of the way. They were in first place most of the season yes, but only because St. Louis and Pittsburgh were playing so poorly. Once all three teams started playing how most expected them to play you see what happened. The naysayers re: Melvin's approach might prove to be quite right. But until it happens, it's still merely conjecture based on personal biases. So we have to wait until it happens to say his approach isn't working? Fine. Well it happened this past year. It happened in 2013. It happened in 2012. It happened in 2010 and 2009. How often does it have to happen before we can claim it's not the exception, it's the rule. For the most part Melvin's approach is not working. 2008 was a great year because all of the homegrown guys were up and playing wonderful. Unfortunately injuries to Sheets and Gallardo derailed what could have been a great playoff run. 2011 was an all in year but we don't have the prospects to do that again any time soon. All the other season since 2008 have been disappointments, even this year. Even when the Brewers had a big lead it just didn't feel safe because the Brewers didn't seem like they were that good. And they proved that. So if we patch together a team the same way we patched together teams the last few years why would we expect them to go on a three or four season run of playoff appearances?

how about we wait and see what the other teams in the central do this offseason before we start suggesting the brewers are finished next year before they start this years world series. Why should what other teams do determine how we build our roster? I don't mean to sound like a jerk but that's probably the worst strategy you can employ. You don't look at what the Red or Pirates do to determine whether to give Jason Rogers a shot at 1B or obtain a veteran, for instance. You make that determination based on what you feel is best for your organization. I think Mark A. has fallen into the same "if we can only make the playoffs" attitude that the Bucks fell into the past few years. Most Brewer fans don't want a team that hovers around playoff contention and then finishes in third or fourth place each year. We want a team like the 2011 team but we want it every year. I realize that's a lot to ask for but that's what you need to set your bar at. Not this "let's overpay a bunch of veterans and move all of our minor league talent so we can maybe make the playoffs this year" bar that we've got going now. I think the best thing Milwaukee could do right now is to employ a 3 year strategy. As in how can we win the World Series in three years? By doing that you avoid this over-reliance on free agency that we have now and instead focus on developing what you have. Obviously you can supplement your roster with key free agents but you build the foundation of your team with young talent. This will help the team win consistently rather that patching together a team every off-season that you hope can compete for the playoffs.

Slide to the bottom of this Jonathan Mayo Q&A for his Coulter comments. On a side note, I can't believe MLB.com lists Coulter as our 7th best prospect. They put him behind all of our top picks in our last draft. With that bat there is no way I put him at 7. He's #1 on my list.

You are afraid that the owner and GM feel and want to compete in 2015? I'm afraid they feel as though they are a first basemen away from being a championship caliber team. Or another aging starting pitcher. Or a couple of relievers. Of course they want to compete. Everyone wants to compete. But you need to be realistic about your chances and spend your resources wisely. If we do something stupid, like giving up the 17th pick to sign a free agent, which would result in them losing their first round pick for the second time in three years, I'll be very upset. Baseball more than any sport requires you to build up your farm system which as much talent as possible because so much of it flames out ahead of time. For years their farm system has been well below average. It's produced a couple of decent pitchers in Peralta and Nelson and a couple of decent hitters in Davis and Gennett but not the elite talent you need to compete on a yearly basis. We as fans shouldn't be satisfied with a chance at making the playoffs anymore. We need to set our sights higher. And right now I see nothing about the immediate future of this franchise that gets me excited. So many of our key players are on the down side of their career (Gallardo, Lohse, Ramirez, KRod, Garza, Braun) yet for some reason we still seem to be building the franchise around them as opposed to building it around guys younger guys like Peralta, Nelson, Thornburg, Lucroy and Davis. I'd be willing to bet a good chunk of money that they'll either trade for or sign an overpriced veteran first basemen instead of letting guys like Matt Clark or Jason Rogers compete for the job. Not that Rogers or Clark are elite talent but they've been productive in the minors and should be given a chance because if they can produce at the majors we can spend that money elsewhere. The alternative being the trade everyone and we suck for 4-5 years like the Cubs/Astros? Why is that the alternative? Why would trading Lohse and/or Gomez mean we suck for 5 years? I'm sorry but nobody on the team except maybe Lucroy is good enough that trading them creates an unfillable hole. And nobody has ever suggested we trade Lucroy. If we move Lohse and Gomez we can probably get at least three very solid prospects in return. We have at least adequate replacements in Nelson and Parra so we shouldn't fall off too much in the short term and the idea is the guys you get in the trade would improve you in the long term.

Clearly Mark A & Doug think they can field a winner in 2015. That's what I'm afraid of.

You gotta keep Lucroy at catcher as long as possible. He's a huge asset back there and we have nobody to replace him. I can't fathom going back to the days of the Jason Kendall and Greg Zaun's back there. As bad as we've been at developing pitching we've been equally bad at developing catching. As far as moving Braun to 1B. I think if we are going to do it there is no better time than now. We have nobody to play 1B and 4 capable outfielders. It would solve 1B for the long term and allow us to put that money elsewhere.

Theoretically they could move up if the Reds Marlins Padres Rays Mets or Braves sign a player who turned down a QO correct? And now that Coulter has moved to RF, we are weak in the catching ranks again. Any catchers profile in the 15-20 range? I think now that 3B and SS, with guys like Neuhaus, Lara, Delmonico and DeMuth (3B) and Gatewood, Arcia, and Rivera (SS), have at least been given attention recently, catcher is now our weakest position in terms of both talent and depth.

I was hoping for a move to 1B but RF is better than nothing. And it's nice that they are moving him early on in his career, which seems to be a bit of a changeup for this organization. Hopefully he takes to the position and can advance through the system quickly.

I'm not confident at all that this team will go the direction it should go. They still have nothing in the upper levels of the minors so I think that will prevent them from "going young". I don't think Gomez will be traded. I don't think Gallardo or Lohse will be traded. I don't think Nelson will be in the rotation. I don't think they'll find a long term solution for first base or third base. I'm fine with them bringing Ramirez back because it's only a season and, well, what's the alternative? But I would love it if they moved Gallardo or Lohse and Gomez. Parra can hold down center field with Schafer as the primary backup. And Nelson and Fiers can be inserted into the final two spots in the rotation. I assume Estrada will be back as the long man. I haven't got the slightest idea what's going on with Thornburg. How someone can be out this long without having surgery really baffles me. But if healthy (which I'm not counting on at all) he can provide depth as well. I'd actually let him start games in AAA to stretch his arm out. So overall I see next years year team to be almost exactly the same as this years team with the exception of 1B and with Gennett playing mostly everyday. Let's just hope Melvin doesn't piss away the team's first round pick again.

I'm a little surprised about all the "we'll miss Rickie Weeks" talk here. I get it. He's a good guy and a real professional. He kept quiet about being mostly benched this year and handled it much better than many, many other people would have. But let's not forget why he was benched in the first place. Forget his career numbers. Look at his recent numbers. 2012: .230/.328/400 and -0.4 WAR in 157 games 2013: .209/306/.357 and -1 WAR in 104 games. 2014 .274/.357/.452 and 0.2 WAR (but considering half his at bats were against lefties it kind of figures his numbers would be better) Meanwhile he made $31 million over those three seasons. He is exactly the kind of player the Brewers need to move away from. No way should they even consider signing him again at what it would cost and again have two players that can only play second base. The fact is he is not the player he once was and we should not overlook his past few years because his overall career numbers may still be decent. I wish him the best. I hope he finds success with another team. But there is good reason for his time in Milwaukee being done.

signing Sandoval would do that for me. Sandoval 2013: .278/.341/.417 2014 .279/.324/.415 Ramirez 2013: .283/.370/.461 2014: .285/.330/.427 Sandoval is younger and will play more games but Ramirez' production has been better over the past two years. I'm not sure how signing Sandoval dramatically improves the team. Even if you play him at 1B those are not earth-shattering numbers. No way do I give up the 16th pick to sign Sandoval. As far at the draft goes I will never argue with HS pitching in the first round. I liked the Williams pick and I liked the Medeiros pick (though Holmes is who I wanted). Obviously BPA but I like the HS pitcher route, preferably guys with better stuff as opposed to just extremely hard throwers.

Paul253, I'm not sure how the Brewers overpaid for Garza & Lohse, as you state they did. You may not like the contracts they signed, but these guys pitched pretty darn well and, most importantly toward your assertion that the Brewers are paying them more than they should've, did so for below-market value. I'm not saying they paid more specifically for Lohse or Garza than they should have. I'm saying they spent more on free agents pitchers than they should have. They didn't need to sign Garza because (at the time) Thornburg and Nelson and even Smith could have competed for that spot. Thornburg was coming off an extremely successful stint as a starter at the end of 2013 but was given zero shot at making the rotation this year. That money could have gone elsewhere, like maybe first base. And I can't remember who their options were when they signed Lohse but I didn't like that move either because a) it cost them a top 20 pick when their system was worse than it is now and b) it screamed of a panic move. All the Lohse signing did was solidify their spot as a .500ish team.

Why can't they have the same sort of vision for downtown? That is EXACTLY what the new owners are trying to do. This idea that it needs to be put in the dump of an area between Poto and Miller Park is just silly. Why can't it go downtown? But where are you going to have the room to build a major entertainment district like you would in the Menomonee Valley? Talk about a dump of an area look at what's around the most likely downtown landing spot for an arena (the area currently used by the theater and Cell) You have a large MATC building right there. You have the Police Administration Building right there. The County Courthouse, County Jail and a minimum security state prison are three blocks away. The Medical Examiner's office is two blocks away on Highland Ave. And Kitty corner to the northwest corner of the development area is a very large housing project neighborhood (Hillside Terrace) that is littered with crime. None of that is going away, unlike in the valley where all the old factories and railroad tracks can simply be torn down and replaced. Look I agree....the arena is going downtown. But if your goal is to build a sports/entertainment district your best bet is to build it in the Menomonee Valley. There is more room for development and it would incorporate Miller Park so you can have a year long crowd coming as opposed to an arena where almost all of the events occur when it is cold outside. By limiting yourself to downtown, and more specifically the dilapidated west side of downtown, you are really handicapping your ability to make a successful entertainment district.

Having the Bucks play in the Miller Park area is a pretty bad idea. There isn't really a debate if it will go in the downtown area, just where in the downtown area. It would be a nightmare for traffic too when there is a Bucks and Brewers game going on roughly the same time. It would be a fine idea if the city is willing to invest in an entire project instead of just plopping an arena down there. There would have to be some major road upgrades but if you used Miller Park and the new arena as bookends for an entire sports and entertainment district it could be a huge draw. I agree is it 100% going downtown but just the fact that the Menomonee Valley isn't even being considered bothers me. Our city leaders have zero vision. They can't even imagine building something like St Louis built around their ballpark. They think if they put up an arena downtown everyone will be falling all over each other trying to open their development nearby. As far as the traffic....yeah it would be bad if/when both the Bucks and Brewers play. But considering that is what, 3 maybe 4 times a year, that shouldn't even be a factor.

This has literally been covered hundreds of times but Melvin has nothing to do with the Draft, that entire process is overseen by the Scouting Director... baseball is much different from other sports in regards to how the front offices are setup. Who hires the scouting director?

Have you thought about the message it would send to the casual fan (short attention spans by nature) if they started shipping proven talent for prospects? If you base your moves on how you think the casual fan base will react you are never going to have a long-term successful franchise. Never. Trying to satisfy the casual fan is what causes us to overpay for guys like Garza and Lohse instead of giving people like Nelson and Thornburg a chance. And it causes us to continually patch together team you think can compete. Let's ask the Bucks how that is working out here. The fact is if you want to reign in the casual fan you need to win consistently. That's pretty much it. The fans will come when we start to win and will stay as long as they are winning. When they start to lose or if they constantly play .500 baseball the casual fans go away. So you need to make a plan to consistently win. Can anyone here say with a straight face that the Brewers have long term plan to win consistently? Of course not. They constantly mortgage the future in an attempt to win now. I think it shows not only in the guys they've signed but also in the guys they drafted. How often did we heard about how Jungmann and Bradley would be able to help out sooner rather than later after we drafted them? How did that work out? If I were GM I'd take a long look at not only the current roster but the entire system. And then I'd ask myself.....who is going to be here helping the team (or close to helping the team) in 3 years? I'd say guys like Lucroy, Peralta, Nelson and Braun are for sures. Guys like Segura, Davis, Gennett, Jeffress, Smith, and Thornburg are definite maybes that we need to hang onto to see. That leaves people like KRod, Gomez, Ramirez, Reynolds, Gallardo, Lohse, Garza, Estada, and whoever else as expendable to me. That doesn't necessarily mean we HAVE to move them. If we don't have another better options, like we don't at third base, we can certainly hold onto the guys. I just wouldn't invest in them long term. If we get a chance to move them for a good return then we do so. But stop with the overpaid patchwork of a roster. Then I'd look at the minor league system. I'd make a list of every significant prospect at High A and above and label them as either Likely every day players, possible major leaguers or minor league fodder. I'd take every "likely major league player" (i.e. Coulter, Taylor, Arcia) figure out where they are best suited to play and play them there.....every day. None of this switching Arcia to 2nd base every other game and having Coulter DH 75% of the time. Then I'd look at the "possible major leaguers" (i.e Rivera, Reed, Morris). I'd identify their strongest position but do everything I can to get them to learn multiple positions. Rivera 2nd and 3rd base. Reed all three outfield spots, maybe 1st base. Morris 1B and corner outfield. That way if these guys do make it to the major leagues they'll be more versatile and will be able to cover more positions, making them more valuable. It prevents situations like Mat Gamel was in where he could never crack the lineup because the one position he knew how to play was already covered. Then I would be sure to never take a possible major league player and use him to him block or displace a likely every day player. For instance, if Rivera and Arcia are on the same team Arcia is my every day SS. Maybe I am over thinking this but it doesn't seem like we have a solid strategy for prospects either. It seems like we just kind of tell them to focus entirely on offense. I don't know. It's just frustrating watching a franchise that seemingly has no long term strategy to win. I am sick of these patchwork .500 talent rosters that management thinks will keep us excited. I want to win as much as the next guy but this organization is SEVERELY lacking in high ceiling talent. That is what I would address first and foremost.

So how is it that the Bucks games seem overwhelmingly full of minorities?? I know some people already commented on this but I want to touch on it too because I've worked security at a lot of Bucks games the past few years. In the lower bowl you'll see more higher class people because the tickets are more expensive. I can only assume that you are referring to the upper level. So the answer to your question is this. With the Bucks doing so poorly and attendance so low, the team gives A LOT of tickets to the Boys and Girls club. Those tickets end up going almost exclusively to minority teenagers. Personally I can say we have had a lot of problems with them as SOME of them don't come to watch the games. They come to hang out and screw around. Almost none of them have adult chaperones either. Now I'll fully admit perhaps since I do security and gravitate towards the problems they may seem worse to me than they actually are. I'm just giving you my perspective. As far as revitalizing the city. I think downtown is actually gone through quite the revitalization already....at least the east side of it. The west side lags behind. But every weekend night there are tens of thousands of people down there at the bars. There are a crap load of apartments and condos that have been built in the past few years, with more to come. New skyscrapers are going up as well. Where they are really lagging is the western end of downtown, which is where the BC is. I think building middle and upper class apartments will actually do a lot more to revitalize that side than a new arena would. With apartments and condos, people are ALWAYS there, as opposed to being there three hours at a time for an event. With more people comes more things people want to live by....restaurants, bars, retail, etc. This idea that a new arena will automatically revitalize downtown is absurd. It certainly COULD help, but it won't automatically help. Downtown needs more hotels, more middle/upper class apartments (especially west of the river) and an expanded convention center. It would also help to completely tear down the Grand Ave and allow the new Silk club to open somewhere. I've only been to a strip club one time in my life and have no plans to ever go again, but I think it's a joke they won't allow Silk to open a club downtown. As much as they don't want to admit it, people will go downtown to go there. An arena in the Valley by Miller Park could work.....but this is Milwaukee. Our leaders are idiots and look out for themselves first and foremost. If you opened up a ton of land east of the park and built a mini-city, full of bars, restaurants, hotels, condos, and retail (think Bayshore with less retail and more entertainment and residential) in between Miller Park and the new arena I think it could really work. I'd love to see a Wisconsin sports museum open up down there. Somehow get the Packers involved as we all know they are far and away the most popular Wisconsin team. They seem insistent on building a street car.....how about building it from a new downtown station to a station by Miller Park? There are a lot of opportunities available but in my entire life here in Milwaukee I just haven't seen that kind of outside the box thinking that makes me believe this is even remotely possible. What's going to happen is there are going to build it near where the BC is and people are going to complain about having to pay a small tax to build and maintain it.

Other than Lucroy or Gomez I don't think you could get anything significant for any player. If I'm an opposing GM no way to give up a legitimate prospect for one year of Gallardo or Lohse. - I'd look to move Gomez for two young pitching prospects with at least #2 potential. I'm not sure what you'll get for him but he's still a productive player who is almost guaranteed to give you 20-20 and gold glove caliber defense. He's got to be worth something good. - I don't understand why people want to move Lucroy off catcher. I think they've forgotten life before Lucroy. I remember I listed all the catchers we used the prior 4 or 5 years before him and if I called that list pathetic it would be a compliment. Maldonado is not young and he's not a good hitter. Career line of .226/.291/361. No way do I entrust him with everyday catching duties. I keep Lucroy at C as long as possible and start making the transition from Braun being the face of the franchise to Lucroy. He's earned it. - Let Gallardo go and put that money towards the draft and international free agency. A rotation of Lohse, Garza, Peralta, Nelson and Fiers. I wish I knew what the deal with Thornburg was but I'm assuming the worst and that he won't pitch at all next season. I think the Brewers' handling of him has been shameful and pretty much sums up their ability to develop pitching. - Open competition at first base. Keep Rogers and either Morris or Clark to use as a platoon. Rogers can double up as a backup for Ramirez. We need to see if Rogers or Clark can take the reigns and grab the everyday 1B job. - Acquire a solid backup SS/2B. I wish I had a name but I don't. But I'd move some combination of Pena/Roache/Cravy/Hellweg/Nick Ramirez/Rivera/etc to get one, preferably one we control move than a year. In other words to prospects in our 15-20 range. The bench was a HUGE weakness this year and needs to be addressed. - Move Coulter to 1B. Get him out from behind the plate and give him plenty of time to learn the new position. - Pay as much as you can to acquire as good a scouting director as you can. We need better drafts, particularly guys after the first 2 rounds. Stop drafting for the "safe" guys and start taking some chances. This last draft was a start but we need to keep it up.

Basically no, but the son of Jane Pettit, a prominent architect came out and supported tearing down the BC, Milwaukee Arena, and the boondoggle theater. He took a couple shots at Gimbell as well. There has been talk about it but there haven't been any ideas. I have a feeling that a lot will happen after the elections. Nobody wants to come out and officially support taxpayer money going towards the new arena. As coolcool mentioned there have been talks about possible sites but that's about it. On a side note, I don't really follow the Bucks, although ironically enough I watched them more than ever before last year because I was rooting for them to lose so they could get Parker or Wiggins. I think I'll watch a little more this year to follow Parker. Anywho.....this is turning into politics as usual. People are taking stances based not on what's best for the city and the taxpayers but what's best for themselves. That idiot mayor insists it be as close to Wisconsin Ave as possible despite the fact that there is hardly any room for development. He just can't figure out how else to get people to Wisconsin Ave. So he thinks if we plop an arena there people will have to show up and Wisconsin Ave will miraculously turn into some hot spot. The only way it will even begin to be beneficial there is it the entire Grand Ave is torn down to make room for new development. But even so freeway access in that location isn't nearly as convenient as it is the BC's is now, where a quick turn onto McKinley Ave takes you to I43 north and south two blocks away. Then of course the Marcus dude that owns all of Milwaukee's major hotels will try to throw his weight around too because he'll get to connect his Hilton to the new arena. He'll no doubt want it right next to his hotel on Wisconsin Ave and I'm sure will use his money and political connections as best he can. I realize he's not an elected official but it just bugs me for some reason. And who could forget Gimbel. The guy who refuses accept that the US Cellular arena is completely out of date and unnecessary. For pete's sake its main tenants are a mid-major college basketball team and an indoor soccer team whose league just folded. Your talking average attendances of about 2,500 and 5,000 respectively. And don't get me wrong. I have no problem with either of those programs and wish them the best of luck. But making sure their arena stays should absolutely not be an issue in deciding where to put a brand new $500 million arena for the Bucks. Then there is the Milwaukee Theater. I don't go there.....well....ever, but from what I understanding it's essentially an underperforming venue that takes business away from the plethora of other theaters nearby and it should never have been built. And by the way both of these buildings are kept up with tax money. So why doesn't Gimbel want to tear them down? Well right now he's in charge of three buildings. If they tear them down he'll be in charge of one building. I think it's obvious. Meanwhile, if you tear down those two buildings you can either a) take the tax money that was going to them and instead send it to the convention center which needs to be expanded or b) lower the taxes since you now only have the one building to support. I just wish our elected officials would actually look out for the taxpayers when they are coming to us with since an enormous request. Like I said, I support the new arena and think it would be foolish to let it go when $200 million, plus whatever you can get for naming rights, is already committed to it. But we need to get it right. We got Miller Park right (though some people like me think it should have been built downtown) and we need to do the same here. No selfish personal actions screwing this up.

I just hope Melvin doesn't panic and overspend on an average player for 4 years. I'd rather play the entire year with a Clark/Rogers platoon than to throw 4 years and $30 million and some 34 year old player. Save the money for a major bench upgrade, which will probably end up being more beneficial anyway. And for god sake, move Coulter to first already. Give him 2-3 years to learn the position in the minors with nobody in front of him to block him. I'm sick of this "oh we can make it work" attitude they have with players who are clearly over their heads at their current position. Coulter, at best, is going to be an average defensive catcher. Move him and give him enough time so that when he is ready for the majors he's not a defensive liability. And instantly you have a top prospect at an extremely weak position.

I'd like to see them swing a deal for Morneau as the every day 1B and have Jason Rogers as the back-up, mostly because Rogers can play 3B as well when (not if) Ramirez gets hurt. I'm not sure what it would take but I'd be ok moving a guy like Pena, Morris, or Rivera to get Morneau for a season.