paul253

I'm thinking maybe a starting pitcher with #3 or #4 type potential who is currently in A or AA ball? Maybe someone comparable to a Cody Scarpetta or a Jimmy Nelson type prospect?

What can we realistically expect in return for him? As bad as his early numbers were he's had a great July to the tune of a 2.09 ERA, and this after a solid June (3.27 ERA) and May (3.09 ERA). And now that he is closer again, if he can have a successful two weeks is it too much to ask maybe a mid ceiling prospect back for him? Teams tend to trade heavily for relievers. Obviously his contract situation won't help but a solid bullpen is a necessity for a contender. Has anyone heard of any teams tied to KRod?

Isn't Kolten Wong strictly a 2nd basemen? What do we do with Scooter Gennett (and Weeks for the matter) if we acquire Kolten Wong? I know you go with the best deal and all but second base is the one position I would not trade for.

I don't buy it. Unless he is hurt I fully expect him to come back and pitch like he has most of the season. This guy was making it sound like Greinke is all of a sudden going to re-sign with Milwaukee because he has had a bad half a month?

Why do people take every rumored word about possible, hypothetical, maybe-happening trades as 100% truth? Nobody is suggesting it is 100% truth. Just responding to the report. That's what we do on this board.

2010 was his second go around in Helena. In 2009 he posted a 5.62 ERA through 14 games. I'm as excited about his breakout season as anyone but maybe we should hold off proclaiming him major league ready based on one season of success in A and AA ball. Mike Fiers dominated every level he was in over a three year period. Burgos had a good 6 games in Rookie ball in 2009 and is having a good 2012. In between he wasn't all that impressive. I'd be fine keeping him in Huntsville the rest of the season and bumping him up to Nashville next year.

Why major league pitching? Why limit yourself to that? A playoff team is not going to give up anyone worthwhile in the middle of a playoff run. Between Peralta, Fiers, Thornburg, Gallardo, Narveson, Estrada and maybe even Mark Rogers the Brewers seem like they have enough arms to fill the 2013 rotation already. And this is not even counting possible Greinke or Marcum trades. If the Brewers were to trade Greinke to Texas for Olt and Perez and Ramirez to LAD for Lee and and someone else I'd be thrilled.

I'm just wondering if Burgos can keep it up next season. He didn't have good numbers in 2011 or 2010 so it'll be interesting to see if he continues to progress or falls back into that 4.50 ERA range.

If we can't get Castellanos then we'd better get Turner. I was hoping there'd be a way to pry Bruce Rondon away from them too. Maybe Greinke and KRod for Turner and Rondon.

Mark Rogers has had two good starts in a row. 14 innings pitched 1 run 7 hits 1 walk and 13Ks. I continue to get frustrated by his inconsistency but starts like this keep me hopeful he can contribute. If both Marcum and Greinke end up getting traded I'd like to see him get some starts at the big league level.

My bad.....I forgot about that one. Even after I posted on it.

I realize that in reality that chances of Melvin trading him are slim to none. But I just thought it would be a nice topic of conversation considering how high his value would be. Supposed Cleveland already asked about him and I am sure other teams would be interested as well. http://tracking.si.com/2012/07/16/justin-upton-trade-pirates-diamondbacks-pittsburgh-arizona/?sct=mlb_t2_a7 Apparently the Pirates are interested in Justin Upton. I don't know how Hart's value compares to Upton's but with McCutheon in CF I imagine Upton would be playing a corner spot. The article says the D'Backs would be interested in Cole and Taillon obviously. Upton is signed longer but Hart has better numbers, particularly power numbers. Any chance Hart would bring back Cole or Taillon? Other than that. Should Hart be available for the right price or should we hang onto him no matter what?

I'd try to trade Kottaras for a bullpen arm.

It seems hard to believe that the Brewers would let fan favorites walk two years in a row then pony up for Josh Hamilton. I'd rather just put that money into a Zack Greinke contract.

I'm not sure Lucroy was on that list. I thought it was between Brantley and Green. I thought it was Brantley, Green, Lucroy and Cain.

They were also lucky that the Indians accepted a deal centered around LaPorta with essentially no pitching included And they were really lucky the Indians picked Brantley instead of Lucroy.

last night wasnt mop up duty Just as I said. Mop up duty and long relief

If he is going to be used in high pressure situations why not just let him start? I can't imagine Roenecke would be all that excited at the idea of using a guy who has all of 5 major league innings late in a one run game. Let's not over think this. Deep down we all know how Thornburg will be used. He'll be used in either mop up duty or when a starter can't go more than 4 or 5 innings and we need someone to eat some innings up.

ps. Gamel can't play 3rd....he is worse then Braun over there Ha I enjoyed the condescending response but as TLB pointed out Gamel is not nearly as bad at third as Braun was. If Miguel Cabrera can hold down third base I think Gamel could handle it for a year. Nobody is suggesting he'd be a gold glove caliber player and he wouldn't even be the first choice (that would be Green. His name was also mentioned) but it's not unthinkable. It would be emergency duty because it would probably mean Taylor Green is hurt and there is nobody else to put there. They would view taking on the money and as the major part of the compensation. So when it is mentioned the Dodgers have interest the AR, you think that interest is them approaching us and saying "Hey we'll do you a favor by taking Aramis Ramirez and his contract off your hands but we aren't going to give you anything significant in return"? In other words, you think the Dodger's interest would include them insulting Melvin? I find it almost implausible that Melvin is calling other teams about taking Ramirez so if the Dodgers are interested then one can assume they plan on offering something significant in return. And by something I don't mean taking his contract. This isn't like the Mets/KRod situation.

I think 5/$100 is very realistic and by no means a low-ball from the Brewers. Unfortunately a player's value is only what a team is willing to pay him. Randy Wolf isn't a $10 million a year pitcher but we agreed to give it to him so that's what his value is. If the Brewers are willing to give Greinke $20 million a year why not just add a year and make it 6/$120? I am sick of these token offers. It's the same deal Fielder and Sabathia turned down. Why would Greinke accept it?

No problem. You go to sleep for about 2.5 years while MLB is on strike and we'll get this done. Not to get off of topic but if it took a year long strike to get this done I think most fans would be ok with that. All Baseball's side has to do is make it clear that they are doing it to control skyrocketing salaries and help give every team the same opportunity and most fans would understand. I'd be willing to give up a year or two to get a salary cap, shared revenue, and a world wide draft (another joke.....if you are from Canada or Puerto Rico you have to be drafted by if you are from Cuba or Japan you can sign with the highest bidder?) As far as the draft goes, I think if Baltimore of Pittsburgh can get a pick after the first round it would make them a little more compatible with us on the Zack Greinke front. Considering the pick would basically be where we get one for letting Greinke walk it might make a trade more appealing. I'd still prefer an actual prospect but at least it would give Pitt and/or Baltimore a little more ammo.

If the Brewers do this right they will be fine. If, for instance, they trade ARam and get a package involving Zach Lee or Evoldi back and then trade Greinke to Texas for a package centered around Mike Olt or to Texas for a package centered around Nick Castellanos they'll have their third basemen. Olt may be ready next season, Castellanos maybe the year after that. But the Brewers can always throw Taylor Green or Mat Gamel at third base in 2013. If you can rid yourself of the ARam contract you do it. I see very little chance they compete in 2013 because they are probably going to have to rely on three young pitchers (Fiers, Thornburg, Peralta, etc) so they may as well save some money and build towards 2014.

Most of the teams involved seem to have at least one very good prospect to work a deal around except for Baltimore (assuming Bundy and Machado aren't available). Olt, Segura, Miller, Teheran, Castellanos, etc. I like our chances of coming away with someone good IF Melvin doesn't insist on major league talent in return.

When you have 80 games left, the number of teams ahead of you is almost insignificant as compared to the number of games you are out. Especially when you play all of those teams. It is not insignificant at all. By calling it insignificant you are essentially saying that it doesn't matter if they are behind one team or they are behind nine teams because it is all the same. The number of teams ahead of them matters because every single one of them has a better chance to make the playoffs than the Brewers do. Yes there are a lot of games left but that doesn't make the number of teams ahead of them less significant. And there may have 77 games left in the season but they only have 18 games left until they have to decide whether or not to be sellers. To me that number is much more important. And again, when it happens nearly every year that some team comes back from 5-6-7-10 games out, it's not a miracle. I'm not sure I'd call it nearly every year that a team comes back from 5-10 games at the all star break. Plus that's a fairly large range. Let's use 6 games because that's how many games we are behind. I don't think you can say that a team comes back from 6 games at the all-star break nearly every single year. Beside, it's not just that were are 6 games out of the last playoff spot. What has this Brewers team shown you this season that makes you believe they can make up 6 games in less than half a season? These are not the 2011 Brewers. This team is very inconsistent, has a terrible bullpen and has been devastated by injuries. I appreciate the confidence in your team. But you don't have to constantly shoot down other people's opinions like this, especially when, quite honestly, the odds are not in your favor. I still believe in this brewers team. I'll ask you the same thing. What has this Brewers team done that makes you believe they can overcome a 6 game lead and pass 6 other teams in the process? The Brewers are 5-10 against teams ahead of them in their division and something like 12-21 vs teams ahead of them in the wild card standings. They can't pass 6 teams by beating the crap teams and losing to everyone else. I hope in 2 months you can tell me I'm wrong but all signs point to this being a below .500 team this year.

Considering Weeks for Castellanos for Weeks now would probably be a reach I think its fair offer. At this time next season we are going to be trying to figure out what to do with Scooter Gennett so trading Weeks now before other teams know we have a replacement for him might help his value a tad.