paul253

I think its a combo of them thinking Milwaukee may not be as good while other teams, especially Cincinnati, got better. St. Louis lost Pujols but the get Wainwright back and they added Beltran too. It should a nice race as I don't think any of those teams are significantly better than the other two.

What other players do we have that are blocked or that are suppose to have been playing the last several years that haven't? We wait to long on Lucroy? Has Gindl just been BANGING down the door? Schafer? He's had ONE healthy year now where he was within range of the actual big leagues. Logan Schafer: Could easily be the opening day center fielder right now but we'd rather have a platoon of Carlos Gomez, a guy who can't hit for you know what and Nyger Morgan. And while Morgan did put up good offensive numbers last season I seem to remember quite a few people on here suggesting his antics might wear a little thin if we aren't winning. Gomez is fine as a backup outfielder, pinch fielder, and late inning defensive replacement. That's about all. And on top of that, now you can add Aoki to the list of people ahead of Schafer. Mat Gamel: Could have been the third basemen years ago or the right fielder years ago when Milwaukee had offers from Atlanta for Corey Hart. And let's be honest about it. If the Brewers weren't absolutely tapped out for money do you think they wouldn't have made a run for someone like Derek Lee? They are already talking about giving Corey Hart, who hasn't seen first base in what, 6 years, time at first just so Mat Gamel doesn't have to face a left handed pitcher. Taylor Green: What more does he have to prove in the minors? He could easily be the opening day third basemen, but we instead signed a terrible fielding mid 30's player to a 3 year $36 million contract, which means Green either goes back to the minors or sits on the bench six days a week. We wait to long on Lucroy Lucroy was basically forced into action because we had nobody else to put there. The only reason we didn't sit him behind other players is because the other players we had at the position were terrible (or hurt). but with the exception of Gamel who was only blocked by Braun, Prince, Hart and McGehee. The problem of someone is blocked can be pretty easily remedied by trading the person that is blocking him. They have been offered deals in the past but they don't take them, choosing instead to resign Hart and keep Fielder for another year before letting him walk. Apparently you have this idea that the Brewers are now a franchise that can continue to run out a lineup of expensive veterans every year and it's never going to catch up to them. Look at the title of the thread. Are we a year away from rebuilding? Do you realize how close this franchise is to going back to being a sub .500 team and staying there for awhile? If Greinke and Marcum walk after this year, we basically go back to being an older and more expensive version of the sub .500 2010 team. We didn't need to sign Ramirez. It was a panic signing because Fielder left. We don't need to keep Nyger Morgan. Aoki and/or Schafer can provide everything Morgan can provide. Hart probably needs to stick around this year but if Gindl has another year in 2012 like he did in 2011 then the Brewers should think about shopping him as well. You don't have to hang onto to ALL of your guys ALL the time. It is ok to trade them for prospects to help keep the franchise going. Eventually at the rate the Brewers are going, they are going to run out of money to keep all the players they need to compete (Like Greinke) and without capable replacements they'll drop off significantly. If you can supplement the players you REALLY need to win year in year out (Greinke, Gallardo, Weeks, Braun, etc ) with younger, cheaper guys (Schafer, Green, Gamel, Gindl) then you should have enough resources to go out and fill holes (shortstop, relievers, quality bench players) when need be. And that was knee slapping hilarious(I'm also being sarcastic), but with the exception of Gamel who was only blocked by Braun, Prince, Hart and McGehee I'm going to say this as nice as I can because it's not the political board. First off, I said that I was being "sarcastic", not "funny". I wasn't going for "funny". You act as though I'm the first person whose ever suggested Doug Melvin and whoever happens to be managing the team don't like to give their young players much of a chance to prove themselves. You don't need to be such a smart-___ (fill in the blank however you see fit). Second, people are allowed to disagree with you. Relax. It'll be ok.

Why are you so concerned with "long term solutions," at this point Because I would rather not be a one or two year wonder and then fall back to being below .500 for 5 years. They have a lot of key free agents next year and obviously won't be able to afford all of them. It'd be nice to have some of your own guys to step in and fill the role as opposed to constantly trading for and signing expensive veterans. We are doing that this season and are literally tapped out. You can talk all you want about the success of last season, but the fact is without the impact players they had in their farm system they never would have gotten Greinke and Marcum and would have been a below .500 team like they were the year before. If Greinke and Marcum walk next year, we don't have the prospects to trade to get another front line starter and that means we may be in for a painful few years. As far as Morgan goes. He had a good year last year. But you already have 4 other major league caliber outfielders on your team, not even including Schafer and Gindl. You act like he is the key to the team and without him we go nowhere. I am confident Logan Schafer and/or Aoki could put up numbers very close to the numbers Morgan is going to put up this year. Next year he is likely to be gone anyway, so what's the harm in trying to maximize his value while he still has some?

I'm not sure substituting Schafer or Aoki for Morgan is going to do all that much to hurt the team. And what if he doesn't have as good a year this year as he did last year? His value goes down and we will get even less for him. He's not in the long term plan so it wouldn't hurt to explore the opportunity. Beside, I'm not saying that all we need to do is trade Morgan and our ranking goes from 26 to 15. We have an excess of outfielders and an utter lack of prospects. Don't trade Morgan for nothing, but a team whose looking for a center fielder may be willing to give up a decent low level prospect for him.

I find it ironic that just moments before, DJO was called for a foul for slapping the FLA player on the forehead as he dribbled by him. Then just minutes later FLA"s player elbows Wilson in the face and nothing. I don't like to blame refs for losses, and certainly MU could have played better, but I was not happy with the officiating.

So were these just a bunch of aftershocks?

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/rankings/organization-talent-rankings/2012/2613155.html Brewers ranked 26 out of 30. I realize they've traded a lot of prospects lately, but Milwaukee really needs to do a better job drafting. They also need to do a better job of maximizing the trade value of their players. I don't understand they need to have Braun, Gomez, Aoki, Morgan, and Hart on this year's team as opposed to trading one of them (most likely Morgan) for a decent, though probably low level prospect.

One more year of AAA and he'll then be ready to be the Brewers every day RF for the years 2013-2019 Which means he'll spend all of 2013 in Nashville. Then in 2014 he'll be the last guy on the bench getting about 5 at bats a week. In 2015 he'll be a platoon player. And finally in 2016 he'll be given a chance at an every day job. I'm being sarcastic of course but this is the type of attitude Melvin and CO. have given their fan base regarding the young players on there team.

I think you could get two good to very good positional prospects for Weeks after this season. But I'd wait until after the 2013 season to trade him. I do think they need to trade Hart soon though, unless Gamel completely flops this season in which case Hart moves to first on a full time basis.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/whats-shaking-in-clintonville-g74krbl-143300926.html Apparently this is happening elsewhere too, like in North Carolina. And it happened in Georgia a few months ago. Isn't this how alien invasion movies always start? I'm just curious if anyone lives near Clintonville and can describe what these things sound and feel like.

Gennett should be ready closer to 2015, which is good because that is the year Weeks likely becomes a free agent He'll be in AA this season so I'd say it'd be closer to 2014. He could be in AAA in 2015 but I think he'll be ready by 2014. Does Ginnett really project to be the type of player you trade a Rickie Weeks in his prime to make room for? He might be. He'll never hit for as much power but he may very well hit for better average. It's a shame neither can play shortstop. I think you also have to factor in cost though. Gennett and his league minimum or Weeks and his likely $8-$12 million salary?

We don't have to have a fire sale, but we have to do something soon. Soon like....next offseason at the latest. We can't be a team of high priced free agents and expensive vets that we acquired by giving up prospects. We all know that, but that's pretty much where we are right now. We also have to convince Melvin and/or Roenecke that at some point we are going to have to use younger guys. I am cautiously optimistic Gamel will be given every change to succeed but that's one of those I'll believe it when I see it type things. This is what I think Milwaukee needs to do soon: -Trade Hart and Morgan: The Brewers had apparently had a chance to get an impact pitcher from Atlanta for Hart a few years ago and passed it up. Now, with the abundance of outfielders in the system, his value needs to be maximized and he needs to go either after this season or at the deadline if we are out of it. We should be able to get a young, impact hitting prospect in return for him. And Morgan. I've always like him the fact is Schafer is the future in center field, not Morgan, and not Gomez. Gomez should stick around until he starts to get expensive and then he should be moved. Between Aoki, Gindl, Kh Davis, Schafer, Gomez and Braun, we should be ok in the outfield in 2013 and beyond. -Re-sign Greinke: The future of the franchise depends on it. -Let Marcum, Wolf, and KRod walk to save money and get our finances back in order a bit. Hopefully by then Peralta, Braddock, Fiers, Thornburg, Rogers, and Manzanillo are ready to step up and fill the void. - Decide between Weeks and Gennett. Neither appear to be able to move off of second. This decision can wait awhile, but Gennett will likely be ready before Weeks' contract expires. It could be another situation like Hart's. Trade Weeks while his value is still high or use Gennett to get a player that puts you over the top. I actually think the trade Weeks scenario is more likely if Gamel pans out and can bring 20-30 home runs into the lineup. I like the idea of a Schafter/Gennett 1-2 punch in the order in 2014. -Draft more high ceiling players, especially in rounds 2-5. I'd rather take a chance on someone who could turn into an allstar but may fail then draft a guy whose ceiling is 6th inning reliever or AAAA player. Granted a lot of this counts on guys like Gamel, Peralta, Braddock, Fiers, Schafer, and Gennett producing but nothing any of them have done yet suggests to me that they won't. I have extremely high hopes for Schafer and Peralta and think they could be impact players for a long time. With Peralta as a #3 behind Greinke and Gallardo, and with the likes of Narveson, Jungmann, Bradley, Thornburg and Scarpetta filling out the rotation, I think we can be successful for a long time. But we need to move guys like Hart and Wolf to free up the room.

That last line of the article was right. The rotation should be pretty good in Nashville. You'd figure Peralta and Fiers would be 1 and 2 in some order. Rogers, Rivas, Scarpetta competing for the other spots.

Is anyone else surprised at how easily Germantown manhandled Madison Memorial last night? I am also surprised that Cuba City was no match for Dominican in the D4 championship game today. I am really looking forward to the Germantown-King game tonight.

Portland just sent Gerald Wallace to the Nets for a couple of crap players and the Nets 2012 first round pick. Wallace is averaging a little over 13 points a game and 6.6 rebounds a game. The pick is top 3 protected. Right now NJ has like the 5th or 6th worst record in the league. If things work out well for Portland, they could come away with a top 5 pick for a guy averaging 13 and 7. That is the type of deal I wanted the Bucks to make.

I can't believe Rogers has been with the organization for 8 years already. Yes, it's time to pass on him as a starter and move him to the bullpen. Just because he has been in the organization for 8 years? What if he fails as a reliever as well? The guy is finally healthy heading into spring. He still throws upper 90's. Really the only two things holding him back are health and control. He could learn to pitch more to contact, which is something a lot of pitchers do. As far as health goes, his shoulder has held up for 2 years now so maybe he has gotten over that mountain. But as of now, I see no reason not to let him keep starting. You can put in Nashville and let him build up his arm strength and maybe even use the year to teach him how to pitch to contact. I'd prefer the move to the bullpen when there is nowhere else to put him.

It's like they would rather hold the 12 spot in the lottery next season than have Ellis. I would rather have the 12 spot. This draft stands to be one of the deepest in years and they Bucks could get a pretty good player at #12. Like I said before, Ellis is just another in a long line of band aids.

It does save lots of money next year but I don't know who would actually come here. That's the thing. All things being equal we rank up there with Cleveland as players Free Agents want to come. We need to build through the draft. Hammond doesn't seem to get that. Ellis is just another in a long line of band-aids that won't turn around the fortunes of the team. Ellis---> Jackson---> Salmons ---> Maggette ---> Richard Jefferson ---> Charlie Villanueva ---> Bobby Simmons---> Keith Van Horn. Every year it's someone else and every year it fails.

Bogut and Stephen Jackson to Golden State for Monta Ellis, Ekpe Udon and Kwame Brown http://www.jsonline.com/newswatch/142560425.html

No there isn't, but we shouldn't give up on him yet. He was healthy all of 2010 and had some freak carpel tunnel injury last year that he has seemingly recovered from. His shoulder has held up fine for two full years now. He has enormous potential as a starter and until that potential is gone I don't see why you should move him, especially with all possible holes in the rotation next season. If he doesn't cut it he doesn't cut it. You can always give him a shot at the bullpen next spring. If he blows that then maybe you can sneak him through waivers and send him back to Nashville. Or you can let him walk and wish him well. But either way, I don't think the year he is heading into spring healthy is the year you take him out of the rotation.

I've been hearing rumors lately about Bogut and Jennings being dealt in the same deal. But I don't like the idea of bringing back more pricey vets. The idea should be to rebuild the team with a young, cheap core. That involves first round draft picks. If I were to deal those two together, I'd want at least two first rounders in return, probably more.

I think Schafer should be the starter next season. I like him a lot but we just have too many outfielders right now. Morgan and/or Hart should be traded before the start of next season. Carlos Gomez doesn't look like he's ever going to live up to his offensive potential. As soon as he starts getting expensive he should be gone as well. Schafer is the future in center field.

I'd still like to see Rogers given every opportunity as a starter this season. If he gets hurt again or just doesn't cut it, give him a chance to make the roster next season as a reliever. If he doesn't make it, it may be time to consider letting him walk. But if he can succeed as a starter it would really benefit the team, particularly in 2013.

I really do think the Brewers need to go all in for him. And they should really try to avoid insulting him with a low ball offer in hopes he'll come down in his asking price. This franchise can survive the losses of Marcum and Wolf, but losing Greinke would set them back again. He likes it here. They'll have money freed up with the likely departures of Wolf, Marcum, and K-Rod and should really look to trade Corey Hart and/or Nyjger Morgan to open some room for guys like Gindl and Schafer. There is no reason not to get a deal done unless Greinke simply doesn't want to come back.

It would kind of baffle me if the only year they offered it was last year when their system was as weak as it has been in a decade. This year would be a great year to have it. It would be good P.R. to have Jungmann start for one team and Bradley start for the other. I couldn't make it last season but it's definitely something i'd be interested in seeing if I can go.