monty57

This will play out in a few years, as our current A-ballers get through the system. About the time Axford's getting expensive, many of the guys currently starting in the low minors will have maxed their potential as MLB relievers. We should have some young pre-arby arms to fill in the pen, and hopefully Axford will have a solid reputation as a reliable closer, so we will be able to trade him around year 2 of arby for a good haul of talent.

Macha is a "prove yourself" kind of guy. PAs in the majors are more important than talent. Unless there is no other option, any young player will have to "prove himself" by sitting on the bench. How this proves anything, I don't know. Axford and Braddock had lucky timing in that there were a lot of innings for the pen, several injuries to key personnel and Hoffman's implosion. If a player "proves himself" in a handful of opportunities, then Macha will like him and play him continually. Unfortunately, those opportunities will only arise with injury, terrible performance by the more experienced player, or Melvin giving no other options. Honestly, I'm actually surprised with Cain's 3-for-4 showing that he wasn't given the starting job. Macha seems to be an "old school" guy who was introduced to "new school" techniques while in Oakland. He tries to incorporate them, but isn't smart enough to grasp them. My best example is his thoughts on stealing... he understands that you need to be over 70% successful or it hurts the team. However, he used a sample of 8 attempts last season, and then stopped everyone on the team from stealing when as a team we were 4-for-8.

One of Brian & Bill said that the Pirates pitcher is tough on righties, so Macha gave Corey & Casey the night off in favor of Inglett & Counsell.

He hasn't had a day off (other than the travel day after the All Star game) in quite a while, but it is odd that he'd sit the day after Cain got sent down. All I can say is that I really hope is a day off or a trade and not an injury.

I think this is a good year to have Casey playing 3B on the Brewers and Gamel playing 3B in AAA. That way, both get everyday PT and we can see how they perform before making any decisions. Let's say Gamel continues to falter. I'd hate to have traded Casey away too soon, as he is definitely a serviceable all-around MLB 3B. Conversely, if Gamel starts to hit like he did before his call-up last season (1.000+ OPS), Casey will be very marketable in the offseason. His current .780 OPS ranks 10th out of 22 "qulaified" MLB 3B (270 PAs), so he would be an offensive upgrade at 3B for 2/3 of the team in the majors. While he has no range, he seems to have a decent glove and accurate arm, so it's not like he's tripping over himself like some make it seem. In other words, how McGehee fits into my plans for the Brewers' future depends on Gamel and other moves which may be made (i.e. trading for Beckham and extending Weeks). He's not a superstar, but he is inexpensive and has value, so he wouldn't be the piece of the puzzle I'd be going out of my way to replace, but if the pieces fall the right way, and we can get value in trade, then I wouldn't be heartbroken if he was traded.

And Rivas, Odorizzi, Heckathorn will be a great 7-8-9 when Braddock & Jeffress hit arby & get traded. Maybe Arnett & Covey will be ready for the role after that. I understand Braddock staying in the relief role for injury concerns, but if they keep Jeffress as a reliever, I'll be pretty upset. He's definitely got "top of the rotation stuff," can throw in the upper 90's late into games and his issues are definitely not arm related. We have plenty of minor league starters who project to be decent middle relievers. We can't throw our "high upside" starting pitchers into relief roles until we're absolutely certain they can't cut it as a starter. Braddock-Jeffress-Axford could be dominating, but if we continue our quest for starters on the discount FA rack, we won't have many leads for them to hold & save. Since they wasted on option on Jeffress this season, we have two more years for him to get "stretched out" as a starter. No need to rush him to the majors just so we have the best 7th inning guy in baseball when he could be at the top of our rotation if we have a little patience.

For injury reasons, I would not be surprised to see Lorenzo back fairly soon. As much as Brian & Bill said Macha loves Cain, during the time Cain was up, Macha was giving Gomez the starts against LH pitchers. If Edmonds gets hurt, I really hope Cain doesn't get the call, as I would really be upset to see Cain come up to sit the bench behind Gomez.

I'm not surprised Cain got sent back down, as they'd owe Gomez his million dollars whether he's playing in Milwaukee or Nashville, and wins this year just aren't that important. I just think they absolutely need to play Cain everyday somewhere, and would really like to see Gomez getting much more playing time in Milwaukee. I know he's been terrible, but Edmonds has no future with the Brewers and apparently is playing with an injury where he should be getting a lot of rest. The Brewers have control of Gomez for a few more years. Whether he is going to start, play a backup role or be traded, he needs playing time. The Brewers should tell Gomez that he's the starter for the rest of the year with the caveat that he needs to focus on increasing his OBP/plate discipline. Tell him that if this doesn't improve that he will either be shipped to the minors next season or will be buried on the bench as a pinch runner. Maybe the threat of seriously hampering his future earnings potential will get him to straighten up and do what is being asked of him. Barring injury, Cain will be starting for the Brewers next year. What we'll have in Gomez will only be known if he is allowed to play more than once a week.

Aware of the situation, manager Ken Macha is trying to pick his spots to start Edmonds. Oh, is that why Edmonds has only played in 21 of the last 27 games. Macha's starting him against every RH pitcher, and using him as his top LH pinch hitter off the bench when he's not starting. How can he claim that he's "trying to pick his spots?" His spots are whenever a righty's starting. He has home run power, so I don't like him bunting too much. That home run power is probably his biggest problem. If he'd stop swinging out of his shoes trying to kill the ball, he might actually be able to make solid contact and be a decent player. His best comp player is Willie Mays Hayes. The Brewers' chances to trade vets has been greatly diminished by injuries & underperformance this season. Zaun, Davis, Hawkins, Riske, Hoffman, Coffey, etc are all guys that could've been trade chips, but now no one would want most of them. I had hoped that Edmonds would be a sought-after commodity, but now I don't see teams jumping at acquiring him if he's got a fairly serious injury and could go on the DL at any time. Really, other than Corey Hart and the young bullpen guys, very little has gone right for the Brewers this season.

I understand your feelings, but Parra is our current best hope of improving our 2011 rotation, as he has top of the rotation "stuff" if he can just put it together. Capuano's pending free agency could play a role in the decisions being made. I think the best move is to trade Dave Bush ASAP. Then go with Yo, Wolf, Parra, Capuano, Narveson until Davis is back and make a decision at that time. -Yo is our one guy with no big question mark attached. -Wolf should be better than he has been, and is signed for two more years, so he's in the rotation. -Parra needs to start to see if he can put it together. Big question mark here... potentially the #2 we've been looking for, potential bust. -If Davis could put up his career (or even last three year) numbers, he would be our second best pitcher, and we have an option for next year. However, he can't seem to pitch more than 3-4 innings before getting shelled, and I have no idea what the problem is. I'd like to see him get a few more starts when he's healthy. Huge question mark here. -Narveson has pitched okay as a starter, but has a hard time getting righties out. Potential back of the rotation guy, potentially outstanding LOOGY. -Capuano is another question mark. Decent history coming back from major surgery. So basically even if we trade Bush, we have three open spots and have to determine which of our four question marks are most deserving of those three spots. Parra has to pitch the rest of this season due to his "stuff." I'm really fairly indifferent to which of the others get the starts. The fact that we have Narveson, Parra and Davis under control next season, and Capuano will probably be a free agent could be the decision maker. Of course, if we don't trade Bush, then we only have two spots available, making things even murkier.

...but it's still selling a lot higher than if Hart had put up an OPS in the pre-season projected .785 OPS range in the first half. So it is selling "high," even if it isn't selling "highest." I think Hart's biggest value is to someone buying a "hot hand" for the playoff run. Everyone should expect him to regress, but a trading partner could hope Hart stays hot for another month before regressing. Deadline trading doesn't have to be overly logical, which is why that's when I'd like to see Hart traded. Logically, why would anyone trade someone of Wade Davis or Mike Minor's value for Corey Hart? If the Brewers don't trade him before the deadline, they have to hope like heck that Corey doesn't go into a prolonged slump in the 2nd half, or they won't get nearly as much for him in the offseason. Conversely, even if he stays hot all season, I don't see anyone giving more than what we've seen rumored for Hart. Granted, these are rumors, and may be way off base. In other words, if these rumors are true, then the risk seems to me to be on the Brewers, as the downside of waiting is substantial, while the upside is minimal.

Makes sense. Thanks for the clarification.

Agreed that Bush should be traded, as he has value and we'll get no compensation for him when he walks at season end. Last night was bad timing to have one of his "blowup games." I'm sure other teams are watching him as a potential deadline pickup, so it can't help to see that kind of outing. What GM wants to trade for someone and then have him give up nine runs in the first inning? That said, it makes a lot of sense to trade Dave Bush soon... which means it probably won't happen :-)

Thanks for the info on Santana. He probably wasn't the best example, just the only one I could think of. I do agree that Braddock would need to increase his workload if he wanted any chance of being a full-time starter next season. Hasn't he already used an option this year, as he was in the minors and the majors? If so, and if the Brewers actually wanted him as a starter in the future, they could make him a AAA starter, and instead of 75 innings, maybe he gets closer to 100 and back into the routine of starting. He is more valueable as a starter, and the Brewers have plenty of guys in the minors who are starting that would project better as MLB relievers, so they shouldn't be hurting for young relievers for quite some time. I doubt they'll convert him back to a starter, but it is an interesting predicament. And, yes Baldkin you're comment made perfect sense. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" is probably the route the Brewers will take. Other popular euphemisms that would fit are "Better safe than sorry," or "a bird in hand is worth two in the bush."

Yeah, but they went 12-15 in June and 8-17 in July and were playing worse & worse. With the small sample that is a few months, it is so much more important in baseball to play well early than it is to play well late. As you illustrated, if a team is in first place early in the season, there is very little chance they'll sell, and will probably buy, whereas if they start out poorly, they are much more likely to sell. I have little doubt that this team has more talent than their record shows, but it isn't enough talent to overcome the hole they've dug, so they should sell. Around this point last year, the same held true. Just because they played well early, it was becoming obvious at this point of the year that they should try to get something for players like Cameron and Hoffman, and they would've been much better off as a franchise if they had. Since the dawn of the Wild Card, there are very few sellers in baseball every year. Most GMs/owners want to hold on for the hope that they will be the next miracle team to have that big second half and make the playoffs. I know Melvin has to worry about things like fan perception and ticket sales, which I don't have to consider when I say that it would be best for the future of the franchise if the Brewers sold off now. Even looking at ticket sales, judging by the waning, lifeless crowds around Miller Park these days, it would probably enliven the fan base to see some moves. Since this thread is about Edmonds, let's just look at the effect of trading him. We'd probably forego an extra win or two, as he is having a decent season. What we would gain would be the ability to give Cain and Gomez full-time playing time between AAA and the Brewers. Cain will be starting for the Brewers next year in either CF or RF, so he needs to play everyday, and Gomez is a high upside talent, and we need to get him as many PAs as possible to see if he has any value to the future of the team, either as our starting CF, a backup or in trade. We would also save a little money (I believe Edmonds has some incentive clauses in his contract), and we could get a mid-tier prospect back for him from a contender looking for a solid LH bat. Since the Brewers are effectively out of it this season, to me the positives of trading Edmonds far outweigh the possibility of missing out on an extra win or two this season.

I keep reading that Brewers pitching situation is so desperate that they need to trade two top hitters. I'd say it's more that the two top hitters will leave after next year, so we might as well get as much for them now as possible. I don't think we need (or that it's realistic to expect) to get two members of the 2011 rotation from the Hart / Fielder trades. Anyone object if this is the rotation come opening day 2011? Gallardo, Wolf, Hudson, Braddock, Narveson I'd use Parra instead of Narveson, and Narveson could be your lefty specialist, since he has trouble against righties 1. He's not going to be able to build up enough innings to be in the rotation next year. While I'm not disagreeing, how do other pitchers move from the 'pen to the rotation? The classic example is Johan Santana, but there have to have been many, many pitchers who have moved from the pen to the rotation early in their careers, so there has to be a way to do it. 2. Everytime he's in the rotation, he gets hurt. Agreed that this is why he was moved to the 'pen, but there has been a lot of debate on which is harder on the arm... starting or relieving. Starters throw more innings, but are on a set schedule whereas relievers have a sporadic schedule which could be harder on the arm. Braddock is wasted in that role. No doubt Braddock would have much more value as a starter than as a setup man, and as long as Axford is getting batters out, I think Braddock will be a 7th-8th inning setup man (not a LOOGY). I'd rather see him as a starter in AAA first to make sure he could handle the load before I'd pencil him into the 2011 rotation. The comments about developing at least a "league average" third pitch make sense, and that's better done on a smaller stage. I'd like to see it happen. I just don't see the Brewers doing it. Sums it up pretty well. He's doing well in his current role and would have to take a step back to take three steps forward. Are they willing to have him take that step back, when they seem to be putting a lot of importance on winning games now? Really, if we'd just make the decision that we are out of it this year and games don't matter any more this season, Braddock might not be a bad person to send back down when Davis is off the DL so that he can try starting at the AAA level. If he pulls it off and continues his dominance, he could be a viable option for the 2011 rotation. Of course, that will never happen.

He's the righthanded Krynzel, only with less discipline! ... but can he ride a dirtbike without breaking a leg? It seems Mr. Gomez feels a little entitled, which is probably because he was brought to the majors at such a young age and never had to grind it out in the minors like most players. I think a trip to the minors would be good for him. Of course, he'd still be making $1MM in the minors, but at least he'd be spending it at roadside diners while riding a beat up bus. He has talent, but has to learn how to use it. I think that quote pretty much sums up why he won't be a good MLB player until he gets his priorities straight.

We could definitely get Haren if we wanted, but as I mentioned, paying too much for him doesn't make sense. For instance, Gallardo and Braun would do it, but why in the world would we make that trade? I'd have to think an offer consisting of several of our top prospects would at least get the D-Backs attention. The question is "How much of our future would we be willing to give up?" If we trade too much of our "high upside" prospect talent, then we'll be stuck in a few years when we don't have any cheap talent coming in to fill the MLB roster. That's why I would think any trade for Haren would have to be accompanied with trading away some combo of Prince/Hart to add some young talent back into the system. Your point is taken that the D-Backs have a lot of leverage in the trade, as they have Haren signed fairly cheaply for the next few years. They don't have to move him unless they are blown away, and I'm sure we're pretty hesitant to give up too much of our young pitching, so a deal isn't likely to happen. It would be nice to see Yo, Haren and someone like Wade Davis/Matt Garza at the top of our rotation next year to go along with Wolf and Parra/Rivas/Rogers.

I just don't see our front office going in this direction. I don't either... as I mentioned, this was (in my mind) an unrealistic scenario that would be the only way "playing for 2011" would make sense to me. My preferred scenario of the probable options would be for the Brewers to trade Hart and Fielder before next year. From these trades, I'd hope to get one young starter for next year's rotation, and as much talent above and beyond that (hitting or pitching) as possible. Use the $40MM or so in free cash from expiring contracts / trading Hart & Fielder and either pick up decent talent in trade or free agency. Go into next season with a good, young core of talent that could compete next year and into the future. My least favoite "probable" scenario would be for the Brewers to win a few games against Pitt, Wash, etc and decide they can "go for it" this year, and then decide that they have enough talent going into next season that they can hold onto Prince and Hart, add one mid-tier veteran arm and compete. Lose Hart, Fielder and Weeks at the end of the year for draft picks, be stuck with a bad contract to the above signed mid-tier veteran arm (along with a potentially bad contract in Wolf), and hope beyond hope that the prospects can step in and somehow make up for losing the core of our team without getting anything back that will help for many years. It does seem that Mark A & Melvin feel Prince is the type talent that can get them the World Series. If Barry Bonds in his steroid-induced 73 HR season wasn't enough to win a World Series, then no one player will ever be enough to do it alone. Prince and Boras have made it obvious that he's gone after next season, so if we want a World Series with Prince, it has to be next year, and I don't see that as realistic. It's possible, but far-fetched, i.e. my "pipe dream scenario" listed above. In my mind, Prince and Hart's best value to the Brewers will be in what they'll bring in trade. Wins this season just aren't as important for the current makeup of the Brewers as wins over the next six seasons, so "high upside" prospects are more valueable than another year of Hart/Prince. For a team that actually has a legitimate shot at the playoffs this year, wins now are more important than wins in the future, so Hart & Prince would be more valueable to them than prospects. I really hope Melvin finds the match and makes the deal. Based on the above referenced Sports Illustrated article, there isn't a lot of quality out there in the trading market, but we have two of the top four hitters available. Someone will make a valid offer to us, and Melvin needs to look at the offers objectively and make the best deal. Of course we don't take table scraps in return, but the rumored players (Minor, Garza, Wade Davis, etc) are far from table scraps. If Melvin expects a lot more than that for Hart, he's not looking objectively.

brewmann, therein lies the hitch. We finally have some young arms who could turn into a decent, cheap, homegrown rotation. Other than trading away Hart/Fielder, any move to increase our chances next year would be costly, either in money (offering Lee a $20MM+/year contract) or in prospects, as Arizona would obviously want our better prospects in return for a stud pitcher like Haren. There are two sides to any arguement. Odorizzi/Heckathorn/Rivas, etc could become top of the rotation starters... Haren already is one. In order to get Haren, we'd likely have to give up several "could be's." That's a lot to pay, and could really hurt the franchise. The reason Haren is appealing is the three years remaining on his contract. Essentially, you are looking at three years that are relatively safe to be "top of the rotation quality" vs 12-18 years of potentially good quality, which could turn into nothing, depending on how the prospects progress. I wouldn't buy on Haren if the price tag was too high, but he definitely has his appeal, and could make us a better team now and for the next three years. As I mentioned earlier, I would think Hart and/or Fielder would probably still be traded, even if we get Haren, not only to help money-wise, but also that we don't want to lose Hart, Fielder and Weeks in one season for nothing but draft picks. So... should we go for it now or play for the future? How about a couple of moves that combine to do both. Trade prospects for Haren, trade Hart for Wade Davis/Garza/Minor type that can be in the rotation to start next season, and trade Fielder for a young stud corner OF and a couple high-upside AA guys. Sign Dunn, Berkman, Konerko type as a FA and have a solid Haren, Yo, Davis/Garza/Minor, Wolf, Parra/Rivas/Rogers rotation with an above average offense. Potentially extend Weeks, and have a solid young team that will be together for years.

I'm not an expert on this, but I believe that's normally only done if the player is a Type A/B free agent, and it's done to secure the draft picks. Capuano will obviously not be Type A/B, so there's no reason to offer him arbitration. Instead, if they would like him back they would simply talk with him and his agent and offer him a fair deal.

Really, the question comes down to should we retain Hart & Fielder and try to have a really good team next year and watch it fall apart after 2011, or should we trade Hart/Fielder for impact talent which could help us be stronger into the future. I like the second scenario much more than the first. I think we can be competitive next season if we can trade Hart/Fielder for someone who will be in the rotation next year along with other plus prospects, they could still field a good team... potentially better than this year, as they'd have money to fill in holes... and they'd be much better for years to come. Apparently, it is possible to get a Dan Haren, but I just saw a rumor somewhere that the Diamondbacks are looking for a lot of pitching in return. As paulmolitor4 mentioned, it would probably start with something like Gamel & Odorizzi with maybe someone like Rivas included as well. This would help us this year and next year, but depending on what we'd have to give up could really hurt us in the future. I have actually been a proponant of looking at Haren, as he is reasonably priced for (I believe) three years after this one. It just depends on the prospect cost. If it would be Gamel and two so/so pitching prospects, or MLB guys like Narveson/Parra (which I don't see the Diamondbacks looking for) I'd be more willing than if it were Gamel and Odorizzi/Heckathorn -types. I could see Haren being part of a "rebuilding-lite" process if done in conjunction with a the Hart/Fielder trades. In other words, trade some prospects for Haren, and trade Hart/Fielder for prospects (some MLB-ready, some not). We have a much better rotation next year to go along with what should still be a decent offense, all of which should be around for the foreseeable future. I doubt Oswalt is a possibility, as the Astros probably wouldn't trade him to the Brewers, and Oswalt woudln't accept the trade to a team that's not competing this year. If I was 95 and knew my chances of seeing a decent Brewers team were coming to an end, I may like the idea of hurting our future for potential wins next year, but since I'll be a Brewers fan for a long time, I hope we don't sell away our future for a chance to win in 2011. Any moves should be looking at improving our team in 2011 and beyond, not just to make a big shot at it in 2011. Our current roster was below .500 last year and is below .500 now. Adding one pitcher to the mix probably isn't enough to make them serious enough World Series contenders to give up the potential return we could get by trading Hart/Fielder (and Edmonds, Hoffman, Bush, Counsell, etc).

I know Cliff Lee is very, very doubtful to come to the Brewers. I just hope the Brewers don't decide that the same team that has been sub-.500 for two seasons will magically be a World Series contender next year if we don't trade Hart/Fielder. If we do make what in my opinion is a mistake, and hold onto Hart & Fielder for 2011, we need to do something major somewhere else and make every effort to put together a World Series contender. The only real chance of that is somehow finding one or two top end pitchers. Since this would be nearly impossible to do, our only chance is a "pipe dream scenario." Something like offering Lee the money we apparently have been holding back for CC Sabathia / Prince Fielder. Then maybe we trade Gamel and Odorizzi to get Haren, and we have our one-and-only shot at a World Series with a rotation of Lee, Yo, Haren, Wolf, Parra and basically the same offense we have this season, with Cain in CF instead of Gomez. We'd lose Fielder, Weeks and Hart after the season, and wouldn't have any money to better our team, since we'd be spending so much on Lee, Haren, Wolf, Yo, Braun, etc, so we'd either hope that our deplered rank of prospects would step in, or we'd need to firesale. Basically, the Florida Marlins scenario. Build a decent base, overpay and lose money for one season, and then sell off and start over. Not what I'd like to do, and probably not very realistic, but to me it would be better than holding onto Hart and Fielder and going into 2011 with basically the same team we currently have and hoping the loss of Hoffman, Suppan and Davis along with the likely addition of some other veteran FA SP will be enough to push us into the playoffs.

As the days click by without a deal, my inner cynic starts to get more and more control over my inner optimist. Right now, I'm starting to see 2009 all over again. When should we trade Edmonds? ASAP for whatever we can get. We are not making the playoffs this season, so whatever extra wins we might get by playing Edmonds nearly every day are far outweighed by keeping two "high upside" guys on the bench. One of Cain/Gomez should be starting everyday in CF for the Brewers and one should be starting CF every day in Nashville. Then we will have a pretty good idea who should be our starting CF going into 2011. It would also allow us to bring up Katin to see if he can hit MLB pitching. Gerut is basically worthless to us now, as he won't be a Brewer in 2011, and he has no trade value. So what is my cynical side saying will happen? Since we'll be shooting for wins this season instead of playing for the future, Edmonds will continue to play every day. Cain and Gomez will stay up "because we need the RH bats on the bench." Instead of trading Hart, Fielder, Edmonds, Counsell, Hoffman, etc to get bolster our future, we'll trade prospects like Katin for some rent-a-player trying to win this season. We'll finish this season somewhere around .500, giving us hope that the same team can win next year. We'll go into next season confused, as we won't know what we have in either Cain or Gomez, so we'll sign some aging veteran OF who Macha will play everyday. Since we'll have "high hopes" for the playoffs, we'll use "Suppan's money" to sign an aging vet SP to go along with the same team we've struggled with for two seasons, and have this same discussion next year, as we're about to lose Fielder, Hart and Weeks to free agency. I hope Melvin does something soon, as it was about this time last year that I really started to get frustrated. Last year we started better, but by this time were starting to play pretty poorly. This year we started poorly, and will now win a few games against Pittsburgh and Washington, leading us to believe we should be buyers rather than sellers.

From the SI article PrinceEatMeat linked regarding Prince Fielder: "I'd be surprised if they move him,'' said another GM who suspects the Brewers will give the Fielder-Ryan Braun combo one more chance in 2011. I hope this "other GM" is wrong, as to me, that's the absolute worst-case scenario. If they are indeed "giving the Fielder-Braun combo one more chance in 2011," then I hope they break the bank going after someone like Cliff Lee and then do an absolute Florida Marlins-style fire sale after the season. Unless some of our prospects really step up quickly, if we're going to lose Fielder, Hart and Weeks for draft picks, we could have some really un-fun seasons starting in 2012. Which would be the better slogan for next year's Brewers? "2011: Selling our future on a small chance at the playoffs" or "We haven't been .500 with this team for two seasons, but the same group will make the playoffs this year... just watch... please, watch... we need the ticket sales" If you are going to sell from your minor leagues to win in some years, then sometimes you have to sell from your major league team to bolster your future. Right now I believe one of two things will happen... we'll sell everyone (Fielder, Hart, Edmonds, Bush, Counsell, Hoffman, etc) preparing for next year or we will see 2009 all over again, selling no one, trading for a piece or two to "make a run for it," and seeing the same team trot out on the field next year, with the addition of another 30-something FA pitcher signed with the money we've been paying Suppan. If we play well in this current stretch against the major league's worst teams, I'd bet on the latter, and that saddens me.