bucksman4

This whole process is taking way too long. I am sure within days of the case being heard, the arbitrators knew the verdict. All this time that has passed is people behind the scenes covering their bases and doing damage control prior to the ruling being publicly announced. My gut still tells me guilty. Why? Because history is against him and MLB will ultimately protect itself and the integrity of their testing system before the interests of any one player, MVP or not.

i was surprised last year how heavy mcgehee looked when camp started. like anyone in the situation, you just shake your head and wonder why he didn't have that attitude before last year. as you wrote, i guess the threat of not having a job does wonders for some guys. The guy regressed last year and I felt it was in large part attributed to being out of shape. The best non-move of last off-season was McGehee overvaluing himself and not accepting Melvin's extension proposal. If we thought he came in fat last season, imagine the next few years after he was being guaranteed big money. Scary thought.

I've not felt this bad in a Brewers offseason since Molitor left. Yeah, it feels that bad. We've just seen a future Hall of Famer depart... and part of me wonders... suppose the Crew HAD taken the 8/176 deal not so long ago, and the opportunity hadn't been missed? Get past the sentimentality, with all due respect. Prince had no sentimentality towards leaving Milwaukee, but we should towards him? Combine that $176 mil with the deal we cut for Braun, and we have irresponsibly committed an insane amount of money to two players without any regard to pitching and filling out the rest of the roster with capable players that can give us a chance to win consistently.

I'm with you 100%. I don't fault the guy for leaving as Detroit offered double what the Brewers did (both in length and dollars). But at the same time, I will merely check his box scores and see how he's doing, not really caring either way if he's performing well or not. If he was a Cub, I'd be wishing ill will against him, but as a Tiger, I couldn't pretend to care. From his interview on ESPN with Ravich, he didn't have much to say to fans in Milwaukee when prompted other than the city treated his family well. You'd think he would have more lasting memories and anecdotes other than just the standard line for a team that drafted him, had success, and treated him like a "Prince" the whole time he was here. Oh well.

Just because they've got 'depth' it doesn't mean it's quality depth. Having multiple options does not mean they are quality options...the old quantity over quality debate.

The Cardinals always seem to find a way to make the key trades/signings to put them over the top. Turning a "washed up" Berkman into an MVP candidate, making the trade to solidify their starting rotation/bullpen last year at the deadline, and signing Beltran to a low-risk, 2 year deal could pay huge dividends. Of course, he will surely blow up for 30 HR, .290 BA, and .380 OBP as a Cardinal while playing a nice OF for them. They somehow always do it...

And with Wainwright back, wow, watch out. I like their lineup still (even without Albert) because Freese blew up last year and should build on that success and keep improving. Their pitching is just as good as Milwaukee and I love their team overall. They're my pick to win the NL Central.

A lot of question marks in my opinion. I don't think we're the favorites to win the division as presently constructed. Who knows what to expect of Aoki...he's never hit major league pitching. I expect and have faith in Gamel when given consistent ABs that he will produce. I do not like what I saw from Marcum in the playoffs and wonder if there will be any negative carry-over into 2012. I also think the bubble may burst on Narveson as #5, but as a 5th starter, I'm not too worried if his ERA takes a dip. The bullpen probably worries me the most on this team. Losing Hawkins/Saito is a blow and Veras/Parra/Braddock are clearly a tier or two below those guys. I have no faith in Loe and Estrada as well and think that K-Rod, who was playing with fire nearly every game last year, will have a much higher ERA and blow a lot of games for us in the 8th. He let too many guys on and had to pull a rabbit out of his hat far too often for this smoke and mirrors act to continue to net positive results. I still have STL winning this division with the Reds in a close second. The Brewers will not make the playoffs.

http://mlb.sbnation.com/2...s-yuni-betancourt-signed Classic. Neyer was actually the first person I thought about when I heard he re-upped with KC. I recall Neyer talking on ESPNMilwaukee about a year ago when we traded for him in the Greinke trade. Neyer went on to say something along the lines of: the Brewers will be better when they realize Yuni is a bad baseball player and cut bait with him. This is great that he went back to the team Neyer roots for. I love it.

The guy looked like a goofball, carefree, no-intensity player in the dugout and played with a lack of passion, effort, and desire to be a better ballplayer. I could envision Sveum standing there looking at Yuni and saying to be more patient at the plate and take a pitch in a key situation where a pitcher has his back against the wall. And I envision Yuni staring with a blank look on his face thinking about where he's going to eat that night and nod like he really heard and will implement what the hitting coach just told him. It's an uncoachable and arrogant approach for a player who some consider to be the one of the worst in all of MLB.

The one thing that makes me believe he will not sign with Chicago is having to play games in the cold weather for the first month or month and a half of the season. Also, the day game factor can't be underestimated as a reason to not sign there. I can't see him being happy leaving the state of the art facilities in the Miller Park clubhouse for a woodshed-like locker room that the Cubs call home. Not to mention he will get boo'd out of his mind every time he steps up to the plate when playing in Milwaukee.

I'd be all for trading Nyjer. His value will never be this high and I think his shenanigans may get old very quickly. He already started getting borderline obnoxious last year playing the role of Plush instead of being himself like he was early in the year.

On a normal day, this thread would have over 15 pages already. I think the air has been sucked out of the Brewers' fan's balloon over the last few days that we're all kind of just ho hum and can't really get all that excited about any lineup that may not include Ryan Braun.

MLB Network and ESPN are taking the liberty of assuming McGehee is going to be playing 1B next year and ARam at 3B. No mention whatsoever of Mat Gamel.

I've lived in Chicago since 2001 and have seen a lot of Ramirez. The one thing certain about him is a) he can hit and b) he drives in runs. Now, you can argue about his perceived laziness with the way he fields/throws the ball from 3B or his injury history, but when healthy, the guy can rake. I like the signing because they kept it to 3 years and the risk/reward is too good to pass up with the glaring need we have at 3B.