RyDogg66

What did they give up for him? And old copy of Baseball America?

Who cares Briggs. Bottom line is this; there will be few pitchers available this offseason that produce like Ben Sheets will. Sure, we can overpay some mediocre rosin bag to come in and be Jeff Suppan Part Deux, but lets be honest, that is a grass is greener argument. Brewer fans have an irrational dislike for Ben Sheets simply because he failed to pitch the exact same as he did in 2004 for the duration of his contract from 2005-2008. Ben Sheets wont cost a 1st round pick Ben Sheets wont cost any prospects to acquire Ben Sheets likely will not get a contract over 4 years He is one of the youngest Free Agent pitchers available His price is likely to be less than Burnett and Lowe and I maintain that Ben is better than both pitchers. Sitting here and splitting hairs about how many innings he is likely to throw is ridiculous, someone like John Garland at 4 years and 50 million will have people wishing we had Ben Sheets for 175 innings a year.

Sheets is a fall back option for every team in baseball who would rather have CC Sabathia, which I would assume would be every team. Just because a team isnt wasting their time chasing Sabathia doesnt mean they think any less of Ben Sheets. The reason the Brewers are wasting their time chasing Sabathia is two fold. One because they traded for him last season, he would not cost a comp pick and the fans loved him and they are hoping he liked it here and might take 20-21 million over 5 years to stick around in a situation he enjoys. The second reason is, he is better than Sheets and you realistically cannot say that about any other FA pitcher this offseason.

Thankfully, Rosenthal is reporting this morning that the Braves could be on the verge of acquiring Peavy for a package that includes Yunel Escobar, Class A outfielder Gorkys Hernandez, either right- hander Charlie Morton or left-hander Jo-Jo Reyes and either reliever Blaine Boyer or one of two minor-league left-handers, one of whom is Jeff Locke. That offer from the Cubs, is truly awful and if it happened the rest of the NL Central should protest (not that that is really an option).

I just got out of a similar situation. My wife and I live in Oshkosh and I commuted to Milwaukee everyday for work for about 2 years. She teaches at UW-O. I finally had enough of the commute and opened my own business here in Oshkosh (Law Office, if you need me http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif) and I could not be happier. Highway 41 is a really easy drive, but last winter was brutal and I risked it many times making that trip in weather that I should not have been driving in. Then summer hits, and hello construction. Having lived a similar experience, I would recommend living as close to one of your jobs (the one the two of you are most likely to keep long term) as you can. Nobody wins when you both have to commute 30-45 minutes everyday. Plus, there is something to be said about being a member of your local community and really getting to know your neighbors and the people who live in your town. When I was commuting to Milwaukee (80 miles, one way; 1 hour 20 mins) I left at 7:00 and got home at 7:00 and did not know a soul in town outside of my family. Just looking at a map, the city that sticks out to me is West Bend. It is big enough to not seem like a small town, close to Milwaukee/Grafton/Mequon and near the intersection of 45/41. It is probably the same distance for her to get to work as it would be from Germantown, and keep in mind, Germantown is relatively small, only about 15k people. In West Bend she could take 45 south to 60 to work, and you take 33 to 41. It is a really tough decision to make, you are better off not buying ANYTHING until you get a feel for commutes and such. Perhaps you could find a job teaching in the area and eliminate one commute all together.

Well....did you make it?

Was he this strong looking?? http://www.debbieschlussel.com/archives/costanzanaked.jpg

No compensation for retiring players. Compensation is premised on losing a FA to another team.

Why cant the Brewers get in on some of this action? I'd almost trade Corey Hart for Kelly Johnson and a prospect.

1. you dont have to be so sarcastic and cocky, there probably wasnt any reason to start your post with "Luckily we have you to clear that up." 2. What makes you believe Cabrera will magically play better outside of NY and why do I have to prove to you he wouldnt? He was never a top prospect and was never under any undo pressure in NY, not with ARod, Giambi, Damon and others to rail on. He has gotten worse each year he has been up. Like I said before, I am not opposed to acquiring him, but he shouldnt be the centerpiece. He is a tweak or two above Gwynn and if Cabrera plays like he did last year he will do wonders for attendance in Nashville.

As was stated before in the Fielder to Texas thread I started, Melky Carbrera is just a guy. This deal would depend on Betemit being able to handle being an everyday 3b and who the pitcher is. If it is Ian Kennedy, that might be alright. Phil Hughes and Wang wouldnt even be mentioned in a Cameron deal.

Ronny Cedeno, Felix Pie and Sean Marshall? Why not just send a garbage truck over to Wrigley to pick up all of the Cubs trash while they are at it. For crying out loud, why dont we send them Tony Gwynn Jr., Hernan Irribarren and Seth McClung (I know, I know, Peavy doesnt want to play for a dismal franchise like Milwaukee). The Padres are crazy. Peavy isnt overpaid in the least. If they dont pay him who will they pay? They should tell the Cubs to take a hike.

No Free Agent is going to sign a hometown deal until testing the market first. Ramirez and Sabathia are thinking that if they are offered these contracts by one team, just think what they will be offered on the open market.

Congrats on La Crosse (and Eau Claire) as I know La Crosse is difficult to get into for a state school.

The ads are back. Is this permanent?

http://chart.apis.google.com/chart?cht=t&chs=440x220&chtm=usa&chf=bg,s,336699&chco=cc0000&chd=s:999999999999999999999&chld=FLILMAMOWICOGAMITNAZHIIAMNNEMDWVVAKYINPAOH

With the cost of pre-arby talent and even the generally predictable and contained cost of arbitration eligible talent I am surprised that there isnt a larger disparity between the Sabathia's and Teixera's of the world and guys like Jeff Suppan and Gary Matthews Jr. To me, the top talent in the game have always been paid about what they are worth, because they are so much better than everyone else, but when you are a pitcher like Kyle Loshe, Russ Ortiz or Jeff Suppan and you are barely league average, I would think that there is no way you are worth the 8-12 million a year you are being paid. As a small market team I would rather pay Sabathia 24 million and then take my chances on some young guys (Parra, McClung) and some renovation projects (Doug Davis when we signed him) than Pencil in Suppan and Kyle Lohse every 5 days.

Pete, what we need to do is measure many things. One is the value of Cameron defensively and offensively relative to who would likely replace him. If that someone is Tony Gwynn/Bill Hall combo, what would that look like in wins? Comparing him to Hall defensively is relevant if Hall is who replaces him. Second, that money that we "saved" is saved for one year, if we sign a Derek Lowe, we are looking at 15 million (at least) over 4 years (at least). So letting Cam go isnt getting us Lowe,because the problem isnt paying a pitcher in 2009, it is paying him in 2010-2012.

Please dont tell me that his hitting is why you want to acquire him. If he pitches as bad as he has the past two seasons he wouldnt make it to his turn in the lineup anyway. Willis is intriguing because of what he was in Florida, but too risky. At least Suppan has been consistent and we know what he is likely to be and he'll be gone in two years.

I have no explanation at all for it, but Nolasco doesnt thrill me much at all.

I wonder if Boras will negotiate something like an 8 year deal that protects Teixeira if he stinks/gets hurt, etc., while leaving an out in 3 or 4 years to become a free agent if he wants to. How or why a team would agree to that is beyond me.

I dont understand the folks who are complaining about this move because Melvin made comments about adding a LH bat and some OBP to the line up. It makes no sense to let an above average offensive and defensive player go for one who is below average offensively/defensively simply because he might bat left handed. I want someone to name one available player who is going to be better offensively and defensively that bats left handed and has a higher OBP. Just one. And to boot, this only costs us 10 million and for one year.

What are you using to make this argument? Going from Cameron to Hall in CF is a huge downgrade in offense and defense. Cameron was one of our best offensive players last year and one of the few players that plays above average defense. We have Cam for 1 year, which really limits the risk and his OBP, as shown above, has been consistently league average for a very long time. Wouldnt replacing Hall/Counsell at 3b with a LH bat with a high OBP be a better move than moving a poor fielding CF with a poor OBP into center? You first and last sentences really cut into your credibility on this board - at least for me.

I quit my job a few months ago because of gas prices (well, that was one reason). I was putting up 800 miles a week, now I walk to work. There are many people like me I suppose who changed their lifestyle due to gas prices. The only thing I hope is that people dont forget and start insane commutes again. Yeah I was putting in about $50.00 into my tank 5 times every two weeks. Doing the math, by simply quitting my job my salary goes up $6,500.00. If I can get rid of my car all together, which I bought specifically for the commute, I could shave off another $4,000 a year in car payments/insurance.

He might be, he just doesnt qualify as a Type A or Type B I am guessing.