strawbossisevil

This may be what is going on in Melvin's mind. Randy Johnson (who probably will be cheaper) + Two Draft Picks > Ben Sheets. I have to say, if I was given the choice between RJ and two high level draft picks or Ben Sheets, I would take Randy Johnson every time. Sheets is probably the slightly better pitcher, but not that much better that it would outweigh the benefit of the two high draft picks. It may be that Sheets is more of a last resort for the Brewers if Randy Johnson and Smoltz sign elsewhere. I think such thinking is smart as it is aimed toward the future as well as bringing in a pitcher who could help in the present.

If I ever had to survive purely on dog food, this would be my choice. Bacon AND Cheese, it actually sounds appetizing right now. http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1058/685425923_f5bdbe66b7.jpg

I too would be intrigued to have Goose Gossage on the Brewers, only problem is I don't think we can "bring him back" because he never was a Brewer to begin with. He has had 14 years to rest his arm, so the man should have plenty of gas in the tank.

Big Unit for me too, although I'm intrigued as to how cheap Smoltz will be after his most recent injury. Is it wrong for me to want both http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif? Randy Johnson makes a lot of sense from a marketing perspective as well, as he is nearing 300 wins, I imagine that alone will help fill the seats. Plus he's a "big name"player that will likely come rather cheaply. Sign me up! What would be a competitive offer to Johnson and Smoltz. I was maybe thinking 1 year 10 million for Johnson. And maybe 1 year 5 million for Smoltz. Am I far off?

Agreed, although I'm not sure if the World of Warcraft running in the background would disqualify him from receiving "hipster" status. Maybe if it were the Sims.

I understand that you feel differently Slobberknocker. But almost everyone I know who got a Dell within the past two or so years has had problems with theirs. Now, my problem was one of the more extreme, the screen part actually fell off of the keyboard. The screws fell out of that, after two years. I always took good care of it, but it was just cheaply made. The keyboard also suffered as numerous times the keys actually fell out when I was typing on them. Finally, the Dell charger broke three times in two years. This happened to a number of my friends as well. It was ridiculous. Sony on the other hand, is much much more sturdy. The screen is attached much better. The keyboard is much better as well. Like I said, Sonys are also more energy efficient, which means better battery time. I am no expert, but I do know that those of my friends who bought Dells have had a number of problems. And the few of those who bought Sonys have not. Sonys tend to be a bit more expensive, but I honestly believe its worth the investment, because you won't have to be buying a new computer in two years.

If that's the case AndThat, I think we have to remove that "Hipster" label. Hipness is directly proportional to the number of plugins you have on Firefox.

Calling Suppan garbage is going a bit overboard. The guy dealt with some injuries last season and his numbers suffered a bit because of that. He still ended last season with an ERA under 5. If he manages to stay healthy he could have an ERA somewhere between 4.50 and 4.75 or so, and that is not bad for a middle of the rotation starter. I think many of us have soured so much on Suppan not because of his numbers, but because of his contract. I think its interesting that people are predicting that he'll have an ERA well over 5 this next year. It's possible that they could be right, but when you consider that he pitched part of the last season hurting and still managed to post a sub 5 ERA, I think its far more likely he does better than that. Where I am concerned is with the 5th spot in the rotation. I think we need someone in that spot who can post an ERA in the mid to upper 4s at the very least. I am rooting for the Brewers to get Randy Johnson, because I think that would be perfect for our team, plus we get the added bonus of having his countdown to 300 wins, which would be good for ticket sales. Plus, if we struggle out of the gate and it is clear we won't be in the WC or division race, he is the type of guy you can trade at the deadline and get some solid prospects back. My projections for the rotation as it is right now are such: Gallardo 3.50 ERA Parra 4.25 ERA Bush 4.40 ERA Suppan 4.70 ERA (better than last season, but worse than the season before that) McClung 5.20 ERA If we added Johnson, I would expect him to have around a 4.00 ERA.

Zotero is a must for anyone who is a college student or has to write papers. It is a great, great ad on. Especially if you use it together with MS Word. It will literally save you hours of time when working on a research paper.

Based on my personal experience, Dell and HPs are probably the worst two routes one could take on a laptop. I had a Dell, and it went down hill in a hurry and actually fell apart after about two years. The craftsmanship of it was just that bad. I also had to replace the battery charger, not once, not twice, but three times in two years. That is not good. HPs are notorious for having very poor batteries and running hot. If I were you, I would go with Sony Vaio. That is what I currently have, and it is so much better than the HPs and Dells in construction and stability. The battery has been great too as Vaios seem to be much more energy efficient.

I can't believe I am actually going to defend the vent thread. As some of you know, I can be one of the more glass full posters. This offseason has been especially frustrating because the repetitive vents which normally would have gone in the vent thread have gone into pretty much every otherwise well thought out thread. Having those posts going into the vent thread allowed me to ignore them. Now without the vent thread, the poor thought out vents are spreading over the whole site, and that's frustrating. I think the presence of the vent thread actually made the rest of the site better and more readable, but that's just my opinion. But this is your site, and you are entitled to make the decisions you want. I just thought I'd add my $.05.

Yeah, no offense bklyn, but that makes no sense. Like many have pointed out over and over, Ben doesn't seem to want to be a Brewer. He is looking to move on, and I don't see how we can change that about him.

Oh please, the guy pitched well for us. He was a class act and spoke well of Milwaukee and his time here. Can you honestly expect him to pass on 60 million dollars though? And when it comes to his talking about which team is going to compete for the World Series more, he's probably right. The Yankees are in the playoffs year in and year out. He will likely win a World Series with the Yankees one of these seasons. People love to hate. It's like when a super hot girlfriend breaks up with you, you look desperately for reasons to dislike the person, because it takes a bit of the pain of rejection away. Doesn't mean that the girlfriend was a jerk, but it makes you feel better if you can think she was.

Cabrera has electric stuff. I agree with the poster above, I think he could make a very good closer. Although I see someone like the Pirates or the Royals giving him a shot in the rotation, so I guess we wouldn't be able to land him anyway.

Right, I see this team as its constructed now at or slightly above .500. The problem that comes into that is if we have to deal with any significant injuries in the rotation. Because I think 84ish wins is probably where we are at if everyone stays healthy. If someone gets hurt, especially Parra or Gallardo, we could be in some significant hot water.

Saying these are February signings doesn't make sense to me. If you find a guy who might help your team, especially on a minor league deal, you do it. Be it in December or February.

Better living in the bargin bin then signing the next Suppan. Worst thing that happens with Nixon or Duffy is that they fail to make the team and either spend the season in AAA or get released. Duffy has some speed that could be used in a playoff race once the rosters widen (41 steals to only 7 caught stealing). Nixon carries a career OBP of .364 and while he has tailed off in limited ABs the past two seasons, may be he'll do fine and be this year's version of Gabe Kapler. The fact that he has had barely more than 300 ABs the past season makes it hard to get a read on him. We certainly should not base our opinion of him on his 35 ABs of last season. There is very little risk with either of these, and there could be a solid reward, especially if Nixon can start hitting closer in line with is career numbers. FWIW Nixon's career numbers vs right handed pitchers is .288 .376 .496. While he is probably not going to put up numbers quite that high, he may be able to put up an OBP in the .350s vs righties, which would be very valuable coming off the bench. Unlike Briggs, I am willing to give Melvin a bit more time this offseason. There are still a lot of people out there and trades that could be made before Spring Training starts up. Melvin got us to our first playoff game in 25 years, you think people would have learned to be a bit more trusting and patient with him by now.

How much would he have cost in arbitration though. Perhaps more than they wanted to spend since they are trying to sign Manny Ramirez to a big contract. If I was the Brewers, I'd at least look at his medical records or offer him a physical. That seems like a pretty standard thing before signing a guy anyway. If the arm is clean, sign him on the cheap. If it isn't, take a pass.

Ok, I'll play. They won't do this, but a guy can dream. Trade Escobar + for Peavy. Sign Randy Johnson to a one year 8 million dollar contract. Trade Suppan + Pena for Rolen. Trade Cameron and Hall to the Yankees for Cabrera and a pitcher (preferably not Igawa). (Cabrera is a one to two year fill in until Cain is ready unless he lives up to his previously hyped potential). Sign Joe Nelson to a two year 4 million dollar contract. Sign Aaron Miles to a two year 5 million dollar contract. Rotation: 1. Gallardo 2. Peavy 3. Johnson 4. Parra 5. Bush Batting Order: 1. Weeks 2. Rolen 3. Braun 4. Fielder 5. Hart 6. Hardy 7. Cabrera 8. Kendell Bullpen: Nelson, Villanueva, McClung, Riske, Stetter, Coffey, Dillard/Defelice Bench: Nelson (1B, LF, RF), Hurricane (2B and CF), Lamb (3B), Rivera ©, and Miles (SS and 2B) As they say, pitching wins championships, and this plan would give us a very solid 1-5. And if I am adding correctly, it would add only about 11.5 million in salary from where we currently stand.

For those who don't know, mlbtraderumors.com is run by a Cubs fan. You'll notice how frequently the Cubs pop up in different "rumors" on there. While I'm not saying that it is a completely worthless source, he does seem to allow his partiality to the Cubs to creep into some of his rumors on occasion. So just keep that in mind when you visit the site. And use an extra ounce of speculation when it comes to the Cubs being involved in a rumor.

And those were both very small samples.

I suppose if you looked at Cameron´s stats he trended down at the age of 25, but yeah, I don´t think it is a good indicator in regard to his future performance. That said, if the Brewers can get Cabrera and either Brackmann or Betances for Cameron. I would do it. I think the difference between the two (Cameron and Cabrera) is not going to be huge, and if the Brewers can get a solid pitching prospect and money from deal I would do it.

I have to agree with the Crew07. Let´s imagine that we don´t trade for Sabathia. But instead keep LaPorta (and Brantley). This offseason would look completely different if that was the case. We would have LaPorta who essentially is ready to step in and take over 1B. And so we could spin off Fielder for young SP prospects. Prospects that we would be able to control long term. If Brantley didn´t fit in our plans, we could have spun him off for pitching prospects as well, as he was clearly highly regarded. Now, we have to deal with the problem that if we trade Fielder, we have no one to step in and take his place. Trading LaPorta led to draft picks that will take years to develop. Trading Fielder would have likely brought us players that were developed further (meaning less risk of being flame outs in comparison to the draft) and much closer to helping the current ball club. I do think the trade may have set us back here now for a year or two more. It´s up to debate whether the playoff appearance was worth it, it certainly was fun. I don´t think however that signing no FA pitchers is the answer either. I like the idea that is being tossed out now of signing guys like Smoltz and Johnson to one year deals. Signing them doesn´t set us back, and if we struggle as a team but they are performing well, they would bring in a reasonable sized haul in a mid-season trade. If they don´t do well, it´s just a one year thing, and it doesn´t prevent us from signing our guys long term. I will say, that I was onboard for signing CC, because he was a difference maker, having him and Gallardo at the top of the rotation makes us a very good shot of being in the playoffs over the next few seasons. But if you are going to go longer than a year or two tops, it better be someone who is a difference maker, and not mediocre.

I would love to see the Brewers make a lot of cheaper, high upside moves. If we could sign both Smoltz and Johnson I would feel really good about our rotation. Yeah, these guys will unlikely be as good as they were in the past. Smoltz could move to the bullpen if coming out of the rotation doesn´t work for him. Maybe also look into Pedro Martinez and see if he would be willing to come out of the pen on a cheap deal. It´s thinking outside the box, but perhaps we could get some really solid production for not a lot of coin that way.

Would that price be bklyn...Paying for Garland http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif. I am sure Melvin didn't put all of his eggs into the CC basket. He had to know that it was a toss up at best that we'd get CC. I say give the guy the benefit of the doubt until the offseason is over. Patience in the offseason is important because there is so much that goes on behind the scene that we just don´t know about.