splitterpfj

To me, there are three possible choices...Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, and Babe Ruth. Since no one will ever fully convince the whole world they are right, since I believe him to be the correct choice to begin with, and since I am a Brewers fan of the current era...I'll take the pitcher. Walter Johnson

It's a shame, but as far as the Brewers go, or any of us for that matter...that's all it is. No one knew about Covey's medical condition until a few days before the signing deadline, so the waiting game backfired on the Brewers. Perhaps Covey would have signed if he'd had more time to think about things - perhaps not. Oh well, on we go...the Brewers will have an extra pick next year, and Mr Covey will be in San Diego...the rest of us are free to resume our regularly scheduled lives.

Have you ever had to switch doctors? I recently had a change in my health insurance, which meant a new doctor. I can't believe the runaround and hassle that have come with it. I've answered the same questions a million times, and I've been told I cannot see the doctor I had just been told would be my new doctor, only to then receive notice of an appointment with the same new doctor. Geez.

Back pain.

Suppose it's the year 3010, and an archeologist has just uncovered the "Lost Book of Brewerfan Philosophy"...what would he be reading right now? I'll start with... "If a 26-year-old rookie happens to hit a pitch from a 2010 Brewers starting pitcher over the fence...should the official scorer declare a major league home run?"

I'm happy to hear this one, I'm a sucker for guys with a good speed/power combination. I think the team took their best shot at signing Prince, and have now moved on to keeping Hart and Weeks. Gamel is changing positions, and I believe Lawrie is as well. Mr Weeks...please report to Mr Melvin's office.

We had a family emergency, I had to get my wife on a flight to Seattle ASAP. It took us 20 minutes to get an actual person on the phone...do you have any idea how aggravating that is, when you've just been told a family member has had a massive stroke, two time zones away? Automation sucks.

The team said there would be a competition for rotation spots in the spring...Narveson should have been in the rotation to begin with. I think Narveson will do better when he's back in his routine, I'm all for this move.

A good friend of mine died...a good and decent man gone at 42. "Bugging me" doesn't even come close, but it fits the thread.

I expect a lot of pressure on the markets for a while yet. There's a great deal of economic uncertainty still out there, on an international level, and jobs haven't started to come back yet. A lot of companies reported strong earnings in the fourth quarter, but it didn't translate into new hires, because most analysts believe those strong results to be artificially generated through government spending, cash for clunkers, etc. On paper, the recession is over, but this one cut so deep, it'll take a while to feel like it's truly behind us. I have a friend who was in a major car accident just before Thanksgiving. He just now left the hospital for a rehab center - he has survived - and is making consistent progress, but he still faces a mountain of physical therapy, and doesn't know yet when he'll return home, or when he can return to work. The economy is in much the same situation...it's on the mend, but with a long road to recovery...expect a lot of ups and downs over the next year.

I love this move. With a deal like this, I'm thrilled that the Brewers are the team that will find out if Edmonds has anything left.

I'm happy for Dawson - I would have voted for him. Every year I say, "What don't the writers see in Blyleven?"....I'll say it again. I'd vote for Raines, Alomar and Larkin too.

OK, here's the setting... I was in Missouri on business the last three days...I drove home last night. The roads in Missouri and southern IL were fine, but I-39 was horrible, I could hardly see, and there were lots of people in the ditch along the way. I gave serious consideration to stopping at a hotel...the first one I passed was this tiny, old place with two cars in the lot...for 19.95 a night. OK...make your pick...would you continue the drive in awful conditions...or roll the dice on the hotel from hell?

I've always been a fan of Randy Wolf, I'm glad the Brewers will have him aboard. This is absolutely the most I could imagine giving Wolf, so I congratulate the player and the agent for maximizing his strong showing over the last 1 1/2 seasons. I hate using free agency to add starting pitchers, but I like Randy Wolf...so I'm glad he's here, but I hate the contract for this organization. Here's to a long list of pitching prospects bursting through the Brewers' organization.

I'll put this here, though it could just as easily go in the Randy Wolf thread. I'm glad to see Wolf and Hawkins in Milwaukee...these are quality pitchers, who will make the Brewers better than they'd been the day before. I have no issue at all with the team deciding to pay what it took to get the guys they decided were worth the risk...that's what GMs, scouts, etc get paid to do. The problem here is, when you get stuck needing free agency to fix an obvious hole on your roster, you will pay whatever the going rate is at the time. You're not paying based on ability, you're paying based on availability. The quality of free agent players can vary greatly from year to year, and so can the market. Jeff Suppan got his huge contract because he was a veteran starting pitcher, with proven durability, who happened to be a free agent at a time when spending was absolutely ridiculous - a lot of bad free agent contracts were given out at that time. I'll put Wolf down for 190 IP, and an ERA in the 4.2 range for 2010, which instantly makes him the second-best pitcher in the Brewers' rotation...so I'm glad he's here. I think Wolf will hold his own in 2011 as well, if the contract was for two years with an option for a third...I'd love it...but it isn't, because they had to add that extra year to sway Wolf to sign here...that extra year is the one thing about his deal that I really don't like. This is the price you pay for not developing pitching. I'm glad to see more attention paid to this issue by the organization, and obviously, they realize they've got to get much better in this regard. Until Milwaukee can fill the majority of their starting rotation slots from within, you will see Braden Looper's signed late in the off-season, and you will see Randy Wolf's get top-dollar out of this organization. Congratulations to Melvin and Co, you obviously got the guys you wanted...now we all hope you guessed right.

I would give up Gamel or Lawrie, but not both of them...based on where they are on the minor league ladder, I would guess the Marlins would want Gamel first, because he's ready to play now. I would guess it would take Gamel, an arm like Odorizzi, another decent prospect, and perhaps a 4th body who fills an organizational need for Florida. I'd certainly do a deal for Johnson, and I'd be willing to pay for him...I just have a problem with Gamel and Lawrie both going, I don't see enough bats in the system right now to feel comfortable with that.

I'd like to thank Brooks Kieschnick, Cheryl Coolbaugh, Mandy Coolbaugh, Rollie Fingers, Jeff Juden and Junior Spivey.

I knew Vaughn was going in this weekend, but I hadn't heard about Schroeder. Good for Bill!

Lackey is an excellent pitcher who would clearly help the Brewers, but keep in mind, he's started the season six weeks late due to injury - two years running. I'd love to see the Brewers get him, but I'd fear some dead time on the back end of that contract.

I got an email from a friend in Philly this morning, he says radio talk is all about Hamels being traded. The show he listens to mentioned Milwaukee as a possibility...but I'm sure that's simply because the Brewers' need for pitching is so obvious. The thing is, the Phillies are trying to move some money around to add Halladay...if I'm Toronto...don't you want Hamels in that deal?

Thank you, Everyone. I spoke to Junior briefly this morning, he'll be along later. -Todd

I hope you enjoy it, Mr Spivey says he'll be joining us at Brewerfan shortly. -Todd http://www.brewerfan.net/ViewHome.do

We'll hear more about Atlanta's willingness to deal a pitcher, it seems as though they'd prefer it to be Kawakami or Lowe. If it comes down to these two pitchers - some thoughts on Lowe... He's already 36 He's signed for 3 more years at 15M per He's coming off a season in which his walks were up, his Ks were down, he led the NL in hits allowed, and he averaged less than 6 IP per start. He still took the ball 34 times, and he finished with 15 wins....but he scares me...too many years for too much money at his age.

OK, not really bugging me, but I thought it fit this thread. I heard one today I don't think I've ever heard before...."Thinking ahead of the curb."

I'm happy to see Gomez in the Brewers' organization, I like his physical skills that much. The thing is, he's shown nothing that makes me think he's ready to hit in the big leagues right now. OK, he may have been rushed up the ladder, and last year he found himself on the bench in Minnesota, so perhaps he does better this year with regular playing time, etc - but no one can be sure of that, his OBP hasn't been weak, it has been terrible to this point. Teams guess wrong sometimes, maybe Gomez will come back to haunt the Mets and the Twins...Jason Bay was traded three times as a minor leaguer - once, with a second player - for Lou Collier. Even so, until he proves he can reach first base, I'm going to hold to my, "The Brewers finally got their Juan Pierre, Dave Roberts fast guy" conclusion. Yes, Gomez has more power potential than those players, I completely agree with that, but so far this is another guy who can run like the wind, but who's OBP is entirely linked to the number of base hits he gets...which limits his greatest asset, which is his fantastic speed. In addition, to this point, Gomez has been caught stealing on 26% of his attempts...to truly maximize those legs, that also must improve. If you're getting on base 29.6% of the time, and you're being caught stealing 26% of the time...your speed is not helping your team nearly as much as it appears to be in the highlight reel. The potential is there for certain, a former major leaguer recently told me Carlos can hit it out to right-center, so yes, there is some pop in that bat...but you've got to be able to reach first base...a career OBP of .296 is just plain embarrassing. Carlos, at a combine workout, I think any scout in the world would recommend you immediately...I'm rooting for you, but you've got to sell me.