Matt Breen

Bill hall now. So, sucky bill hall.

Gonzalez is remarkably similar to Yuni at the plate. Hacker extraordinaire. Doesn't take walks. Unlike Yuni, he takes big swings and misses. Lots of strikeouts. The approach gives him a little more power. He's always been a plus fielder, but he'll be 35 next year, and you have to worry about this range. A one year deal for $2.5 million might be passable, if all other options are exhausted. But I'd like better. I should note that I haven't seen him play much the past couple of years - so I can't tell you what I think of his defense other than what others say, and metrics say. A lot of people like him, but I don't know if that's more reputation than reality.

It would be fascinating to list out all 30 teams. See who comes out on top. Some teams with extra revenue have tapped into the international market more than others, but it would be an interesting (and time consuming) study.

I included Sheets because I was desperate for starting pitching. He might be finished, but I figured, what the heck. Jenkins is two years retired, so I skipped him. And we have outfielders to spare. Starting pitching, not so much.

I just did the team as it would exist today. Otherwise, you'd have dozens of other guys on here.

Bingo. The team is currently has about $72-73 million in obligations - that's including offering arby to Gomez, McGehee, Morgan, Parra and Marcum. That leaves us around $15 million or so. Maybe $20 million, especially if you cut loose McGehee. Maybe others think our spending will go up, but I'll be surprised if it goes over $90 million. I'm more inclined they'll have it around $85 million, and then make a move mid-season to take on salary if they think it will work - like what they did with K-Rod. You still need a SS, a back up infielder, a 1B, and probably at least one reliever. If you go with Green and Gamel at 3B and 1B, and add only one decent veteran reliever, and a cheap back up infielder - you might only spend $5 million on that group. That leaves $10 million or so to spend on a SS. Does that get Rollins? Doubt it. But maybe you could stretch it and trim some other salary (McGehee) to get him. Furcal at $7-8 million is probably more in our range - especially if we want to add a second reliever, or spend a little more on a back up infielder. I think the team will roll the dice with Green and Gamel because, financially, they have little choice. Unless they want to dump someone else (Wolf, Marcum, etc.), you just don't have the money. I'd use what we have to add a couple of decent relievers, a good back up infielder (I'd love Hairston) and a decent shortstop (Furcal, perhaps).

I added Thatcher to the list. Good catch. Axford started with the Yankees. As someone point out, JDLR came from the Dbacks. I think part of the Richie Sexson trade.

I thought it would simply be fun to look at what our team was like if we only had players that we drafted or signed as amateur free agents. I only included draft picks we signed. And I haven't included anyone who hasn't appeared in the majors. I might have missed someone, especially guys who weren't drafted. Looking at things, we have an impressive offense, and a bad pitching staff. We'd pound 200+ HRs with this team. I just thought it was fun to share with people. C - Jonathan Lucroy 1B - Prince Fielder 2B - Rickie Weeks SS - JJ Hardy 3B - Brett Lawrie LF - Ryan Braun CF - Lorenzo Cain RF - Corey Hart Bench Michael Brantley Matt LaPorte Taylor Green Mat Gamel Ronnie Belliard Bill Hall Alcedis Escobar Tony Gwynn Jr. Carlos Corporan Cole Gillespie SP - Yovanni Gallardo SP - Ben Sheets SP - Mark Rogers SP - Mike Fiers SP - Dana Eveland SP - Manny Parra RP - Mike Adams RP - Jeremy Jeffress RP - Tim Dillard RP - Tom Wilhelmson RP - Mitch Stetter RP - Zach Braddock RP - Mike McClendon RP - Joe Thatcher

Agree. He's had some nagging injuries here and there. But if you could get him for a decent price, it would be a good alternative. And, of course, you don't trust Gamel, or you use Gamel in some other fashion (trade, back up, whatever).

Rotoworld reports that Hiroyuki Nakajima has been posted by the Seibu Lions of the Japanese Baseball League. http://www.rotoworld.com/...b/5793/hiroyuki-nakajima The shortstop has hit .297 or better over the past five seasons. He has some pop, averaging 20 HR over the last four years. Here's his 2007-2010 stats - http://www.baseball-refer...ayer.cgi?id=nakaji001hir In 2011, he hit .297 with 16 HR and 100 RBI. Of course, the history of Japanese middle infielders is a mixed bag - at best. The Twins bombed with Tsuyoshi Nishioka last year - who was coming off a batting title in Japan. But Nishioka never had Nakajima's power, which really hurt him in the big leagues. Baltimore and Seattle are both reportedly to have interest in him in the past. By the way, here's a sweet video of him - guy isn't afraid of getting messed: Here's a write up from fangraphs: Hiroyuki Nakajima (SS, Seibu Lions, 28) – Nakajima gets my vote as Japan’s second best hitter, behind Aoki. Nakajima doesn’t quite match up with Aoki’s pure contact skill or plate discipline, but is still very good in both categories and adds a bit more gap power to the equation. Nakajima is a back-leg hitter, with a big stride that he will occasionally shorten up. On the turf, Nakajima plays a solid shortstop, among many good shortstops in his league. The best video I could find of Nakajima was this one, of him hitting an opposite field home run off Dicky Gonzales (I know, not the best competition). Also of note in the video, you can see that he’s made friends with teammate Dee Brown. The high-five routine they do after home runs shows up on Japanese highlight shows. Thanks to Baldkin, who brought up Nakajima in another thread.

You are either seriously underestimating Drabek's potential or seriously overestimating Green's potential. Or both.

Willingham has pretty much been a leftfielder, and not a very good one. You'd probably have to move Braun to RF to play him. Unless you let him try 1B. Cuddyer plays a pretty bad RF. You could put him at 1B. Both are righthanded - and we are seriously lacking in a lefthanded power with Prince leaving. Both guys offer bad fielding in the OF. Neither offers much power versus right handers (though they aren't terrible). Both will probably make $8-10 million a year for probably 3 years. Both will be 33 at the start of 2012. I say for the price you skip it. Go with Gamel at 1B at $500,000. If he can get an .800 OPS, he's doing great. You can bring on someone to to get some ABs versus lefthanders if you're concerned about Gamel's splits.

Balfour has been excellent three of the last four years - including the last two. They gave up a 2nd round pick to sign him in 2011. I think they can get more than McGehee and a fringey reliever. But most important, Oakland will want to cut payroll. McGehee will make upwards of $2.5 million. And will only get more expensive beyond. I think they'll want guys who have little or no big league experience to keep down costs.

Great for Braunie. Great for the team. Great for the fans. Congrats.

Teixeira signed right around Christmas. Either before or after it, so you're right on. Also, most of the recent big money FA contracts are signed in December - Werth, Crawford, CC, Lee, Teixeira, Zito. A few will linger into January - Matt Holiday, Beltran. Heck, Manny waited until March if I recall correctly. A few guys sign early - I think Soriano signed in Nov. Same with Torii Hunter. But most of them know that waiting will result in big dollars.

http://www.mlbtraderumors...to-sign-joe-nathan-.html 2 years, $14.5 million. Feliz can move into the rotation. EDIT: Added dollars and better link to info.

That's frighteningly accurate.

Who will be Kenny Williams new speedy, rag-armed OF who can only hit singles? He had Scotty Pods and then Juan Pierre for ages.

My max for Fielder is about $20 million a year for 6 years, and a lifetime of adoration from the state of Wisconsin. Look at Robin Yount and you'll know what I mean.

Braun will win. I read various articles from guys who have a vote who all acknowledge that Kemp was great, but so was Braun, and Braunie did it for a playoff team. And Braun did great when it counted in September - and not just with the bat. He had that highlight real catch and throw for a double play. Voters see that stuff. It's all going to come down to the fact Braun played for a winning team.

I love Ramirez. He would be a sweet addition. I think the Sox can get a lot for him in this market (should they elect to trade him).

Anyone know much about Justin Sellers of the Dodgers. Looks like a good field, no hit type guy, but I saw him a couple of times last year and liked his play. Nothing great, but okay. Dude was skinny as heck. I thought with the Dodgers set around the IF (Dee Gordan at SS, Uribe at 3B and Ellis at 2B), he might be the kind of guy to try out for minimal cost. Anyone know much about him? I see he hit well in the AAA the last two years (pacific coast league, so take it for what it's worth) with a .867 and .937 OPS respectively. He takes a lot of walks. How is his defense (like I said, I saw him a couple of times, that's it). Just fishing around for suitable AAA players who might be able to play SS for the team next year.

I think you're right in that winning is important to Greinke. That's why I wouldn't be surprised to see him wait until later next year to talk contract. If the team looks like it's going to be crap in 2013-14, he might prefer to move on. I hope I'm wrong, and he's willing to sign an extension this off season. But he might just wait and see how he thinks 2013 and beyond is looking before re upping.

I'll tweet this out to people saying 'Brewerfan.net is reporting that Pujols will retire'. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

The odds of the Reds dealing within the division are probably small, but what do you think it would take to get Yonder Alonso from them?