Matt Breen

Aracko, you're right. Ben's put up solid numbers in AAA - someone will give him a whirl. Teams like the Nats are perfect. Big ball park, no chance of winning next year. I hope he gets a chance.

John Sickels does a prospect retrospective on Sheeters: Full Article

Brantley has been playing LF so far - am I correct on this? Also, I haven't seen him play, but how is his defense? Is he a CF candidate down the road? And is he simply in LF because Ford is in CF? Is that the same reason Cain was in RF last year - Ford is simply the superior CF? I've seen all of these guys mentioned as potential CF, and am just curious if that's true. Thanks.

I don't see this anywhere, so forgive me if it's posted, but our friend Jeff Sackmann has introduced a new site: www.collegesplits.com/ It's just started in beta with one team, but it'll work just like the great minorleaguesplits.com site with a sortable database of almost 10,000 players. Should be a primo resource this season. Here's an article introducting it: Hardball Times Article

Let's not pretend and just get it done now.

I must say, it's pretty cool that someone can ask a question about an obscure 25th round pick and actually get something constructive back. Love the minor league forum. Thanks to everyone who contributes.

It will be interesting what the Crew does with Rogers when he comes back. I could see them moving him to the bullpen, just to allow him to focus on getting two pitches thrown well (and with proper mechanics), and to work him back into pitching form.

Sums it up perfectly.

Cameron may be 34, but he's still a premier defender, and his numbers would improve in Milwaukee. Yes, he Ks too much. But he's had to play in Petco, Shea and the old Kingdome - all pitcher's parks - for most of his career. I would be thrilled to have him for 2-3 years, even if he is getting up there. He easily becomes our top outfield defender. We'd have to send more than Jenkins or Mench for him.

That would be pretty sweet. I think it shows people feel Rickie is on the cusp of doing something special. Staying healthy will be the biggest thing.

John Sickels is doing his 'community projections' again this year. Weigh in on how you think Rickie will do. He tallies all the answers and posts the average at a later date. Link Completely silly, but kind of fun to get an insight on how Rickie is perceived. People seem to feel that he's ready to break out and have a good year. One thing that was interesting last year was that he posted the 'community' results against Zips, Pecota, Bill James, etc. and they usually weren't that radically different. PS - I posted this in the minor league area because Sickels focuses on minor league stuff. Perhaps the major league forum was more appropriate. Please move if you feel necessary.

I believe Hart could back up 1B.

386 ABs 24 doubles 15 HR 63 RBI 44 walks 86 K .306 BA .381 OBP .490 SLG .871 OPS That's what Jenks did against righties in a down year. As several people pointed out, he hits them very well. The team needs good lefthanded hitters. The key is that you don't ever let Jenks see the light of day against lefties unless he's in middle of a hot streak or the team is desperate. We have to get over the fact that Jenks makes $7 million. We can't change that. The team, however, can control the circumstances to make Geoff a valuable player. Give him the chance to succeed by putting him in the best situation - hitting strictly against righthanders. Fans will whine because he's a platoon player and makes a lot of money. Jenks will whine because he wants to play everyday. Tough. He's not producing to deserve playing everyday as his.133 BA against lefties last year shows. The team can then use Mench against lefties - whom he hits well. Last year: 119 ABs 8 doubles 5 HR 20 RBI 11 walks 5 K .303 BA .364 OBP .513 SLG .876 OPS Those numbers are very similar to Jenks (except the Ks). Combined they had 505 ABs, 20 HR, 83 RBI, .300+ BA and an OPS over .870. It would make an ideal platoon. Over the course of 650-700 ABs, that could easily be a 25 HR, 100 RBI guy. Yes, we'd pay the combined guys $10-11 million. But if they produce, that's not bad. And consider that Mench and Jenks had down years last season. If they can up their game (Mench has hit lefties to the tune of a .969 OPS over the past three year), then they can be even better. Jenks will produce - against righties. Let him know that coming into the season, and he'll do fine. Don't let him worry about hitting lefties. No, he won't be thrilled playing 3/4 of the time, but he can still get 450 ABs. An, no, Mench won't like platooning either, but I'm more worried about the team winning than those guys being happy.

Interesting note from an 'Ask BA' session - someone asked about Kyle Sleeth, the third pick in the 2003 draft. Here was Callis' response: Sleeth got rocked once he reached Double-A in the second half of his 2004 pro debut, and the Tigers decided to modify his delivery afterward. He threw across his body and had been strong enough to get away with it, but he blew out his elbow shortly after modifying his mechanics. He worked just 37 innings this year and is still trying to regain the mid-90s fastball and quality breaking stuff he had at Wake Forest. Sound familiar?

Dellusions have sustained us Brewer fans for 15 years.

Personally, I say you can't have enough starting pitching. I doubt it would happen, but I wouldn't mind it at all. The other positive is that if players are healthy, you have a superior trading chip at the deadline in Lieber or whomever you elect to trade. It let's you address your own weaknesses - or get a prospect or two. That's assuming the Crew is happy with Vargas in the pen, because I doubt they'd get Lieber to be a reliever. Or switch someone like Bush there. Ultimately, I think Lieber could help the team more than Mench/TBow. Perhaps it's part of something bigger. Rowand?

Most folks are agreeing with you. The prospects aren't anything great, but Luis V. helps the pen, and the Yanks free up $14 million and clear out a personality that didn't seem to fit well. In Johnson's defense, I read that he had a 1.24 WHIP last year. That's pretty solid. Not awesome, but solid. And if the back surgery he had helps him, he could be a decent player. Coming the NL will help too - but he does have to pitch as at a hitter's park half the time. Still, $14 million for a 43/44 year old coming off back surgery is scary. Righthanders seem to be sitting on his too - he gave up a lot of long balls last year to them - and at AZ, that might get worse. Big risk for the Dbacks. It does allow the Dbacks to sell lots of tickets as Johnson goes after 300 wins (assuming he stays healthy the next two years). Better to sell tickets than be good! That's the Cub way (at least for most of their existance)! And now the Dbacks.

Weaver should go with a one-year deal with St. Louis for $5-6 million (assuming he can get that from them) with a few million in incentives. He can then work with a quality manager, pitching coach and team and get his crap together -- then get the big payday (which I think is all that matters to him) after the 2007 season. All it takes is one idiot team, however, to give him a ton. Hopefully not - although, perhaps it would be good for some team to give him a bunch of money and have it cripple their finances/roster - and thus help Milwaukee. Sweet! St. Louis, give him his $10/year for 6 years!

Didn't he want this last year too - ended up with one year.

We can just refer to him as 'he-who-must-not-be-named'.

Deal Mench over Jenkins if you have to make a choice. Mench hits lefty pitching well, Jenkins right handed pitching well. Considering we face righties about 3/4 of the time, Jenks is going to get the most playing time. Plus, I'd say he's a better defender. They make an ideal platoon, but at a cost of $10-11 million. The one caveat is that you could argue that Gross is a better option than Jenkins, based upon last year's .908 OPS against righties (Jenks hit .872 OPS last year against righties). Maybe the team will take that opinion. But Jenks, even in the bad times, has hit righthanders really well. Gross had his first decent year ever last season, and the club might be nervous he'll regress.

I think it's a team option that automatically kicks in if Koskie reaches the 507 plate appearances. If he doesn't reach the number, the team can, if it wants, pick up the option.

"It's not the speed really so much. I just wish I hadn't drunk all that cough syrup this morning" Name the film.

This after the Estrada trade. "Reducing our strikeouts is one of our off-season criteria," Melvin said. Article From before 2005 season: We have to cut down on our high strikeout totals. We can't have that this year. If everybody can cut 15 to 18 strikeouts off their total, we'll score more runs. Link

For everyone waiting for something to happen, don't hold your breath. Zito may not even decide before the year is out, and it's very likely Suppan will wait until Zito has decided. story I believe Boros kept Beltran into mid January a couple of years ago until he got maximum $$$$, so I don't think it's a bluff.