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My last post was getting a bit long, but I wanted to add more to my views about trading away LaPorta, Gamel or Escobar. Even with the Sabathia, the Brewers still could use another late inning reliever. Is Torres going to be able to hold up for the entire year as the closer? They still could also use another hitter with a better OBP. I would be okay if they traded Bill Hall and another prospect or two for Sabathia. Cleveland is looking for power and Bill Hall can provide that for them, along with being able to play multiple positions, however it doesn't sound as if Cleveland has an interest in Hall. Fielder is probably going to be traded sometime in the next couple years and Cameron might be gone by next year, so we are probably going to have a need for LaPorta and Gamel in the next couple years. With the way Weeks and Hall have been playing this year, I can see the Brewers either trading Weeks in the next year or two and bringing up Escobar to play second or move Hardy to 2nd, or probably more likely, Bill Hall being traded and the Brewers moving Hardy to third and Escobar playing shortstop. Or, depending on how Gamel is developing as a third baseman, he could end up being the third baseman. I just think those 3 prospects have too much value for the Brewers in the immediate future to trade away for a 3 month rental of Sabathia. If they could sign him to a long term deal, then I may be more open to trading one of the 3, but that is not going to happen.

I wouldn't include one of LaPorta, Escobar or Gamel in a trade for Sabathia. These type of trades don't work at as well for the team trading away the prospects as people may think. From Jayson Stark: 5. Good arms aren't always good luck charmsThere's no commodity teams chase harder at the deadline than starting pitching. And it's mind-boggling how rarely it gets them anywhere. Consider this: • The last two starting pitchers acquired at midseason to win a World Series game were Jeff Weaver (picked off the scrap heap), for the 2006 Cardinals, and Mike Torrez (a relic of another era), for the 1977 Yankees. • And the last two pitchers traded on Deadline Day (July 31) to win any kind of postseason game were Oliver Perez (a reclamation-project throw-in), for the 2006 Mets, and David Weathers (as a set-up reliever), for the 1996 Yankees. So remember, friends, there's no assurance that trading for a C.C. Sabathia is going to give your team any better chance of winning the World Series than trading for, say, Tim Redding. And that's a fact. The reason, said O'Dowd, is simply that those starting pitchers only get to play every five days. So "just look at the number of starts a starting pitcher is going to get by the end of September," he said. "It's probably 10. So if the guy doesn't dominate in eight of those 10 starts, it's a disappointing trade." Position players are different, he said, "because they can blend into the mix." And bullpen arms, in the right role, "can make a big difference." And by the way, we can assure you O'Dowd really believes that, even though the only kinds of players he has on the block this month are (coincidentally) bats and relievers. But those monster starting-pitcher deals? They create "a tremendous amount of pressure," he said. "And not many guys are able to handle that." 4. Even the right moves can turn out wrongWe've been studying some of the biggest trades made at the deadline over the past half-dozen years -- those trades we all labeled "winners" at the time. What did they accomplish, in retrospect? Not what anybody figured. That's for sure. Remember last year's blockbusters? Mark Teixeira to the Braves? The Braves were 3½ games out of first when he arrived. They finished five games out. Eric Gagne to the Red Sox? All he delivered was a 6.75 ERA. Want some others, from previous years? Carlos Lee to Texas in 2006? The Rangers went from 1½ games back to 13 back. Bartolo Colon to the Expos in 2002? They played sub-.500 ball the rest of the season and finished 19 games behind -- and the three prospects traded for him (Cliff Lee, Brandon Phillips and Grady Sizemore) all turned into stars. So what's the moral of that story? If you're a flawed team when you make that "perfect" trade, one guy -- no matter how big a name -- rarely fixes all your problems. "The reason is there isn't a perfect team out there," said Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski. "So what happens is, as soon as you make one deal to address your biggest need, it creates another need." Or even when those deals work, you can still get flat-out unlucky. Ask former Astros GM Gerry Hunsicker, now a senior vice president for baseball operations in Tampa Bay. He made two of the best midseason deals of the past decade -- snagging Carlos Beltran in 2004 and Randy Johnson in 1998. Neither trade got his team to the World Series, even though it definitely wasn't their fault. Beltran hit eight home runs in that postseason alone -- but Roger Clemens couldn't hold a one-run lead in Game 7 of the NLCS. And Johnson had a 1.93 postseason ERA, but his team scored two runs total in his two October starts -- "so we lose two low-scoring games in the first round," Hunsicker said, "and we go home." Hunsicker has been asked "100 times" if he would make those deals again. He would. But that doesn't mean he still isn't haunted by how they turned out. " http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&page=rumblings

I would be hesitant about giving up too much for Bedard. He sounds like he's selfish and someone you couldn't count on. Still would be an improvement, but the team wouldn't be able to count on him being there for them. Saw the following article from the Baltimore Sun on Sunday. "The Seattle media isn't enamored with his unfriendly persona. McLaren didn't like his supposed ace's inability to pitch deep into games. And Bavasi, the man who sold the farm because he thought Bedard was the missing piece to Seattle's elusive title, seemingly didn't like the whole package. This is what Bavasi said after his firing when asked why Bedard couldn't go beyond 100 pitches in half of his first 12 starts: "You got to ask him," Bavasi said. "Good luck. And he's going to have some stupid answer, some dumb answer." "...In two consecutive starts, Bedard acknowledged he was tired and exited after throwing 99 pitches. If Bavasi had done his homework, he would have known that Bedard is plenty talented but can be uncooperative and won't push his body for the sake of the team if he thinks he's spent. Friday night, he left a start after the third inning because of back spasms. The guy will fight as hard as he can when he's on the mound, but when he decides he's done, he's done." http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/baseball/bal-sp.connolly22jun22,0,5339772.column

Someone on the Brewers did a horrible job with the scouting report on Reyes. The Brewers are not only not hitting Reyes, but they look confused out there. I think beside the ball Hart just hit, there has only been one other ball hit that hard. I don't think I've seen the Brewers look more confused all year and they are doing a terrible job of adjusting to what Reyes is doing.

Haudricourt also has it up on JSOnline. A few of the things mentioned in the blog, "General manager Doug Melvin just told us that Tavarez worked out for the club here and will accompany the Brewers back to Milwaukee after the game today. If he passes a physical this evening -- which is considered a formality -- he will be activated for the game tomorrow against Atlanta..." "Tavarez recently was cut by Boston after going 0-1 with a 6.39 ERA in nine relief outings... " "He hasn't pitched since May 11 but he has been throwing," said Melvin. "We've had to bring up the younger, inexperienced guys. They've done ag ood job but this adds depth..." "The Brewers have one open spot on their 40-man roster, so adding Tavarez is no problem. Another pitcher will be sent out tomorrow when he is activated. " http://blogs.jsonline.com/brewers/archive/2008/05/26/brewers-set-to-sign-tavarez.aspx

The D-List, via Tom Haudricourt, is now reporting that Juilan Tavarez will be signing with the Brewers as soon as he passes a physical.

The D-List on ESPN540 is reporting that Julian Tavarez is in a Brewer uniform at the game in DC. However, they are not sure yet if it means he is on the team or is just simply there for a tryout. Either way, it appears the interest in Tavarez is serious.

In the same blog entry, it mentioned that Melvin was in Nashville today, which I believe he has been for the past couple days. So, maybe there is a chance that Branyan gets called up sometime soon. I have to think that Melvin is at least thinking about making some moves, especially if the Brewers struggle in Pittsburgh and Washington.

This is the third item I have posted from a single Haudricourt blog entry. "In another matter, GM Doug Melvin was in Nashville today and saw RHP Jeff Weaver get hit hard again (five runs in 6 1/3 innings). Weaver is 1-2 with a 6.52 ERA there so I wouldn't look for him to come up and try to help the Brewers anytime soon."

It appears as though Counsell is going to be getting more playing time, at least in the near future. Per Haudricourt's blog, "Craig Counsell is playing third base in place of Bill Hall. Anthony said Yost finally conceded that Hall's awful numbers against right-handed pitchers mean Counsell needs to play more, so another guy is being held accountable for lack of production." Of course with Yost, as we have seen in the past, this could be just end up being a 1 or 2 game thing. You just never know. Anyway, for now at least, it doesn't appear as though the Brewers are planning on calling up Branyan.

Here is the latest on Gagne from Haudricourt's blog, "As for Gagne, he's temporarily shut down until they find out what's going on with his shoulder. I don't know who will close in his absence but at this point it doesn't appear he's going on the DL."

No team claimed Turnbow off of waviers and he has accepted an assignment to Nashville. The Milwaukee Brewers today outrighted pitcher Derrick Turnbow to Class AAA Nashville. He will report on Monday. In eight outings this season, Turnbow is 0-1 with a 15.63 ERA, allowing 12 hits, 13 walks and 11 runs in 6 1/3 innings. The opposition is batting .414 against him. Turnbow was an all-star closer for the Brewers in 2006. http://blogs.jsonline.com/brewers/archive/2008/05/09/turnbow-accepts-class-aaa-assignment.aspx

The following explanation of the waiver rules is from Red Sox Director of Baseball Operations Brian O'Halloran, I'd like to keep the myth of a "waiver wire" alive, but the reality is as follows: every weekday (and weekends during Spring Training), the 30 clubs receive a waiver request bulletin electronically from MLB. The bulletin is simply a document that lists the players on waivers that day. Clubs have until 1 p.m. Eastern two business days later (again, including Saturday and Sunday during Spring Training only) to put in a claim, which is done electronically through MLB's central computer system. Claims are then processed at that point in order of priority, which is based on winning percentage, with the lowest percentage team getting the highest priority. In other words it is not a first come first served process. There are four types of waivers, as follows: Outright waivers - these waivers are used to position a club to remove a player from the 40-man roster (to "outright" him off the roster as opposed to optioning him to the minors, in which case he stays on the roster). Outright waivers are irrevocable, meaning that if a team asks these waivers on a player and he is claimed, it does not have the right to "revoke" the waivers and pull him back. Optional waivers - these waivers used to position a club to option certain players. Most young players do not need any waivers in effect in order to be optioned. However, if a player first reported to Major League club more than three years from the date of the contemplated option, he requires waivers to be optioned. These waivers are revocable, and securing them is typically a formality. Trade assignment waivers - these are the waivers used after the July 31 trade deadline. No player may be traded between August 1 and September 30 without trade waivers in effect. Trade waivers are revocable. Clubs ask trade waivers on many players during this period in order to increase their pool of potentially tradable players after the July 31 deadline. If a player gets claimed, the waivers are automatically withdrawn (revoked) unless the original team does not indicate otherwise to MLB within two days after the claim. Unconditional release waivers - as the name indicates, these waivers are used to release a player from the organization. They are irrevocable. The cost of an unconditional release claim is $1, whereas the cost of most other claims is $20,000 (some are $25,000, but that is a longer explanation). If a player is claimed off of unconditional release waivers, he has the right to accept or reject the claim within five days. If he rejects the claim, he becomes a free agent, but forfeits the rest of his previously stipulated salary. If he accepts the claim, the new team pays him under the same contract he was playing under with his previous team. Source: Speaker Series: Brian O'Halloran (added link; please cite sources --1992)

"Any of the 29 clubs could claim Turnbow and pay him a prorated portion of the Major League minimum -- $400,000 -- leaving the Brewers on the hook for the rest." From everything that I have read and heard, I believe Adam is wrong here. Any team claiming Turnbow off of waivers, will also be claiming his contract. Unless, Turnbow clears waivers and the Brewers just let him go, in which case the Brewers will be responsible for his contract. Or, if Turnbow refuses to accept an assignment to the minors, in which case he becomes a free agent and his contract with the Brewers is voided.

Doug Melvin just stated in an interview on ESPN540 that 3 teams have called the Brewers asking about Turnbow. Mentioned that he didn't have the chance to call them back yet. So, there are teams asking about Turnbow, but I don't expect that Brewers are going to be offered much. Don't want to speculate as this isn't the trade forum, but just wanted to mention that teams are calling the Brewers about Turnbow.

I believe Bush, Villanueva and Parra each have a couple of starts left before Gallardo comes back. So, I think it could depend on how each performs. I don't see Bush going anywhere other than possible the bullpen, so it really comes down to how Villanueva and Parra pitch. If each of them continues to pitch well, then I think McClung gets waived. However, if they give the Brewers any reason to keep McClung, then I think one of them gets sent down to the minors. With Cameron, I think it comes down to Gross or Dillon, unless Gwynn goes hit-less in a large number of at bats. Thus far, every visiting announcer I've listen to has given glowing reports about Kapler. Seems like he has an excellent reputation within baseball. Plus, Melvin really likes him, so I think he sticks for now. It seems like Dillon is the last man on the roster right now, but when Cameron comes back, Dillon gives the Brewers a second right handed bat off the bench. He also gives them another player who can play some in the infield, otherwise they will only have Counsel. However, they have a starting lineup of mostly right hand hitters that won't be pinch hit much for. So if I had to guess right now, I would say Dillon would probably be the odd man out.

A couple days ago, WTMJ posted a story on their website that was based on a story by Lance Allen. Basically, as of that time, Lance Allen was reporting that their were 4 finalists for the job. Wright State's Brad Brownell, Chris Lowery of Southern Illinois, Bob McKillop of Davidson and Buzz Williams. http://www.620wtmj.com/sports/17321564.html This morning Todd Rosiak added the following on JSOnline, "Two new names I heard over the weekend were Kentucky assistant Tracy Webster and Baylor coach Scott Drew. It's unclear whether either had been or is on MU's radar screen at this point." He also mentioned that at the moment, Buzz Williams appears to be the front-runner for the job, however if an announcement isn't made by mid-week that might mean they are going in another direction. "What Williams has working for him at this point would appear to be the school's desire for continuity and stability within the program, his familiarity with the remaining players and signed recruits and his ability to recruit. If an announcement isn't made by mid-week, though, that likely would signal there's a movement afoot to try to talk to a few other candidates... Xavier's Sean Miller, Washington State's Tony Bennett and Virginia Commonwealth's Anthony Grant are all known to have not reciprocated interest expressed by MU late last week." http://blogs.jsonline.com/muhoops/archive/2008/04/06/all-s-quiet-on-the-coaching-front.aspx As a UWM fan, I hope they hire Brownell so that he is no longer at Wright State, plus I think he would probably be a good choice as well. He has already had success as a coach and has an impressive resume. If Indiana had not hired Crean, he was someone Indiana was about to look at and consider. http://wsuraiders.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/brownell_brad00.html Lowery is also one of the "hot names" in college coaching right now, with an impressive resume as well. http://siusalukis.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/lowery_chris00.html Of the 4 possible candiates mentioned, I would probably rank them as follows: 1. Brownell--Okay, UWM bias probably has me ranking him higher than Lowery, but they are still probably more like 1a and 1b. 2. Lowery--Similar to Brownell in that both have proven to be winners as head coaches. Both have impressive resumes and have shown that they can recruit well, though Lowery appears to be a better recruiter. So, if it wasn't for being a UWM fan, I would probably rank Lowery slightly ahead of Brownell. 3. Williams--Has shown to be a top notch recruiter. May end up being the candiate that is best able to take the Marquette program up a step, but also has the least experience as coach. 4. McKillop--Proven winner as a coach. Is the oldest of the candidate's at age 58. Just doesn't seem to be the best fit. If you add Drew and Webster to the mix, then I would put Drew in the top 3 mix. Maybe as no. 1. He has had mixed success as a coach, but also got stuck with a really lousy situation at Baylor and has turned around that program. He also seems to be a really good recruiter. Just don't know enough about Webster, other than he played at Wisconsin and has no head coaching experience. Seems to be a good recruiter, but it's hard to see Marquette picking Webster over Williams if they are going to with someone without much coaching experience.

On JSOnline, Todd Rosiak came up with a list of possible candidates for the Marquette coaching job. However, it seems like more a list of names he has come up with rather than a list from inside sources. For the posters with inside information, is the person Marquette is talking to right now as the lead candidate on this list. Here are some of the possible candidates to replace Tom Crean: >> Sean Miller, Xavier (93-39 career record) Makeup and background make him a perfect fit, but reportedly has a $2 million buyout. >> Tony Bennett, Washington State (52-17) State ties and tremendous success in two seasons at Wazzu make him a popular choice. >> Anthony Grant, Virginia Commonwealth (52-14) Another hot prospect who cut his coaching teeth under Billy Donovan at Florida. >> Bob McKillop, Davidson (338-224) Possesses East Coast roots and fell just three points short of advancing to the Final Four. >> Brad Brownell, Wright State (127-60) Fast-riser who has guided Raiders to a 44-20 mark in past two seasons. >> Chris Lowery, Southern Illinois (96-41) Energetic, defensive-minded coach who could finally be ready to make the big jump. >> Buzz Williams, MU assistant (14-17 in one year at New Orleans) Under-the-radar candidate whose ties to incoming recruits could prove crucial. Todd Rosiak Also, someone from one of the Marquette forums posted an article from a Dayton newspaper which names Brad Brownell as someone on Marquette's short list. "A source close to the Marquette University basketball program has said Wright State's Brad Brownell is on the short list of Golden Eagles athletics director Steve Cottingham as a replacement for departed coach Tom Crean..." http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/throughthearch/entries/2008/04/02/brownell_marquette_frontrunner.html

Yes!! Torres!

This is starting to feel like 2007 again. Blow the chance to open up the game and the bullpen blowing a 3 run lead. Cmon, let's change things for 2008.

Anthony Grant would seem like a good hire. I also think Buzz Williams might be a good hire. He is considered to be an excellent recruiter and he has played a key role of some of the current Marquette recruits for next season. Here is a bio of him from when he was hired by Marquette last July. http://marquette.scout.com/2/658075.html Someone also wrote on the Marquette forum that Andy Katz mentioned on ESPN radio that Marquette is going after Mike Anderson of Missouri and Denver Nuggets assistant coach John Welch to replace Crean. Who knows if there is any truth to that rumor. Edit: Yes, Darren Horn just signed on as the coach for South Carolina.

Was Gagne sick or not feeling well yesterday. He didn't look comfortable and I think I also saw him bend over once before the home run as well, but as someone mentioned, maybe it was after. He also keep trying to cool himself off which looked strange after a while and kept moving around and just didn't look comfortable out there. It's hard to really get a good feel about him as he didn't pitch much in spring training with the major league team and according to Tom Haudricourt, wasn't around with the team much. Spending more time working on things and pitching with the minor league team. However, I would agree, it's too soon for anyone to bury him. Let's hope the next time he comes out, he settles down and pitches well.

I'm starting to miss Cordero, hope Gagne can get it together.

For what it's worth, the weather guy on WGN said that once this batch of showers pass by, there could be hit and miss showers but they should be in good shape to get the game in. Of course, I think he was one of the forecasters who said they should have a 2-6 window. The temps are also warming up from the low 40's into the upper 50's and it will start to get really windy out there.

Looks like they are going to try to start the game at 2. Both Jim Powell and Brian Anderson says they are going to try for a 2:00 start.