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Haudricourt seems to believe that this thing will get settled one way or another pretty soon, maybe by the end of today. The Journal Sentinel has even put it as it's main headline story on it's website. At least at the time I am writing this. I pretty much agree with what And That wrote. If the Brewers do sign Hoffman, I still would like to see them get Lyon. Sort of like they did last year with Gagne and Torres and to a certain extent, Mota and Riske. And they still would need to get a starter for the 5 man rotation and maybe another starter that could be signed to a minor league deal for added depth in case of injury. But, the signing of Hoffman would take care of one of the big needs and I hope it gets done.

Thanks for the updates. Usually they archive he's segment on the show, but since he was co-hosting I'm not sure if they will archive it or not.

Tom Haudricourt is on ESPN 540 this morning, co-hosting at least for the 1st hour. After the break, they are suppose to start talking about moves that Haudricourt thinks the Brewers are going to make, but I won't be able to listen to the show, so can someone listen and leave some comments on what Haudricourt is saying for the rest of us. Thanks.

The last time Melvin was asked about Lowe, he made it pretty clear that Lowe wasn't interested in coming to Milwaukee. Maybe that's changed over the past couple weeks or maybe it's just Boras trying to start a rumor to get as much as he can for Lowe. Lowe is probably the best free agent pitcher available at the moment, though Perez has the most upside if, and that's a bit if, he can become a bit more consistent. Lowe worries me due to the contract he would seek, the lost of a 1st round pick and he's home and road splits. Over the past 3 years, Lowe has a road ERA over 4 each year. Overall, during the past 3 years, he's ERA at home is 2.95 and on the road it's 4.24. In 2008, Lowe had he's greatest home and road splits, with a 2.30 ERA at home and a 4.42 ERA on the road. And Dodgers Stadium is known as a pitchers park. Prior to signing with the Dodgers in 2005, during his final two seasons with Boston, he had an ERA of 4.47 and 5.42. And it's not the homeruns that has hurt him as much as just giving up more hits on the road than at home. In 2008, at Dodger Stadium he gave up 88 hits in 117 innings, while on the road he gave up 106 hits in 93 innings. Over the past 3 years, those numbers are, 283 hits in 320 innings at home and 326 hits in 308 innings on the road. He has also given up slightly more walks and has fewer strikeouts on the road then at home during the past 3 years. Even with those numbers, he still figures to be a better pitcher than the other free agent pitchers available, other than possible Perez. It's just a matter of how much is he worth and is he a low 4.00 ERA pitcher away from Dodger Stadium or somewhere below or above that.

I am worried about our starting rotation. Gallardo is coming off an injury and has never pitcher 200 innings. I think he will be okay, but I don't want to have him pitch too many innings because the rest of the rotation isn't pitching enough innings. Parra looks good, but was inconsistent, he probably will do better this year, then again he still has to prove he can be consistent for a full year. Bush is really more of a 4 or 5 pitcher at the moment. His numbers suggest he can do better, but he still has to show it over a full season. Suppan is getting older and has been declining. Plus, are his injuries problems from a year ago a sign of what is to come to come or not. Melvin has already made it pretty clear that Villanueva is going to be in the bullpen and doesn't view him as a starter, go back to the interview he did on Homer's show a few weeks ago. So, we can take Villanueva out of the discussion. That leads McClung as the fifth starter for now and he has never been able to have a successful, full year as a starter. After that, yikes, there isn't much. So, I am pretty worried about the rotation as it now stands.

I would be really surprised if the Brewers would be willing to give Looper a 3 year deal for $27 million. A year ago maybe, but with the way the free agent market is going this year, other than top free agents, I wouldn't expect the Brewers to give Looper that type of a deal.

I guess my intial reaction will probably similar to what most people have already written here. It would an okay signing depending on the amount it was for. Looper is in that 3 tier group of free agent starting pitchers, Paul Byrd, Jon Garland, Randy Wolf, etc... Probably somewhere in the middle of that type of group. If they were to sign him, I would put him between Bush and Suppan, so I guess a number 4 starter in the current Brewers rotation. Gives them depth in the starting rotation and another possible bullpen arm if they wanted to use him there. Also, Haudricourt is on vacation, but mentioned the report on his blog and is going to have Anthony Witrado look into it. So, we should know more about the accuracy of this report sometime later today or tomorrow.

If it is Kotsay, he and Macha have an interesting history together. The following is from an ESPN article back in 2006. "...According to a report in the paper, Macha said that general manager Billy Beane made on-field suggestions that made the manager uncomfortable. Specifically, he said the GM wanted Bobby Kielty to start against left-handed pitchers, but Macha started lefty Mark Kotsay in the playoffs against Minnesota's Johan Santana and Detroit's Nate Robertson and Kenny Rogers. Kotsay made critical comments about Macha after the manager was fired. "Billy wanted Kielty in the postseason, and I play Kotsay, and then Kotsay comes out and says bad things about me while I basically got fired because I played him," Macha told the Chronicle. "It's kind of sad." Macha added: "That's one instance, but it happened a lot." "...The Chronicle contacted Kotsay on Saturday, but he refused to comment. Beane said Macha's recollection of events was a "total fabrication." "The A's have moved on," Beane told the Chronicle. "Unfortunately, Ken's memories of some things and the A's memories of some things are a little different, and the most important thing is that we've gone our way and he's gone his way." http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2634647

You can take Jaime Moyer off the list as he resigned with the Phillies on a 2 year deal. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/a...otstove2008&fext=.jsp I know there's still lots of time, but I hope Melvin starts making some moves before there's nothing left worth going after. If you look at the list of pitchers Melvin mentioned, Moyer is gone. Johnson seems to be leaning towards other teams. Wolf seems to be asking for too much at the moment and he's been linked to other teams, more than Milwaukee. Haven't heard too much about Smoltz, though who knows what he has left and if he can stay healthy. Have to also think that Penny might be an option at this point as well, but he has his own question marks as well. And he still has to find someone to close games. Still early, but I wish they would start making some moves to improve their pitching.

As I wrote earlier, Cabrera does have great stuff and he really is a very tempting player. Living in the area, I've seen him throw a few times and if he could ever get some control, he has top of the rotation type of stuff. But, at 27 years old, going on 28 next year, he's at that stage of his career where if he doesn't turn it around in the next year or so, he won't reach his potential as a starter. He's one of those tall, 6'9 players who may always have problems with his control. He's never really been tried as a reliever before, I wonder if at some point a team just might try to make him a reliever. He usually gets off to bad starts, so maybe it wouldn't work. But, at some point a guy with his stuff might be placed in the bullpen if he doesn't turn it around as a starter. Also, another reason Joe Nelson would be an attractive player for the Brewers. "The Marlins were offering about $650,000, and Nelson was seeking about $800,000. A decent reliever who was looking for less than a million dollars. Probably would get more now that he's a free agent, but...

Here is the actual non-tendered list. Astros Ty Wigginton, 3B; Reggie Abercrombie OF. Braves Chuck James, LHP. Brewers Chris Capuano, LHP. Cardinals Randy Flores, LHP; Tyler Johnson, LHP; Aaron Miles, 2B. Diamondbacks Chris Burke, INF; Robby Hammock, C; Wil Ledezma, LHP; Jeff Salazar, OF. Dodgers Mario Alvarez, RHP; Angel Berroa, SS; Yhency Brazoban, RHP; Scott Proctor, RHP; Takashi Saito, RHP. Mariners Jamie Burke, C. Marlins Joe Nelson, RHP. Nationals Tim Redding, RHP. Orioles Daniel Cabrera, RHP; Lance Cormier RHP. Padres Clay Hensley, RHP; Charlie Haeger, RHP. Phillies Scott Mathieson, RHP. Pirates Denny Bautista, RHP. Rangers Doug Mathis, RHP. Rays Jonny Gomes, OF. Red Sox Kevin Cash, C. Rockies Jonathan Herrera, IF; Willy Taveras, OF. Royals John Bale, LHP; Jairo Cuevas, RHP; Joey Gathright, OF; Jason Smith, IF. Yankees Chris Britton, RHP; Justin Christian, OF. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/a...jsp&partnerId=rss_mlb I think Scott Proctor is someone Melvin would be interested in. Throws hard and could possible bounce back after a poor year. The type of player Melvin always talks about in regards to the bullpen. Daniel Cabrera has great stuff, but lacks control. Reminds me of Jaime Cocanower for people old enough to remember. If the free agent route doesn't pan out, might be worth an invite. Maybe a change of scenery would be of benefit to Cabrera. Joey Gathright is someone that could possible interest Melvin. Centerfielder, good speed, but not much of a hitter. Really more of a 5th outfielder type, but with Melvin's belief that sometimes players with speed develop later, he might have an interest. Edit: Didn't plan it this way, but if you click on the name of the team, it links you a story about the non-tendered list of players from each teams Website.

Haas linked this Newsday article about Sheets in the Sheets thread, but at the bottom of the article, I saw the following which relates to the potential Cameron/Cabrera deal, '' 'Still on hold for the Yankees is a possible trade of Melky Cabrera for Mike Cameron. The Yankees want the Brewers to pick up part of Cameron's $10-million salary for 2009 or include another player in the deal.' The Yankees want the Brewers to include another player in the deal if they don't pick up part of Cameron's contract. I sure hope Haudricourt is correct about the Brewers getting a second player back and not Newsday.

Interesting line from that Newsday article, "They have ruled out going after oft-injured Ben Sheets, someone familiar with their plans said, because of too many "red flags." Instead, they will await a decision from Andy Pettitte." I know the Yankees checked Sheets medical records a few days ago, I wonder what is showing up. Maybe those, "red flags" is the reaason Melvin doesn't seem too interested in offering Sheets more than a 1 year deal, if at all. I think Sheets injuries may be more of a problem then we have been lead to believe. I mean, we know he's had injury problems, but maybe it's more then just being unlucky or injury prone. Maybe there is a potential physical problem that is showing up in his medical records.

Listened to the Haudricourt interview again and he believes there's an 80% chance this deal gets down in 24 hours and a 99.9% this deal gets done at some point. I knew I heard something about this deal being about 99% likely to happen. As far as Hall being a part of it. Haudricourt said the Yankees asked the Brewers about Hall as they are looking for a backup, right hand, hitting utility player who could back up Rodriquez, Jeter and Cano. So the interest in Hall was just as a utility player. However, along with probably expecting the Brewers to pay part of Hall's salary, the Yankees wanted to the Brewers to take Kei Igawa and his remaining contract of 3 years and $12 million. That pretty much ended the Hall part of the talks as far as that goes.

Tom Haurdricourt was on the Homer's show and said that there is a 99% chance that the deal gets done, I believe by tomorrow. Actually, it was slightly more than that, but basically feels the deal will get done. He's believes that if it's a straight up deal, then the Brewers won't include money in the deal. But, if the Yankees add another player, then the Brewers would add some money to the deal. Also, that other player would probably be a mid level type of prospect. Said the Brewers think Cabrera has "tremendous potential", but then later said it may be a one year type of thing as the starting centerfielder as Lorenzo Cain may be ready to become the regular centerfielder by 2010. Whatever the case, it sounds like Cabrera will be the starting centerfielder next year. Homer brought up a rumor about Prince Fielder possible being traded to the Yankees and Haudricourt said that Fielder will not be traded, at least this year. However, that was his own belief. Said a few other things as well, but that was those were the main things he said about the Cameron/Cabrera deal.

The deal is back on, Las Vegas - After a morning hiccup created by the Yankees' request for the Brewers to pick up some of centerfielder Mike Cameron's salary, the sides are back on track to complete a trade that would bring centerfielder Melky Cabrera to Milwaukee. Asked about the likelihood of that trade now happening, Brewers general manager Doug Melvin just said there was "a strong possibility it could still happen." So, perhaps as early as tomorrow, the deal could be completed, with perhaps a second player coming back to the Brewers from the Yankees. Melvin said the financial aspects of the deal had been settled but talks continued on a second player coming from New York. The sides were unable to complete the deal today because Yankees general manager Brian Cashman and his front office group left early to head back to New York. Melvin said he reached Cashman via telephone while he was at the airport here and it was agreed to resume talks tomorrow. http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/brewers.html Wonder is this means the Brewers agreed to pay part of Cameron's salary for another player in return.

To be fair, this is similar to what Attanasio has stated in the past, except for this parts about how bad the economy is at the moment. I just think for people who thought we may have had a $90 million payroll or even $80 million to start the season, it's probably not going to happen. The Brewers may be able to sign one player to a $10 million dollar contract, say a Fuentes, but probably not two. So, maybe they spend some money on a Fuentes or a starter now and then try to pick up one of two other free agent pitchers later on when they wouldn't have to pay as much. Now, if they are able to not only dump Cameron's, but also Hall's salaries, maybe that will give them the flexibility to do a bit more.

There is an interview with Mark Attanasio in JSOnline today and for those people who think the Brewers have all this extra money to spend, that may not be entirely the case. Here are some of the quotes from Attanasio that wasn't actually in the article, but a story which links to the article. "Doug is incredibly disciplined," Attanasio said. "We have a budget that business works up, and baseball works up a budget. We don;t say the number is $90 million or it's $80 million. Then Quinn does a budgetary buildup, with ticket price revenue, paring revenues, sponsorship revenue, Central Fund revenues...." Then the Brewers come up with a number. "As names of players come up, I'll say that's a budget-busting name. I don't want to say, 'I love that guy, go get 'em.' I say, 'Doug, for a name like that, a fan recognizable name that, more important to Doug, is a difference-maker for our team, that becomes a different conversation. It can be that. But I want to emphasize that we have to be fiscally responsible. "We have to be fiscally responsible to be facing what we are facing this year. It's a tightrope but we are walking it." Attanasio and Melvin often use the word "flexibility" when it comes to spending for players. But the dour economic conditions have changed the game this year. "There is flexibility," Attanasio said. "But you can't use 'a lot' any more because of the economy." http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/35959644.html Some quotes from the article in the newspaper, "One of the challenges I have is buying into a falling market. When you buy into a rising market, you can't move fast enough. The challenge here is that, look, any investment you made in 2008 on Wall Street, 12 months ago, 12 weeks ago, 12 days ago, even 12 hours ago, you are down. We have to be careful with what is going on here." "Attanasio knows that Melvin has proven adept in previous seasons at signing players late in the winter. "We think we will see some bargains at the last minute," Attanasio said. "We'll keep our powder dry a little bit." There is not a specific number for next season's payroll; last year, the Brewers spent more than $90 million. Attanasio said Melvin has some flexibility to make a run for a quality player." "Attanasio also said that the franchise turned a slight profit this past season, although he did not disclose specifics. Getting two playoff games at Miller Park last season helped the bottom line, he said." http://www.jsonline.com/sports/brewers/35939054.html

If it means that the Brewers are going to be able to spend money to a sign a quality starting pitcher and a closer, then I still would have rather dealt Cameron for some minor league players. Just hope that the report is not accurate, otherwise I don't see what Cabrera brings that any non-roster type of player could also bring. Other that he's young and has "potential". Cabrera is a 4th outfielder at best who right now is probably the favorite to be the everyday centerfielder for the Brewers. Now if they got a young pitcher in return and had to take Cabrera okay, but at this moment that doesn't appear to be the case. Hopefully this report is not completely accurate.

If it means that the Brewers are going to be able to spend money to a sign a quality starting pitcher and a closer, then I still would have rather dealt Cameron for some minor league players. Just hope that the report is not accurate, otherwise I don't see what Cabrera brings that any non-roster type of player could also bring. Other that he's young and has "potential". Cabrera is a 4th outfielder at best who right now is probably the favorite to be the everyday centerfielder for the Brewers. Now if they got a young pitcher in return and had to take Cabrera okay, but at this moment that doesn't appear to be the case. Hopefully this report is not completely accurate.

If it means that the Brewers are going to be able to spend money to a sign a quality starting pitcher and a closer, then I still would have rather dealt Cameron for some minor league players. Just hope that the report is not accurate, otherwise I don't see what Cabrera brings that any non-roster type of player could also bring. Other that he's young and has "potential". Cabrera is a 4th outfielder at best who right now is probably the favorite to be the everyday centerfielder for the Brewers. Now if they got a young pitcher in return and had to take Cabrera okay, but at this moment that doesn't appear to be the case. Hopefully this report is not completely accurate.

If it means that the Brewers are going to be able to spend money to a sign a quality starting pitcher and a closer, then I still would have rather dealt Cameron for some minor league players. Just hope that the report is not accurate, otherwise I don't see what Cabrera brings that any non-roster type of player could also bring. Other that he's young and has "potential". Cabrera is a 4th outfielder at best who right now is probably the favorite to be the everyday centerfielder for the Brewers. Now if they got a young pitcher in return and had to take Cabrera okay, but at this moment that doesn't appear to be the case. Hopefully this report is not completely accurate.

If it means that the Brewers are going to be able to spend money to a sign a quality starting pitcher and a closer, then I still would have rather dealt Cameron for some minor league players. Just hope that the report is not accurate, otherwise I don't see what Cabrera brings that any non-roster type of player could also bring. Other that he's young and has "potential". Cabrera is a 4th outfielder at best who right now is probably the favorite to be the everyday centerfielder for the Brewers. Now if they got a young pitcher in return and had to take Cabrera okay, but at this moment that doesn't appear to be the case. Hopefully this report is not completely accurate.

If it means that the Brewers are going to be able to spend money to a sign a quality starting pitcher and a closer, then I still would have rather dealt Cameron for some minor league players. Just hope that the report is not accurate, otherwise I don't see what Cabrera brings that any non-roster type of player could also bring. Other that he's young and has "potential". Cabrera is a 4th outfielder at best who right now is probably the favorite to be the everyday centerfielder for the Brewers. Now if they got a young pitcher in return and had to take Cabrera okay, but at this moment that doesn't appear to be the case. Hopefully this report is not completely accurate.

If it means that the Brewers are going to be able to spend money to a sign a quality starting pitcher and a closer, then I still would have rather dealt Cameron for some minor league players. Just hope that the report is not accurate, otherwise I don't see what Cabrera brings that any non-roster type of player could also bring. Other that he's young and has "potential". Cabrera is a 4th outfielder at best who right now is probably the favorite to be the everyday centerfielder for the Brewers. Now if they got a young pitcher in return and had to take Cabrera okay, but at this moment that doesn't appear to be the case. Hopefully this report is not completely accurate.