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The first problem, as mentioned, is that very little information is disclosed. We know nothing about the Brewers contract except that they signed a new one in 2009 for undisclosed dollars and years. The Nationals had a 1.22 rating in 2011, which corresponds to about 25,000-30,000 households. So the Brewers are getting at least double the number of viewers as the Nationals. If the Brewers signed a contract based on the 2009 numbers, then it is probably worth somewhere in the $30-50 million per year range. I believe the previous deal was for less than $10 million per year but I can not find the numbers. The rest of the Brewers' revenue/expense numbers are hard to guess. We know MLB payroll which is nowhere near all-encompassing. Who knows how much they spend on ballpark operations, player development, executive salaries, etc. For income, there are ticket sales, parking, the TV deal, merchandise, and sponsorships. Ticket revenue is somewhere around $50-60 million but it is hard to guess due to discounts and reduced rates for season ticket holders. In total, the Brewers probably take in somewhere in the $200 million range per year, higher when they make the playoffs. So, if the Nationals can get a TV deal worth $60-90 million, the Brewers should be able to exceed that and add a nice boost to their revenues. However, the TV deal is ultimately driven by advertising sales, and I'm not quite so sure that FS Wisconsin is going to be able to get much more money out of their advertisers. Last I checked, the advertisements during Brewers games were not from the type of companies/organizations that you would expect to be paying millions of dollars to advertise. The difference between Milwaukee's TV revenue and the mid-to-large market teams will likely continue to increase in coming years. It is very concerning.

I think it was clear last year that Zambrano had pitched his last game with the Cubs. His interactions with Guillen should make for some interesting news. I wonder if the Marlins will become a popular destination for star Latin-American players with their new ballpark and the Guillen hire. They didn't have enough money to make the top offer to Pujols, but he appeared willing to go there if the price was right.

MLB: Brewers ---Huge gap in interest--- NFL: Packers College: Badger Football/Basketball (Marquette #2) NHL: Florida Panthers (Also like San Jose Sharks/Nashville Predators) NBA: Bucks (fair weather fan) MLS: Seattle Sounders Golf: Steve Stricker/Tiger Woods The Sharks were my adopted NHL team when I lived in Wisconsin, but I picked up the Panthers upon moving to South Florida. I have no interest in the other South Florida sports teams, but the Panthers are somewhat neglected/ignored which appeals to me and keeps the ticket prices affordable. The Predators are interesting because they have great fans and have the Admirals connection. I like the MLS Sounders also because they have an awesome fanbase and I would like to move to the Pacific Northwest someday.

It wouldn't invalidate everything MLB has done, it would vindicate it. It would be yet another huge victory for Selig. The only one who ends up looking awful is Braun, for having the arrogance to think that he could get away with it. Of course there might be others out there, but the general consensus is that the steroid testing is working--and Braun's case just might have proved it. Far worse for MLB is the possibility of a successful appeal by Braun. In that case, the storyline would become one of two options: 1) If Braun is telling the truth, then there are major inconsistencies in the drug testing policy that may compromise its integrity 2) If Braun is lying, then a wealthy superstar player can hire a big name lawyer and escape suspension

Logic flow: Greinke changing agents >> ???? >> Greinke wants trade Note: merged the two Greinke topics and placed in ML Forum

For anyone still holding on to that 1% hope of signing Prince Fielder, you can now officially say goodbye. My main concern is the continued preference for poor defensive players. The infield defense looks like it is only going to be marginally better than last year, pending the 1B situation. But I guess last year's terrible D got us within 2 wins of the World Series. It sure looks good to add Ramirez to the offense for 2012. He will likely put up decent numbers and can protect Rickie Weeks and/or Ryan Braun. As for 2013-2014, who knows. But there are much bigger issues to be addressed during that time frame anyway.

He's Ryan Braun, he doesn't need an edge. He's the MVP. Maybe he took steroids in college, but there's no way he was continuing to use steroids in the last 5 years without being caught already. And how could anyone believe that they wouldn't get caught. It isn't 2005 anymore.

My brother called me with the news and my heart sunk. Really low. Worst feeling in the history of me being a sports fan. But now that my head has cleared and I read through the thread, I don't think he did it. Which is good, because it would certainly permanently ruin my passion for the Brewers. If he indeed did steroids or testosterone or whatever, you can mark down 12/10/2011 as the end of the Brewers' latest success run, similar to the Molitor trade. As for Braun, he either threw his entire career down the drain or everything we saw up to this point has been a lie. He would be an amazingly good liar. But he clearly didn't do it. 0% chance. Nobody outside of Manny Ramirez would be dumb enough to take a banned substance in this era. And we all know that Ryan Braun is an intelligent athlete beyond any reasonable doubt. I fully believe he would confess if he was guilty, they all know there is no escaping an actual positive these days. Or at least the Ryan Braun I thought I knew would confess. It's always different when you are the accused one. We did Cardinals fans a nice favor, they can laugh at us for a few days until the truth comes out. Of course there will always be some who will put a cloud over Braun for this, but they are the ones who didn't like him anyway. The bordering-on-obnoxious swagger is my favorite part about him and there's nothing more fun than annoying the opposition, especially stuck up Cards fans. In that case, the real shame is that this news leaked. In the event that I am actually in a state of denial, I had a great run as a Milwaukee Brewers fan and I wish everyone the best. There would be no recovering from this for me. And those of you who know me from the IGTs know that I do not make knee-jerk reactions. I am 100% serious, it could have been any of the other 24 guys on the team and I would have been fine, but if Ryan Braun of all people is a cheater and a liar, then there are way better things to do with my life and I am [expletive] done with baseball. I doubt I will miss it because the post-Fielder and clean Braun Milwaukee Brewers will not be much fun to watch for a long, long time.

I agree that the division is wide open right now, but once the Cardinals figure out what to do with all that money they were about to spend, I imagine they will go back to being the favorites. But the Brewers are certainly still within striking distance. I think it's a good move for the Angels, the LA market is theirs for the taking right now and Pujols can DH in a few years. Boras must be loving this deal. $250 million for Pujols when Fielder was arguably the better option.

Can Gomez learn shortstop?

Yes, since there will be a total of 270 Interleague games. But there would rarely be more than one series going on at once.

The latest word is that there will be no increase in the number of interleague games at all. Still 18 just like now. 15 against a rotating division and 3 rivalry games. In addition, they are not decided on even balancing the intraleague portion of the schedule. If that is the case, it would actually make it less likely for an NL team to carry a DH, since the interleague games will be spread all over the place.

Counsell as the hitting coach? It would be funny to see the whole team doing the old-fashioned Counsell batting stance.

That argument is just as silly in this instance as when it is used in a similar fashion in certain political debates. I do agree that in modern times, with the leagues soon to playing each other year round, it does make sense to have uniform rules. But the most important thing is that the rules are uniform in all levels of baseball. It is pointless to have a DH in the minor leagues of NL teams. They need to pick one rule, DH or not, and implement it from rookie ball up to MLB.

Based on TH's twitter, it looks like Selig is getting almost everything he wanted in the new CBA. Extra wildcard one-game playoff, realignment, and draft reform. What a way to go out as commissioner.

I'm not familiar with the situation but they didn't have a choice because there was no interleague play. It would be literally impossible to write that schedule.

I think one of the main reasons they went with 16/14 in 1998 was because there was going to be little support for a 15/15 split. There is a big difference between a few interleague series in the summer and constant interleague like with the new plan. Also, MLB was still in the expansion era back then, I don't think anyone thought that the 16/14 would last 15 years, but the 2 additional expansion teams never came along and they certainly will not any time in the near future. I can't make up my mind on the new rules until I see what the exact schedule will be. I do not see how you get 45 interleague games, shouldn't it be 30 since they are only playing 2 divisions (10*3)? For teams in the NL Central, the new games will simply replace the ones that they had with the Astros. By the way, I would be horrified if I was an Astros fan. They are going to have way too many 9 PM CDT starts. There definitely will need to be more reform at some point. Colorado, Houston, Arizona, Texas, and San Diego should be in one West Division, with the LA teams, San Francisco, Oakland, and Seattle in the other division. But since nobody will volunteer to change leagues because of the DH and one west coast team has to get left out, it will never happen.

It's still called "New Marlins Ballpark". They are probably having issues finding a sponsor.

I don't know how they made boring uniforms with that color scheme, but they did. They are 98% white. http://media.miamiherald.com/smedia/2011/11/11/22/14/2uSUI.Em.56.jpg

If Pujols signs quickly with Miami, does that make St. Louis the #1 suitor for Fielder?

If Pujols signs quickly with Miami, does that make St. Louis the #1 suitor for Fielder?

If Pujols signs quickly with Miami, does that make St. Louis the #1 suitor for Fielder?

The Marlins mailed me their 20 pack info the other week. The ticket prices are astonishingly cheap. $18/ticket to sit in the upper level behind home plate (which is really about the location of the club level at Miller Park). Even the lower level down the line is as cheap as $25/ticket for the 20 pack. I'll try and get some tickets to one of those exhibition games, but the Brewers do not down here until September. Hopefully more of the FL Brewers fans will turn out next year since there is no risk of bad weather or a rainout.

He could be a player/coach for Nashville.

It's definitely heartbreaking, but a different kind of heartbreaking than the letters back in the day..."The Brewers fell short of expectations yet again, but I can assure you that one of these years..."