MNBrew

Was this meant to be in blue? He's out for the same 50 games Braun would be. Besides, he's a knucklehead. Even if your idea were possible, no thanks.

Punto has been an everyday shortstop. That the Twins chose to keep moving him around to fill other holes was not a reflection of his ability at SS. I'd much rather have been watching the Brewers all these years, but I'm stuck watching the Twins and know more than I'd actually hope to about Punto's game.

In terms of $$$, Gindl (for instance) + Lee >>> K-Rod + Hart; also means more payroll flexibility. I wasn't arguing Lee vs. Hart, 1-on-1. I'd never go there.

I liked Carlos Lee a ton as a Brewer and now he's the same good guy but grossly overpaid. That said, I do wonder if it'd equal things out well enough to trade K-Rod & Hart to Houston for him. (No, I'm not delirious. I just want more payroll flexibility. And Houston's a match because they have so little proven talent most anywhere on their team.)

Punto is light years better defensively and has tons of career starts all over the IF. I'll take him every day of the week and even 98 times out of 100 when his bat's not going well because his glove is THAT good.

We don't need another Kotsay role. Gindl or Schafer need to start getting MLB playing time, just like Gamel & Green on the IF. It's nice to have prospects with some promise. But it becomes Twins Syndrome if you keep stacking 'em up but never giving them any meaningful extended chances to perform.

Willingham's drawing good, steady interest as a FA. There's no way he'd consider Milwaukee when any job he could have wouldn't last beyond 2 months if at all. Trade K-Rod, non-tender Loe & Parra, and suddenly there are many options. But I just can't see outside temp help for LF.

Uh, if Green's the 3rd corner IF on this team -- when you need 3 anyway -- then what logjam is getting traded away? It also seems many on here like to find ways to blow off anyone's hot streak. Given Green's pedigree and considering the broken hammate injury and the typical accompanying recovery time, one could also easily argue that he has nothing left to prove in AAA. Hypothetically, if that's the case, then you'd be just as guilty as many posters accuse Roenicke of being in terms of totally burying a young player.

If Gindl can come up and prove he can produce decently, I'd be all in favor of trading Hart for a solid non-MLB prospect. I like Corey, but all things being equal and their production amply justifying it, I'd much rather keep Greinke &/or Marcum around than Hart past next year. We've got more young players who can potentially be solid corner OF than who will be immediate & actual #1/#2 starters.

Even Don Money, who had plenty negative to say about Gamel (what a weird episode that was!), said Gamel did reasonably well at 1B.

If it's Ramirez at 3B and Gamel at 1B, I sure like the prospect of Green stepping into the lineup Ramirez gets a day off or if/when Ramirez misses time due to injury. . . . Even if Casey's gone, our corner IF depth is strong. Following up YoungGeezy's point, you've also gotta like big-time having K-Rod all year (not the cost, just the quality). Think how many games Loe blew all by himself because there was no one better on the team (and healthy, which Hawkins & Saito weren't then) at the time to pitch the 8th inning! I think it's way too early to get overly down about Fielder gone & the possible Braun suspension. The rest of the division has major flaws except St. Louis, which still lost one of baseball's best all-around 1B ever while *all* we lost was one of this generation's best-hitting 1B in Fielder. We still have the division's best rotation with a strong #6 starter already on hand in Estrada, plus other promising young starters (Fiers, Peralta, with Rogers & Rivas in the pipeline and considerations for roster spots last year, so at least there's some depth) pushing for roster spots, too -- which is light years better than last ST when they couldn't identify a #6 starter to take Greinke's spot even after the season had started (so we traded for *ugh* Sergio Mitre, who wasn't terrible but who also really wasn't much of a plus, either).

If Braun's appeal is denied (I'm desperately hoping it will upheld, but...), hopefully it will amount to just the equivalent of Hart's seemingly typical spring injuries, and the baseball fates will see to it that Hart stays healthy this year. Net effect: a typical loss, just not the typical guy. I Braun is suspended, I don't think it tanks the season at all. The Reds aren't that good, the Cardinals are good but lost Pujols and there are no franchise-saving players left out there (knock on wood that Fielder doesn't sign there), the Cubs are the Cubs, and the Pirates and especially the Astros have a serious uphill climb.

MLBTR has a note (link) that Texas may be interested in Casey McGehee so they could trade Moreland to TB for Wade Davis. If the Crew is going to sign Ramirez, this would make some sense they'd get something in exchange for Casey rather than non-tendering him, they wouldn't have 4 corner IF types, and the 2 young guys would likely still get good PT.

You can't do sign-and-trades in baseball. But this wouldn't be a sign-and-trade because he accepted arby, meaning he's considered signed and only the amount is to be determined.

...or Walden could pull a Turnbow and the Angels would be glad they had K-Rod.

Having watched Punto most of his career up here in MN, I've been thinking since the Gonzalez news broke that we need a veteran utility IF who's a capable starting SS & 2B, and Punto certainly fits that bill. Switch hitter. Bursts of good hitting. Good speed. Great hands & overall excellent on defense. Awesome team player. So I emailed TH before dinner and he said he hadn't heard Punto's name yet. I'd guess that they weren't gonna worry about a backup middle IF 'til they got the starting SS figured out. Now I hope they move in that direction big-time. He's a FA so wouldn't cost us anything in exchange, and he'd be very cheap.

The silver lining is that this season is tanked, and we're wasting the last years of Marcum/Greinke by throwing out unproven players to test them out? You didn't make me feel any better. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/frown.gifSo you can't have a playoff-contending season with a rookie or two in your starting lineup? I just can't buy that. Everyone 'round here was clamoring for Green to get brought up because he was completely tearing up AAA and he inevitably was tons better than McGehee. Now he's not? Almost ditto for the major-league readiness of the best minor league hitting prospect we've had for the last 3-4 years, Mat Gamel? For that matter, McGehee has zero chance of regaining his '09 & '10 form? No, none of those 3 guys are sure things. But I believe Melvin's logic is right on, that any moves they make have to make sense both for this year and 2-3 years down the road.

BTW, all the buzz has been about K-Rod. Do we know if it's official that Fielder's declined? His accepting would cause a much bigger Brewers payroll & roster mess than K-Rod.

While this isn't preferable, the bullpen's maybe 1 guy (Saito, hopefully) from being VERY settled and darn strong . . . at least as far as the "on paper" thing goes this time of year. That'll be a high salary and less flexibility, but now there are really only a couple IF holes to fill. While unfortunate in some respects, this isn't a totally bad thing. No, I'm not drinking anyone's Kool-Aid on this.

Arby contracts aren't guaranteed, and teams can release a player before the end of ST for only 1/6 the cost of the contract. $2.33M is 1/6 of $14M.

However unlikely, I've still got my fingers crossed he doesn't accept and we'll have both more available $$ and 2 more high '12 draft picks. That said, besides SS and a proven mid-order bat, we also need to fill bullpen holes, so if K-Rod accepts, he does fill a major need . . . AND probably (hopefully?) wouldn't preclude re-signing Saito for <$2M. So if it goes that route, we still only truly have to address the SS & backup IF situations -- a <$4-5M(?) solution.

If this is indeed the plan, then there's no reason the Brewers can't go $10M over their projected MLB payroll w/ K-Rod on it, then do the deed and be back at the exact same figure they were aiming for anyway. So it'd still be quite possible that other solid signings can still occur. Too bad this cost us our chance at re-signing Hawkins, though.

He made me nervous, too, but the fact is that he delivered successfully almost every single time for the Brewers. He's human and, like anyone, will blow a game or 2 along the way. But his performance last year as a Brewer I find very encouraging. I don't like at all the financial implications of him accepting (if that's indeed the case -- so long to any truly good shortstop for 2012!). But we've still got 2 proven closers, so we've still likely accomplished turning most games into 7-inning affairs with 2 shutdown to handle the 8th & 9th. That's still gotta take some pressure off the rest of the bullpen . . . and . . . **bright spot** . . . it keeps Kameron Loe out of most crucial 8th inning situations!

This. Yes. I know the front office thinks another proven bat for the middle of the order would be a big plus, but to spend any money on it at 3B when we have cheap & potentially quite good options already MLB-ready makes no sense when there are other much greater needs. If K-Rod accepts arby, then it probably forces the Brewers to go with the Green/McGehee/Gamel triumvirate at 1B & 3B anyway. But the seemingly flawed logic Stevo points out bothers me, too.

Is this a case of revisionist perspective? Have you forgotten how completely terribly Hardy was playing in '09 prior to that demotion? It was 2 months overdue and everyone around here knew it. He'd been very blah in '08 AND missed half of '10 with the Twins as well, with his '10 bat very much resembling his '08 & '09 bat. There was no good way to project, after 3 BAD years, that Hardy would rediscover his All-Star form like he did this in '11 with Baltimore. Heck, people are clamoring for McGehee to be run out of town after 1 lousy year. Hardy was far less productive -- and for much longer -- and, even when he was in his top form, his RISP often was surprisingly poor. Actually I believe you are the one with revisionist history. Hardy was an All-Star in 2007, had an equally solid 2008 and struggled in 2009. Your definition of a "very blah SS in 2008"is one that hit .283/.343/.821 and was above average defensively? Hardy was bad for 3/4 of a season on offense, but still played an above average SS and was run out of town. McGehee was awful for one full season both with the bat and the glove. AWFUL. And McGehee has always been awful with the glove. It's baffling to me that Melvin is more than willing to keep running McGehee out there in 2012 (and possibly Yuni) when Hardy was at least equally productive with the bat and far superior with the glove. As a fan, this is upsetting. Now I am not saying McGehee won't turn it around, but you are accusing RockCo of revisionist history when you are doing the exact same thing. I stand corrected on 2008. I was off by a year & thought I remembered another down year after his two stud years. However... - Hardy was lousy for 3/4 of a season and didn't play the last 1/4. That means he was lousy for HIS WHOLE season. He didn't have a good 1/4 of the season, and... - McGehee did. That means he was lousy for roughly the same 3/4 of a season Hardy was in '09, not the WHOLE season you're saying, and still actually was GOOD 1/4 of the season (and wasn't his April respectable?). RockCo, Hardy and Hall weren't made into scapegoats for 2009. They were lousy, just like much of the rest of the team (Bush, Parra, Suppan, Looper, Kendall, Cameron (50/50 on him), Hart (shaky + injured), Gerut, Villanueva, McClung, Mike Burns, etc.). Anyway, to get back to the thread topic... However unlikely, I sure would love to see Melvin defy the odds & pull a Jimmy Rollins rabbit out of the hat. I'm not a total Yuni hater, so I wouldn't be as out of sorts as most on here if he were back for '12, but I'd still be rather disappointed that that's the best we could do in any sort of reasonable financial way. I'm still hoping they'd offer a 4-year deal to Rollins w/ a high-AB-in-the-4th-year-based 5th year vesting option.