MNBrew

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.

Melvin said in his "post-mortem" press conference that they would have interest in bringing back one or both of Saito & Hawkins. I'd be surprised if the Brewers have ruled Hawkins out in their own minds b/c Saito could go elsewhere and Hawkins was generally quite solid last year, plus he's younger than Saito by a few years (then again, so is almost all the rest of MLB).

I'd still far prefer Rollins and I wonder. esp. if Philly's offering only 3 years and lower dollars, if a 4-year deal with a performance-based vesting option for yr. 5 would do it.

Heck, I'd settle for living in 2009 or 2010. These heading-into-2012 prices are stupid beyond belief. That said, there's still only so much money to go around and some of these guys aren't going to get the payday they're convinced (or their agents are convinced) is coming their way. Invoking that logic, and remembering that Saito was a mid-January signing, it's highly possible at least one key contributor to our 2012 bullpen is still 6-8 weeks from actually becoming a Brewer.

Since this thread got its "bump" today, I went back a page to get caught up. Invader, where did you get the idea he could be non-tendered in spring training? The arby-offering deadline is next week. I'm not a Casey apologist but I'm also convinced he pressed a ton last year and only compounded the issues exponentially that were NEVER right in ST to begin with. And I also believe several teams would line up to take him if the Brewers would put him on the market. I'm not convinced he'd bring a great return. But he's exactly the type of guy tons of teams would want.

Suggesting Yuni's only going to get between $1-2M is projecting way too much of your own valuation of Yuni into the situation and ignoring both his actual performance (in other words, including his overall offensive production, not just all the times when he'd pop out on the first pitch) and the stupid money that always gets doled out to FAs, of which Yuni is one.

It's this simple: Reyes at SS + Ramirez at 3B in '12 >>>>>> Ramirez at SS + anyone else the Marlins used at 3B in '11 You're assuming based on metrics that Ramirez's defense is poor & that's why they're moving him. They weren't moving him unless they could sign Reyes, which all along has clearly been about hugely raising the overall talent level and making a huge splash, not about fixing any alleged defensive issues. Using your logic, the Yankees' motivation to get A-Rod from Texas and move him to 3B was due to their recognizing his defensive shortcomings rather than putting together one of the best L sides of the IF that money could ever buy.

That's a scary contract. Rollins is less glitzy but still very reliable and definitely more affordable (relatively speaking). C'mon, Dougie!

huh?Assuming you mean Aramis, not Hanley, right?

If this is the case then I want Rollins at SS and am willing to roll the dice with Gamel and Green at the corners. But i still think Mark A. and DM have bigger plans in store.Bryce, your plan is what I've been saying all along. I'd be all over Rollins at SS & Green/McGehee/Gamel manning the 2 corner IF spots. If they're going to spend anything on starting position players on the FA market, this seems by far the most efficient & effective way of doing so. When we already have good assets for 1B & 3B (though Green & Gamel basically are unproven, and yes, I'm still considering McGehee a potentially good asset), I just don't see even the most remote why you'd spend more money on 3B for what could only be a minimal upgrade UNLESS there are other & much better dominoes waiting to fall. *I also feel it's quite worth bumping the dollars a bit if necessary and going 2 yrs. w/ a potential 3rd-yr. option to re-sign Hairston to be the veteran presence & hugely valuable super-utility guy. Then we've got good & proven insurance at 3B & several other positions, too.

Between a potential McGehee rebound, the promise of Taylor Green, the hope of resigning Jerry Hairston, and the existence across the diamond of former 3B prospect Mat Gamel, I REALLY don't think we need to be investing energy or resources into any FA 3Bs.

I agree in part. My 2¢ (not that anyone cares, more just because I want to write it and I'm procrastinating real work): The Padres' changes seemed unnecessary, in part because their uniforms haven't stayed the same for consecutive years for a while now, which is really dumb. Sports Illustrated or The Sporting News did a mid/late '90s rating of all the teams' uniforms and put the Brewers in the "teenage mall rats" category because of their seemingly frequent & not-always-logical-or-needed changes (3 different logo & design changes in the '90s). But the Padres' annual uniform tweaking makes them winners in the mall rat category, hands down! My gut says I like where the Padres were at a couple years ago, and these changes feel like they're heading in the wrong direction. Their mostly blue/white/bluish-gray road unis are especially uninspiring. The Orioles' uniform/logo stuff is nothing special but still fine EXCEPT for the white-panel caps I can't stand. And the Marlins just plain missed the boat and will need a Tampa-esque (rainbow-to-green OR green-to-current) "up-classing" after they've sold enough of this merchandise. I have to believe they still could've captured the Art Deco or South Beach flavor without going anywhere near the ridiculous direction they did. No wonder all the big-time free agents haven't signed those big-buck offers yet! Can you imagine Pujols/Fielder/Reyes/Wilson/etc. saying, "you know, that's a dang good offer, but I just can't bring my talents to South Beach because it'd mean wearing those nasty uniforms"??? Indians & Royals & Mets -- they're nothing fancy but generally fine and not ostentatious, which helps. The Blue Jays nailed this one. Way to go, eh!

Ditto. I'd much prefer Hairston or most any other proven & competent SS over a Kelly Johnson type. Yes, I'd even put Yuni B. in that group (the former, not the latter).

Indians & Royals have some new, more subtle tweaks. Cleveland (link): no more "headspoon" on either home whites or alternate blues, and no more jersey-colored first-layer outline to the name "Indians" Kansas City (link): white lettering & blue numbers (instead of the reverse) on powder-blue alts, & slightly modified "Kansas City" lettering on road grays Also, huge hallelujahs for the Mets dumping their black jerseys, caps, & drop-shadows: (article plus video) watch the video; unis unveiled at 1:50 point

There's nothing in the logic of signing Kelly Johnson to play SS that makes it any better of an idea to me than just re-signing Betancourt. I'm not convinced re-signing Betancourt would be a great decision. But I do think this would be a worse one.

Thanks tons, Jim, and all the best!

And I'd have NO issue at all w/ a performance-based vesting option for the 5th year (barring a Sheets-like-timed injury late in the 4th year that made the 5th year impossible). That'd mean after 4 years he's still be producing at a level you'd gladly want around the 5th year.

Metrics vs. eyeballs. Here we go again. I've watched Cuddyer his entire career and can safely say he's a solid RF defensively. Listening to how folks rag on Braun's defense on this site all the time even though in many folks' estimations he's just fine, folks up here in the Twin Cities don't have similar complaints about Cuddyer's D. I'm not saying Cuddyer's the right guy for the Brewers. I like him a lot but I don't see an obvious fit without a series of other moves that still may not amount to a net gain in talent or talent/payroll. I just think it's way too easy to look at metrics that are far from fully reliable and using that as an ultimate judgement.

...and about Rollins pretty much all along, too. I like that we knew the Brewers were investigating all the noteworthy FA SS's but that their workings beyond those initial discussions have been kept very close to the vest. Why? It's mainly because it was a stretch like this last year during which the Marcum trade came out of nowhere. I'm guessing Melvin's still trying hard to get his Plan A to work out, whatever that may be. The lack of media leakage doesn't usually give any true indication of what the Brewers are up to, which I think is good b/c it doesn't tip Melvin's hand. While I wouldn't be surprised if Betancourt still ended up in MIL again in '12, I'm inclined to believe that he's Melvin's fallback plan and would only be back here if Melvin's Plan A (and maybe Plan B) didn't work out.

Call me myopic, but I'd rather have Rollins + Hairston than Furcal + Hairston. Furcal really wasn't good this year when he was healthy with the highly notable exception of pretty much every game against MIL after his trade to St. Louis.

Looking at the remaining FA options at SS, I'm encouraged that both Reyes & Rollins are still out there. Certain bullpen holes are still there, but I'm really thinking it's worth the investment to get one of those two top SS's. Their "pedigree" in terms of track record for solid all-around production wastes anything the Brewers have in the system at SS above rookie ball. Unless Melvin has a rabbit to pull out of a hat, I believe either Reyes or Rollins would be the best options, hands down. Between the two, they'd probably have a better shot at Rollins, and the $8.5M/yr is much more affordable than what Reyes & his agent envision his worth to be. Tying back into the thread subject (kinda) . . . For those of you readily willing to have paid Barmes $5M/yr., wouldn't you figure the additional $3.5M/yr. to upgrade to Rollins would be more than worth it . . . and all the more so since his veteran experience & a (hopeful) Hairston re-signing would likely eliminate the need for a Kotsay-type acquisition later in the winter?

No it's not. The market develops when the market develops. The market for non-star middle IFs seems to be right now.

As much as I'm not overly thrilled with Barmes compared to the Cadillac options out there, it does boost my opinion of him if Melvin & Co. feel he's the best choice for the Brewers to go after. Can you help w/ any of the Twitter links you're seeing this on?

At least one team got it right. Way to go, Toronto, updating the past & doing it in nothing short of a first-class & modern way. Click the video link in the main photo of this article for plenty of good looks at the logo & uniforms. I'm not one to buy anything MLB but Brewers, but I'd give serious thought to an official new Blue Jays cap. What a great upgrade, especially compared to the disturbing recent new-uniform updates (Orioles) and unveilings (Marlins -- official cap doubles as gear for hunting or construction, neither of which make any sense in the long run).

Maybe it's especially because of their name, but when I see a blue jay, I think of the dark-ish blue, not the gray & black also in its coloring. The current (soon to be former) Jays uniforms have so little blue that they never made great sense. The original or retro version of the Jays' logo could be improved upon or revisited in modern yet classic stylings for a very cool look. But the hints suggest it'll be more full-scale retro. Yawn. Now, if the Jays bring their wretched white-panel caps back, too, I think I'll be turned off all over again. Another look I don't care for may be coming back in another wave: On Paul Lukas' UniWatch blog I read recently a snippet that the Royals may be bringing back their powder blue pants. I actually liked the Padres' cream/beige road uniforms of a couple years ago and I didn't realize until late this season that their 2011 road duds had gone gray.