colbyjack

I admit that I'm a casual fan of the Bucks, although I do follow any game that is on TV and try to make it to one game a year. It is so exciting to have a potential superstar player like Jennings on the team, and seems to make up for years of bad picks that just didn't go the Bucks' way. I agree with homer that the attendance will come, as I'm sure I'm not the only one that intends to get to the Bradley Center to see Jennings play live. Winning is always the thing that cures attendance woes, and if the Bucks continue to win, the fans will respond in kind. Since I don't follow basketball as closely as I do baseball and football, I'm curious as to what Jennings' reputation is defensively? I know the team overall is playing good defense this year, and Jennings seems to be a high energy player on both sides of the ball. The Bucks should heavily market home games vs. teams with superstar point guards (such as Chicago later this month and whenever teams like New Orleans and Utah come to town), to market the marquee point guard matchups with Jennings. That is, if they aren't already.

No one is suggesting that Iribarren has any pop or that he should serve as Gomez' backup. He could have value as a 25th man to the roster given his versatility and speed. You are changing your tune to support what little argument you have against the guy.

See, that's where I disagree. If they don't have astrength in scouting pitching, then they need to pull a few scouts away from other teams. Wouldn't it be worth it for the Brewers to throw an extra $100,000 at a scout from...say the Dodgers that has a solid track record scouting pitchers? I just don't like the idea of settling for what the scouting dept does well. It's expecially important for a small market team to put resources (money) into scouting, because they just have to develop their own pitching staff. Otherwise you end up with a staff of overpaid vets, guys with potential, and never-will-bes. You seem to be arguing a different point than greeg, as I'm not suggesting that the Brewers should just ignore their problems procuring pitching talent and be happy that they can develop bats. I am arguing against drafting a boat-load of pitchers, year after year, and hoping that simply by the odds more of them stick while potentially missing out on impact bats. Are you suggesting that the Brewers don't put a lot of money into scouting and player development? If so, I think you need to drop by the draft forum. That's the primary reason they are a significantly different (and better) ballclub than they were 3-5 years ago. I think a simple change of leadership could mean something completely different, as Bruce Seid after one year has already shown that he will take a college pitcher early. Sure, Arnett and Heckathorn still have question marks, and upside, but at least have more seasoning than the likes of Jones/Rogers/Jeffress. I haven't made it a secret that I wished Zduriencik approached drafting pitchers much like he did with hitters. When he drafted hitters, he made sure they could hit first. When he drafted pitchers, he made sure they could throw hard first. In my own work, I place a lot more value on the pitchers that show they can command the strike zone, and would rather see a pitcher work in the 89-92 range with movement and command than someone throw 93-96 with control issues and limited overall pitching aptitude. It's not like the polished/finesse angle is infallible, otherwise Jeremy Sowers would have made me look better http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif.

I too like Iribarren, and I don't know why he hasn't gotten more of a chance from the Brewers when rosters expand. He's on the 40-man roster, so why didn't he get a call-up in September? Did that have anything to do with his winter league commitments? And just because he doesn't play SS doesn't mean he wouldn't be a valuable utility player. He's a left-handed hitter with a career .314/.371/.418 mark in the minor leagues. With as many RH hitters as the Brewers have in their projected everyday lineup, I have no problem loading up the bench with LH hitters even if Counsell is still on the team (especially given how well Hernan hits RHPs). Iribarren also has good speed, even if he hasn't been very efficient on the basepaths, and would add value as a pinch runner. I thought he had a good chance to make the Brewers roster this past year after his success last winter. However, I don't think the fact that he's Venezuelan will have much to do with the Brewers decision.

It may be a good career move for him. It's a move that worked for both Javon Walker and Kelley Washington (obviously Walker more so than Washington), who began their professional sports careers as baseball players, and were relatively old rookies (both were 24 their first years with the Packers and Bengals respectively) coming out of college as wide receivers. If the Brewers didn't know about this previously, they do now http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif.

11/11 Box Score 11/11 Gameday Today's game in progress. Taylor Green as the DH, 0-2 so far as the AFL leading Javelinas (16-8) are up 3-1 after 4 innings.

Nice to see Randy Wolf's named mentioned, although MLB Trade Rumors points out that Arn Tellum also represents Joel Pineiro, Rich Harden and Vicente Padilla (since TH didn't specifically mention that Melvin met with Tellum to talk about Wolf). I still don't see Lackey fitting with the Brewers plans, as they would have to out-bid everyone else to make that happen, and that's rarely a good thing.

What I am saying is that we should focus even more on drafting pitchers (like we have the past 2 years) with our high picks and with many of our other picks as well. Where in the past we have drafted: Weeks, Fielder, Braun, LaPorta, Hardy, Lawrie, among others I would like to see pitchers drafted. The hitters are needed and the hitters are nice; but they are not the valuable commodity that good, young, cheap pitchers are. Hitters still have plenty of value. LaPorta for the most part fetched the Brewers CC Sabathia. As you noted, the team loaded up on pitchers after Lawrie last year, and with the exception of Weeks in 2003 (when the team took bats with their top five picks before taking arms with their next five), the team still used several of their other early picks on pitchers. I know it's easy to forget the promising arms from those years, but at one point in time we were a lot more excited about the likes of Tom Wilhelmsen, Will Inman, Jon Steitz, Kevin Roberts, Steve Hammond, Eric Thomas and Judd Richardson. At least pitchers like Inman, Roberts, Hammond and Steve Garrison were traded for other pieces to the puzzle. And people may still choose to debate the arms packaged to acquire Linebrink and how much value they may have to the team at this point in time vs. the supplemental picks acquired by Linebrink's departure via free agency. What hurts the most is that premium, first-round picks Mike Jones ('01), Mark Rogers ('04) and Jeremy Jeffress ('06) so far haven't been fruitful. Ahead of them were Nick Neugebauer and JM Gold. And while the team did take three promising arms (Arnett, Heckathorn and Hall) among their picks in the top five rounds (and who knows how they will be viewed 3-5 years from now), they still loaded up on bats (Davis, Walla, Garfield, Prince and Richardson). You have to balance the two to make sure your system is equally balanced, and avoid having the reverse problem five years from now when we're wondering why Bruce Seid didn't draft more bats. I honestly don't think the batter vs. pitcher selections have been the problem, unless you're talking about evaluating the picks more on an individual player-by-player basis (like wondering why the Brewers drafted Josh Murray in the 2nd round in 2002). If all things are equal I still would take the bat over the arm given the success rates of first round hitters succeeding vs. that of first round pitchers. The individual picks and how they have panned out has been the biggest problem, even if the Brewers success rate developing arms is about average (thank you Yovani Gallardo!). Plus, if the Brewers are good at recognizing, drafting and developing hitters, they shouldn't steer away something they're good at just to stockpile arms hoping that a few more of them will stick. The 2008 draft was interesting to watch, but we already are left wondering the value of pitchers such as Evan Frederickson, Seth Lintz, Cody Adams and Josh Romanski. It comes down to who you take, not how you take them.

Overall I agreed with some of the trade analysis over at BrewCrewBall that didn't challenge the talent that was received in return for Hardy, but the timing. Edwin Jackson would be the perfect trade target for Hardy, even if more would have to be included to make it happen. I don't mean to get down on Melvin (enough are taking care of that), since I don't believe he just rushed into the trade without knowing what else he could get in return, but this is the best case of a woulda/coulda/shoulda scenario. However, why would the Tigers trade Jackson? He had by far the best season of his career and he's still plenty young. However, he did pitch more like the pitcher he was prior to the 2009 season after the all-star break, and seemed to get worse the closer the Tigers got to the playoffs (of which of course they just missed). The Tigers may be trying to take advantage of his elevated value.

The thing is, the Phillies are trying to move some money around to add Halladay...if I'm Toronto...don't you want Hamels in that deal? Good call splitter, although you have to wonder if the Blue Jays want almost all pre-arby talent in return for Halladay. Hamels does cost over $16M over the next two years, which is a good deal, especially if Hamels rebounds next year (and he still had a solid year this past season), but again, the Blue Jays may not want to have almost any financial commitment for the talent they receive in return. I would love to see the Brewers get in on this. I remember that they were quite interested in him for the 2002 draft, and Bruce Seid mentioned in an interview with me that Hamels was the best player he saw play as an amateur. The two teams seem to match up fairly well, as the Phillies have a need for a third baseman and some bullpen help. Casey McGehee and Carlos Villanueva might be a good starting point with a prospect thrown in the mix (McGehee and Braddock might get it done by themselves, and Braddock has some ties to Philly), giving them not only flexibility to go and get Halladay, but to also save money in their 3B quest to address their need for a closer.

I disagree that the window has closed. There is still enough talent on the team, and the starting pitching really has nowhere to go but up given how pathetic it was last year. There are enough pieces on the team that we can look to in having bounce-back, or breakout years in 2010, and the team was still third in the NL in runs scored. Losing Cameron may hurt that, but Corey Hart could make up for that if he gets back on track, and Mat Gamel may flourish if given more regular playing time. Plus, when you figure in how many teams will be looking to cut payroll, and how the Cardinals may be looking at losing three integral parts of their team in Holliday, DeRosa and Piniero, all is not loss. The Brewers payroll may not be where it needs to be to go out and buy some sexy names via free agency, but that doesn't mean they should just strip down and start over. That said, I can understand where and why the frustration comes in. If the team struggles during the first half of the season, I may start to agree with the idea that the team needs to strip down and start over, which would start with a trade of Prince Fielder.

I still don't know why the Brewers wouldn't offer Cameron arbitration. He's going to receive plenty of attention this offseason, and he has to know that with Gomez' addition that he doesn't have the same spot in CF that he has the past two years. I know their are financial concerns offering him arbitration, but even the Padres are rumored to be interested in Cameron, as he's one of the few, true CFs on the free agent market at a position in need for a lot of teams.

The support for both players from a variety of people just shows that there is enough promise with both Lucroy and Salome to not give up on either one yet. Having two good catchers in the upper levels of the system is pretty exciting, and catchers are almost as valuable as pitching is. While Melvin has been citing examples of some catchers that made the AA to MLB jump, I still think it would be best to have them both play at AAA next year, splitting ABs between C, 1B and the DH spot (when available) to make sure they're both getting enough ABs and reps behind the dish while also making sure they are both as MLB ready as possible when they do receive the call. I could see one of them being packaged in a deal this offseason, but Melvin shouldn't be "motivated" to deal either one.

The Brewers may very well gain a couple of sandwich picks for Cameron and Lopez, which makes losing their second round pick easier to swallow. I think Randy Wolf may be the best option on the free agent market that the Brewers could sign. He's a better option than Doug Davis, and a much better option than Washburn. As Al noted, Wolf has been very good when healthy, he should be a realistic player to target financially, and for the most part you know what you're going to get with him.

I'll second Winn. He along with Javier Vazquez have been on my short list of players I'd love to see the Brewers acquire, although his salary always seemed to be rather high given his lack of power for a corner outfielder. He can play CF, but is an absolute stud in RF defensively, and is actually a switch hitter. I think he'll probably get paid to start somewhere, and I wouldn't mind if that were in Milwaukee. His age is a little concerning, but his defense could help off-set his lack of power, and he along with Gomez would blanket more than two-thirds of the outfield. X, you're making a great case for Blanco. I've soured on Olivo given his terrible defense, and Yorvit Torrealba seems to have a similar profile. Blanco would be a nice one or two-year stop-gap, and as noted, a good mentor for Lucroy and/or Salome.

The Javelinas are playing a night game this evening, with Cain batting leadoff, Lucroy in the 2-hole and Green hitting 5th as the DH. Mark Rogers has even pitched two scoreless innings! Maybe getting the night off Saturday helped...http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif. 11/9 Box Score 11/9 Gameday Rogers sat at 93 with his fastball, getting up to 95 and not dropping below 92. Given how quickly he got through his two innings of work, it seemed as though his stuff was working for him a lot better tonight than it has been.

I don't think you have to worry about offering Cameron arbitration and having him accept. I'm sure he is going to get plenty of interest this offseason.

That would be my guess Joe. Maybe we'll get lucky and have a few of these players sign contracts before the Brewers have to make that decision.

The Elias rankings are out: http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2009/11/09/free-agent-compensation-rankings-released/ Cameron, Kendall, Looper, Lopez and Weathers all type B free agents.

Yeah, Heether can play SS, but he shouldn't for more than an emergency situation. I'm hopeful Counsell will be retained with the two providing the IF depth on next year's roster.

Philadelphia's situation could increase McGehee's value in trade. The Phillies recently declined Pedro Feliz' option for next year, right around $5M, and has Phillies fans and writers which free agent among Joe Crede, Mark DeRosa and Adrian Beltre could be brought in to replace Feliz. I think it's obvious the Phillies needed to pare some payroll, and it would seem unlikely they would get involved with a free agent to fill their need at the hot corner. Trading for McGehee would make a lot of sense for them. J.A. Happ has been mentioned as a possible return, although the Brewers would need to include more to make that happen. Regardless of who comes in return, there are quite a few teams out there looking for a third baseman, and the Brewers seem to have some depth at the position if they're confident Gamel can stick there long-term.

I don't think such moves would be that crippling, and that's why I added the depth of players of which the team could trade from. If one of Cain, Schafer and Gindl are traded, there are still two others still in the system. Same with Scarpetta, Peralta and Rivas. Parra obviously would be the biggest potential loss, if he's able to live up to his potential with the Blue Jays, and Gamel of course could potentially hurt if the Brewers struggle to find adequate long-term answers in RF and/or 3B. Even then we have the remaining OFs as listed, as well as Brett Lawrie. Moving any pitcher would be tough to swallow, and hopefully the Brewers could make a serious run at signing Halladay to a 4-5 year extension. I normally wouldn't be open to that, but at 32 years old he has been amazingly consistent and has shown no signs of slowing down. And since the team has had such a difficult time making the playoffs, I would mind seeing them load up and go for it. Some of the most successful teams in baseball, such as the Phillies in recent years, haven't been shy about thinning out their systems in an attempt to go for it all.

Adam Heether was added to the Brewers' 40-man roster

I think I just heard X ellence scream in excitement somewhere http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif. Good move, and it's about time. I know I'm not the only one that was surprised that he didn't get a chance to show what he could do in September, even if there was more of a roster crunch. His addition may allow the team to deal Casey McGehee more comfortably while his value is high.

All signs seem to point to Halladay being with another team to open the 2010 season. Several comments from their new GM, as noted above, point to him being dealt by the end of the Winter Meetings. That quote comes from from a link (via MLB Trade Rumors) to a story written by Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star that breaks down the likely asking price and the teams most likely to be a good fit. The Brewers weren't included among those teams, but you still have to think a package that includes Parra and Gamel could be a good starting point to make Halladay's acquisition possible. Here is Griffin's take on the asking price: The Brewers used to fill the need for a SS, but the rest they would be able to offer. Parra, Gamel, Scarpetta/Peralta/Rivas and Cain/Schafer/Gindl could get it done. Such a deal would give the Blue Jays significant payroll flexibility to go out and buy (Orlando Cabrera?) or keep (Scutaro) the shortstop they're looking for. The financial aspect of it is another story, and just because he is a possible one-year rental doesn't lessen what they can expect to receive in return. Sabathia was a 3-4 month rental and still came with a heavy price tag. I would think that several of the teams mentioned (Astros, Tigers, White Sox) don't have the talent necessary to acquire him via trade. The Red Sox are expected to be involved, but would the Blue Jays really move him within the division? I'm not overly excited about the possibility of losing so much talent (again) in one trade, but if the playoffs are the goal for the 2010 Brewers, it would be hard to argue against such an acquisition.