Raw Biz

Wow, you gotta be kidding me. What in the hell, Morgan can't buy an RBI this year.

Wow, Kottaras was really nonchalant running home there.

That's why I hate having someone like Kottaras in the cleanup spot. Hell, I'd rather have Weeks or Green in there. Just awful. He's a frickin backup catcher batting cleanup.

Wow, Hart is slow.

Nope, you could end up with the 11th pick. You should check the facts before making definitive statements. While the top 15 picks were protected in the past, its been discussed numerous times on this board that the new collective bargaining agreement only protects the first 10 picks. So yes they could end up with anything from 11 on. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/05/qualifying-offers-for-free-agents.html

Now the boos are gonna get a little bit louder.

Because Greinke wants to play for a winner. He's also a smart guy and understands the business. If they truly don't want to negotiate in-season, then trading Greinke is the best plan. I know chances are slim to resign him anyway which is why they should try and get something out of him. But they could easily tell him: "Look you know we're probably out of it (if in fact they are something like 10 games under or whatever in July). We want to keep you but we also realize there will be a lot of other teams bidding on you. In order to better our ballclub for the future, we are going to trade you. This in no way reflects any desire that we don't want to keep you. In fact, it's the opposite. We want to improve our ballclub and hopefully prove to you that we can build a winner and maybe we can work out a deal in the offseason. We thought we had a great ballclub this year but unfortunately, injuries and a few slumps derailed the season. With a healthy team next year, plus the addition of some good young pitching prospects coming up, as well as the impact bat we're getting for you, we should have a very good ballclub. If you resigned with us, that would put us over the top and we could make a very good run at the playoffs and possibly World Series." I think Greinke wouldn't hold it against the Brewers by trading him because he understands the situation. He might even appreciate being traded to a potential winner because he wants to win. Sure if he went to Texas and won a World Series, they would really want to resign him. But they also paid a ton for Darvish and Hamilton's a FA as well. The point is, aside from signing Greinke to an extension in-season, which is looking more and more doubtful as the days go by, trading him for an impact bat and then making him an offer in the offseason is the best plan.

This is brought up just about every month. No. There's a reason teams keep letting him go, he's just not very good anymore. Yeah he might be a little better offensively than Izturis but I doubt he can still play a passable SS.

As bad as Weeks has been, I still believe he'd be able to be traded. Teams know how much talent he has and what he's done in the past. And it's not like Adam Dunn last year because Rickie is still only 29. Obviously the return wouldn't be as big as it might've been had we traded him in say the offseason. However, teams would still be willing to give up something. That being said, I don't think it'd be a good idea to trade him now. His value is lower than it's probably ever been. I also think (or hope) that he will rebound eventually. It's nothing physical, it's just a matter of changing his approach. Hopefully it happens sooner rather than later though.

It would be amazing if they talked with Greinke about a possible resigning after they traded him. Tell him that they know he wants to be on a winner and obviously this year's team isn't going places. However, they have some good young pitching coming up soon. If they could land an impact bat or two by trading him, they could put themselves in really good position for the next few years. Tell him that they really want to keep him but they also want to improve the team and give Greinke the chance to win now. Trade Greinke to the Rangers/O's for Profar/Machado (not sure if either trade would happen but would be the players I'd be targeting) and then make a good run at him in the offseason. I think people put too much stock into "exclusive negotiating rights" while a player is on the team. Most guys don't want to negotiate contracts during the season anyway. I don't think trading Greinke away would diminish any possibility of resigning him IF he really wanted to stay here anyway. Sure other teams might offer more money but that would be the case if we traded him or not. If we traded him for some impact bats, I think that would only improve our chances of being able to resign him because A) we would be a better team by adding more talent and B) we'd save 6-7 million on his contract this year (not a big number but every little bit helps).

A little too Chad Kroeger-esque for me. http://www.duhaimelaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/chad_kroeger_001_030908.jpg

Its hard enough to score runs without the umpires help. That was not a strike.

Its about damn time.

Maybe Braun can call someone out after the game.

Weeks is really starting to piss me off. I was never a big fan of his but jeez, this is ridiculous.

Not slow. That was a cannon.

I'm not at all convinced that Loretta would be a utility guy on a team of all-time greats. But I think maybe he might be. That is why I was asking. Taking away the "every infield position" thing. Is there another SS/2B with that high of a OBP in a platoon split who would be as good or better defensively? (Asking honestly in that, I don't know) I think Tulo could handle 2B just fine off the top of my head. I just don't see why a guy off the bench would need to be a great defender. I'd rather have a 1.000 OPS guy with average defense than a .800 OPS guy with above average defense coming in late in the game.

It seems like you're the only one who thinks Loretta would make a team of all-time greats and your main points are because he can play every IF position and he has a high OBP against lefties. The defensive versatility isn't a big deal because like I said, most of the stars were great defensively. You wouldn't need a guy to cover every position as a back-up. As far as the OBP thing, I'd sacrifice some OBP for a little more power. Even if that wasn't the case, I'm sure there are quite a few others I'd rather have than Loretta. His OPS against lefties was only .802. Dustin Pedroia is at .844. Sure Pedroia has mainly only played 2B but I'm sure he could handle 3B (and he has a few games at SS). And I definitely wouldn't include Pedroia on a team of all-time greats. I just think your reasoning for including Loretta doesn't make sense. You don't need a guy to be able to play every IF position and an .802 OPS against lefties is nothing special all-time.

Well when your criteria is you have to be able to play every infield position other than catcher, then sure because there probably aren't very many guys who have done so consistently. I don't understand why you are using that as criteria though. Even teams now don't have guys that do that. They may have a guy who can play 2B/3B or 2B/SS but rarely do teams have guys that play every IF position. So to answer your question, Loretta would not make one of these teams because there are a lot of guys who only played one position who were a lot better than Loretta. I wouldn't think a team of all-time greats would need a utility backup because they are all-time greats (i.e. they are probably pretty good on defense too).

Amazing, love the reaction from Braun after he hit it.

Well, on a positive note, aside from one pitch (and the walks preceding), Wolf has looked pretty decent tonight. Hopefully he can keep it going all year.

I think we get the point about catchers starting a lot of games. Nobody wants Lucroy to start every game. We just want Roenicke to be smarter with how he gives him those days off (i.e. should be starting against the tough left-hander instead of Kottaras, regardless of whether or not Wolf is pitching).

It is personal. Izturis killed my dog.

The bashing isn't because he's getting a day off. It's because the day off is always when Wolf pitches, regardless of the opposing pitcher. Kottaras should not face lefties. He can get the day off tomorrow against the righty.

Jesus Weeks!!! Get your head in the game. He should be benched again after that crap.