JJHardy7

I to doubt its bad, but after seeing what Braun went through last year with that intercostal strain I would hate to have him have to deal with that again. As it really affected his swing. Oh I agree. He should be done for the WBC. This way he'll be able to rest until opening day and right now there's enough time to rest if it's not a major thing. From Braun's WBC he looks ready for opening day so I'm not too concerned. It may actually be a good thing to get him back to camp...as long as it's not serious. Hopefully Ryan was more on the safe side.

What's wrong with guys like Adam Dunn, Peavey, Putz, McCann, Rollins, Wright, etc? I agree they have some guys I don't care for, but they do have some guys that I like...as long as they don't play the Brewers. I do give the USA guys credit for playing. There is a risk for them. I know we talk about the risk for the teams, but no player for any team wants a major injury that hurts their team and their career. I actually think the WBC should start a week or two earlier. I know this could lead to more injuries, but my hope would be these players simply 'get in shape' earlier. I know that could be more of an issue for pitchers so it's not a perfect idea.

It doesn't 'sound' all that bad. It probably ends his WBC, but that's not a huge deal. Hopefully players are being more on the safe side with this stuff. I don't see a reason not to have him done with the WBC.

I don't like stretching Dillard out. He hit the 'prospect wall' as a starter in the past. He made huge strides as a RP. If Dillard is developing more pitches (as reported on JS), he could stick as a starter. I just find it strange at this point to do it. I guess he can always move back to RP. My guess is this speaks more of the lack of depth for the starters in the minors more so than a permanent switch for Tim.

Right now is the perfect time to start giving Rickie some training in CF. Cameron is on his way out and we'll need someone eventually anyway. Then again, he can barely play 2B the way it is, imagine if his infield practice were cut into by his outfield practice. We have a lot of options for next year, though. More talent is on the way. I don't think Rickie should take a single fly ball in CF. There's no way I trust him to be able to anticipate where the ball will ro or react to the ball. That and Lo Cain will make a pretty good case as to why he should be in CF next year IMO. I'm not a Rickie guy since I think he's been one of the most overrated prospects in recent memory. The guy put up some stats that made one (me included) believe that this guy would be a stud. He's done little in MLB to show that was the case. Now, yes we could've made a worse selection. There's nothing wrong with having a below average 2b that is cheap. I'd have him keep the spot warm until Green or Lawrie are ready to take it over. The problem I do see during that time is if Hardy and/or Prince are moved. We'll need to get more production from our weak positions in order to make up for the lost production. It's the age old saying around here...maybe Rickie will figure it out this year? I doubt it and to be honest I don't give that much of a chance of happening. It'd be wonderful for it to happen and if it does I'll mark it down as a nice surprise. If it doesn't happen, there's nothing wrong with keeping him at 2B until one of the younger guys is ready to take the spot over.

This is really cool! Put me in for the JJ bobble if you don't mind.

However, since those players are making roughly the same as Redd, Redd's contract becomes a major problem for what he brings to the table. I'll just agree to disagree on what Redd brings to the table. There are some rankings of players (links are in this thread) that would state Redd is a top 20 player. Again, he would've most likely made the all-star team if healthy this year. I just don't see how he's a bad player. He probably just happened to be exactly hitting the market when teams weren't as salary aware. I personally think max contracts are a thing of the past and for top 5 or top 10 players. Probably not for Redd, but you can't fault him or the Bucks for that. A guy like CV would've received a max or close to a max contract in that same market. There's no way he gets that now.

-No, I agree with trwi7 there, especially if we take salary into consideration. Redd's skill is very replaceable, and SG is arguably the easiest position to fill. The problem is you can't. The salary has strange cap rules compared to other sports. See Enders post about it. It's not that Redd is paid too much...it's that others are paid too little. -Redd could be the second best player on a contender if he was paired with a super-duper star like LBJ, Wade, Kobe, CP3, Duncan, or Howard. Otherwise, no, if he was paired with a guy even as good as Bosh, they wouldn't have a chance. There's only a few players you mention. Nobody is saying Redd is top 5. Nobody is saying Redd can/will lead a team to a championship. Top 20 isn't crazy. To win a championship, you either need one of those top 5 or 10 alpha dogs, or a team constructed like the Celtics or the Pistons from a few years ago. Redd would obviously have to be part of the latter, but with his contract, it makes it a near impossibility. I still fail to see why the contract matters. This isn't to pick on you, but if you can't get over the contract that's fine. Nobody is saying top 5 or 10 and you seem to agree with this. Redd is not a Top 50 player or whatever was mentioned here. The NBA in general screwed up in prior years with these max deals and contracts given out. Bobby Simmons got a HUGE deal from the Bucks...let's be more upset about that than Redd's deal. Redd earns his money. Is he a max player now? Probably, but given the cap restrictions almost every team has now he wouldn't be and there may not be a single player this off-season given a max contract. That's how much things have changed. I'd also ask this question from the apparent Redd 'hate' (well it's not hate, but some things said here about the guy are just flat out wrong). Are the Bucks going to be able to lure any player mentioned here with max contracts? My guess is no. The Bucks have to build from the draft and trades and then re-sign the guys that are good because they can pay more than anyone else given the rules in the NBA. So would you rather have another Simmons-type contract...or Redd? I'm not taking into account how good Redd is or isn't, but given the fact that Bucks have shown they'd have to overpay to get free agents signing Redd to that contract was a no brainer. The impact of signing Simmons means you trade him for another expensive contract (RJ). RJ is a pretty good player, but I agree it doesn't make sense to have Redd and RJ to big contracts. The state the Bucks are in they had to give Redd that contract. Redd hasn't sucked or had a career ending injury or anything. He's a darn good player and he's not top 10, but for the Bucks to have an all-star and Olympian that STAYs in Milwaukee is a pretty good thing. The sad thing is they let Ray Allen go. I'd much rather argue about keeping Allen and such, but where would the Bucks have been with Redd? The problem isn't Redd. The problem is the team is forced to draft and trade for their good players. Free agents won't come to Milwaukee at market value.

All Redd does is score. These guys have at least two things they do, whether that be scoring and rebounding, scoring and passing, scoring and defending, some do more than two, some only do two, but all of those players do at least one more thing than Redd. So it's opinion. That's fine. Agree to disagree.

I may have been a little harsh on Redd. The more I think about it the more I realize that when healthy the guy can have a big impact on games with his ability to shoot a high percentage. Not a game changer like the guys above, but for sure someone you have to focus your defense on. Yeah he gets paid too much but I have to admit that there was really no other choice. You could not have let the guy walk especially knowing that you could outbid everyone else. I also think generally speaking it's difficult for a player like Redd to 'carry a team'. Guys who play 'similar' positions to Redd (Kobe, Bron, Wade) and are clearly better are better because they can carry their teams often times. These guys are just flat out the three best players in the league IMO. Redd is the best shooter of the four (not trying to compare him in any ranking here at all), but he lacks the ability to score, etc. when his jump shot isn't going down. He's drastically improved getting to the bucket, but compared to the three guys I mentioned there aren't too many 2 guards (if you can even call those guys 2 guards based on matchups they can vary position) who can carry a team and they're able to do it because they offensively can do it all on the court. Now if Bogut develops like I hope he does or Redd is paired with legit all-star big guy somewhere that would be a team that Redd and the big guy could carry. Could you imagine pairing Redd with Dwight Howard? I know that won't happen since they paid Rashard Lewis a significant amount, but that duo would be very hard to beat offensively.

Manny was a draft and follow, drafted low to attempt to be signed before the next draft. He was given high round, don't recall if it was 1st round, money to sign so not really that much of a bonus. I guess I'm not as concerned about the bonus and that money. My point is you need to be as accurate as you can be on your high picks (I know it's very far from a science). The Brewers have missed on some players early on (especially pitchers). The fact is Manny was drafted in the 26th round and he looks to be a #3 or #2 starter in the bigs. That's a good deal IMO. I understand what you're saying about the compensation though. I'm just saying from a talent level in the draft the Brewers don't have a lot of room for error. The core of this team was drafted early and they've done quite well there. If only they could've snabbed another pitcher or two, this team would be set. I'm also not referring to a 4+ player. I'm still worried about the depth at the backend of the rotation and in the bullpen. If we made some better picks, we wouldn't be forced to signing veterans that are a little bit more costly than producing your own. If Escobar does provide the overall talent that Hardy has, it will have been an almost perfect scenario. I'll be sad to see JJ go, but the odds and the timing of everything really couldn't have been more perfect. It's just not something that probably should be expected. EDIT - I looked it up and Parra did get first round money (at least it was at that time). http://www.brewerfan.net/ViewArticle.do?articleId=194 He got a $1.55 million bonus after adding 10 mph to his fastball.

There's a long list of prospects who went bust, mostly on the pitching side... up until last year, Parra would've been included amongst them, as he just couldn't stay healthy. I guess I just consider a guy like Manny to be a little bonus. He was drafted in the 26th round if I remember. Having guys drafted early in the draft developing into starters to me is the most important thing. It won't always work obviously, but getting a guy like Manny in the 26th round is a big win. We just need the pitchers we draft earlier to develop. The main issue I see with JJ and Escobar isn't really related to those two players at all. The roster as it stands today needs JJ's offense. Now if Gamel, Salome, and Escobar himself (and maybe Cain, etc) develop and can hit at the big league level that may not be the case. If we can get an offense that 'doesn't need'/has other guys to step up, I'd be much easier trading JJ. I value Escobar's defense, but with the team as it is now I wouldn't like our playoff chances. I also don't see any realistic way in which both players remain in the organization once Escobar is 'ready' for the bigs.

Again, you are comparing top 5 to top 20. No one is saying Redd is as good as Lebron or Kobe or D Wade or Chris Paul. Agreed. I'd also argue that Wade is leading a bunch of nobodies. I would also think Michael Beasley, Jermaine O'Neal/Shawn Marion would object as well. Again, as Homer is saying nobody is comparing Redd to Wade or anything. Wade is better than Redd. It would've been nice to see what this team could've done if healthy this year. My bet is they would've been one of the stories in the league and maybe Redd would finally get some respect by some around here. Also, where are all the stats and the support that Redd isn't top 40 or whatever people are saying? I could make a short list and say Redd is top 10...but that would not be true. There are stats out there for NBA players that show Redd is top 20. Are these metrics all flawed and a simple list proves them wrong? Or just stating an opinion? I know the NBA isn't big here, but that'd be like posting Ryan Braun would be the best 3B in baseball if he moved back. There would be several posts with support about why that is wrong and that support would include statistics. Not just opinions that Redd stinks, etc., etc. I'm just saying he's not a scrub. He's been an all-star and an Olympian...I don't want to here, but this or that. His stats and rankings among others back that up. Is he a perfect player? Of course not, but that doesn't make him an average player. We'll see if Redd comes back and is healthy what he's traded for and my guess it's going to surprise some people here.

Elton Brand, McGrady, Baron Davis, David West, Devin Harris, Nate Robinson, Kevin Durant, LaMarcus Aldrige, Camby, Mo Williams, Tony Parker, Ginobili, Bargnani, Richard hamilton, Billups, Turkeglu, Westbrook. I could even add more. I would continue to question some of the names on this list if you continue to do even more. I'll agree to disagree. I question any list that puts some of these guys ahead of Redd. He is under appreciated in Milwaukee. I agree with homer. His PER compared to some of the guys on this list and others is clearly much better.

Kobe, Lebron, Dwight Howard, Chris Paul, Dwayne Wade, Yao Ming, Steve Nash, Amare Stoudamire, Tim Duncan, Boozer, Deron Williams, KG, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Granger, Gasol, Roy, Bosh, Nowitzki, Carmelo Anthony are all better, and I could keep going for a while. I think top 40 might even be pushing it. If healthy, Redd makes the all-star team this year. Correct?

when he's probably not even a top 20 wing player anymore. We'll just have to agree to disagree. I can't even come anywhere near saying this. I believe he's a top 20 player in the league when healthy and it's time to stop bringing up his contract and compare it to RJ's. It's the way the team is built...not that Redd is a bad player. Many teams are strapped against the cap and it's because of signing terrible players to guaranteed money...ie Gadz. Not because they kept an all-star/Olympian like Redd. Other teams were also interested in him at the max. There are a lot worse contracts out there than Redd's.

He is in the mold of Reggie Miller. A spot up shooter who is a good player but probably not going to be the driving force of a championship team. I think Redd really has developed his game going towards the basket. He's still a shooter, but a guy like Reggie Miller didn't have any type of game going to the basket. He could just make shots from everywhere http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif This is Redd's 9th year in the league and he has finished in the top 10 in points 2 times. He sat on the bench for a bit his first few years. He wasn't a starter until year 4 so I think it's more fair to say in seven years he's been top 10 twice. I'd have to look up the leaders from '06 - '07, but I believe Redd at 26.7 ppg would've been top 10 if he had played in more games. So in other words, it's almost every other year he'll put up top 10 scoring. I'm not saying this is a way to win games, but there are plenty of teams out there that would want Redd. I think he's going to bring in a haul to the right team as his contract gets closer to expiring. He'll be able to provide cap relief for a team and a nice scorer that a team may need to make a push at the playoffs/championship. In other words, much better than say a Raef LaFrentz contract. I really do not think the Fielder analogy is correct because he can hit for power and average. Redd is more like Ryan Howard in that they do one thing very well. I'm not saying the comparison is fair, but you could say Fielder stinks at defense and lacks speed so he's more 'one-dimensional'. I know that's not the case, but to me that's why Redd isn't situational and the same for Prince. They do things very well and do have other areas that lack a bit. I just think they do their things well enough to offset for certain skills they may be lacking.

I know Sheet's wasn't a rental, but every time someone suggests a rental deal the draft picks are always part of the "upside" when there's a significant amount of risk to receive any compensation much less a 1st and a supplemental. I agree with what you're saying. I just think Sheets' situation was rare. I think when discussing a trade for a Type A free agent we just have to be aware that it could very easily be a 2nd/3rd and a supplemental. It was also somewhat rare that the Yankees were the only team throwing around $$$. I know the Yankees go out and spend every off-season, but I don't think any team has really done what they did this off-season in comparison to what other teams did. In the future, I'll just hope for picks and if it's a first or second great...but a first is going to be more rare across the board.

Dallas will get alot more than a specialist (Redd) and some expensive spare parts. I still am amazed how little value some Bucks fans have for Redd. I think this is the first time I've heard him called a 'specialist'. When Redd is healthy, he's a top 10 scorer in this league. Sure he lacks some parts of his game, but I'm sure there are teams out there that would love to have him and there are plenty of other NBA 'stars' who aren't exatly known for their amazing defense. Is he a max player? Maybe not, but calling him a specialist is like calling Prince Fielder a specialist.

My feeling is that we wouldn't get much in trade for Hardy unless we trade him by the trading deadline this year. What is reasonable to expect for one year of a guy? I would think nothing more than a Bush level pitcher if he is traded after the season. I disagree. You could move him for a lot more than that. The problem is balancing the current team and the future. If the Brewers traded him at the deadline in Hardy's last arby year, they'd still get more than what you have here. JJ is a top 5 SS and if a playoff type team needed a guy for the stretch you could have a nice haul.

Those that point out the poor timing are correct but I doubt the ratings would be high enough at any other time of year to justify doing it. At this time of year we're craving baseball and in my opinion this isn't a bad entertainment option. True. I'd imagine (at least in the states) they do not want to compete against the NFL or NCAA football if they did this after their season. It would also be interesting to see how many players would play after the season. I would think it's easier to get more guys since they have to be there anyways. I like the WBC. I think if the Olympics kept baseball as a sport I wouldn't like it as much, but since that's gone this is really the only international tournament for baseball.

Nelson is just starting to play the OF again, can we trust him enough to be a 4th/5th outfielder? Over his career though, he's played almost as many games in the OF as 1B. http://minors.baseball-reference.com/players.cgi?pid=10381

This would allow Gamel to move to first or the outfield where he belongs. Why does he 'belong' there? I love JJ. He's been my favorite player for a long, long time. I hate to say it, but the best situation for this team in the long-term is for Escobar and Gamel to just tear the cover off the ball and play SS and 3B. Will that happen? Not sure, but this constant talk of Gamel isn't a 3B just doesn't make sense to me. Let's worry about it when we have to. Gamel can stick at 3B. It's all a matter of patience. If you need him this year, then he may have to move positions. Gamel has had his share of errors and from what I've seen it's because he does 1) have range and gets to some balls that some can't and 2) they've been throwing issues. I wanted Braun to stick at 3B, but I think Gamel is better than Braun at 3B today. Now if you have Gamel, Escobar, and Hardy fighting for two spots, one has to be moved. Like I said in my other post I worry about losing JJ's offense. The more time that goes by without an extension leads me to believe he won't be in Milwaukee long-term. If that's the case, we have to hope some of our prospects can fill that void over the next few years. Gamel could be a big part of that.

Personally, I dont see why Hardy is so opposed to moving to third base. Whats really the difference to him if we sign him to a 4 year, $30 million deal to play short or sign him to a 4 year, $30 million deal to play third? I don't buy this "his value is not as good as a third basemen" argument. His value to who? I think if they paid JJ like he's a top 5 SS and then moved him to 3B my guess is he'd be fine with that. If they pay him like an average 3B, there's no way he should sign an extension. I do think some people are failing to realize JJ's talent in Milwaukee. How many players do the Brewers currently have that are top 5 at their position? I love Escobar and I've seen him play. I just think the idea of trading JJ and Escobar comes in and the world is fine is wrong. The team can't lose one of their power hitters and lack offensive talent (my guess is Escobar will be fine in the long-run, but he still may lack power the next year or two) at 3b (if Gamel doesn't stick), SS, CF (Cam gone after next year), and C (Salome could produce, but there are still questions about his defense) and expect to compete. Getting pitching for Hardy would be great, but Gamel, Salome, and Escobar have to come up and two of them need to hit as soon as they get here. I worry this offense will be built too much on Braun and Fielder with little else around them.

I've only played a few games in the Brewers franchise mode (maybe 6 or so) and every game there's been at least a 10 mph (usually 17 - 19) in the game. The wind is always blowing in and as a result most of the nice swings I have stay in the park. Is this just because it's 'spring' or is anyone else noticing this who has played it more?