JJHardy7

I showed the numbers earlier so I won't go through it again but there are only something like 8 pitchers in baseball that have gone 200 IP each of the last 3 years. It isn't common to go 200+ IP like people think it is. Ennder I know you've been very anit-Sheets is injury prone to a certain extent and I respect that. Can you at least admit it's hurt his free agency status in a very large way? Or do you think it's something that the general public doesn't know yet? As I've said before, I'm not a huge Sheets guy and I understand he hasn't had a ton of serious arm injuries, but to me whether it's a hang nail or a tommy john injury it all becomes somewhat the same over time -- not being able to take the mound. I like your point about the 200 IP the past three years, but I personally am not looking for Sheets to do that every year. I would just have liked to see some healthy years recently and we can't go back to 2004 -- that was five years ago. Either the rest of baseball is seeing Sheets as injury prone or his injury at the end of the year is more severe than what has been reported. I understand the points that some GMs would wait to see it heal, but if he can't even get a two year deal this whole thing seems very strange. Again, I respect your opinion Ennder, but IMO Sheets has shown he's injury prone. How many more so called 'fluke' injuries can a guy have before he gets that label? Or is non-pitching realted injury prone a better label? I don't want to come off harsh or anything. I just get the feeling that Sheets doesn't have the best reputation around baseball or there is evidence within some circles that he may not be ready to pitch at the beginning of 2009.

I'm not a huge Sheets guy, but I do think the Brewers should sign him. I think he is injury prone (regardless of freak injuries vs. pitching injuries, etc.), but I don't want to discuss that again. I do have three points I want to bring up. How much has/will pitching in Milwaukee for Sheets' entire career hurt his market? (Who's been the last Brewer to actually hit free agency and do well while playing their entire career for the Brewers) Did trading for CC hurt Ben's value? Imagine if the Brewers got into the playoffs without CC. I'm going to imagine Sheets would've gotten a lot more national credit.

You can't file for taxes till W2s are mailed, which is at the latest, Jan 31st. Or you can use your last pay stub from 2008.

When he catches fire (September 2007), he is one of the best 2B in the league. I'm not a huge Weeks guy, but I'll even give him more time...I'm just sick of his 'streaks' being brought up. He's average. He's below average and above average, but he will never come close to matching September '07 for a long period of time. It's just another case as to why he's one of the most frustrating Brewers in recent memory. Is he replaceable? I think he is. I don't even think it would be that hard, but given his cost and other needs of the teams he doesn't need to be replaced. My biggest hope for Weeks is that some team thinks he will be the stud that some think he is here and we can get a nice value in return for him. In the real world, he'll be a decent 2B that we'll all debate whether or not he should be re-signed soon and to what amount. I for one am sick of the 'Weeks did this or that for this stretch' -- this isn't to call you out twobrewers -- and would like to focus on what he is. He's average and at the slot he was picked that's not all that great, but I guess that pick could've been worse. The only hope I have for him reaching his 'potential' that I for one call in to question is to have him moved out of the lead off spot and inserted in the 6th or 7th spot of the lineup. I'd like to see Weeks swinging for power and not taking pitches and trying to be something he's not. I still have hopes for Weeks, but they're nowhere near what some may still hope. Weeks has to be the most 'excused' Brewer player around here in terms of why he's not producing or examples of others who have struggled and then been pretty good. I said last year that if Weeks played like he could it'd be one of the best 'off-season' moves the Brewers made. It would've been a huge asset to the team...trouble is that didn't happen. Rickie and Prince make for a pretty bad infield defense and Rickie's bat doesn't justify his defense. Rickie may be average, but let's face it that's not what we wanted out of him. An average second baseman isn't hard to find and to be honest shouldn't be drafted that high. He wasn't drafted to be an average second baseman and fair or not that will follow him as long as he's a Brewer.

I still think Joe Bateman has a shot to make the team out of spring training. The Brewers are high on him and to be honest I'm surprised he wasn't called up in September. It always seems like there's an interesting player or two on the opening day roster that we don't expect in January or February...I'll go with Bateman for that surprise.

I recently bought a Dell laptop and was wondering what some of the best computer virus protection programs are. The laptop came with a month of McAfee, but what should I use after that is up? Are there any free programs out there that will do the trick or do I have to fork over money for something better? Thanks in advance!

The Brewers desperately need his lefthanded bat in the lineup once ready, but he had a pretty bad second half of the season once LaPorta was traded and he no longer was hitting in front of him. My guess is that he spends most of 2009 at AAA Nashville, working on his 3B defense. There is also some debate as to how long he was playing with an injury in the second half of the season that may have been part of the reason why he struggled.

I also didn't like the "safe haven" aspect of the vent thread. I thought there was a lot of venting in most of the threads for much of the season so I didn't think that the vent thread was much help in that respect. I agree to a certain extent. I just enjoyed reading less vents since there was a vent thread that if I chose to go there I could read them. There simply would be fewer vents in other threads, which IMO kept the other threads easier to read.

I've seen Jones pitch a few times in Huntsville and to me it's clear he's lost some velocity, but that's no reason for TH to add his poor opinion of him. The thing that drives me the most nuts (not a fan of TH) is that he defends his 'scouting' ability like no other -- especially in his mailbag. I don't really think he knows all that much more than those that catch the minor leagues on a somewhat regular basis. From what I've heard, he simply doesn't see the minor league guys play all that often and relies on what others have written or said. I really hope Mike Jones gets to the bigs. To me it's pretty clear he has a very strong work ethic. 2009 will be a very important year for him and I hope he gets up to Nashville at some point so I'll be able to see him pitch a little bit more regular. I'd have to imagine last year was tough for him since he simply couldn't do what he wanted and I'm hoping that was just a growing pain year for him.

Please don't point it out. I am a proud owner of a calendar. An impact move could still be made. However, as more time passes signing Trot Nixon to a minor league deal, more and more of the talented players will get gobbled up by other teams. I just think it's early to get worked up due to the lack of signings around the league. There haven't been too many signings that I wish the Brewers would've gone after. I think after the holiday season things will start to pick up. If we're in the same situation a month or so from now I'll be worked up. There just haven't been that many signings so far.

It's Nixon: http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/36391459.html

Like I've said a few times I think Ben's injury status is why he's not getting multi-year offers. I'm not saying it's very serious (I have no clue), but I'm guessing since he's been labeled 'injury prone' and coming off an injury teams just flat out don't know enough to make an offer Sheets seems to be looking for. I've been just as frustrated as any poster here with Sheets' injuries, but if he would take a 2-year deal I would do it. I just get the feeling his injury is more serious than any of us know, but at the same time Sheets or his agent must have thought/believed they'd be able to still get a multi year deal. I would do a 2 year $25 - $30 million deal. The only thing though that makes me think it's not going to happen is that Sheets doesn't want to be in Milwaukee or didn't realize what his market value would be.

That's another reason to look at him at third base. How's his quickness? His lateral motion? I really think the greater need is at third. I've only seen him play catcher (obviously), but everything I've heard and read indicates he really can only be a catcher. His bat I think will be a very high quality, but if he doesn't work at catcher I have a feeling he'll be dealt. His somewhat small stature (in terms of height) limits where he can play. I think he'll end up being at least an average defensive catcher, but that doesn't mean it will be with the Brewers given the apparent talent they have at the position. I really like Salome and hope he continues to improve in Nashville next year. I think the 'plan' is to have him in Milwaukee opening day 2010, but we'll have to see what type of progress he makes.

More great work from the folks at ESPN & Fox Sports I don't know if it's really their fault. To me, this just seems like somebody trying to drive up the value in the Furcal camp and the same in other situations. They usually don't run stories without a 'reliable' source. I think agents get more involved in this type of crap than anything else...especially in the current market.

Escobar will be a top 100 prospect going into the year, but he definitely couldnt bring top quality pitching by himself. He's been ranked in the top 10 by some services (6 or 8 IIRC). It's in the minor league forum.

I would've taken a flyer for that contract - 1 year at $800k. It's hard to know exactly which way the Brewers will be going in CF until Cam is either traded or it's decided he's staying.

www.baseballboss.com

And I shudder to think who else the Brewers would have been forced to run out there if they didn't have Mota, especially early in the season when he was pitching well. You hated Mota from the second that trade was announced, FTJ. Can you honestly say you're looking at this without bias? I agree PF. Mota was on fire at times last year and he wasn't terrible. He had some rough stretches, but given the lack of talent in most bullpens he has value. We gave up nothing to get him so I see it as a positive. If Mota avoided a few bad outings, we'd be talking about how much we need him back and not how he is a bad pitcher. I'm growing more and more on the trading Cam idea. I don't know if him for Cabrera is fair, but again I trust that Doug isn't going to make a dumb move with Cam. I think Doug is going to hold out until the Yankees give up more. I could care less what is reported. We only have to look at the 'Yankees are pulling their offer on CC', 'Yankees have maxed their offer', etc and then CC's real deal to see what the Yankees will do. They'll give up more. Cabrera could be a nice addition and I think it's easy to forget how young he is. Cam is old and he WILL decline. The posts that ask how has he shown he's declining bring up a good point...but I'd also be even more interested to see some stats on guys Cam's age that have not declined. The logic behind the whole deal could be that we step back at CF this year, but hopefully in future years Cabrera is a nice cheap option in CF while Cam is retired in a maybe a year or two.

I respect the mods here and at LL.net, but I do somewhat question not having a vent thread. I don't want to call out posters, but there have been posters who have said pretty much the same negative thought in multiple threads...PF has even called out one poster on exactly what I'm saying. I don't mind not having a vent thread, but I'm sick of the negative posts and how the Brewers are going to the cellar....it's December. I guess I compare it to posts of 'game over' in the in-game thread during the first few innings. It's not needed and IMO there should be a vent thread or some negative posts need to be deleted. It's fine to share good and bad thoughts, but after every move that is made or not made I really don't need to read posts about how the Brewers suck. Again, the mods here are good and I don't have a problem with any of them. I just think not having a vent thread may lead to more and more negative posts in other threads and it appears to be coming from the same posters. I know Brian questioned one of my posts as a 'I told you so', but to be honest I won't post it, but it will be exactly what I'll think when the Brewers make some moves and aren't in the 'cellar'. I think it does the mind well to step back and think with one's head and not on emotion. A team with Braun, Fielder, Hardy, Hart (who is still probably not peaking, made the all-star game, and now sucks according to some), Yo, Parra, CV, etc. is not a team that sucks. If the players grow like we believe they can and a guy like Weeks reaches his potential and guys like Bush, McClung, Dillard, Riske, etc get back on track or develop a bit more I think we'll have a competitive team. I guess my post has become an anti-vent thread in its own, but to be honest there's no need to have 'the sky is falling' in all these threads. I still believe when the dust settles months from now the Brewers will have one of the best off-seasons in terms of total value. It's easy to forget the economy sucks and most are still projecting free agents will be cheap this year. I believe come January and February the Brewers will be signing players that will be great value and reasonable. The sky isn't falling anytime soon in Milwaukee and I would really like to see some negative posts/posters having a thread to hang out and bash the team in December. This team is good and let's remember Braun and Prince haven't reached their prime yet...that's scary.

It is somewhat surprising to me, the difference in interest between Sheets and Burnett. I don't think Sheets has received any kind of multi-year offer, and here is Burnett signing for a deal until he's 36 at over $16M/year. Burnett has always been good when healthy, but never great. Sheets has as many full, healthy seasons as Burnett and has had a higher peak. Sheets ended the year injured...never a good sign going into free agency. I think the main thing getting lost in the Sheets talk is how vague his injury has been reported. To me, that's the reason Sheets hasn't been rumored in deals...the injury is more serious than we know and my guess is he may not be ready for spring training. 4.) If CC/Burnett get 95+ wins over the next 4-5 seasons, and get the Yankees into the playoffs those years, they can probably suck in their last years, and still have provided good value. Are you talking about the Yankees winning that many games or the two pitchers? I'd have to imagine that in modern baseball two pitchers haven't combined for that many wins all that often during that time period you mention.

What Sean Avery doesn't realize is that he's been getting MY sloppy seconds. So how long is homer suspended from bf.net? 6 months? http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

Or what has Cameron shown that he "is done"? I don't think the poster is saying he's shown he's done. Age catches up to everyone in baseball and playing the OF is more difficult to hide when you're losing speed, etc. You really can only project to see if he's going to be done and the poster said 'I think'. Cabrera has a lot more time left in the game and hasn't even reached typical peak age. It's a guessing game, but Cameron is a lot closer to being done than Cabrera is. Again, I'll just use caution on this entire trade if it's ever official.

I hope that's not a setup for an "I told you so". It's not. It's just the fact it's December 11th and I get a lot of negative vibes from the activity (or lack of it). Rumors will swirl with New York and major markets and nothing is final until the Brewers announce it. I just don't get the feeling that Doug Melvin and Mark are going to make moves that clearly hurt the franchise. For example, when they picked up Cameron's option they knew that they could possibly keep him and pay him the $10 million. If the team is worried about costs, the option would have never been picked up, let alone trade him AND pay for some of his salary. I get the feeling that a lot of these rumors/stories are out there because it's the Yankees and not because anybody has any type of scoop. My guess is this deal doesn't even get done.

I have a feeling that if this trade happens many will have to go back through the first few pages and look at their 'sky is falling' posts. Deals with large market teams involve a lot of rumors. I highly doubt it's a one for one deal and part of me thinks this deal was already in place of CC was going to the Yankees. CC wants Cam on the team and the Yankees may have to trade some value to make that happen.

I remember how funny it was during the season when Attanosio stated the team would lose money this year, like we're all totals rubs and haven't the slightest knowledge of baseball economics. The secret is out, this team can easily support a $90 million dollar payroll, and more. As long as they win and attendance doesn't drop. I don't think 'easily' is close to reality IMO. A few more Suppan type contracts to get to $90 million isn't a good thing. I don't think the Brewers made a ton of money last year. They maybe made a few bucks, but having a successful franchise is more important long-term to increase the value of the franchise.