JJHardy7

I think we have to take a step back for a second and realize of the "hype" all these young guys are generating may not translate to the bigs. We've been let down a bit with some of the prospects in Milwaukee so far so I'm going to guess a few of these guys will never be MLB starters or guys worth fitting in. That being said this is one of the major reasons I wanted Ryan Braun to stay at 3B. I'm not justifying his defensive liability last year, but the guy really didn't get that much time to improve his game since he was moved up so fast because of his bat. That being said I hope the Brewers take things with Gamel very slow and learn a lesson to a certain degree. I haven't read, heard, or seen anything from Gamel that says he can't play the position. I do think though that if he's moved too fast and struggles defensively Brewers fans will be all over him and the Brewers would have to move him. What if the Brewers didn't sign Cameron this off-season? My guess is Braun would be at 3B, but since fans were so outraged and and Cameron was available Braun was moved. I've said it here before, but I'll say it again -- coaches in Huntsville and Nashville believed Braun would be an above average 3B given the time -- let's give Gamel the time we didn't/couldn't give Braun. I also think at this point and time we have to look at it that there is only one OF that will be in Milwaukee for several years and that's Braun. Until Hart signs a long-term deal there is no promise that he'll be here for a long time. If some of the guys in the minors prove to be as good as advertised, we can always trade Hart (not that I really want that to happen) since he will be the most expensive. I don't want to be a downer or anything, but I'm trying not too put a ton of pressure on the guys in AA. They're all raking, but it's not AAA or the bigs so I will be hopeful that they'll all pan out, but realistically there's going to be a few of them that don't or aren't the as good as advertised.

The list is impressive if the B.rewers current 40-man didn't have flexibility. I also think we need to keep in mind the realistic chance of A or A+ players get taken in the rule 5 major league draft. The Brewers current 40-man is flexible, but I have a feeling either this July or in the off-season it will be even more flexible. It's not a bad problem to have in terms of enough players to protect, but the Brewers brass has shown a good ability in this regard in recent years.

Golden State looking at Yi and CV. I have heard in the past a rumor for Yi to GS for Brandon Wright and the #14 pick. i'd do that move. If I'm Milwaukee, there's no way Yi gets traded. He's one of the few players in the history of the Bucks that can be marketed world wide...that and we'd be trading for a guy that couldn't even make a NBA roster for some of last year. I'd do CV for the #14 pick and include some salary exemptions, but I'm going to guess GS would pass on that.

They gave up another 95 mph guy (Grant Balfour) to get McClung. Did he throw that hard? I thought he was more low 90s, but I obviously might be wrong here.

Yeah Branyan's D has been pinpoint. I never thought he was bad at defense to begin with. I remember him playing darn good D back in 04'-05' for us. Besides Braun and Hart, Branyan is the third guy I get most excited to watch bat even ahead of Prince. Oh his defense was never bad. It just sticks out a lot more in my mind after Braun and Hall's struggles over the past year and a half or so.

Sure, as long as we can rip Yost apart when a player fails --- you can't have it both ways TWR. If you insist that we blame the players, I think it is only fitting that we give McClung the credit. McClung has one BB in the last 18 IP, that is insane -- plus he is hitting. I am not sure what to think. I personally have no problem giving McClung the credit and a tiny portion to Maddux. I still wonder exactly how much weight Seth lost from last year to this year. My guess is 20 - 30 lbs and I do believe that and being healthy has everything to do with his success so far.

Didn't Choate sign a minor league deal though? I thought the Brewers could simply put him in the minors and call him up as needed and then if he fails he could be claimed by another team. I also think Stetter has already used this years option so it doesn't matter how many times he gets called up or sent down.

I think one major thing that is getting lost in the 3TO talk is his pretty darn good defense so far. Even if he sinks back close to his career norms his defense at this point and time is almost making up for that compared to what Hall was doing.

he does have a career 4.64 ERA in 165 career innings as a LOOGY. That seems fine for a 2nd lefty out of the pen. I'd pass based on that. I'd rather go with Stetter, but having another LOOGY option isn't a bad thing. We'll see how he comes back from his injury.

Wait...I thought almost everyone here thought he was garbage? I'm confused. I've made my statements about McClung many times and was mostly ignored. I still am not sold on him as a starter, but he is a MLB pitcher. I put him in the same regard more or less as Sarfate...who is actually having a pretty darn good year also. They're both overcoming control problems to a certain degree so far.

For whatever reason, last year they were more willing to pitch to him. You haven't answered the question yet. Earlier you blamed his production on who is hitting behind him and it's not all that different from last year. It seems you went from the theory that Prince doesn't have a "good power hitter" behind him to the league is adjusting to him. It kind of only goes one way with that since the guys behind him haven't changed all that much.

Reduced power has nothing to do with his diet or his physical health. He is getting less pitches to hit because there is not a genuine power hitter behind him. Branyan and Hart do not count. Branyan has great power but is not a consistent threat. Hart is an excellent hitter, but (despite his recent outburst) is not a consistent threat. Who would you pitch to? Even Braun was less effective in that spot, and he is a god! Who hit behind Prince last year?

I think this is an interesting topic, but not in terms of what he eats. IMO Prince is a long-term risk to sign to a contract because of his body type...that is what I think is the interesting aspect. I'm not going to get into whether he's bigger or that, but it does scare me that he's still very young and I wonder what will happen to his body as he ages.

Well I thought I'd share my story about the storms in Wisconsin (even though I live in Tennessee). A relation of my wife's family was helping to clean up the mess in the Madison area lakes (he's an electrician) and I guess his boss or his company screwed up and he ended up grabbing a live wire. This wire contained 75,000 watts and to be honest I don't know much about how he grabbed it or anything like that, but I do know he ended up at the burn clinic in Madison. The initial thoughts by the doctors were that his arms would be gone at the shoulder socket. Now this to me was tragic. I really couldn't imagine having to deal with it. The doctors let his body rest and the news yesterday (it happened on Tuesday) was that he had feeling to the elbow in his right arm. The news today was that he had more or less full feeling in both arms and everything. He will end up losing a bit of two finger tips, but I have to say I'm very thankful for all this. It's things like this that if it ended up with him losing two arms trying to help out make this situation so bad.

1) agents' rakes for percentage of the contracts they take differ 2) positional values, for instance pitching, differs greatly 3) number of arby years and free agency years bought out 4) worthiness of anyone but Fielder/Hart/Sheets to get anything close to a Braun contract at this time 5) i am sure i am missing more, maybe even some obvious ones And then there are players who actually have some financial smarts. Braun blows out his knee tomorrow and say his career is done...he's set for life. Hart or Fielder do the same thing and it's different scenario. I personally think it was Braun telling his agent he wanted a deal and not his agent suggesting it. Like Braun said there's not much you can't buy with $45 million. I personally think the Hart deal gets done and some projections here are a tad bit high at this point. I'd get the deal done ASAP if I'm the Brewers because I think he might have a year that raises the bar quite a bit. Hart is a family man and the security for his kids and all might be too much to resist. Can we all agree that Prince is gone sooner than later? I for one am tiring over the "he's under the Brewers control". That is true, but that control isn't going to be cheap. Paying Prince $10 million a year after arby doesn't make me feel better about it. I feel Hart will be signed and Fielder will be moved before the 2009 season.

You're right; I think Suppan is a league-avg. type pitcher. I'm glad we have him, but he's expensive for what he brings. I also think Manny Parra is a better starter than Seth, fwiw. The trouble I see is that we are asked to accept 3 of 4 appearances as now 'the norm' or true talent, when Seth has turned in literally hundreds of innings of other work that doesn't match up with it. Like I said, I hope Seth can and will keep this up, so I don't know why you'd think I hate McClung. Because I'd prefer to see Villy? I will once again point to the fact that Seth is finally feeling 100% healthy and has had a change in his mechanics as danzig mentions above. Is it that crazy to believe that after having serious surgery your mental side (i.e. trusting new mechanics etc) takes a bit? I would just look at Sarfate this year with the Orioles for another example of a pitcher that "didn't get it, couldn't find the strike zone, etc" is feeling physically and mentally healthy. Again, I don't think Seth should be a starter, but he's doing alright there. I would rather have him in the bullpen, but based on what he's done so far I'd keep him in there. I know McClung won't be an all-star or Cy Young, but I took a good amount of grief on the board for supporting him last year. I'm not saying he'll pitch this way all year, but I do think it's safe to say he has what it takes to stick in the bigs. I hope that stuff stays with him. I stood by him last year and I will now. McClung isn't a waste of space or "garbage" like he was talked about last year and this year. One main question I have is his weight. To me he looks like he's lost quite a bit of weight from last year. Does anyone else think this or just me?

Not that I'd mind if Seth keeps the good work up, but he can feel free to turn back into a pumpkin now. They'd have no choice but to go to Villy or DiFelice, who are both superior options anyway. Based on what? Seth has done pretty well in most of his starts so far and I think "superior" isn't the right word here. I really like DiFelice, but in a small sample in the bigs he hasn't shown anything towards "superior" over what McClung has done. As far as Villy, he had his shot earlier in the year and lost his job. If he would've done his job, McClung wouldn't be starting. I just love throwing strong words out there like "superior". If it was that obvious, McClung wouldn't be starting. I do think McClung should be in the bullpen, but has his performance suggested so far that there are "superior" options? I just don't see that in any way. If McClung starts to struggle we do have options to replace him, but replacing him for no reason seems kind of strange to me. What else does he have to do this year? Throw a no-hitter or a perfect game?

Just depends on how we mean "ceiling" I guess. No, 50 HR isn't what I expect from Fielder. I think he will give you 30-60 HR in any given full season until his decline. I don't know if Prince will ever necessarily hit 50 or more again (I think he will), but if his ceiling is 50 HR instead of > 50, I don't think it'd be a bad thing. I don't know if I could see Hart hitting 50 in a season, but it wouldn't shock me since Sexson got close. I agree that Hart is likely to age better, though. I think we are more or less agreeing to a certain extent. My main point is that Prince isn't going to get that much better. Hart on the other hand does have the "ceiling" to get better since I don't think we've seen the best of him yet. I know it's been said, but Prince's weight situation scares me a ton. I just don't see him playing in the NL in 5 years and to be honest his defense is not good especially with an infield that isn't consistent. It'd be nice to have a guy at 1B with a good glove to try and make up for what we lack in the infield. Prince isn't a bat hitter or anything like that I just think last year he reached his ceiling. Now if he hits close to that every year obviously Fielder would be a better hitter than Hart...the question is will he?

I take 'a guy's ceiling' to mean his peak performance output, not a career resume. In other words, highest point he may reach (like, say, '50 HR in a season'), as opposed to best cumulative 'record' or stats. At the same time though has Fielder reached his ceiling already? Is 50 HRs a normal expectation? I see a ceiling as where a player projects to be most of their career and in that span hit career highs. I don't think Corey hasn't gotten really close to his career highs and thus I believe has more ceiling right now than Prince. Ceiling in my eyes is based on that "potential" word and in my eyes Hart has a lot more potential to improve whereas I think Prince has more or less already reached that. Again given Prince's weight concerns to me it makes it more "clear" that Prince's highest ceiling might be short lived.

Considering Fielder has already hit 50 home runs in a season, it's hard to argue that Hart has a higher ceiling as a hitter. But, I think Hart is a very valuable part of the puzzle that provided consistent hitting, solid defense, good speed, and great character. I'd imagine he's on our starting outfield for the next 7-8 years. That is one season though. Has Prince already reached his ceiling? I'm not trying to rip on Prince by any means, but I'd imagine given Prince's size and weight there will be concerns throughout his career about being able to field a position. I'm not saying Hart will hit 50 home runs, but I am saying over the length of their careers, I believe Hart is going to prove to be quite valuable. In terms of reaching ceiling I'm speaking about the future projections. Since Prince hit 50 home runs last year do we think he'll hit 60 or 70 sometime? I don't think that is the case. I don't think it's out of the question that Hart hits 30 HRs a year and provide speed and defense -- two major things Prince lacks. I don't think the claim that Prince > Hart as a hitter, both now and in terms of potential, should be controversial. Prince is 2 years younger and has already posted an offensive season that Hart is pretty unlikely ever to rival. It is one season that Prince posted 50 home runs. Prince may be younger, but he is more of a "risk" in my eyes because of his weight. In the AL it would be less of a worry, but he's going to have to field a position for the Brewers and in my eyes he's not doing the job at 1B. I don't think Prince >>>>>> Hart is anywhere near true, but Prince > Hart might be accurate. I do think however that Hart has a better chance of putting up above average numbers and playing above average defense whereas I'm not quite that sold on Prince especially in terms of defense. If we're going to bust out Prince's great year, why not bring up the present? Hart has displayed pretty much just as much power as Prince has this year in terms of home runs. Hart hits for average and is pretty good base runner.

It's clear to see that Hart isn't the hitter that Prince is (or has as high a ceiling). I would disagree with this. I don't know if it's "clear" IMO. Are you saying that Prince has a higher ceiling? I do not think that is the case at all. Hart IMO has the higher ceiling and obviously provides better defense than Prince does and probably won't have to worry about any potential weight issues. I also am not saying that Hart should get a Braun deal, but something with less money and less years might be possible.

We've heard about the long term deal talks with Ryan Braun (obviously) and Prince Fielder. And we've heard about how Rickie Weeks is still a big part of the future (I'm not buying it), but we never really hear about Corey Hart. At the beginning of the year, I thought Hart would have been a priority to sign to a long term contract because he was an important part of the future, AND his price would have been nice. Well, his price is going up...and fast. But still, why haven't we heard about Doug Melvin 'being motivated' to lock up Hart? The fact that we haven't heard anything probably points to the fact they're talking. I think Hart is going to sign an extension, but I'd imagine him and/or his agent is going to wait and see how this year pans out. The way he's playing as late it'll probably drive the price up. I also think this really has been the story of Hart's time with the Brewers. There was Prince, Rickie, Hardy, Braun, and oh yea that Hart guy isn't bad. I may not have this 100% right, but wasn't he the team/league MVP in most stops in the minors? I do hope a deal gets done and he should be #1 on the list.

I don't think this is a fair comparison. Braun's D was historically bad, but so was his offense (but good). Braun has not struggled at any point in his career (for extended periods) and I think his O has outweighed his D -- that said, I think it is clear that moving Braun has maximized his overall contribution. My point is, based on what I have seen of Braun, I think you get his bat in the lineup no matter where he plays. Weeks however has not performed at the same level as Braun. Weeks D is subpar at best, and there probably is a point where if Weeks struggles offensively (for whatever reason), he can easily be replaced. I get what you're saying FTJ and I know you wanted Braun moved (which I respect) and I wanted him to stay there. I guess I just don't get how Weeks has more or less been given a pass with subpar defense and by and large subpar offense. Braun had a few years of professional ball playing 3B and Weeks has had a lot more time to develop his defense and IMO it's just not there. His bat isn't that valuable in the lineup this year to consider him the long-term 2B of the Milwaukee Brewers IMO.

I don't remember many people saying they didn't want either of these players, especially Cameron. There were definitely mixed reviews on Gagne, however, I'm pretty sure the majority of posters on this site were very happy with the Cameron signing. I was one of the few that didn't really like either signing. Cameron's defense in CF is good, but I'm not a huge fan of his bat. I know the Brewers options may have been limited, but I was hoping for a bigger "splash" I guess that could take the team to the next level. I hope Cameron proves me wrong this year. I would be completely fine with that.

However, watching Sheets bat is frustrating - so I see your point. Maybe more emphasis on batting for pitchers in practice, but no need to take it into the game. Part of me still wonders how hard Sheets "tries" when he's up to bat. He's almost admitted in the past when he's up he's out. All I ask for is effort, but I do think there's something to said about the basics of batting. I'd be completely satisfied if the pitchers could lay down bunts on a somewhat consistent basis, but that might be asking too much.