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This year and next are going to be very interesting for the Brewers entire system, and I trust Melvin to be the guy to get us through it based on his previous body of work, improving this team from bottom feeder to playoff contenders. So why did we spend $90M+ to win at a .377 clip? If we are in a mini-rebuilding cycle and 2012 is the goal, why did we spend $90M+ on this season? I guess that's my problem. The real answer is that DM isn't playing for 2012, like you suggest. He honestly thought that he would get $90M+ worth of wins for his 90M dollars spent. This is not a guy that I trust anymore. Because either way you slice it, it's bad roster management. If you're going to spend $90M+ and think you are going for it, why assemble what he did with that money. And if you aren't going for it and are looking to 2012 when your farm grown pitching gets here, then why in the heck are you spending $90M dollars? I respect your loyalty and your sense of appreciation for what Melvin has done (bottom feeder to contender). Though I'd argue that most new GM's get their jobs because their teams are at the bottom and contender was something I really only felt we were in 2007 & 2008. Look, I had the biggest thrill of my life, to be on the field when the Brewers clinched the Wild Card, shook DM's hand within minutes as we in the Brewers family celebrated returning to the post-season.... and I probably could have called him Jesus at that moment and believed it. So it's not like I hate the man, I've given his due when deserved. When you say total body of work, that's really where it starts to hit home. If 2012 is the next "run", then you are looking at probably two winning seasons and 1 playoff win in 10 years. I just expect a little more with the resources that he has had. I would have felt much better about DM if he would have just spent $60M or so and went with a lot more youth to get that .377 and not continued to make more of the same mistakes.

I like the list, minus Pittsburg. If the goal is rebuilding there is no reason to spend $21M or so in the next 18mos for Fielder. If it's a long term plan, then they might as just wait and get him when he becomes a free agent and therefore not lose any depth by trading for him.

I doubt they are better than what we have now. But right now, we have one of the best offenses in all of baseball. If your offensive production drops a little and our pitching gets better, we should become more balanced and be able to win more games. Pretty close. We don't need them to be as good. He was lamenting long term hitting. We have pretty decent prospects for long term hitting. So, it is your opinion that we are waiting on 2012 and that Melvin will come out smelling pretty good?

You mentioned Escobar and we also have Gamel, Lawrie, Lucroy and Cain to name a few off the top of my head. These guys should all be ready by 2011 at the latest. As for pitching, we should have some good arms coming up each of the next 2 years. So, that batch of players is better than what we have now?

Of course, these are all opinions, but http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alex-remington/ranking-baseballs-general_b_160456.html[/url] 3rd Tier, Somwhere between 9 and 14. (2010) http://baseball.suite101.com/article.cfm/top_five_baseball_general_managers Not in the top 5 (2008) http://bleacherreport.com/articles/107859-major-league-baseballs-30-general-managers-whos-the-best Had him 3rd. (2008) http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/tim_marchman/03/03/gm.rankings/index.html?eref=sihp Has him 6th (2010)

I'll ask you again if you can produce another GM with as much success at claiming guys off the waiver wire &/or MiLB free agency I can't. To be honest, I don't know that I follow other teams well enough to go out and do that. I don't know that it is worth it. Because, as my opinion goes, this argument is an unconvincing one to keep Doug Melvin any further. Because he does this one thing better than other GM's he should be kept? I don't even know that these nuggets are worthwhile. We have to remember that these nuggets were often times "made nuggets", because of something else that failed. Is that something we should be hanging our hat on? McGehee was made available because of Ramirez blocking his path. He got his shot because Gamel has failed/injured. McGehee was not the first option. Kottaras was acquired as a backup catcher. Melvin wasn't so sure about him, that he brought in 5 catchers to compete for this job. Narveson has gotten his shot, because the original plan for 11 million dollars has failed so miserably. Is this something we want to hang our hat on? Again, Melvin does do this very well. I've always given him that. It's just not a convincing argument to keep him around. Look, there's a couple things that my ex-girlfriends have done really well, but if they don't do the meat and potatoes things well, then what is the point of keep them? That's my lame attempt at humor, but it's how I approach this, "He finds nuggets" argument. It's time to go in another direction. A .377 winning percentage with a $90M payroll is embarassing. A plate full of nuggets does not a meal make?

Aside from your condescending tone, this is what I take issue with most. I'd like to know who the other GMs are with a track record of turning out guys off the waiver wire or as MiLB free agents as effectively as Melvin. If you find condescending tone, it must be how you read it. Maybe you are predisposed to find an alternate opinion as condescending? There's no condescending tone. If there is any tone trying to be displayed, it's frustration. .377 baseball is frustration. .377 baseball for $90M and nearly 3.1M butts in the seats sustained over a few season is frustration. One playoff season because of a one game advantage over the Mets on a flukey Helms HR and the Cubs starting Wells in game 162 and an average of .460 baseball (or whatever it is over the other 7 seasons) is frustration. I didn't say the arguments were stupid or otherwise, I just mentioned that they were unconvincing. Again, if nugget is defined as 1-2 seasons of above-average baseball then I shouldn't have to look to far to find players that other GM's have found similiar to the list that was submitted, Matt Wise, Derek Turnbow, Dan Kolb? The reason these nuggets seem so valuable is because of the load they had to carry because nothing else was in place. Again, what is a few nuggets when there are no french fries or soft drink? Is Jocketty a draft genius because he found a nugget in Pujols at 403 overall? Melvin hasn't even come close to finding a nugget like that, that late in the draft, via waiver wire, rule 5, etc.

I'm sitting here unable to wipe this smile off of my face, because TheCrew07 absolutely gets it right. I'm passionate about this even moreso because I have the misfortune of living in Tampa. There is nothing more frustrating that watching Freidman absolutely get it and Melvin can't. Part of the reason is because this town doesn't even deserve a team. Since Freidman took over, the fans have supported at the gate with these respective numbers, 2005 1.1M 2006 1.3M 2007 1.3M 2008 1.7M 2009 1.8M. Even the World Series run and the following season only garnered an additional 100K. In 2010, they have the best record in baseball and they are on pace for 1.6M fans. Still yet, with these kind of gate numbers, Freidman can go out, underspend Melvin by nearly 18M and get results. It's not like Tampa's FCI (fan cost index) is anything drastically higher than Milwaukee, in fact, I think it might be lower. In their World Series year, player payroll was at $43M !! I've yet to hear one convincing argument to even semi-sway me towards giving Doug Melvin more time to run this ship. A) "Well gosh gee, he started with nothing and made us something" Well of course he started with nothing. Don't most GM's that start a new job, do so because the situation is bad? B) "Aww shucks, It's not Doug Melvin's fault that We're Milwaukee and that's the best we can do as top level free agent pitchers won't come here". What free agent pitchers have went to Tampa Bay in the past 4 years? How about free agent hitters? C) "The minor league pitchers are coming...just wait" So if this pitching doesn't pan out and it's 2012 before Melvin is gone, we realistically have to wait until 2016 for another GM's plan to produce dividends. D) "But Doug Melvin finds nuggets". Every GM finds nuggets. Sometimes these teams need to get rid of these nuggets because they are blocked. Take McGehee for example. He was blocked by Aramis Ramirez. The problem with Melvin is that his nuggets are used as plugs and usually only produce 1-2 seasons. Then, because his core players leave, he has to move these nuggets around to other places. If they were so valuable, why aren't they just left at their position? McGehee has already been mentioned by some as a stopgap over at 1B if Fielder is gone. What do a couple of nuggets mean when you have no french fries and no soft drink. Perhaps just a really spiffy toy (Braun/Gallardo). Oh yeah, did I mention you paid $90M for this happy meal consisting of a couple of nuggets and no fries/softdrink? E) "Every GM makes bad decisions, Suppan, Hall, etc come off the books soon." Yes, and do you trust Melvin to spend that money wisely? It's like these kids I see today here in Florida driving a 1995 Cadillac. The bumper is falling off, the exhaust pipe has holes in it, all four tires have no tread, the interior carpet is tore, but they got $2,000 worth of stereo equipment inside. Sometimes making a bad decision will cost you dearly, like not fixing those tires and getting into a deadly accident. If you don't spend wisely on the things that hold your car up, you deserve what you get. Same with Melvin. F) "Golly, we could do worse". This is borderline defeatist attitude, IMO. Of course we could do worse. But seriously, why is it that the Nashville Sounds, year in and year out (With 2008 being the exception), win Division Titles and play .530 baseball? Yet the Brewers play .494 baseball? I believe the reason is because of roster management. There's no doubt in my mind that some players have talent on this team. But is this TEAM talented? Does this team have $90M dollars worth of talent? I think the answer is "no". And considering the Rays went to a World Series with a $43M dollar payroll while playing the Red Sox/Yankees, there is no doubt in my mind that Doug Melvin has done too little with too much and another 4 years isn't going to change his ways.

Is it still early?

A repost of what I suspected a few weeks ago: As a Tampa resident, I could see this as well. However, Prince wouldn't fill the DH role, he would play first base and Pena would occupy the DH role. Burrell would either be just another man on the bench, or perhaps go back to the outfield and replace Gabe Kapler/Matt Joyce platoon that is going on in right field. However, Sternberg has already come back and said that they expect to cut payroll back to around 48M in 2011. Burrell, Crawford, Pena, & Soriano all will probably not be resigned, which slashes $38M off of the $79M that they are at this season. I don't know if they want to add another $18M back onto that 2011 payroll for Fielder. Of course, they could always just make a run and re-trade Fielder in December of 2010 and recoup some talent themselves. Now, as far as who comes back, BJ Upton has been souring lately and may need a change of scenery. Could you move him to LF and Braun to RF? Upton doesn't hit Free Agency until 2013. Desmond Jennings could certainly step in for Upton and they probably don't miss a beat and save another $5-6M in salary at their CF position. For pitching, Hellickson would have to be the choice. He is absolutely ready now and is killing it for Durham already this season. The only other option would have to be Niemann. Sonnanstine could go back into a starting role or Hellickson could step in as well. Tampa in the long term does not have much at 2B, so giving them a return there also would be nice for both sides. My offer would be Fielder, T. Green for Upton, Hellickson, & Barnese

Okay, the second half of the topic is purely 100% conjecture. But it is interesting to note that they have the minor league arms to get something done if they wanted Fielder. Anyone want to venture to guess where Burrell will land on his feet?

Ueck just mentioned a 21-game winning streak. I thought that got broken at some point late last season?

As a Tampa resident, I could see this as well. However, Prince wouldn't fill the DH role, he would play first base and Pena would occupy the DH role. Burrell would either be just another man on the bench, or perhaps go back to the outfield and replace Gabe Kapler/Matt Joyce platoon that is going on in right field. However, Sternberg has already come back and said that they expect to cut payroll back to around 48M in 2011. Burrell, Crawford, Pena, & Soriano all will probably not be resigned, which slashes $38M off of the $79M that they are at this season. I don't know if they want to add another $18M back onto that 2011 payroll for Fielder. Of course, they could always just make a run and re-trade Fielder in December of 2010 and recoup some talent themselves. Now, as far as who comes back, BJ Upton has been souring lately and may need a change of scenery. Could you move him to LF and Braun to RF? Upton doesn't hit Free Agency until 2013. Desmond Jennings could certainly step in for Upton and they probably don't miss a beat and save another $5-6M in salary at their CF position. For pitching, Hellickson would have to be the choice. He is absolutely ready now and is killing it for Durham already this season. The only other option would have to be Niemann. Sonnanstine could go back into a starting role or Hellickson could step in as well. Tampa in the long term does not have much at 2B, so giving them a return there also would be nice for both sides. My offer would be Fielder, T. Green for Upton, Hellickson, & Barnese

Part of me thinks that pitchers have failed to attack his weak spot (ie throwing in the dirt in the LH batting box) Actually, they haven't. He just hasn't been swinging at pitches down there. I've counted 15 pitches that were low and away off the plate so far to Corey Hart this season. Of which, 6 of them have bounced in the dirt. Of the 15, Corey has swung at just 1 of those pitches.

Meh. Not really reactionary, because I've been fearful all off-season about the mediocre acquistions. I want DM replaced because I don't want 5 years from now to be hampered by Suppan-esque contracts that he may give out this coming off-season. Atleast Davis and Zaun are mutual options for next season. I think it's more than just not clicking on all cylinders. There's nothing a pitcher/catcher combo can really do to click on all cylinders. You either have it, or you don't. And most of the time, this staff doesn't.

Days like today are days that I remember why I'd like to have DM replaced as the GM of the Brewers. Mediocre replacements to fill real big problems (ie, Doug Davis, Greg Zaun). The alternatives have all been discussed to exhaustion. It's just when I look up and see guys that are other teams #5's starting as our #3 and a career backup catcher expected to go around 120 games this year, the frustration level sets right in again. Oh yeah, Jeff Suppan is going to start the third game of this series.

Zaun is calling pitchers resulting in too many dingers as well and passed balls galore (though I think they've been generously labeled as wild pitches). He's been about as valuable as Alex Sanchez.

Typical Brad Fischer

Could he atleast try to hit a fly ball? One man rally killer.

Any other options besides Villy going down in two days?

I decided to take my buddy and go catch a game at the Trop' today. CC has something special going...and it's getting really late. Rodriguez just added some drama to the matter.

Seeing more of Kottaras might not be a bad thing at this point. Rivera or Kendall likely block that ball. Yep, there's a reason this guy has been a career backup. Didn't believe the smoke and mirrors from Melvin and Co. during the offseason and especially don't now.

See what C.C.'s doing in Tampa Bay? No-hitter through 6 Shhh! I'm actually sitting in the outfield at the Trop as we speak.

I am beyond done with Gomez already. That's how I feel about Zaun. Nevermind he is a GIDP machine, but behind the plate he has been brutal. Passed ball after passed ball and isn't calling good pitches to save his life. Does he even bother to read the scouting reports. Atleast Gomez is doing his job defensively.

Did he kick your dog? Don't own any dogs