Bryants Disco Ball

The idea of a closer and paying that man big money is overrated anyway.* * Unless it's Mo Rivera.

pretty much my thoughts. i really don't care about saving money in the short-term at all, there's no place for it to go. With the 30 some mil that came off the books last year and went mostly untouched I don't know what benefit an additional 5 or so mil could be. Maybe it makes it more of a lock that we sign Soler? Maybe we have more to give him if perhaps the bidding gets a tad bit higher?

Just wondering, but why doesn't anyone talk about having LaHair as a solid bench player if he happens to continue to produce? There is nothing wrong with having a quality pinch hitter and a guy who could spell Rizzo at times if Rizzo turns out the way we hope. Not everybody has to be used as a starter to get really good value from them. If we can't get anything for LaHair, and Rizzo is ready to come up, so be it.

It's probably just me, but it seems like a lot of ground balls that should be fielded have been getting by our infielders this season.

That's perfectly true, to a degree. But you can parse that sort of thing a lot of different ways to get to wherever you want to go. For example, without some serious help from the wind, Ryan Dempster's ERA is a lot less pretty right now. They've been outscored 28-19 through six games. They may not deserve to be 1-5, but 2-4 would be a lot more fair than 3-3. This is true. Because you could also say that Dempster's ERA might look just as pretty because he threw differently knowing he had the wind to his advantage and wanted guys to hit fly balls.

This article sums it up. I'll quote the key part. Interesting. Thanks. That's actually what I thought he was. A guy who eats innings, throws strikes and has a good ERA, even though people think he shouldn't because he doesn't K people. Sign me up.

Could someone please educate me as to why Lannan is so bad? I'm starting to feel like I must be wrong, but I've always viewed him as a really solid pitcher. Add in that he's a lefty, and I think he'd be a pretty good guy to get back for Byrd. I feel he's much better than Randy Wells. That said, I know I'm missing something. What about Lannan do people hate?

Haha. Exactly. I just can't imagine somebody reading this at that workplace, getting excited and then realizing it was a joke: "You hear what Vitaly Gordon did yesterday? Got John and Brian over there to think we hired Paul Depodesta. It was sweet."

Um, April Fools?

The year before his possible steroid abuse, Braun had the worst offensive season of his young career. He was a bit banged up but still played in 157 games. His 25 homers were the fewest in his then first four seasons and his RBIs were the fewest of any full season in MLB. The next year, he wins the MVP. This means nothing. But just a note.

What terrible reporting? Ryan Braun failed a PED test. He was flagged for high levels of testosterone and his B sample tested positive for synthetic testosterone. That has not been disputed even once by Braun's camp. Hopefully this is not too rude, but what a stupid statement by Carlos Lee.

Winner winner. People can say whatever else they want about why MLB would want him to get suspended, etc.......bottom line, this would have been very, very bad for business. Wasn't going to happen.

This is where I think the complete opposite. Wouldn't it be better for baseball for them to have Braun win the appeal? This is a huge, huge stain on the game right now when the MVP and one of the top hitters in baseball is labeled a cheater. If guys are still doing this even today, the casual fan is going to just assume that baseball will forever be full of a bunch of cheaters. So, what I'm saying is, I believe a big coverup is about to happen. Braun actually did cheat, but he's going to get away with it Sweet. I've always wanted to be able to quote myself for being right.

Progress from the minors isnt hindered by signing free agents though. Its not like spending on a free agent hinders us from spending on amateur talent now that there is a cap in place. Also there was no reason we cant sign a young talented free agent like cepedes, fielder, or Darvish and see lots of progress from the minors. Then in two years be ready to compete for the next five. What I'm getting at is that I think we missed a shot to compete in two years by not signing a young superstar talent. and now we are looking at four to five years before we can compete at the earliest. I don't know about four to five years. This offseason has been good. As far as talent given vs. talent taken in. I view more positively the futures of Rizzo vs Cashner, Torreyes vs. nothing, the crapshoot of Stewart vs. the crapshoot of Colvin. If the men in charge keep building up the assets as well as they have this offseason, then you'll have more pieces to make that trade for a guy becoming too expensive for a small market team. I think in 2 years maybe if a big free agent doesn't become available that fills our holes, don't be surprised if Theo and co go for a big trade with all the assets they've built up. They are in asset building mode right now. And we have a fairly decent core that is just about to hit MLB with castro, jackson, and Rizzo. It won't be painful to me in the slightest, because it's gonna be fun watching a new talented core of guys grow into their primes. I am fully confident Theo and Jed have a plan to build around what they view as the next great Cubs team. Yup.

Wow. Really? We aren't looking at four or five years at the EARLIEST before we can compete. I actually think we win the World Series within five years. This offseason has been great even if not everybody sees it. But in five years, everyone will look back and realize Theo and the boys knew exactly what they were doing.

No wonder early on there was talk he wanted to play for the Cubs.

And the bonus is that it sucks for the White Sox, not that they had much of a chance this year anyway. I have to admit, I don't care about the White Sox. But I also don't live in Chicago or know any White Sox fans.

Very happy to see Prince no longer with the Brewers. Also happy to no longer have to hear Brewers fans, etc., talk like Prince might still be willing to play on a one-year deal.

He's going to get hit by so many pitches. I actually didn't think it was that bad. We've all seen much worse. And if Nyjer Morgan doesn't get hit by pitches all the time for just being a douche, well, that flip of the bat and admire job by Cespedes isn't going to cause many problems. Yet, I could be wrong.

Your point is well taken, but on the other hand you'd have to consider that at a certain pricepoint, the Brewers might try and get real creative to make it work. Maybe dumping Hart and KRod for anything frees up the $$$, for example. Yes, they could get creative and do that. Totally agree. Just not sure they want to start creating other holes on their team AND invest a great deal of money into Prince over a five or six year span. Actually I was speculating on how the Brewers might respond if the ask goes to 2/45 or 3/60 as others threw out. I presume that they're totally out if it's 5-6 years. Gotcha.......then they are totally out.

And I will admit I hate the Brewers like people hate the Cardinals, and I have nightmares of Prince re-signing with the Brewers. Until he signs elsewhere, I'll still have that fear, even if I refuse to believe it's possible.

Your point is well taken, but on the other hand you'd have to consider that at a certain pricepoint, the Brewers might try and get real creative to make it work. Maybe dumping Hart and KRod for anything frees up the $$$, for example. Yes, they could get creative and do that. Totally agree. Just not sure they want to start creating other holes on their team AND invest a great deal of money into Prince over a five or six year span.

100 percent agree. All bets are off if the Brewers want to raise payroll to $102 to $110 million. They can retain Prince then. But going by the fact that they are often in the $80 to $90 range and seem very uncomfortable getting close to $100, I don't see how it's possible without some trades.

If he is willing to sign for 3/60, the Cubs and other teams would be all over that and give him even more. That doesn't seem possible. If nobody steps in with 6/135, he'll go somewhere for less years and a lower AAV. I don't understand what's so crazy about that. Not just any team, just for the Brewers. I could see him taking a gamble on himself to accept less money and years from the Brewers for a shot at winning it all with them. 2/45 might make more sense so he's 29 when the deals up and still has a shot at a 5 year deal. You never know who could need a 1st baseman by then. Weeks, Braun, Fielder, Ramirez, and Hart In in the middle of the lineup with a very strong rotation and back end of the bullpen? That could be an NL fav for a few years. I see what you're saying, but I've never gotten the feeling that Prince will pick championships over the best contract. If he did, he wouldn't have been willing to go to the Cubs at all this offseason. There is no reason for him to take 2/45, etc. There will be enough money out there to easily top that and will eliminate the risk of having to do well and stay healthy the next two seasons. He just wants too many years right now. He can get four or five years right now at $20 to $24 million if he wants. At least in my opinion. And he can still go to a place like Texas and have a chance to win a championship.

If he is willing to sign for 3/60, the Cubs and other teams would be all over that and give him even more. That doesn't seem possible. If nobody steps in with 6/135, he'll go somewhere for less years and a lower AAV. I don't understand what's so crazy about that. I'd agree that 3/60 doesn't seem possible, as several teams would likely eclipse that offer. I don't think that PleasewinCubs is stating that the terms won't come down, just that 3/60 is easily below the floor. Yes. Exactly. For the record, I'm not saying the price won't come down. I am saying 3/60 is crazy.