If we needed to acquire an ace, who is it?

[Gopher74]

I've said this before and I'll say it again, it's only a rental if he pitches well this year. If he bombs or gets injured, we're on the hook for the remainder of his contract (2+years). I could see CC being "posted" this year but he'd probably cost as much as Bartolo Colon fetched, which would be comparable to.....Jeffress/Parra/LaPorta/Brewer.

The problem with that is at the time, Sizemore was almost an afterthought..a throw in. Cliff Lee was the big piece and Brandon Phillips was the other good option. So using what those players turned out to be and trying to equate them to comparable's in the Brewers system isn't going to be Jeffress/Parra/LaPorta and Brewer. Maybe Parra, Fermaint, and Gamel. Something like that.

 

I don't know about that. Sabean is pretty damn stupid.

Does anyone realize that he's been a GM for a lot longer than 2 years? The Zito deal was terrible and they're not a good team right now, but they've been a good team for pretty much his entire reign as GM, and while it's easy to wrap that all up into Barry Bonds, it's also pretty lazy.

[endaround]

Buerhle just signed a long-term deal. I don't see Oswalt being dealt. NY only has 3 reliable SP's, they aren't trading one away. Mulder/Carpenter cannot pitch right now. Burnett's contract is a problem, I believe his option years are guaranteed if traded, or something along those lines.

 

However, the Pirates have several young guys, and are in massive rebuilding mode. They are possible, though unlikely. The A's 2 guys are better bets than any others mentioned thus far.

Oswalt's supposedly on the market right now.

 

Mussina doesn't appear to be in their plans for this season once they get their ideal rotation figured out. I don't recall who it was that said it, Girardi or whoever, but they said that a rotation of Kennedy, Joba, Wang, Pettite and Hughes would be a good rotation for them. No Moose in there.

 

And Burnett's contract is not a problem. He holds the option, and I'd be thrilled if we could get him at his option numbers. He's a Sheets caliber pitcher in terms of stuff.

Chamberlin won't be in the rotation if they can help it until August. And who really wants Mussina anyway? Burnett's contract is a problem because he holds the option. If he gets injured again (high probability) he picks up the option and spends next year rehabbing on the Brewers dime. And he also has a no trade clause that covers half the league.

 

Obviously if Oswalt is available, he is the best pitcher out there.

 

[Gopher74]

Chamberlin won't be in the rotation if they can help it until August. And who really wants Mussina anyway? Burnett's contract is a problem because he holds the option. If he gets injured again (high probability) he picks up the option and spends next year rehabbing on the Brewers dime. And he also has a no trade clause that covers half the league.

Obviously if Oswalt is available, he is the best pitcher out there.

I don't think even the Yankee's non-Hank mouth pieces have stated they were going to wait until August. From what I heard it was June, but either way, no, I wouldn't want Mussina, just arguing that he could likely be had.

Burnett's likely to miss some time, but he's also likely to throw 150 or so innings, and at worst he's got one more year on his deal.

We're talking about getting an ace. You're not going to get one that's perfect. With Johan we'd have to give up everything, with Oswalt, he may be on the downturn and he's got a big contract, ect..ect..

Burnett is similar to Suppan in what he's going to be owed, and he's a better bet to be a true ace. More question marks, and less stability, but when he's on, he can be a true ace to go with Yo, and Sheets.

Plus I think it's pretty much assumed that he's going to opt for Free Agency this next year either way.

[JohnBriggs12]

I'd keep an eye on Derek Lowe. He's a FA to be and though not an "ace", he's pretty close. He'd likely only be available if the Dodgers fall out of contention completely. That's a real longshot but so are most of the other scenarios for guys on this thread.

 

Lowe might be a guy worth pursuing in the offseason too assuming Sheets goes elsewhere. At 35 he won't command either in years or in annual salary anything too outrageous (like what Sheets might) and he'd be the ideal number 2 allowing the ascension to ace for Gallardo.

[sbrylski]

I think that's an excellent call on Derek Lowe, if he hits the market. But I think even he, despite his age, will demand at least 4 years at $14M per. If Sheets can be resigned before he hits the market for, say, 4 years at $16M per + an option year, I think you might as well just do that.

[dadofandrew]

I love Derek Lowe, because it usually takes 3 hits to score off of him. He's older, so I'd hate to go more than 3 years, but I would hate to give Sheets more than 1.

[JohnBriggs12]

Lowe and Suppan were teammates albeit briefly in Boston in 97 and again in 03. Don't know if that would help but it probably can't hurt. Plus if they decided to bring Kapler back, he was a teammate of Lowe's also.

[BucEbadger]

True ace pitchers are hard to come by.. IMO the best ace type pitcher we could get cheap is Harden but he scares me more then Sheets...

(Gamel & Jackson type deal)

 

But it all depends what type of pitcher we want... Burnett is one i have liked for a long time but hes just like Sheets injury prone lately and when hes healthy hes a stud... (Gamel and Jeffress)

 

The second pitcher i like is Zito.. Guy can pitch but he has no run support behind him in SF but SF would have to pay 1/2 salary for the rest of the contract but i dont see them moving him... (Gamel, Iribarron and Anundsen type deal)

 

Third pitcher i like is J Sanchez in SF hard throwing LHP who gets alot of Ks but needs some work on his secondary pitches to be a Ace type which i could see down the road.. (Iribarron and Bryson)

[twobrewers]

The second pitcher i like is Zito.. Guy can pitch but he has no run support behind him in SF but SF would have to pay 1/2 salary for the rest of the contract but i dont see them moving him

I didn't know anyone in the world still liked Zito. Because San Fransico sure doesn't like him. (He was demoted to the bullpen on a really bad team. And his fastball sits around 82-85 MPH. When healthy, Chris Capuano was better)

 

I am really wishing the Brewers had mortgaged the farm this spring and traded for Haren. With all of the draft picks this year, and more comp picks likely next year (Sheets and maybe Gagne) we could have rebuilt the farm system in a hurry.

[Oldcity]

Not sure they could have gotten Haren without giving up Laporta. I still don't see a reasonable option for an ace-type pitcher that is more attractive than trying to re-sign Sheets (I realize this is mainly about acquiring an ace for this season, but still).

[endaround]

They would had to have given up LaPorta and Parra and 3 others. Arizona's offer was big. LaPorta really isn't that big of a deal, Parra is given teh Brewers really have no other ready starting prospects.

[twobrewers]

LaPorta, Gamel, Jeffress and Parra.

 

I would have done it.That price may be steep - but it would have made us the NL favorites. And we wouldn't lose any talent from our big league roster this year. (Since you replace Parra with Haren)

[Gobias Industries]

LaPorta, Gamel, Jeffress and Parra.

 

I would have done it.That price may be steep - but it would have made us the NL favorites. And we wouldn't lose any talent from our big league roster this year. (Since you replace Parra with Haren)

That offer has so much talent. LaPorta and Gamel are pretty much locks to at least hit in the bigs, and Parra should be a solid 3 if he stays healthy. That right there is a good offer, and IF Jeffress stays out of trouble and pitches up to his talent level, you probably have a top end starter or elite closer. Was Arizona's offer really that good?

 

I'm all for signing Derek Lowe in the offseason. I know he's been good out west, but I just can't believe he's been out there 4 years already. I wonder if something like 3/42 would get it done?

[Gopher74]

I'd keep an eye on Derek Lowe. He's a FA to be and though not an "ace", he's pretty close. He'd likely only be available if the Dodgers fall out of contention completely. That's a real longshot but so are most of the other scenarios for guys on this thread.

 

Lowe might be a guy worth pursuing in the offseason too assuming Sheets goes elsewhere. At 35 he won't command either in years or in annual salary anything too outrageous (like what Sheets might) and he'd be the ideal number 2 allowing the ascension to ace for Gallardo.

I've banged the Derek Lowe drum myself. Along with the Jon Garland drum(though not nearly as much as Lowe's a 2 and Garland a 3 imo).

 

I think Lowe gets a Jason Schmidt type deal in most years, but this next year I could see him getting a 3 year 35 million dollar deal which is well within a respectable number.

 

Now in a dream world, we deal Suppan saving us 2 and 25, and we re-sign Sheets at 4 and 60 and then sign Lowe for 3 and 35 only spending about 4 million more a year than we are right now.

 

Of course...not gonna happen, but it'd be great!

 

[Gopher74]

I didn't know anyone in the world still liked Zito. Because San Fransico sure doesn't like him. (He was demoted to the bullpen on a really bad team. And his fastball sits around 82-85 MPH. When healthy, Chris Capuano was better)

 

I am really wishing the Brewers had mortgaged the farm this spring and traded for Haren. With all of the draft picks this year, and more comp picks likely next year (Sheets and maybe Gagne) we could have rebuilt the farm system in a hurry.

Capuano was not better than Barry Zito in any way. Zito's having a very bad year, there's just no question about that, and it was a terrible, awful signing. Again, no question about that. But he's also not going to stay terrible. He'll bounce back and become a solid pitcher again.

 

He's still not quite 30 years old and has a career ERA of 3.73, and averages well over 200 IP a year.

 

Again, I wouldn't want him for 6 years even at 8-9 million a year(assuming the Giants ate about half that), but to say that Cappy's better than him because of his awful start is waaay overstating it IMO, and it's a bit of a knee jerk comment to an atrocious start to the season. His ERA the second half last year was 4.11. He hasn't totally lost it since then.

[recte44]

This topic seems appropriate now. Could we get Oswalt??

 

Gamel, Jefferies, and ??? (Brantley)

 

I really don't want to give up LaPorta but do we need to now?

[Oldcity]

Man. I really feel like they have to do something. Just make sure it's someone they can control for more than two years.

 

Edit: I actually think any upcoming trade might end any chance of re-signing Sheets. If they traded for an above average starter, they'd just keep that guy next year along with Yo, and say goodbye to Sheets.

[Samurai Bucky]

I don't know if this would work, but how about packing Weeks and Bush (plus maybe another) for Vicente Padilla? Then you call up Iribarren which can't be any worse at the plate then Weeks. Padilla isn't an "ace" by any means, but could be a valuable asset. I suppose it depends if the Rangers want to move Kinsler to 3B.

[KRM17]

What's Victor Santos up to these days?

[BrewCrewBaseball]

Oswald is my choice. I agree with Stevo, we need to get a starter that will be around for a few years if were going to give up alot of prospects. Plus, that pitcher needs to compilment Gallardo when he comes back.

[sheetswannabe]

I don't know if this would work, but how about packing Weeks and Bush (plus maybe another) for Vicente Padilla?

 

Yuck.. Padilla is basically another Bush that rarely throws 200 innings.... And you want to give up Rickie with Bush? No way

 

I want to see Kazmir in a Brewers Uniform

 

Lefty: Check

Young: Check

Cheap: Check (kinda)

[recte44]

Pipe dreams are great, but the Rays aren't dealing Kazmir.

 

I'm trying to not be reactionary, but I feel doing nothing isn't serving the teams interest either. I'd feel better with Weaver in the rotation right now than either Villy or Parra, to be honest. I feel like neither can get past the 5th inning.

[sbrylski]

I'm trying to not be reactionary, but I feel doing nothing isn't serving the teams interest either.

 

Well, even before the injury there was the thought that we had minor league ammo to make a midseason move. Gallardo's injury just quickened the time frame and increased the importance.

 

Zach Greinke, instead of Kazmir. Cheaper and might actually be available for the right price.

[splitterpfj]

Pipe dreams are great, but the Rays aren't dealing Kazmir.

 

1. There were multiple reports of Kazmir's availability last winter, the Rays did acknowledge some discussions.

2. Kazmir has an injury history of his own. I'd be interested, but I wouldn't sell out to make it happen.

[sheetswannabe]

Kazmir K's a ton, so it would help our offense.