The $60 million dollar challenge. Build the '07 Brewers.

[paul253]

I like the idea of getting Ensberg, especiallf if koskie cant return. Hall, Fielder, and Ensberg, 3-4-5, could be solid. I think it was this thread that i posted this in, but if not, i'll say it again. I think its time we cash in some of our higher-level pitching prospects for a proven major leaguer, possibly one who is making $7-8 million . Think about it....Dillard, Hammond, Eveland, Jackson, Parrra, Gallardo, Villanueva, Inman, Rogers. Even if they all pan out, which we know they wont, unfortunately, where are we going to put them? I say trade some (preferably not Gallardo or Inman) while they still have value.

 

As for Clark and Mench, if we can get something for either, i think we should. They are making too much money to come off the bench. Again, i wouldnt be terribly disapointed if Jenkins is an everyday player again. His season cannot possibly be as bad as it was this year. So Jenkins and Hart in right/left with Gwynn or Gross, or preferably a free agent with some speed, in center. Who knows, maybe Hall in center if Koskie is back and we get Ensberg, with Cirillo, Hardy, and Weeks in the middle infield. But we definately need an 8th ining guy. Maybe Turnbow can turn it around in Spring Training but if not, that definately a need.

 

So this would be it.....

 

Fielder, Weeks, Hardy, Ensberg, Koskie, Cirillo, Rivera, Miller, Jenkins, Hart, Gwynn, Gross, FA outfielder, and 12 pitchers

(I guess mine only has 4 or 5 new players)

[swinchott]

Starters

Sheets 10mil

Capuano 3mil

Bush 1mil

Villanueva 400k

Gallardo/Jackson 400k

 

Relievers

Cordero 5mil

Tunbow 2.3mil

Wise 1mil

Shouse 1mil

Capellan 800k

Sarfate 400k

Jackson/Eveland 400k

 

Infield

Fielder 1mil

Weeks 1mil

Hall 2.75mil

Koskie 2mil

Hardy 700k

Cirillo 850k

 

Outfield

Soriano 16mil

Gross 800k

Gwynn 400k

Hart 400k

 

Catchers

Miller 3.75mil

Rivera 400k

Rottino 400k

 

Eat part of Jenkins and Clark's salary - 5mil

 

Total $61,150,000

[trwi7]

Starters:

 

1. Gwynn Jr. $327,000

2. Hardy $355,000

3. Fielder $329,000

4. Soriano $17,000,000

5. Koskie $2,000,000

6. Weeks $500,000

7. Hart $329,000

8. Miller $3,750,000

 

Bench:

 

Gross $335,000

Hall 3,500,000 (everyday between 3B,SS,2B,CF)

Rivera $327,000

Cirillo $850,000

Nix $500,000

 

Total Batters: $30,102,000

 

Starting pitchers:

 

1. Sheets $10,000,000

2. Capuano $3,250,000

3. Bush $352,000

4. Davis $4,500,000

5. Villanueva $327,000

 

Bullpen:

 

Sarfate $327,000

Cordero $5,000,000

Wise $1,000,000

Turnbow $2,300,000

Shouse $1,000,000

Capellan $330,000

Helling $850,000

 

Total Pitchers: $29,236,000

 

Trade Jenkins pay $3,500,000

Trade Clark pay $2,500,000

 

Total payroll+Clark and Jenkins= $65,338,000

[brewerfan82]

Another update. I wanted to add Crawford as an offseason acquisition:

 

Let'em walk:

3B David Bell

SP Tomo Ohka (offer arby)

SP Rick Helling

RP Dan Kolb

RP Jeremi Gonzalez

 

Trade'em:

SP Dana Eveland, SP Manny Parra, OF Charlie Fermaint (or similar package)

   for OF Carl Crawford

3B Corey Koskie, prospect(s) for 3B Morgan Ensberg

OF Brady Clark or Kevin Mench, for prospect(s)/relief pitcher

RF Geoff Jenkins, $4mil for prospect(s)/relief pitcher

 

Sign'em:

IF Tony Graffanino, 2 yrs $4.5mil (07: $2.0mil, 08: $2.5mil)

 

Payroll:

LF Carl Crawford        4.000

SS JJ Hardy             0.355

2B Rickie Weeks         0.500

1B Prince Fielder       0.329

3B Morgan Ensberg       4.500

RF Corey Hart           0.329

CF Bill Hall            3.000

C  Damian Miller        3.750

 

C  Mike Rivera          0.350

IF Tony Graffanino      2.000

IF Jeff Cirillo         0.800

OF Gabe Gross           0.355

OF Mench/Clark          4.000

 

SP Ben Sheets          10.000

SP Chris Capuano        4.000

SP Doug Davis           4.500

SP David Bush           0.352

SP Carlos Villanueva    0.350

 

CL Francisco Cordero    5.000

RP TRADE ACQUISITION    3.000

RP Jose Capellan        0.330

RP Matt Wise            1.000

RP Derrick Turnbow      2.300

RP Brian Shouse         1.500

RP Dennis Sarfate       0.350

                     --------

             Payroll   56.950

 

OF Geoff Jenkins        4.000

                     --------

          Total Paid   60.950

[strawbossisevil]

Offseason moves:

Resigned Cirillo - $1 million

FA Signing - Jason Schmidt 4 years 50 million

" " - long reliever 1.5 million

Trade - Inman, Eveland, Hurricane for Carl Crawford

 

 

 Player MIL $ ------------------------ Ben Sheets 10.00 Jason Schmidt 12.50 (4 for 50 million) Chris Capuano 3.00 Carlos Villinuava 0.38 David Bush 0.38 ------------------------ FA Long Relief 1.50 Sarfate 0.38 Brian Shouse 1.00 Matt Wise 1.00 Jose Capellan 0.38 Derrick Turnbow 2.30 Fransisco Cordero 5.00 ------------------------ Prince Fielder 0.38 Rickie Weeks 0.50 J.J. Hardy 0.38 Billy Hall 3.00 Corey Koskie 2.00 Jeff Cirillo 1.00 ------------------------ Corey Hart 0.38 Gabe Gross 0.38 Brady Clark 3.80 Geoff Jenkins 7.00 Carl Crawford 4.00 ------------------------ Damian Miller 3.50 Mike Rivera 0.38 ------------------------ 57.46

Batting Order:

1. Crawford (LF)

2. Weeks (2nd)

3. Hall (SS)

4. Fielder (1st)

5. Hart (RF)

6. Koskie (3B)

7. Gross (CF)

8. Miller/Rivera ©

 

Bench:

IF:

Hardy (starts vs. lefties at SS)

Cirillo

OF:

Clark or Gwynn (if Clark can be traded - would open up more $ for FA)

Jenkins (lefty off the bench/occasional starter)

 

Midseason (injury) callups:

Pitchers:

Gallardo, Jackson

IF:

Braun, Rottino

OF:

Gwynn, Anderson

[RyDogg66]

I think Eveland, Hendrickson and Sarfate all need to be in the bullpen taking up the last 3 spots in the pen. Add in Cordero, Turnbow, Shouse and Capellan. Possibly trade Matt Wise or Derrick Turnbow.

[vacin8r]

I was really bored at work but i put this together in an effort to appease everyone here(this is in absolutely no way based in reality although i tried to make trades i thought teams may accept. the brady clark one is contigent on the twins letting hunter go)

 

here we go. the $70 million 2007 milwaukee brewers(sorry for the all caps):

 

C&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp DAMIEN MILLER&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 3750000

C&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp MIKE RIVERA&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 400000

1B&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp PRINCE FIELDER&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 1000000

2B&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp RICKIE WEEKS&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 1000000

SS&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp BILL HALL&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 4000000

3B&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp MIKE LOWELL&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 9000000

IF&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp JEFF CIRILLO&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 850000

IF&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp VINNY ROTTINO&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 400000

LF&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp CARL CRAWFORD&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 4000000

CF&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp COCO CRISP&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 3500000

RF&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp COREY HART&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 400000

OF&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp GABE GROSS&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 800000

OF&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp LAYNCE NIX&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 400000

SP&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp JASON SCHMIDT&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 14000000

SP&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp BEN SHEETS&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 10000000

SP&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp CHRIS CAPUANO&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 4000000

SP&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp DAVE BUSH&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 1000000

SP&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp CARLOS VILLANUEVA&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 400000

RP&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp JESSE CRAIN&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 400000

RP&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp BRIAN SHOUSE&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 1000000

RP&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp JOSE CAPPELLAN&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 800000

RP&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp MATT WISE&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 1000000

RP&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp RAFAEL BETANCOURT&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 500000

RP&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp RICK HELLING&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 850000

CP&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp FRANCISCO CORDERO&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 6000000

&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp TOTAL TEAM SALARY:&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 69450000

 

Trades include:

TRADED GEOFF JENKINS AND JJ HARDY FOR COCO CRISP AND MIKE LOWELL

TRADED YO GALLARDO, ZACH JACKSON, AND MIKE JONES FOR CARL CRAWFORD

TRADED BRADY CLARK AND COREY KOSKIE FOR JESSE CRAIN

TRADED DERRICK TURNOW AND KEVIN MENCH FOR RAFAEL BETANCOURT

 

Signings include:

SIGNED TO A 4 YEAR $52 MIL CONTRACT 1ST-14 2ND-13 3RD-13 4TH-12

 

I know no one wants to trade Yo, but sometimes you have to give up quality to get Quality. Its fun to do this kinda stuff.

-Don

[sbrylski]

Propose Jenkins for Pat Burrell and $3+ million, lowering his cost to $24 million for 2 years. If that trade goes through, also trade Kevin Mench for a prospect or a relief pitcher.

 

Sign a very good RP, I'll pick out LHRP Jamie Walker (3 years, $10 million (3, 3, 4))

 

Decline Miller's team option to save $1.5 mil, as he will in all likelyhood pick up his player option. Consider signing a free agent catcher, though the crop is rather weak, and we can do just fine with a Miller/Rivera tandem. (When Miller leaves after next year, Michael Barrett will be a free agent and could be a great signing)

 

Also, explore trading Clark, though it would be okay if he was still around next year. And see if Turnbow still carries any demand, as he seemed to have quite a bit of trade value at the deadline. I'm not ready to give up on him, so it would have to be someone pretty good for me to trade him.

 

Resign Cirillo - 1 year / $1 mil

Resign Shouse - 1 year / $2 mil

 

Negotiate with Hall and Capuano to buyout their arby years.

Hall - 3 years / ~$16 mil (4, 5.5, 7)

Capuano - 3 years / ~16 mil (4, 5.5, 7)

 

Negotiate with Davis for a three year deal

Davis - 3 years / ~$18 mil (5, 6.5, 6.5)

 

Move Hall to CF and leave him there, barring any IF injury, for the rest of him time in Milwaukee, hopefully his career.

 1. 2B Weeks $ .500 2. 3B Koskie $ 2.000 3. LF Burrell $12.000 4. 1B Fielder $ .330 5. CF Hall ~$ 4.000 6. RF Hart $ .330 7. SS Hardy $ .355 8. C Miller $ 2.250 OF Gross $ .335 OF Clark $ 3.800 OF Nix $ .330 (else Gwynn or IFer) IF Cirillo $ 1.000 C Rivera $ .330 1. Sheets $10.000 2. Capuano ~$ 4.000 3. Bush $ .352 4. Davis ~$ 5.000 5. Villanueva $ .327 LR Eveland $ .330 (else Spurling, Sarfate, other FA, Mench trade) MR Turnbow $ 2.300 MR Walker $ 3.000 MR Wise $ 1.000 SU Shouse $ 2.000 SU Capellan $ .330 CL Cordero $ 5.000 ------- TOTAL $61.199

I would welcome Jenkins back, I just don't think he will. If he isn't traded for a big leaguer, Gross starts in a LF platoon with Mench, also getting time in CF if Hall does have to play some infielder because of injury.

 

I'll probably change my mind again. I liked going back and rereading my really long post

Edited because inaccurate coding made for extra wide post

[colbyjack]

Alright, I'm taking a shot at this.

 

Trade Geoff Jenkins to the St. Louis Cardinals for a mid-range prospect. The Cardinals have taken on such players in the past while assuming their contracts, and they could use an extra bat on one of their outfield corners.

 

Trade Dennis Sarfate and Zach Jackson to the D-Backs for Johnny Estrada (they traded a couple of powerful bullpen arms to get Estrada, and will likely accept some kind of package of young, quality arms to shed his increasing salary).

 

Trade Bill Hall in a 3-way deal to acquire Carl Crawford. I have suggested trading Hall to Minnesota, sending a pair (or more) of pitchers in Kevin Slowey and Glen Perkins to Tampa Bay, but how about Hall to the White Sox and Brandon McCarthy plus one other (Sean Tracey?) to TB? While Juan Uribe has the Latin connection with Guillen, he is starting to not hit his weight.

 

Re-sign Tony Graffanino to a 2-year, $5 million deal (approximately).

 

Sign Nomar Garciaparra (to play LF) to a 2-year, $16 million deal loaded with incentives and including a decent (meaning with a good enough buyout) option year for a third.

 

Non-tender Kevin Mench.

 

Here's the roster. The salaries are rough estimates on many of these players, but I think they're close enough (and the final payroll will be plus or minus a few hundred thousand):

 

Starting Lineup:

 

CF: Carl Crawford: $4M

SS: J.J. Hardy: $355K

LF: Nomar Garciaparra: $8M

1B: Prince Fielder: $355K

2B: Rickie Weeks: $500K

3B: Corey Koskie: $2M

RF: Corey Hart: $335K

C: Johnny Estrada: $3.5M

 

Bench:

 

C: Damian Miller: $2.25M

OF: Gabe Gross: $355K

OF: Brady Clark: $3.8M

IF: Tony Graffanino: $2.5M

IF: Jeff Cirillo: $1M

 

Starting Rotation:

 

RHP: Ben Sheets: $10M

LHP: Chris Capuano: $4M

RHP: Dave Bush: $355K

LHP: Doug Davis: $4.5M

RHP: Carlos Villanueva: $335K

 

Bullpen:

 

CL: Francisco Cordero: $5.4M

RHRP: Derrick Turnbow: $2.3M

RHRP: Matt Wise: $1M

RHRP: Jose Capellan: $335K

RHRP: Grant Balfour: $355K

LHRP: Brian Shouse: $1M

LHRP: Dana Eveland: $355K

 

Total: $58,885,000.00

 

Again, the total figure could be affected if I got the numbers above slightly wrong, or a couple of million could swing should the Brewers have to add a million or two to get rid of Jenkins' contract. I was tempted to ditch Cirillo on this list while keeping Mench, since an extra outfielder might be needed to make up for Garciaparra, whom I signed to my imaginary team knowing that he likely will miss 30-40 games. On the flip side, Ryan Braun will likely only be a phone call away should the team need another big bat due to an injury.

 

Yes, it's an expensive bench, and the catching corp is particularly expensive, but it's a position I'm willing to overpay at to have a couple of decent hitting backstops. I'm a little concerned that I don't have Mench here, and you lose a lot of versatility by not having Hall anywhere, who I wasn't thrilled about losing, even in my imaginary scenario. I like that I have speed at the top in Crawford and added speed in the middle of the lineup in Weeks. The lineup is a lot less strikeout prone as well.

 

The pitching obviously has to stay healthy, and the bullpen needs to bounce back, or at least Turnbow does. It's possible that the D-Backs would trade Estrada for Turnbow instead of Sarfate and Jackson, who would add more depth for a smaller price, opening more money up to possibly keep someone like Kevin Mench around as a platoon/bench player.

 

EDIT: And I'm not even at $60M, so I must have done something wrong. Moving Jenkins obviously will be tricky, and Crawford and Hall are nearly a wash salary-wise even if that 3-way deal is unrealstic. Basically, according to my math, even if the team isn't able to move some unhappy salaries, the Brewers should be in a position to sign a free agent or two. Probably not Alfonso Soriano, but a good one or two should be able to be had without too much re-organization.

[pogokat]

hey patrick---

 

email that to doug melvin so he can make it happen...

 

how bout we trade brady clark for a low a reliever and sign dave roberts too...

 

good stuff...i'm with you on Nomar...i don't care about his injuries...i love the guy...one of the best pure hitters in baseball...

[vacin8r]

I just dont see TB giving up crawford for anything less than gallardo, and if its a 3 team deal, why would the chisox give up mccarthy for hall when they wouldnt give him up for soriano when they were in the middle of a playoff chase(which they lost). yes hall would be there longer then the rental of soriano, but i would think opportunities for a ring trump all. mccarthy will be in their rotation next year with one of their other starters getting dealt.

-Don

[vacin8r]

This isnt what Id actually do, but its fun to look at all angles:

 

C&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Damien Miller&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $3,750,000

C&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Mike Rivera&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $380,000

1B&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Prince Fielder&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $380,000

2B&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Rickie Weeks&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $500,000

3B&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Corey Koskie&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $2,000,000

SS&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Bill Hall &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $4,000,000

IF&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp JJ Hardy&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $380,000

IF&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Jeff Cirillo &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $1,250,000

OF&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Kevin Mench&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $4,000,000

OF&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Kenny Lofton&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $2,000,000

OF&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Corey Hart &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $350,000

OF&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Gabe Gross&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $350,000

OF&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Gwynn/Nix &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $350,000

SP&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Chris Capuano&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $4,000,000

SP&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Dave Bush &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $350,000

SP&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Zach Jackson&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $350,000

SP&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Dana Eveland&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $350,000

SP&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Carlos Villanueva&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $350,000

CP&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Francisco Cordero&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $5,000,000

RP&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Dennis Sarfate&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $350,000

RP&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Matt Wise&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $1,000,000

RP&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Brian Shouse&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $1,500,000

RP&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Scott Proctor&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $350,000

RP&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Jose Capellan&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $350,000

RP&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Grant Balfour&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $350,000

&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp total payroll&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $33,990,000

 

How acquired:

If the Yankees want Sheeter so bad, they can trade us Proctor and Hughes for Sheets, Jenkins, and Turnbow taking on all the salaries of those guys.

 

Sign Kenny Lofton to a 1 yr $2mil deal with a team option for 2nd year.

 

 

Now I know this team looks bad, especially in the starting pitching department, but this is only part of the plan. We trade the lesser of hughes or gallardo in a package of prospects at the deadline to the cubs(who are out of it at this point) for Zambrano and call up the other of the two. We also have a contract extension already worked out for Zambrano as we do the trade. Hopefully one of zachJack, Eveland or Villanueva shows they can be a legit 5th starter giving us a rotation finishing 2007 and leading into 2008 of Zambrano, Cappy, Bush, Yo, Zac/Eve/Vil. And even if Zambrano gets 15mil per(which I think is a bit steep, 12 is more realistic, that still gives us only a 48mil payroll moving forward to sign a big bat(Andrew Jones perhaps, or maybe move hall to CF and sign Michael Young) after next season as well as lock up some of our young studs.

-Don

[fleehaw]

Okay, I decided to give this one more shot. I came up with a team that I would like a lot, and should be pretty competitive. I tried to make the trades reasonable, probably giving up more than I think I should to compensate for my Brewer goggles. I have the Brewers building their 2007 team mainly thru trade, with one mid-level free agent signed and a couple guys resigned. I also realize this scenario is unlikely because it would make Melvin one very busy man this off-season.

 

Trade 1:

Jenkins, Hendrickson & $3M cash to the Giants for Brad Hennessey.

The Giants will lose at least one OF, perhaps 2. Jenkins looks pretty good at $4M as opposed to picking up Finley?s option at $7M. Plus, Jenkins is a SoCal guy, a decent bet to rebound at least a bit, and Hendrickson is a throw-in. The Giants can?t think too highly of Hennessey since Jamey Wright was in the rotation instead of him. The Brewers begin to thin out the OF and get a nice young pitcher.

 

Trade 2:

Davis and Koskie to the Astros for Morgan Ensberg.

The Astros were apparently mulling a deadline deal of Linebrink and Blum/Belhorn for Ensberg. I would much rather have DD and Koskie than those guys. Add in a clause about Koskie. If he can?t play, the Brewers pick up his $2M price tag and the Astros can pick from a list of prospects (mid-level guys like a Crabbe or Moss). The Brewers add power to their lineup in a swap of guys who underperformed in ?06.

 

Trade 3:

Mench, Turnbow, & Hennessey to the Indians for Westbrook & Betancourt.

The Brewers cut some fat in Mench & Turnbow in actually a pretty fair swap of salaries. It?s questionable if the Indians have the money to resign Westbrook in ?08, so instead, they get a nice young pitcher, an average OF who could at the very least platoon with Choo, and a former all-star closer to hopefully bolster the backend of the bullpen. The Brewers get a solid SP who had a good year last year and a solid setup guy. Some Brewer fans might prefer Hennessey to Westbrook, to them I say, keep reading.

 

Trade 4:

Westbrook, Capellan, Hammond, and $2M to the Rays for Carl Crawford.

Oh, my white whale. The Rays get mostly what they were after, a very solid SP (who will look mighty nice behind Kazmir), a decent reliever who has the potential to be a dominant closer, and a good young pitcher in the minors in case Westbrook bolts after the year. It?s a lot to give up for the Brewers, but I think it?ll be worth it. Crawford is only 25-26 and still getting better. The cash is to help even out the salaries.

 

Trade 5:

Hall, Zach Jack, & Fermaint to the Angels for Santana, Aybar, & Mathis.

The Angels get their big bat to assist Guerrero, plus keep some of their pitching depth with a young guy with options and possibly a CF of the future. In addition, with Hall at 3B, Wood can develop and his own pace and take over for Cabrera in a couple years. The Brewers get a very good young pitcher, a young catcher to put at AAA and hopefully can share time with Rivera next year, and also an AAA SS prospect who can provide depth in case Hardy gets injured or doesn?t perform.

 

Trade 6:

Gwynn to the Marlins for Tankersley.

The Marlins need a CF and the Brewers get a good young lefty for the bullpen.

 

Free-Agent Signings

Danys Baez 2yrs/$5M

Baez comes to Milwaukee to help bolster the bullpen with the chance to close games and double his salary with incentives in ?08 if Cordero isn?t resigned.

 

Tony Graffinino 2yrs/$4.5M

Adds IF depth with the trade of Hall

 

Jeff Cirillo 1yr/$1M

 

Lineup:

2B Weeks 800K

CF Crawford 4.0M

RF Hart 400K

1B Fielder 400K

3B Ensberg 6.0M

LF Gross 400K

SS Hardy 400K

C Miller 3.75M

 

Bench:

Cirillo 1M

Graffinino 2.25M

Clark 3.75M

Nix 400K

Rivera 400K

 

Total: $23.95M

 

Breakdown: The first 3 guys could all be 20-20 guys next year. I like Weeks leading off because his OBP was good and I feel he K?s too much for #2. Crawford on the other hand makes good contact and fits in nice in the 2 hole. 4-6 guys should avg. at least 100 Ks, 100 BBs, and around 30hrs. Ensberg should be able to put up Hall-like #s without as many K?s. I would make Gross prove he can?t hit lefties and give him a decent leash. Put Hardy in the 7 hole and forget the .300, 20 hr talk. As long as he plays great defense and puts up at least Khalil Greene like #s, I?ll be satisfied. Miller and Rivera should be a nice combo and that bench is solid. Notice all 5 OF on the roster can play all 3 OF spots. Defense should be much improved if Weeks can keep it up.

 

Pitchers:

Sheets 10M

Capuano 4M

Santana 4M (not sure if he is, but I?m treating him like a super 2)

Bush 400K

Villenueva 400K

 

Bullpen:

LP Eveland 400K long relief

RP Sarfate 400K long relief

LP Tankersley 400K

RP Betancourt 800K

RP Wise 1M

RP Baez 2.5M

CL Cordero 5.0M

 

Total: $29.3M

 

5M for Jenkins and Crawford trades

 

Grand Total: $58.25M

 

Pitching should be great if people stay healthy. That rotation is very good and the bullpen should be improved.

 

Also, no long term baggage and the minors are still stocked. Braun can take over for Ensberg in ?08 or ?09 and Gallardo, Inman, and Rogers are all still in the organization. This team should be improved in the speed and defense categories; it would become the team to beat in the central.

[vacin8r]

One last shot at this, im at least right around 60 this time:

Resign: Tony Graffanino @ 2yr/$4mil

Arby:Capuano $4mil

Arby:Hall $4mil

FA:Jason Schmidt 4 yr $52mil

FA:Mark Derosa: 2yr $2mil

Trade: Jenkins for whatever we can get without picking up salary. I think someone out there would take Jenkins and his salary if they didnt have to give anything up.

Trade: JJ Hardy, Doug Davis, Zack Jackson, and Derrick Turnbow for Michael Young

 

That gives us a roster and payroll of:

C&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Damien Miller&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $3,750,000

C&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Mike Rivera&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $380,000

1B&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Prince Fielder&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $380,000

2B&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Rickie Weeks&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $500,000

3B&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Corey Koskie&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $2,000,000

SS&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Michael Young&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $3,500,000

IF&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Tony Graffanino&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $2,000,000

IF&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Jeff Cirillo&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $1,250,000

OF&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Mark Derosa&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $1,000,000

OF&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Bill Hall&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $4,000,000

OF&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Corey Hart&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $350,000

OF&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Gabe Gross&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $350,000

OF&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Kevin Mench&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $4,000,000

SP&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Jason Schmidt&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $13,000,000

SP&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Ben Sheets&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $10,000,000

SP&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Chris Capuano&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $4,000,000

SP&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Dave Bush&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $350,000

SP&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Carlos Villanueva&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $350,000

CP&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Francisco Cordero&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $5,000,000

RP&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Dennis Sarfate&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $350,000

RP&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Matt Wise&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $1,000,000

RP&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Brian Shouse&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $1,500,000

RP&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Dana Eveland&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $350,000

RP&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Jose Capellan&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $350,000

RP&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Grant Balfour&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $350,000

&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp total payroll&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp $60,060,000

 

and a lineup of:

Weeks

Young

Fielder

Hall

Koskie

Mench/Derosa platoon

Gross/Hart Platoon

Miller

Pitcher

 

Perhaps 2 platoons in the corners isnt the best way to go, but it will keep us hitting until we can find a better solution(ie Hart becoming a legit MLB corner outfielder, some prospect steps up, a future FA signing or trade acquisition, etc)

 

Our rotation would be awesome though with:

Schmidt

Sheets

Cappy

Bush

Villanueva

one of the best in baseball

 

The bullpen isnt great, but could show some things and if the team is contending we can trade some propects(other than yo or braun) for relief help before the deadline.

 

I think the trades will work, although in the cases of Jenks and T-Bow we may have to pay some cash out putting payroll above $60mil, but regardless, this is a contending team in my eyes.

 

Of the multiple tries at this ive taken, i think this team is the best(as well as closest to the target payroll). get r done melvin.http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

-don

[sbrylski]

Actually, Mench and DeRosa both hit lefties well, so it wouldn't make sense to platoon them. It would probably be Hart full time with Gross and Mench platooning, and DeRosa as a bench player that can play all over (3B, 2B, OF).

 

(And a minor objection would be listing Schmidt ahead of Sheets. When Sheets is healthy he is one of the top 10 pitchers in the league, if not better.)

[vacin8r]

yes, when sheets is healthy he is a top 10 pitcher, or at least top 20. but wait, schmidt is also a top 10/20 pitcher in the league. i suppose their interchangable really, but i chose to go with the vet at the top, especially with the number of innings he throws in a year. and your right, i bonked on who to platoon where, mench hart and derosa all hit lefties better, gross hits righties better, with hart at least close. have gross/hart vs righties, mench/derosa/occasionally hart vs lefties.

-don

[sbrylski]

FIP (Sheets / Schmidt)

2004 - 2.80 / 4.06

2005 - 3.49 / 4.00

2006 - 2.48 / 3.87

 

ERA (Sheets / Schmidt)

2004 - 2.70 / 3.20

2005 - 3.33 / 4.40

2006 - 3.82 / 3.59

 

While looking up these stats, I found this graph:

 

http://www.fangraphs.com/graphs/1131_710_P_cseason_full_3_20061001.png

 

He's way off the charts! (It's an important stat, but I'm not neccessarily posting this to stregthen my argument, just thought it was worth noting)

[reillymcshane]

Quote:

---

Sign FA C Javier Valentin (3 years / $7.5 million)

---

 

He is not a FA. He's signed through 2007.

 

Story

[rluzinski]

Well, we can all update our projections to reflact Miller's $2.75 mil salary for 2007. An extra mil!

[And That]

Well, we can all update our projections to reflact Miller's $2.75 mil salary for 2007. An extra mil!

 

Even better news, Russ. He's only making $2.25 mil. We're saving enough here for like 3/4 a Graffanino.

[rluzinski]

I'm not saying this is what I want exactly but the Brewers could probably pay for Schmidt even if Jenkins' and Clark's salary can't be shed:

 

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a345/rluzinski/projpayroll.gif

 

That's a very good starting rotation, in my opinion. If Villy held up, I'd think it could be the best in the NL. The relief pitching would be mediocre, probably. The offense could be pretty good as well. I'd like to think Davis could get the Brewers a cheap and decent right handed stick to platoon with Jenkins in RF. There would be decisions to be made at SS, 3B and CF but there's enough personel on that roster to figure something out.

 

Even better news, Russ. He's only making $2.25 mil. We're saving enough here for like 3/4 a Graffanino.

 

I'd certainly rather have Graffy than Cirillo. It will just be a question of whether someone will offer him a starting spot (I think someone will). I'm glad you aren't calling for the Crew to resign Bell anymore http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

[And That]

When's the last time our bullpen was being paid $10+ mil? That really seems to me to be the most overpaid segment of the team. And this is without counting the veteran or two I think they'll bring in.

 

I'm glad you aren't calling for the Crew to resign Bell anymore http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

 

Hey man, not me. I'm right up with Brett in terms of anti-Bellitude.

[Hammer]

Quote:

---

That's a very good starting rotation, in my opinion. If Villy held up, I'd think it could be the best in the NL.

---

 

How funny it would be to go from a rotation w/ 3 lefties at times to a rotation w/ only 1. Even though the bully would be a little weak (what a waste of 2.3 mil on T-Blow) there has to be a way to make it better on the cheap. Let's find a couple more stitched up arms, throw them at the wall and hope they stick. Other than that...wow, I like that team.

[Oldcity]

So are most here for going after Schmidt? Or is this just a "hypothetical?" For what he'll cost, his age, and his history of injury, I'm not sure I'd pursue him. Hasn't he had arm/shoulder problems?

[rluzinski]

So are most here for going after Schmidt? Or is this just a "hypothetical?" For what he'll cost, his age, and his history of injury, I'm not sure I'd pursue him. Hasn't he had arm/shoulder problems?

 

I was just curious, personally. I saw someone put 4 years and $52 mil and an with it. There's room in the budget for a $13 mil arm without playing games with trading away all our overpayed players. The bullpen suffers and CF could potential be a question mark, however.