How big of an effect would selling have on attendance?

[3and2Fastball]

I wouldn't blow the team up, but the players who will be free agents, Greinke & K-Rod, would really have value at the trade deadline and I don't think we have much of a chance of re-signing Greinke

[3and2Fastball]

How does Profar make this team better in '13 or '14?.

 

Pretty much the same way that Bryce Harper is making the Nationals better. Profar is raking in AA ball as a 19 year old and playing Gold Glove Defense at SS. He'd be an incredible addition to the Brewers from 2013 through 2019!

 

It might be unrealistic to even hope for a trade for Profar. The Rangers are so high on him they might trade Andrus in the off-season instead. Still I'd offer both Greinke & K-Rod for Profar in about a month or so....Greinke & K-Rod would likely put the Rangers over the top as World Series favorites and we'd have the next Derek Jeter for 6 years in Profar

[RockCoCougars]

It might be unrealistic to even hope for a trade for Profar.

 

If Profar is in the same class as Trout and Harper, he's not going to get traded, simple as that. Now that the Rangers signed Oswalt, this may be moot anyway.

[monty57]

It might be unrealistic to even hope for a trade for Profar.

 

If Profar is in the same class as Trout and Harper, he's not going to get traded, simple as that. Now that the Rangers signed Oswalt, this may be moot anyway.

 

I guess what I've been championing is selling for a good return as opposed to holding pat and losing all the free-agents-to-be or buying in a futile attempt to fool the fans into thinking we're "in it to win it."

 

Profar has kind of become the symbol of the case for selling, and it would be great if we could get him, but my arguement has never been "we need to get Profar," but rather "if we sell, we need to get a good return of talented young players who can help future Brewer teams."

 

You are probably right, however that the Oswalt move probably ends the Greinke-to-Texas discussion. If the GM needed owners' approval for the $5MM to sign Oswalt, it may not be likely that they would approve paying 1/2 of Greinke's salary and parting with prospects... unless someone gets hurt.

[RockCoCougars]

It might be unrealistic to even hope for a trade for Profar.

 

If Profar is in the same class as Trout and Harper, he's not going to get traded, simple as that. Now that the Rangers signed Oswalt, this may be moot anyway.

 

I guess what I've been championing is selling for a good return as opposed to holding pat and losing all the free-agents-to-be or buying in a futile attempt to fool the fans into thinking we're "in it to win it."

 

Profar has kind of become the symbol of the case for selling, and it would be great if we could get him, but my arguement has never been "we need to get Profar," but rather "if we sell, we need to get a good return of talented young players who can help future Brewer teams."

 

You are probably right, however that the Oswalt move probably ends the Greinke-to-Texas discussion. If the GM needed owners' approval for the $5MM to sign Oswalt, it may not be likely that they would approve paying 1/2 of Greinke's salary and parting with prospects... unless someone gets hurt.

 

I hear you, but there is a fine line between selling for a good return and selling for the best deal out there. Frankly, I'm not sure whether I trust Melvin to do the former. Once you put a guy on the market, it's tough to pull them back.

[FVBrewerFan]

Brewers are past the point of making decisions with attendance in mind. You strive to make the team better, and attendance will follow. Plus, Greinke isn't exactly a fan favorite. Not like Sabathia was in his short time here, certainly not at the level of Prince.

 

With that in mind, I wouldn't trade Greinke just for the sake of trading him. But if he's dominant or near dominant come July/August I think they can a lot for him. Teams like the Orioles, Nationals, Indians, Mets, etc. may be in contention and those franchises have waited a long time- some of them very, very long.

 

I don't see it as rebuilding. Simply building the best roster you can with limited resources. Does the rotation next year without Greinke scare me? Yes. Especially when you see Peralta's results this year. But I simply don't want to tie up 25% of the salary on one player, then hope he's really good AND healthy for the next 5 years. Frankly, with or without Greinke this team will struggle to be a true contender this year or next.

 

Bottom line, if the Brewers broke the bank on a player it should have been Fielder or Sabathia, not Greinke.

[Funketown]

Attanasio:

 

"We always have a buyer's mindset," Attanasio said, according to Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. "In seven years, we've always had a buyer's mindset."

 

We all know to take these words with a grain of salt, but I don't have a feeling this team is ready to sell quite yet.

 

It will be interesting to see how Attanasio handles rebuilding seasons. He seems to have a "win now" personality, and we're yet to see this team in all-out rebuild mode since he purchased the team.

[monty57]

Attanasio:

 

"We always have a buyer's mindset," Attanasio said, according to Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. "In seven years, we've always had a buyer's mindset."

 

We all know to take these words with a grain of salt, but I don't have a feeling this team is ready to sell quite yet.

 

It will be interesting to see how Attanasio handles rebuilding seasons. He seems to have a "win now" personality, and we're yet to see this team in all-out rebuild mode since he purchased the team.

 

Attanasio grew up a fan of a team who could always have a "win now" mindset. He doesn't own a team that can always have a "win now" mindset, and I hope he understands how painful it can be to be stuck with bad long-term contracts and no farm system from which to call up cheap, young talent.

 

My biggest worry about "having a buyer's mindset" this year isn't so much what we'd forego in not trading away some of our "chips" (although it is a worry). My biggest worry is that the only "chips" we have to trade if we are buyers and really want to upgrade this team are guys we're going to need for future teams, most notably our young pitchers. If we trade them away in an attempt to "win now," then we could be really screwed for the next decade.

[RockCoCougars]

Why talk about selling now? They are 6 games back, and take a look at the schedule for the next three weeks. If the offense picks up and the bullpen doesn't implode, it's not a stretch to think that they can be within 5 games out on June 30. If they have a June swoon, then you talk about selling.

[DHonks]

wow Bombers, I've been really impressed with Greinke in his year+. I guess you expect cy young awards every year!

 

RockCoCougars, I've been trying to say that but some people think teams should be imploded after only 50 games.

[TURBO]

But is our offense good enough to "pick-up?" That is the question in my mind.

 

We still don't have any hitters to hit in the 6-7-8 holes, then there is the pitching spot 9th.

 

Let's say our tried and true guys pick it up, there is still a black hole at the end of our line-up.

 

Hart, Aoki, Braun, Ramirez and Weeks, if those guys do their job(including Rickie hitting his norms) is that enough to propel us near first place? We do not have a catcher who can hit, we do not have a SS who can hit. I suppose if Morgan and Gomez can just be average, that would help.

 

Bah, I'm just typing out loud, but this offense is just so weak, we need everything to go pretty well if we intend to "pick up" and I have no faith at this point we can do it. If Weeks is going to play like this all year, we are pretty much screwed.

[RockCoCougars]

I think that the offense can pick up. Every year, it seems like they go through a stretch where the offense is horrendous. Maybe they got it out of the way early this year. Ramirez, Morgan and even Rickie have shown signs of life recently, if one or both goes on a tear, things might start clicking. The next homestand is absolutely huge.

[xisxisxis]

If Weeks is going to play like this all year, we are pretty much screwed.

 

I think you're over-estimating Weeks importance, the Brewers were just fine last year after weeks went down and when he returned and was crap. We have too many holes in the lineup right now. If Hart, Aram and Morgan start hitting better the offense will take a huge step forward even if Rickie remains in a funk. I don't think this team is going to be anywhere near as successful as last year, but the Cards have serious issues and the Reds aren't taking advantage of a poor Brewers start and the Cardinals recent play to take charge. So I can see this still being a close race throughout the year among the top 3 teams. We just need the offense to gain a rhythm and the bullpen to stop giving away runs/games.

[DHonks]

xis, in fairness the bullpen has been better with leads/close games lately. Ramirez and Morgan have heated up a bit. The biggest hole has been Weeks. He can nearly help replace Fielder....but he hasn't done much yet

[FVBrewerFan]

Why talk about selling now? They are 6 games back, and take a look at the schedule for the next three weeks. If the offense picks up and the bullpen doesn't implode, it's not a stretch to think that they can be within 5 games out on June 30. If they have a June swoon, then you talk about selling.

 

I don't think anyone is talking about selling NOW. But if they're 8-10 games under .500 late July, early August you have to consider selling.

[DuWayne Steurer]

Why talk about selling now? They are 6 games back, and take a look at the schedule for the next three weeks. If the offense picks up and the bullpen doesn't implode, it's not a stretch to think that they can be within 5 games out on June 30. If they have a June swoon, then you talk about selling.

 

 

They're only 5 1/2 out now. If they get hot, I think they can probably pick up more than 1/2 a game in a month.

[RockCoCougars]

Why talk about selling now? They are 6 games back, and take a look at the schedule for the next three weeks. If the offense picks up and the bullpen doesn't implode, it's not a stretch to think that they can be within 5 games out on June 30. If they have a June swoon, then you talk about selling.

 

 

They're only 5 1/2 out now. If they get hot, I think they can probably pick up more than 1/2 a game in a month.

 

Exactly. I didn't want to sound too optimistic. The schedule gets a bit tougher at the end of the month too. I will say that I'll be disappointed if they don't pick up a game or two during this homestand.

[fondybrewfan]

You can't really do much about the Reds and Cards in June though because you aren't playing them a lot. So long as the Brewers win a lot of games things will work themselves out. The goal has to be .500 or above by the end of the month. I would guess that would be good enough to be within 4 games or so but the Reds or Cards could get crazy hot or they could go on a losing streak as well.

[monty57]

I highly doubt that the Brewers will be sellers. I think it's far more likely that they trade away someone like Gindl or some of our "second tier" minor league pitchers for a rental player or two to upgrade this year's team. They'll miss the playoffs and lose Greinke, Marcum, K-Rod, Loe, Veras, etc to free agency, hopefully getting draft pick compensation from Greinke and Marcum. With the money freed up from losing everyone, we'll shop the free agent market for a couple of starting pitchers, a shortstop, and a new bullpen. Finally, we'll try to sort through Hart, Gamel, Morgan, Gomez, and Aoki to figure out how we're going to position CF/RF/1B next season. I can't imagine we'll be any good, but at least we wouldn't have given up on the 2012 team.

[TooLiveBrew]

I think it's far more likely that they trade away someone like Gindl or some of our "second tier" minor league pitchers for a rental player or two to upgrade this year's team.

 

This definitely seems like the way Melvin prefers to operate. I don't think it's a guarantee that they'd miss the playoffs this year, though.

[logan82]

I am not sure we can 100% blame Melvin. I think Mark A. has a big influence on how things are done. Found this way towards the bottom.

 

Brewers owner Mark Attanasio wasn't just delivering media happy talk this week when he said "We still think we can win." He has also sent that message, loud and clear, to his front office. An exec of one club that checked in with the Brewers reports: "I wouldn't count on them selling. Their owner doesn't like cashing it in."

That really bugs me. Things have taken a very different route since Mark bought the team. Which was fine when we had a nice built up minor league system. Not so good now though.

[monty57]

I think it's far more likely that they trade away someone like Gindl or some of our "second tier" minor league pitchers for a rental player or two to upgrade this year's team.

 

This definitely seems like the way Melvin prefers to operate. I don't think it's a guarantee that they'd miss the playoffs this year, though.

 

Oh sure they could make the playoffs. That's just my expectations. I'm setting them low so that I can be pleasantly surprised if they make the playoffs, but won't be as disappointed if they don't. Either way, I'm going to be pretty sad watching all their players leave for free agency knowing that next year's rotation is going to be made up of Melvin FA signings and rookies.

 

I think the opportunity to extend Marcum is even closing now. An earlier article quoted Marcum who sounded kind of sad that the Brewers weren't talking with him about an extension, and now he's pitching his way towards a really nice free agent contract.

 

That really bugs me. Things have taken a very different route since Mark bought the team. Which was fine when we had a nice built up minor league system. Not so good now though.

 

I think Attanasio's book of "how to achieve sustainable success with a major league franchise" was written while watching the New York Yankees. Unfortunately, the Brewers cannot build a franchise the way the Yankees can. We have to grow a championship team, we can't buy one.