yeah, pretty sure we lose him.

just read this on espn in an unrelated article -

"Typically, draft picks who don't sign must re-enter a subsequent draft and the team receives a compensatory pick. "

dont know if that means if he doesnt enter the draft next year we lose the pick entirely or what

Same thing happened to Texas last yr. They drafted 14th took Matthew Purke didn't meet his signing bonus demands so he decided to go to college at TCU instead. Then this year Texas selected at 15th as a replacement pick for 2009 and also again at 22nd their pick this year.

So we'll pick at 15th next year and also wherever we finish this year, hopefully closer to the top third of the draft. Really every loss at this point is a fist pump, imo.

gamel to 1st, hope he gets some ab's while hes up before next year.

glad they shitcanned macha, but who is this new dickhead they hired?

really wanted bobby v.

nice trade for marcum. sucks they had to give up their top prospect but whatever, theyre in desperate need of pitching and marcum should be solid.

rumors that they could get Garza for Cain. Could actually be competitive with a decent 4 starters.

i have a really hard time believing they could get garza straight up for cain

but...as much as i hate giving up cain, i think you gotta jump at that chance. that locks up a starting rotation for the next 6-7 years. lot easier to locate a CF than it is a young solid pitcher. + youd be moving to AL East pitchers into the NL Central, theyd kill!

Cain is under control for 6 years, while Garza would be for 2, unless you extend him obviously. So it is pretty close. Garza hasn't been Ace material either. Cain, I think will be an awesome overall player.

Huge rumor that Grenike is going to be a Brewer

one of about 4 reports:

http://larrybrownsports.com/baseball...bar-cain/44102

pretty huge deal. hate giving up escobar, cain, and jeffress, but love the trade. agressive move that i hope pays off.

Hopefully we get some more action in this thread now. Just like that, the Brewers have a great rotation. Grienke/Gallardo/Marcum could definitely win a playoff series or three. What a trade. But who's going to play SS and CF??

Betancourt will be at SS, Gomez at CF. I am still optimistic with Gomez doing better offensively. He is a fantastic defensive player. Betancourt, sucks at everything tho. Only thing he is better at the Escobar is power.

it's a solid move if you think escobar is a bust, and the brewers do. that's too early to tell, imo, but that's the risk they're taking.

you're not far off, but the things escobar does better he does only marginally better. these two players are basically a wash except escobar had much more upside.

I love it. Obviously they are willing to give up some offensive upside, but instead we now probably have the 3rd best rotation in the NL (behind Philly and SF). We should still have enough offense to win due to improved pitching.

Look at SF last year -- just an average offense but they won it all due to pitching.

The offense was awesome in October for SF last year. The Brewers SP'ing should toss about 70 more innings than it did last year. Those innings should be a lot more productive than 2010, too.

Just sign Counsell for $1.4M today, which is a decent move. As of right now I would say they win 90 games, which would contend for the Central and maybe a WC. Melvin needs to improve on a couple of bench spots.

On the Sports Bubbler forums, some people are saying that because of the future that Melvin is wagering on this year; that unless the Crew makes the postseason it is a bad year.

I am very happy that the Brewers will expect to be that good. Much better than hoping to compete.

We're contenders now!

lets not start sucking each others dicks quite yet

but theres certainly reasons to be excited

Has anyone seen TC32?

Coff hey whats up buddy. Yeah I've kinda been operating dark the past few months. I tend not to check 2p2 when I'm not playing poker regularly, even the SE forum.

I decided to pop in when I heard about the Greinke trade to see what Areaman, Dlk9s, Shoe, Bad Beat Bill and the rest of the regs itt think about it. I know one friend of mine thought it was terribad for the Brewers, but I disagree. Actually, tho I've been in a weird place with baseball the past few months.

It has felt really weird to jumpship on my team and then watch them make the WS. I didn't give them a chance in hell at beating the Yankees with or without Cliff Lee. Then when they did I felt like a huge jackass, but at the same time the end result was the same. Including his depature failing to re-sign Lee (and instead he fled to join your Phils, lucky bastard lol). I mean, I can't really be mad at the Rangers they were 3 wins away from a World Championship so obviously the move wasn't terrible like I said it was. And at the same time it played out exactly as I said it would no World Series title, and Cliff Lee gone after the season is over. The only part left to be filled in is Justin Smoak beating up on the Rangers for the next decade with the M's.

So how then do I root for the Brewers instead, when they've made what my friend called "essentially" the same trade? Besides pure stubbornness, there's a few other things I think are different about this trade. A) The Rangers didn't need Cliff Lee to make the playoffs and they don't need him to have a chance over the next 2-4 years. The Brewers do need Greinke, now that we have him I feel confident calling the Crew a playoff contender this year. B) I value Smoak above any of the prospects the Brewers gave up to acquire Greinke. C) Assuming Greinke doesn't have a relapse of his social anxiety disorder the Brewers have him for 2 full seasons and not just 3 months like the Rangers had Lee.

But to answer your question Where's TC32? I've just been working through my feelings on the Rangers and haven't really been on much since I haven't been playing poker too much lately. I'll be around more tho, I'm getting back on my grind with poker.

I hope the Brewers absolutely destroy the Phillies this year!

I read a lot of articles about Grienke over the last few years, while it's true that he doesn't really a typical athlete mindset in any sense I don't think the anxiety thing will be a problem. A quote that I remember from him was how winning one WS for KC would mean way more to him than winning ten for the Yankees (considering the Brewers lack of playoff success, he'll likely think the same for here). I also remember reading about when he got his second call-up for KC, how he preferred to stay in AA because they were in the middle of a playoff race while the Royals were very far out of it. The guy just doesn't seem to care about the money, the opinions of others, etc. etc., but has shown a lot to suggest that he'll be ultra competitive.

thrilled about the trade. not sure if they are a playoff team tho. at least they have the pieces tho.

Not guaranteed, but we never had three pitchers like this for a long time, if ever. The 2008 playoff run featured Sheets and Sabathia, and then Sabathia and Gallardo. I realize that Sabathia's Milwaukee numbers were unhuman but I can see Greinke putting up similar numbers for a stretch. He'll probably be a 20+ game winner if you care about junk like that. Also, I think Gallardo is going to really be a breakout pitcher this year. He's kind of being forgotten in all this but I predict he's going to put up his best numbers yet. I would make him opening day starter, just because he's been a Brewer the longest.

Pretty interesting day. Prince gets $15.5M to avoid Arby. Parra get $1.2M to avoid Arby. Brewers have control over Prince through this year and Parra through 2013.

Also, talks about a multi year deal for Weeks are haulted. He will get a one year deal in his last year of control. Brewers offering a little under $5M and Weeks wants $7.25M.

Shout out to my Brew Crew Brethren, whats up fellas!

I'm pretty disappointed b/c I had hoped to make it out to Maryvale this spring and take in a few days of Brewers spring training, but won't be able to. On the brightside the Brewers are in Houston on April 29th, which just happens to be my 33rd birthday, so I'm looking forward to taking in my first ever Brewers game!

I'm pretty excited about the Greinke deal. I don't know if I'm alone in this, but I'm kinda worried Lorenzo Cain might develop into the most valuable player given away in that deal. I already think Escobar is an above average shortstop and really wish I didn't have to suffer through Betancourt at bats this season. I mean I'd like to keep the hair I have left. Still Greinke is amazing and its pretty clear this team is all about the here and now. I can't say I blame them. Not sure the market for Fielder was going to be overwhelming. Although the farm system pretty much sucks and that has to be addressed real soon.

I've been pretty busy in the offseason. I went from playing poker at home full time to DJing at a Strip Club once again. I finally had enough of that B.S. last week so now I'm back to playing poker from home again (at least for March, we'll see how things go). Hopefully you guys have kept up with the offseason moves better than I have. Feel free to bring me up to speed.

Lets Go Brew Crew!


oh and btw, some of you know I switched allegiances last yr mid season from my formerly beloved Rangers. I'm thinking about pulling a gag on the mlb season thread crowd and going in there with alot of Lets Go Rangers posts, just to pull them offsides lol. But have no doubt I'm firmly aligned with my Wisconsin roots now and forever.