North Siders trying to retool

Lee, Ramirez, and Soriano is painful to imagine especially with Capuano and Davis as lefty starters, but the Brewers shouldn’t panic and react to the Cubs spending spree by throwing money away. I hope we don’t pursue Juan Pierre. We are not a base running team and Pierre does not have a high OB% anyway. I am probably too Brewers patriotic, but I think the current roster is ready to compete for the NL Central top spot. Jenkins is not a superstar, but he has been solid over the years. It is easy to imagine a comeback by him, improvements by Weeks and Fielder, more walks for Hall, a 25 home run season by Koskie. OK, I better stop there. But, the Crew, with all those injuries still finished 15th in home run production. A full seasson by Sheets, a mild tornasround for Turnbow, and maybe we can drop that ERA a bit. No reason to fear the Cubs.

The Cubs always deal in November and they ALWAYS OVERSPEND!

Case in point, November of 2003 is when the Cubs dealt Hee Seop Choi and a player to be named later (Mike Nannini) to the Marlins for Derrek Lee by far the best deal the Cubs have made in my lifetime (39 years).

November, 2004, the Cubs sign free-agent pitcher Glendon “The Launching Pad” Rusch to a two year deal. Jim Hendry should have been fired right then and there!

November, 2005, the Cubs sign relief pitchers Bobby Howry and Scott Eyre two quality setup guys. The only problem is their starting rotation was hurt or pathetic or both.

November, 2006, Resigned Arrogant Ramirez, Kerry Wood, Wade Miller, and Henry Blanco. Then, traded for relief pitcher Neal Cotts. Also, signed one-year wonder Mark DeRosa to a three-year deal and now they have landed Alfonso Soriano.

The Brewers usually do most of their dealings in December and we have been getting MORE than we are giving up. Let’s take a look at the last 3 Decembers:

December 2003, traded first baseman Richie Sexson, left-hander Shane Nance and a player to be named later to the Arizona Diamondbacks for infielders Craig Counsell and Junior Spivey, first baseman Lyle Overbay, catcher Chad Moeller, and left-handers Chris Capuano and Jorge de la Rosa.

December 2004, acquired OF Carlos Lee from the White Sox in exchange for OF Scott Podsednik, RHP Luis Vizcaino and a player to be named later. Acquired RHP Jose Capellan and a player to be named later from the Atlanta Braves for RHP Dan Kolb.

December 2005, Acquired RHP Dave Bush, OF Gabe Gross and LHP Zach Jackson from the Blue Jays in exchange for 1B Lyle Overbay; Acquired RHP Dan Kolb from the Braves for RHP Wes Obermueller.

I like what the Brewers have done the last 3 years while leaving their talented prospects time to grow and learn the game at the Major League Level. The Cubs have one prospect that they ran up their farm system (Felix Pie) faster than his abilities. Signing Soriano and stating he will play center is not what I heard what the Cubs were thinking last year going into this year. Last year, they felt Pie would be their everyday center fielder heading into 2007.

With Robin Yount stepping down (Remember me saying that either Yost or Yount would not come back?), Melvin and Antanassio have to watch Yost closely. Last year, he juggled the lineup at times where you thought he just grabbed 8 names out of a hat. It was terrible. Then, Yost was quoted to say late in the season, “I prefer a set everyday lineup”.

No excuses this year. This is a make or break year for many people. Melvin as GM, Yost as manager, and Antannasio as owner. You can’t fire the owner but fans in Milwaukee know how to show their frustration by not going through the turnstiles as often as he would like. He has created another group picnic area that will replace 2 or 3 of the Club Suites. This is great business revenue for the Brewers but Mark better not lose sight of the average Brewer fan or he will be sorry for many years to come.

I can’t wait for December. Right now, we have 9 outfielders on the 40-man roster. If you count Billy Hall, then we have 10, well, 9+ Dave Krynzel who must be on the DL again. The other 9 outfielders all have major league experience. They are Drew Anderson, Brady Clark, Gabe Gross, Tony Gwynn, Billy Hall, Corey Hart, Geoff Jenkins, Kevin Mench, and Laynce Nix.

Rob’s wish list include these players wearing any other uniform other than the Brewers, Doug Davis, Dana Eveland, Ben Hendrickson, Manny Parra, Brian Shouse, Matt Wise, JD Closser, Corey Koskie, Brady Clark, Geoff Jenkins, Dave Krynzel, Kevin Mench, and Laynce Nix.

Rob’s shopping list includes a few free-agents that need to re-up with us and a few from around the league. With the prospect of Hall moving to Center, it’s a must to bring back Graffanino and Cirillo. He may not be ready but I’d like to see Ryan Braun get every chance this spring to stick with the parent club. He tore up the Arizona Fall League and has 3+ years of college baseball already under his belt.

With free agents, everybody wants the big names. I’ve found a few “named” players I’d like to see. From the pitching stock, Barry Zito, Adam Eaton, Vicente Padilla, Ted Lilly, Brian Moehler, Andy Pettitte, Greg Maddux, Aaron Sele, Randy Wolfe, Jason Marquis, Mark Mulder, Ramon Ortiz, or Miguel Batista.

I personally have locked in Sheets, Capuano, Bush, and Villanueva. If that holds, we really only need one pitcher from above. I’d prefer Zito but I would also settle for either Lilly, Wolfe, or Mulder. Pettitte would probably cost too much. With Doug Davis going elsewhere (I hope), we now only have one left-handed starter.

Veteran bullpen free agents. I say we need at least 2 of these guys. David Weathers, Joe Borowski, Matt Herges, Guillermo Mota, or Arthur Rhodes. I know these guys have banged around the league but they always have employment because they know how to pitch. We need a few veterans out in the pen this year.

Free agent hitters are very few as far as starting with us next year. Of the ones I think are sign able are Rod Barajas (Move Damian Miller to the backup role), Gary Matthews, Juan Pierre, or Dave Roberts. Matthews broke out last year which means he could become the modern-day Jeffrey Hammonds. Pierre and Roberts are both very successful leadoff hitters. Their arms are average but everything is better than Brady Clark.

In summary, I see Melvin dealing a bunch of outfielders in December. We just have way too many average players in that position. I wouldn’t be shocked if a bigger name got dealt away like Hall, Sheets, Capuano, Koskie, Jenkins, or Hart. I’m not saying I want these guys dealt you have to trade good players in order to get good players in return…