http://www.jsonline.com/sports/brewers/ ... 86318.html

Hunt suggests that the market may be pushing Prince to come back to us for a year for say, $18-$20 million, and then test the market again next offseason.

There is literally not one poster on this board that is this out of touch with reality. Yet they gave this one a column in a major newspaper. Does he really believe this stuff or just want to get a rise out of people?

Chukk told me the other day that it was on the radio in the St Louis area that that was a possibility. So its not the first time its come up.

Mike Hunt is a dumbass, so I wouldn't be surprised if he actually believes this.

The likelihood of it is extremely, extremely small BUT you never know with the current situation. Let's remember that Braun doesn't get paid for those 50 games he will miss. That's not a ton (2 million or so) but money we wouldn't have otherwise.

Also, Mark A has pushed the payroll bigtime in the past and this would be a huge jump but it isn't 'so far out there' at this point.

Probable or likely? No. Remotely possible? yes.

Well, what is the current market for Prince? Who is left that could make a push for him? Washington? Baltimore? Toronto?

Look, I've argued to DEATH with Shirt, and he's probably as baffled by my stubborness to stick to my position as I am on his based on what I think the Brewers salary could be this year and then next year.


BUT....BUT that said, there is no fucking way the Brewers can afford another 18 million. Now if they decided that signing Prince was worth trying to dump K-Rod and Wolf, both of whom I think we could give away while only pitching in maybe 5 million dollars total and saving probably about 24 million, then MAYBE I could see it happening...and Wolf would be fine because I think Peralta is 100 pct ready and with the upgrades at SS and 3rd, and bringing Prince back, we'd have a legit WS run coming.


So that's from the Brewers end of it. You're talking about 120 million dollar payroll. We're already at 97 million this year, 100 with the posting fee to Aoki and possibly a little over if they signed him(though that's gone if they went back after Prince). I think that in 4-5 years it's possible that we could see that type of payroll...I guess...if we keep winning, draw 3-3.25 million and make the playoffs several times so we end up drawing 3.6-3.7 or so.


But even with the TV contract adding 20 million, the record ticket sales we're seeing right now WITH the significant increase in ticket prices, and the momentum the Brewers have financially, Mark A would basically have to pony up 10 million at least in hsi own money most likely to get this done. I just don't fine that plausible in any scenario.


I think it's absolutely stunning the Brewers are looking at a 100 million dollar payroll(well, not that stunning as I did predict it:)....but going back to the Wendy-Selig-Cunt days it is. But this is way over the top.





And fuck...this is just an asinine conversation. What's going to change between this year and next?
NYY
Bost(MAYBE they would sign him to play DH I suppose).
Toronto(maybe they realize they're one player away, but how is that different than this year?)
LAA-Uhh..Pujols.
Philly-Howard
ChC-They traded for Rizzo who I think is a poor mans A-Gon, but the Cubs are rebuilding and want to do it through pitching, defense, and then obviously OPS and OBP which Prince brings, but Rizzo could bring enough in defense to make the difference not nearly worth 160 or so million.
SFG-They have Brandon Belt, though Prince would fit in great there. A perfect scenario to me would be for us to swing a deal for Belt and Prince to end up in SF.


Texas/Baltimore/Washington/Toronto-These teams have the money and need now.

The ONLY difference next year would be the Dodgers being in a whole new situation fiscally and looking at a roster of Kemp and Ethier as 2-3 hitters and Prince as an ideal #4 for them with Loney being a squigee version of Derek Lee, OR the New York Mets if Ike Davis gets hurt again.



Prince has a 6 year 120 million dollar offer on the table, I'd almost guarantee it. I don't see why the fuck he'd comeback for less than that for one year, risk injury just to try and get that huge deal next year when very little looks to change.

Oh, and by the way, Bautista could very easily end up playing 1B in Toronto, Morse looks to be a stud in Washington and he's far more cost effective, and I think a CF'er is a bigger deal than a 1B.

Baltimore has one of the worst owners.

Toronto and Texas are still good options next year(short of Hamilton needing to be re-signed in the near future, but Young's deal also comes off the books).





Bottom line....with my usual overstating of the case-there is NO FUCKING WAY the Brewers could possibly afford this IMO at this time, even for one year unless they were going to go to 120 this year and then bounce back down to 90 or so next year which COULD be the kiss of death for Greinke who is more important.

And there is no fucking way Prince would come back ANYWHERE at 1 year 18-20 million dollars. You don't think the Cards would be willing to pay 25 million for ONE yeaer? The Yankees? The Blue Jays? I think if you're talking 1 year and 20 million, there are a lot more teams that'd throw their hats in the ring to try and bite the bullet for one year and pay a little more. Detroit as well.



So both sides of this are about as ignorant as humanly possible.


Then again, last year there was a thread like this where Hunt was talking about how we should have a fire sale on our farm and go all in and try and trade for some pitching, and we all called him a moron for that. Though frew of us believed we could get Greinke+Marcum for Lawrie, Odorizzi(still makes me sick we had to give those two up), Escobar, Cain and Jeffress. Still, that wasn't what Hunt was saying. He was basically just an ignorant, bar stool fan babblnig about how prospects are prospects and we should trade them for pitching...any pitching.

medicalgary33 wrote:Well, what is the current market for Prince? Who is left that could make a push for him? Washington? Baltimore? Toronto?

I think the Rangers with their absurd increases in revenue end up pulling the trigger on Prince and Darvish. They've got so much TV money coming in, Prince could easily hit 55 HR's in that park and hit well over .300 in that lineup.

1-Elvis Andrus-SS(Fan Graphs prjections)
2-Josh Hamilton-CF-MVP Candidate one of the best hitters in the game. .310/.369 .918 OPS while playing injured last year.
3-Michal Young-1B- Hit .338./.380 last year. Fits in better as the #2 hitter, but trying to get the LH'ers separated.
4-Prince Fielder-DH-I HONESTY believe in this offense he's capable of hitting 55+ HR's with a .310 BA and a .420 OBP)
5-Mike Napolis-C(Yeah, all this guy did last year as a catcher was hit .320/415 OBP 1.046 OPS as a catcher).
6-Nelson Crus-RF-Had a DOWN YEAR last year while hitting 29 HR's. Also dealt with injuries.
Fan graphs has him at .277/.341 .856 OPS and 31 HR's.
7-Adrian Beltre-3B He's a GG'er. Hit .296/.331 with 32 HR's and 105 RBI's while playing GG 3B.
8-Ian Kinglser-2B Their FUCKING 8TH HITTER who was worth 7.0 WAR last year. 32 HR's 122 R's to go with GREAT d at 2nd last year.
9-Daniel Murphy LF-For a #9 hitter, you gotta be kidding me. Projected to hit .281/.341 .774 OPS with 14 HR's

Are you fucking kidding me?

Pitching Staff
1-Yu Darvish-
I think he gets a 6 year 100 million dollar deal, and he is NOT Dice-K. I think he's a true, 100 pct legit ace right out of the gate. His arm hasn't beeb abused like others, and he's just so fucking talented.

Many believe he can step right in with his upper 90's velocity, pin point control and surpass the expectations of Dice K by a wide margain(and lets not forget that Dice K was also an absolute stud with a 18-2 record and a sub 3.0 ERA at one point, but he was older and FAR-FAR more abused than Darvis who's 6'7 as opposed to Dice who was I THOUGHT about 5'11.

Yu is MUCH better.
Projections 3.30 ERA 10.2 K's per 9 IP and 200 IP(he's slowly build up his conditioning).
2-Netali Feliz
Huge question mark. Probably better stuff than anyone in the game other than 4-5 people. This could be the key to their season. Has a upper 90's fastball as well, as long as a NASTY fucking slider and developing change.
3-Alexi Oganado-
Was nearly unhittable for much of last year.
Throws in the mid 90's givign the Rangers 3 guys atop their lineup who can hit 97-98(if not higher)with nasty secondary stuff. Dude's just sick.
Another power arm
4-Matt Harrison
Had a 3.39 ERA last year and a 3.52 FIP. Remember, this is a pitching park, and he's not even CLOSE to the top 3 in terms of pure talent. That's a potential #2/3 who might not be their number 4 pitcher.
5-Derek Holland
16-5 last year with a 3.95 ERA, and a 3.76 xFIP.
6-Colby Lewis
Think about this; he's coming off years in which he combind for a 6.9 WAR, and won 26 games while posting ERA's of 3.72 and 3.44. AND HE MIGHT BE THEIR 6TH OPTION.

This isn't including Martin Perez, the minor league phenom. Rated as the 17th and 24th best propsect the last two years, he could easily slide into the BP with again, an upper 90's fastball and a filthy slider to solidify the back of that pen.

The Rangers still have a lot of talented, power arms at their disposal in the farm system.


Bullpen
CL-Joe Nathan-Two years removed from TJ, I think he's ready to regain his spot as an elite closer.
SU-Mike Adams
He's only posted ERA's of 1.71 over the last FOUR-FUCKING YEARS. Could easily end up as the closer if anyone struggles(mainly Nathan(.
7th-Koji Uehera-
Posted a 2.74 ERA over the last two years.
Loogy/MRP-Darren Oliver-2.44 ERA last year.



And this isn't set in stone. Should they decide to move Ogandi back to the pen, or Feliz back to the pen, they not only have an ELITE starting pitcing group, but the best offense in the game by a country mile(if they make these moves, one of which is almost a certainty to happen).


And on top of all this, the Rangers have invested heavily in Cuban players, some of which are physical specimens and ready to step in and play right now such Martin Perez who could be a legit closer and in the mold of Feliz of years past,

Jurickson Purfar is one of the top 10 prospects in the game.
Perez is one of the top 20.

The bottom line, is that If ANY team is going to sign Prince to a one year deal, it'll be the team that's been to back to back world series, has the best team(even if they only sign ONE of Prince or Yu and I think they're playing it perfectly and will end up with both) in the game right now IMO by a significant margin when you consider either Prince OR Darvish.

And they're so fucking deep. Anyone goes down, they have talent to fill in at any position.








You could make a SIMILAR case with Toronto who has Juan Bautista, Brett Lawrie, Prince Fielder(potentially), Adam Lind, Escbar, Thames, etc..etc...

They could match Texas POSSIBLY offensively, but I don't see them matching them or coming even fucking CLOSE on the mound and while the Rangers have to deal with Pujols and former ace Wilson, I think the Rangers would actually be more improved with Prince and Yu and all their young prospects, plus Nathan and the progress of their young power arms than even the Angels with Pujols and Wislon.





So...after all that, no fucking way Texas lets him get away to the Brewers for 18-20 million dollars. I think that Texas gets a BIT of a steal and signs Prince to a 6 year 140 million dollar deal. they can afford to spend 240 million on 12-14 years of Darvish and Prince.

You know, I don't know why the fuck I do this.


I just start writing about a team that's a perfect fit for Prince, a LH'ers haven in a pefect hitters park on a team that's went to back to back WS's that has all the money in the world to spend right now and has BUT ONE NEED.

They have as of now, an all time great 3rd basemen defensively(and a boarderline HOF'er, look deeper at the numbers and remember he played in two BIG time hitters parks), a STUD defender at SS, a vastly, VASTLY improved 2nd basemen to the point where he's actually very-very good defender, and Young at 1st is a solid defender.

The OF consists of three good defender and three backup's who are insanely good defenders.

They have one who's not great, Napoli at catcher, but when your catcher hits .320/.415(or whatever) with a 1.000+ OPS and hits 32 BOMB's in 130 some games, you can live with that.

And their pitching might be more talented.



But I go on and on and nobody is going to read that. Bottom line, the fucking Rangers might have the best team in the game right now. They would have what the Eagles CLAIMED to have if they went out and added Darvish*though opinions vary on how good he can be, forget that he's from Japan, he's half Iranian, and is a 6'7 power arm who is durable, but hasn't been abused like his counterpart Dice-K and his talent level is so far ahead of Nomo or any other Japenese pitcher who's come over, many of which have had a lot of success.


But not wanting Darvish because he's from Japan would be like not wanting another pitcher from USC because Prior didn't pan out. It'd just really be fucking stupid.

tonyei31 wrote:The likelihood of it is extremely, extremely small BUT you never know with the current situation. Let's remember that Braun doesn't get paid for those 50 games he will miss. That's not a ton (2 million or so) but money we wouldn't have otherwise.

Also, Mark A has pushed the payroll bigtime in the past and this would be a huge jump but it isn't 'so far out there' at this point.

Probable or likely? No. Remotely possible? yes.

Again, still put this in the not even remotely possible categoery. Not for one year.

They'd have to trade Gamel+K-Rod/Wolf to dump payroll and get a good reliever in return.

I really don't think it'd be that tough to trade K-Rod if you picked up 3-4 million of his deal, and then Wolf maybe 2-3. Throw in Gamel and you wouldn't have to add anything. A team like the Tigers, fuck, you could throw in a prsopect or two and coem out of it wit a guy like Oliver who's almsot Major League Ready and has a nice big arm.

But you weaken yourself too much.

tonyei31 wrote:The likelihood of it is extremely, extremely small BUT you never know with the current situation. Let's remember that Braun doesn't get paid for those 50 games he will miss. That's not a ton (2 million or so) but money we wouldn't have otherwise.

Also, Mark A has pushed the payroll bigtime in the past and this would be a huge jump but it isn't 'so far out there' at this point.

Probable or likely? No. Remotely possible? yes.

Again, still put this in the not even remotely possible categoery. Not for one year.

They'd have to trade Gamel+K-Rod/Wolf to dump payroll and get a good reliever in return.

I really don't think it'd be that tough to trade K-Rod if you picked up 3-4 million of his deal, and then Wolf maybe 2-3. Throw in Gamel and you wouldn't have to add anything. A team like the Tigers, fuck, you could throw in a prsopect or two and coem out of it wit a guy like Oliver who's almsot Major League Ready and has a nice big arm.

But you weaken yourself too much.

Ian Kinsler as an 8 hitter.

Thats fucking funny, in a sick and twisted, and an "Are you fucking kidding me?!?!?!?" Way

Damn

medicalgary33 wrote:Ian Kinsler as an 8 hitter.

Thats fucking funny, in a sick and twisted, and an "Are you fucking kidding me?!?!?!?" Way

Damn

Does it matter? I just looked at the lineup, OBP's and ability to make contact.

Andrus has a much better BA, steal more bases.
Hamilton is a #3/#4/#5 hitter anywhere else, but just for the left, right thing, and the absurd sticks they have, I like him as a #2 hitter.


I suppose you could make changes to his lineup, but I don't see how it really changes too much.

medicalgary33 wrote:Ian Kinsler as an 8 hitter.

Thats fucking funny, in a sick and twisted, and an "Are you fucking kidding me?!?!?!?" Way

Damn

Tell me how you'd set up that lineup?

Kinsler has been up and down, and while he's a top of the order hitter for 28 other teams, he might only be the 7th or 8th best hitter on that team.

I'd have no problem with him hitting 1st and Andrus second, and sliding everyone down, perhaps flipping Beltre and Cruz.

But aside from that, I just don't think it matters. Everyone in the lineup other than Murphy can hit 30 Hr's and be a silver slugger winner.


You can't argue with any order of that lineup. You think Kinsler should hit atop the lienup because he scored 122 runs last year, won't argue. Think Hamilton should hit 3rd and Prince 4th, fine, don't like the LH/LH back to back combo, and with a guy who hits .340/.388, I think he's a good guy to separate them.



You can argue and say I'm wrong, and my response will be, "so fucking what?" Fine, I'll agree with you. Move Kinsler to 2nd, Hamilton to 3rd, Prince to 4th, Beltre 5th, Napoli 6th, Cruz 7th, Young 8th and Murphy 9th, so be it. You can't go wrong.


To me it's like calling someone out because they think the Phillies should go with Lee/Halladay/Hamels to split up the LH/RH matchup's(Though that's more of an exaggeration as Halladay is a 1st ballot, but my analogy stands.

Fan174 wrote:

medicalgary33 wrote:Ian Kinsler as an 8 hitter.

Thats fucking funny, in a sick and twisted, and an "Are you fucking kidding me?!?!?!?" Way

Damn

Tell me how you'd set up that lineup?

Kinsler has been up and down, and while he's a top of the order hitter for 28 other teams, he might only be the 7th or 8th best hitter on that team.

I'd have no problem with him hitting 1st and Andrus second, and sliding everyone down, perhaps flipping Beltre and Cruz.

But aside from that, I just don't think it matters. Everyone in the lineup other than Murphy can hit 30 Hr's and be a silver slugger winner.


You can't argue with any order of that lineup. You think Kinsler should hit atop the lienup because he scored 122 runs last year, won't argue. Think Hamilton should hit 3rd and Prince 4th, fine, don't like the LH/LH back to back combo, and with a guy who hits .340/.388, I think he's a good guy to separate them.



You can argue and say I'm wrong, and my response will be, "so fucking what?" Fine, I'll agree with you. Move Kinsler to 2nd, Hamilton to 3rd, Prince to 4th, Beltre 5th, Napoli 6th, Cruz 7th, Young 8th and Murphy 9th, so be it. You can't go wrong.


To me it's like calling someone out because they think the Phillies should go with Lee/Halladay/Hamels to split up the LH/RH matchup's(Though that's more of an exaggeration as Halladay is a 1st ballot, but my analogy stands.

Ill try again with my attempt to put across my thoughts, and sarcasm, and humor, through words on a screen.

Ian Kinsler as your 8 hitter? You have a fucking stacked line up

medicalgary33 wrote:Chukk told me the other day that it was on the radio in the St Louis area that that was a possibility. So its not the first time its come up.

Just because some other Mike Hunt on the radio in St. Louis brought it up doesn't make it any more of a possibility.

Prince is coming off a near-MVP caliber season, he's 27, his value is at its peak. He knows it, and Boras knows it. His market value isn't going to increase with age, and it's certainly a possibility that he could have an off-year and put up numbers like in 2010.

So they will take the 6 years/$120M or whatever they can get and be pissed about it, but 1 year/$18M certainly isn't going to cut it.

I stopped reading anything he wrote early in the Packer season.. There is never anything of substance there, just fluff. When he does try to get into the guts of a real topic, he is out of touch with today it's painful to read.

Thank Teebow for McGinn, who kills it on his Packer reporting.

If Fielder's asking price goes down to 5-6 years, then the Brewers will be involved in the bidding.

Fan174 wrote:

tonyei31 wrote:The likelihood of it is extremely, extremely small BUT you never know with the current situation. Let's remember that Braun doesn't get paid for those 50 games he will miss. That's not a ton (2 million or so) but money we wouldn't have otherwise.

Also, Mark A has pushed the payroll bigtime in the past and this would be a huge jump but it isn't 'so far out there' at this point.

Probable or likely? No. Remotely possible? yes.

Again, still put this in the not even remotely possible categoery. Not for one year.

They'd have to trade Gamel+K-Rod/Wolf to dump payroll and get a good reliever in return.

I really don't think it'd be that tough to trade K-Rod if you picked up 3-4 million of his deal, and then Wolf maybe 2-3. Throw in Gamel and you wouldn't have to add anything. A team like the Tigers, fuck, you could throw in a prsopect or two and coem out of it wit a guy like Oliver who's almsot Major League Ready and has a nice big arm.

But you weaken yourself too much.

I am going to sound absolutely whacked saying this but did some 'personal digging' and I believe that the Brewers are going to resign Prince. Yesterday I said remotely and not probable but, as I said, after some 'personal digging' I do believe we are going to resign the big man for TWO years. I'll take the 'what the fuck's' now but I really believe this is going to happen.

If Prince isn't embarrassed by this point, he ought to be. No big time free agent takes this long to sign. I for sure thought Boras would easily work his magic on someone, but that would have been done by now if there was "magic" to work. And his client, Madson, just signed for a piddly 1 yr $8.5 million. That's a premiere closer signing for that much, and a Boras client at that.

I'm legitimately confused as to what's going on with Prince.

Eh, not all that surprised it's taken this long. Pujols was going to be option 1 for most teams, so any talks probably wouldn't have heated up much until he signed. And Boras gets his clients so much money by pitting teams against each other in a bidding war which has to take time. He never seems to be in a hurry for his clients to sign, hoping more teams get involved.

That, and it probably takes GMs awhile to read the binder on Fielder that Boras put out.