More Trade Talk
Ok, final one for sure…
Another thing the guys on the post game show brought was the fact that GM Doug Melvin said in the paper today something to the effect of needing to figure what needs we had and where they were. They thought this was a joke of a statement and I kind of have to agree with them. I think it’s pretty obvious where our weakness are. We need an outfielder; Clark has to go. Don’t get me wrong, I like Clark and was really behind the idea that he could turn this season around in April and May, but enough is enough. We also need an outfielder to put in right that can even moderately hit lefties to complement Jenkins. We need infielders to add back to our depth. The Brewers have they’re infield of the future and I’m completely behind them but they need someone to use in a part-time role to give time off for Hall and Weeks, now with Hardy’s chances not so good. And then finally the most obvious is pitching. Pitching, pitching, pitching. Some seem to think that our pitching is coming around and we’ll be getting Sheets and Ohka back and we’ll be alright if they can return to old and, in the case of Sheets, healthy form. This is true, Sheets and Ohka will make an impact, I think, in the second half. But the old adage holds true that you can never have too much pitching (see: May/June/July ’06). Imagine if you will : No. 2 – Capuano, No. 3 – Sheets No. 4 – Ohka, No. 5 – Bush. No.1? No one is going to trade away an ace without severe compensation and I don’t think we can compete with that regardless of how deep our farm system is. But two pitchers that I really like that will more than likely be available in the off-season are Jason Shimdt of the Giants and Oakland’s Barry Zito. Now I’m partial to Zito because I’ve always liked him and I’ve also been an A’s fan since I was a kid. But can you imagine that rotation? Zito/Shimdt. Capuano. Sheets. Ohka. Bush. Game-set-match. 2007, here we come. No lead is safe. You can even switch Cappy and Sheets if you want. Either way it’s a winner. Pitching wins you championships. The ’05 White Sox and ’04 Red Sox proved that.
'Round the Brewery 
Pitching has never won a championship by itself. See the Astros of last year. Pitching keeps you in games, offense ultimately scores your runs.
That said, the Angels are in the market for Lee and they are dangling Ervin Santana or Scot Shields.
Either one of these pitchers would improve the Brewers now and in the near future.
Don’t worry about outfield, we are in good shape. I see the 2007 outfield as Gross in left, Gwynn Jr in center, and Corey Hart in right.
If we can add either Ervin Santana or setup man Scot Shields, our pitching will be much improved.
I just posted a column on my blog:
http://brewernation.mlblogs.com/brewer_baseball_for_the_s/2006/07/lee_to_the_ange.html
Check it out.
Rob
http://www.brewernation.mlblogs.com/