Brewers win NL Central

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3497321

[Guest Vince Coleman Firecracker]

I don't know if this wins the division for them, but this is a great trade for the Brewers, who gave up basically nothing to get a very productive second baseman.

I wonder if Omar asked about Durham before he gave Castillo a bigger contract than Jose Reyes.

[Guest AG/DC]

It's not particulary fair to compare those contracts, is it?

I mean, Matt Wise is making more than twice what John Maine is making. It's not based on their relative value but the Mets relative leverage based on the general agreeement.

[Guest Vince Coleman Firecracker]

="AG/DC"]It's not particulary fair to compare those contracts, is it?

No, it's not fair at all, but it is fun!

The Castillo contract is bad, though.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

The thread title is a reference to the fact that the Mets have been ignorning my calls to acquire Ray Durham ever since Matsui went on the DL in 2005. This was when The Mediots were lined up behind Soriano or nothing.

At one point word got out that the Mets didn't consider Durham to be acceptable defensively, at least for an everyday 2Bman, which you could quibble about but at least respect. Today though, he'd look awful good in Marlon Anderson's roster slot and couldn't fleld much worse than Easley.

[Guest AG/DC]

Agreed.

I'm just wary of all potential outbreaks of unconditional release fever among Met fans.

Maybe we should get Weeks.

[Guest Vince Coleman Firecracker]

Weeks' 10% Pecota projection was .235/.329/.380. He's actually under performing that this year, hitting .216/.326/.365. His line drive rate has dipped from 20% in 05/06 to 17% last year to 14% this year.

He might be a good guy to buy low on, but it seems like something is wrong with him at the plate. I'd approach him with extreme caution.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Marlon Anderson has now had 122 plate appearances and made outs in more 75% of them. His OPS+ is 41. This cannot be our top pinch hitter the rest of the way.

[Gwreck]

If Pagan's not coming back, I sure would like us to get someone who can actually play the outfield and hit lefthanded...there must be somebody out there who can do that.

[Benjamin Grimm]

How long would it take Kenny Lofton to get back into playing shape? He'd need to spend at least a week, if not more, in Brooklyn or St. Lucie.

And then how do we even know what he has left? He's 41 years old.

I'm not saying they can't give him a shot and get him in the mix, but he shouldn't be Plan A.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

For a LH hitter I'd prolly prefer Ibanez at this point. Other pastabilities would include Brad Hawpe and Aubrey Huff.

As for RH hitters, lets look into Ryan Spilborghs, Jose Guillen, Marcus Thames.

If we could snag Brian Roberts that would be highly sexual.

[Benjamin Grimm]

To shag Brian Roberts would be even more sexual.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Nixon is out until least September by the way, in case you were awaiting his triumphant return.

[Guest Vince Coleman Firecracker]

="John Cougar Lunchbucket"]Nixon is out until least September by the way, in case you were awaiting his triumphant return.

I say we give him an extension.

[Guest attgig]

O's want to finish 500 this year (cuz that really proves a lot), so not sure how much it would take to get him. The cubs were talking with the O's for the entire offseason, and it never happened. I wouldn't hold my breath for BRob, but if we could get him and dump castillo at the same time, that would be orgasmic.

[Valadius]

I'd prefer a short-term rather than a long-term guy coming in to play second if at all. I'm curious to see how Argenis Reyes develops.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

I can reveal the ending to you now but I'm not sure you'll like it.

It is hard to imagine he'll ever be anything more than a passable singles hitter.

[Benjamin Grimm]

He looks to have the makings of a nice reserve infielder/pinch-runner type.

Maybe he can play himself into an everyday second baseman, but I would be surprised by that.

If you're rooting for a young player to push Castillo, focus your attention, for now, on Daniel Murphy or Reese Havens.

[Gwreck]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: How long would it take Kenny Lofton to get back into playing shape? He'd need to spend at least a week, if not more, in Brooklyn or St. Lucie. And then how do we even know what he has left? He's 41 years old. I'm not saying they can't give him a shot and get him in the mix, but he shouldn't be Plan A.

Well, yes, of course he'd need a little time to be ready. Given that we've needed an outfielder for the past 2 months, we could've had him ready a long time ago. (I of course was on record advocating for this plan a while ago...)

He's an attractive option because he costs nothing more than the salary we pay him.

Of course Ibanez is option "A" -- but there will of course be prospects to give up as a result.

[Guest AG/DC]

I too doubt that Reyes will be much more than a taxi-squad reserve, but --- as Scutaro, Wigginton, and Keppinger each turned out to be more than generally expected* when dealing them off --- I think any Met fan would be leery of disregarding an infield prospect right under our noses.

*And Fernando Viña and Jose Vizcaino perhaps, looking further back.

[Guest Vince Coleman Firecracker]

Reyes seems to be a nice player to have in the organization- a guy who can fill in for a spell if your two best second basemen are hurt.

Plus, it's always good for a chuckle or two at the game if you start yelling things like "That umpire's trying to screw Argenis!"

[TransMonk]

Sabathia pitches his 3rd complete game in a row tonight. He's only made 4 starts as a Brewer.

The Brewers have won 7 in a row including 3 of the first 4 at St. Louis. Oh, and they pitch Sheets in the finale.

If the Cubs lose at Arizona tonight, they are tied for first.

Scary team right now.

[Benjamin Grimm]

What's a "complete game"?

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

This is all about Ray Durham.