Want to see Baseball America's (and Tom H.'s) list of the Brewers' top 30 prospects?  Sure you do.

1. SS Alcides Escobar
2. 2B Brett Lawrie
3. 3B Mat Gamel
4. RHP Eric Arnett
5. C Jonathan Lucroy
6. OF Kentrail Davis
7. LHP Zach Braddock
8. OF Lorenzo Cain
9. RHP Jake Odorizzi
10. RHP Kyle Heckathorn
11. RHP Mark Rogers
12. OF Logan Schafer
13. RHP Cody Scarpetta
14. RHP Wily Peralta
15. C Angel Salome
16. RHP Amaury Rivas
17. OF Caleb Gindl
18. OF D’Vontrey Richardson
19. 2B Eric Farris
20. 3B Taylor Green
21. RHP Jeremy Jeffress
22. LHP Del Howell
23. RHP John Axford
24. RHP Josh Butler
25. RHP Alex Periard
26. RHP Evan Anundsen
27. RHP Brooks Hall
28. OF Max Walla
29. RHP Nick Bucci
30. RHP Maverick Lasker

The biggest things that jump out at me are the absence of Cutter Dykstra, the drops of Taylor Green and Jeremy Jeffress, and the ranking of Lawrie over Mat Gamel.

Overall, the impression I get of the Brewers' farm system is that it's pretty strong, but without a Braun or Gallardo that will shoot through the minors quickly.  There's also a decent chance that three of the top five picks will be playing in the majors when the 2010 season gets underway.

First, re: Omar Vizquel.  NBCsports is reporting that the White Sox have offered Vizquel a $1 million contract.  It's worth pointing out that the 42-year-old hasn't been good since 2006, but he's supposed to be a nice guy, so good for him. 

I mention it because Bustre reported last week that up to a dozen teams were looking at Craig Counsell, and although I can't believe there was a lot of interest in Vizquel, he and Counsell are two of only a handful of FAs who can play third, short, and second. Personally, I think Counsell will sign before the winter meetings, and probably not with the Brewers.

If you were wondering, yes, Adam Heether has played short in Nashville and Huntsville last season, though only 22 games, and with a .917 fielding percentage. It's a work in progress.

As for the Cubs: as interesting as it is to watch DM purge salary, it's just as interesting to examine the Cubs' payroll right now.  They currently have 8 players who are making at least $10 million in 2010, and 7 of them are making $13 million or more. Cots lists the known 2010 salaries for 9 of the Cubs; combined, those salaries (plus the $500,000 they're paying Luis Vizcaino to not play for them) put their payroll at $120 million, a good $30-40 million more than what the Brewers will likely pay for their whole roster.  For that matter, the Cubs are already on the hook for $96 million for the 2011 season, before considering 9 players like Giovanny Soto hitting arbitration.   No one likes hearing people complain about the disparities among different markets, but it's clear the Cubs are in a different neighborhood altogether from the Brewers.

Via MLBTR, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe has a lot to say about some of baseball's more popular free agents:

3. Carl Pavano, RHP, free agent - According to agent Tom O’Connell, the action on Pavano right now is "very solid.’’ While Pavano may have to wait until John Lackey gets situated, teams in need of a No. 3 type starter may not wait. The Twins and Brewers are very interested.

4. John Smoltz, RHP, free agent - He apparently is very excited about what he’ll be able to do with a full offseason and spring training. Now the question is, on whose staff does he end up? The Cardinals still want him, but don’t rule out the pitching-hungry Brewers.

Carl Pavano has not been good since 2004, and only once since then has he topped 126 innings. Smoltz only pitched 78 innings last season and 28 the season before.  40 of those innings in Boston were pretty forgettable, but he pitched well enough in St. Louis to make him a worthwhile case study for our new pitching coach.

Yahoo has a handy Free Agency tracker of the top 131 free agents, including some Brewers you might have heard of.  I know we're all about pitching, but this one caught my eye too:

A Gold Glove-caliber third baseman with positional versatility, on-base acuity and true leadoff skills.

Gold glove third baseman?  Leadoff skills?  On-base acuity?  Why, we need all of those.  (Especially if we can somehow land groundball pitchers, instead of flyball pitchers who, shockingly, don't seem to do well at Miller Park. Having Gold-glove ability on the left side of the infield and in center could make for an interesting 2010.)

There's also one other possibility: if we're looking for an ace kind of pitcher and can get one through free agency, we'd probably have to consider something I truly truly don't want to do: trade Mat Gamel.  That would be easier to do if we had third base locked up for a while, and had McGehee taking Counsell's place as supersub.  Imagine, Milwaukee being known as a defensive paradise.

Per Adam McC:

The Brewers are seeking starting pitching depth this winter and Halama, 37, wants to reunite with pitching coach Rick Peterson and manager Ken Macha. The trio was together in Oakland in 2003, Macha's first year as A's manager and Peterson's final year as that team's pitching coach.

Sure, why not.

Per John Heyman:

Brewers. They've looked into Lackey, Washburn, Doug Davis, Harden and Wolf plus possible No. 5-type guys Mark Mulder and Todd Wellemeyer. Mulder could reconnect with pitching coach Rick Peterson.

Wellemeyer, who posted two sub-4 ERAs before falling apart last season, would be yet another flailing St. Louis pitcher joining the club.  In other sports, it's hard to maintain success because other teams keep looting your top free agents, not the worst guys you have.  I think the Brewers need a LOLcat.

According to Ken Rosenthal, the Braves are shopping Derek Lowe to any team who wants to give a 37-year-old $45 million over the next 3 years.  One of the few teams mentioned is our beloved Brewers.  Rosenthal insists the two teams were discussing a Lowe/Hart swap, though Mark Bowman, Adam McC's counterpart for the Braves, disagrees, saying the Braves don't care much for Hart's inability to take a walk, and the Brewers don't care much for Lowe's age and disappointing 2009.

I can't imagine trading for Lowe while still keeping Suppan.  That's just crazy talk. However, I'd be happy to take on Lowe's contract if it means ridding ourselves of the Soup, even if it means two more seasons of paying an old guy a lot of money.  Then again, I think Lowe just had an off-year last season: his four previous seasons produced ERAs under 4, including a sparkling 3.24/1.13 in 2008.  And even though this quote from Rosenthal is like channeling a certain former Brewers manager, "Take away three poor starts [last season], and Lowe's ERA would have been 3.87."

It's interesting that Hart is in trade talks, in that we don't have an obvious replacement for him.  I recall Jeff offering the idea of keeping Cameron and moving him to right field, plus it would free a spot for Gamel, were he to learn to play right field.  Anyway, it's one thing to shop JJ, when you have his replacement knocking on the door.  It's another to offer someone who doesn't have an obvious replacement.  It reminds of when we were shopping TG Jr before acquiring Cameron.

Further bulletins as events warrant.  Hat tip to MLBTR.

 

I typically don't like ESPN's Mike and Mike in the morning, but today they were discussing revenue sharing with Jayson Stark and claimed that small market teams are starting out with anywhere from $80 to $100 million in revenue sharing--so using the small market team defense is no excuse for not paying players.

I have a hard time believing this is true. Mark A certainly seems aggressive enough that I'd doubt he'd max out payroll at $90 million if he were already starting with $80 mil before a single ticket is sold.

There must be some nuance here that I'm missing. Can anybody help?

Heres a thought. what if the Brewers maximize their limited dollars for starting pitching by signing as many reclamation projects as possible with hopes that at least 3 of them pan out. there are a lot our there this year:

Mulder

Sheets

Duscherer

Bedard

Noah Lowry

Kelvim Escobar

(maybe Rich Harden)

Not to mention that Capuano will still be trying to get back to the bigs.

 

If we can sign all those guys to incentive laden deals, guaranteeing between $1 and $5 each depending on their reputation and allowing them to earn up to $9 million. I think the brewers might be able to get all six of these guys, what do you think.

 

a couple other names I like but that aren't in this category are Pavano, Padilla and Penny, but my ideal situation would be for us to trade for Vasquez.

Major eague teams must file their "Reserve lists" on Friday, November 20.   In other words, on that day each team's 40-man roster is set in preparation for the Rule 5 draft, which takes place on December 10.

The Brewers' 40-man roster has 33 spots occupied once all the team's free agents are removed.  My question is this: which prospects need to be added to protect them from the Rule 5 draft?  I'm sure this has been discussed somewhere in the Brewers blogosphere, but I'm not sure where.  The only two names I can think of are Lorenzo Cain and Chris Cody.

As a refresher, these are the Rule 5 eligibility criteria, as found on Wikipedia.

Players are eligible for selection in the Rule 5 draft who are not on their major league organization's forty man roster and:

- were signed at age 19 or older and have been in the organization for four years; or

- were signed at age 18 or younger and have been in the organization for five years.