The Brewers finally made some noise this off-season by signing future HOFer Trevor Hoffman to a one year $6 million dollar incentive laden contract. Hoffman will prove to be more than a stopgap at a position the Brewers have had a wicked time filling since the downfall of Derrick Turnbow. Hoffman may no longer have the stuff he once had, but his experience and knowledge can only help to bolster a bullpen that was slammed in the off season. Obviously Gagne is gone, Torres reitred, Mota will go elsewhere and Shouse is still unsigned. When the crew picked up Jorge Julio I was starting to get nervous that they were just going to fill up the pen with a bunch of other team's refuse. So seeing Melvin step up and get it done with Hoffman was huge.

   Now the Brewers need to work on the rest of the pitching staff and fill a bunch of holes. Resigning Shouse would be a good start. They probably can a dn should get Sheets back for a decent price. While Ben will probably see a raise from his previous contract don't expect Band-Aid Benny to break the bank this year. His contract should be full of incentives though, in case he really puts it out there and gives the fans the full season we and he deserves.

   I'm not sure what more the Brewers can do to bolster the pitching staff. They need one more starter, but who? Free agent wise what's really out there? We don't need another overpriced Suppan type. So we try getting someone under contract via trade? Well who do we trade. A Lot of people always throw out Weeks and Hall when talking about trades. But realistically what can we expect to get for these guys? Probably nothing better than the aformentioned Suppan types (at best). Anyway I think the only way Weeks can do anything for the Brewers is to play well, or be released outright. Bill Hall actually had Lasik surgery in the off season (which I was calling for all last year), so I honestly fell if he can see the ball better he will put up huge numbers.

So that's all I have to say, and since I haven't typed anything in like 5 months my fingers are crampimg up.

Peace out Brewer Freaks!

Milton Bradley is a Cub.