Mariners Sign Russell Branyan (1 Year Deal)

[Fatter than Joey]

The fact that Branyan is not in a Brewers uniform this year is just another reason to spite Bill Hall.

 

and Doug Melvin.

 

However, I don't think anyone could have reasonably predicted Branyan would have the kind of year he's had so far, either.

 

Russell Branyan is clearly the most powerful force in all of baseball --

 

While not everybody would have predicted that the Muscle would have hit as well as he has this year -- I think EVERYONE, except for Doug Melvin perhaps, knew that Branyan could hit RHP better than Hall.

 

Did you know Branyan is OPSing .953 against LHP this year? -- He is so incredibly awesome.

[TooLiveBrew]

No Bill Hall and Russell is the starting 3B this year and the much needed 2nd lefty bat in the lineup.

 

...

 

and Doug Melvin.

 

 

Leaving Gamel out of the equation is kind of a disservice, and a bit unfair to Melvin as well. At the time (& even now) I really hoped we'd retain Branyan, but it just worked out better for Russell to move on to Seattle. I wish we could have kept Branyan over Hall, but the mistake was made long ago with Hall's contract. I think if Melvin had the chance to rid the Brewers of that contract, he would have done so by now, & I'm sure he is & was well-aware that Branyan's the better option.

[Invader3K]

Well, Branyan probably wanted to be a starter, and that wasn't something Milwaukee could have realistically offered him at that point. Seattle could, hence why he's a Mariner now to begin with.

[DougJones43]

I wish we could have kept Branyan over Hall, but the mistake was made long ago with Hall's contract.

Just because somebody has a guaranteed contract, doesn't mean you HAVE to play them over a far superior player though. At a certain point, Melvin's refusal to move on from Hall is just compounding the mistake.

[TooLiveBrew]

I agree (see my posts on Gamel http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif)... but what is he supposed to do? The Brewers have to pay Hall anyway unless he can be traded. I just think that if that was going to happen it would have happened already. Perhaps the Brewers will have a better shot at moving him around the trading deadline next season, when the receiving team would be on the hook for just a portion of Hall's $8.4M & then the $500K buyout on the 2011 team option (at a staggering $9.25M)

[DougJones43]

I agree (see my posts on Gamel http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif)... but what is he supposed to do? The Brewers have to pay Hall anyway unless he can be traded

 

So what about having to pay Hall? Melvin should have re-signed Branyan anyway. Branyan would have come fairly cheap (especially if we'd locked him up in the middle of last year when he was on his tear), so I don't see the correlation between having to pay Hall and the ability to keep a guy like Branyan. The contract mistake had already been made. There was no sense in continuing to compound the problem by letting a talented player go in order to give the bloated-contract crap player too much playing time.

 

As for if we could have traded Hall or whatever, it would be nice, but it shouldn't dictate how Melvin approaches the 3B situation. You seem to be under the impression that if he's not traded and we're paying him a lot, he needs a defined, prominent role on the team. He doesn't. At this point, he's garbage. Time to admit it and move on as if it's lost money (actually last offseason was probably the time). Even when we were under the impression Hall could still mash lefties, maybe he could have gotten some strict platoon starts, but that's it. And again, that would have meshed very well with re-signing Russell.

[TooLiveBrew]

You seem to be under the impression that if he's not traded and we're paying him a lot, he needs a defined, prominent role on the team.

 

No, I don't. I've advocated him being benched & only playing as a sub against LHP at 3B & 2B. But that's in the Hall thread, and I think I've already done too much hi-jacking in this one. I'd love to continue this in the Hall thread, but I've pretty much said everything I have to say over there.

 

My point on the contract is only that it's a reality, nothing more & nothing less. It's well-documented that the Brewers & Branyan decided to do what's best for Branyan, & I'm really not sure how anyone could not feel happy for Russell at this point.

[sheethead]

While not everybody would have predicted that the Muscle would have hit as well as he has this year

I think the only unpredictable notion was whether he can actually play the whole year. This is still unpredictable, but he's looking strong almost half way through.

[joepepsi]

While not everybody would have predicted that the Muscle would have hit as well as he has this year

I think the only unpredictable notion was whether he can actually play the whole year. This is still unpredictable, but he's looking strong almost half way through.

And in fairness, his health this year may due to playing 1B. If he was playing 3B most days for the Brewers he may not have held up as well. To his credit he hasn't had a single at bat as a DH.

 

fwiw, I wasn't leaving Gamel out of the equation for 2009. But one goal of the team I believe is to break the pattern of rushing young players. Gamel is the best option at 3b now, but a full season in AAA wouldn't have hurt him had Branyan been on the team this year.

[DougJones43]

I was just trying to imagine the world without Russell Branyan, and I couldn't wrap my feeble brain around the concept. It was like trying to grasp the notion of your own non-existence, or the infinite bounds of the universe. It really freaked me out.

[BrewCrewForever]

It's too bad there are so many good 1B in the AL, because of that Branyan will probably not make it into the All-Star game and that is a shame. He deserves it.

[brewdude15]

Yep. There's Morneau, Cabrera, Tex, Youk, Pena, etc. Only way Russ would get in is by Final Vote or injuries.

[Baldkin]

He deserves it if for no other reason then the world needs him in the HR Derby.

[diener34]

Brewdude15...you've inspired me:

 

http://diener34.mlblogs.com/

[BrewCrewForever]

Branyan with a triple and his 19th HR of the year yesterday. I wish he was doing this for us, but it is awesome either way to see him playing the way we all knew he could when getting a chance and staying healthy.

[owbc]

Gammons just mentioned on BBTN that he would like to see Branyan in the all star game!!!

[ELCABALLO45]

1.011 OPS for Branyan right now.

 

I once had a dream that a monster was chasing me, but Russell showed up and well... I would hate to be that monster.

[BrewCrewForever]

1.011 OPS for Branyan right now.

 

I once had a dream that a monster was chasing me, but Russell showed up and well... I would hate to be that monster.

Best to just leave that unsolved.

[brewdude15]

It's hard to understand how Russ doesn't have as many votes as some of those Brewers (Hall, Kendall, Weeks) that are in the top 5 at their positions. I really hope Russ makes it in as a Final Vote candidate and gives the fans in St. Louis a show in the HR Derby.

[TooLiveBrew]

The only problem is that if Branyan were to make the ASG & HR Derby, there wouldn't be a derby. They'd just have all the players line up so they could award Branyan the trophy.

[razzzorsharp]

I fear for the Arch if Branyan makes it to be honest.

[DougJones43]

Branyan tonight: 1-for-4 (HR, BB, 3K)

 

20th HR of the season for Branyan.

[JJHardy7]

I know the more this goes on I wonder even more why we didn't just give him the 3B job. It wouldn't have mattered one bit at all...but Bill Hall's contract stated otherwise. No Bill Hall = Branyan is a Brewer.

[TooLiveBrew]

That HR was a Branyan lover's dream shot. He just obliterated the ball to straightaway CF... hit it as high as it went far.

[DougJones43]

History will not be kind to Doug Melvin. Giving up Branyan (twice) shall be viewed in the same light as Bando giving up Molitor...or the Red Sox trading Babe Ruth.