Brewers offer arbitration to Hoffman - agreement in place for Hoffman to decline offer, and Brewers could net a draft pick

[And That]

McCalvy breaks the news.

 

I'm somewhat surprised. If Hoffman declines and signs with another club before the draft, the Brewers will net an extra pick in the supplemental first round of the June draft.

 

Earlier today on Twitter, I speculated that the Brewers wouldn't offer arbitration to Hoffman unless they had a handshake deal for Hoffman to decline the offer. Maybe they made a little deal after all. I asked, and neither McCalvy nor Melvin could remember such a dealduring Melvin's time here in Milwaukee.

[twobrewers]

God bless you Trevor Hoffman

[Invader3K]

There has to be a "gentlemen's agreement" in place with this, I would assume.

[PrinceEatMeat]

Well. thanks to Hoffman if he is willing to hand us a draft pick.

[trwi7]

Yeah, this has to be a gentlemen's agreement just like Vazquez with the Yankees. Plus, I doubt Hoffman will want to be a set-up guy at best. He'll probably look for a closing job.

[And That]

McCalvy confirms the gentleman's agreement. Hoffman will decline the Brewers' arbitration offer and the Brewers will net a pick if and when he signs with another team.

[GAME05]

i remember a quote somewhere from Hoffman saying that he'd most likely retire if he couldn't find a deal where he had a chance to close some games. i didn't take it to mean that he had to be a closer right away, but at least a chance. so i can see the handshake deal since Hoffman wouldn't even be third on our closer depth chart.

 

wanted to double-check, and mlbtraderumors says he's a Type B.

 

you'd have to think that San Diego would want to let him retire in a Padres uniform on a cheap deal.

[dadofandrew]

This also gives the Crew a good chance to get an extra pick, to replace a 2nd round pick if they sign a Type A.

 

I think Trevor will retire unless he closes. SD is possible, but I just don't think he wants to do anything but get saves.

[Hofbraunhaus]

Really nice gesture by Hoffman. However, I think he will end up retiring so it won't really matter. San Diego is really the only team I could see signing him.

[crewcrazy]

I wouldn't overlook Arizona. Kevin Towers is in charge there now, and he would have a very good shot at closing games there. He'd also be able to move back out West, and it's not like the Diamondbacks would be under pressure to replace him if he faltered.

 

Even if the Brewers don't end up getting the draft pick, this is still a classy move by Hoffman. While we've all been frustrated about his on-field performance, I don't think anyone can deny that he handled the situation well and he's been nothing but professional.

[GAME05]

This also gives the Crew a good chance to get an extra pick, to replace a 2nd round pick if they sign a Type A.

i worry you're getting your hopes up too much.

[logan82]

Yeah, this has to be a gentlemen's agreement just like Vazquez with the Yankees. Plus, I doubt Hoffman will want to be a set-up guy at best. He'll probably look for a closing job.

I didn't think Hoffman would take a deal with us either because he still wanted to close. I was afraid to post that though and jinx us.

[Jim Goulart]

Trevor's way of saying thank you for this --

 

McCalvy Sept. 26th tweet

[sgtcluels]

Meh.. call me a negative nancy. But it sure seems like we simply paid him off last year by allowing him to get his games finished bonus. Perhaps that's when the gentlemen's agreement came about. Allow him to vest his player incentives if he agreed to decline arbitration, there were zero reasons to use Hoffman at the end of the season.. he did not remotely figure into the future and we had plenty of players that needed to be looked at.

[CheezWizHed]

...there were zero reasons to use Hoffman at the end of the season.. he did not remotely figure into the future and we had plenty of players that needed to be looked at.

 

There have been complaints about how the Brewers treat vets that don't figure into the Brewer's future. To the point that it impacts bringing in FAs (so they say). So treating a high profile vet like Hoffman with respect is a good reason.

 

And I don't think the few appearances he made negatively effected anyone of consequence. I was glad they were able to lighten Axford's load at the end of the season in meaningless games. Braddock also seemed to wear down. His appearances might have affected Villanueava, but if that is what it took to gain us a supplemental 1st rounder, then I'm more than happy that they did it.

[Invader3K]

Yeah, I don't see how Hoffman being used in a few save opportunities late in the year was really taking away anything from the young guys. I think Axford, Loe, etc. had all proven themselves by that point, and probably needed some time off, like CWH said.

 

Anyway, if there was indeed some kind of agreement in place like sgtcluels alludes to, I really don't mind. The Brewers should play the system as much as they can. It's not like MLB is doing Milwaukee a lot of favors as a whole.