any chance the crew makes a push for Jose Guillen?

[BREWCREW5]

He had a pretty nice year for the Mariners and looks like he will be testing free agency. Any chance the crew makes a push for him, say 2 years/21 million?

[dadofandrew]

I thought he already signed an extension with SEA, or is very close. I do not see him as being an upgrade over Gross' half of a platoon, and he is also not a guy that walks a lot and has a real high OBP, if memory serves. Other than Abreu, or possibly an inexpensive guy like Wilkerson, I do not any FA OF's the Crew would really like. A trade though seems possible.

[PKBadger]

I was a Guillen fantasy owner this year. He actually had a pretty good year as far as OBP (.353). He absolutely dominates LHP (OPS of 1.049).

 

Just glancing at his baseball-reference.com page, it seems like he's been somewhat consistent. I'm tossing out 2006 because he only played 69 games (must have been hurt?) I would take a chance on him, for the right price, simply because I feel better having a proven everyday starter in LF.

[Cracked Bat Collector]

I'd love to add him to the lineup.

[yoshii8]

I think hes going to get way too much. I don't think he is anything special. I'd rather go w/ a Gross/Mench platoon.

[And That]

The Brewers' biggest problem on offense is team OBP. Jose Guillen does not help solve that problem. Even the upgrade in defense doesn't help his cause, especially at his price tag. His split this year vs. LHP seems to be skewed from career average - he's pretty even. I'd assume stick with Grench and upgrade the bullpen or infield defense with the cost savings.

[TooLiveBrew]

Why do people (obv. not you, AT) continue to sleep on the fact that Kevin Mench did exactly as advertised against LHP in 2007? We don't need to do anything other than retain Mench to have solid production from LF in 2008. If Gross isn't viewed as a good half to the RHP side, there's plenty of ammo to acquire someone who is.

[TheBrewer]

Someone said we need OBP and he did have that as pointed out at .353. People say we have Gross, but Gross is not the answer. If they thought Gross could man a plattoon was valueable enough for that to be given 300AB plus it would've happened already.

[TooLiveBrew]

Jose Guillen's career OBP is .325. When someone has a .353 OBP with only 41 BBs, you need to look at how much his OBP is dictated by his BA. Guillen doesn't have a good OBP when his BA is not also good. That is not an 'OBP guy.' Career BB/K? 244/834. Let's let some other team overspend on him, please.

[TheBrewer]

Ah I didn't know that. Thanks for pointing that out. I'm sure some team will give him a Gary Matthews type deal, 50 Million im sure if he pushes hard enough

[mothershipconnection]

I was once amongst the biggest "I can't believe he's not in high demand - go get him" voices, but now I think he's exactly the type of player the crew should avoid. He'll likely be making nice money and signed through age 35, and someone will get caught up and pay too much.

 

Edit: typo city

[Zycho32]

Someone said we need OBP and he did have that as pointed out at .353. People say we have Gross, but Gross is not the answer. If they thought Gross could man a plattoon was valueable enough for that to be given 300AB plus it would've happened already.

 

Yeah, they would need to remove Geoff Jenkins first because of Bill Hall and Corey Hart.

[DHonks]

I really wanted the Crew to move Jenkins before last season and sign Guillen as both an offensive and defensive upgrade, but most thought it was laughable at the time. I like him, but I don't see it happening this offseason. It's more likely that we trade for someone. I see Quentin, Carter, and Jackson of the Dbacks as all being upgrades in left, and all should be available

[JohnBriggs12]

Guillen is a nice player, but he's pretty similar to Hart (without the steals) and Hall (assuming he bounces back), and he's turned down $9 million to become a FA. His becoming a FA also lessens the likliehood the M's deal Ibanez.

 

In other words, you'd be paying an awful lot for redundancy.

 

They'd be better off focusing on the lefthanded side of the LF platoon, preferably a guy who could hit 2nd in the order, ala Catalanotto.

[BrewCrewForever]

I wouldn't mind Guillen in our lineup. I do like others have said think though that he will get more then he is really worth on the market so I doubt he will come here.

[JJHardy7]

I see Guillen signing a deal a lot longer than 2 years, which I think puts the Brewers out of the picture. Any deal longer than a year would have to be at the right price. LaPorta will hopefully solve 2009.

[Katuluu]

Guillen also tends to be a bit overvalued as a defensive player. He's got a rocket arm but not much else.