Howard wins arbitration case

[adambr2]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3256452

 

Wow, a little surprising in my opinion. Record $10M first arby year.

 

This can't be good in regards to how much Prince will end up costing after this year.

[samwise]

Braun and Fielder are going to be very pricey.

 

IIRC Howard had been upset that the Phillies would not pay him what he was worth last year.

[BrewCrewForever]

Yeah I'm not looking forward to how much we are going to have to fork over for Braun and Fielder. I really think unless the payroll gets huge for us that we may have to pick between the two. I mean we also have to give money to Yo, Hart and Weeks eventually.

[endaround]

Keep in mind the background that Howard has been furious that the Phillies kept him in the minors for so long so that he won't get his big FA contract until he's the wrong side of 30. So he has no incentive to make things easy for them.

[Time for a Miller]

Fielder has Scott Boras as an agent. There is no way he is going to make things easy for the Brewers. I think this is a pretty clear signal that the Brewers should buy out Fielder's arby years as soon as possible.

[And That]

I'm going to bury my head in the sand on this one as a fan. I don't want to know how much Prince is going to cost until after the season. I'm just happy he's here for the moment.

[Ennder]

I think the arbitrators made a mistake. Yes you have to project the players but the arbitration system is also there to protect the team and to keep smaller market teams competitive. If they are going to give $10M to guys with only 2 full seasons who are poor defensively and have missed time with an injury I just think it is a mistake. The $7M offer was very fair for a first year of arbitration.

[RightFieldCoder]

Yeah I'm not looking forward to how much we are going to have to fork over for Braun and Fielder. I really think unless the payroll gets huge for us that we may have to pick between the two.

 

I'd be surprised if we kept one more than a year past free agency.

[DrWood]

I think the phillies low-balled him and paid the price. if they offered 8 mill, I think they would have won arbi.

[Big Reed]

this is the exact reason i've bee n saying the brewers' window of opportunity is 1-3 years at best. I realize i come off as being very pessimistic. We al l know Prince will ask for more than Howard received in arby, and the brewers will either be forced to pay his asking price or come very close to it. Boras is not going t o give the brewers a discount and prince is not going to sign any 4 year deal for $25 million. Prince is going to command big bucks. that said, they'll have to cut their costs by either allowing some other quality players to leave, or they will be forced to trade prince away for prospects and start rebuilding once more. This is why i like the marlins so much. They splurge for a couple of years, win a couple of championships, and then they rebuild. We all know that day is of rebuilding and saying good bye to prince is coming. it would be nice if we followed the marlin's pattern and splurged for the next two years and won a championship before prince leaves.

[Ennder]

I sure hope we don't go the Marlin path because it still took a ton of luck to win those championships, they were not the better team when they won they just got hot at the right time.

 

Yes we will have to pay our players soon but they will still be cheaper than the free agent price and still be values for marginal wins. We just aren't going to be able to throw away money on the bullpen/bench like we have been. There is a lot of money coming off the books in the next year or two so convering arbitration numbers should not be a big problem. I don't think we'll be keeping Sheets though so Parry/CV better be ready to plug those holes in the rotation.

[DHonks]

I laughed when I heard they were going to a ruling today. It was common sense to say that Howard would win. He was MVP in 2006. In 2007 he blasted 47 homers despite missing around a month. He's a good guy, and he just "stuck it" to a crappy organization

[twobrewers]

I think this is a pretty clear signal that the Brewers should buy out Fielder's arby years as soon as possible.

That doesn't make sense. After today's ruling, the cost of "buying out" Fielder's arby years just skyrocketed.

[endaround]

The difference is the Brewers can buyout those years. The Phillies can't unless they overpay, Howard wants to stick it to the front office.

[Time for a Miller]

I guess it doesn't really matter because Scott Boras clients typically go to arbitration and don't do contracts until they are free agents.

[bucksman4]

So how many more years can we expect to see Prince in a Brewers uniform?

[Ennder]

There is no reason to get rid of Fielder until the last year before he goes free agent imo. The team can afford a couple contracts like that for the short term because the players are staggered a bit.

[ozzybourne]

There is no reason to get rid of Fielder until the last year before he goes free agent imo. The team can afford a couple contracts like that for the short term because the players are staggered a bit.

what about sheets? if the brewers have a chance to win with prince, like sheets now, do they trade him?

 

 

tough call. baseball economics will drive many fans away in the next few years in my humble opinion. the cost for tickets will be one thing, but when players start getting $20 -$30mil a year, and more (yes i know about a few now) --not just a few, but most players--the game will start to lose interest. the owners need to reign in salaries soon. ex)- sexson is due $14 mil this year. pathetic.

 

how much will we pay for a beer? $10 each? bye,bye.

[TooLiveBrew]

Wouldn't it be interesting if a 'Fans Union' were to form? http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[iluvlamp]

I look forward to a time when all ballplayers are paid the same. All tickets should be the same price too. Beers? 12 oz, 16 oz, and 20 oz are all 3 dollars. Pretzel bites? Buck fifty. Parking? Free. If it wasn't for our greedy overlord owner this could happen. Jerseys are also overpriced. Hats? pffftt. All hats and jerseys should be a price commensurate with the common ideal.

[endaround]

If fans didn't really care when salaries quadrupled in the 1990s. why will they care when they double over the next 10 years?

[Invader3K]

I'm not going to worry about Prince or any other Brewer right now. It's impossible to tell what the future holds, or how deep Mark Attanasio's pockets really are.