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jjfanec

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Everything posted by jjfanec

  1. jjfanec
    Is Hart in the same year as Hardy? If so I would be surprised if he got the money Hardy did. Maybe Corey's second half collapse is clouding my judgment. But Hardy plays a premiere fielding position and put up better numbers than Hart last year in most categories.
  2. jjfanec
    I understand what you are saying about top-end talent in some ways but MILB had Escobar 8, Gamel 23, and Jeffress 44. That is 3 guys in the top 44 which is pretty solid. I am not sure how the second tier of guys rank that would definitely be enough to get some serious push toward top ten.
  3. jjfanec
    I agree with a lot of what you said. I think developing starters is a priority and if a guy has a chance to be a starter take. As well if in the draft you have two equal pitchers and one looks to be a starter and the other is a reliever the starter is more valuable. However, I think a guy like Aguilar who pitched well in the AFL (yes he has flaws but he has nasty stuff) is a better prospect than a starter like Seidel (who struggled last year) or Anundsen (who seems to have limited upside). I agree completely with trying to have relievers trying to be multiple inning guys if possible. I think it is a mistake to pigeon-hole guys as one-inning guys early on. That is what I like about how the Brewers are handling a guy who is obviously a reliever like Wooten. He is averaging over two innings per appearance.
  4. jjfanec
    I agree with the sentiments of andthat and colby. How much better is for the stability of a bullpen if you can have a couple in house young guys who will be there for 4 years instead of trusting in waiver wire pickups each year? No one is saying you should not try a guy at starter if he has a shot to be one, but the thought is that a guy who can be solid out of the bullpen saves a team from having to pay a reliever a lot of money, especially when relievers are so hard to project year to year. If we could have developed guys in our bullpen we would not have had to pay a bunch for Riske, Gagne, Mota (I know it was a trade but it was salary related b/c of Estrada) and even Hoffman. That's why I am high on a guy like Robert Wooten as well. Sure he was a college guy but 44 K's to 6 BB's is terrific. RobertR you are right that a young utility infielder provides salary relief just the same as a reliever, so I would argue both are important to have. Teams draft infielders and outfielders to provide future depth. It is nice to a cheap, young option as a 4th OF and as a utility IF just like it is cheap young option in the pen. The last two years we saw how much a bad bullpen can hurt and how expensive and risky it is try to build one through free agency. That is why to me guys like Aguilar, Dillard, Wooten and Pena are exciting prospects.
  5. jjfanec
    Hardy made comments when he was in trade speculation about wanting to stay a Brewer. I echo the thoughts of other people that the fact that this got done early and for less than what was anticipated gives hope that there could be a long-term deal in the works.
  6. jjfanec
    Looks like a good deal for the Brewers. That is up 2 million from what he received last year but less than the 5 to 5.75 million dollar deals I had seen estimated.
  7. jjfanec
    That system looks extremely weak outside of Vitters who like you said is a long way away. I know there are some sites that do power rankings for systems and I would have to guess the Cubs would be near the bottom. I know their big league club is pretty set but with guys like Lee, Ramirez and Soriano getting older and all in their 30's they will need some sort of youth infusion soon. Obviosuly the Cubs do not depend on a strong minor league system the same way the Brewers do, but it would be interesting to see where their guys would fall on our list.
  8. jjfanec
    Thanks for pointing that out. As a baseball fan I never noticed that there were very few left-handed infielders outside of first base. I remember thinking it was weird in high school when we had a left-handed shortstop but I did not realize how uncommon it was. That does leave Gindl as an OF only type prospect.
  9. jjfanec
    What I love about our minor league system right now is how many guys on that list look poised to make big jumps this year. Guys like Green, Lucroy, and Cain, who are already pretty high, seem like they just consistently get better. With all three at AA to start the year it will be fun to watch if they have Gamel-esque type jumps this year. Then you have the young guys like Lawrie, Odorizzi, Scarpetta, and Peralta who all could make big jumps this year as well. I feel like last years list had a fair amount of guys ranked high who had not really produced consistently like Darren Ford, Brewer, and Jeffress. Even with the loss of talent like Parra to the big league club and LaPorta, Brantley, Bryson, and Ford in trades I feel pretty good about this group. I think next years list could be down right sick if Gamel and Escobar stay in AAA most of the year. Those guys staying and guys like Cain, Green, and Lucroy being right behind, and the next crop with Lawrie and friends looking to turn heads could make the next fan poll fun to watch. Obviously, some of these guys could have rough years but I have been impressed with their improvement as they move up.
  10. jjfanec
    According to Baseball-Reference Baldelli is right handed.
  11. jjfanec
    Baldelli's contract is great for the Sox. $500,000 base, with a 1.75 million bonus if he is on the active roster all year and other incentives that could bring his cost up to 7.5 million if he makes 600 PA So, he makes 2.25 million if he stays healthy plus whatever of the other incentives he gets. That is a pretty good deal for a fourth outfielder if you are the Sox. It is also good for Baldelli because if he can stay healthy this year he will get a nice deal next year
  12. jjfanec
    How about this for a fun stat? Last year we had three guys with more blown saves than Hoffman. Torres had 7 (in one more opprotunity), Gagne had 7, Riske had 5. Shouse and Mota were one behind with 3 blown saves. Even with a higher ERA and a few more home runs he was still very successful. As joepepsi showed so well Hoffman had three bad outings in a row outside of that he was very dependable. Even with those issues he had a good save percentage. What saves him is that he does not walk people so when he does give up the long ball it is not quite as painful.
  13. jjfanec
    Tom H says it is a club option at the bottom of his blog.
  14. jjfanec
    They really just need one of them to pan out with Beckett, Dice-k, Lester and Wakefield already set in the rotation.
  15. jjfanec
    It is amazing how missing essentially 3 starts over the course of a year cost Sheets 10's of millions of dollars. Burnett has only had 2 years in his career of 30 starts are more, whereas Ben has done that 4 times. Ben started just 3 less games Burnett last year with a better ERA and WHIP, but a lower K/9. The only other 30 start season Burnett had was on a contract year as well. So Burnett with just as much injury his gets 5/85 and Sheets seems lucky to get 2 years. I know the big part is Sheet's injury happened at the end of the year and teams are unsure of his health, so this makes some sense. However, if he pitches like last year, even if he misses some starts, some team is going to get a huge steal and I hope that is us.
  16. jjfanec
    If you look at the rest of his stats he actually had a good year. His WHIP was below his career average, his K/9 was up from the previous years and his road ERA was very good. The home runs are scary but it could easily just be small fluke since that was the only number that really went up, and obviously his ERA which was directly tied to the home runs. I know this is minor but people here are saying 6.5 is the deal but all I have seen points to 6 million with a chance to be 7.5 with a CLUB option. To me that is a great deal. We have the option power for the second year and we are only paying 2.5 million more that what Torres would have received for a better closer in my mind.
  17. jjfanec
    The fox report says the first year is 6 million with incentives that could bring it up to 7.5. It does not say anymore than that. Sounds like a good low risk deal.
  18. jjfanec
    I love how the Red Sox do business. They are closing in on Baldelli and Smoltz who are great fits for their team. With that rotation in Boston Smoltz will be able to be eased into starting again. They have Beckett, Dice-K, Lester, Wakefield, Penny, Smoltz, along with Bucholz and Masterson. They sound like they may move one of the young guys for a catcher like Salty. The Baldelli signing backs-up each outfield spot with Drew, Ellsbury, and Bay starting. It is strange because they are a big market team acting like a small market team this winter.
  19. jjfanec
    I feel like pinning our hopes on him as a closer makes sense. Pinning our hopes on him to be what turns this off-season around without us getting a starter is wrong. However, he is a better option to close than Torres was last year and obviously Gagne. He makes this teams bullpen much better than what it was a day ago. We keep flexibility with Villy being able to go more than one inning when needed. Riske, Stetter, Coffey, and McClung with Hoffman and Villy give the Brewers a bullpen I am more confident in than last years. If we can get a starter like Sheets so McClung can be in the bullpen then I am good with our off-season. I would have like a solution to 3B and another left-handed bat.
  20. jjfanec
    What peripherals of his have been slipping? I see that his home run rate went up this year, which explains a a bump in ERA, however, his WHIP was below his career average and his K/9 rate was higher than it has been since 2002. The questions about his park and division are valid, oddly enough in a very small sample size last year he had really good road numbers. 4 of the last 5 years his road numbers have been better than his home numbers, so he seems to succeed well outside of SD.
  21. jjfanec
    Who are these many free agents? I am not disagreeing that there were not any, but outside of Fuentes and Randy Johnson I cannot think of any. But it was not that these guys did not want to come to Milwaukee, they did not want to go anywhere outside of the West Coast. I actually think signing someone like Hoffman or Randy Johnson is harder because they usually only have specific places they want to play and if they are unable to play there. They can simply retire or wait until mid-season to see if anyone on the coast is interested.
  22. jjfanec
    How are the several free agents? Obviously, we are always going to struggle to get top end guys to come hear because of the money we can offer, our history of competitiveness, and our geographic location, but I do not remember many free agents who we tried to get but that did not seem to want to come.
  23. jjfanec
    I would say Cleveland is a contender in that division. Who is that much better than them? If Cleveland can get a healthy year of Victor Martinez, Travis Hafner, and Fausto Carmona. They should also get Jake Westbrook back at the all-star break, and have solidified their bullpen with Kerry Wood and Joe Smith. I actually think they have a pretty good shot to win a very average division.
  24. jjfanec
    These are near the numbers I would expect him to have. I will go 3.8 ERA, 180 IP, 158 K, 74 BB. That will be good enough for a good record. If he is able to cut down his walks he will be solid. Interestingly enough in the minors his WHIP was usually much lower after he got called to a higher level. He is a 1.26 career WHIP in the minors so I would be surprised to see him be a consistent 1.5 WHIP kind of pitcher. I am guessing he was just trying to be too cute. He needs to pound the zone a bit more which will drop his K's and BB, but will allow him to go deeper into games.
  25. jjfanec
    I don't see anyway he gets 2/18. That is more than Fuentes got and I don't see Hoffman getting more than Fuentes. I would guess it is somewhere 2/10 or 2/14 and I would do either especially of the second year was an option.
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