endaround

Yep that weird offer the player arby or you can't sign him until May 1st thing was done away with

Hardy just isn't among the top 3B who are some of the best hitters in the game even assuming Hanley Ramirez doesn't get moved soon. Hardy is not among A. Ramirez, Jones, Wright, Longoria, and ARod.

Davis had a mid 4 ERA and having that and a high whip is what he has done so I doubt Arizona is worried about a sub $9m pitcher for one year. Johnson likely would need to take a paycut but it sounds lie he's willing though that can of course change. I considered Vazquez, thought he was just good enough that Sox would hope he returns to some form. But it could go either way. Swisher I considered but given his salary doesn't really take off until 2011 anf thought the Sox would just hope this was a down year(he was good in 2007) but again not sold on it Contreas I just assumed couldn't be moved due to injury.

If Hardy could only play in the NL that might be meaningful . But there are 14 other teams out there that can pay him. And your three doesn't include Young who is going to make $16m per year or the fact that Reyes and Ramirez just haven't gotten their big money yet but even Ramirez has huge amounts locked in. As a SS Hardy puts up Young type numbers which is $15m a year, at 3B he's Casey Blake who makes $6m a year.

But I doubt Arizona does it. Not sure if they view Byrnes as a bad contract yet. In addition they already have Webb, Haren and Davis under contract and Johnson wants to come back. Throw in Max Scherzer and they have 5 good starters already.

So you want to trade Jeff Suppan or Bill Hall this offseason? Wondering what kind of refuse you can get in return? Here's my attempt to list some of the bad contracts around the league that are available for the right sucker, er team, to claim. Feel free to bring up any you think I might have missed. Angels Assuming we can't put Tori Hunter here quite yet: Gary Matthews Jr. $10m per year 2009-2011 .242/.319/.357 in 2008. In one of the least surprising happenings ever, Sarge looks to be a really bad signing. He is under contract for his age 34-36 seasons. Astros Ignoring the aging Carlos Lee: Miquel Tejeda $13m in 2009 .283/.314/.415 in 2008 Since there is just one year left, he isn't terrible and is playing for a team use to paying huge amounts to bad players he likely stays put. A's Eric Chavez $11m in 2009 and $12m in 2010. Basically a DNP in 2008 (95 PAs, .247/.295/.393) in 2007 .240/.306/.440. Well he plays 3B! Bobby Crosby $5.25m in 2009 .237/.296/.349 in 2008. My guess is the A's ride the salary out. Blue Jays Things start to get interesting: Scott Rolen $11m in 2009 and $11m in 2010. .262/.349/.431 in 2008. Big thing was only 454 PAs. He was about average but only for 2/3 a season. The Jays might be sick of dealng with a constantly injured 3B Vernon Wells $1.5m in 2009, $12.5m in 2010, $23m in 2011, $21m in 2012-2014 plus signing bonus payments of $8.5m in 2009 & 2010. .300/.343/.496 in 2008. Wells had a good year. Problem is it wasn't $20m a year good. Not really an option for the Brewers, but since he has full no trade clause anyway let's move on. Lyle Overbay $7m in 2009-2010 .270/.358/.419 in 2008. Overbay is carrying a sub-800 OPS at 1B. Cubs Alfonao Soriano $16m in 2009 $18m in 2010-2014 .280/.344/.532 in 2008. The Cubs don't likely see it yet but paying Soriano $18m per for age 35-38 is bad. Not really a Brewer thing to go for. Koskie Fukudome $11.5m in 2009 $13m in 2010. $13.5m in 2011. .257/.359/.379 in 2008. Yes I just like putting this here (Remember the projections of a 900 OPS?). He has a full no trade so not going anywhere except maybe Seattle. DiamondBacks Eric Byrnes $11m in 2009-2010. Byrnes got a big contract after having a semi-decent year in 2007 (813 OPS playing LF) This year he was injured and when he played he hit .209/.272/.369. He hasn't played CF really since 2006 and his bat doesn't really fit in a corner position (Career .263/.325/.446) Chad Tracy $4.75m in 2009 plus $1m buyout of $7m 2010 option. Not sure how he projects in the field anymore. He hit .267/.308/.414 in 289 PAs. Arizona would likely nearly give him away but would ride out the contract otherwise. Not a bad target for a platoon if he can still handle 3B. Doubt the DBacks are willing to give up on Chris Young just yet, but why you give a guy with a sub 300 OBP a 5 year deal paying 7 figures at the end is beyond me. Dodgers Andruw Jones $15m in 2009 plus $2.1m signing bonus in 2009 and $5m in 2010. .158/.256/.249 in 2008. Umm, well, he may be injured most of the time so you get some insurance money back? He could run into visa issues? Since he's the same size as Prince you can save on uniforms? Jason Schmidt $12m in 2009 + prorated signing bonus through 2011. DNP in 2008. 25.2 innings pitched in the last two years. Full no trade clause. Juan Pierre $10m in 2009-2010, $8.5m in 2010. .283/.327/.328 in 2008. Another bad contract that everybody thought was going to be bad. Giants Barry Zito $18.5m 2009-2011, $19m in 2012, $20m in 2013, $18m in 2014 or $7m buyout. 5.15 ERA in 2008. Speaking of contracts people predicted would go bad... Dave Roberts $6.5m in 2009. .224/.341/.280 in 2008 in 127 PAs. Not Zito bad but $6.5m for a 5th OFer is bad. Aaron Rowand is in the toss up category here... Indians Travis Hafner $11.5m 2009-2010, $13m 2011-2012, $2.75m buyout or $13m in 2013. .197/.305/.323 in 2008 Krunk has shrunk. His injury fileld 2008 followed a 836 OPS in 2007. His disappearance explains a lot of why the Indians are winning as much as expected. David Dellucci $4m in 2009. .238/.307/.405 in 2008. This comes after a 678 OPS in 2007. Everyone's favorite left handed platoon player looks like he's done. Rafeal Betancourt $3.35 m in 2009. not really sure he belongs here, but a 5.07 ERA (4.40 FIP) in 2008 might make the team dump him On the other hand he had a 1.47 ERA in 2007 so $3.35m seems like a decent gamble to most teams. Mariners Carlos Silva $11m in 2009, $11.5m in 2010-2011, $12m mutual option in 2012. 6.46 ERA in 2008. This is near Zito bad. Jarrod Washburn $10.35m in 2009. 4.69 ERA in 153.2 innings. FIP of 4.72. The Mariners had a chance to dump his salary to the Yankees in August and passed because they wnat prospects. Miquel Batista $9m in 2009 6.26 ERA in 2008 in 126 innings. Batista is goign to be 38 next season and looks to have hit the wall. Kenji Johim $24m over 2009-2011 .227/.277/.332 in 2008. Ok like Ichiro he isn't going anywhere... Add to this Richie Sexson and Jose Vidro and you get an idea why the Mariners are so bad... Mets Luis Castillo $6m 2009-2011 .245/.355/.305 in 2008. He ended the season platooning with Damion Easley. Like I said elsewhere, 2B is a huge hole for the Mets. Castillo just hasn't been the same since his injury. Nationals Austin Kearns $8m in 2009 plus $1m buyout of 2010. .217/.311/.316 in 2008. Kearns just never seemed to recover to what he was earlier in his career. You can make a case for adding Nick Johnson or Dmitri Young here... Padres Kahil Greene $6.5m in 2009. .213/.260/.339 in 2008. San Diego will likely just hope for a turn around but his career OBP is .304. If you're not catching that just isn't good. Phillies Adam Eaton $8.5m in 2009, $10m mutual option in 2010. 5.80 ERA in 2008. 5.29 FIP. Geoff Jenkins $6.75m in 2009, $7.25m mutual option in 2010 with $1.25m buyout. Jenkins hit .246/.301/.392 in a platoon role this season. Pirates Jack Wilson $7.25m in 2009 plus $0.6m buyout of 2010 option. .272/.312/.348 in 2008. Pirates are unlikely to take any salary back and hope for an injury to someone at sometime. Freddie Sanchez $6.1m in 2009 plus $0.6m buyout of 2010 option. .271/.298/.371 in 2008. As above. Rangers Kevin Millwood $11m in 2009 plus $12m in 2010 with 180 IP in 2009. 5.07 ERA in 2008. 4.02 FIP. So his results are due in large part to a BABIP of .366 compared to a career level of .308. So we might have a guy here who you can expect to improve over two seasons of 5 ERA pitching. Vincente Padilla $12m in 2009 plus $1.75m buyout of 2010. 4.74 ERA in 2008. 5.03 FIP. So he is the opposite of Millwood, he's likely to match his 5 ERA of 2007. Frank Catalanatto $4m in 2009 plus $2m buyout of 2010. .274/.342/.399 in 2008. $6m is al ot for a 35 year old platoon 1B who can't slug over 400 in Arlington. Joaquim Benoit $3.5m in 2009. 5.00 ERA in 45 IP in 2008. 5.29 FIP. Might just be injury related. Red Sox Julio Lugo $9m in 2009-2010, vesting option of $9m in 2011 based on PAs. Hit .268/.355/.330 last season which was an actual improvement over 2007. Missed most of the season with injury. Royals Jose Guillen. $12m in 2009-2010. .264/.300/.438 in 2008. Another of those signings that had sirens blazing. But it sure showed the Royals were serious! Tigers Gary Sheffield. $14m in 2009 plus $4m deferred signing bonus. .225/.326/.400 in 2008. The Sheffield coming home party starts now! Dontrelle Willis $10m in 2009, $12m in 2010. 9.38 ERA in 2008. 4.45 ERA in AAA in 2008. Brandon Inge $6.3m in 2009, $6.6m in 2010. .205/.303/.369 in 2008. Well he can catch! Nate Robertson $7m in 2009, $10m in 2010. 6.35 ERA in 2008. 4.99 FIP. Career FIP of 4.75. He's not 6 ERA bad, he's 5 ERA bad! Twins Micheal Cudyear $6.75m in 2009, $8.5m in 2010, $10.5m option in 2011 with $1m buyout. .249/.330/.369 in 2008. Maybe its fully injury related but with Young, Kubel and Span seeming to pass him by not sure if the Twins will take that chance. White Sox Paul Konerko $12m in 2009-2010. Hit .240/.344/.438 in 2008. Not a true dump but $12m 1B don't have a sub 800 OPS. Yankees Robinson Cano $6m in 2009, $9m in 2010, $10m in 2011, $14m in 2012 with $2m buyout, $15m in 2013 with $2m buyout. hit .271/.305/.410 this year. If Cano reverts back his contract is no problem, but who knows if Hank Steinbrenner is that patient? Since a good deal of Cano's earlier success is BABIP related who knows what his true level is.

David Wells-Big Game Pitcher Pedro Martinez-Small Game Pitcher

The Brewers already had Dave Bush, so no Sheets was not the only pitcher who could do that.

People seem to assume that Brantley has to play in Cleveland. He doesn't. I wouldn't be surprised if he never spends a day on the Indians. He can very well be traded again, and his bat projects at CF not really anywhere else.

The Mets have a worse 2B hole than basically any team and are moving into a new stadium. I expect Hudson in New York by mid November.

Because Kapler's BABIP will fall back to its normal .300 and he'll return to being a mediocre hitter

And before August Suppan's numbers were the same as what he ended the season at.

No the whole point was Hardy is a $15m a year SS in 2 years and a $8m a year at best 3B. He won't want to move. If the Brewers want to sign him long term he would need to be paid as a top flight SS not an average 3B. So no Escobar and Hardy on the same team just doesn't work.

Suppan was not fine until September. June was the only month where Suppan had any separation between his walk and K totals. He stunk the entire year.

Showing Davy Lopes is just grinding salt in the wound

Everyone does realize that odds are very great that Jeff "Hammonds" Suppan will be the highest paid Brewer next year right?

Sabathia hitting? Is this June?

I didn't like walking Howard. I hated trying to go inside on Burrell

Hardy 2007 .277/.323/.463 Young 2007 .315/.366/.418 Hardy 2008 .283/.343/.478 Young .284/.339/.402 Being close in 2007 and vastly superior in 2008 while 6 years younger makes him better in my book. And Hardy doesn't get the Arlington boost Young gets.

You're right, Hardy is better than Young. Young is living off one great year at age 28, he was just breaking in at age 25 while Hardy is doing well. The point is that kind of money is why Hardy won't move to 3B. And why take a good short stop and make him an average 3B?

No they didn't rebuke anything. Yes top players at all positions get paid similarly, but Hardy isn't a top 3B, he is a top SS. Hardy is Casey Blake at 3B. Micheal Young, a decent comparison to Hardy, just signed for $16 m per year for 5 years as an extension.

No people hate Eckstein because the media makes him out to be this great player when at his peak he was average. There are a lot of Ecksteins, just none with his press.

No the best option is for the Brewers to choose a short stop and trade the other one. Putting square pegs in round holes just because you have a bunch of square pegs is bad. Add to that that Escobar is at least a year and could very well be two away, talk of moving Hardy to 3B makes little sense.

Paying Hardy $15m per to play an average 3B makes no sense.

Yes but Howard doesn't. Howard can't hit lefties. Not going with one is just foolish