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JohnBriggs12

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Everything posted by JohnBriggs12

  1. JohnBriggs12
    I like the idea of adding a bullpen arm. Even though he'll be 41 (and we know how risky signing old relief pitchers can be), $3 million is a lot less than they paid Hoffman last year. BTW, I just posted in another thread another reliever I like and that's Chris Ray who could probably be had for half the $3 million.
  2. JohnBriggs12
    Chris Ray was non-tendered by the Giants. He was a combined 5-0, with a 3.72 ERA and 1.311 WHIP for the Rangers and Giants in 2010. He was lights out against the Brewers in 4 games allowing a single hit, and striking out 3. He's still only 29. He's got closing experience. He shouldn't be overly expensive and would be a nice addition to the bullpen.
  3. JohnBriggs12
    I just don't see Dickerson personally. The Reds gave up on him awfully easily and he did next to nothing for the Brewers last year. The guy I'd like to see at least get an opportunity in CF is Boggs. He may not be as accomplished defensively as the other 2, but he posted a .406 OBP at AAA last year and could fit nicely in the 2nd spot in the order. Even his one year in the bigs when he hit just .226 for Texas, his OBP was a respectable .333.
  4. JohnBriggs12
    Nothing's a sure thing at this point, but except for the most diehard Cub fans, most don't see them higher than 4th. If Zambrano put it together for a full year and that's a big if, they could be tougher than a lot of people think though. But that's also assuming Wells reverts to his 09 form and Gorzelanny is the guy he was in 07. That's a few too many ifs. They are better than the Brewers at catcher, SS, and CF and those aren't insignificant. If the Brewers, Reds and Cards beat each other up and none of those 3 pulls away, the Cubs could stay reasonably close by hanging around .500. That's not too far-fetched.
  5. JohnBriggs12
    I believe there should always be concerns about the bullpen, because rarely do they end up looking like they looked on paper in the offseason. To me, right now this pen looks very thin. So maybe by reverse logic it will turn out okay, but I wouldn't wager on it. Their 8th and 9th inning guys include 2 guys who have one year each of major league bullpen success (Axford and Loe), and one who is 38 coming off an injury that kept him out most of last year. The favorite for the 7th inning is a rookie, McClendon. Braddock is a second year guy with talent but not the ability to work a heavy load. All the other candidates are castoffs/injury/performance question marks. The loss of Jeffress, cost them a potential late inning guy that can overpower hitters. While true his control is an issue, guys like Carlos Marmol have had a lot of success despite shaky control with stuff that's overpowering. Bottom line is I don't think they've adequately replaced the 160 or so innings lost from the departures of Coffey, Villanueva and Hoffman. While each of those guys struggled at various points, each also had stretches where they were effective. The hope is the improved rotation will eat up 80-100 or so of those innings. But the better starting pitching could result in a lot more low scoring tense affairs that come down to the pen.
  6. JohnBriggs12
    I don't think so. Rogers threw 126 innings last year. Even going by the add 20 rule, he's at 146 but with better command he should easily be able to add 30-35 innings. You have to figure he gained some confidence in his late season callup and should be close to dominant at AAA with even a slight improvement in command. Wolf's going to need to be better than 2010 to outperform the top 3, and he's shown he's capable of doing that. But my point is with a year left on his deal, if that happens there'll be demand for him, so why not address some other needs partially in the deal and partially with the money saved? You'd still have Greinke, Gallardo and Marcum fronting your rotation in 2012 but you may want to spend elsewhere than the number 4 spot in your rotation, especially with Fielder gone and a gaping hole at SS and possibly 2B. As has been mentioned you'd also free up some cash to extend either Marcum or Greinke.
  7. JohnBriggs12
    The dealing of Jeffress who could well have made the team did leave a hole. But I have to wonder if they wouldn't have been better off keeping Villanueva especially since it's not appearing like they are getting anything of value for him anyway. Green doesn't exite me at all.
  8. JohnBriggs12
    Okay, the rotation for this year is set, though there are still those out there that pine for Capuano, Rogers and heaven forbid Parra over Narveson. I'm not one of them. Lets look at 2012. Lets just say Narveson goes something like 13-11 with a 4.35 ERA this year, well enough to validate his 2010 performance, and Rogers amasses 160 innings at AAA with an ERA around 3, 175 Ks and limits his walks to around 70 and appears ready to start in the majors. Does this free them up to shop Wolf next winter? Keep in mind now that the Cubs got a lot of interest last summer for 2 months of Ted Lilly. Can Wolf get you your 2012 shortstop, or a decent pitching prospect or will his contract be a hindrance?
  9. JohnBriggs12
    How many catchers is that now? They might have to have infielders throwing to them in spring. There may not be enough pitchers to keep them all busy.
  10. JohnBriggs12
    I don't think there's any question he's better suited to LF and I agree the issue isn't his ability to cover ground as much but his arm. But really how many extra bases are taken on the CF's arm over the course of a season? Anyone recall that Edmonds couldn't throw a lick last year either due to a balky shoulder?
  11. JohnBriggs12
    I don't think there's any question he's better suited to LF and I agree the issue isn't his ability to cover ground as much but his arm. But really how many extra bases are taken on the CF's arm over the course of a season? Anyone recall that Edmonds couldn't throw a lick last year either?
  12. JohnBriggs12
    One could argue that he never could. He'd be fine in LF, but he'd most likely be a disaster in center.Disaster is a strong word. Detroit had him out there for 4 games last year. Brewer rotation fanned 825 guys combined last year. Galllardo and Grienke figure to each fan 200. That's a lot of outs where the only defense needed is the catcher holding on or blocking the ball. The question is whether inserting a .355 on base hitter in the 2 hole ahead of murderers row instead of a .295 on base guy will offset the additional runs allowed by having a below average glove in CF. I think it would. Keep in mind to that CF in Miller Park is less spacious than Detroit or Yankee Stadium and you can much more easily manuever defensive replacements in the NL in late innings. As to his price, well he made $8 million last year, so it will probably take $6-7 million for this year. But as I mentioned, if you're going all in go all in.
  13. JohnBriggs12
    Do you honestly trust a guy coming off a year where he posted a 6.86 ERA at AAA? I'd rather have a veteran like a Will Ohman.
  14. JohnBriggs12
    Can he still play CF? That's the question. He did steal 11 bases last year so he can run better than Edmonds. But what better bat to add than Damon? He'd add another lefty to the lineup. He'd fill the gaping hole in the number 2 slot. He's got tons of playoff experience. If you're going to go all in, go all in.
  15. JohnBriggs12
    I believe Gamel will be used to replace Joe Inglett's AB's this year. He'll get more AB's than Joe did, filling in on occasion at 3B and RF, and the usual week or two in LF when Braun strains himself. He's also do the bulk of the DH'ing. Even though Inglett didn't get a ton of AB's, he appeared in over 100 games. Remember they were hot after Hinske. Obviously they thought they could get use out of a bat like Hinske. There's no reason Gamel can't play that role.
  16. JohnBriggs12
    He said no more major moves. If you sign someone like Orlando Cabrera, is that classified as "major"? If you're already paying another SS $4 million it is. If I'm the Brewers, I'm looking to add a veteran loogy. Braddock is not an everyday guy or exclusively a specialist and Parra has trouble with lefthanded bats.
  17. JohnBriggs12
    Melvin asked for Betancourt in the deal because he didn't want to scour the market. He's not going to go out and spend more on another one. Get used to it, Betancourt is the SS.
  18. JohnBriggs12
    Betancourt's $4 million salary assures him of a job.
  19. JohnBriggs12
    The $64,000 question is who bats 2nd? There's really no ideal guy except on days Counsell plays. Maybe Dickerson, but I can't see him winning the CF job either. By default, I'd stick Gomez there. He won't get walks but should get good pitches to hit between Weeks and Braun. So my lineup would read: Weeks Gomez Braun Fielder McGehee Hart Betancourt Lucroy Pitcher
  20. JohnBriggs12
    Now that the Brewers are lacking in young SS, anyone else think that they should try Farris at SS this year? He was a SS in college. He's proven to be very solid defensively at 2B. At worst, it would be a way of grooming him to be utility guy in 2012.
  21. JohnBriggs12
    How I compare the Cards to Brewers: 1, Carpenter vs. Grienke Even. That's assuming Grienke is closer to the 09 version and/or that Carpenter at 36 should regress some. 2. Wainwright vs. Gallardo. Edge to Cards. Wainwright was the best pitcher in the NL last year through mid August but stumbled down the stretch. Yo has yet to be as consistent over a long period. 3. Marcum vs. Garcia. Edge to Brewers. Garcia's numbers were a bit misleading. His WHIP of 1.316 wasn't nearly as good as Marcum's last 3 full seasons. Garcia is not likely to repeat a sub 3.00 ERA. 4. Wolf vs. Westbrook. Even. Both veterans with similar numbers. 5. Narveson vs. Lohse. Edge to Brewers. Lohse was ghastly (worse than Suppan) in 2010 with a WHIP of nearly 1.8 and an ERA over 6 and a half. If you assume Narveson wasn't fluky, he's better than Lohse at this point. Overall, slight edge to the Brewers.
  22. JohnBriggs12
    I certainly wouldn't trade Axford for Shields. Shields has been very hittable the last couple years. I'd take Joe Blanton over him and Blanton won't cost your closer. I'd have to think long and hard about Garza too. As good has his numbers look, he's been on winning teams all 5 years of his career and he's just 42-44. Blanton on the other hand is 72-60. I know wins and losses are out of favor in judging pitchers, but last I checked there's no sub .500 pitchers in the Hall of Fame. Not saying Blanton is better or even equal to Garza, but maybe one guy pitches just well enough to win and the other pitches just well enough to lose. More than any one factor, the failures of Hoffman are what put the Brewers out of the race by mid May last year. Unless the Brewers went out an threw a boatload of money at Soriano to become their closer, I'd hang on to Axford. Nothing I've seen from Braddock, Loe or any other in house option makes me think they could close in 2011.
  23. JohnBriggs12
    I believe the drafting of Egan cost Butler his spot which has been tenuous at best since the middle of last season. I don't think anything's imminent but that they just want 3 open spots instead of 2. The reality is Dillard actually passed up Butler and they were able to bring him back on a minor league deal. Nobody was going to claim Butler.
  24. JohnBriggs12
    This is a marriage of convenience. Pittsburgh is probably the only team out there where Overbay could start. This is a step backwards for Pirates. The have some nice young players coming along in Tabata, McCutchen, Walker and Alvarez, but they spend $5 million on Overbay who likely won't put up any better numbers than would Steve Pearce, who hasn't done much in the majors, but rakes at AAA. Jones at first and Diaz in the OF is also a better option. They would have been better off spending $5 million on that pitching staff.
  25. JohnBriggs12
    They had 7-8 starters last year. The problem is that 3 of them were bad (Suppan, Davis, Parra), 3 were just OK (Wolf, Narveson, Bush) and one was slightly above average (Gallardo). The answer isn't the number of guys, but the quality of guys. Marcum figures to be a very big upgrade. Gallardo is fine. Wolf as a number 3's fine, as is Narveson as a #5. They don't need 3-4 guys to fill the last remaining spot. None of the types you'd get competing in that group are capable of replacing the top 3 in your rotation anyway if they went down to injury. In the meantime, you have to park them somewhere if they're veterans. That's why I prefer the 6-7-8 slots be filled by Rogers, Dillard (yes Dillard) and Rivas. They need one more solid guy. I'd prefer a trade for a nice durable guy like Blanton who's in the prime of his career over taking a chance that a high priced Pavano at 35 won't regress. Prior to the Marcum trade, I strongly advocated to bring in a Webb who when good, was very, very good. Maybe you could do a Webb and Capuano, and let them battle it out in spring if the cost is reasonable, but I'm sure the reason Capuano isn't signed is the Brewers doing and not his. He's likely a fall back. For all we know the contract he was offered could have been a minor league deal or a very minimal major league deal. The track record for guys with two Tommy John surgeries on the same arm isn't good. He just didn't log enough innings to convince me or other teams for that matter.
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