monty57

I read that Fuentes wants "somewhere between" Wood and K-Rod's contract. So basically he's looking for 2-3 years at around $11MM per year. Apparently St. Louis is one of the front runners to land him.

Disappointing to hear that the Brewers don't expect to bid on any free agent pitchers. Not only do they need to get another starter or two, but they also need to get a closer. Well, according to the Milwaukee Brewers' site, he either has met or is meeting with the agents for Wood, Fuentes and Hoffman, so I'd guess he meant there were no other FA starting pitchers he'd make an offer on. Why not sign JJ to a long-term deal, and keep him at shortstop? That's an option as well, but since Escobar is waiting in the wings, and will eventually be ready to take over, either he gets traded, JJ gets traded, or JJ moves to a new position, as Escobar's a better defender. I'm looking more at 2010 for this to be an issue rather than 2009. So, an opt-out after 3 years $69mil? That leaves 4 years/$92 mil to walk away from. Seriously? If he ever exercised that clause, I would hope it would be because he's unhappy in NY and not because of the money. If it comes to that, then I think baseball may be on the brink of total collapse. Well, ARod opted out of the last couple of years of his $1/4 Billion deal and baseball's still rolling along. The way I see it is that CC now knows that if he pitches well, someone will sign him to a new 6 or 7 year deal when he's around 31 years old, guaranteeing him more money. If he gets hurt, or for some reason doesn't pitch well, he'll ride out the seven years on this contract. Deals like this are win-win for the player and his agent, but the team takes on a lot of extra risk. Also, TLB, good post on the last page (I'm not going to quote it all here). I agree with you that I'd like to see the Brewers sign Dunn (I'd be just as happy with Abreau) and move Hart for SP, athough I'd guess that it's more likely that we make a trade involving Cameron and others for a younger CF / SP. His money will be used to sign Wood/Hoffman/Fuentes and we then start looking for a 3B via FA or trade. Bill Hall, if not traded, becomes the Super Utility guy he used to be so good at.

Gallardo, Parra, Bush, Suppan is absolutely fine as a 2, 3, 4, 5. We need a #2 quality type starter and maybe a depth type guy that can slot in for injuries though that could be McClung or Capuano if healthy. For the lineup all we really need is a left handed 4th OF and maybe some IF insurance that can play 2B and 3B(though I wouldn't turn down a full time 3B and Hall becoming the IF insurance guy). Then we need one solid bullpen arm. All this talk about needing to rebuild the entire team is just going overboard. Well put, ennder. People seem to forget that we were in the running before signing CC and after Yo went down early. Basically we had the current lineup plus Sheets, but without Yo, and we were leading the wildcard race and close to the Cubs. If we can add a good young pitcher to complement Yo, Parra, Bush, Suppan, sign one of Hoffman, Wood, Fuentes, and shore up 3B and the bench, we should deifinitely be a good team this year. And, who knows, if we are in the thick of it come July, who's to say we don't trade for next year's CC. We had a boatload of top draft picks last year, and we'll have another boatload of top draft picks this year, so our minor league system isn't drying up. If a player doesn't want to be signed long term they need to dispense with him for maximum benefit (get rid of Hart and JJ quick they don't want to be here, they want to cash in). While I for the most part agree with your sentiment, Hardy just made an appeal to Melvin not to trade him because he's "always wanted to be a Brewer." I say sign him up long-term and move him to third when Escobar's ready to step in. If you need to trade someone, use Hart, Cameron, Hall, Weeks, Fielder and prospects as your trade bait.

Amen, WV & Roderick. If Macha gives Rivera a few games now and then, I'd expect Kendall to be a little better this year. As far as Hall, the Lasik can't hurt. For the most part, I don't have many problems with my contacts, but they can give a person trouble now and then, and it could have had some affect on his hitting on any given day. I wouldn't expect much though, as his vision with contacts shouldn't be much different than vision with Lasik.

Okay, so now I have a question. If the Yankees sign Tex, Sabathia, and Sheets, would the Brewers get the second round pick for Sabathia and none of the Yankee's picks for Sheets?

Please explain to me how this works. If I understand correctly, if Tex signs with the Yankees the Brewers get bumped from the Yankees first round pick and instead get their second round pick...correct? If this is true..why? How does Anaheim have rights over the Brewers? You would think the team with the worst record would get the higher pick. kramnoj already answered this, but I'll add a little. After the season, all of the available free agents are ranked as a group (#1, 2, 3, etc) and by position (Type A, Type B). Type A free agents net the team losing the player the first round pick of the team that signed the player unless the signing team's draft choice is in the top half of the first round picks (this is why we only got 2nd rounders for Coco and Linebrink last season), or unless that team signed a different player that was ranked higher. Since Texiera (? sp) is ranked as the #1 overall free agent on the market and CC is ranked #2 overall, and the Yankess have a pick in the second half of the first round, the only way now that we will not get the Yankee's first round draft choice is if they now sign Texiera. I hope this helps. As for the signing, I think it does show that CC was sticking to his guns somewhat, as the Yankees had to offer a ridiculous contract (probably much longer and more expensive than any other offers) in order to lure him. With the contract the Yankees threw at him, I cannot in any way fault CC for going to the Yankees. As has been said by a previous poster, I'm just a little upset that I won't be cheering for him any more. He's a great pitcher and seems like a really likeable person, but I can't bring myself to cheer for a team that has such an unfair advantage over all of its competitors. That said, it is a relief to finally be able to move on. Melvin's met with agents for Wood, Hoffman and Fuentes, and now that he knows his money situation, I agree with Sam that one of these pitchers should be signed by the end of the week. I'm glad to see that K-Rod didn't break the bank with his contract. If he gets 3 years @ $12MM / year, I'd guess Wood and Fuentes should be in the 2-3 year, $8-10MM / year range. Hoffman is probably only looking for one year.

For the $400,000 the Brewers will owe, I'd guess they'd be willing to dump him if a better option comes along. As of right now, I guess I'm glad that the worst case scenario will be that we'll have a somewhat serviceable platoon at 3B to keep the spot warm until Gamel is ready, wheter that's mid-season 2009 or opening day 2010. I would guess that this move shows that the Brewers want Gamel to start 2009 at AAA. I still expect some big news to come in the next few weeks. First, either (1) Sabathia or Sheets re-signs or (2) they make a trade for a decent young starting pitcher. When that is done, I'd expect them to go after one of the many closers that are available and look to upgrade in other areas, including 3B. Until then, I think Melvin is being defensive and making sure we're not stuck playing Hall every day at 3B next year.

No matter what he's done in his career, against the Brewers he's always played like a cross between Babe Ruth and Ozzie Smith, so I'm glad the Brewers won't see him anymore.

All of the articles I've read say that Prince should expect around a 10x increase in his pay, which would put him around $6,700,000, so if the reporters are right (are they ever?) I'd guess Prince to be around $6-8MM. My question is, "Does the arbitrator consider current year contracts or does he only consider prior year contracts when determining 'comperable players'?" If he considers other contracts from this offseason, Prince might get a little less money, as it seems that teams may be a bit more stingy. If the judge doesn't use contracts signed this offseason, Prince may get more money. Most players and teams want to avoid arbitration, but if judges don't consider contracts signed this offseason, Boras / Prince might choose to go to arbitration.

Ahh Mike Hampton, the guy who's been paid more not to play than any other player in baseball history. Teams keep shelling out money and he keeps watching his teammates play ball.

I don't see much chance of Bush being moved. There's basically no chance that both Sheets and CC come back, so even if we are able to retain one of those two, they'll still have a need for Bush. In the likely scenario that we start 2009 without Sheets or CC, then we absolutely need to have Bush return, so we can have a lineup of Yo, Parra, Bush, Suppan, McClung... the depth pretty much stops there. If we are able to pick up another starter (which I really, really hope we do), McClung will be the odd man out, returning to the bullpen, where he performed admirably in 2008. My biggest worry for next year is that we don't pick up another starter, and we have some injuries. That could very easily turn into 2006 all over again, with a revolving door of "not ready for primetime" minor leaguers getting lit up while the Brewers watch another playoff chance slip away. We need to add one or two quality arms. Trading away one of the few semi-reliable arms we have is not at all appealing to me, unless that man is Suppan and even he has value to this team next year. I'd only like to see him traded if we're able to use the money we save to sign one or two pitchers.

I just don't get it. Why wasn't retaining Branyan a priority for Melvin? Now the situation at 3B is incredibly concerning to me. At least with Branyan we had the fall-back of a Hall/Branyan platoon. Well said, TLB. I hope we're able to get a full-time 3B, but I've gotten myself used to the idea that we'd have Hall/Branyan in 2009 and Gamel at 3B in 2010 (or midway through 2009 if he was ready). I think it's going to be hard to find a one-year stopgap for 3B, so now it's either going to be Lamb/Hall, Hall full time (yuck!), bringing up Gamel early, or signing a long-term answer at 3B and moving Gamel to a new position in the minors. I guess now I'll have to hope for option #4.

I don't see anything to dislike about this signing. This puts the Brewers in a position to not overpay for Shouse (or sign him to a 2-year deal) simply because they have to. I like Shouse, but if some other team drives up his price tag, we now have a backup option, and we'll get another draft pick. In the article on the Brewers' site, it looks like a split contract that will pay Swindle MLB minimum if he makes the team, but he could be sent to the minors. The reason he chose the Brewers is that they were willing to put him on the 40-man roster. Also, Melvin had a comment that if he makes the team it will be as a lefty specialist. The team made comments this year that they thought Stetter was more than a lefty specialist, so having Swindle on the team would be nice. Thanks for posting the BP article. Sounds like Swindle has a pretty good attitude about everything, and it shows why other teams have given up on him even though his numbers have been good. This seems like a good guy to cheer for.

Once again I read a story like this and ask the rhetorical question "Why are foreign-born players not included in the draft?" I'm sure some of the teams with high draft picks could use a guy like this.

With luxury taxes and revenue sharing, teams like the Marlins make more in revenue sharing than they pay in salary, so yes, they make money. I don't think I want the Brewers to go that route, however, as it would require them to fire sale all their talent every 4-6 years, and you get to watch a AAA team while they rebuild. As far as Mark A., I think he's a pretty straight shooter, and he knows a lot about finances. He said they'd lose money even if they went to the World Series, so I believe him. Now, they may have lost a couple of million, which the ownership group could easily afford, but that doesn't mean they want to do it every year. The Brewers have done a wonderful job increasing revenue since Mark A. took over, but they may have ridden that horse as far as it can take them. My guess is that the next big bump in Brewers' payroll will come whenever the current TV contract is over and they are able to get a more favorable deal. That could add a lot of money into the Brewers' coffers, which Mark A. has shown he is willing to put onto the field.

I would've thought it would cost a lot more to bring him back. That's too bad for us, as the Cubs rotation is once again stacked, and they have more money to go after other players. I agree that in a few years they'll have some old players signed to high money deals, but they still seem like the odds-on favor to be the team to beat in the NL at this point, especially if Manny leaves LA and CC signs with an AL team.

I like the idea of Irribarren filling the backup infielder/CF role next year, as he adds some needed skills and is cheap. He should definitely get a long look in Spring Training. I see Rottino as more of a third catcher/utility guy than a backup catcher, so I think his future could be determined somewhat by what happens with Bill Hall. If we pick up a full-time 3B, or move Hardy to 3B, then Billy would be the "super-sub" and Rottino may not be needed. If Billy is platooned, that would take up a bench spot, leaving less room for Vinny. However, if Billy could be traded and a full time 3B put in place, then Rottino could fill the backup 3B/ third catcher role. Of course, the fact that Kendall plays somewhere around 200 games a season and has decent OBP and baserunning skills may make having a 3rd catcher completely useless. Depending on how things go at other positions, both Vinny and Hernan could provide inexpensive but useful bench players. If we spend a lot of money on pitching & 3B, it's nice to know that money can be saved elsewhere. However, if we fill our pitching holes through trades, we may have extra money to spend, in which case we may be able to pick up a more proven player for the bench, and Vinny could play elsewhere next season.

I understand that the Cardinals would not have been even close to the wild-card berth without Pujols, but I still like players who elevate their game in crunch time and lift their teams to new heights. And I thought Ryan Ludwick had just as much to do with keeping the Cards in the hunt as Pujols did. Of course, Howard didn't have any help with the likes of last year's MVP (Rollins), Utley, Burrell, etc. I'd say head-to-toe Philly's offense is much better than St. Louis', so if the criteria is that other players helped them, then Howard was helped much more than Pujols. What St. Louis did this year, with the roster they started with and the injuries they had, was pretty amazing. When Pujols was snubbed when Howard won the MVP award Pujols commented about how someone who didn't make the playoffs shouldn't win the MVP. I wonder if Pujols still thinks this is true? Great point, Nate. Pujols is one of the best players in the game today, but he definitely seems to be in the "if I benefit, it's okay; if someone else benefits it's not okay" category.

I wouldn't mind seeing Abreau or Dunn signed and Hart moved for pitching. While Hart is definitely not at his peak trade value, I wouldn't say he's at an all-time low, as he was an All Star last season. I'd rather sign Abreau, although he may be too expensive. Dunn would require another move for Braun (to RF), only a year after moving him from 3B to LF. I don't know if either of these FAs are realistic, but either one could help, especially if Hart's late-season problems at the plate continue. The question here would be whether they'd be better paying Abreau/Dunn an extra $10MM or so plus having a decent pitcher in trade, or playing Hart and using that extra money to sign a decent pitcher. That all depends on who's available. As has been mentioned regarding 3B, it all depends on whether or not Gamel will be the Brewers' 3B of the future. Moving Gamel to 1B reduces his value, and makes me think he should have been traded instead of LaPorta. If he is going to be moved from 3B, I think it needs to be done this season, in which case they should target one of the young players Colby mentioned. If the Brewers plan on keeping Gamel at 3B, then they're essentially looking for a 1/2 to 1-1/2 season stopgap. If they think he may be ready mid-season 2009, they may be best to stick with Hall/Branyan. If they think he'll be ready next year, someone like Huff may be a good option if the price tag isn't too high, as they could always trade him next offseason (not sure of his contract status). I'm not as worried about Green, as he's still got a couple of seasons in the minors ahead of him, and a lot can change in 2-3 years. Personally, I'd rather Hall be traded or used as a super-sub, backing up 2B/SS/3B. He's an average fielder who hasn't hit the ball at even a decent clip for two years. A trade would either be a salary dump or bad-contract-for-bad-contract. Even though he's too expensive for the role, his biggest asset right now is that he can play multiple positions fairly well, so he probably should be used as a super sub where at least he can provide value by giving some of the better players a day off every now and again.

Without CC, I'd guess we'll be in the $75-$80MM range. Mark A. admitted they would lose money last season at $90MM, and has said they'd only "extend the budget" to sign CC. I'd assume a breakeven point somewhere in the $85-88MM range. Assuming they'd like to make some profit, and I'm sure they want to leave some wiggle room for mid-season acquisitions, I don't think it likely they'll start the season over $80MM unless they somehow sign CC, which at this point only seems likely if he really, really hates New York. With Torres retiring, I would guess we're somewhere around $60MM right now, and we need a 3B, three pitchers and bench help (possibly more if players like Nelson, Dillard and Stetter aren't on the 25 next year). That means that barring trades, Melvin will have around $15-20MM to fill those spots.

The Brewers offered Wood a two-year deal before last season, and he decided to stay in Chicago for one more year. It seems like he had an "I owe it to the Cubs for sticking with me through the injuries" attitude. IIRC, his wife really likes the area, and he was intrigued by the Brewers' offer, so it's not out of the realm of possibility that he'd sign with the Crew.

Again, as I pointed out, just look at pitching vs hitting. That is the true measure of successful teams and winning has to do with ERA. The Brewers are so focused on CF when pitching is the true measure of success. I think they're focused on both, as they have just offered $100MM+ to Sabathia, and mention pitching and 3B as the two most important areas of concern this offseason. In fact, Attanasio mentioned that he would be willing to go above the projected budget if it meant signing Sabathia. The simple truth is that they had an option on a very good CF for below-market price, so they took it. The fact that they cashed in on the option doesn't mean that it was their primary focus, it just means that they had to decide by a certain date, so they did. If we could somehow trade Cameron for a #2 starter, I'm sure Melvin would jump at the chance. However, that chance isn't likely to occur, and even if it did, it would still leave a big hole to fill in CF. Even if pitching is "the true measure of successful teams," we still need to have major league caliber players at every position on offense/defense. If we traded Cameron straight up for a pitcher, our current option for a starting CF would be Gwynn.

2009 roster includes: Bill Hall as our starting 3B Dave Bush as our #2 starter no significant additions to our bullpen after the losses of Torres, Mota, Gagne, Shouse and possibly one of McClung/Villy to the rotation

Last night's crawl on ESPN was reporting that he was upset with the Padres for withdrawing their $4MM offer.

Smolinski is from Rockford, IL. He was a high 2nd rounder and has been pretty productive when he's been healthy. The Nats had him listed as one of their top prospects after his first season, one year removed from high school. The Rockford Register Star (rrstar.com) did an article on him yesterday. He hurt his foot at the end of his rookie season and tore his ACL in "a dirty play" to end his year this year.