PeaveyFury

Last year Wolf was one year removed from injury. This year he's proven durable over the last two years, while performing very well. What he got paid last year is completely irrelevant.

What did you want them to do instead again? Stand pat, as well documented elsewhere. I don't want to hear a single complaint in two years or one year or six months. And I'm sure we won't here praise coming from your way in six months if Wolf pitches well this year.

3 years plus a team option, per Tom H: http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/78880087.html

Rosenthal confirms. Locking this thread in favor of the thread in the Major league forum. http://forum.brewerfan.net/viewtopic.php?t=20994

I'm sure we'll have some sort of confirmation soon, though the team won't make an announcement for a few days.

I'll defer official totals to someone in Madison that has actually been outside this morning since I've haven't been brave enough yet, but there's at least a foot and a half of snow outside my patio door.

"Innings Eaters" not pitchers with potential to be 1 or 2 starters. Not being able to eat innings was one of the major problems for the 2009 Brewers, which is why the likes of Mike Burns and Carlos Villanueva were starting for the team. There is a heck of a lot of value for this team in someone that can put up a 4.0-4.5 ERA and throw 200 innings. Look, I'm not claiming Wolf or Garland or whomever to be our savior, but the Brewers need two pitchers, and Wolf is probably the best one they can get to fill one of the spots. I'd be absolutely thrilled if they could get Sheets or Harden or someone like that to fill the other and be our potential ace, but that doesn't remove the need for another solid arm in the rotation besides them. Is 3 years/27 million high for a guy like Wolf? Probably to some degree. But it's not completely out of line with what free agent pitching is going to be expecting this year, and as we've seen with Wolf's apparent reluctance to accept what is reportedly the best offer on the table, the Brewers are still a team that does need to go a little higher to close the deal.

Isn't Penny listed as the #4 most comparable pitcher to Wolf on Baseball Reference? (Or the other way around?) That'd be apt if Penny hadn't trended way down the last two years, while Wolf has trended up after his injury seasons in 06 and 07.

Doesn't look like Davis or Washburn are likely unless they fall into bargain status later. Doug does mislead a lot, though, as Tom H has said multiple times that he doesn't want to give any indication that he's pursuing guys to drive up competition with other teams.

Not a big fan of Melvin's "back-up" plan. I really think the Brewers should be targeting a pitcher with Ace potential- Harden, Bedard, or Sheets. Bedard is hurt, Sheets' injury status is unknown, and Harden is a walking injury himself. Yes they have ace potential, but I fail to grasp the continued suggestion on this board that giving a bunch money to someone like Wolf or Garland is truly more risk than giving it to Harden, Bedard, or Sheets. And for the love of God, not every signing of a pitcher for this club is going to be the next Suppan signing, just like every bat they sign to a long-ish deal isn't going to be the next Jeff Hammonds or Marquis Grissom.

Also, I'm a little tired of hearing guys like Sheets brought up as solutions. Sheets, Harden, etc. are pitchers worth investigating, but to pretend we know they can be counted on as solid contributors in 2010 is being disingenuous. At least Wolf is a guy you can reasonably count on to pitch well for most of the season. You can't really point to a lot of the other guys being brought up as reliable starters. Agreed. The Brewers really need two starters that aren't question marks. Guys like Penny and Sheets just don't fit that bill at this point. They could certainly be one of the two, but you need one to be solid like Wolf or Davis or whomever, and then would probably need to bring in a couple of additional options as well in case they fail to be healthy or whatever.

If anything, the Cards' 1 yr, $7.5 million deal for Penny should translate to a 3 yr, $18-$21 million deal for a guy like Wolf. We're committing to three years instead of one, yet I see no discount for that added commitment. Unfortunately, baseball contracts really don't work that way. It's about dollars per year total, and Wolf as the second best pitcher on the market is certainly going to get more money per year than Penny, who is much further down the list. Not to mention the extra money the Brewers still have to factor in just to get people interested in coming here- a problem the Cards really don't have to deal with.

Tom H gets confirmation the Brewers' offer is 3/27 million, and they're looking for an answer tomorrow: http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/78841947.html

Invader, Randy Wolf is not worth over 7 million in this economy unless it is a one year deal. All of the price hopes went out the window when Penny got 7.5 million from the Cards. If the pitching is ever to be improved on a long term basis then the Brewers will have to start producing their own pitchers. That strategy is all well and good, but by the time that works out, it will be 3-5 years from now, after Fielder and possibly Braun are long gone. Well, maybe, but what if the cheaper version succeeds? This team is ready to compete NOW. I'm 100% in agreement with you for the Brewers of 1999-2003. But this team is primed to compete with elite offensive players. Expecting to fix the problem with cheap guys is a longer-term process. That doesn't even take into consideration the fact that the bust rate of draft picks and young, unestablished pitching is much higher than the possible failing of free agents. Also, the Brewers aren't going to suddenly stop drafting pitchers and such, so there's no mortgaging the future going on for signing free agents, and they're not trading prospects away to get a guy like Wolf. The only major long-term problem is not being able to go out and get free agents when the young pitching is ready (if it ever actually is), so you're spending money now instead of on a future season that may never actually fall into place. Your plan just doesn't make sense for where the Brewers are now. Wolf is a fine pitcher, but he's old, and in addition to declining skills his risk of injury goes up significantly each subsequent year, that's just what happens to us when we age. And for the next couple of years, he could also fill a significant hole in the team.

an off season in which the available pitching looks to be exponentially better. This is said almost every year, though, and almost every year the pitching FA class is a major disappointment due to re-signing, arby offers/acceptance, and unforeseen injuries. All you know for sure is the here and now, waiting for an undetermined point in the future when you may or may not be in a position to compete is a bad idea unless you're in full out rebuilding mode, like the 2002 Brewers or the current Pirates, not when a few moves can put you right in the playoff picture like the current Brewers.

The Brewers are throwing money at a problem that won't go away. If they dole out two of these contracts they'll be doubly hamstrung for years to come. Unless they pitch well and make the problem go away? If they're supposed to stand pat, how does the problem ever go away? Sit around for three or four years and hope like heck that someone falls in our lap or that somebody in A ball comes up and dominates? Your take just doesn't make sense, because you're not even ATTEMPTING to solve the problem. Of course if you don't even try to solve a problem, it's certainly not going to go away. Where do the Brewers start to compete again in your scenario? The offense has already been weakened significantly this off-season, so that 80ish win team is probably only high 70s win. My 80ish win projection was including the moves already made. A lot of the roster underachieved last year by nearly all projections, and one position has already been upgraded while CF has declined. Wolf and say, Davis does not make them a playoff team. If you believe them to be around 80 wins now, Davis and Wolf gets them to 84-85 wins, which gets them darn close to the playoffs, or at least in a position where they have a legitimate shot again. Doing nothing as you propose sends the team into a potential spiral. Fans aren't going to continue coming to the ballpark numbering 3 million plus to watch sub-.500 seasons again. Then there's a declining amount money to upgrade the team even when you finally decide you feel it's appropriate to make a run whenever that may end up being.

Agreed Invader, I'd still like to see a couple of guys like Mulder or Smoltz signed as well, but the nice thing about trading for Maine is that it would then free up some cash to acquire a bat or two, considering they'd have to fill a spot in the OF.

John Maine was really good when Peterson was with the Mets, and another decent example of the type of guy the Brewers should probably be looking at getting by trade. His injury history is again concerning, but Peterson is supposed to help with that as well.

The only guy that would make the Crew real contenders would be Halladay and they'd have to give up their future for that. Please Melvin, stand pat. This team is probably an 80-ish win team as it is now, so adding a couple of legitimate starters should get them towards 85-86 wins. Standing pat is a completely infeasible and ineffective strategy, and simply not going to happen. Nor should it.

Tom H confirms that they're likely closing in on Wolf, as Melvin has become scarce at the meetings tonight: http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/78743877.html

Certainly looks like this could happen tonight yet....

"Assistant GM Gord Ash confirmed that middle infielder Luis Cruz was claimed off waivers from Pittsburgh to play shortstop at Class AAA Nashville last season. They're assuming they're going to get him through waivers, or does he have options left? EDIT: Thanks. Still not sure I like wasting a 40-man spot on him, but it makes more sense than them seeing him as a bench player in Milwaukee.

No problem, just making sure everyone is clear. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif Coupled with the earlier report about Wolf's signing being close, you'd think we'd see some movement on Wolf tonight or tomorrow.

Just to point out, Price is Rotoworld's source, so this is one report, not two.

Hopefully this doesn't set the market for pitching, otherwise Doug Davis and Randy Wolf just got dollar signs in their eyes.