Ball And Glove

Overpaying for relievers is never a good idea. I love watching Brian Sabean work. I guess going after Pena and giving him mega dollars wouldn't be as bad for the Giants since their first round pick is protected, but they'd be better off using that first round protection to actually get something of value.

Wes Obermueller (when he was still with the Brewers) could hit bombs in BP at Miller Park to places that were only touched by Sammy Sosa in the Home Run Derby, the most legendary being the top of the large Pepsi billboard to the left of the scoreboard in dead center. By ESPN's logic, he's better at hitting home runs than Prince Fielder.

Seriously, some of the people who vote on these things are clueless. Two 1st place votes for Lidge?? Hey look, I found him. The fact that he voted Sabathia second is reprehensible. I guess now we know where Dale Sveum's manager of the year votes came from, huh? I don't know how he could say that he punished Pujols for playing on a 4th place team and not elevating his game to take his team to the playoffs. The dude nearly had an OPS of 1.200 in September and did have an OPS over 1.200 in August. How do you "elevate" anymore than that? Blog posts like this make me wish FJM were still around, or at least wish that they stuck around long enough to poke fun at the MVP balloting. I can't wait for Dustin Pedroia to win it in the AL or something.

I'm not convinced 6/$150 is going to get Sabathia. There's always the chance Brian Sabean or Ned Colletti does something stupid, and Sabathia actually seems like the kind of guy who isn't prone to just take the biggest offer. He'd be under a ton of pressure from the union to take it, though. The Sabathia signing might be fine for the first year or two, but I agree that there's almost no chance of him getting through that contract unscathed.

They're really yellow, though. I don't know why it bugs me that much. When I saw him talking on ESPN the other day I didn't hear a single word he said. I was just focusing on his teeth. But I'm sure nobody cares much about that, because he's dominant and awesome on the mound. Lincecum has a sparkling smile compared to Tom Gorzelanny. I also think it's pretty funny that Sabathia got a first place vote. Between that and Dale Sveum getting a third place vote for Manager of the Year, I think the MJS duo of Haudricourt and Witrado cast some ridiculously biased ballots. I can't wait to see that Ryan Braun somehow got one or two first place votes for MVP.

Definitely not thrilled to see this, but more power to the guy if he wants to turn down $3.5 million to spend more time with his family. The Brewers likely aren't going to find similar bang for their buck on the free agent market (sub-4 ERA for around $3 million) this year. I'd rather see the Brewers burn a first round pick on Derek Lowe than someone like Fuentes or Hoffman (although apparently that bridge is so burnt that SD's not planning on offering him arby). Maybe try a reclamation project like Demaso Marte or another junk-for-junk trade like Estrada/Mota last year to shore up the middle relief, but it's not worth it to burn the valuable cash on the back end of the bullpen. Just give the ball to McClung or Villanueva and see what they can do...can't really do much worse than the Gagne/Torres combo did last year (of course, that plan goes to hell if Melvin can't sign a starter and McClung and/or Villanueva are forced into the starting rotation).

He might connect but Kendall doesn't have the power to knock out Macha. Maybe if it was in Houston, where he'd be able to use the Crawford boxes.

I'm not completely against the hiring, even if his managing was eerily similar to Ned Yost's when he was in New York. It's not like a bench coach does much of anything during the game, anyway, and maybe he'll tutor someone like Rickie Weeks on how to take a grounder and throw it to first base without pulling a Knoblauch. I don't like the idea of making Dale Sveum the hitting coach, but the Brewers have pretty much proved to be unresponsive to any kind of hitting instruction, anyway. Losing Maddux to the Rangers might hurt, but it wouldn't have been worth it to keep him for whatever Texas offered him. I do agree, though, that Randolph probably gets the job once Jason Kendall punches out Ken Macha in July or something.

Both of which are Type A free agents as well. Which leads me to this question... Let's say we let Dempster and Wood go, and also someone is dumb enough to sign Howry. How many draft picks would we get if all three signed with someone else? You'd get three sandwich round picks for sure, and up to three first round picks, assuming they all signed with teams who ranked in the top half of MLB (and assuming that you offer arby to all three players -- isn't that unlikely with Howry?). If all three signed with teams in the bottom half, you'd get up to three second round picks. That's assuming that all three players sign with teams that didn't sign another Type A ranked higher than them. If the Yankees sign Ryan Dempster but then also signed CC Sabathia, the Brewers would get the Yankees' first round pick and the Cubs would get their second round pick. Both teams would also get sandwich picks, but the Brewers' would be higher than the Cubs' because Sabathia's rated higher than Dempster.

Saying you like OBP is like saying you like chocolate. Of course you like chocolate. The problem is that the Brewers really want that luxurious Swiss chocolate but can only afford the dry, crumbly kind that barely resembles the good stuff. ...that and Fielder keeps eating all the damn chocolate because he can't have meat.

What, you guys can't respect a Casey McGehee/Mike Lamb platoon at third?? :banghead:

I only bring up Rottino because he's the catcher closest to the majors at this point...Salome is only 22, hasn't seen a pitch at AAA, and is still a poor defensive catcher that reportedly has problems calling games; LuCroy is also 22 and will probably start the next year in AA. I don't think the Brewers see Rottino as starting material, even though it'd be a good story if he did become a major league contributor. He's put up solid numbers in the minors for a guy who was undrafted (.295/.355/.429), and he might end up being a decent bat bench considering his versatility in the field, but he'd probably be a placeholder for Salome/LuCroy at the most. I tend to like LuCroy better than Salome -- he's 6'0" compared to Salome's 5'7", seems to be a more natural catcher, and could play a different position if need be. I was relieved when the Indians announced they were taking Michael Brantley to complete the Sabathia deal instead of Taylor Green or possibly LuCroy. Rottino's a nice guy and a good hometown story, but if he's the everyday catcher, the Brewers probably aren't in very good shape.

Kendall signed a one year deal with a vesting option for next year (2009) that was activated sometime in August this year, but I don't see them keeping him past that point, at least in a starting role. The hope is that guys like Angel Salome or Vinny Rottino will be ready to play in the majors by 2010, but we'll see how that plays out. 2009 is going to be his Age 35 season, and I really don't expect him to put up the miraculous defensive numbers he had this year again, especially after making about 150 starts. He could hang on as a back-up or part-time guy like Damian Miller did, but you have to figure he's pretty much shot as a starter. I guess he would be a cheap guy to have on the bench, but who knows if Kendall's ready to give up being a starter. I'm sure he could find a job on some 90-loss team as a starter for a couple more years past 2009.

Here's a story from the San Francisco Chronicle in 2006 with player reactions to Macha's firing: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/10/17/AS.TMP&type=as The protection issue came up numerous times on Monday. "I know that the one thing any player wants from his manager is to be protected,'' catcher Jason Kendall said. "If there's a bang-bang play at first, even if you're out, if you're arguing you want someone there behind you. If you argue a pitch, even if you're wrong, you want someone joining in. And I'm not sure Macha did that.'' Macha's seeming impatience with injuries also upset players. Kotsay, whose availability was uncertain at times because of a bad back, was furious when Macha said it was "puzzling'' that Kotsay couldn't play in a game at Tampa Bay when the team had been off the day before. Two days earlier, Kotsay had described himself as having to use duct-tape just to drag himself onto the field. "When I got injured, I felt disrespected,'' Kotsay said. "The 'puzzling' comment really threw me. My manager didn't have my back, and every manager's first business is to protect his players. That totally lost my trust in that relationship, between us as player and manager.'' Now, the A's would like to have Beane's back, worried that he'll get criticized for firing a manager who just took the team to the American League Championship Series. "I don't want Billy to take heat for this because this is what needed to happen,'' Kendall said. "If Billy is comfortable with it, we're behind Billy. Maybe Billy saw the same thing the players saw. If Billy gets blasted in the media, it's ridiculous. Billy's going to get a lashing, and he shouldn't.'' There's been quite a bit of discussion about it over on brewerfan, but it's in the middle of the massive 32-page thread that was started back when Yost was fired in mid-September. The media has also picked up on it -- Haudricourt has actually mentioned it several times, and I believe SI's Jon Heyman has even noted it recently. When Heyman notices something, it's probably pretty obvious. ;) It's hard to tell what to think of it, and I think you could make a case for either side as to whether or not it's a big deal. On one hand, there's like a 10% chance that Kendall's back with the Brewers after 2009, so if he doesn't like it he can bite his tongue for a season and go elsewhere. On the other hand, Kendall seems to be one of the most respected guys in the clubhouse, and if Macha doesn't have the respect of him, it'll be hard to get the respect of anyone else. That may be why guys like Sveum and Maddux are being retained, since the players already know them and seem to get along well with them. Kendall was one of Sveum's biggest supporters in the interview process.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/10262008/sports/yankees/yanks_decision_looking_bad_135306.htm?page=2 I'd love to know what a bad baseball interview sounds like. Brenly: "Oh I really like the bunt...bunt bunt bunt...You think Fielder can learn to bunt? Oh he'd surprise some people. If we gave the first base coach a hamburger I bet he'd beat the throw...." Melvin: "Thanks for coming in, Bob..." I imagine Craig Counsell starting every game came up somewhere, too. To me it seems like Macha's getting the job because he's willing to virtually keep the entire staff from last year's team. Haudricourt is reporting in Milwaukee that guys like Mike Maddux, Bill Castro, Ed Sedar, and even Dale Sveum will be brought back, possibly as bench coach. The only real input Macha's getting on the staff is third base coach and hitting coach. The entire interview process seemed like a joke. Macha and Randolph were old buddies of Melvin's, and Brenly was just a guy who happened to work an hour or so away. It seems pretty clear that Macha was the guy from the start, and he was almost hired over Ned Yost before Macha went back to Oakland. Macha was actually offered the job but turned it down to take the Oakland job.(an obvious move given each teams' talent level at the time.) That's what I was trying to get at in my original post, but I worded it poorly. It's interesting that some of the idiotic commenters on the JSOnline blog Haudricourt writes seem to hold that against Macha, like he personally spurned them. I agree it was a no-brainer at the time for all parties involved, and even though I've been critical of Yost in the past, he was what the team needed at the time -- someone to transition the team from horrible to average. Macha would've been a bad hire back then, and it would've been a bad decision for him to come to Milwaukee back in 2003, even considering how his tenure in Oakland ended.

This really doesnt sound realistic. Theyd essentially never be able to afford another free agent. Are they deep enough at 1B to afford losing Fielder at the moment? I knew LaPorta was the heir apparent at 1B as talk was they were going to trade Prince in his contract year. How close is Gamel? I'm assuming he's just not going to be able to stick anywhere but 1st. If he's a realistic possibility for this year I could see them doing it. Go with a mix of guys until you call him up to delay arby a year and then you stick him in there. Gamel had a handful of AAA at-bats last year before getting called up in September, but I'd think the Brewers would like to get him a full season at AAA before bringing him up. At the very least, I'd expect them to treat him the same way they treated Ryan Braun -- Braun had a monster spring in his rookie year, but was sent down until they were reasonably sure they could avoid him being named a Super Two (it's moot now, since Braun has that long-term deal, but I believe it worked...I could be wrong, though). If Fielder were traded, I imagine the Brewers would try to get a short-term replacement in the trade, or at least somebody to platoon with Joe Nelson. Nelson's not really much of a prospect...he's on the older side and just seems to hit AAA pitching well. I'd probably compare him to Micah Hoffpauir...a nice bat, but not someone you'd like to see starting every day if you're planning on contending for the playoffs. Of course, there's always Russell Branyan... :D)

http://www.nypost.com/seven/10262008/sports/yankees/yanks_decision_looking_bad_135306.htm?page=2 I'd love to know what a bad baseball interview sounds like. Brenly: "Oh I really like the bunt...bunt bunt bunt...You think Fielder can learn to bunt? Oh he'd surprise some people. If we gave the first base coach a hamburger I bet he'd beat the throw...." Melvin: "Thanks for coming in, Bob..." I imagine Craig Counsell starting every game came up somewhere, too. To me it seems like Macha's getting the job because he's willing to virtually keep the entire staff from last year's team. Haudricourt is reporting in Milwaukee that guys like Mike Maddux, Bill Castro, Ed Sedar, and even Dale Sveum will be brought back, possibly as bench coach. The only real input Macha's getting on the staff is third base coach and hitting coach. The entire interview process seemed like a joke. Macha and Randolph were old buddies of Melvin's, and Brenly was just a guy who happened to work an hour or so away. It seems pretty clear that Macha was the guy from the start, and he was almost hired over Ned Yost before Macha went back to Oakland.

There seem to be some that would do whatever it takes to get Peavy, and there's some that are concerned about completely gutting the system over the span of about 6 months with the Sabathia and Peavy deals. The players you mentioned are being brought up for various reasons -- it's pretty obvious that Fielder's gone once he's served his time in Milwaukee (and he and Boras are treating it like a prison sentence), and a lot of people are fed up with his atrocious defense. Hardy's great and has the potential to be a legend in Milwaukee, but Escobar is expected to be banging down the door in a year or two, and he's about to get very expensive in arby, so there's some that think the Brewers should sell high. A lot of people are down on Hart after he finished the year at .268/.300/.459 -- some are treating him like some of you guys treat Fukudome, and while a lot of people wanted him locked up long-term before this season started, a lot of people seem to want him gone for whatever reason. Gwynn is Juan Pierre without the doubles power...he's virtually worthless, but a lot of people seem to be tricking themselves into thinking the Brewers could sucker the Padres into taking him because the name could draw people to the park. All together, yeah, the Brewers would be overpaying by a ton. I don't think it's fair to compare it to the Haren deal because Billy Beane was looking for tons of minor leaguers, not necessarily major league players like Towers seems to want. I think a Peavy deal (regardless of who ends up getting him) is more likely to look like the Bedard deal -- a couple guys who can help out at the Major League level in 2009 and a good pitching prospect or two. Seattle overpaid for Bedard, but that kind of package would make sense for Peavy.

"Hey, you look a lot like Major League Baseball All-Star Ryan Braun. Shouldn't you be signing some kid's balls somewhere?" Didn't the other manager know that Braun kills lefties?

From the Cubs' perspective, yes. You'd probably get to see Craig Counsell start somewhere every day, a plethora of sac bunts ahead of Braun and Fielder (maybe even Braun sac bunting to get a guy over for Fielder!), the Brewers signing Byung-Hyung Kim, Yovani Gallardo throwing 130 pitches a night because what Randy and Curt did back in Arizona, numerous caught stealings during failed hit-and-run plays, and guys getting benched because they strike out too much. It's sad to think how many Brewers fans (outside of brewerfan.net) don't realize how bad a decision that would be. It's like they think "He won a World Series -- he's better than Yost! He's a broadcaster with the Cubs -- he'll know how to beat them! He's a nice guy with the media -- he's way better than Yost!"

From Tom Haudricourt: http://blogs.jsonline.com/brewers/archive/2008/10/20/probably-not-until-after-the-series.aspx Randolph is likely to interview for the job, but it doesn't seem like he's got much of a chance -- he'd just be fulfilling the minority requirement, and he seems more interested in taking the coaching job with Washington anyway. None of the names mentioned in this search have really interested me, and more often than not, they've scared the crap out of me as a Brewers fan. Brenly's lucky to have won a World Series after riding the coattails of the Schilling/Johnson duo and probably is only in consideration because he "knows the Cubs" or whatever, Macha had decent success in Oakland but was chased out of town and not a single player (including Jason Kendall) had a nice thing to say about him, and Willie Randolph was Ned Yost in a New York spotlight. So, yeah. Congrats on your division titles through 2011, guys. :banghead:

That deal might be enough, but if I'm the Padres, I'd want Parra, Hardy, and Hart. Both ideas seem pretty fair, but if the Padres are rebuilding and they're presumably trying to cut salary, I'm not sure they'd want Hardy. He's a great offensive shortstop, but he hits arby this offseason and is about to get very, very expensive. My offer from Milwaukee would be something like Jeffress, Escobar, Hart, and a spare piece (Gwynn?) for Peavy and a spare piece. Parra's not quite as untouchable as Gallardo, but I don't think it would make a lot of sense for the Brewers to give away one of the few average-to-good starters they'll have left once Sabathia and Sheets leave to get Peavy back. It's probably why the Brewers aren't really a serious contender in these talks. One creative idea on Brewerfan is to get a third team into the mix, in order to get Prince Fielder involved. The Pads obviously have no need for Fielder since they already have Gonzalez, but they could possibly get a team like the Rays to take Fielder and supply the pitching to San Diego, while the Brewers supply a positional prospect slightly below the level of Escobar/Gamel/Jeffress. It has next to no chance of happening and doesn't make a ton of sense, but it'd be damn entertaining to talk about.

I realize young pitching wasn't really a weak spot for the Twins this year, but how many times do you think they look at Jon Lester, then look at Carlos Gomez's .296 OBP and 77 OPS+ and think about what would've happened if they had pulled the trigger on the Johan-to-Boston deal instead? Was getting him out of the AL really that much more valuable?

First 90-win season since 1992, first playoff appearance since 1982, a great deal of attention from the national media for much of the year, two starters in the All-Star Game, and Ned Yost is gone. Looks like a successful year to me. ;) Really, the Brewers played like the token "Happy to be here" team. It would've been nice to see them win more than one game, but most of the games were fairly close and the pitching staff was in shambles. Gallardo pitched nicely in Game 1 but was hurt by the 3 unearned runs, Sabathia ran out of gas, and they missed Sheets in the rotation dearly -- if he pitches, Suppan doesn't have to start yesterday and the Brewers may have had a better chance at winning. The offense did sputter out, though, which was disappointing to see. So yeah, it may be sad and pathetic, but I'm happy with the way this season went.

Moyer against the Brewers on Sept. 11: 5.2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 5 K (Phillies won, 6-3) Add that with Dave Bush pitching against a homer-happy team, and I really don't see this ending well. Hopefully I'm wrong and the Brewers can at least get this to a Game 4. I just hope the home crowd doesn't boo the team off the field if the season ends tonight.