Monthly Archives: March 2008

Put me in coach!

Posted on March 30, 2008 by | 2 Comments

Posted by Steve

Each year around this time, I’m digging around for my Opening Day cd, which features Centerfield, The Boys Are Back in Town and of course, B.B.K.T.U.T.H. It is a bit bittersweet this year, as I won’t be heading over to the guys’ house on Campbell in La Crosse to watch the game and following it up with a softball game. In fact, I won’t see it live at all.

Either way, Opening Day is always one of the best days of the year. It’s cool that it’s against the Cubs, but dumb that it’s at Wrigley. That whole 80% chance of rain thing is a bummer.

Anyway, we’re all set to go. I finally got around to updating the roster and roto cards. The rotation is set (Vargas is gone, w00t!), Rivera is the backup catcher and McClung (odd choice…) is the long reliever.

Before I continue, here’s my one negative paragraph. They are not only starting Tony Gwynn, but they are hitting him second. That is incredibly frustrating to me. Alright, moving on.

I am a bit nervous about the forecast with Sheets pitching. Something about rainy, 40-degree conditions mixed with the first start of the year mixed with Ben makes me uneasy. I have the feeling the Cubs are going to do everything they can to get this game in, so I just hope nobody gets injured.

I never really got around to doing a season predictions post this year, so I’ll throw one out here in a travel-sized version. Everyone, and I mean everyone nationally is picking the Cubs. I don’t have any problem with that, as the Brewers and Cubs appear pretty even. Of course, I don’t understand why Sports Illustrated picks the Brewers for third (a 15-game improvement for Cincinnati? Really?) or why Yahoo! sports picked the Brewers for fourth.

Here’s how I see the central playing out. It’s really a two-team race. The Reds have some good young players, but they also have Dusty Baker, so they won’t play those good young players. The Cardinals don’t have enough offense or pitching. The Astros have terrible pitching, and the Pirates will stink, though it looks as though they may finally be rebuilding correctly.

The Cubs have made a couple additions, but not much. Kosuke Fukudome is the big one, but he replaces a Murton/Jones platoon, which wasn’t half bad. Fukudome will probably be a small upgrade offensively over that platoon but a bigger upgrade defensively. All in all, that was definitely a good signing for the Cubs.

The other big addition is Geovany Soto at catcher for a full year. Many have high hopes for Soto, and he’s pretty clearly an update over Jason Kendall, but his high BABIP over his career suggests that he may not be quite as good as advertised.

The Cubs are also going with Felix Pie in center. I think Pie will be a pretty good player, but his plate discipline last year left much to be desired. He’ll probably be a work in progress this season.

Meanwhile, the Brewers had more personnel turnover than the Cubs, specifically in the bullpen. Cordero, Wise, Linebrink, Spurling are out; Gagne, Riske, Mota, Torres are in. Gagne probably won’t be as dominant as Cordero was at times, but Riske and Torres should add some stability and depth to a pen that was worn out by the end of last season. At catcher, Kendall isn’t much of an upgrade, yet the fact that he’s replacing Johnny Estrada makes him just fine with me.

But the biggest change for the Brewers, and the reason I believe they will win the NL Central, is the defensive shakeup. Moving out Braun for Hall at third and Hall for Cameron in center will have a bigger positive improvement than anything the Cubs did this off-season.

Other picks:

AL East-Red Sox

Yankees have too many question marks with their pitching. Surprise pick–Tampa Bay will finish third.

AL Central-Indians

The Indians are also my pick to win the World Series.

AL West- Angels

Relatively weak division, but Seattle doesn’t have enough outside of Bedard and King Felix.

AL Wildcard- Tigers

Mashing offense will get them past the Yankees.

NL East- Braves

Everyone is high on the Mets and Phillies, but not many are giving Atlanta much consideration. I really like their off-season moves to bring in more pitching, and Jones-Teixeira in the middle of the lineup is scary.

NL West- Diamondbacks

Great pitching and an improving young offense will carry them past Colorado.

NL Wildcard- Rockies

This was a toss-up for me between Philadelphia, Colorado and New York. I don’t think the Mets have enough offense after Wright, Reyes and Beltran, and I don’t think the Phillies have enough pitching after Cole Hamels, so I’ll go with the defensively great Rockies.

I’d like to conclude with a quote from Ned Yost from OnMilwaukee.com:

“These kids have all gone through it now. There’s nothing I need to tell them,” Yost says. “They’re prepared; they understand what it feels like, what it smells like to go through it.”

I’m sure you’re wondering, ‘what does it smell like to go through it?’ The answer: Sweat, cologne, toothpaste and hot, hot desire.

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Posted in Milwaukee Brewers 2008

I judge players by the way they ground out

Posted on March 24, 2008 by | Leave a comment

Posted by Steve

I just read the JS before going to bed, and had to make a quick post about this gem from Tony Gwynn Junior.

“I’m having a good spring,” Gwynn said. “I just want to finish strong. I’m trying to stay focused on the things I need to do. Ned told me at the start of camp that he just wanted me to have good at-bats and that’s what I set out to do…”

“This game is so results-based, sometimes we all get caught up in that,” Gwynn said. “It took a lot of pressure off that I was putting on myself. I felt like he made the game way easier.”

I hate when managers get “all caught up in” results.

Actually, I wish Ned would get more caught up in results. If he did, he wouldn’t consider starting someone with a .307 career OBP and a .688 OPS in his minor league career.

Just to be clear, I have no personal vendetta against TGJ. By all accounts he’s a good guy with a good attitude, and I think he has an awesome voice. I think he’s a good backup outfielder. I just see no reason to give a month’s worth of ABs to someone who has never hit for a sustained period of time when you have Gabe Gross and Joe Dillon.

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Posted in Milwaukee Brewers 2008, Ned Yost... Sha-wuuhhh??

Tough break for Capuano

Posted on March 23, 2008 by | Leave a comment

Posted by Steve

Bad news today, as Chris Capuano’s shoulder injury will likely require Tommy John surgery. It would be the second TJS for Capuano, which puts serious doubt on how effective he might ever be again.

While Capuano had not been sharp in spring or most of last season, this is nothing but bad news for the Brewers, either. Any team can make room for a decent lefty starter, and Capuano has been better than that for much of the last few years.

What hurts just as much is the once-deep starting pitching staff is quite a bit thinner. We now know for sure that neither Capuano nor Yovani Gallardo will be in the opening-day rotation. Unfortunately, this means the Brewers will probably not trade a pitcher after all, and that Claudio Vargas will remain in the rotation for the foreseeable future. Blech.

The likely rotation now appears to be: Sheets, Suppan, Bush, Vargas, Parra (roughly that order) with Villanueva being sent down to AAA. Many fans are upset at the prospect of Villanueva being sent down, but I have no problem with it. He’s probably better than Vargas, and may be better than Suppan or Bush, but not by so wide a margin that it’s criminal to not start him in Milwaukee. I’m still a bit skeptical of Villanueva’s overall ceiling, as I’m not yet convinced he’ll be a 4.0 ERA-type starter as his 186 MLB innings might indicate. PECOTA has tempered enthusiasm on him as well, projecting a 4.72 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP.

The last thing the Brewers want to do is to trade Vargas or Bush now to make room for Villanueva, only to have another starter fall to injury or poor performance. There is nothing wrong with pitching depth.

Too much is made of opening-day rosters; the rotation will sort itself out. Yo will be ready by mid-April, so if everyone is healthy that will bump another pitcher out of the rotation. Someone else will be sent down, or perhaps we’ll see a trade around that time.  Either way, it’s pretty much a given that Villanueva will see substantial MLB time this year, which is why I’m not too bothered.

—————————–

I, as I am each spring, am excited for baseball to start. But you’ll have to forgive me for not being totally in baseball mode yet, even with the season set to start this week. I am totally enamored with college basketball right now. Marquette lost a heartbreaker, but Wisconsin is looking great.

I am taking great enjoyment out of the fact that a team nobody seems to pick because they don’t play a “flashy” style has done so well all season. USC was the hot pick for the Sweet 16, and when they lost to Kansas State in the first round, all of a sudden K-State was primed for an upset.

Nothing would make me happier than a final four matchup of UW vs Washington State. Wazzu has also played two great games, and I’d love to see everyone whine and complain about a well-played 60-58 game.

I also have to brag, because my bracket is currently in the 99th percentile on Yahoo.  Traditionally, I am lucky to still be in the running after the first weekend.  Needless to say I’ll be taking an interest in the games this upcoming weekend once again.

So basically, all I’m asking for is about a two-week grace period before I’m required to immerse myself in baseball for seven consecutive months.

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Posted in Milwaukee Brewers 2008

Recapping my Fantasy Draft

Posted on March 18, 2008 by | 4 Comments

Posted by DAN

I return from my long hiatus, to tell the tale of my fantasy baseball draft, 2008 edition.  This was a 10 team draft, standard 5×5 league, with the exception of OPS replacing AVG.  Here goes:

(5) David Wright– I drew the 5th pick, and this was pretty much a no-brainer to me.  I considered Miguel Cabrera in the stacked Detroit lineup, but Wright’s 5 category contribution put me over the top.  I hate having to plug in someone as a source of steals who is not going to help me in any of the other 4 offensive categories.

 (16) David Ortiz — This guy is a steal in the second round of an OPS league. His lowest OPS in the past three seasons is 1.001 and his lowest HR total is last years 35. He’s getting older but I can’t resist a lock for 30+ HR, 110+ RBI and a 1.000+ OPS here.

(25) Lance Berkman — My strategy (as always) is load up on offense early as its  safer and more consistent than pitching, and I stick with it here. Berkman has a bit of a down year last year, but still put up an .896 OPS with 34 HR.  He owns a .971 career OPS and I’m willing to bet he bounces back this year.

 (36) Adam Dunn — This guy has been hitting 40 HRs a season since I was in the womb (I had a LOT of potential phrases to go here).  His .940 OPS last year is also studly.  Let’s hope Dusty doesn’t force him to start hacking. 

(45) Robinson Cano — As much as I hate the Yankee hype machine, Cano is starting to look legit. Improving power numbers over the past three seasons (14 HRs, 15, 19) including 82 doubles over the last two years and OPS’s of .890 and .842 make me think a 20 HR, .860 OPS season is pretty likely, as he gets closer to his prime. He is also the last of the top tier of second basemen left when I make this pick.

(56) Brian McCann — I wasn’t wild about this pick. On one hand, he was the last catcher I felt comfortable taking, and there was a substabtial drop off to the next tier. No one left really presented great value in my book, so I made this pick.  McCann is not as good as his .961 OPS in 2006 indicates (2005 BABIP: .332) but should be likely to post an .800 OPS with 20 HRs in 2008.

 (65)Justin Verlander — This is why I wait for pitching. 65 picks in and I get an 18 game winner on one of baseball’s best teams who struck out 183 guys last season. 

(76) Jason Bay — had a downright bad year last year, but who left at this time has as much upside? In a smaller league I should have no trouble finding a replacement if he maintains his form from last season.

 (85) (96) (105) Roy Oswalt, Adrian Gonzalez, and Ben Sheets — I take two more pitchers in these rounds. Oswalt is durable, but I worry about his declining K numbers and increasing WHIP (1.33). Either way, he should post 200 IP and 150 K which is more than you can say about the rest of pitcher’s in his immediate tier. Adrian Gonzalez quietly conquered Petco to the tune of 30 HR’s last season. Ben Sheets I took for the same reason as Bay: upside. He’s definitely the only guy left in Round 11 who could win a Cy Young award. If he stays healthy, he’ll likely be my ace.

(116) (125) (136) Pat Burrell, AJ Burnett, Joakim Soria — Here are Pat Burrell’s HR totals the past three seasons: 29, 32, 30. His OPSs? .890, .892, .902. (There’s no way that is the proper way to word that) This guy is silly consistent and a big time sleeper in an OPS league. AJ Burnett (see Sheets, Ben) is solid, even if it is only for 130 IP. I also take my first closer Kansas City’s Soria. His peripheral numbers last year were sick, including 75 K to just 19 BB.  Soria should pick up 25 saves no matter how bad KC plays.

The Rest:

15. (145) Todd Jones RP
16. (156) Josh Hamilton OF
17. (165) Khalil Greene SS
18. (176) Ty Wigginton 1B,2B,3B
19. (185) Michael Bourn OF
20. (196) Pat Neshek RP
21. (205) Heath Bell RP
22. (216) Rafael Betancourt RP
23. (225) Rich Harden SP
24. (236) George Sherrill RP

 No big names left. I take Todd Jones, not because I think he is good, but because Detroit should win 90 games at least and Jones should close all year. Josh Hamilton could stay healthy and be a steal if he repeats last years numbers. Khalil Greene hit 27 HRs last year and his .250 AVG won’t killme inthis league. I (as usual) round out my pitching staff with setup men: Neshek, Bell, Betancourt and Sherrill (who was rumored to be, and has since been named Baltimore’s closer).  I take a late round flyer on Rich Harden in case he stays healthy this year. After the draft I dropped Bourn and picked up Ryan Theriot, and dropped Wigginton and picked up Jack Cust (.912 OPS last year with 26 HR). I like Bourn as a full time player, but with all my slugger outfielders I can’t see actually playing him. I can see sitting Greene, so I don’t mind plugging in the 1-dimensional Theriot.

 All in all, I like my team. I feel like I should easily be top 3 in all the offensive categories, except SB. That said, I should have enough offense to have no problems making a trade for steals if I need them in June. As far as pitching, I have a lot of potential. I should remain competitive in SV with Soria, Jones, and Sherrill without spending a pick in the first 13 rounds on a closer. If I can get lucky in the Wins department, I feel like my team should be very competitive in this league. I also don’t see any way I don’t win this league if I get 400 IP out of Harden and Sheets, even though that seems incredibely unlikely.

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Posted in Uncategorized

PECOTA, Lineup Optmization and You!

Posted on March 16, 2008 by | 1 Comment

Posted by Steve

I have been intrigued by the fact that Ned Yost is considering hitting Jason Kendall ninth, because it shows he is at least listening to the Brewers’ stat people. Tony La Russa has occasionally hit his pitcher eighth, and it’s been done a handful of other times. It allows to have a “second leadoff” hitter to set up your big hitters.The important thing, though, is to put a very strong hitter in the second spot, which La Russa usually did not do.

I found an awesome page at baseballmusings.com that calculates lineup optimization. You just plug in all nine players’ on-base and slugging numbers, and it gives you the 20 best and worst lineups consisting of those nine players. Told you it was awesome.

Naturally, I tied this into my “I received my Baseball Prospectus Manual” post. I used PECOTA’s 2008 projections in the simulator and came up with the Brewers’ optimal 2008 lineup. Baseball “traditionalists” would probably not be too crazy about this lineup, but I loved it as soon as I saw it.

Without further ado, I give you the Brewers’ optimal lineup. The numbers listed are BP’s PECOTA projections for on-base percentage/slugging percentage.

1. Rickie Weeks .368/.454

2. Prince Fielder .384/.560

3. Mike Cameron .356/.493

4. Ryan Braun .367/.575

5. Corey Hart .358/.528

6. Bill Hall .335/.482

7. J.J. Hardy .329/.441

8. Ben Sheets

9. Jason Kendall .324/.321

This lineup projects to score 5.214 runs per game, which is certainly a strong number. It may seem strange to use Prince Fielder in the second spot, but this allows him to get more plate appearances over the course of the season than if he was hitting third or fourth. Doesn’t it make perfect sense to use your best hitter as often as possible?

A few more things to note. One unusual thing about this lineup is hitting Fielder second; the other is hitting Ben Sheets (or whoever is pitching) eighth and Kendall ninth. The idea here is to use a player with OBP skills in the ninth spot to serve as a second leadoff hitter.

Incidentally, for the simulator I used Sheets’s career OBP and SLG numbers, since PECOTA doesn’t bother projecting offensive stats for pitchers. For those who were wondering, Ben’s career numbers are a wicked .115/.079.

I definitely don’t expect Ned to use a lineup this out-of-the-box, but I like that he’s thinking of using Kendall ninth.  I would feel a lot better about it, though, if he hit Fielder or Braun second.

For those who are curious, here is the worst possible lineup with these nine players. This lineup would score 4.385 runs per game.

1. Ben Sheets

2. J.J. Hardy

3. Corey Hart

4. Jason Kendall

5. Bill Hall

6. Rickie Weeks

7. Mike Cameron

8. Prince Fielder

9. Ryan Braun

And because this was so fun, I decided play around with the lineups Ned has been considering for the first 25 games when Cameron is sitting out. Of course we already know that Tony Gwynn has no business starting, but this reinforces that big time.

With Gabe Gross: 5.211 runs per game

With Joe Dillon: 5.271 runs per game

With Tony Gwynn: 4.672 runs per game

Basically what this is saying is: Tony Gwynn cannot hit.  Do not start him.

I’ll have another post that looks closer at the projections.  I just wanted to focus this one on lineup construction.

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Posted in Milwaukee Brewers 2008, Projections

What to do with Ben Sheets?

Posted on March 10, 2008 by | Leave a comment

Posted by Steve

I realize the 2008 season hasn’t even begun, but I want to address what will be the Brewers’ biggest decision for the 2009 season.  Ben Sheets is entering a contract year, and the Brewers will be faced with a huge decision.

Because Sheets has given the Brewers frustrating returns, he was involved in trade rumors this off-season.  Nothing ever materialized, and now the Brewers have an interesting and difficult situation on their hands. 

Even the biggest Sheets fans around (and I’m definitely one of them) have to admit that he has not lived up to his four-year $38.5 million contract signed in 2005.  Of course the tricky thing is it is solely due to the time he missed rather than anything approaching poor performance.  Ben Sheets continues to put up great numbers whenever he pitches.

Entering 2008, the Brewers have rather quickly found themselves in another contract year with Sheets.  It is widely believed that 2008 will be Sheets’s last year in a Brewer uniform, but I am on the side that believes the Brewers can (and very likely should) attempt to re-sign him.

I’ll go through some reasons why the Brewers cannot/should not re-sign Ben Sheets, and why I disagree with them.

He is too soft and injury-prone to risk giving another big contract

Ben took a lot of flak last year for not “pitching through pain” on what was perceived to be mild injuries.  People questioned his toughness, which is absolutely ridiculous.  How quickly so many forget this is the same player who pitched the entire 2004 season with a herniated disc (and had Cy Young numbers in the process).

As for the dreaded “injury-prone” tag, well by definition it’s undeniable at this point: Ben Sheets is prone to getting injured.  My main rebuttal to this, though, is that he has only had one injury that could be considered worse than short-term, which was the torn lat muscle.   Vestibular neuritis (that weird vertigo thing) was a total freak phenomenon that he just couldn’t help.  Then there was the blister, the hamstring, the finger tendon, and maybe something else I’m forgetting.  There’s been a lot, I know.

But.  Basically, nothing was serious enough to still be affecting him today.  He’s never had a serious arm injury, and he’s never missed an entire season.  That’s more than you can say for most MLB pitchers.  So there’s no reason not to believe he could pitch an entire season.

Paying Sheets would prevent the Brewers from paying their young players

This is probably the most common argument as to why Sheets is a goner, and I disagree strongly with this stipulation.  I understand arbitration raises for a few players will be costly; Prince Fielder alone will probably get $10 or 11 mil. 

But there are a lot of things that can overcome that.  The Brewers’ payroll has really shot up since Mark Attanasio bought the team, and they’ll be over $80 mil this season.  It is reasonable to expect the payroll to be bumped up a bit again after another good attendance year in 2008.  Mike Cameron at $6 mil and Eric Gagne at $10 mil will come off the books (unless Cameron’s hefty option is picked up, which is probably doubtful).  That money alone will probably cover most of the arbitration raises.

Then we have Jeff Suppan.  He signed a four-year, $42 million deal last winter.  Perhaps conveniently, though, he was given a no-trade-clause for only the first two years of his contract.  Here’s how his contract is structured:

2007: $6 mil

2008: $8 mil

2009: $12.5 mil

2010: $12.5 mil

2011: $12.75 mil club option, $2 mil buyout

First thought:  That contract gets pretty ugly after this year.  Second thought: That contract was designed so they could trade Suppan after 2008.  Now I don’t expect a team to take the entire contract, but if the Brewers had a reason to move him, they could find a team to take on some of that.

Why couldn’t that reason be a Ben Sheets extension?

By trading Suppan (and saving, say $6.5 mil off next year’s payroll in the process), shedding Gagne and Cameron’s contracts and Attanasio boosting the payroll again, the Brewers would have enough in their payroll budget for an extension for Sheets.

They have enough pitchers to replace him

Always take quality over quantity.  The Brewers don’t have anybody on their roster who could replace Ben Sheets.  Maybe Yovani Gallardo will become that player, but he’s still way too young to count on that from him anytime soon.  The bottom line is Ben Sheets is still the best pitcher on the Brewers, and it isn’t really that close.

But his numbers did drop off last year

This is actually my biggest concern about re-signing Sheets.  His numbers dropped off a little bit in 2007.

2004: 2.7 ERA, .98 WHIP, 8.25 K/BB, 1.1 K/9

2005: 3.33 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 5.64 K/BB, 0.9 K/9

2006: 3.82 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 10.5 K/BB, 1.1 K/9

2007: 3.82 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 2.86 K/BB, .75 K/9

First of all, before I say anything, look at that line for 2004.  Ben Sheets had 12 wins in 2004.  That’s all you need to know about the importance of the “win” stat.

But secondly, Sheets did have a bit of a down year in ‘07, at least by his standards.  The things that he’s known for, which are high strikeout totals and ridiculous strikeout/walk ratios, weren’t really there in 2007.  It’s mainly because his strikeouts took a significant dip.  They made his k/9 solid rather than good, and his k/bb good rather than superhuman.  It’s something that really makes approaching an extension tricky, because the Brewers might not want to give top-of-the-line starter money to a guy who’s now just good rather than elite.

They are stuck in a catch-22:  If Sheets gets hurt again the Brewers won’t want to keep him; if he stays healthy (and pitches well) they won’t be able to keep him.

This might be true, but a very realistic scenario exists where it’s not.  If Sheets stays healthy and pitches well, the club should approach him about an extension during the season.  Rather than pulling a Barry Zito (everyone knew Oakland wasn’t going to re-sign him), try for a Jake Peavy, Carlos Zambrano or Roy Oswalt (all signed big extensions during the season).

If the Brewers are serious about re-signing Sheets, and I would definitely argue that they should be (again, IF he’s healthy), then they need to approach him during the season.  If they don’t, and he reaches free agency, the bidding will quickly escalate past what the Brewers should spend.

Sheets signed a below-market value with the Brewers once, so it’s feasible that he might do it again.  The Brewers just need to act as soon as they see he’s healthy and effective.  If he’s churning along around the All-Star Break, I’d make a strong push for it at that time.

In my opinion, Sheets is the most valuable impending free agent the Brewers have had since Paul Molitor left in 1993.  Sure, they had Greg Vaughn, Richie Sexson and Carlos Lee, but Sexson was the only one who approached Sheets’ level (Vaughn was past his prime and Lee was not a franchise player, thus not worth the huge contract).  Everyone knew Sexson wasn’t going to sign here though, and the situation with Sheets is a lot different.  I think the fact that the Brewers did not trade Sheets this past off-season really shows that they are going to try to keep him.

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Posted in Major League Baseball

Ned’s coffee addiction, the eradication of Gabe Gross and more from Dusty

Posted on March 7, 2008 by | 1 Comment

Posted by Steve

This is getting some attention on the forums, but I noticed this myself when reading the Journal-Sentinel the other day.  Here is a blurb from the JS:

Cactus Juice: In the game Sunday against the Angels, first baseman Prince Fielder’s glove was knocked off by a hard, high liner. Fielder scrambled without his glove to pick up the ball and record the out. Asked what he thought of that play, manager Ned Yost had to admit that he didn’t see it. “I was getting a cup of coffee (in the dugout),” said Yost, who drinks about 25 cups a day.

25 a day?  How is he still alive?  How long has he been doing this?  No wonder he was so irritable last down the stretch last season.  Anyway, he was asked the next day about the crazy amount of caffeine intake:

“Why would you write that? I don’t drink 25 cups of coffee a day,” Yost said. “Maybe seven or eight or 10, but not 25. And why is that anybody’s business, how many cups of coffee I drink? That’s the stuff that (ticks) me off.”

Why does it matter if someone writes about it?  It’s not like someone asked how often he sleeps with his wife or has an irritable bowel movement.  Plus, his habit caused him to miss a play, which is why this came up in the first place.  Doesn’t that make it relevant?

———————————————

Just when I was about to praise Ned for thinking outside the box with his batting order (more to come on this in a future post), he goes right back to something that doesn’t make sense.  He is going to start giving time in center to Gabe Kapler, Tony Gwynn Jr. and Gabe Gross.  He admitted, however, that he was leaning towards platooning Kapler and Gwynn because Gross isn’t as good defensively.

Shouldn’t this be obvious?  Use Hart in center, Gross in right against righties and either Kapler or Dillon against lefties (I’d give the edge to Dillon, but it seems he’s lost in the shuffle behind Gabe “The Body” Kapler).

Give Gwynn an occasional start in center—like maybe 4 in the first 25 games, but no more.  Gosh, I really don’t even want Gwynn on the team.  He has some useful tools, but if they use him like a starting caliber player he hurts the team.  Why couldn’t they just have traded him and spared me this frustration?  I was excited for a Gross/Dillon platoon, and instead we get Gwynn/Kapler.

———————————————

Dusty Baker is already acting on his diabolical plan to dismantle yet another promising young team.  From rotoworld.com:

The approach that led to a .321/.360/.548 line and 17 RBI in 84 at-bats following his callup last season. “He needs to swing some more,” Baker said. “I talked to him about that. Strikeouts aren’t the only criteria. I’d like to see him more aggressive.” Baker doesn’t want Votto, Adam Dunn or anyone else taking called third strikes. “I really, really hate the called third strike,” Baker said. “I hate that. You’re guess and you ain’t ready to hit.”

I can’t wait until Adam Dunn demands a trade by June 1.  Johnny Estrada really missed the boat by not signing with the Reds.

———————————————

Meanwhile, the Cardinals are in disarray.  Albert Pujols’s elbow is totally shot, to the tune of a torn ligament, bone spurs and arthritis.  Somehow he’s still able to play, but he’s been told he will need Tommy John surgery at some point.  I think it’s pretty doubtful that he’ll play the entire season, especially if/when the team isn’t contending.

———————————————

We’re getting to my absolute favorite time of the year.  The snow is starting to melt, we turn the clocks forward and March Madness is approaching only to be followed by the beginning of baseball season.  This is one of the best Marches (hm, sounds weird) in recent memory in terms of how good Wisconsin teams are looking collectively.  Wisconsin and Marquette are serious threats to make a deep run, and the Brewers don’t suck anymore.  And it’s all in HD!  OMG!

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Posted in Base Clogging, Cornucopia of thoughts, Ned Yost... Sha-wuuhhh??

It’s not a big deal yet

Posted on March 3, 2008 by | 2 Comments

Posted by Steve

Some people started panicking yesterday after Prince Fielder’s comments about the renewal of his contract. In case you haven’t seen the comments, here they are (from the Journal-Sentinel):

“I’m not happy about it at all,” Fielder said after the Brewers’ workout this morning. “The fact that they’ve renewed me two years in a row now.

“There are a lot of guys with the same amount of time I have who have done a lot less than me and are getting paid a lot more. But my time is going to come and it’s coming quick, too.”

Fielder’s contract was renewed for $670,000 after making $415,000 last year. Fielder is upset that he was not given more money despite the fact the Brewers had no obligation to do so.

This morning on the radio I listened to two hosts lambaste the Brewers for “low-balling” Prince Fielder. Several people called to agree, and I finally turned it off when they ridiculed a caller for suggesting otherwise.

The Brewers did not low-ball Prince. As Melvin said in that same article, no player with similar playing time to Fielder has signed a contract for more money this spring.

Prince says a lot of people with the same amount of time as him are getting paid “a lot more.” This simply isn’t true. What makes this even more amusing is the only ones who are getting more (i.e. Troy Tulowitzki) are the ones who sacrificed free agent years to sign a long-term deal.

If Fielder wanted to make 5 or 6 mil this year, he definitely could, but he’s the one who doesn’t want to sign a long-term deal right now. The Brewers would be willing to sign him to something like a five-year $50 million deal, but Prince (or at least Lord Boras) is the one holding out to get his big pay day as soon as possible.

Naturally, people were calling in saying that the Brewers have no desire to pay Fielder and they’re still the same old cheap Brewers. First of all, for those who feel that way, do you really think an extra 300 grand or so would convince Fielder to leave millions on the table in the future to stay here? Whether he stays or not, I all but guarantee that an extra $300,000 given four years earlier will have no bearing on his decision.

People are also calling this an indication that Prince will be out of Milwaukee the second he hits free agency. That is also jumping the gun. Certainly it’s not an encouraging sign, but people need to realize that Fielder won’t reach that point for four years yet. Think about that for a second. The Brewers will have Prince Fielder under their control through the 2011 season.

First of all, that is awesome. Second of all, a lot can happen in that time. Maybe Prince will see guys like Weeks, Hart and Braun sign extensions and he’ll decide that he wants long-term security as well. Maybe he’ll change agents. Maybe Scott Boras will decide he’d rather pursue his lifelong dream of a career in architecture and quit the business.

And, hey, if not then that will suck. It won’t be the end of the world, but it will suck. But at least we can look forward to having Prince Fielder on our team for the best years of his career.

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Posted in Milwaukee Brewers 2008, Transactions