Claudio Vargas released

[LUKE232323]

Not having Vargas in the rotation is fine. Keeping McClung over him for the bullpen is not fine, for too many reasons to mention.

[RayKingsForemanGrill]

This doesn't seem to add up... would one suspect that maybe something else bigger is in the works?

[bigredrobbo]

I think the phrase "be careful what you wish for" came to mind at the moment when I heard about this news.

[Big Reed]

my yearly projection just went down two wins with this move. it's not because we waived vargus, but rather , we had al l Winter to try to obtain something albeit not worth much in return for him and got nothing. i would have been happy to spend his salary on patterson or lofton rather than just waiving good bye to vargus. That trememndous pitching depth went back to zero.

 

many people, myself included have suggested the brewers are way over budget and looking for ways to cut back. This does not bode well for mid season, as I don't believe the brewers will be in a position to add salary or a quality guy via trade for the stretch. if the brewers make a trade, they'll also be giving up a quality player rather than a PTBNL.

 

I hate to sound like a Chicken little. but if you've seen the same thing happen 36 times before, and it gives you bad vibes of bad things to come, I'm not sure that's a chicken little scenario.

[patrickgpe]

i'd rather have him than McClung has the long reliever. That being said, just like the argument last year of how dessens needed to be released even though he only really cost us one game, it is not as significant of a move as some would believe. When the team is expected to do well everything is augmented.

[Dmiles23]

I would take him over McClung any day of the week. (Twice on Sundays)

Is it possible that McClung is next on the way out? Once Gallardo comes off the DL, could McClung be released or traded and Villanueva moved back to the pen?

I kind of agree this move is weird. We had an overabundance of starters, and now we have 5 healthy starters, hopefully we can add Gallardo to that soon. Could John Patterson now be an option if he'll sign a minor league deal?

 

[endaround]

I still think we owe Vargas. Unless I am mistaken all MLB contracts are guaranteed. This does nothing, but kill our SP depth. I would rather rely on Vargas, who I think is pretty bad and a bulpen killer/nibbler, than a minor leaguer who has never pitched in the majors or a minor leaguer who had short starts every time out in the majors(Jackson).

No they are not. For example all arby contracts are not, if you release the player before the start of the season you pay a prorated amount. Now usually when players sign a contract without arbitration its guaranteed but Vargas' might not be.

 

[samwise]

Should we have traded Doug Davis?

[Tbadder]

This was just plain stupid. Losing Cappy, Cutting Vargas, Sheets going down eventually, Yo hurt, doing nothing in the off-season. It was just a week or two ago I had myself convinced that the Crew were better than the Cubs, but forget it now. Rant, rant, rant, sending down Villy or Parra, what is Melvin thinking?

[JohnBriggs12]

There's going to be pitchers released all over in the next few days. I would expect the Brewers will pick one or two up to start in AAA.

 

Not to rub it in, but I've said all along the market for Vargas and Capuano was low level minor league non prospects at best. They will save some money depending on what he gets from team that picks him up and I'm sure the Reds are on the phone with him now.

 

My only objection is if the Reds or Cardinals sign him. He could help those two.

[JJHardy7]

Everyone that wanted CV in the rotation you now have your wish. I don't think it's the best move and some of the same posters begging for CV to start are now upset. This is what some of you wanted -- CV in the rotation. I would have preferred putting Parra or CV in the minors to start the season off, but it's not a terribly shocking move.

[endaround]

Wanting Villanueva in the rotation has nothing to do with releasing Vargas.

[RickieWeeksJr]

Season's over. With Vargas gone the Brewers have no depth. Good luck finding another pitcher with a 5+ run ERA.

 

Might as well just cut Fielder and Braun now. Without a mediocre long reliever/ 5-spot starter, the Brewers are doomed. Guy like Claudio Vargas come along only once every decade.

[brewmann04]

very silly move at the very least we could have gotten a A ball prospect

[splitterpfj]

I would assume Villanueva will start now, and Parra will go to AAA when Gallardo is back. That's all well and good, but the question is...if we need another starter at some point, who will we turn to?

[MillerParkSouth]

are Parra and Villanueva going to be able to pick up the slack? I know given Parra's injury history and limited innings last year that they should really watch his innings this year, but what about Villanueva? Does anyone know if there is an innings limit on these two, or even Yo for that matter?

[MillerParkSouth]

Season's over. With Vargas gone the Brewers have no depth. Good luck finding another pitcher with a 5+ run ERA.

 

Might as well just cut Fielder and Braun now. Without a mediocre long reliever/ 5-spot starter, the Brewers are doomed. Guy like Claudio Vargas come along only once every decade.

 

i'm sorry, but I had to repeat this because I literally just laughed out loud at my desk. I think this puts it into prespective pretty well.

[fondybrewfan]

I dont mind it at all. Tom's article said there really wasnt any trade activity, and the fact that he cleared waivers without a single team claiming him reaffirms that fact. For $3million + teams just werent interested. I like the scenario of releasing Vargas a lot better than Villenueva or Parra in AAA. And I like McClung better in the long man role in the bullpen anyways. Vargas wasnt really all that good anyways. McClung could probably be an emergency starter if push comes to shove as well. Id rather have a fireballer who isnt god awful than a veteran who makes $3 million + who has been mediocre at best his entire career. The Brewers brass obviously like what they see in McClung, Jackson, and Narveson that they felt Vargas was expendable

 

There is obvious downside by I think McClung could be just as serviceable in long relief/spot start duty as Vargas could. Yeah Vargas looked pretty good this spring, but based upon his career those numbers will most certianly not carry over to the regular season

[Oldcity]

I think endaround has this right. This looks like a salary dump. I was surprised the Brewers' payroll was this high, and it looks like they were intending on trading him all along but couldn't find a suitor.

[sbrylski]

I guess I agree with everyone else. If Capuano was healthy, maybe I could understand this. But with the pitching situation as it is, the only motivation I can see for this move is money.

[logan82]

fondybrewfan wrote:

And I like McClung better in the long man role in the bullpen anyways. Vargas wasnt really all that good anyways. McClung could probably be an emergency starter if push comes to shove as well. Id rather have a fireballer who isnt god awful than a veteran who makes $3 million + who has been mediocre at best his entire career.

McClung has shown he is also mediocre at best throughout his career.

[Roscoe Chill]

First, I find it amazing that the attitude around here goes from 'the Brewers have so many starting pitching candidates which makes the team stronger because no other team has that resource' to 'the Brewers have no starting pitching depth.'

Wasn't it thought that the Brewers had a trading chip with one or more of these excess starters anyway? Like Briggs, I never bought that guys like Vargas held much trade value, and I'm just thrilled that the best possible team is going to be on the field.

One question I have though, is that the Brewers aren't on the hook for Vargas' salary? I though once they tendered him, it was guaranteed? If they don't have to pay him anything, then I take back my all my negative feedback on tendering him to begin with.

[bigredrobbo]

So when does the Crew get the proverbial Bag O' Balls then?

[Big Reed]

this is kind of like last year. we played our cards, and teams read our bluff. just like graffy last year, we held onto Vargus too long and got nothing for him. Admittedly, we weren't going to get much to begin with. other teams saw our abundance of mediocre starting pitching depth, and just sat back and waited.

 

I'm not sad the brewers waived him. What i'm more sad about is that the brewers could have traded bush, Cappy or vargus at the winter meetings, and used the pitcher not traded to fill in the gap. The brewers could have traded one of their surplus starters 3 months ago, and gotten something, but we elected to stand pat and ask for too much in return. We could have acquired a crede or Glaus, or rolen or blalock, or feliz or somebody.

 

Vargus will give some team 8-10 wins.

[endaround]

I dont mind it at all. Tom's article said there really wasnt any trade activity, and the fact that he cleared waivers without a single team claiming him reaffirms that fact. For $3million + teams just werent interested. I like the scenario of releasing Vargas a lot better than Villenueva or Parra in AAA. And I like McClung better in the long man role in the bullpen anyways. Vargas wasnt really all that good anyways. McClung could probably be an emergency starter if push comes to shove as well. Id rather have a fireballer who isnt god awful than a veteran who makes $3 million + who has been mediocre at best his entire career. The Brewers brass obviously like what they see in McClung, Jackson, and Narveson that they felt Vargas was expendable

 

There is obvious downside by I think McClung could be just as serviceable in long relief/spot start duty as Vargas could. Yeah Vargas looked pretty good this spring, but based upon his career those numbers will most certianly not carry over to the regular season

The problem is McClung has been godawful. He averages 5.5 BB/9. You can't trust him to give you 3 innings.