Anyway we could trade Suppan and not pay salary...

[razzzorsharp]

I know he has a limited trade clause but if we fall out of contention is there anyway we could trade him and get his salary off the books (free up Sheets money?) for the upcoming years?

 

Also, if so, would we get anything of substance?

[uwisfan]

I think Suppan is still in no-trade clause territory for this year. If the Brewers trade him, they will likely be eating some of his salary, so I doubt he can net anything decent in return.

[dadofandrew]

Suppan has value as long as he is effective and pitching salaries keep increasing. We'll see after this offseason, but I do not see salaries going down, as long as money is flowing like it is around the game.

[paul253]

I dont think theres any point of trading him now. He may not be the best pitcher, but at least he is consistent and goes out there every five days.

[endaround]

For Suppan to waive his no trade he might require an extension so it would be really hard during the season. The best hope for the Brewers is he keeps getting lucky and ends up with an ERA between 4and 4.25.

[rousieboy]

We could package him in with prospects (Gamel and Suppan to SF for Lincecum and others blahblahblah), but good points about his steadiness and salary set in a rising tide of what pitchers are getting paid were also made above...

[alwz4gbp]

While he might be tradable, I don't think you'd get much in return. Why dump him in a Lincecum trade so the Crew could get killed in arbitration in a few years. I say ride Suppan out, at least for now, and let Jack Z find another Lincecum that would be cheap for a long time (i.e. Gallardo)

 

Another possibility that I would consider if I were pulling the strings would be Prince to San Fran for Lincecum and another top prospect. Prince is not irreplacable as we have "mashers" waiting for their shot and there is no way that Prince is gonna sign here long term. Let him balloon up on San Frans dime. Anybody who says hes not packing on the pounds need to go to Brewers.com and punch up some video from a few years ago. I don't think the baggy uniform this year is just a fashion statement. Check it out.

[endaround]

Why would the Giants want Prince instead of Linecum? If they can afford Prince they can afford Linecum. And the reason to trade Suppan is so the Brewers aren't paying $12.5 million to a #4 at best starter.

[hauser42]

Suppan could bring value at the trade deadline. Team in the race would like a dependable starter that can be counted on to keep his team in the game each time he goes out on the hill. His salary is right in line with a lot of the talent that came out that year in free agency.

[bcf5575]

why would you want to trade suppan?? we cant find a competent 4th or 5th starter right now - now we are going to go with Parra as a #2 and will be searching for a 3, 4, and 5. While I agree that Suppan isnt the best #2 guy, he is taking the ball every 5th day with average results. Thats more than you can say for the rest of the staff right now...

[Oldcity]

I'd like to trade Suppan after this season. It won't be possible to do it now because of the NTC. His salary goes up quite a bit next year, so I imagine the Brewers would have to eat a few mil.

[Invader3K]

Suppan has been perfectly fine so far. He's a valuable asset to have on the team. Do we really want the rotation to be Sheets + four guys who are barely out of the minors? I personally do not.

[endaround]

Suppan=Bush=Villanueva. There is very little difference among the three save for cost and age

[hauser42]

End there is a big difference between Bush and Vill when it comes to Suppan and it is called experience. Vill showed nothing as a starter so far and hampered the bullpen by not going deep into games on a regular basis. Bush seems to be turning it around at this point he is less dependable than Suppan.

 

Keeping Sheets is suppose to be cheaper than signing a free agent ace, and I agree with that. So if you have to go look for another #3 starter on the market dont you think it will be more than what we pay Suppan? Yo is the #2 if Sheets stays, if Suppan goes there is ?s on the rest of the staff and contenders dont have that many questionable starters.

[razzzorsharp]

I am not talking about trading Soup this year as Gallardo and Capuano's injuries would not make that prudent. I am thinking in the offseason and only if they could resign Sheets with that money (and some of course)....

 

1) Sheets

2) Gallardo

3) Parra

4) Villanueva ???

5) Bush/Capuano/Random Guy off the Street

[edod]

"Guy off the street" = McClung

 

I was a big proponent of trading Soup as soon as his no-trade clause gave out, but I think I've gained perspective from a St. Louis fan who's a friend of mine. He thought Soup was worth big money as an innings eater and the way he's pitching now, I'd be happy to have a 12.5 mil number 4 who give you a 4ish era and 200 innings. This opinion is contingent on his deal not interfering with resigning Sheets.

 

 

Oh, and satan loves you. http://unsportsmanlikecomment.files.wordpress.com/2007/12/the-satan-pit-doctor-beast3.jpg I like soup!

[bjkrautk]

Keeping Sheets is suppose to be cheaper than signing a free agent ace, and I agree with that. So if you have to go look for another #3 starter on the market dont you think it will be more than what we pay Suppan? Yo is the #2 if Sheets stays, if Suppan goes there is ?s on the rest of the staff and contenders dont have that many questionable starters.

 

Agreeing with the "If not Suppan, then who?" crowd. Suppan is a very average starting pitcher. Almost definitionally so, in fact: his career ERA+ is 101. I don't know whether his ERA last year, and uncharacteristically high BABIP (.324, .024 higher than his career #s) were a product of the Brewers' defense or not (his FIP is actually higher in '08 than it was in '07), but he seems to be bouncing back quite nicely.

 

Moreover, Suppan is astoundingly consistent: over the previous 9 seasons, he's only once failed to pitch 190 or more innings....he only got to 188 IP in 2004.

 

If a guy who's consistently around a 4 ERA, while throwing 190-200 innings a year is your # 4 starter....you've got one heck of a pitching staff.

[dadofandrew]

The folks who want to risk the future of the club on giving Sheets $50-75M will be the first ones to want to trade him if he misses a start.

 

Ben's a fine pitcher, but I cannot see any team outside the top large markets (maybe 8-10 teams) taking a risk on him because of the funds he'll be making.

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

I believe that some fans miss that Suppan is pitching very close to his historical numbers, so what he has done for the Brewers should be no surprise. He was given a substantial free agent contract that represented his market value at the time. Perhaps the amount was inflated due to his outstanding postseason appearance, but his performance with the Brewers has been right on plan. I seriously doubt Suppan is going anywhere.

 

The biggest question the Brewers have to ask themselves is do they re-sign Sheets. He is the ace and the Brewers have nothing in his league. If they let him go, there is nothing on the free agent front that can replace him. It would purely be a bet on the younger arms picking up the slack. As optimistic as I am on Yo, Parra & Villy, they will need the ace to make a serious run in '09.

[RobertR]

Yeah, I don't get the anti-Suppan sentiment. I mean, yeah he's not great, but his ERA clocks in at around average, he's showing no signs of getting worse, he can pretty much be counted on for 200 IP, and the price of free agent starting pitching is expensive. It's not like the Brewers have 5 better starting pitchers than Suppan.

 

Heck, I'll make the argument that his value probably clocks in at slightly above average due to all the innings he pitches. Durability is a very underrated commodity. Aren't we always complaining about the bullpen pitching too many innings? VORP might be a better stat to assess his value than ERA.

 

Robert

[Bucky Rules]

If it requires trading Suppan to keep Sheets, I am 100% in favor of trading him. I never had a problem with the Soup signing except that I feared it might keep us from signing Sheets. Suppan is fine. Sheets is as good as just about anyone in the league.

As for the earlier sentiment about "risking the future of the club" on re-signing Sheets -- well... without Sheets this pitching staff is putrid. It's pretty bad this year without Yo. It doesn't get any better if you lose Sheets and get Yo back. At best, that's a wash. There is no realistic "future" chance at big-time success without much better starting pitching. Suppan is very nice rotation filler. Sheets is a guy that makes it all work. Without Sheets you're hoping someone like Parra takes another big step forward. It's much more important to have Sheets than Soup.

 

[Oldcity]

The folks who want to risk the future of the club on giving Sheets $50-75M will be the first ones to want to trade him if he misses a start.

I assure you that's not the case, at least in my instance. Also, you wouldn't pay $50 mil for Sheets?

[adambr2]

My dream scenario:

 

Prince traded for Lincecum in the off-season before he hits arbitration. LaPorta is moved to 1st.

Suppan has a solid 2008 and is able to be traded without eating salary for prospects at season's end. $12.5M freed up, and therefore Sheets is re-signed.

 

2009 rotation:

 

1) Sheets

2) Lincecum

3) Gallardo

4) Parra

5) McClung

 

3 runs would be enough to win most of our games!