15 million Dollars (Cameron + Gagne)

[joepepsi]

The Gagne signing could be the thing that sinks Melvin as GM. $10 million spent with very little return. Not his fault, but he was the one that took the risk, and so far it has completely backfired on him.

So if it's not his fault why should he be fired. I realize $10 million is a lot of money to us, but it really isn't to a MLB team. We should be thankful instead that Doug didn't offer a multi year contract to him. Melvin deserves credit for adding Dillon, Kapler, Branyan, Mota, and especially Torres for relative pennies.

 

[RightFieldCoder]

Here's what erks me:

 

At the end of the season, all anyone can talk about is that Melvin didn't "go out and get someone". For years there were complaints that the Brewers weren't active in the free agent market. These people (ie people that don't post here, your Friday night Brewer fans) have no clue about what it takes to sign the stud they think should be signed for $2M. Melvin goes out and has, imho, a decent off season.

 

Kendall-Isn't a world beater, but was better than what we had and plays a defense first position for about 28 teams.

Mota-Isn't a world beater, but got him for just agreeing to pay his salary

Torres-Once he decided not to retire this became a great deal

Cam-Stud defensive player, swings an averagish bat, and changed Braun from a one dimentional player into a cornerstone franchise player.

Kapler-Signed a minor league coach who is now a very good option off the bench

Branyan-I won't start the firestorm here, but not a "bad" move

 

He makes one pretty bad move in Gagne, but it was a high risk/high reward type move that was off the books at the end of the year. So what? We knew it was that type of signing the day it was done, no reason to cry now.

[Postseason2006]

The problem with the Cameron signing is batting him 2nd plain and simple.

[rluzinski]

The problem with the Cameron signing is batting him 2nd plain and simple.

 

Well that settles that.

 

?

[lukevan]

Gagne wasn't even really a high risk option either, unless you lie awake at night fretting about Attanasio's pocketbook.

[joepepsi]

Holy Moly, now Cameron's raised his batting average 4 points and his slugging is up to .468! Could it be he's turning into the exact player you should expect him to be?

[FVBrewerFan]

Here's what erks me:

 

At the end of the season, all anyone can talk about is that Melvin didn't "go out and get someone". For years there were complaints that the Brewers weren't active in the free agent market. These people (ie people that don't post here, your Friday night Brewer fans) have no clue about what it takes to sign the stud they think should be signed for $2M. Melvin goes out and has, imho, a decent off season.

 

Kendall-Isn't a world beater, but was better than what we had and plays a defense first position for about 28 teams.

Mota-Isn't a world beater, but got him for just agreeing to pay his salary

Torres-Once he decided not to retire this became a great deal

Cam-Stud defensive player, swings an averagish bat, and changed Braun from a one dimentional player into a cornerstone franchise player.

Kapler-Signed a minor league coach who is now a very good option off the bench

Branyan-I won't start the firestorm here, but not a "bad" move

 

He makes one pretty bad move in Gagne, but it was a high risk/high reward type move that was off the books at the end of the year. So what? We knew it was that type of signing the day it was done, no reason to cry now.

 

Don't forget Riske for a reasonable price and Tavarez for almost nothing. Sure, Riske's hurt at the moment but you can't predict that. When healthy again, over time he will be a guy that can be counted on for an inning 4-5 games a week.

[bullox]

The problem with the Cameron signing is batting him 2nd plain and simple.

And what exactly does Melvin have to do with setting the lineup?

 

[crewcrazy]

My point of my topic starter, or at least after reading this thread, has more to do with this.

 

I don't want the fact that attendance is up to mean that Doug is going to waste 15 million or so each off-season on guys that nobody else wants to prove to the casual fan that we have money and we will spend it. Nobody wanted these guys, we overpaid for each (that's why they signed here), and they are doing more harm than good imho (Cameron's defensive prowess aside).

There was quite a lot of talk about Mike Cameron around the league before his 25-game suspension came down. Teams like the Phillies and Yankees were looking at him to balance out their lefty-heavy lineups, but it seemed almost certain that he was going to be re-signed by the Padres. When the suspension came out, San Diego suddenly decided they didn't want to give him a long-term deal, and he ended up taking a pretty large discount to come to Milwaukee.