Free Agency Failure for the Brewers

[TwinsBrewersWorldSeries]

Now 1/3 into this season, i think its safe to say that the Brewers trying to get 'over the top" through Free Agency has been a failure. They didn't offer any MEGA contracts, but Gagne and Cameron have been pretty much duds especially given the resources committed to them. I've been critical of Melvin/Mark A in the past for "not making that splash", but i think its clear that strategy simply results in failure.

 

Given we are a small market team, and given the premium now placed on younger players, i think the Brewers are going to need to strike "lightning in a bottle" to ever reach the world series. The talk about our "youth" and how we'll "get better" is really a red herring as we will constantly be shuffling in players.

 

I think our future (and World Series potential) hinges largely on who we selected to be our "cornerstone players". Clearly, Ryan Braun was/is/will be a cornerstone of our future and the 8 year $48m deal looks even better at this point. I think the "above average" players that the Brewers bring through need to be kept long term at a modest but solid salary 8-10M per, and that we should only pay our ELITE players at that next level. Regardless of his injury history, i think this franchise will NOT reach a World Series in the next 10 years without Ben Sheets

 

At the moment, i think Sheets/Braun are our "ELITE PLAYERS", Hart & Parra (are or are heading towards) the above average status, and that Hall, Weeks, and Hardy are good, but replacable players. The key should be to be constantly restocking at positions where we don't have an elite/above average player and try to fill out the diamond with players who are pre-arby or arby. Committing all of your payroll resources for average players seems foolish, and i don't think that Cameron, Gagne, or Hall are perfoming much better than cheaper/younger replacements would be.

 

As for Prince Fielder- let him go. I'm becoming more and more disgusted with his attitude, and if he doesn't want to be "our guy" than good riddance. The notion that a 23 year old player would turn down $60M is absurd. He's not even the best player on the team, has had ONE outstanding season, and could have a relatively short career given his physical makeup.

 

Give Ben Sheets $60M for three years with a clause that it comes 100M/5 years if he makes a certain amount of starts. We have no other #1 starter. As for Hardy, Hall, Cameron, and Fielder, let them go when the kids are ready.

[naivin]

Give Ben Sheets $60M for three years with a clause that it comes 100M/5 years if he makes a certain amount of starts. We have no other #1 starter.

That's great if you're Mark Attanasio or us fans, but the problem is if Sheets makes his starts this year, he'd never agreeto a contract like that. He'll get that $100M/5 year offer from somebody else anyway, withou a clause. If he doesn't make his starts this year, I'd have no interest in offering him anything but a 1-2 year, minimal money contract.

[lcbj68c]

We are not a small market team. The owner, who I trust when it comes to money, says so himself. Certain big contracts haven't been that great, but I wouldn't consider Cameron and Gagne failures. I dont want to turn this into a thread over Cameron and Gagne, but Cameron has done most everything we thought he would except a lower batting average. He has played very well defensively, has hit for power, stolen a few bases, ran the bases well and accounted for a majority of last night's win with his base-running and home run power.

 

That said, I agree that players are replaceable, but you sound a lot like trying to be the Florida Marlins, except your not even "going for it" every 7 years. Fill a roster with pre-arby and arby players ends up with payrolls around 40 million. That's small market, and we are not small market anymore. Not with a new stadium providing various types of revenue, fans filling the seats, etc. I think they are doing just fine with their money. Granted they may have to do better with who they get as free agents, but I wouldn't write off spending on free agents all together.

[bklynbrewcrew]

Sheets is irreplaceable. Other than Gallardo we have no other pitchers capable of being in the same class as Sheets. If we dont resign him and look for free agent replacements we will be shopping in the Suppan isle of the market and be forced to way overpay for an average pitcher like Derek Lowe who will command at least 10 million per. Bottom line is number one starters are the hardest thing in baseball to acquire and once you have one like Sheets you must do all you can to keep him if you want to be a playoff caliber ballclub for years to come.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Gagne is most definitely a failure but it was a gamble that probably had to be made. Cameron has been passable, but they're both one-year contracts and neither really bothers me a whole lot. You will make mistakes in FA, you just have to live with it and move on. Fortunately Gagne won't hurt the Brewers for more than a year and that's great. I really can't take a lot of the OP seriously. It's pretty much the same sour grapes rant that I've read way too often by now.

 

I don't want to let Prince Fielder go, even though it seems it will happen. I'm still optimistic the Brewers will sign Ben Sheets. He might take a more modest contract to stay here. It's happened before. We'll see what happens, but I don't think anyone really knows what the outcome will be.

[logan82]

I want Cameron's option picked up. It is nice to have a real CF on our team.

[endaround]

Cameron has been great.

[splitterpfj]

Gagne - ok, the man got 10 million and has been replaced by a more effective, less expensive player.

 

I can understand how someone might look at Cameron's low batting average and high Ks and then question his signing, but I still back that one.

 

I sat at the game last night and watched Cameron make several nice running catches, a couple of these looked like base hits off the bat, but he caught them with ease. He also hit a home run, stole a base, and then made a great play on the bases to score after Sheets was thrown out at first base on a bunt.

 

Cameron's got warts for sure, but I can live with a contract like his, for the skills he brings.

 

While we're at it, I also still support the Jason Kendall signing, and the David Riske signing, even though Riske has had his issues as well.

 

The key to me is the length of the contracts you give out, most of these guys have gotten one-year deals, some with options - these are about as painless as you can make them.

[Leinie Lodge]

Kendall, Cameron and Riske are intelligent signings. And since Gagne is only 1 year, our downside was wisely limited.

Clicking the thread title "Free Agency Failure", I was expecting some Jeffrey Hammonds!!

[Thurston Fluff]

I'd pretty much have to say three of the four free agent signings were good ones. Given the amount of money and length it could be argued there might be two great ones when all is said and done. The one failure was known to be a high risk/high reward one so I can't really even fault them for that. It would have been better not to have done it but the potential reward was worth the risk IMO. Maybe Mark A. would disagree since he's paying for the mistake but I think he knew it could turn out this way and agreed to take the chance.

[logan82]

I think we are overlooking the free agent signings of Branyan and Kapler.

[berniebrewer4life]

I think we are overlooking the free agent signings of Branyan and Kapler.

Well put logan. Those guys have been huge for us. I think the Branyan signing could become one of the more important ones this year. Cameron has not been stellar, but he's been very good.

[RyDogg66]

Hasn't Cameron hit 11 HRs in about 30 fewer games than Prince Fielder has hit 13? His average (I believe) will eventually settle around .250, and with that he'll have about a .330 OBP and a .490 SLG for a .820 OPS from a CF with good to great defense. He's been pretty solid in my opinion.

[TooLiveBrew]

It's just so easy to get frustrated with a player or two & then declare that Melvin had a poopy offseason. I agree that Cameron's been good, Kapler has been surprisingly good, Kendall's defense alone justifies his contract, & Branyan obviously needs no introduction. I still like the Riske signing (funny to read it written that way), & you really can't declare anything about Gagne other than, 'He hasn't been good' -- there's really nothing to say that he can't get the ship righted, but his long time away has me concerned.

 

Is Mrs. Gagne ok? I recall that her childbirth was given as the reason Eric didn't rejoin the team. Now we haven't heard anything -- I'm concerned on that front. Otherwise, the reason for him not returning would be injury, which could help explain his WOAHs thus far. I know not everyone (heck, or even many) agree with me on this, but I just don't think Gagne has pitched as poorly as his results. His control really hasn't been terrible, just inconsistent. Again, that's just mho.

 

Back on-topic, I liked Melvin's offseason as it was happening, and I like it still. 'Missing' on one guy -- on whom I feel Doug might end up breaking even -- certainly isn't grounds for calling it a "Free Agency Failure"

[clancyphile]

Cameron's been great.

 

Gagne is the big dud, but honestly, I don't think that the Brewers knew at the time that Torres could do the job.

 

The rest of the off-season pickups were great. The biggest beef I have is NOT getting another starter when Gallardo went down for the season.

[istanbultaye]

well, there were no decent FA starting pitchers out there at that point in the season, and there still aren't. if we're talking about free agent acquistion success/failure, Gallardo really isn't a part of that, as we'd have to make a trade to get anyone better than Jeff Weaver.

[TwinsBrewersWorldSeries]

To clarify.... i should have said our "high dollar free agents" are duds. Cameron might yet come around, but i shudder to think that players with a line of .220/.330/.800 with 20-25 HR are worth $10 million per......

 

I'm all for the Kapler, Branyan, Kendall, etc signings as i think its great to have some veteran "role players"...... but i'd rather the Brewers play with 2-3 ELITE players and youngesters rather than 6-7 average/mediocre players.

 

I'm not stating that the offseason was a failure, only that our "high dollar" acquisitions were a failure. Lets face it, if someone is worth 12-15 or even 20M, there is a pretty good chance their current club with realize it and pay to keep them. I'd say the 8-10M per signings in free agency are almost always duds. Why pay for average. Resign your own elite players and try to group as many as possible together.

[TooLiveBrew]

Cameron might yet come around, but i shudder to think that players with a line of .220/.330/.800 with 20-25 HR are worth $10 million per......

 

Cam is getting paid $5M this season; the option for '09 is $10M. And if an .800-ish OPS with stellar defense in CF isn't worth $10M in MLB dollars, I don't know what is.

 

 

Lets face it, if someone is worth 12-15 or even 20M, there is a pretty good chance their current club with realize it and pay to keep them.

 

That's just overstatement. There are so many factors that decide who's re-signed & who isn't. I won't even go into them here. What is it you don't like about Cameron? Is it the K's?

 

 

I'd say the 8-10M per signings in free agency are almost always duds. Why pay for average. Resign your own elite players and try to group as many as possible together.

 

I agree with you here. FA signings carry tremendous risk, since you almost always have to go multiple years to land a guy... yet another reason to be happy with Melvin's work in the past offseason.

[Tbadder]

Cameron has been great. I know he stinks at some things but otherwise he is contibutor. I love hid defense; his power has been great; he's got a good head, and he's very good in the clubhouse if we can believe what we here. If he gets hot for a stretch he could reach 30 homers, doubt it, but you never know.

[TuesdaysWithRillo]

We all know Cameron won't finish the season with a sub 300 OBP either so better things are to come of Mike Cameron even with the average start.

[JohnBriggs12]

I think the original post which classified Gagne and Cameron as "get over the top" FA is wrong. Kendall was another "fill hole" FA.

 

Both of those guys were "fill hole" free agents, not "get over the top". The market for closers dictated what Gagne cost. Melvin hedged his bet on Gagne by getting 3 other veterans, one of whom has been successful in the closer role, and that's mission accomplished as far as I'm concerned.

 

As for Cameron, he's never hit for average, and he's not all that expensive. He hasn't been great, but he's not far off what could be expected. He was miscast as a number 2 hitter.

 

Let's also keep in mind there are 90 games left. Nobody on this roster should be written off as a total failure.

[naivin]

By season's end, Cameron will do what Cameron does. The Brewers willl likely have gotten exactly what they expected. As for Gagne, JohnBriggs is correct, signing him was a well understood risk, and viewed as anything but a sure thing, which is why they gave him a bigger number, but only one year. To this point, it hasn't worked out, and I think you'd be hard pressed to find anyone in the Brewers' front office who is overly surprised. Gagne was a roll of the dice, and they knew it. That said, the season isn't over yet either.

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

It's just so easy to get frustrated with a player or two & then declare that Melvin had a poopy offseason.

 

Spot On!!!

 

You have to look at it as a whole. You can declare Gagne a failure, but after losing out on Cordero...Melvin brought in Mota, Riske, Torres for affordable amounts. He also traded for McClung last year for a guy who they would have released...that freed up CV for the pen. We don't have a guy like Cordero out there, but the depth he put together has really paid off when certain guys like Gagne or Turnbow didn't work out. They aren't all going to work. Taking a few selective shots within the budget on a guy like Gagne makes complete sense. Whether it works or not...I agree it's still early, although so far not good...it was a one year shot. This isn't a Zito-like contract that could weigh on us for years.

[Oldcity]

I actually think Melvin did a very nice job with new players. The only one I don't like is Mota. Gagne hasn't worked out at all so far, but I liked the signing at the time because it was only one year.

 

I also want to pile on and say Mike Cameron has been a huge help.

[sweepscc]

I don't think Melvin has done the best job with free agent acquisitions but the market is so out of whack I'm not sure it's all his fault. That said, Melvin's mode of bullpen construction has been his biggest failure, imo. Taking guys coming off down years and giving them to Yost and Maddux as reclamation projects is not going to make us playoff caliber. Relying on Gagne, Mota, Torres(glad it's working out), was a big gamble. Since our farm system hasn't provided the arms I hope in the future Melvin uses some pos. players to acquire better arms this off season. Any thoughts? Why should we be confident Melvin will give us a playoff caliber bullpen? I realize we still have a lot of season left to play so I could be way off base but a guy like Andrew Friedman impressed me with his bullpen construction, was hoping for the same out of Melvin. (sorry to hijack the thread you can move it if you want)