Free Agency Failure for the Brewers

[splitterpfj]

Sweeps, I think the approach Doug has taken with the bullpen has been the lesser of two evils. The vast majority of relievers are inconsistent from year to year, if teams were insisting on players like Weeks and Hart in deals for bullpen help last winter, I'm glad the team said no.

 

In any given year, I think the odds are good of finding some guys who will help you for that season - it's the long-term contracts for "up and down" types that I don't want to see. Riske is the only one from the current crop who was signed beyond this season, I can live with that.

 

The Brewers have done a lousy job of developing pitching, that's the real issue here. Free agent relievers are very expensive, and often not worth the investment - considering that most relievers are guys who failed as minor league starters - you would think the team could at least come up with one or two guys for the bullpen without having to deal for them.

[ILuvDaBush]

Is there any position that is without a suitable replacement, outside of Sheets (who could have been theoretically replaced had Yo and Cappy proven healthy), Braun, and Fielder? Our closer faltered and we had another one waiting in the wings. Our top two set-up men were injured and...well I don't know what happened to T-Bow but it isn't good. Mota has done a pretty good job shoring it up, his recent hiccups included. Bill Hall is still feeling the repercussions of not being allowed to wield a pink bat everyday, and yet we still lead the NL in HR's from the hot corner. Weeks (who I still am as high on as Mota) and Hardy both have had to deal with injury, and we barely missed a step as they recovered. Kendall has earned his paycheck without even swinging a bat. And Cameron is a leader and a welcome addition to a recast outfield. Free agency failure? Hardly. Perhaps a disappointment if you narrowly focus on Gagne, but, as stated earlier, we still have more than half a season left to see him succeed. Imagine, with all the money bandied about this offseason, we spent LESS on all these contracts than it would have taken to sign Coco for the four years. Or, and I know this is like comparing apples to oranges, would you rather have Coco's contract or Braun's (and mind you, for twice the time with Braun, but that's ignoring ML-service time)?

[brewizard]

I'd say that Kendall alone has been worth the offseason FA moves made by Melvin. Add in Gabe K and the Manyan, and FA isn't looking so bad. Torres is worth every penny. Mota is worth having just so we don't have Estrada anymore. Cameron is the best CF we've had in a long time. Riske can be a good pitcher. I guess the real complaints (no surprise) focus on Gagne. Gagne is probably the highest profile FA signing that may have taken place under Attanasio/Melvin (other than Soup). And Gagne isn't signed for nearly as long as Soup, and that looks to be the right decision.

 

So I don't see it. Frankly, given the freaky nature of the Free Agency market, I'm pleasantly surprised by the quality of the quantity of FAs we have this year.

[Leinie Lodge]

Now THIS was "Free Agency Failure" ! JSOnline link

Bonus question ... who does DT resemble ?