The lefthanded bat challenge for 2009

[reillymcshane]

In 2008, the Brewers have an OPS of .811 vs lefthanded pitchers. Against righties, it's .749.

 

Many figured the lack of an additional quality lefthanded bat would pose a challenge, and it has. Russell Branyon has provided some relief, but outside of Prince, the club has no proven lefty.

 

Prince is hitting .940 OPS against righties - so I think he has to stay for now. Braun (917 OPS) and Hart (.833 OPS) hit righties well. Hardy (.783) has done solid. Cameron okay - .760 OPS. Kendall (.639), Weeks (.678) and Hall (.553) are the trouble spots. Of course, Kendall doesn't hit lefties much better than righties. The team seems to value his defense and game calling immeasurably, so I doubt he's going anywhere.

 

My challenge is how do we - realistically - improve our hitting against righties? And without giving up Escobar or Gamel - the two guys I see as core future guys on this club.

 

Does Russell get 400 ABs? Who could we realistically sign/trade for to play 3B? Or 2B?

 

People may bring up Gamel, but I don't think the club sees him as a 3B (that's my feeling), and he's still only at AA. So I wouldn't count on his bat just yet.

 

Does it mean parting ways with Weeks and/or Hall?

 

Who are young 3B and 2B that might fit the bill? This could include minor leaguers. I always liked Ian Stewart, but I don't see Colorado parting with him.

 

I could even see going after a better fielding 3B (who hits righties), but maybe isn't the greatest bat in the world. Perhaps a Joe Randa type player. But not knowing the minor leagues that well, I thought maybe the BF.net crowd could give up some ideas.

 

My thoughts are to just give Russel all the ABs vs righties - give him 400 ABs, live with average defense, streakiness, lots of Ks (and 30 HR). Team him with Hall or some other righty killer (someone cheaper who won't complain about not starting). The other idea is go after Ian Stewart (as mentioned), but I don't know how'd we get him without coughing up Gamel or Escobar, whom I'd like to keep.

 

Try and keep it realistic! Thanks.

[The Ignitor]

Sign Orlando Hudson as a free agent (or trade Weeks + mid-level prospect for Roberts).

 

Trade Rickie Weeks (or Hall + prospect if Weeks traded above) to Dodgers for Andre Ethier and a pitcher.

 

Decline Cameron's option, move Hart to CF, start Ethier in Right. If Hall is traded for Ethier above, move Hardy to 3rd, and start with Escobar at SS.

 

Perhaps not realistic, but it gives us two pretty good OBP options from the left side (and one will be a switch hitter). We still would have more than enough power with Braun, Fielder, Hardy, and Hart. It would be a more balanced line-up in terms of lefty/righty, but also in terms of hitters who work counts and get on base for the power hitters.

[dadofandrew]

They'll find a LH bat to play 3B or CF, one way or another.

[JohnBriggs12]

They'll find a LH bat to play 3B or CF, one way or another.

 

Or they could find a corner OF and move Hart to CF.

 

The FA crop is thin in lefthanded 3rd basemen. The OF crop is thin too unless you want to take a chance on an older guy like Edmonds (CF) or Ibanez. The downside is Edmonds doesn't cover the ground he used to and this hot streak with the Cubs might be a mirage. I like Ibanez' stick myself. The downside is he's played mostly LF in recent years and would they have to move both Braun and Hart to accomodate him.

[Hammer]

Wouldn't it just be easier to start playing Gamel in RF right now to get him ready? I know you counted him out but his line for the year shows that he may be ready...

[TheCrew07]

Gamel and Brantley are both left handed.. one will play a corner, the other profiles best as a CF... just saying

[dadofandrew]

Hall will probably be traded, and Hardy or Weeks might be as well. I would not worry about FA's, as a trade is oodles more likely.

[liveforoctober]

Short term fix is Kenny Lofton... I still can't believe that guy isnt' employed.

[Team Canada]

Craig Counsell, baby.

[PilprinBuddha]

Trade Rickie to acquire a lefty 2nd baseman

Have Gwynn play CF

 

Let Hall play FT at 3rd...yes leave him alone!

 

Cut Cameron, let Gagne go, allow Sheets to leave and back up the Brinks for Sabathia.

 

I would overpay for a 5 yr deal for Sabathia (5years 90 mil). With the losses of the above the payroll would not go up.

[nate82]

I would overpay for a 5 yr deal for Sabathia (5years 90 mil). With the losses of the above the payroll would not go up.

That is actually underpaying for Sabathia. More along the lines of 5 years 100 million or 6 or 7 years at 120 million.

 

[dadofandrew]

Santana got 6y/$137M...how is 5y/$90M overpaying?

 

That's just fantasy.

[colbyjack]

Hank Blalock makes a ton of sense to me. He's missed a lot of time this year with a shoulder injury, and seems to be wearing on the Rangers and their fans, meaning a classic change of scenery deal may be just what he needs. There's the obvious Doug Melvin connection, he has a history of hitting RHP significantly better than LHP, and he is solid at 3B defensively. You would definitely need another 3B to platoon with him to face LHPs (which wouldn't be a problem if Hall is still around), because anyone that doesn't do so quite simply isn't paying attention to his entire career, of which he has never hit LHPs well.

 

The Rangers have a $6.2M club option for '09, and I wouldn't be surprised to see them buy it out for $250k. If he does become a FA, give him a one-year deal that is slightly more appealing than any other offer with an option for 2010 to give him the chance to redeem himself while giving Gamel another year in the minors at AAA. Having Blalock hit 6th vs. LHPs and Hall vs. RHPs could put up some big numbers behind Braun, Fielder & Hart. It may be somewhat of an expensive platoon, but the team obviously failed in their attempt to address this very same need last offseason.

 

And if Cameron is still around, the team really needs to find the LH version of Gabe Kapler given the all RH starting OF. Michael Tucker would work if he were still around somewhere. Maybe Jacque Jones as a similar reclammation project?

[nate82]

Having Blalock hit 6th vs. LHPs and Hall vs. RHPs could put up some big numbers behind Braun, Fielder & Hart.

I hope that is a typo and you meant Blalock versus RHPs and Hall vs LHPs.

 

[dadofandrew]

Blalock is the only FA that makes any sense, and it would also allow others to be dealt for pitching, or a CF. Dillon is already around to platoon, for gosh sakes.

[reillymcshane]

I agree that Blalock would be interesting.

 

His hitting against lefties has been brutal most of the time, so he's definitely have to platoon. Any chance someone gives him a full time job instead of a platoon gig? I imagine that's what he'd aim for - a one year deal to re-establish himself. Maybe not, however.

 

What about his injuries -- I thought he had back problems, which worries me for an infielder. Perhaps I remember that incorrectly. Also, how is his glove work. I don't remember seeing him much in the field.

 

I also worrry a bit about Blalock's home/away splits -- his ops over the past 4 years is around 150 points higher at home. He's sub .700 OPS on the road.

[colbyjack]

I hope that is a typo and you meant Blalock versus RHPs and Hall vs LHPs.

 

Yeah, sorry about that.

 

Someone could definitely give him a full-time job, but the injury situation is definitely a concern, which may make him more "available" and is the reason why I would be interested to acquire him for a deal similar to what the team gave Mike Cameron, who had similar concerns when the Brewers picked him up.

 

The home/road splits don't concern me as much. I may be way off on this one, but it seems as though hitters that play at extreme parks (in both directions) always put up extreme home/away splits, but tend to level off when they move to more neutral parks.

 

On a similar note, hitters like Kenny Lofton to me don't seem to effect a team's success against one handed pitcher vs. another. I would prefer to target bigger boppers that make a difference in the middle of the lineup in which they force managers to make a move late in the game, which IMO is another part of the LH vs. RH hitter balance. The deeper and more diversified that your bench and starting lineup is, the more counter-moves you can make, something LaRussa has always been a master at.

[dadofandrew]

Blalock's splits are off-the-charts, but I'd be more concerned about his R/L ones than his home/road, because they make so little sense. Arlington is offensive, but not that much. Miller Park, while neutral overall, is plus for HR's, so he'd add some pop.

[Tbadder]

Since next year's rotation will not allow the Brewers to compete for a playoff spot, I think the Brewers need to make long term plans. While I think the idea of Blalock is interesting and has a ton of merit, I don't see any real long term stability. I'd simply stick with Branyan and pretty much demand that Yost do the right thing and play the man. I'd also think that Lawrie has more of a chance to succeed at 3B rather than catcher. I'd play him there and try to get by for another 3 or 4 years unless someone suddenly stepped forward or a real 3Bman became available to us (as a long term solution naturally).

 

Now if you sign CC by some miracle (I don't believe in miracles) then by all means the Blalock move becomes intriguing.

[JohnBriggs12]

Short term fix is Kenny Lofton... I still can't believe that guy isnt' employed.

 

He's not employed because he's considered a bad clubhouse guy who if on your roster a whole season will cause issues. Next year he'll be 42 so if he wasn't on Brewer list this year, I doubt he will after sitting a year at that age.

[JohnBriggs12]

Since next year's rotation will not allow the Brewers to compete for a playoff spot, I think the Brewers need to make long term plans. While I think the idea of Blalock is interesting and has a ton of merit, I don't see any real long term stability. I'd simply stick with Branyan and pretty much demand that Yost do the right thing and play the man. I'd also think that Lawrie has more of a chance to succeed at 3B rather than catcher. I'd play him there and try to get by for another 3 or 4 years unless someone suddenly stepped forward or a real 3Bman became available to us (as a long term solution naturally).

 

Now if you sign CC by some miracle (I don't believe in miracles) then by all means the Blalock move becomes intriguing.

How do you know next year's rotation won't allow them to "compete for a playoff spot"??

 

Have you looked in your crystal ball and come up with the names in next year's rotation? Did you forget about Gallardo? What about other FA's and trades?

 

You can't assume that just because Sheets and Sabathia are elsewhere that Melvin's going to chuck 2009. That isn't going to happen. I think the Twins are the perfect example. Melvin has plenty of options in the FA market or to deal to get starting pitching. Besides "competing for playoff spot" is the bare minimum fans can expect and they owe the fans that are coming out in record numbers a team that competes for playoffs.

 

As for Blalock, the issue is his health. He's had recurring issues with his shoulder. Now if he's indeed healthy enough to help the Brewers in 09, then I'm sure the Rangers will know this and pick up his relatively modest $6.2 million option. If they don't pick up that option, it's a sure sign they don't think he can stay healthy.

[TheCrew07]

If any deal in the offseason would be to aquire mediocre starting pitching in the free agent at the going rate for 4 years.. count me out. It makes absolutely no sense to me have your highest paid players on your roster be in the bottom half of your talent pool. In a very simplistic sense, for a team like Milwaukee they have to be dilligent enough to pay their best players the most money... otherwise there isn't money left for the best players as they progress up the pay scale.

 

We're already locked into Suppan for 2 more years, why add another Suppanesque arm for another 4? There is so much good starting pitching in the system that's legitimately 2-3 years away that I'd much rather spend the money elsewhere. I'd rather not see DM spend market value on pitching of any kind, relievers or starters, I don't believe free agent pitching is a sensible market for the Brewers to attempt to play in. I've long stood bye my opinion that defined roles in the bullpen aren't a good idea, it makes it harder to balance the load and leads to over use of the "key contributors" out there. Also as has been discussed the highest leverage situation in a game is rarely the 9th inning, and it makes the most sense to me to have your best pitchers pitching in the most important situations. Even if the Brewers would change their bullpen makeup, paying established relievers market value for 80 innings isn't good value for the dollar.

 

Of course I'd still love to aquire a younger pitcher via trade of Fielder or Hardy and if necessary sign a bat to plug the hole. I'm typically not into plugging a hole by creating another, but aquiring Sabathia limited our future options trade wise, we don't have the expendable ammunition to make another high profile prospect deal. I'd love to have Yo, Parra, (young pitcher), Bush, Suppan next year, but again I care little about name recognition and I'm into maximizing value so I realize that my opinions are not going to be the norm.

[dadofandrew]

I'd have to agree with Briggs, as the '09 rotation, as of today, is Yo, Parra, Bush, Suppan, and McClung...and that's if no one is added at all. Even when you fail to figure in the ceiling for Gallardo and Parra, that's a group that will keep you in most games, and at least have a real possibility of having 5 SP's with a 4.50 ERA or less.

 

Needless to say, many folks have been spoiled by the pitching this year, but with Doug adding depth, the '09 group might be very capable, albeit, unlikely to match the 2008 version.

[colbyjack]

The pitching situation for next year is a little tricky. One one hand I agree with Briggs and Al in that we have been a little spoiled with the acquisition of Sabathia and that we can't forget that Gallardo should be 100% healthy by spring training, and is good enough to replace one of either Sheets or CC.

 

On the flip side, one of the big reasons the team has been so good right now is because of the Sabathia acquisition, because now the team has 3 starters that you feel pretty good about what they're going to do when they take the mound. Going into next year that goes down to 2, at least for me, as Suppan, Bush and McClung (or even Villanueva, who I think should get another shot at the rotation) haven't been as consistent even if Bush and Suppan have been very solid as of late.

 

I still agree that getting another LH bat in the lineup needs to be one of the team's biggest offseason priorities. The bullpen will need to be addressed again as well, and it still wouldn't surprise me to see the team acquire an extra arm for the 'pen before the end of the month (Fuentes is still out there).

[PilprinBuddha]

Santana got 6y/$137M...how is 5y/$90M overpaying?

 

That's just fantasy.

Yep - That would be fantasy. Sorry!

 

5yr/ 125M is that what it might take? Gulp!