Braden Looper: Reports he's nearing deal with Brewers- Latest: Melvin confirms interest, but nothing imminent

[derflotr]

Could we please relax with the numbers game until we actually know the numbers?

[RockCoCougars]

At $5-6 million or so per year, I'm OK with this. As others have said, he's much better than Suppan - kind of a poor man's Dempster. That said, he's no spring chicken, so I wouldn't give him more than 2 years.

[Invader3K]

Yeah, exactly. For all we know, this isn't even happening.

 

That aside, our total payroll for the entire starting rotation right now is relatively low. Adding a few million to that shouldn't be that big a deal.

[Ennder]

Garland is going to cost significantly more than Looper for probably 1-2 extra years which is why I don't like that option. I'm ok with Odalis Perez though he hasn't had a lot of luck staying healthy over the last few years, would have to be a 1-2 year deal and/or incentive based to make much sense.

[PeaveyFury]

Could we please relax with the numbers game until we actually know the numbers?

 

No kidding... one person threw out a random prediction of 9 million per and some people seem to have taken that as fact.

[RU Rah Rah]

So I jump ship in Hong Kong and make my way over to Tibet, and I get on as a looper at a course over in the Himalayas. A looper, you know, a caddy, a looper, a jock. So, I tell them I'm a pro jock, and who do you think they give me? The Dalai Lama, himself. Twelfth son of the Lama. The flowing robes, the grace, bald… striking. So, I'm on the first tee with him. I give him the driver. He hauls off and whacks one - big hitter, the Lama - long, into a ten-thousand foot crevasse, right at the base of this glacier. Do you know what the Lama says? Gunga galunga… gunga, gunga-galunga. So we finish the eighteenth and he's gonna stiff me. And I say, "Hey, Lama, hey, how about a little something, you know, for the effort, you know." And he says, "Oh, uh, there won't be any money, but when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness." So I got that goin' for me, which is nice.

[brettac1]

I am leery of signing guys that Dave Duncan and LaRussa turned into good pitchers. I think he will go straight downhill when he leaves St. Louis.

[sheetskout]

Please say this isn't so.....Looper is like the second coming of Suppan. I would rather take my chances with someone younger with upside.

 

Looper last season had 33 starts but only 199IP? This screams 4-inning starts with a 2:1 K/BB ratio. Looper gave up 25 home runs in those 199IP too and WAY over a hit an inning.

 

Unless the deal was a one-year incentive-laden contract I would pass. I truly hope Melvin feels the same way.

[TuesdaysWithRillo]

He's never topped 200 innings.

Come on. He pitched 199 innings last year. The guy can eat innings.

[And That]

Looper last season had 33 starts but only 199IP? This screams 4-inning starts with a 2:1 K/BB ratio.

199/33 = 6+ IP/start. 2:1 K/BB ratio is pretty decent.

[PeaveyFury]

I am leery of signing guys that Dave Duncan and LaRussa turned into good pitchers.

 

Looper was a good reliever before he got to St Louis.

[brettac1]

Yeah, but he has only been a successful starter there. And they are signing him to start, obviously.

[trwi7]

Yeah, but he has only been a successful starter there.

 

Probably because that's the only place he's ever started.

[brettac1]

Right, because he is a two pitch guy, and neither of those pitches are great.

[trwi7]

I would say he has a pretty good fastball in terms of both velocity and movement. His slider is decent as well. Isn't Ben Sheets pretty much a two pitch pitcher?

[colbyjack]

I would say he has a pretty good fastball in terms of both velocity and movement. His slider is decent as well. Isn't Ben Sheets pretty much a two pitch pitcher?

 

I understand the point, but Sheets has had a pretty nice career. Looper is a fine pitcher to fill in toward the back of the rotation, but I don't think that is what this team needs the most right now. Unless they complement the signing of someone like Looper with the signing of someone like Brian Fuentes, which would strengthen the entire pitching staff from the bottom up (instead of from the top down, which is how CC strengthened the team), I'm not a big fan of the team adding Looper as it stands by itself.

[hawing]

I'm open to the whole idea, but would not be looking forward to the taunting emails I'd get from a friend who's a Cardinals fan.

 

Your 2009 Milwaukee Brewers: The next place for former STL pitchers whose nicknames rhyme with "oop."

[BREWCREW5]

colbyjack wrote:

Looper is a fine pitcher to fill in toward the back of the rotation, but I don't think that is what this team needs the most right now. Unless they complement the signing of someone like Looper with the signing of someone like Brian Fuentes, which would strengthen the entire pitching staff from the bottom up, I'm not a big fan of the team adding Looper as it stands by itself.

The signing of Looper doesnt mean he is the only free agent they are going to sign. Im sure Melvin wants to add a solid piece to the starting rotation. I think he can do that here with Looper. I dont think this means that this signing is it.

[brettac1]

I would say he has a pretty good fastball in terms of both velocity and movement. His slider is decent as well. Isn't Ben Sheets pretty much a two pitch pitcher?

 

Yeah he is, but he throws mid 90's and has one of the best curveballs in the league. Sheets is an exception as far as two pitch guys - Looper isn't even in his league.

 

I guess I am in the same camp as Patrick on this, and I don't think Looper is much of an addition.

[trwi7]

I understand the point, but Sheets has had a pretty nice career. Looper is a fine pitcher to fill in toward the back of the rotation, but I don't think that is what this team needs the most right now. Unless they complement the signing of someone like Looper with the signing of someone like Brian Fuentes, which would strengthen the entire pitching staff from the bottom up (instead of from the top down, which is how CC strengthened the team), I'm not a big fan of the team adding Looper as it stands by itself.

I agree that Sheets is better, I'm just trying to defend Looper a little bit. He throws low 90s with good sink and a decent slider. This team needs more depth in the rotation as well. Who know if they're going to let Gallardo pitch 200 innings next year after pitching about 40 this year. They need another starter to put in the 2 slot, but adding decent depth like Looper isn't the worst thing in the world and I certainly don't think he'll completely fall apart once he leaves LaRussa and Duncan.

[PeaveyFury]

I don't think Looper is much of an addition.

 

I guess I don't see how he's not. He's probably better than a few of our rotation options, and if nothing else makes the staff better to some degree. As long as it's not breaking the bank, I'm for upgrades in any manner.

 

If you think he'll regress as a starter, there's nothing keeping him from heading into the bullpen if he does show ineffectiveness in the rotation.

[colbyjack]

I agree that Sheets is better, I'm just trying to defend Looper a little bit. He throws low 90s with good sink and a decent slider.

 

With all due respect, Sheets results are way better. Trying to tie the two together because they're two-pitch pitchers isn't fair to either one. The only thing Looper has on Sheets is durability, which is big, but not big enough to consider Looper to have as great as of an importance on the 2009 Brewers as any Brewers team Sheets pitched for.

 

The signing of Looper doesnt mean he is the only free agent they are going to sign. Im sure Melvin wants to add a solid piece to the starting rotation. I think he can do that here with Looper. I dont think this means that this signing is it.

 

I'm not really sure what to take from this statement. I made it clear before that I would be fine with Looper if the team went out and signed Fuentes as well, improving the team's overall depth. The Brewers obviously aren't going to replace Sabathia, but if they can improve the bullpen considerable, and improve the rotation enough in which McClung and Villanueva can continue to be used in diverse roles, the '09 team will be much better off because of it.

 

If Looper is added to the rotation and no other additions are made, it's a rather vanilla move, and it is very hard to defend.

 

He's probably better than a few of our rotation options,

 

If our rotation right now is Gallardo, Parra, Bush, Suppan and McClung, who is Looper better than? Suppan and McClung? If he's better than Bush, Parra and Gallardo, the 2009 Brewers are in big trouble. I agree that the team is better wherever and however they improve, but improving from Soup and McClung isn't that great of a feat.

 

Again, I'm not down on the idea, but on it's own it isn't very encouraging.

[PeaveyFury]

If our rotation right now is Gallardo, Parra, Bush, Suppan and McClung, who is Looper better than? Suppan and McClung?

 

Looper is statistically very similar to Bush, and you already mentioned Suppan and McClung. If he's a 3/4 in our rotation, that's a nice piece to add to the staff.

 

but improving from Soup and McClung isn't that great of a feat.

 

All the more reason to bring someone like Looper in, IMO. A history of success and better results than these two. If it's not a great feat to replace them, then we should be excited about replacing them with an option that isn't just different or a meager improvement, but is potentially a lot better.

 

And that doesn't even factor in the improvement of having McClung in the pen over a guy like Dillard either.

[trwi7]

With all due respect, Sheets results are way better. Trying to tie the two together because they're two-pitch pitchers isn't fair to either one. The only thing Looper has on Sheets is durability, which is big, but not big enough to consider Looper to have as great as of an importance on the 2009 Brewers as any Brewers team Sheets pitched for.

Again, I wasn't comparing them. My point was it's a little ridiculous to write off Looper without LaRussa and Duncan because "that's the only team he's ever had success starting with" and then come back and then have the response be "he's only a two pitch pitcher."

 

My point was that a starter with only two pitches can still have success, I just used Sheets as an example because it was the first name to pop into my head. Don't read anything into me comparing the two other than the fact that they both use two pitches.

[Oldcity]

If it's not a ton of money, I don't see why people are upset about adding someone who's a better starter than all but three pitchers on the team. I think this could end up being a smart move.