Bill Hall

[silversurferr]

I know his contract is bad, but is there any chance the Twins would want Hall if we eat some of the contract? If so, could some of the savings be used to sign Sheets?

[GAME05]

it would end up being an awful lot of money to have to eat, plus then who would play third for us?

[ILuvDaBush]

Lamb/CC/McGehee can hold the fort until mid-May when Gamel comes up.

[southpaw121505]

If it meant signing Sheets, I'd do it and happily start the year with Lamb and McGehee until Gamel is up similar to the situation with Braun

[brewtank34]

Not sure if you heard, but Sheets doesn't want to play for the Brewers anymore....He's lookin elsewhere. Melvin has made is clear that even though the window is still open, the liklihood of Sheets returning is almost non-existent.

Now if it allows more room to sign someone else such as a Garland type, then I'll listen.. On the other hand, I am actually very excited to see Hall play this year....He had a horrible year last year and he is still young and determined to make more money. He just got lasix surgery and can still make plays in the field (he can also make a lot of errors, yes). I personally don't want to trade Hall at all.

[piccione88]

When did Sheets say he does not want to play for milwaukee? Earlier it seemed like a foregone conclusion that Ben would not be back, since their were many other options in free agency, and everyone assumed that Ben would be one of the most sought after pitcher on the market. Now almost all of the front line starters are gone, and due to Bens health issues many teams opted to go in a different direction.

 

I still do not think that Ben will be back, but to say that he does not want to play in milwaukee is a stretch. Just yesterday John Heyman listed the Brewers along with the Mets, and Rangers as Ben Sheets possible suitors. So if he did not want to play, then guys like Heyman would probably know about it. The only place I have really heard too much about Ben not wanting to play in Milwaukee is on Tom Haudricourts blog comments, and the Brewers.com forum. And I just assume anything on their is false anyway.

[RightFieldCoder]

I don't think it matter whether Ben wants to play in Milwaukee. CC wanted to be on the west coast and play in the NL, and look where he ended up. Ben will end up with the team that gives him the best contract. He never publicly burned the bridge to Milwaukee so he won't lose face if we give him the best offer and he accepts.

 

on topic: I would hate to trade someone with Hall's potential after two down years.

[phxMILWfan]

I'd rather watch him struggle for another year than trade him away, pay someone to take him off our hands, and then watch him have a comeback player of the year type season. He has the skills and potential. Needs to be disciplined at the plate. Maybe this Lasix surgery will help. That said he is currently Pedro Cerrano lite.

[hauser42]

Bill Hall has very limited trade value at this point. He is at best average 3rd baseman in the field, and is below average up the middle when it comes to defense. His batting eye will never change so he has to get lucky with his guess hitting, and the last two years he has not been on. Hall has turned some great physical skills into a decent ball player, he is not going to become the big time player some thought he would be. He has had his best season and will be closer to what he was last year than any other type player.

If the Brewers could get a #3 type pitcher I would be elated for them and the staff, more likely they would get an over price #4 starter if they are looking for an arm.

[brewtank34]

Ben could have accepted arbitration with the Crew but decided not to. Haudricourt has blogged numerous times that Sheets has indicated that he is not talking with the Brewers at all and is only talking with other teams. The Crew has no chance at signing him unless they offer more money than Mets/Rangers....which won't happen as Mark A has freezed his spending for right now.

[Invader3K]

His batting eye will never change

 

Well, technically it has changed since he had lasik surgery, reportedly, this off-season.

 

I agree that people need to let the Sheets thing go. Are we going to have to put people on suicide watch when he inevitably signs with the Rangers or whoever? Can't wait to hear all the moaning then.

 

As far as Bill Hall, I would rather keep him at this point. He still has value to the Brewers as a super utility type guy, and we don't have any realistic options for a full time 3B going into this season. I'm hoping he turns it around and at least has a decent year. I just think trading him now, we wouldn't get much for him and the Brewers would end up having to eat a lot of money, which wouldn't really accomplish anything.

[RyDogg66]

I would rather just keep Hall rather than get rid of him and still be on the hook for this salary. He has so much more potential to this team than just as a 3b. He should be platooned most of the time and limit his exposure to RH pitchers. On top of that though he is a capable fill in almost anywhere else on the field.

[KCBrewerfan34]

I'm not sure Hall can be any worse than he has been the last 2 years, maybe with the eye surgery he can recapture some of his batting skills. it would be nice if he could draw some walks. The Brew is going to need the offense to step up this year, and that means someone besides Braun, Fielder and Hardy. That means Hart, Cameron & Hall are big keys to the offense this year.

[Bert55]

don't see a real advantage to trading Hall unless you are going to get a quality pitcher/pitchers. Pencil in Bill at 3rd base. I believe Bill Hall will have a very good year.

[ILuvDaBush]

Ben could have accepted arbitration with the Crew but decided not to.

This argument doesn't hold much weight, as Jason Varitek didn't accept arbitration either. And considering Ben's only familiarity with any team is ours, I would guess it would take less....or equal for him to stay here. The only argument I could see making about why he doesn't want to come back is the treatment of high-paid players by the average fan.

 

As for Hall, I wouldn't give him away. And the more I think about it, I would assume the Mariners would be a better trade target. And also, if we're trying to free up money for Garland, might I suggest upgrading third base AND first base defensively, as we would only be having a repeat performance of the Soup Nazi?

[endaround]

A Hall for Washburn deal could work out for both teams

[logan82]

I think Hall is going to have a much better year in 2009 than he did in 2008. That will be mostly because he will not be facing much RHP. The Lasik will help him about as much as it did Kendall last year. That is to say, not at all, but at least he won't have to wear contacts any longer.

[silversurferr]

I like Bill Hall and his potential. He was rotten at the plate last year, and will definitely hit better in 2009. I think he is somewhere around 200 career games at third, so we should see defensive improvement if he regularly starts. But his contract sucks. If it is keeping us from signing another starter, then get rid of him if there is a taker.

[3Putt]

Lasik isn't going to cause Bill Hall to suddenly find discipline at the plate. It's sad we haven't recognized his falloff sooner and signed some better options. We were having this same conversation about Hall before last season. Hopefully Gamel has some skills and is getting boot camped at 3B to move up his timetable. Hall was leading the league in errors before being platooned and his short stint at 2B was short for a reason. The downside outweighs the upside especially as we have a new manager working to instill discipline with our younger players. Let's move on.

[endaround]

Except Hall's problem isn't his plate discipline as such, its the fact that his BA fell off and his power went away.

[JohnBriggs12]

Except Hall's problem isn't his plate discipline as such, its the fact that his BA fell off and his power went away.

 

Actually his HR/AB was better in 08 than in 07 though like Hart, his power did disappear in August and September.

 

I think Hall was in a tough spot last year and still is. The lineup last year was overloaded with RH bats. He was the guy playing the one position where there was a credible alternative at least in the short run in Branyan. I think it hurt Hall, who, as a couple years older than the core young group viewed himself as a team leader, to be benched so quickly. Especially after making so many position changes.

 

Going forward, I'd like to see Hall get work in CF again. He was progressing the second half of 07 out there, and I see no reason he can't be in the mix when Cameron is gone. But for now Hall remains in a very tenuous position. Even if he gets off to a hot start, they're likely going to sit him against most right handers because they need another LH bat in there. But they can't give up on him because they have a big investment there.

 

So many issues on this team could have been addressed if they just had not picked up Cameron's option. We're seeing now that $10 million in this market goes a long, long way. Hall could have factored in the OF had Cameron been let go and it wouldn't take much of a bounce back from Billy to match Cameron's offense.

[Ennder]

So many issues on this team could have been addressed if they just had not picked up Cameron's option. We're seeing now that $10 million in this market goes a long, long way. Hall could have factored in the OF had Cameron been let go and it wouldn't take much of a bounce back from Billy to match Cameron's offense.

 

So we would have majorly downgraded at CF and have a hole at 3B? Cameron signing isn't the problem here, Hall not being good at baseball is. Cameron was worth his salary last year and I'm sure he will be next year too.

 

Using fangraphs numbers as a guide which include positional adjustments here was the value of our players last year in dollars.

 

Hardy - 23.8M

Cameron - 17.4M

Braun 17.2M

Fielder 12.1M

Weeks 8.6M

Kapler 7.2M

Kendall 6.4M

Hart 5.9M

Counsell 5.4M

Branyan 4.9M

Hall 4.9M

 

My guess is those numbers are assuming inflation this year instead of deflation so they are all a bit high but Cameron very easily was worth his extension.

[endaround]

Actually thats wrong, Hall was worth what he was paid, just not much more. The problem is his raise and lessen playign tiem means goign forward he won't be. And yes his HR rate is fine, but his SLG collapsed below his 2005 rate.

[rluzinski]

Cameron projects to be perhaps a bit over league average. Even a pessimistic estimate puts his value at $8 mil, so this idea that he is grossly overplayed at $10 mil is just silly. Add in that the Brewers have no real plan B and none of it makes much sense. I guess people that undervalue defense and think a K is a sin would think such things.

[Invader3K]

And it's not like center fielders who hit 25 homers in 5 months grow on trees, either...