Brewers talking with Jeff Suppan

[laserbomb]

Molitor says he'll be here for a physical within the next 23 hours...

[foamboy1]

Suppan would not have to pay WI taxes unless he became a resident.

 

I do not believe this is true, Al.

 

I would defer to an accountant with experience in this sports related activities, but I'm almost certain that professional athletes file in every state where they play and "earn income." In other words, half of his income (salary) is from games at Miller Park, and the other half scattered across states across the country. This is a phenomena forced by state tax collectors around the country.

 

I am not a professional athlete, but I have filed in over a dozen states in a single year myself.

[molitor fan]

My comment is one part stirring up excitement and 7 parts reading Melvin's tea leaves. It just seems the progression of information coming out from the jsonline and mlbtraderumors is giving the look of something moving on this.

 

I certainly have no inside information other that reading every bit of Brewer-related information like an FBI profiler reads a crime scene.

[foamboy1]

I would very surprised if Suppan ended up in Milwaukee.

[splitterpfj]

Just this afternoon, Melvin said he had interest, but had not yet made an offer, I think the 24 hour thing isn't in the cards.

 

milwaukee.brewers.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061215&content_id=1762204&vkey=news_mil&fext=.jsp&c_id=mil

[molitor fan]

I think the 24 hour thing isn't in the cards

 

First, isn't in the Cards is a very notable pun, good form split, though I am not sure it was intentional. Secondly, if our resident insider foamboy says he would be shocked, that means my 7 parts educated guess is more like 7 parts bullpucky, because foam is rarely incorrect.

[TooLiveBrew]

From the Brewers.com article splitter references:

Quote:

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Melvin said he spoke Thursday with Leventhal and was encouraged by the response. That has not always been the case this winter for Milwaukee, which received chilly receptions from free agents like Juan Pierre and Jason Schmidt, and was also shunned by Dave Roberts.

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and

Quote:

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"There are reasons why [suppan] would come, and I'll just leave it at that," Melvin said.

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lastly,

Quote:

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"I think the free-agent stuff is starting to dry up," Melvin said. "Teams are starting to step back and say, 'Woah! Are these really good deals?'"

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I like the sound of all this, especially the last part. X-mas ideas for Mench, Jenkins, Clark, TBow -- try samsonite.com/global/globl_homepage.jsp

 

 

*"Samsonite! I was way off!"*

[bklynbrewcrew]

I cant understand why any of you want Suppan. The guy is just an average pitcher who in my opinion would be our fourth starter. Instead of paying for Suppan why dont we look to lock up guys like Cappy, Sheets, and Hall for the long term. that really makes much more sense.

[laserbomb]

Unfortunately, it seems like Hall doesn't want to be locked up. There's not much I'd like better than to extend Sheets, but I really believe attendance would be hurt if they locked him up for a slightly lower price before he comes back strong; that's how much people would moan about hanging on to one of the best pitchers in Brewer history after two years with assorted injuries.

 

Edit: Early season attendance, winning would solve anything. But an extension at this point would open them to criticism now, and in the event he has two more years like those in the next four.

 

I'd also like to see Capuano extended but have the feeling he's destined to be traded before he gets the big bucks. Hopefully I'm wrong.

[TooLiveBrew]

I want to go back to RedbirdRay's post from pg. 3. He's a Cards fan, and clearly has a better perspective on Suppan than most on BF.net.

Quote:

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Suppan is a great guy, very funny, good in the clubhouse and a fan favorite.

 

There is a lot to be said for his game prep, sticking to his game plan and his durability cannot be understated. Good mechanics, control pitcher...he really, really knows how to pitch. He also has a good head on his shoulders and doesn't get rattled by pressure of big games, defensive errors, etc. As mentioned, he's good with his stick. I'm going to miss him.

---

he goes on -

Quote:

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Having said all that, I'd like to make two points...

 

he was greatly, greatly aided by the Cardinal defense (which ranked #1 in baseball last year). He is an extreme groundball pitcher and needs a good defense behind him. The Brewers have a ton of talent and a lot of positives. You guys know me and know I'm a closet fan so keep that in mind when you read my next question...Is the Brewers infield defense good for an extreme groundball pitcher?

---

Now, I don't want to take issue with Ray, but the notion that our infield D isn't up to the job. IMO, when you take into account the huge improvement Weeks made in fielding in 2006 (something like 2 errors in his last 43 games), coupled with his athletic ability, along with the stalwart defense of Koskie & Hardy, and the surprising competence Fielder showed on D at age 22, I have to say that while it's no statistically rated #1 D, that infield is pretty darn good. It will both support Soup & thrive off of his ability to get the ball on the ground.

 

I am admittedly an optimist, but not a blind one. I base this thought on the facts - both statistical & 'in-person' testimony. Ground balls never leave the yard - even if our D isn't the best in the NL, I still like the prospects of having Suppan around to roll the ball to our INF

[DHonks]

I like what I'm reading. Normally in baseball, when a team has an article or two written proclaiming their desire to sign someone, it happens fairly often. In Milwaukee, we rarely have articles about guys. Instead, we get small bits and pieces in the news and notes section, stating, "Brewers GM Doug Melvin has been in contact with the agent for X to gauge any possible interest."

[sbrylski]

Quote:

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"There are reasons why [suppan] would come, and I'll just leave it at that," Melvin said.

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This was the most interesting to me.

[honuswagner21]

"There are reasons why [suppan] would come, and I'll just leave it at that," Melvin said.

 

The reason being that Attanasio doesn't like continually being outspent for other players and has given the green light to overpay.

[joshjs]

I think either Attanasio (not necessarily Melvin) wants to make a splash in the FA market and his time is running out, or this is a posturing tactic, and Melvin's in trade talks with somebody for a SP.

 

I'm not in favor of giving Suppan more than 2 years. Mark my words: We'll regret giving him more.

[Weirdos19]

Suppan is a soft tosser. His arm isnt gonna fall off like alot of pitchers that get big money. Low injury risk. Me likey.

[sbrylski]

As long as it is front-loaded and under 50 over 4 I'd be okay with it. He'd help the team, but it'd be out of the 4th spot in the rotation.

[bklynbrewcrew]

Paying a fourth starter like Suppan 10 mil a year is financial suicide for a team like the Brewers. Use the money to lock up guys like Hall, Sheets, and Cappy that are young stars. Paying a fourth starter this kind of money makes no sense when a guy like Villanueva can give you similar numbers for the minimum.

[gbpacker40]

Yeah Im not really for signing him at the price he is going to demand either. It scares me signing a #4 and possibly ending up a 5 by the end of next year at a price tag of 10+ a year.

[brettac1]

This is not a good idea. With the Brewers's defense behind him, this becomes a 5.00 ERA pitcher.

[TooLiveBrew]

Quote:

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Paying a fourth starter this kind of money makes no sense when a guy like Villanueva can give you similar numbers for the minimum.

---

Wow. Where do I begin? I've already mini-ranted about labeling #s on pitchers, so I'll skip that. Let's start with the latter part of the quote, on CV.

 

"Similar numbers" - not just vague, but arbitrary too! Sorry - joking aside, there is really no reason to expect that CV can come anywhere close to duplicating his success in a (for a SP) miniscule sample size. You tell me what opposing hitters & hitting coaches out there had tendency charts and delivery breakdowns for CV in 2006. I'm sure they had some info, but imagine what they'll know by the time we're into June 2007. Is an unheralded rookie prospect really going to have himself ready for guys knowing what he's gonna throw? I loved what CV did last year, and I hope he earns his roster spot & a spot in the rotation, for that matter. I just think it's being chalked up to 'near certainty' on this forum that he will do so, and that's flawed.

 

To think of Suppan as a back-of-the-rotation (can we call this BOTR?) guy is a bit flawed. Anyone who has been around for that long, and had as much success as Jeff is certainly going to be a #3 or better on 95% of MLB teams, including ours. With apologies to Dave Bush, Soup would bump him down in the rotation. Sure, Bush had a fine 2006, but has a long, long way to go to prove he's every bit as reliable an option as Suppan.

 

That being said, I hate ranking your pitchers 1-5, there's simply no point other than aesthetic. Once you hit the grind of the season, it all gets shaken up anyway. What we'd be paying for is a heckuva good SP, who's 32 on Opening Day 2007, gets the ball on the ground, and doesn't rely on velocity to get outs (read: he can pitch 'til he's 40).

[TooLiveBrew]

Brett --

 

Our INF defense of Fielder, Weeks, Hardy, Koskie, Graffy, & Counsell is actually a strong group of fielders. IMO, the only one with a question mark is Weeks, who certainly needs to prove that the last 40ish games of 2006 were no fluke.

 

Again, IMO, judging from how he improved, not just that he improved, makes me have faith in Weeks. Aside from him, I don't understand how you'd have any question about anybody else's defensive capabilities on that list. With Hardy, I can see the durability question, but the backup SS is a slick fielder, and our emergency SS (Hall) is fine as well.

 

I know we're not the Cards or Tigers, but that defense certainly won't yeild a 5.00 (+) ERA for Suppan, should he decide to join the Crew

 

 

p.s. -- If you're counting Braun as a semi-regular MLB player in 2007, then I grant you another weak spot. But from what I've read, the club wants him to play AAA - almost exclusively to work on his D skills, where Melvin & Co. project him to be a stud in the near future, just as they did/do Weeks. Since I see results from the hype for Rickie, I tend to trust our Front Office

[Weirdos19]

Actually, with Hardy at short, our left side of the infield is very good defensively. Koskie suprised me big time. I knew he was good, but he was as good defensively as anybody outside of St Louis last year (at 3B).

 

Weeks was pretty darn good in his last 50 games last year. Impressive compared to the start he had. The light at the end of the tunnel may not be a train.

 

Fielder was much better than the hype last year. I would say he was average when it comes to defense. Prince is a baby and will only improve. Of course, Pujols deserves a gold glove as much as I do.

 

Eckstein and Jeter are the most overrated defensively, IMO.

 

Jeter has no range. He's sure handed, but he isn't very good defensively anymore. If he didn't dive into the stands two years ago, he still wouldn't have a gold glove.

 

Eckstien's arm is horrid. His range is average at best. St Louis, for some reason, gets all of this hype about defense. Edmonds is overrated (no range). Pujols is not great. Eckstein's arm is about as good as Lance Johnson's was.

 

So, does that make Suppan a bad pick up? I don't think so. We need ground ball pitchers, everybody does with the pinball machines they call stadiums now. Go get him Dougie!!

[joshjs]

I'm not convinced a guy's not going to regress just because he's a finesse pitcher.

 

Based on BP's projections (from last year, mind you), we don't want Suppan for more than a year.

[brettac1]

Our INF defense of Fielder, Weeks, Hardy, Koskie, Graffy, & Counsell is actually a strong group of fielders. IMO, the only one with a question mark is Weeks, who certainly needs to prove that the last 40ish games of 2006 were no fluke.

 

Fielder and Weeks are both poor defenders, as far as I'm concerned. Even when Weeks wasn't making errors (a subjective stat decided by an official scorer), he wasn't good. I'd agree that Counsell is a strong fielder, as well as Hardy, and if Koskie comes back, so is he. Graffanino is average at best. I think the right side of the infield will be a sieve. If Koskie can't play, and Braun is at 3B, three of the four will not be good defenders.

[Weirdos19]

Josh, did BP say Suppan was going to shut everyone down in the second half last year?

 

Projections from a year and half ago have no relevance. We all thought Sheets was the best pitcher in the NL two years ago. I'm sure he was projected to be better than he has been.

 

Suppan has proven to be dependable. Alot of people whine about if he's better than Davis. The question is, is Davis better than Suppan and Estrada? That answer is no.