How much do we have to spend this off-season?

[jjfanec]

The Hardy trade got me wondering how much we had to spend this off-season. Not having to pay JJ Hardy arbitration and not bringing Cameron back will save them a good amount of money. I dont have any idea what we have to spend and where we currently are at, but I know there are guys on this site that do. I am wondering what we are likely to spend in arbitration and what that leaves us for pitching and bench players.

[nate82]

Player		Salary
Jeff Suppan		$12.50
Prince Fielder		$10.50
Trevor Hoffman		$8.00
David Riske		$4.50
David Bush		$6.00
Rickie Weeks		$4.00
Jody Gerut		$2.50
Ryan Braun		$1.00
Craig Counsell		$1.00
Todd Coffey		$3.00
Carlos Villanueva		$2.00
Manny Parra		$0.50
Mike Rivera		$1.50
Yovani Gallardo		$0.50
Mitch Stetter		$0.50
Mark DiFelice		$0.50
Alcides Escobar		$0.50
Mat Gamel		$0.50
Casey McGehee		$0.50
Chris Narveson		$0.50
Claudio Vargas		$2.50
Total		$63.00

This does not include Looper and Weathers buyout or Hall's contract that the Brewers still owe on. I gave a very generous arbitration for each of the players available for arbitration.

 

Add about $10m to that and add about $1m for Gomez. So about $74-78m which gives the Brewers about $16m to work with. But that all depends on how much MA says the payroll will be. If the payroll will be at $85-90m not including Hall's contract then that is a lot of money available for a trade or a FA signing. If it does include what the Brewers will owe Hall then It is around the $15m mark.

[PrinceFielderx1]

Player		Salary
Jeff Suppan		$12.50
Prince Fielder		$10.50
Trevor Hoffman		$8.00
David Riske		$4.50
David Bush		$6.00
Rickie Weeks		$4.00
Jody Gerut		$2.50
Ryan Braun		$1.00
Craig Counsell		$1.00
Todd Coffey		$3.00
Carlos Villanueva		$2.00
Manny Parra		$0.50
Mike Rivera		$1.50
Yovani Gallardo		$0.50
Mitch Stetter		$0.50
Mark DiFelice		$0.50
Alcides Escobar		$0.50
Mat Gamel		$0.50
Casey McGehee		$0.50
Chris Narveson		$0.50
Claudio Vargas		$2.50
Total		$63.00

Nate,

 

Isn't Vargas a FA?

[sheetswannabe]

Suppan killed this teams shot at playoffs in 09. Coulda had an Ace and Yo

[nate82]

Nate,

 

Isn't Vargas a FA?

I'm not sure if he is or if he isn't. At cot's it shows that he has a ML service time of 5.031 so he probably is but even if he is I could see the Brewers bringing him back over someone like McClung who I believe the Brewers will non tender.

[davego]

Could Dave Bush really get non-tenderd too/

[owbc]

Suppan killed this teams shot at playoffs in 09. Coulda had an Ace and Yo

Are there even any star pitchers available on the market? It seems to me like 20 teams are going to be fighting over about 5 good but not great starting pitchers.

[Invader3K]

Lackey is going to be the prize of the off-season, which is why I expect him to go to the Yankees or another big market team. Beyond that it's a lot of mediocre guys...the good part may be that Suppan-esque contracts won't have to be given out. The market should be depressed like it was last season.

[nate82]

Lackey is going to be the prize of the off-season, which is why I expect him to go to the Yankees or another big market team. Beyond that it's a lot of mediocre guys...the good part may be that Suppan-esque contracts won't have to be given out. The market should be depressed like it was last season.

I don't see the Yankees getting Lackey I think the Yankees won't be major players in the free agency market this year. The Mets have been tied to Lackey but I believe they have been quoted that they are not likely in it if he wants Burnett type of money. I don't see Boston going after Lackey either and the Angels will have to decide on Vlad or Lackey I believe they will go after Vlad over Lackey.

 

That leaves the Dodgers (already near their maximum in payroll), Brewers, and a hand full of other teams vying for Lackey. I believe Lackey is going to land somewhere unexpected from the main stream media. I'll go with Milwaukee, Detroit, and Washington as the being the major players in the Lackey sweepstakes. The Mets blew nearly all of their payroll on last years free agents. The Cubs new ownership has set a payroll for them and they won't be adding payroll this year so that eliminates them. The Yankees are going to be trying to lock up Rivera and resigning Matsui or Damon along with Pettite. The Yankess also have Chamberlain and Hughes available for the bottom of the rotation. I don't see Boston going after Lackey for the same reason but I do believe Boston will try to get one of Sheets/Bedard/Harden.

[wibadgers23]

Unbelievable that Suppan is at the top of that list ahead of Fielder, Braun, etc. Ugh.

[Invader3K]

Maybe Melvin and Attanasio can shame Suppan into giving some of his salary back, or at least deferring a good chunk of it. Probably not, but it's a nice thought.

 

The question about Bill Hall is really key though...if his salary is included, it limits their options for this season somewhat. If his salary is written off as a sunk cost or a loss (I don't know if they can actually do that from an accounting standpoint), it adds much more flexibility.

[owbc]

I fully expect Lackey to sign a large deal with the Yankees. How could you not? Their one flaw was that they only had 3 starters for the Postseason, so adding a 3rd ace would help them out.

[rluzinski]

If Hall's contract doesn't count, we should just designate Suppan as well and free up even more money!

 

And $12 mil probably buys you a 4.0ish ERA pitcher. I love to have that over Suppan but I don't think anyone would consider that an ace.

[pingman]

Suppan killed this teams shot at playoffs in 09. Coulda had an Ace and Yo

Are there even any star pitchers available on the market? It seems to me like 20 teams are going to be fighting over about 5 good but not great starting pitchers.

BINGO!

 

...the price for quality starting pitching will be high with limited supply & high demand.....

 

Also, don't count out the Angels resigning Lackey....they'd be foolish not to

[kramnoj]

Per AM http://milwaukee.brewers....s_mil&fext=.jsp&c_id=mil Vargas can be a FA.

[nate82]

...the price for quality starting pitching will be high with limited supply & high demand.....

 

Also, don't count out the Angels resigning Lackey....they'd be foolish not to

The Angels may not have enough money to resign Lackey though. Remember the Angels have a lot of free agents of their own to resign. The Angels already resigned Abreu at $9m and they have Lackey, Vlad, and Figgins yet to resign. Both Vlad and Figgins are going to get big contracts along with Lackey. I don't see the Angels being able to retain 2 of their 3 free agents.

 

I believe the Angels will resign Vlad and that is it out of the 3 that are still possible free agents.

[JoeHova]

Angels have plenty of cash even with the Matthews Jr. albatross. If they want to keep Lackey they'll have the money to. However, who knows if they want to get into a bidding war with the Yankees over him. In that same vein, I can't see the Brewers winning a bidding war with the Yankees although I suppose it could happen. I'd put the odds of the Yankees signing Lackey at 95% just because there are no other good pitchers out there and the Yankees have a lot of salary room coming free. They just have more money than any other team so even if the Red Sox, Mets, Angels, and Dodgers are all interested, if it comes down to money the Yankees will win.

[twobrewers]

I wish the Brewers had claimed Bronson Arroyo from the Reds off of waivers last year.

 

I could certainly deal with Arroyo for 11M and Gomez in centerfield. My biggest concern is a long term contract for a very average pitcher.

 

I really hope the Brewers pursue a few reclamation projects like Harden, Bedard, Sheets and Myers.

[jjfanec]

I fully expect Lackey to sign a large deal with the Yankees. How could you not? Their one flaw was that they only had 3 starters for the Postseason, so adding a 3rd ace would help them out.

The Yankee's need to decide what they are going to do with Phil Hughes. If they move Hughes to the rotation like they should, they then probably have the rotation they need. CC, AJ, Pettite (who will come back in my mind), Joba and Hughes. That should be enough. They more than likely have to replace Damon and Matsui. They could go after Holliday or Bay to fix their lineup, but I think Lackey may not be a sure thing for the Yankees.

[PilprinBuddha]

I expect to be underwhelmed again.

 

In my perfect world, I'd like to see a trade made for a Javier Vasquez type along with a Mulder and Sheets signing.

[BrewCrewForever]

I expect to be underwhelmed again.

 

In my perfect world, I'd like to see a trade made for a Javier Vasquez type along with a Mulder and Sheets signing.

That would be my perfect world as well. Would love to have Vazquez and Gallardo at the top of our rotation. Not sure what it would take to get Javier though. Also signing either Sheets, Bedard or Harden would be nice.

[Bikeage77]

It's hard to say what could come of Sheets, Bedard, or Harden. All three are injuries waiting to happen, but can we get enough out of them to be worth it?

 

I dunno what it'd take for Javy Vasquez either, I just don't wanna see another 5 inning 4.5 era guy.

 

Maybe Suppan will just retire this offseason.

[FVBrewerFan]

I heard Suppan is going to give back half his salary this year so he can sleep at night.

[Invader3K]

I heard Suppan is going to give back half his salary this year so he can sleep at night.

Boy, we could only dream, right?

[logan82]

Doesn't seem like anybody has considered that the Brewers might cut salary for 2010 instead of spending all the money from expiring contracts on new players.