Free Agents you like for the Brewers other then SPs

[bklynbrewcrew]

I realize pitching is the biggest need by far but is anyone other than me worried about the offense. Escobar, Gomez, and possibly Kendall means far less runs. If you also assume that McGehee is the starting third baseman instead of Gamel and the huge question mark that Corey Hart has become and I could easily see this team having an average at best NL lineup instead of top 3 like we were last year.

[Hate those Rodents]

Gomez will be a downgrade to Cameron this season. Kendall's numbers from last year I am guessing will be easily replaced. It'd be hard for Escobar to do worse than JJ last year (and JJ was hitting at a very important spot in the order). Not to mention Bill Hall will not be having worthless mid-order at bats for us. Not really worried about the offense.

[yoshii8]

I agree HTR, any lineup w/ Braun and Fielder in the middle will most likely score a lot of runs. I'm much more worried about the pitching.

[paul253]

What's laughable about stating that a premium defender at a premium defensive position, with top-10 offense at his position, is more valuable than a terrible defender at the easiest defensive position aside from 1B?

 

If you could have the option of either Jason Bay or Mike Cameron on our team next season, who would you pick? We'll even assume for argument's sake Carlos Gomez wasn't acquired"?

[TooLiveBrew]

I realize pitching is the biggest need by far but is anyone other than me worried about the offense. Escobar, Gomez, and possibly Kendall means far less runs. If you also assume that McGehee is the starting third baseman instead of Gamel and the huge question mark that Corey Hart has become and I could easily see this team having an average at best NL lineup instead of top 3 like we were last year.

I worry about that too, bklyn. HTR makes some good points, but let's not forget that it's pretty unlikely McGehee posts an OPS over .850 again in '10. He could easily drop off by ~ .100 points, and Escobar could conceivably post an offensive line that's not much better than J.J.'s was in '09.

 

One reason I think retaining Gamel is big (beyond my obvious long-term considerations), is that I don't think the lineup as presently constituted will be a league-leading kind of group. Pitching is, of course, job #1, but I guess I'll state for the Nth time that (imo) dealing Gamel away for pitching will hurt us now & in the future.

[MNBrew]

Hart is an odd case it is his last year on the Brewers so he could be non tendered also. I think Melvin is going to try and trade Hart because he is playing a position that the Brewers could easily replace at a lower cost with either Gamel or a free agent and then have a platoon in RF. Hart just looks to me as an odd man out. I wouldn't be surprised if Hart gets traded or is non tendered.

Most of your various logics each make sense, but I find it odd that you state this being Hart's last year on the Brewers as a fact. We're all entitled to our opinions. I think the idea of Hart being non-tendered is more your wishful thinking than anything else. Hart's talent isn't the kind that the Brewers can afford to just walk away from. If he's not a Brewer in '10, I think it's only because he helped net other more-positive assets in a trade.

 

IF Hart turns it around (yes, a big IF), he's a very decent player for the money. It's not like he is in much of a position to commandeer a huge arby raise. He was adequate at best in '09, not overly good, and missed much of the year.

[nate82]

Most of your various logics each make sense, but I find it odd that you state this being Hart's last year on the Brewers as a fact. We're all entitled to our opinions. I think the idea of Hart being non-tendered is more your wishful thinking than anything else. Hart's talent isn't the kind that the Brewers can afford to just walk away from. If he's not a Brewer in '10, I think it's only because he helped net other more-positive assets in a trade.

Because it is. When I am talking about it being Harts last year I am talking about the next coming season as it being Harts final year with the Brewers. Since we are in the off season now I'm just calling this the start of the 2010 season so I am referring to the next upcoming season when I say it is his last year.

 

Hart is someone the Brewers can walk away from. The Brewers have Gamel, Cain, Schafer, Gerut, and a whole bunch of free agents who could fill in the void that was lost in trading Hart or non tendering him. Hart will be making at least $4m next season at a minimum but will probably get something around $5 or $6m.

[JohnBriggs12]

Let me toss out the name Melvin Mora.

 

Let's examine the Brewer bench at the moment assuming the 8 man everyday lineup includes: Fielder, Weeks, Escobar, McGehee, Braun, Gomez, Hart and Lucroy.

 

The bench currently looks like: Rivera, Gerut, Counsell (assuming here), and either Iribarren or Heether. Both Iribarren and Heether can play some OF in addition to their primary IF positions but with Heether having multiple options it's more reasonable to assume he'll be in AAA serving as depth.

 

That leaves one bench spot. Notice I'm leaving Gamel out for the present. If neither he nor McGehee is dealt, the odds are Gamel starts the year in Nashville rather than on the Brewer bench.

 

That leaves one bench spot open. Ideally that spot should be filled by a right handed bat. In looking at the FA list, I believe Mora might be the best available right handed bench bat. Loretta and Nomar also could figure in. More guys likely could be available too. Mora had a pretty big dropoff last year so nobody will sign him as a starter at age 38. But he's still a dangerous hitter that would be nice to have off the bench late in games. Sure they could keep both Heether and Iribarren, but I'd prefer having one more experienced bat on the bench. Mora would also give protection should they get an offer they can't refuse for McGehee as a guy who could do some platooning with Gamel.

[Invader3K]

Here's an interesting name someone just raised on the JSOnline blog: Brad Ausmus. Granted he's around 40, but he was only paid $1 million last year. I think they could do much worse if they want a veteran to backup either Lucroy or Salome. He hit around .300 in only about 100 ABs this past year.

[JohnBriggs12]

Here's an interesting name someone just raised on the JSOnline blog: Brad Ausmus. Granted he's around 40, but he was only paid $1 million last year. I think they could do much worse if they want a veteran to backup either Lucroy or Salome. He hit around .300 in only about 100 ABs this past year.

I'd take John Buck over Ausmus if, as expected, he's non-tendered by the Royals. Buck is still under 30 and quite capable physically of splitting time with Lucroy or taking over the number 1 spot should Lucroy falter. Buck is certainly more productive offensively than Ausmus over a larger sample of ABs than Ausmus got last year. Ausmus will be 41 in April, and reflexes tend to go at that age.

 

With the Brewers needing to secure a RH bench bat for PH duties (see my post regarding Mora), adding a guy like Buck could free up Rivera to handle that chore and serve as 3rd catcher. Now there might be better RH bats out there but Rivera has shown he can be productive getting limited ABs and that extra RH bat isn't going to see all that much action barring injury. Having Rivera around, would allow Buck to act in the PH role on days he doesn't start too. Buck is a pretty decent offensive player as well.

[Invader3K]

John Buck isn't a name I'd heard yet. I think it would be worth a look at least. I'm not sure if I see the Brewers carrying three catchers on the Major League roster, though. Maybe they could start Lucroy at AAA and call him up around June or July if he's playing well.

[BADGERJOBOB]

I would grab Chone Figgens. Switch hitter. good obp. A leadoff hitter the Brewers need badly without the headaches of Lopez. He can split his time between third and center with Gomez and McGehee as I would think the Brewers would have to package Gamel for a pitcher. Get Weeks out of the leadoff spot and provide some more pop further down in the lineup.

[Hate those Rodents]

Let's give Lopez a little more credit before we let him leave (hopefully rightfully with a draft pick coming our way). For the very few times he caused us a minor head ache, there were many more where he showed he was our best leadoff hitter in quite a while and also our best hitter outside of Braun and Fielder.

[BADGERJOBOB]

Let's give Lopez a little more credit before we let him leave (hopefully rightfully with a draft pick coming our way). For the very few times he caused us a minor head ache, there were many more where he showed he was our best leadoff hitter in quite a while and also our best hitter outside of Braun and Fielder.

 

I like Lopez but (a) he does have a history of being a rotten apple, (b) Weeks is going to play second base next year and © Melvin will not pay Lopez big money to platoon with Weeks, talk about a potential disaster there. Figgens just fits so much better with Gomez's lack of offense, McGehee's possible one year hitting wonder/injury problems and trading Gamel probably giving us the best chance to acquire a good young pitcher instead of overpaying for an old aging vet.

[TooLiveBrew]

Kendall has a history of "calling a good game" -- I just didn't see or hear anything from Lopez this season that indicated he was a bad apple by any stretch. He was a quiet guy (at least in terms of the media), didn't showboat or hot-dog his way to any mistakes. I really think his 'rep' is overblown.

[Invader3K]

I agree. I would not want to pay him big money to be a platoon/bench guy, but Lopez was tremendous for us. Every time he was interviewed (granted only a handful of times that I saw) he seemed like he was humble and just wanted the team to win. I don't really care about a guy's rep that much if he plays well. Lopez did all you could ask as a player.

[804Sox]

What's laughable about stating that a premium defender at a premium defensive position, with top-10 offense at his position, is more valuable than a terrible defender at the easiest defensive position aside from 1B?

 

If you could have the option of either Jason Bay or Mike Cameron on our team next season, who would you pick? We'll even assume for argument's sake Carlos Gomez wasn't acquired"?

If the Brewers sign Bay, where does Braun play? I'm not as convinced that he could play RF as some on this board are. Cameron is the easy answer for the Brewers. He'd probably be the better acquisition for the Yankees too, even though the media has linked them to Bay/Holiday. Of course, the Yankees could sign both . . . For the Red Sox, on the other hand, Bay is probably the better sign. Signing Cameron and shifting Ells to LF would make for an incredible outfield defense, and most of the metrics would probably say it makes the team better, but without Bay Youkilis would be the only power hitter in the middle of the Sox lineup.

[paul253]

I think you are over stating the importance of the corner outfield spot. Braun and Bay are both serviceable outfielders who can get by out there. Gomez I guess is a good fielder who can cover a lot of ground. While it's true that defense it important, I think offense is more important, and offensively I wouldn't even put Cameron and Bay in the same league. Imagine what Bay could do, RBI wise, hitting behind Braun and Fielder.

[Invader3K]

Braun/Fielder/Bay would be a pretty scary threesome in the middle of the order, that's for sure.

 

I don't think the Brewers have any shot at either Bay or Holliday though.

[Hate those Rodents]

One thing we might be overlooking somewhat is a position player for position player trade. There is still a decent chance we end up signing, for example, Mulder, Davis, and Washburn (I know some people would hate that but that's not the point).

 

If we get Mulder and two others, that would enable us to maybe deal McGehee to strengthen a positional spot. Lots of teams need a 3B and maybe our best value would come in dealing Casey and Hart for an upgrade in RF. Just thinking outside the box, since we've already had one player-for-player trade this off-season.

[MNBrew]

....I find it odd that you state this being Hart's last year on the Brewers as a fact. We're all entitled to our opinions....

Because it is. When I am talking about it being Harts last year I am talking about the next coming season as it being Harts final year with the Brewers. Since we are in the off season now I'm just calling this the start of the 2010 season so I am referring to the next upcoming season when I say it is his last year.

Your explanation lost me after your first sentence. I took your initial remark to mean 2010 would be his last. A prediction's still just an opinion, but whatever . . . Your main point seems to be that the Brewers need much better RF production/talent than they had last year, & I fully agree.

 

Hart has speed, a strong arm, has hit for good power (combo of 20+ HRs & 40+ 2Bs), solid BA (though that's slipped the last year-plus), and driven in plenty of runs. I still see him as a 5-tool player -- he just needs to put it all together again. The problem is that his game has holes that have become increasingly evident. My hope is that he gets back to realizing his potential, and for at least a while he stands to be a bit more affordable for All-Star caliber production. However, if his '09 stats (pro-rated up to 150 games) or health trends prove to be the new norm from here on out, I fully agree it makes more sense for the Crew to include him in a deal for other assets.

 

Back to the original topic... The main non-pitching FA needs I see for the Brewers either have to be better starters than we have or, at the minimum, have to give us top-quality depth:

 

- Re-sign Counsell ASAP.

- Lopez returning would be a good insurance move all around. Escobar's young, Weeks gets injured too often, and neither Gamel or McGehee have long-term success in the bigs yet. I want a strong backup prospect besides just Counsell (not dissing his great '09, however), especially whose offense profiles like the stereotypical bats at the corners. I like the idea of Heether, but last winter many of us liked to count on Brad Nelson, too....

- Either a starting-caliber OF a stronger 4th OF candidate than Jody Gerut. If Gerut eventually proves to be a solid 4th OF, then we have 2 guys who can fight for more PT in the positive way Gerut & Bourgeois never really did.

- A solid proven C to team w/ Lucroy/Salome (ideally not just Rivera, though I still see him as some degree of asset) -- in other words, someone we'd all feel very comfortable with if he had to start 100 games in 2010. Rivera has his merits but was pretty lousy at the plate last year.

 

That's not an impossible list. The key for Melvin & Co. is not just to make "any" move, but in each case a really good decision or move. If any such move can put the Brewers in an even better long-term position financially, then we'd be talking genius-level moves.

[twobrewers]

I still see him as a 5-tool player -- he just needs to put it all together again.

I've always felt that labeling someone as a "5 tool player" is misleading.

 

Hart has 5 tools - but none of them are much more than average.

[brewtank34]

Rick Ankiel. Trade Hart + for Javier Vasquez and put Ankiel in RF.

[endaround]

Eric Hinske as a 4th OFer.

[yoshii8]

I'd like to sign Octavio Dotel as our setup guy.