Counsell in Heavy Demand -- Latest: Signed, One Year, Just Over $2 Million

[Mass Haas]

Links

 

Rotoworld has the Buster Olney twitter

 

Love ya, Craig, but the Brewers can't possibly extend a multi-year for you, could they? They shouldn't.

[twobrewers]

ARG!!

 

They should have resigned Counsell before trading away Hardy.

 

Didn't Counsell clear waivers this summer?

[Fatter than Joey]

Good for Craig -- He certainly deserves the chance to play WS Hero again.

[madrx]

Does this mean Heether is now our infield sub by default? I can't see spending much money on a utility infielder given the team's other needs. How is Heether's D at SS? We seem to lack an internal option at SS if Escobar goes down for any length of time now.

[Invader3K]

This doesn't mean it's a forgone conclusion he'll be gone. I would still guess he'd prefer to stay in Wisconsin at this point in his career.

[trwi7]

I hope he gets one. I wonder how good he could've been if he didn't have that goofy batting stance almost his whole career.

[jackalope02ca]

Why wouldn't he be in demand? He's the super utility type guy who knows how to play hard, can fill at multiple positions, and is a good influence on others and from all reports a great teammate. Where ever he ends up I wish him well.

[JJHardy7]

Why wouldn't he be in demand? He's the super utility type guy who knows how to play hard, can fill at multiple positions, and is a good influence on others and from all reports a great teammate. Where ever he ends up I wish him well.

 

He'd be in demand no doubt. His age and injury concerns could be an issue for a multi-year deal. I like many here wish him the best if he leaves...I just don't know if we can guess that he's gone just quite yet.

[TooLiveBrew]

Does this mean Heether is now our infield sub by default? I can't see spending much money on a utility infielder given the team's other needs. How is Heether's D at SS? We seem to lack an internal option at SS if Escobar goes down for any length of time now.

From everything I've seen/heard on Heether, he's more of a 2B/3B type that can handle SS in an emergency, not a guy you want getting a lot of time at short. If Counsell isn't back, Melvin & Co. will have to wind up paying for a vet SS reserve on the open market. I guess the good news is that there should be a decent amount of choices out there. I wonder if maybe Counsell was already going to test the FA market, so Melvin was already planning on going the FA route.

 

The only thing that stinks to me on this is the fact that Counsell's a LHB. If our starting IF winds up being McGehee/Esco/Weeks/Prince, clearly a LHB complements 2B, 3B, & SS the best... and especially if the other IF reserve is the RHB Heether. Some potential FA targets for 2B/SS reserve:

 

Nick Green

Alex Gonzalez

Adam Everett

Juan Uribe

John McDonald

Khalil Greene

Omar Vizquel

 

 

Unfortunately, all of these guys bat RH aside from Vizquel (a switch-hitter). I tried to find guys known for solid or good defense, since there aren't really any LHB options that can handle SS out there aside from Counsell & Vizquel. I can understand why Craig would want to hit the FA market this offseason, and he'll probably have 2-year deals out there if he wants them. I hope we can simplify this whole mess & just bring him back.

[kramnoj]

Boston really is a perfect place for him, with their doubts about Lawrie's ability to play a full season. If they offered him $2M+, it might be hard for him to turn that down over another $1M offer from the home team.

[BrewCrewForever]

I would give Craig no more then a 2 year deal.

[Tbadder]

If I'm spending 2 mil+ on Craig; I'd rather spend 5/6 mil on Lopez. Ugh. Let him go.

[dadofandrew]

Considering how good he is compared to the alternatives, a two year deal is nothing. No depth with a rookie at SS and an injury prone 2B is not a recipe for success.

[MNBrew]

What a difference a year makes. Last year this time, it seemed to be Milwaukee vs. retirement, & there was no reason to suspect Counsell would come back & have the year he had. Now he's highly sought after. Good for him -- he earned that!

 

I hardly think anything's guaranteed about him going elsewhere. And no one should be intimidated that Olney mentions the Yankees and Red Sox as possible fits. Heck, about any team is a possible fit. Olney's just speculating. Olney draws more attention & readers, though, if he mentions those 2 teams. But heck, how is this different than any other winter? Those two teams are ALWAYS linked to nearly every good FA on the market.

 

The thing is, realistically, no one's likely offering him a starting job. The question simply becomes dollars & years. The Brewers could realistically do either or both. Then the question becomes comparing the degree of the need for him (his skill set + quality depth offensively & defensively) vs. the cost, and what that would do to the rest of their offseason needs.

 

I hope Counsell returns, and I'd miss Counsell if he went elsewhere. But I'd sure feel we didn't lose much if we signed Vizquel in his place.

[owbc]

I would do dollars but not years. He would probably take a little less to stay in Milwaukee, but if a big market offers 2 years, he would be wise to take it. Either way, hopefully CC will be back as a coach someday.

 

Edit: Also have to credit Dale Sveum for the turnaround.

[sbrylski]

Edit: Also have to credit Dale Sveum for the turnaround.

I (unfortunately for Craig) think we credit lady luck only.

 

Counsell's LD% actually fell this year, and his FB% increased. That's not good for a career 3.4% HR/FB hitter. He found the gaps a tick more in terms of a tick higher 2B and 3B rate (lucky, because his LD% went down), which increased his SLG slightly. His K rate went down 3.5%, but his BB rate went 6.2%.

 

The big mover was the BABIP, up .029 from his career rate and over .050 from last season.

 

He's quite likely to regress back to where he was the previous three seasons, especially considering he's one year older.

[brewers4eric]

I was surprised that Craig wasn't shipped to a contender via a waiver wire exchange at the end of the 2009 season. I don't think he'll get a multi year deal from any team, but stranger things have happened. The number of plate appearances that Counsell gets is a pretty good barometer of the Brewers success. If he isn't playing, the rest of the infield is healthy and/or hitting, and he is on the bench.

[endaround]

The Utility infielder market is full up. If Counsell gets 2 years more power to him. The Brewers can get Vizquel, Uribe, etc. on one year deals.

[brewmann04]

I hope he stays but will not over pay for him.

[JohnBriggs12]

TooLiveBrew: You're forgetting about Iribarren. Don't worry, there's a lot of that going around. Strange for a guy just 25 coming off a year where he hit .311 at AAA and played solid defense at 2B.

 

I agree with TBadder. I'd rather spend $5-6 million on Lopez than give Counsell anything more than $2-2.25 million for one year.. I've said it before that Lopez is capable of being in the lineup virtually everyday rotating between 3 positions, taking pressure off of two still inexperienced players in Escobar and McGehee and one player coming off a long period of inactivity in Weeks. Uribe is another guy out there capable of the same thing.

 

Short of that, there are veterans out there capable of backing up at SS and no, they do not have to be lefthanded, as the Brewers still have Iribarren, Gamel, and Gerut as potential lefty bench bats.

[Fatter than Joey]

I've said it before that Lopez is capable of being in the lineup virtually everyday rotating between 3 positions

 

Lopez is a terrible SS, and really capable of playing only 2b for any significant playing time.

[JohnBriggs12]

I've said it before that Lopez is capable of being in the lineup virtually everyday rotating between 3 positions

 

Lopez is a terrible SS, and really capable of playing only 2b for any significant playing time.

He's below average defensively at SS. But that doesn't make him useless in a part time role there as an offensive SS. The guy's played over 600 major league games at SS and has a .959 FP. Robin Yount won the MVP in 1982 making 24 errors at SS.

 

If all you want is defense, you can go out and sign an Adam Everett or an Eric Bruntlett who was just let go by the Phils. But Lopez batting at the top of the Brewer order made the Brewers a significantly better offensive team in August and September. His loss figures to be much more significant than Hardy's or Cameron's.

[kramnoj]

But Lopez batting at the top of the Brewer order made the Brewers a significantly better offensive team in August and September. His loss figures to be much more significant than Hardy's or Cameron's.

 

That 66 game stretch may have been the best in his career. Even if Lopez is brought back, we very likely would lose that production.

[Ennder]

Lopez has a career UZR/150 of -11 at SS. That is pretty darn terrible. His fielding in the OF looks terrible too though the samples are pretty small and I doubt he ever got used to playing out there. He really is a 2B/3B more than a pure utility guy.

[JoeHova]

Lopez (in this scenario) would be the backup SS, his numbers per 150 are kind of irrelevant. He would hopefully play only 10-20 games there. He's not so atrocious that he's going to cost the team wins by playing shortstop in 10% of the games. By the uzr/150 numbers, he'd only cost the team 1-2 runs compared to an average defender if he played 10-25 games at SS. I don't see why that's worth worrying about, especially considering the fact that most of the defense-first backups would cost the team at least that many runs on offense over the same time frame.