No Arby for any of Brewers' FAs

[crewcrazy]

McCalvy with the news.

 

As general manager Doug Melvin forecast on Monday, the Brewers did not extend arbitration offers to any of their ranked free agents ahead of Tuesday's deadline to do so. That means the club won't reap any Draft compensation in the event that outfielder Mike Cameron, catcher Jason Kendall, infielder Felipe Lopez or pitchers Braden Looper and David Weathers sign with other clubs.

 

Disheartening to hear, even though it was expected. I still would've liked to see Lopez get offered, but given some of the other decisions to come down across the league today (Dodgers decline on Wolf, Yankees decline on Damon and Matsui, etc.) I'm guessing the Brewers aren't the only ones not willing to take chances.

 

Let's keep all talk about the decision to decline arby in this thread, and I'll put a reminder here that this shouldn't turn into a Melvin venting thread. To disagree with the move is fine, but let's talk about why instead of just saying you think it's dumb.

[brains and braun]

Well, they must feel pretty good about what Rickie Weeks is gonna be able to do this year.

[Invader3K]

Well, they must feel pretty good about what Rickie Weeks is gonna be able to do this year.

And I really question what anyone is basing that on at this point.

 

I was hoping they would offer arbitration to Lopez...it seemed almost certain that he would turn it down. I guess Melvin just wants to ensure as much financial flexibility as possible.

[brewmann04]

This is a real Stupid move Lopez would not have accepted and their no telling what we can expect from Weeks. Well hopefully he can use that money to add to the rotaion like he stated. Please no Washburn or D avis that not ussing the money wisely,

[Oldcity]

This is dumb. Lopez wouldn't have accepted. Even if he would have, it wouldn't have been a bad contract and could have easily been traded if they wanted. Otherwise it was just good depth.

[Invader3K]

You almost wonder if the teams are all holding the line by not offering arbitration en masse again.

[crewcrazy]

If anyone's wondering what other teams did with their potential FA's, MLBTradeRumors has compiled a list and is updating it as decisions on arby come in. If I was a Dodger fan, I'd be pretty ticked off.

[MillerParkSouth]

I'm pretty surprised we didn't offer Lopez for the reasons stated above, but I am SHOCKED that Wolf wasn't offered.

[Hate those Rodents]

I am not shocked Wolf wasn't offered. He hadn't really pitched well the previous few years other than this past season in a pitcher's park.

[JoeHova]

Not offering to at least Lopez is a terrible move. He wouldn't get that much even if he won in arbitration and he would be easily movable even if his award couldn't be fit comfortably into the budget. Not offering Cameron is almost as bad but his award would be much more than Lopez's so it would have been a little riskier. I still think he could have been moved with little trouble but whatever.

[RyDogg66]

I cant complain. Between Weeks, McGehee, Gamel and Heather the Brewers have 2b and 3b pretty well covered. Id like the extra draft pick, sure, but if that 4 million goes to a pitcher that is worth a darn then it will be fine.

[Weirdos19]

The reason it was stupid for the Dodgers to not offer Wolf arby is that there's zero chance he accepts. He'll get a multi-year deal wherever he goes. For him to settle for one year would be stupid. Lackey got arby offered for that very reason. With what happened to some free agent position players last year (Abreu, OHudson, etc), Melvin didn't want to take a chance that Lopez would accept an arby offer. He may only get 5million per season like Abreu and Hudson did. I have no problem with what Melvin has done.

[davego]

Guys I wonder if in a "normal" year Lopez would have been offered arby, but given the economic down-turn...I'm wondering if this is the wave of the next two years or so. DM, might be thinking that the market will be so depressed he can do as well or better much cheaper and the pick isn't worth it. Might not be a "given" that Lopez would have declined.

[pingman]

I'm not surprised....

 

What this shows is twofold:

 

1) the budget is tight.....there's $$$$ to get 2 starters but it will be tight....can't afford to be raped by the arbitration system

2) the arbitration is a total pooch-screw for the ball clubs.... the chances of players going to an arbitration hearing will probably be higher is this economy & any way you look at it the club will not get the results it wants

[Flood Pants]

Not offering arbitration to Lopez is an absolute blunder. It makes that trade pretty much worthless with no draft pick coming back. Ugh. What a bad offseason.

[brewmann04]

Stupid Move here and Now Melvin better hope Weeks stays healthy all season.Th Brewers better hit a home run with the Pitchers Melvin adds.

[princeginterhallhelms04]

It's a little early to call this offseason a loss. Lets see who we sign and trade for. Would i have liked to offered Arby to Lopez sure! But if not offering him arby gets us better pitching i am fine with it.

[TooLiveBrew]

I wish Melvin would've offered at least to Cam & Lopez, but maybe this is some orders coming down on the budget for '09 that doesn't leave Doug wiggle room. To be honest, keeping all money available when trying to add two solid & better SPs makes a lot of sense. I agree, though, that at least Cam & likely Lopez, too, would've been easy to deal.

 

 

And I really question what anyone is basing [optimism re: Weeks] on at this point.

For me, it's the tools coming together. I personally don't feel that '09 was necessarily an aberration for Weeks, even though it's a small sample. He's kind of the opposite of McGehee at this point. Weeks is a player that was a top-tier prospect in the minors, and has the kind of pedigree where a strong OPS falls in line with minor league production & his tools. I'll freely admit Rickie's '09 isn't conclusive by any stretch, but I think he's definitely 'arrived' if you want to use that phrase. I can't wait to see him once he's fully healthy next season.

[MNBrew]

I can see Melvin's strategy and I fully appreciate it. Yeah, any CC/Sheets/draft pick comparisons could be argued to be "apples & oranges" to this, but the roster & payroll roulette Melvin would've played just wasn't worth the POSSIBILITY of a sandwich pick (you might still be proven right, but no one can know for a fact right now that it would be a sure thing).

 

Realistically, if you were Melvin RIGHT NOW, what's your greater priority to PREVENT: another 162-game season with a rotation so full of black holes that also ends up decimating the whole bullpen, too? or losing out on one possible sandwich pick next June? Obviously many of you feel differently, but if I'm Doug Melvin, I've gotta put my eggs entirely in the basket of fixing one the worst pitching staffs in all of MLB.

 

Other thoughts:

- I'm FAR less concerned about an additional sandwich pick than I am about having the best depth possible on the IF given Weeks' injury history and McGehee's & Escobar's relative inexperience (and I do really like both those guys). But they could still re-sign Lopez anyway (it is a possibility, however unlikely it may seem).

- The thing is, if Weeks gets hurt again -- and it's hard not to see that happening at some point -- Melvin may still be able to go out & get Lopez all over again. Roster-wise, my greater fear is not having either Counsell OR Lopez on the roster.

[PeaveyFury]

Well, I won't slink into the shadows after saying at the time of the trade that it was almost certain that Lopez would be offered arby and was completely wrong.

 

Also a very dumb decision by the Brewers.

[MNBrew]

To clarify: I do wish they had offered arby to Lopez, whether to keep him or get the pick. Either would've been quite good.

 

But I also can't fault Melvin's logic at all. He simply has to save every possible dollar to address the pitching needs.

[logan82]

I am disappointed we didn't at least offer abry to Lopez. I can sort of understand Cameron since it was kind of risky. He might not get more than a one year deal anywhere. Lopez seemed to me like a lock to get a multi-year deal somewhere though.

 

I was not happy with Weeks production this year. Specifically his dramatic drop in BB%. He was starting to walk more so it is tough to say what he would have done for the entire year.

[brains and braun]

As upset as many of us already are, how angry will we be if the Brewers merely sign two guys like Davis and Washburn with the money we are "freeing up?" I think you offer arby, not just for the potential pick. Counsell may be gone. We don't really know what we have in McGahee, and as for the Weeks situation, I think production worries should take a back seat to injury worries. How likely is he to make it through a full season? I am, and have always been a DM supporter, but if we wind up signing two back of the rotation innings eaters with the cash we've "saved," he will have some explaining to do.

[adambr2]

I'm going to be as blunt as I'm feeling right now -- this was an incredibly foolish move by Melvin. I don't care if the Dodgers are being foolish too, I just care what the guy running the Brewers does.

 

Lopez is still relatively young. He's a type B, making him more attractive to teams because they give up no compensation. He's also been an inconsistent player throughout his career, coming off a career year. This may be his one shot at a multi-year multi-million dollar deal. He's not going to flush that away and take a chance at regressing. Even if he does...do you really think there's not a single team that would take Lopez and a modest $5M salary off our hands? So where was the risk involved at all?

 

We forfeited a sandwich pick for nothing. And our GM is constantly complaining about the draft compensation system and how he has no way to get picks back. Well, you did, you just chose not to. So I really don't want to hear him saying anything about it for awhile.

[Fatter than Joey]

Well, I won't slink into the shadows after saying at the time of the trade that it was almost certain that Lopez would be offered arby and was completely wrong.

 

If it makes you feel any better, I was one that was saying Lopez wouldn't be offered Arbys and I don't feel very good about what happened yesterday -- I feel like I knew what Melvin would do, but it seems like the wrong decision was made.

 

Also a very dumb decision by the Brewers.

 

1.) I don't think it is an absolute certainty that Lopez will get a multi-year deal. Lopez has burnt some bridges, and is not a capable backup at SS. Getting a multi-year deal remains to be seen.

 

2.) If Weeks is really healthy, the Brewers do not really have a need for Lopez. If Weeks can only play 90-100 games, Lopez would have been handy to have.

 

3.) I don't think we can assume that "trading Lopez" will be easy, especially if we do not know what he would have been paid in the Arby process.

 

4.) At the end of the day, we need to get pitching -- Does not offering Lopez Arbys really get us closer to acquiring pitching? I am not sure it does.

 

I feel sort of dirty for defending Melvin. Gross. Gabe Gross.