Brewers interested in Gregg Zaun

[And That]

According to Fox Sports via MLB Trade Rumors, the Brewers, Rockies and Rays are all after type B free agent Gregg Zaun.

 

I like Zaun in theory, but I'd rather play Kottaras and save a couple million bucks for another need. Zaun can't hit lefties anymore and is pretty terrible on defense. If the Brewers didn't have Kottaras, Zaun would be an interesting compliment to Rivera or Lucroy.

[Invader3K]

I don't know why they would bother if the roster budget is so apparently thin as it seems to be. It seems like between Kottaras/Lucroy/Salome/Rivera(?) they have enough internal options and I'm not sure what Zaun would really offer beyond those four.

 

My guess is that he ends up with the Rays or Rockies instead.

[JohnBriggs12]

Can't wait to see that Halama/Zaun battery. Oh, wait it's 2010, not 2000. What, they forfeit a high draft pick because there is no room in the budget to even risk offering a solid player like Lopez, yet they are dickering with signing a soon to be 39 year old part time catcher that's really no better than what they have for a couple million? Not that I'm completely opposed to signing a catcher, but I'd want one that brought more than gray hair, like an Olivo.

 

Otherwise, I'd rather see a Kottaras/Rivera platoon for 2 months, then bring up Lucroy (saving an arby year) in early June.

[brewerfan82]

I'm not opposed to signing Zaun for $2mil or less. In the last five seasons he hasn't had an OPS below .700 or an OBP below .340, he has a little pop in his bat and he's had WARs of 1.8, 1.2 and 1.8 the past three seasons. Definitely an upgrade from Kendall at $5mil and would provide some stability in case none of our young catchers are effective and at $2mil he isn't being paid enough to block any of them if someone does emerge. It would definitely make me feel "safer" about the catching position going into next season.

[Funketown]

Wouldn't mind seeing Zaun come to Milwaukee on the cheap. I'm still not entirely sure that the best option is bringing Lucroy up to the majors yet. I would much rather give him 2 months in AAA to see what he can do, and then bring him up, hopefully avoiding the year of service time. If they would sign Zaun, have him start 45 of the team's first 60, then bring up Lucroy, send down Rivera, and have them split the remaining 102 something like 72 Lucroy/30 Zaun, I think they could justify a 1 year $4 million deal. If nothing else, this hopefully puts a final nail in the Jason Kendall coffin.

[Weirdos19]

Amen. The Kendall nightmare is over. Never seen a guy with zero power swing like he can hit the ball 500 feet. He does that all the time!! A guy like Zaun is just a stop gap. A cheaper, better, alternative than Kendall. Good move. I definitley think Salome gets moved if Zaun signs.

[colbyjack]

MLB Trade Rumors notes that Zaun may sign by the end of the day, and he himself has said that it will come down to the Brewers, Mariners, Rays or Rockies.

[chuckiehacks]

I see only one reason to sign Gregg Zaun - www.greggzaun.com

[ewizabeff]

Adam McCalvey has Zaun pegged as a brewer link

[nate82]

Adam McCalvey has Zaun pegged as a brewer link

I wonder if this means Rivera maybe non tendered then. It would make sense since I doubt the Brewers would want to be paying $1-2m to a backup catcher. That would mean either Kottaras, Lucroy, or Salome would be the backup catcher behind Zaun. Hopefully this isn't for more than $3m a year.

[Funketown]

mlbtr just said they are close to agreeing on a 1 year, 2.15 million dollar deal. If that is the case, I really like the deal.

[TooLiveBrew]

Hmm... interesting. If this is the case, I have to imagine that Melvin plans on dealing either Lucroy or Salome (not that I'm the first to say that). With Kottaras either sharing time in MLB or in AAA, there just wouldn't seem to be room for both catching prospects. Do folks think Melvin already has a team or group of teams that are interested in some kind of offer involving Lucroy/Salome? Just seems odd that he'd potentially clog up the PT in Nashville so much without having some other kind of plan... but then again I'll admit I don't know what's considered 'regular' playing time for a catching prospect in AAA.

[ewizabeff]

Deal is done, per twitter from Tyler Barners