LaTroy Hawkins signs a 2 year/$7.5 mil deal with the Brewers

[Patrick425]

What he was last year was exceptionally lucky. He pitched as well as he did in 2008 but got a strand rate of 91%. He's a 4.00 ERA reliever.

I don't understand this. He has been a reliever for 10 years. He has only posted an ERA over 4 in two of those years. He has pitched in places like Minnesota, Colorodo, and Houston....not exactly pitcher friendly parks. He's clearly shown that he is not a 4.0 ERA reliever.

[Flood Pants]

I'm glad Melvin was proactive about replacing DiFelice. This is a very solid addition.

[FVBrewerFan]

If you don't have a lights-out rotation, you better have a great bully. The Brewers need to maximize the wins they can get when they're leading or close after 6 innings. That's not a bad strategy.

[Tbadder]

I think Melvin is buying stuff in Hawkins. 37 years old. I don't think he'll be much help. They overpaid as well. If this means we don't get Counsell back (not that it will, I'm just saying) then I'm really not enamored. I'd rather have gone after 1 year of Harden. The Brewers appearred to me to have a totally adequate bullpen with some potential on the horizon in Braddock and Axford.

[tigerbrew]

So the bullpen is going to look like this so far:

 

BP

Stetter

Vargas

Hawkins

Coffey

Hoffman

 

Question marks for the bullpen include: Villanueva, Narveson, Axford, McClung (probably going to be non tendered), Braddock, and Capuano. With two spots open in the bullpen now I believe Villanueva will be given a spot in the bullpen with Narveson, Axford, Capuano, and Braddock all getting shots in spring training. I would go with Villanueva and Narveson as the two long guys in the bullpen.

I think you may have missed out an expensive, overpaid reliever on the books, David Riske. He will cost the Brewers $4.5M next year plus $250K buyout for 2011, Yucks! I can't imagine him spending the whole of 2010 in the minors at that price.

[logan82]

I wouldn't worry about Riske this year. He will probably miss most of the season.

[areacodes]

Riske probably wasn't factored in to the 2010 bullpen because it doesn't look like he'll pitch until late in the year (if at all). He had TJ surgery in June and who knows how healthy he'll actually be if/when he comes back.

 

There were two things I found on his return and neither seemed too promising. A vague answer at the bottom of McCalvy's story on signing Hawkings:

David Riske may return at some point in the season from Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery.

And from Yahoo! Sports team report:

 

RHP David Riske (Tommy John elbow surgery in June 2009) is not expected back until late next season, at the earliest.

There was also some brief discussion of insurance on Riske's contract in the 2010 payroll thread so it could possibly be covered if he doesn't pitch for us next year.

[LouisEly]

Question marks for the bullpen include: Villanueva, Narveson, Axford, McClung (probably going to be non tendered), Braddock, and Capuano. With two spots open in the bullpen now I believe Villanueva will be given a spot in the bullpen with Narveson, Axford, Capuano, and Braddock all getting shots in spring training. I would go with Villanueva and Narveson as the two long guys in the bullpen.

 

I wouldn't go writing Villanueva's name in ink.

[splitterpfj]

I'll put this here, though it could just as easily go in the Randy Wolf thread.

 

I'm glad to see Wolf and Hawkins in Milwaukee...these are quality pitchers, who will make the Brewers better than they'd been the day before.

 

I have no issue at all with the team deciding to pay what it took to get the guys they decided were worth the risk...that's what GMs, scouts, etc get paid to do.

 

The problem here is, when you get stuck needing free agency to fix an obvious hole on your roster, you will pay whatever the going rate is at the time. You're not paying based on ability, you're paying based on availability. The quality of free agent players can vary greatly from year to year, and so can the market. Jeff Suppan got his huge contract because he was a veteran starting pitcher, with proven durability, who happened to be a free agent at a time when spending was absolutely ridiculous - a lot of bad free agent contracts were given out at that time.

 

I'll put Wolf down for 190 IP, and an ERA in the 4.2 range for 2010, which instantly makes him the second-best pitcher in the Brewers' rotation...so I'm glad he's here. I think Wolf will hold his own in 2011 as well, if the contract was for two years with an option for a third...I'd love it...but it isn't, because they had to add that extra year to sway Wolf to sign here...that extra year is the one thing about his deal that I really don't like.

 

This is the price you pay for not developing pitching. I'm glad to see more attention paid to this issue by the organization, and obviously, they realize they've got to get much better in this regard. Until Milwaukee can fill the majority of their starting rotation slots from within, you will see Braden Looper's signed late in the off-season, and you will see Randy Wolf's get top-dollar out of this organization.

 

Congratulations to Melvin and Co, you obviously got the guys you wanted...now we all hope you guessed right.

[Thurston Fluff]

I like this signing because he is a guy who is a known commodity over a long period of time. Our pen has a lot of talent but most of it is with players who have only been good for a short period of time. Relievers are so up and down a Hawkins type of player is a nice addition to a pen that, other than him and Hoffman are not time tested.

This adds stability in the event some of the others we are depending on falter as so many relievers do.

[TooLiveBrew]

I think Melvin is buying stuff in Hawkins.

I know this isn't the way you meant it, but Hawkins's stuff is precisely why I like this addition. This is a guy that, even in his age-36 season, averaged 94 mph on his heater. Furthermore, he hasn't lost any velocity on that fastball -- the 94.2 mph average from 2009 is actually the highest he's posted in his career. And in addition to the FB, Hawkins's slider & curve are solid pitches. This is not just another bullpen arm, he can really bring it. I think it's pretty exciting to think about having two or three hard-throwing relievers (Coffey, Axford) on the 25-man this coming season... four if Braddock gets promoted & used in that capacity.

[nate82]

I wouldn't go writing Villanueva's name in ink.

I would because Villanueva is the Brewers best long man in the bullpen. I surely wouldn't want to see Suppan given that role. If Suppan is in the bullpen he would be the pitcher that would be put in if the Brewers are going extra innings or are getting shelled. I wouldn't want Suppan as a guy who would be bridging the gap from starter to the 6th or 7th inning guy. I would rather have Villanueva doing that.

 

Villanueva has a projection of

Season	Team	W	L	ERA	G	GS	CG	ShO	SV	BS	IP	TBF	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	HBP	WP	BK	SO
2010	Bill James	6	6	4.09	60	10			0		110.0		106			16	39		3			95

Villanueva makes for a better 6th starter than anyone else in the bullpen right now. Narveson would be a good 6th starter also. I believe Narveson has some options left and I don't think Villanueva has any left.

 

I still believe Villanueva has a lot of value for the Brewers left in him and he still has some value in a trade. I would rather have Villanueva being the long man in the bullpen than Suppan though. Suppan should be the white flag waving pitcher out of the bullpen.

[endaround]

Narveson has no options remaining while Villaneuava has 2 but he would need to pass through waivers (shouldn't be a problem) and would earn whatever salary he gets for arby (likely around $1m).

[nate82]

Narveson has no options remaining while Villaneuava has 2 but he would need to pass through waivers (shouldn't be a problem) and would earn whatever salary he gets for arby (likely around $1m).

Figures I would remember something backwards. I would rather trade Villanueva than have him sit in the minors though at that price. I still believe the Brewers could trade Villaneuva for a back of the end rotation pitcher though. I don't want to take this to far off topic but Villanueva and Green for Correia wouldn't be a bad trade for the Brewers or the Padres. With the Hawkins signing it definitely does make a couple of the guys in the bullpen expendable. I doubt Melvin will get anything better than Correia in a trade though.

[endaround]

Well Villaneuva for Soriano would have worked....

[TooLiveBrew]

Yeah, no kidding. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/frown.gif

[Mass Haas]

Narveson has no options remaining while Villaneuava has 2 but he would need to pass through waivers (shouldn't be a problem) and would earn whatever salary he gets for arby (likely around $1m).

Not that it would happen this way, but why would Villanueva need to pass through waivers if he were to be optioned?

[danzig6767]

I think Melvin is buying stuff in Hawkins.

I know this isn't the way you meant it, but Hawkins's stuff is precisely why I like this addition. This is a guy that, even in his age-36 season, averaged 94 mph on his heater. Furthermore, he hasn't lost any velocity on that fastball -- the 94.2 mph average from 2009 is actually the highest he's posted in his career. And in addition to the FB, Hawkins's slider & curve are solid pitches. This is not just another bullpen arm, he can really bring it. I think it's pretty exciting to think about having two or three hard-throwing relievers (Coffey, Axford) on the 25-man this coming season... four if Braddock gets promoted & used in that capacity.

Yea, i'd be much more down on this signing if Hawkins was instead a veteran guy like say Matt Herges who throws lots of junk fairly well. Hawkins is older, but still throws hard and doesn't walk batters. That said, it is a bit odd that he throws hard and has a solid slider, but he doesn't strike out more hitters than he does.

[silversurferr]

Wolf and Hawkins are solid but not spectacular. Looking at what others have signed for, I think both contracts are decent values. The questions I have about the staff, assuming nobody else is added, are whether can Hoffman repeat what he did last year, and will Parra finally improve? Hoffman scares me, but he will get the job done. Parra irritates me; this has got to be the year he shows some consistency with his promise. Contrary to many who post, I do not think his stuff is that wonderful. But he could be a decent pitcher if he throws strikes.

[endaround]

Narveson has no options remaining while Villaneuava has 2 but he would need to pass through waivers (shouldn't be a problem) and would earn whatever salary he gets for arby (likely around $1m).

Not that it would happen this way, but why would Villanueva need to pass through waivers if he were to be optioned?

 

He would be in the same situation Bush was when Bush was optioned down in 2008 correct? I thought the requirement for that was 3 years of service time that one needs to be placed on revokable waivers in order to be optioned.