Brewers sign Jim Edmonds to minor league deal, big league invite

[battlekow]

So says Ken Rosenthal. Can I still hate him?

[sheethead]

Can I still hate him?

 

Yes, but now only if he sucks.

[patrickgpe]

very strange signing if true. May take a while for me to warm up to this one. Of players available i'd prefer reed johnson, gabe gross, or Ryan Freel.

[joepepsi]

Can I still hate him?

 

Yes, but now only if he sucks.

Which is likely.

[battlekow]

Apparently a commenter on the JS blog broke the Edmonds news last night. Who knew anything good ever came out of that place? I really don't want to have to start reading them all.

[Paulus88]

Doesn't this make the Brewers awfully left handed off the bench, Gerut, Edmonds, Gamel, Inglett, Counsell, Oeltjen. For righties all they have are the catcher (unless is Kottaras) and Heether?

[Crew2323]

very strange signing if true. May take a while for me to warm up to this one. Of players available i'd prefer reed johnson, gabe gross, or Ryan Freel.

If it's a minor league deal, what's the harm? If he performs well, great. If not he can be released with little issue. I guess I don't know that Reed Johnson is to the point where he needs to sign a minor league deal. Gross and Freel may be, but not Johnson. I find this signing somewhat reminiscent of the Trot Nixon signing, but I'd venture to guess Edmonds could have more of an impact.

[battlekow]

Done deal.

[TooLiveBrew]

The only harm I see is if the Brewers would release Gerut after 'losing' a hypothetical ST competition for the 4th OF job with Edmonds. I'm not sure how likely that is, but my worry is that Melvin has nabbed another veteran bench guy to possibly supplant a guy in Gerut that may not know how to 'do the little things' & 'play the game the right way'. Gerut's a better defender, & in all likelihood a better hitter. I would hate to see him jettisoned because Edmonds is scrappier & experienced-er.

 

I'm mainly thinking of monty57's post in the Inglett thread:

I think Brad Nelson going 0-for-21 to start last season has put into Melvin and Macha's mind that young players cannot be good bench players and we need "proven veterans" on the bench. I wouldn't think Macha would have anything to do with a decision like this, but this reeks of Macha's desire for a veteran bench, and hesitation to play the youngsters.

EDIT: However, the optimist in me sees this as a sign that Gerut is going to get plenty of starts v. RHP this season, so there will be a legitimate need for another LH OF reserve, hence the Inglett & Edmonds acquisitions.

[amt2138]

Haudricourt wrote:

---

Edmonds will come to spring training on minor league deal with chance to be one of two extra OFs, along with Jody Gerut.

Via Twitter

[trwi7]

I'm totally fine with this deal unless Macha plays Edmonds in CF.

[jwill535]

I'm totally fine with this deal unless Macha plays Edmonds in CF.

we all know that this is going to happen at some point

[battlekow]

The money:

Melvin said Edmonds will make less than $1 million if he makes the

club. It's probably close to the $800,000 Kapler signed to come out of

retirement.

[RayKingsForemanGrill]

On today's episode of The Way Back Machine, Jim Edmonds played for the California Angels.

 

That seems ages ago.

[homer]

Apparently a commenter on the JS blog broke the Edmonds news last night. Who knew anything good ever came out of that place? I really don't want to have to start reading them all.

Don't bother.....although at least comments on the Brewer blog tend to stay more or less on topic - unlike the Packer blog which is like Attica.

[logan82]

I was really hoping for Gross. Instead we get a 39-year old guy who hasn't played in a year. This kind of sucks.

 

At least it isn't Corey Patterson I guess.

[SZBrewerFan]

I actually get the feeling that this may signal that Gerut will be the starting RF for the Brewers this year and Corey Hart's days are numbered. I have a feeling (and it is nothing more than that) that Corey will be moved before spring training.

[sheetswannabe]

I like it. Edmonds will provide some much needed power off the bench. Although we have a ton of lefties on the bench, we dont have so many in the lineup. Wouldnt mind seeing him playing for Hart once or twice a week.

[battlekow]

More details from Rosenthal:

Brewers must add Edmonds to major-league roster by March 25 or grant him release.

[TooLiveBrew]

Now that I feel confident Edmonds doesn't come at the possible expense of Gerut, I like the addition. In 349 PAs in 2008, Edmonds hit RHP to the tune of .250/.362/.521/.883, with a BABIP of .258 -- compared to a career .324. Basically, he was horrible with the Padres (esp. at PetCo Park), and then he was great with the Cubs.

 

I'm not expecting him to mash righties to that extent, but I think Melvin just added another OF bat capable of OPSing in the .800s against righties. As long as Edmonds primarily backs up the corner spots (I agree with Jason that it's inevitable that Macha will play him in CF too), I think it's a nice pickup. With Braun, Fielder, Hart, Gomez, Escobar, McGehee, & Weeks all figuring to see significant time in 2010, there's just not a huge need for LHP-hitting bench guys. One thing that adding Edmonds to Gerut as OF depth makes me think is that Gomez & Hart are both going to sit a decent amount against RHP.

 

Is there a chance Melvin is insuring himself in case Gomez needs some time in AAA? Heether (RH) iirc can handle the OF corners, as well as Inglett (LH). If Gomez needs time at Nashville, I wonder if CF would be covered by some combination of Hart/Gerut/Edmonds... & RF would consist of a mix of Hart/Gerut/Edmonds/Heether/Inglett.

EDIT: SZBrewerFan might be onto something as well

[bjkrautk]

Edmonds seems like the outfield equivalent of Craig Counsell: the less often he has to play, the better your team is doing.

 

He's played almost exclusively in CF his entire career; I just have to wonder if he'll be asked to make the occasional appearance in RF/LF(presuming he makes the team).

[clancyphile]

.822 OPS at 38?

 

Hmmm... I wonder if he platoons with Hart in right. However, if he hits like he did with the Cubs in `08 (.937 OPS), then he ought to start...

 

Braun-Edmonds-Hart?

Braun-Hart-Edmonds?

Braun-Gomez/Edmonds-Hart?

Braun-Gomez-Edmonds/Hart?

[Tbadder]

Shot in the dark. I'm okay with that. I do think this is aimed at Gerut, not with moving him, but trying to light a fire. I kinda hope it fails miserably. It'd be pretty sweet cutting an ex-cardinal.

[battlekow]

Clarification on the salary:

Edmond gets $850,000 salary if he makes club with a chance to make between $2 M and $2.5 M [including] performance bonuses.

[SeriesFinale]

Gotta say I did not see this coming--I figured Edmonds would sign with the Cards as a last hurrah kinda thing or just retire. Heck, he still might be able to, given the parameters of the deal.

 

I also would've preferred to see Gabe Gross back, I think, but maybe he was looking for something pricier. Hopefully Edmonds still has some power left if he ends up sticking for whatever reason, because otherwise it feels like we don't have much coming off the bench.