I like Soup.

[pmg4]

Jeff Suppan is a career .500 pitcher who is in the fourth year of a contract that overpays him slightly.

 

There are a lot of people here who wish him replaced with a softball-league all star. We could certainly improve his position as 5th starter, but we could also degrade sharply.

[logan82]

He isn't slightly overpaid. He is massively overpaid. His W/L record is irrelevant. If he is the 5th starter, that is a mistake. He should be at least the 6th or 7th starter until we have some guys in the minors show they can get guys out. Once Butler is healthy, it makes Suppan much more replaceable. The only problem I see if the minor league guys are good is that they might not be ready to go the 180+ innings we would need from them.

[pmg4]

People talk about Soup like he can't throw a ball 60 feet. It's not true. He's serviceable. That's what #5 is considering the current spread of talent in MLB.

[diener34]

The Problem is he is getting paid like a #2-3 pitcher and he can still barely hang on the the #5-6 spot, and thats with Macha and Melvin both giving him the benefit due to his large salary.

 

If he was making what Narveson makes, he would have been let go or traded, IMO.

[RockCoCougars]

I hate Soup as a player. I think that up until recently, he's gotten a big time free pass from many because he seems to be a 'good guy'. I think that the tide has finally turned against him though. Fact is, he hasn't lived up to his end of the contract. In my opinion, next to Bando's idiotic move not to offer Molitor a fair contract, the Suppan signing is the second biggest mistake in team history.

 

By the way, I feel it's almost impossible to 'degrade' from Suppan. I'd have to see the slow pitch softball guy in action before I could make a final decision on that...

[derflotr]

I think the problem is that Jeff Suppan has absolutely no upside. You know if the guy's healthy and throwing decently he's gonna give you 6 IP, 3-4 runs per outing. Every once in a while he goes 7 and gives up 2, then the next time goes 5 and gives up 6. He's just nothing special and it's irrational to expect anything different. Is that bad? Not completely, but when you've got guys like Narveson, Parra, and Bush - you could argue all three have sub-4 ERA potential if they put a complete season together. There's reason for hope for these guys, whereas going with Suppan feels like settling for mediocrity.

[TwinsBrewersWorldSeries]

I like Chicken Noodle as well. No Soup for you. For me, its hard to decide who I like more... Soup, or Carrot Top. Or Denise from Taco Bell. or the E-trade babies. Or the fact that i will be stuck at work ALL DAY MONDAY AND CAN'T USE MY OPENING DAY TICKETS

[tigerbrew]

When I think of Soup, I think of game 4 of the 2008 NLDS. That decision to start Soup over Yo in game 4 of the 2008 NLDS bothered me greatly then and even now.

 

I hated that decision when it was annouced, I definitely would've started Yo in a must win game over Soup and it's not even a tough call. As it turns out, Soup gave up 5 ERs in 3 innings before being yanked out of the game, Yo replaced him and pitched 3 shutout innings giving up only 1 hit. The Philles went on to win the game 6-2, and the world series.

 

I think we could have won game 4 if we had started Yo instead, and CC was scheduled to pitch game 5. After 26 years, it would've been great to win a playoff series... That decision to start Soup over Yo has to the worst decision in Sveum's managerial career, I still don't understand why he did it.

[theavrock]

I love soup too.

Chicken noodle

Tomato

minestrone

french onion

They are all great.

Jeff Suppan. Not so much. He has never lived up to his contract.

[craigharmann]

I really love Clam Chowder. One of the best places I've ever had Clam Chowder is Dugger's in Seaside, Oregon. Obviously, on the East Coast, I'm sure it's extremely good, but I've never been there. If I ever go to the East Coast I will have Clam Chowder there.

[logan82]

People talk about Soup like he can't throw a ball 60 feet. It's not true. He's serviceable. That's what #5 is considering the current spread of talent in MLB.

He would be fine as our 5th starter if we didn't have better options. It isn't just about how good a player is. Soup would be ok as our #1 starter if we didn't have better options. Of course if that was the case we would be in huge trouble.

[craigharmann]

Soup would be ok as our #1 starter if we didn't have better options. Of course if that was the case we would be in huge trouble.

If Soup would be our #1 starter, it would be like we all got in a hot tub and went back to 2001 or something

[trwi7]

If Soup would be our #1 starter, it would be like we all got in a hot tub and went back to 2001 or something

Or 2009.

 

 

[theavrock]

I really love Clam Chowder. One of the best places I've ever had Clam Chowder is Dugger's in Seaside, Oregon. Obviously, on the East Coast, I'm sure it's extremely good, but I've never been there. If I ever go to the East Coast I will have Clam Chowder there.

See but I don't really think of clam chowder as a soup. Its kind of like chili. Its in the same class as soup but not really a soup. And clam chowder is great anywhere you go by water.

[berniebrewer4life]

See but I don't really think of clam chowder as a soup. Its kind of like chili. Its in the same class as soup but not really a soup. And clam chowder is great anywhere you go by water.

This. Chowder is more like a chili for me as well. Soups are more watery, where as clam chowder has a real thickness to it.

[Blindcheck]

Thing about Soup is that he is what he is....

 

IN 2008, without Suppan's strong August, we would not have made the playoffs....

[TheCrew]

I've never understood why people dislike Soup for Melvin's mistake. When people rip on soup they constantly bring up the contract, soup shouldn't be ripped for that at all, on the other hand Melvin should be.

[cantball]

I've never understood why people dislike Soup for Melvin's mistake. When people rip on soup they constantly bring up the contract, soup shouldn't be ripped for that at all, on the other hand Melvin should be.

Soup should get ripped because he's a terrible pitcher.That's like

saying Justin Harrell should get nothing but hugs and rainbows because

Ted Thompson drafted him.

[PeaveyFury]

In my opinion, next to Bando's idiotic move not to offer Molitor a fair contract, the Suppan signing is the second biggest mistake in team history.

 

You're clearly not giving Marquis Grissom or Jeffrey Hammonds their due. At least Suppan was productive for a portion of his contract.

[TheCrew]

Soup should get ripped because he's a terrible pitcher.That's like

saying Justin Harrell should get nothing but hugs and rainbows because

Ted Thompson drafted him.

Draft picks/FA signings aren't really a good comparison. I have no issue when people rip him based on his numbers - in fact I agree with these arguments - but his contract is almost always brought up when people rip on him, that isn't his fault and I've always felt Melvin has kind of slipped under the radar when Soup gets talked about. It was a bad contract to hand out to a guy who, even when handed that deal, is a back end of the rotation guy. I realize some on here do blame Melvin for that, but I'm just tired of seeing 'suppan sucks and he gets paid like a #1' or 'he hasn't lived up to his contract' posts - so I don't mean to generalize everyone - but you can't blame soup for signing the contract.

 

I realize the market was inflated at the time, but if you wanted a 4/5 starter than it would have made more sense to trade for one - or maybe get a starting pitcher back when you trade away Carlos Lee 6 months earlier.

[RockCoCougars]

I've never understood why people dislike Soup for Melvin's mistake. When people rip on soup they constantly bring up the contract, soup shouldn't be ripped for that at all, on the other hand Melvin should be.

Why is Jeff Hammonds hated on then for Dean Taylor's mistake? While I agree that Melvin should bear the brunt of the fury for this decison, Suppan should take some heat as well, because he hasn't come close to earning that contract.

[RockCoCougars]

In my opinion, next to Bando's idiotic move not to offer Molitor a fair contract, the Suppan signing is the second biggest mistake in team history.

 

You're clearly not giving Marquis Grissom or Jeffrey Hammonds their due. At least Suppan was productive for a portion of his contract.

Point taken, but Grissom and Hammond's contracts combined don't add up to what Suppan's deal. Going further, back then, those contracts weren't as costly because the team wasn't competitive anyway. For the past two years, Suppan's contract has been an albatross around the neck of a competitive team. It has limited their ability to add pieces because they are about at their payroll limit. Don't get me started on how I feel that this deal also cost the team Sheets..... By the way, 'productive' is a relative term in my view.

 

It's funny that you mention Grissom, because he never took the heat that he should have. Probably because he seemed like a nice guy like Suppan. It seemed like he didn't try when he was with the Brewers, because he was more productive before and after he got here.

[PeaveyFury]

Point taken, but Grissom and Hammond's contracts combined don't add up to what Suppan's deal.

 

But Suppan's deal was given during the height of free agent spending (especially for pitchers), so that point is completely apples to oranges. As such, the deals to those two were at a point where the team's payroll was 1/4 to 1/3 of what it is now, meaning that they crippled a franchise that already wasn't spending much money. While the team wasn't competitive as you said, the contracts were bigger albatrosses that may have completely destroyed any slim chance they had at even being decent.

 

By the way, 'productive' is a relative term in my view.

 

Well, by the expected definition Suppan at least lived up to his 'serviceable innings-eater' billing in 2007.

It's funny that you mention Grissom, because he never took the heat that he should have.

 

I think that this is largely true on the whole, but he was pretty despised here (and at the old ESPN board prior to that ).

[BrewCrewForever]

When I think of Soup, I think of game 4 of the 2008 NLDS. That decision to start Soup over Yo in game 4 of the 2008 NLDS bothered me greatly then and even now.

 

I hated that decision when it was annouced, I definitely would've started Yo in a must win game over Soup and it's not even a tough call. As it turns out, Soup gave up 5 ERs in 3 innings before being yanked out of the game, Yo replaced him and pitched 3 shutout innings giving up only 1 hit. The Philles went on to win the game 6-2, and the world series.

 

I think we could have won game 4 if we had started Yo instead, and CC was scheduled to pitch game 5. After 26 years, it would've been great to win a playoff series... That decision to start Soup over Yo has to the worst decision in Sveum's managerial career, I still don't understand why he did it.

I'm with you on this. That decision still bugs me to this day and probably will for a long time. If Yo starts we have a better chance to win and extend the series to a 5th game with CC on the mound in that deciding game. We may very well have won those two games and went on to the the NLCS. But instead we start Soup he gets shelled and then we pitch Gallardo anyway in relief and he was money, but by that time the damage was done by Philly.

[Ayt]

He'd probably have a 4.00 ERA in AAA.