Corey Hart gets 3 year, $26.5 million contract extension

[logan82]

Corner outfielders on one year contracts are cheap and easy to find. It isn't like Hart is a special player and he is playing a position where we could easily go out and either get a bat or slide a prospect to. Let's say we keep Fielder for next year. We could have easily moved Gamel to RF next year but now Hart is already there.

 

 

I really don't think we will have as much payroll flexibility as people think. I saw the same flexibility argument being made in regards to the Suppan contract.

[Thurston Fluff]

The difference between Suppan's contract and Hart's is Hart very likely will still be playing at the end of it. We will not have to pay Hart and his replacement at the same time.

[Fatter than Joey]

But you have to take calculated risks in life...and in baseball.

 

You don't have to take every last one presented to you.

 

For the life of me, I don't understand why DM felt the need to make this deal happen at this time. I think it makes more sense to me, to try to extend Hart in 2011.

 

This deal reminds me of the Hoffman deal (and its timing) done this last off-season -- it just seemed entirely unnecessary.

[pogokat]

i disagree with the corner outfielders are easy to find assesment...yes....750 ops corner outfielders are easy to find...but corey is not that...he's an .815 ops guy with the potential to do a lot more...

 

if the brewers had cut him last year, i suspect we would've had a austin kearns or jermaine dye in right...we would have been worse...and for what gain elsewhere?

 

of course, i think you could make a good argument that matt gamel could replicate corey hart pretty well for a fraction of the cost...

[bjkrautk]

But you have to take calculated risks in life...and in baseball.

 

You don't have to take every last one presented to you.

 

For the life of me, I don't understand why DM felt the need to make this deal happen at this time. I think it makes more sense to me, to try to extend Hart in 2011.

 

This deal reminds me of the Hoffman deal (and its timing) done this last off-season -- it just seemed entirely unnecessary.

Considering Hart went to arbitration in each of the past 2 seasons, I can't really blame DM for getting a deal done while Hart (and therby Hart's agent) were agreeable to the idea.

It's hard for me to love the signing for the same reason that it's hard for me to hate it: there's a ton of uncertainty as to whether he's going to flourish or regress from this year's numbers.

[CheezWizHed]

Just something interesting to note on this discussion:

 

Team Payroll Signing

2001 $43,089,333 3yrs/$21M - Jeffrey Hammond

2010 $79,857,502 3yrs/$26M - Corey Hart (although technically should be 2011 when the contract kicks in)

 

While this doesn't prove the Hart signing a "good" one, maybe just that the Hammond signing was that bad. It at least won't be as crippling if Hart's production falls off a cliff like Hammond's did.

[endaround]

Take a look at potential OF FAs in 2011 &2012. Its not deep. You either get a guy from the top (Crawford or Werth this offseason) or you end up trading for someone which means giving up talent.

[pogokat]

if werth is the top of the crop, then were goo because he and corey hart are the same hitter

[endaround]

No they're not. Werth is a much more patient hitter, a BB% of 13.1% vs Hart's 7.7%. Werth is also 3 years older.

[igor67]

I do think there is a decent case for this being a combination of flexibility and proactive decision making. Take this move, along with Prince, and the announcement about Lawrie and Gamel investigating new positions really does move the bar. Just a week ago we had all of this essentially pure fan wish casting about moving guys to get a better defensive alignment. I read this as pretty much a reshuffle of the bats after Prince is dealt. The flexibility is that Melvin seems to have set himself up to be able to acquire the best offense defense combo bat between OF, 1st, and 3rd after Prince leaves. He is even in a position to not necessarily having to acquire another player to replace Prince, just promoting from within and trying to focus on the rotation. It entirely reasonable to assume that Prince's bat won't be completely replaced (at least the near 1.000 OPS version), however I'd say most of the reshufflings of Gamel, Casey, Lawrie, and Hart have a higher defensive upside than any possibility where Prince is at first.

[thebruce44]

if werth is the top of the crop, then were goo because he and corey hart are the same hitter

Its really not even close. Hart has created 48 runs above replacement the last 4 years while Werth has nearly doubled that with 83.6 runs. Then if you add in defense...

 

 

[Crash2303]

pogokat- do you have a link to find potential free agents in 2011?

[joepepsi]

According to Cott's, here are the OF'ers who have 'contracts expiring or or should have the six years of service necessary to become free agents after the 2010 season'.

 

Alfredo Amezaga LAD

Frank Catalanotto NYM

Carl Crawford TB

Coco Crisp OAK *

Michael Cuddyer MIN *

David DeJesus KC *

Jody Gerut MIL

Jose Guillen KC

Willie Harris WAS

Brad Hawpe COL *

Austin Kearns CLE

Jason Kubel MIN *

Magglio Ordonez DET *

Marcus Thames NYY

Jayson Werth PHI

 

DeJesus or Cuddyer are comparable I suppose. So rather than try and sign your current player, it is better to take a risk and bid against the rest of MLB for one of these two players? And where's the guarantee these two will end up with a more affordable contract?

 

You can argue Gamel is a better player and you may be right. Eventually. But probably not in 2010. Plus he's a career .848 OPS'er in the minors, which probably translates to about .815-.825 in the majors. He's never played RF and he's only 3 years younger than Hart. If the goal is to tear down the team and start over, then yeah, trade Hart and plant Gamel in RF and take your lumps. I just don't think they need to go into full rebuild mode now.

[Thundercat32]

I really don't get all of the love for this signing. I'm not saying I hate it, just that I think its premature. We just paid a guy who had his own self doubts coming into this season whether he was even a mlb starter $26.5 million. My question is why? Let him go to arbitration, pay him whatever he's awarded for next year and lets see if he keeps it up in 2011. Then you can come and offer him a contract and if it costs you more at least you're paying for a more proven commodity at that point.

 

Also what is all of this new found hope/believe in Mat Gamel? He hasn't done anything to speak of since 2008 at AA ball. Counting on him to do anything at the major league level is wishful thinking at this point. The guy hasn't even showed he's "on pace" for the major leagues let alone a major leaguer.

[thebruce44]

Also what is all of this new found hope/believe in Mat Gamel? He hasn't done anything to speak of since 2008 at AA ball. Counting on him to do anything at the major league level is wishful thinking at this point. The guy hasn't even showed he's "on pace" for the major leagues let alone a major leaguer.

 

Well this is the wrong thread for this, but have you watched him play at all or looked at his stats in the last 2 years? Mat was leauge average in sporadic playing time as a rookie last year, and he is raking right now in AAA.

[Thundercat32]

bruce,

 

pages 2, 3, and 4 of this thread all talk about moving Hart to 1B, Lawrie to 3B, and Mat Gamel to the OF or some combination of the three. I just wanted to address why anyone is planning on Mat Gamel effecting Hart's status with this team. I don't see Gamel as a lock (or even likely) to be successful at the major league level. Gamel is hitting 283/367/467 w/ 20 HRs and 145 K's in 135 games at AAA. I wouldn't call that raking. Its not terrible, but Chris Davis was "pretty good" every time the Rangers sent him down to AAA and then what happened when he was called up to the big leagues? Actually I think Davis always hit north of .300 at Oklahoma City.

[yfinn6]

Gamel's numbers have improved greatly within the past few weeks. I think that's why people say he's "raking".

[TooLiveBrew]

pages 2, 3, and 4 of this thread all talk about moving Hart to 1B, Lawrie to 3B, and Mat Gamel to the OF or some combination of the three. I just wanted to address why anyone is planning on Mat Gamel effecting Hart's status with this team. I don't see Gamel as a lock (or even likely) to be successful at the major league level. Gamel is hitting 283/367/467 w/ 20 HRs and 145 K's in 135 games at AAA. I wouldn't call that raking.

I think you should read through the MiLB forum thread on Gamel

[thebruce44]

Ill second TooLiveBrew's post instead of continuing this debate here in the Hart thread. There is a lot more to Gamel's AAA line than what you are suggesting.

[endaround]

DeJesus has a club option which KC will most likely pick up and then likely trade him. Cuddyear is 3 years older and last years power seems to be a one year thing

[thebruce44]

Don't forget a lot of teams get by with platoons as well. Sure, when we ran Matt Stairs out there it was less than sexy for multiple reasons, but it often gets the job done.

[logan82]

Gamel, Cain and Lawire are all internal RF options at a fraction of the money we will pay Hart. Also as previously mentioned, we could sign 2 players to platoon in RF. If Hart was a good defender I think the argument for keeping him would be pretty good. As it is, he is below average and we have internal options that can probably play defense as well as Hart.

[endaround]

Cain will be in CF and one other needs to be at 1B/3B and Lawrie is still one good year away assuming he doesn't stagnate for even a few months

[LouisEly]

Whenever I'm gone or too busy to get on-line something big happens with the Brewers. Never fails. Some random observations:

 

1) It is an extension with a relatively low amount for 2011. The Brewers will probably clear at least $30M off the books this offseason, if they trade Fielder over $40M. They still have plenty of flexibility with signing Hart.

 

B) There isn't a good free agent SP crop, and I think the Brewers are done with bidding against every other team and having to overpay to get free agents to come here.

 

3) I think Fielder is more valuable to the Brewers simply because he is left-handed and psychologically more intimidating on opponents. That's it. Stats be damned. But I think this definitely hurts Fielder's value in the FA market... or at least lets Boras know that his $100M+ contract is looking less and less like reality.

 

4) The conspiracy theorist in me - with this contract extension no one will claim him on waivers and they can pass him through, allowing them to trade him in August. Now teams know that he is under contract and what he will get so they will make better offers.

 

5) As long as this has become a future position thread... no one else thinks Braun to 1B and Gamel to LF (or Hart to LF and Gamel to RF)?

 

6) He may not be worth that 2013 amount, but the pitching prospects will be here by then so they will have cheap young pitching and can allocate their money elsewhere.

 

Really, the key to this deal is how much salary they are clearing off the books this offseason and the arrival of pitching prospects in 2012 and 2013. A risk - as all contracts are - but a very calculated one.

[AJAY]

I am extremely happy for Corey Hart and the Brewers. It's awesome that he has turned his career around and is performing well again. I give him credit for making the necessary adjustments at the plate. I am also amazed that he really wanted to stay here considering how much he has been through both on and off the field. It might have been easier to just start fresh somewhere else, but it looks like he really wanted to be a Brewer. I personally appreciate that very much. I also give credit to him and his agent for reaching a quick agreement on a contract. It's nice to see them all being on the same page for a change.

 

Time will tell whether the money is fair and whether he will live up to expectations. But for now, this is a really great story.