Eric Hinske

[JohnBriggs12]

According to MLBtraderumors, Tim Brown tweeted Brewers and Braves are making early pushes for Eric Hinske.

 

Interesting. He's a nice lefty bench bat.

[RockCoCougars]

Not the most sexy move, but if the Brewers need a 'Wisconsin vet' to fill out the roster, he'd be preferable to me as opposed to Washburn or Counsell.

[Invader3K]

A lot of Braves fans seem to speak really highly of him. You have to wonder if our outfield would get crowded with Gomez and Dickerson already in the mix as backups, though. Or is he being looked at as a contingency if Fielder is dealt and McGehee or Gamel don't work out at 1B?

[And That]

Signing Hinske would give the Brewers the depth to trade Gamel or McGehee for pitching if they decide to keep Fielder and make a run this year.

[PrinceEatMeat]

I wonder if Doug is looking to trade either Fielder AND Gamel, or Fielder AND McGehee, so he's looking at Hinske as a stop-gap at 1B.

[Warning Track Power]

I wonder if Doug is looking to trade either Fielder AND Gamel, or Fielder AND McGehee, so he's looking at Hinske as a stop-gap at 1B.

If Prince and/or McGehee are traded, Hinske should only be signed in the event the Mat Gamel experiment fails. I'd rather Gamel get the playing time at either 3B if McGehee is traded or 1B/RF if Fielder is dealt. Anything else does a extreme disservice to the long term success of the team in my opinion.

 

 

[PrinceEatMeat]

I wonder if Doug is looking to trade either Fielder AND Gamel, or Fielder AND McGehee, so he's looking at Hinske as a stop-gap at 1B.

If Prince and/or McGehee are traded, Hinske should only be signed in the event the Mat Gamel experiment fails. I'd rather Gamel get the playing time at either 3B if McGehee is traded or 1B/RF if Fielder is dealt. Anything else does a extreme disservice to the long term success of the team in my opinion.

 

That's what I mean. If McGehee and Fielder are both traded, Gamel will play third. And if Gamel and Fielder are traded Hinske still plays 1B. So why would we not sign Hinske if Gamel is playing third?

[dadofandrew]

I think he's being looked at as depth. He's a nice guy though, as he could easily platoon at 4 spots and not embarrass you, or possibly be above average.

[BrewCrewForever]

I'm all for this. He can play both OF corner's and both IF corner's (although only emergency at 3B) and he is a lefty bat with some pop. Would be a great bench guy to have. And he is Menasha's own!

[dadofandrew]

He has a career -4.1 UZR/150 at 3B, so his defensive problems there may be overstated, that's about what McGehee had in '10. Very nice bench player, always had a nice OBP as well.

 

Career 800 OPS versus RHP, so as I said, as a platoon stopgap, he'll be better than the average everyday guy.

[logan82]

That sort of sucks as a platoon split.

[kramnoj]

This may be common knowledge, but Hinske has the fun distinction of appearing on 3 consecutive WS teams, each year a different team, all in the same division. He's also now been in the playoffs for 4 consecutive years, each with a different team.

 

He'd be a decent insurance guy if he's not paid too much. MLBTR suspects it may take 2 years to get him. That wouldn't be preferable, but we'll see.

[RockCoCougars]

This may be common knowledge, but Hinske has the fun distinction of appearing on 3 consecutive WS teams, each year a different team, all in the same division. He's also now been in the playoffs for 4 consecutive years, each with a different team.

 

He'd be a decent insurance guy if he's not paid too much. MLBTR suspects it may take 2 years to get him. That wouldn't be preferable, but we'll see.

Interesting. I remember the Selig-Prieb regime propagating something fairly similar about Marquis Grissom when they traded for him. Needless to say that streak was toast very quickly.

 

At any rate, I'd be OK with Hinske for one year, but I'm not giving him a two year deal.

[filthyfrog]

With the interest in Counsell, Washburn, and Hinske, I think it's obvious we're trying to establish a competitive advantage in Wisconsin natives. I hear we're also considering bringing Wickman out of retirement. Wisconsin is the new Moneyball.

 

*Yes, I know Counsell was born in Indiana. But he's still a Wisconsin native...

[PrinceEatMeat]

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/110166619.html

 

Looks like Doug put in an offer. Also has offers out to Counsell and Capuano.

[RockCoCougars]

I'd match the Braves offer. If he wants to play closer to where he grew up fine. If he wants to play with his current teammates that's fine too. I don't want him to be given two years and then have injuries or something turn this in to a Jody Gerut deal where a guy is making $2 million bucks to 'rehab at home' or something. $2 million may not seem like much, but as we've seen with a lot of the lowball garbage deals that Melvin has done, it adds up pretty quickly. There will be plenty of 'guys' (like Kapler, Edmonds, etc.) available for cheaper on a one year deal. Hinske would be a nice piece off the bench, but let's face it, if he's playing a regular role on the Brewers, the odds are pretty high that the team won't be competitive.

[PrinceEatMeat]

If we sign Hinske and Counsell, we might actually have our bench set already, like it or not. Hinske, Counsell, Dickerson, Gomez, Kottaras.

[MNBrew]

I like the Hinske idea a lot, as well as bringing back Counsell & Capuano. I suspect Melvin will continue to look for upgrades.

 

Should Hinske & Counsell sign, I'd be SHOCKED if he looked at his bench right now and figured, "Okay, that's it, we're all good now."

 

Esp. given Gomez's knuckleheadedness, I wouldn't be surprised to see him non-tendered if other talent proves better or even just a better fit.

[PrinceEatMeat]

I like the Hinske idea a lot, as well as bringing back Counsell & Capuano. I suspect Melvin will continue to look for upgrades.

 

Given Gomez's knuckleheadedness, I wouldn't be surprised to see him non-tendered if other talent proves better or even just a better fit.

There's no way Gomez will be non-tendered. That would mean that Doug would be admitting his mistake. Won't happen. Especially with Roenicke as our manager now. He likes guys who can run.

[RockCoCougars]

I'm not sure that Dickerson should be a lock for the final roster as we stand. Assuming both Gomez and Cain are still around to man center, a Hinske signing would make Dickerson pretty much expendable. As the jsonline blog said today, the team needs some guys with pop on the bench, not a bunch of singles hitters.

[Hate those Rodents]

There's talk of JJ getting non-tendered. Not sure if it'll happen or not. If it does happen, then Doug can non-tender Gomez and argue "Well it was a change of scenery for both players that didn't work out, but we did save more money than Minnesota did and that."

[kramnoj]

That would mean that Doug would be admitting his mistake. Won't happen.

 

Gomez may or may not be non-tendered, but I don't think Melvin's pride is going to be the driving factor. Hall was traded with Milwaukee paying the vast majority of his contract, Gagne lost his job, Hoffman lost his job, Suppan was cut. There's not much evidence to support the notion that Melvin won't do something out of pride.

[PrinceEatMeat]

That would mean that Doug would be admitting his mistake. Won't happen.

 

Gomez may or may not be non-tendered, but I don't think Melvin's pride is going to be the driving factor. Hall was traded with Milwaukee paying the vast majority of his contract, Gagne lost his job, Hoffman lost his job, Suppan was cut. There's not much evidence to support the notion that Melvin won't do something out of pride.

He waited about as long as possible to get rid of Hall. Should've happened earlier. It's the managers call on removing Gagne and Hoffman. And he also waited WAY too long to get rid of Suppan. So I would tend to think that he'll hold onto Gomez for too long as well.

[kramnoj]

He waited about as long as possible to get rid of Hall

 

That's a good amount of time to wait. Reacting quicker than that can lead to poor decisions. The whole Casey/Gamel/Hall thing should have been handled better, but it's understandable that Melvin wanted to see if Hall's value could be recovered. Given that Hall had quite a decent season in 2010, it supports the notion that Hall was not a lost cause.

 

It's the managers call on removing Gagne and Hoffman

 

There's no way this happens without the blessing of the GM.

 

And he also waited WAY too long to get rid of Suppan.

 

This is a popular opinion, but can't be supported by facts. Suppan pitched decently for the Cardinals this year.

 

So I would tend to think that he'll hold onto Gomez for too long as well.

 

It is certainly possible that Melvin will hold onto Gomez for too long, but you said that Melvin won't admit his mistake. Those are two different things, and you would have to provide evidence to back up your claim.

[endaround]

Gomez has an option left. He won't be cut as long as he can be sent down and is relatively cheap. If he gets a big contract he may get cut.

 

If Hinske and Counsell sign, the bench likely is set. Dickerson can play CF is also fast and can actually hit.

EDIT: Suppan was exactly the same crappy pitcher with the Cardinals he was with the Brewers.