Brewers sign Takashi Saito- 1 year/2 million; 40-man roster now full

[splitterpfj]

This move makes me wonder...when the Brewers couldn't find a market for Fielder, they reversed gears and juiced up the pitching, with Prince still in the lineup.

 

I wonder if Melvin had trouble finding a power bat for his bench, so he went the other way and tried to "shorten the game" by strengthening the back end of the bullpen.

 

Don't have a guy who can hit a bomb in the ninth? OK, then have the lead in the first place...

[brewers4eric]

There was a thread a few years back that discussed your least favorite Brewer of all time. My post reflected my thoughts on Takahito Nomura and his inability to throw strikes. Nomura soured me on asian free agent relievers, but I think this is a good signing. We needed a veteran reliever for the back end of the bullpen, and Saito should fit the bill until he hits the disabled list. Any innings that he throws will give us time to break some of our younger arms into the major leagues in low leverage situations.

[berniebrewer4life]

the JS is taking a while to pick up on this. Is Haudricourt still on vacation?

It's up.

 

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/112513899.html

 

EDIT: It appears they were out of town, that's what took so long.

 

"Tom Haudricourt and I are both traveling back to Milwaukee today"

[ilovebeer]

Anthony just posted about the signing and said he and Tom are both traveling back to Milwaukee today.

[Invader3K]

From reading commentary by others, it sounds like the key for Saito is that he can't pitch back to back days. Probably shouldn't go more than an inning at a time, either.

[greeg35]

saw that they had their blog updated and posted it in the wrong thread http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

Nice signing. Good timing too for a boring day at work.

[reillymcshane]

the JS is taking a while to pick up on this. Is Haudricourt still on vacation?

It's up.

 

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/112513899.html

 

EDIT: It appears they were out of town, that's what took so long.

 

"Tom Haudricourt and I are both traveling back to Milwaukee today"

Jim Breen at Bernie's Crew has a story on this up 2 1/2 hours before the JS guys. Haudricourt and Witrado better watch it or someone else will be doing their job! http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/laugh.gif

 

http://www.jsonline.com/b.../fanblogs/112506124.html

[ilovebeer]

Don't know much about him but looks like a good signing.

[Invader3K]

I have to think this signing also significantly reduces the chances of Capuano being re-signed by the Brewers.

[PeaveyFury]

The guy has been great since coming over from Japan, in spite of his age. Even factoring a probable DL stint and some point in the season, and even if he falls back into the low-mid 3 ERA range, he'd still be a productive veteran presence in the pen.

 

And so much for Doug's 'no more additions' comment and the idea that we were out of money to spend. I still think there's a chance they add a SS yet.

[Invader3K]

Peavey, you could be right...though I suspect a SS addition would be through a trade and not a FA signing.

[reillymcshane]

I have to think this signing also significantly reduces the chances of Capuano being re-signed by the Brewers.

I have to agree here. Plus, we already have two lefties in the rotation (wolf and narvy), and two in the pen (braddock and Parra). Plus Stetter is around, and while he stunk last year, his previous success makes him a bounce back option.

 

I just don't see room for cappy. I imagine someone will give him a chance to compete for a rotation spot. I'd like him back, but I think he wants to start, and that opportunity just isn't in the cards right now.

[patrickgpe]

i don't think so, cappy would be a long reliever / rotation insurance. Saito moves into a setup role. What it does is make it near impossible for Pat Egan, Sean Green or Justin James to make it.

 

since its never too early

 

assuming that the brewers go with a 13 man staff to start the season:

 

SP1 Greinke

SP2 Gallardo

SP3 Marcum

SP4 Wolf

SP5 Narverson

 

CL Axford

SU Braddock

SU Saito

MR Loe

MR Hawkins

MR McClendon / Kintzler / Green / James / Egan / Stetter

LR Capuano

LR Parra

 

If they go with a 12 you just remove the 6 man race for the last spot in the pen.

[PeaveyFury]

Plus, we already have two lefties in the rotation (wolf and narvy)

 

Cappy would probably be replacing Narveson if he did make the roster somehow (well, unless there's an injury to one of the other 4).

[ecjimg]

There was a thread a few years back that discussed your least favorite Brewer of all time. My post reflected my thoughts on Takahito Nomura and his inability to throw strikes. Nomura soured me on asian free agent relievers....

I remember him well! After Nomura was taken out for walking a couple of guys in a row.....My girlfriend (at the time) said in her best attempt of a japanese accent "ohhhh coach, i thought you said just throw the BALL".

[monty57]

i don't think so, cappy would be a long reliever / rotation insurance. Saito moves into a setup role. What it does is make it near impossible for Pat Egan, Sean Green or Justin James to make it.

 

since its never too early

 

assuming that the brewers go with a 13 man staff to start the season:

 

SP1 Greinke

SP2 Gallardo

SP3 Marcum

SP4 Wolf

SP5 Narverson

 

CL Axford

SU Braddock

SU Saito

MR Loe

MR Hawkins

MR McClendon / Kintzler / Green / James / Egan / Stetter

LR Capuano

LR Parra

 

If they go with a 12 you just remove the 6 man race for the last spot in the pen.

Since we've finally got a rotation that ought to be able to go deep into games, I don't see us keeping a 13-man staff. If you take Capuano out of the roster above, we have our 2011 pitching staff, plus it will allow us to cycle the McClendon/Kintzler... line between the MLB staff to the AAA staff, making sure there are always fresh arms in the bullpen.

 

I like Capuano, and wanted to see him re-signed, but I'd bet some team is going to offer him a guaranteed rotation spot, which Milwaukee isn't ready to do. Now we're starting to get an awful lot of pitchers for the few remaining spots, and I don't want to get in the situation we were in last year where we didn't have any players with options, so we couldn't bring up the live arms in Nashville until we got some injuries and cut some players.

 

To the point of the thread, it's good to see that Melvin is seizing the opportunity to upgrade the team, even if it's in an area none of us assumed would be upgraded. We should have a pretty good all-around pitching staff this season. Pluse, as someone mentioned earlier, this signing will allow us to use guys like Kintzler in lower pressure situations.

[MNBrew]

I like this move a lot.

 

I see an 11- or 12-man staff to start the year. A 13-man staff seems more than excessive.

[patrickgpe]

thinking it over more, the 12 man rotation makes sense, especially with the couple off days in april. its probably accurate to say unless parra gets traded in the near future cappy will not be back.

[Warning Track Power]

I like Capuano, and wanted to see him re-signed, but I'd bet some team is going to offer him a guaranteed rotation spot, which Milwaukee isn't ready to do. Now we're starting to get an awful lot of pitchers for the few remaining spots, and I don't want to get in the situation we were in last year where we didn't have any players with options, so we couldn't bring up the live arms in Nashville until we got some injuries and cut some players.

Maybe it's just me but I don't see a team offering Capuano a guaranteed rotatiom spot. Not after two Tommy Johns and only two months worth of starts after two years out. We need to remember that Cappy isn't the Brandon Webb type or even the Chris Young type of reclamation project. Cappy was excellent in 2005 and 2006 but come Opening Day those are 5 and 6 seasons ago. I like Capuano immensely and would love to see him back to battle Narveson as the #5. I think those are the opportunities he will be relegated to for this offseason, battling for a rotation spot.

 

 

[chadomac]

I would think if we were willing to cough up 1-2 million and tell him he's our first go-to when a starter goes down - we could sign Capuano. Maybe not though. I would love to have him and Parra in the pen to pitch long relief or spot-start. Or to be the #5 and put Narveson in the pen.

[pingman]

a Milwaukee Braves/Brewers fan weighing in....

 

I watched Saito a lot last year..... he's very good when rested but he slips when used too often.....his 2009 season was interrupted too often by nagging injuries like "tired arm" & the such that seemed to happen too often....IMHO he was much better when he started an inning as opposed to coming into the middle of an inning with runners in scoring position....

 

A good signing

[Gobias Industries]

Nice. I've wanted this guy on the Crew for ages.

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

I LOVE this move. Was hoping they'd add one more solid set up arm that wasn't a scrap heap guy and I was pulling for Saito (it really is Sigh-toe). They should be able to keep him fresh with a better pen, starters that go deeper and no Ken Macha to abuse him.

 

I don't know if all these moves will pan out or not, time will tell, but DM and MA deserve huge credit for the way they've set this team up to compete this year.

[The Truth]

Great signing, especially because who knows for sure about Axford? Closers are funny creatures. I think it is likely that Axford stays great but who knows he could be Derrick Turnbow 2.0

 

Saito gives us insurance and a good solid pitcher every other day

 

No doubt the Brewers are going for it... I suspect the next major move will be trading for an All-Star shortstop in July

[danzig6767]

the JS is taking a while to pick up on this. Is Haudricourt still on vacation?

It's up.

 

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/112513899.html

 

EDIT: It appears they were out of town, that's what took so long.

 

"Tom Haudricourt and I are both traveling back to Milwaukee today"

One thing i like about the signing is this

I have a call into GM Doug Melvin to get some more particulars and what

reasoning went into the signing. The guaranteed money of the deal is

not known, but according to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports, Saito could

earn around $3.2 million through roster and appearance bonuses.

 

So it sounds like if Saito has an injury plagued season, he won't get the full 3.2 million.