Brewers Offer Arby to Prince and Krod

[dpapo]

Latest from Rosenthal on Krod,

"Source: K-Rod may accept arbitration from #[/s]Brewers. Not definite. But closer merry-go-round could leave some without chairs. #[/s]MLB"

 

That could mess up any plans the Brewers may have in trying to sign Ramirez or limit their other options. Hopefully Krod doesn't accept arbitration.

[monty57]

Thinking out of the box = overpaying for a relief pitcher and staffing

it with a bunch of unproven arms? I don't think Melvin has trouble

staffing bullpens as ours was one of the best last year.

 

Cutting Francisco Rodriguez is so absurd a thought to me I can't believe people are even bringing it up. I'm not saying that if KRod comes back the bullpen is set, but it certainly helps. Sign Takashi Saito and you pretty much have a bullpen. Braddock and Parra will be possibilities. Marco Estrada is likely. Loe is likely. De La Cruz and McClendon held their own last year. Kintzler wasn't bad. Fiers is a possibility, though with the success he had as a starter I'd like to see him get a shot starting. I think the bullpen will be fine if KRod is back assuming one more vet is signed.

 

You non-tender Loe also, saving another $2.5 million and Parra for another $1.2 million and it's basically a wash.

 

I'm not ready to give up on either of these guys. Loe was overworked early on last year. But his post all star break ERA was 1.93. And he had an excellent year in 2010. I'd be more than happy to have him back as well, especially now that Roenecke knows how to use him. As for Parra, he was just finding him comfort zone in the bullpen before he got hurt. He still has good stuff and he's still left handed. I'd like to see what he has left.

Money has to come from somewhere. If K-Rod accepts arby and we keep him, then we probably don't have money for Rollins or Ramirez, which means we'll probably have Gamel at 1B, Green at 3B and Yuni at SS. K-Rod is a good player, but in my opinion (and seemingly that of the Brewers and every other team in baseball), $13MM+ would be better spent elsewhere.

 

As far as Loe, I think he has value, but $2.5MM for a team with a tight budget is questionable. It's not a sure thing he's gone, but Melvin will have to think about releasing him. If Parra is guaranteed 100% healthy, then the Brewers may hang onto him for $1.2MM. However, he's coming off a serious injury and was always a question mark even before being injured. There's a lot of risk in shelling out $1.2MM for him.

 

Back to K-Rod, I worry that he could be a problem in the clubhouse next season. He griped a bit this season about his lack of save opportunities, but the Brewers were in a playoff race and he wanted to look like a good guy so he could get an offer this off-season. If he's back as a setup guy, he could be a real cancer next year when he sits and watches Axford rack up saves. After all, this is the guy who beat up his own father-in-law.

[RockCoCougars]

Maybe the rules have changed, but I thought that in the past a player accepting arby meant that they bought more time to negotiate with the team (though binding themselves there)- meaning, is it a lock that this would go to a hearing? If this was the case, and the Brewers do have the ability to cut K-Rod and only pay a fraction of his salary, they may have some leverage to do a one year deal at a reduced rate without the hearing. If so, he may be more attractive on the trade market, and this would be better for K-Rod than risking getting cut in Spring Training. Obviously, this hinges on a bunch of the arby rules that I have no handle on and begs the question why couldn't K-Rod/Boras negotiate his own one year deal.

[TooLiveBrew]

Didn't want to start a new thread, but Adam McCalvy's latest blog post is titled "Brewers, Hawkins heating up?"

The Brewers intensified their pursuit of free agent reliever LaTroy Hawkins on Tuesday and expected to continue discussions with his representatives on Wednesday, the last full day of the Winter Meetings.

...

Hawkins spends the winter in Dallas and has attended the Meetings both Monday and Tuesday night. He ran into general manager Doug Melvin and the Brewers’ contingent on Tuesday.

[Thurston Fluff]

Back to K-Rod, I worry that he could be a problem in the clubhouse next season. He griped a bit this season about his lack of save opportunities, but the Brewers were in a playoff race and he wanted to look like a good guy so he could get an offer this off-season. If he's back as a setup guy, he could be a real cancer next year when he sits and watches Axford rack up saves.

 

He didn't cause problems last season even though he stated he wanted to close. If he accepts arbitration then he will have out himself in that situation. Hard to complain if he chose to take the offer. There is always places for established closers to get a job closing if they want it. If he'd rather take the money and try again that is his choice but he can't then complain about it.

[hyerbro1]

If the player is cut within 16 days before the season begins, he is entitled only to 30 days’ termination pay, or about one-sixth of his awarded salary. If the player is cut during spring training but after the 16th day before the season begins, he is entitled only to 45 days' termination pay.

Basically, we took a $2 million dollar risk offering arbitration to K-Rod.

[PrinceEatMeat]

Yeah, I have no idea why this isn't being mentioned anywhere but here. Everyone, including Melvin, is making it seem like we are basically stuck with K-Rod and his salary if he accepts. Even though that isn't the case at all.

[GamelToe]

If the player is cut within 16 days before the season begins, he is entitled only to 30 days’ termination pay, or about one-sixth of his awarded salary. If the player is cut during spring training but after the 16th day before the season begins, he is entitled only to 45 days' termination pay.

Basically, we took a $2 million dollar risk offering arbitration to K-Rod.

Yup, I've been saying this and people have responding by saying there's no chance we'd cut him. I mean....really? If K-Rod were a free agent, you'd sign him on a 1 yr $11-$12 million deal if you're the Brewers? That's essentially what you'd be doing by not cutting him. Sounds horrible.

[RockCoCougars]

I posted this above, but still curious. If K-Rod accepts arbitration, is the hearing binding, or do the two parties have the opportunity to negotiate a deal? If they can, and I'm the Brewers, I offer him 1 year /$7 million and strongly hint that if he goes to the arbitrator for a higher figure, its almost certain that he will be released on the last day of Spring Training.

[TheCrew07]

I like Seid, though I think he has quite a bit to prove yet, but it's tough for him to replenish depth with supplemental round and an extra 2nd round pick. The Brewers historically haven't had much success with compensation picks. I'm still holding out hope for Davis and Frederickson though.

LHP Evan Frederickson, a mega-bust of a sandwich pick in '08, was released last March. That's some serious hope http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif.

Ha! I meant Davis and Heckathorn, but some how Frederickson came out.

[Baldkin]

I posted this above, but still curious. If K-Rod accepts arbitration, is the hearing binding, or do the two parties have the opportunity to negotiate a deal? If they can, and I'm the Brewers, I offer him 1 year /$7 million and strongly hint that if he goes to the arbitrator for a higher figure, its almost certain that he will be released on the last day of Spring Training.

So you're saying you don't think he could get a 1 yr/6M deal if they cut him? He'd be a million up if he accepted arby in that scenario.

[Raw Biz]

If the player is cut within 16 days before the season begins, he is entitled only to 30 days’ termination pay, or about one-sixth of his awarded salary. If the player is cut during spring training but after the 16th day before the season begins, he is entitled only to 45 days' termination pay.

Basically, we took a $2 million dollar risk offering arbitration to K-Rod.

Yup, I've been saying this and people have responding by saying there's no chance we'd cut him. I mean....really? If K-Rod were a free agent, you'd sign him on a 1 yr $11-$12 million deal if you're the Brewers? That's essentially what you'd be doing by not cutting him. Sounds horrible.

I was saying there's no way they'd cut him because I think they could trade him for at least something. They might have to eat some salary but if they could trade him to someone who wants bullpen help (like BOS) for someone who can play SS (maybe Lowrie/Scutaro), I think they would explore that. Otherwise they should be able to at least get some fringe prospect out of him. I just find it hard to believe that they would cut him before at least exploring deals to trade him.

[paul253]

If K-Rod were a free agent, you'd sign him on a 1 yr $11-$12 million

deal if you're the Brewers? That's essentially what you'd be doing by

not cutting him

 

You'd also be paying about $2 million not to sign him though. So either way you'd be paying him. It's just a matter of how much and whether or not he pitches on the team. Then after you pay him his $2 million not to sign him, you also have to sign someone else to be the 8th inning guy. That's maybe another 2 or $3 million. So really it's more like this: Sign KRod to a one year $12 million deal OR sign (insert name here) to a one year deal and pay him $5 million. (Insert name here) is more than likely not going to be as good as KRod either.

[PrinceFielderx1]

I have a hard time seeing the Brewers releasing K-Rod if he were to accept arby. If he accepts I believe he is on the team for good. On the bright side the 8th and 9th innings should be scoreless innings most of the time. Kinda hard to get any better than K-Rod in the 8th and Axford in the 9th.

[PrinceEatMeat]

I have a hard time seeing the Brewers releasing K-Rod if he were to accept arby. If he accepts I believe he is on the team for good. On the bright side the 8th and 9th innings should be scoreless innings most of the time. Kinda hard to get any better than K-Rod in the 8th and Axford in the 9th.

Yes, but if he does just stay on the team, they won't be able to sign any free agents outside of Betancourt. The rest of the pen will be weak, and there will be some holes in the lineup. Without K-Rod these problems could be at least partially solved. There's absolutely no reason to pay your setup man $13 million, no matter how good he is. If they keep him, say goodbye to Saito, Hawkins, Ramirez, any SS other than Yuni, and any other free agent. We'll be filling the roster with all rookies and minimum salaries.

[brewtank34]

I doubt this is the case, but what are the odds that KRod is actually stalling because he wants to get the Brewers back for not giving him a chance to close games last year? At the last moment will decide to not accept arby? I wouldn't mind seeing him on the Crew again next year, but in all honesty, it wouldn't surprise me if this were the case.

[PrinceFielderx1]

I have a hard time seeing the Brewers releasing K-Rod if he were to accept arby. If he accepts I believe he is on the team for good. On the bright side the 8th and 9th innings should be scoreless innings most of the time. Kinda hard to get any better than K-Rod in the 8th and Axford in the 9th.

Yes, but if he does just stay on the team, they won't be able to sign any free agents outside of Betancourt. The rest of the pen will be weak, and there will be some holes in the lineup. Without K-Rod these problems could be at least partially solved. There's absolutely no reason to pay your setup man $13 million, no matter how good he is. If they keep him, say goodbye to Saito, Hawkins, Ramirez, any SS other than Yuni, and any other free agent. We'll be filling the roster with all rookies and minimum salaries.

I don't believe it will affect the Brewers ability to sign Ramirez and a SS like Furcal, and have Gamel man 1B. K-Rod deal is only a 1 year deal and so is Wolf's for that matter. Last off-season Mark A said publicly that "he would let talent dictate payroll." That actually worked out very well for the Brewers. I see nothing that suggests that philosophy has changed.

[Raw Biz]

I doubt this is the case, but what are the odds that KRod is actually stalling because he wants to get the Brewers back for not giving him a chance to close games last year? At the last moment will decide to not accept arby? I wouldn't mind seeing him on the Crew again next year, but in all honesty, it wouldn't surprise me if this were the case.

I highly doubt it. If he had a deal ready, he would have signed it. A lot of guys wait until the last minute to officially decline/accept. I'm pretty sure Prince hasn't even officially declined yet.

[monty57]

I doubt this is the case, but what are the odds that KRod is actually stalling because he wants to get the Brewers back for not giving him a chance to close games last year? At the last moment will decide to not accept arby? I wouldn't mind seeing him on the Crew again next year, but in all honesty, it wouldn't surprise me if this were the case.

I would guess that he is trying to get as many offers as possible to see if he can get a good deal rather than accepting arby. I'm sure his agent's calling every team in need of a closer and saying "give us a good deal or we're playing in Milwaukee next year." If he is going to accept, there's no reason for him not to wait to the last minute. I just hope some team bites and offers him a multi-year deal as a closer soon.

 

[The Truth]

Its not out of the realm of possibilities for K-Rod to accept arbitration with the Brewers and then the Brewers trade him, correct? He could have some good trade value going into Spring Training, even with a high salary, especially if some team's highly rated closer goes down injured

[GamelToe]

If K-Rod were a free agent, you'd sign him on a 1 yr $11-$12 million

deal if you're the Brewers? That's essentially what you'd be doing by

not cutting him

 

You'd also be paying about $2 million not to sign him though. So either way you'd be paying him. It's just a matter of how much and whether or not he pitches on the team. Then after you pay him his $2 million not to sign him, you also have to sign someone else to be the 8th inning guy. That's maybe another 2 or $3 million. So really it's more like this: Sign KRod to a one year $12 million deal OR sign (insert name here) to a one year deal and pay him $5 million. (Insert name here) is more than likely not going to be as good as KRod either.

The $2 million is a sunk cost. I already subtracted it from the total, hence $11-12 million instead of $13-14 million.

[dlk9s]

K-Rod has accepted arbitration.

 

@AdamRubinESPN

Adam Rubin

K-Rod accepts arbitration RT @efrainruizp: Francisco Rodríguez aceptará la oferta de arbitraje y se quedará como setup. #[/s]brewers #[/s]mets

https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23mets

[craigharmann]

K-Rod has accepted arbitration.

 

@AdamRubinESPN

Adam Rubin

K-Rod accepts arbitration RT @efrainruizp: Francisco Rodríguez aceptará la oferta de arbitraje y se quedará como setup. #[/s]brewers

Well then!! I'm speechless.

[Invader3K]

This makes things very interesting.

[brettac1]

And one domino from that...

 

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/135218343.html

 

The Brewers were interested in retaining reliever LaTroy Hawkins but told him they couldn't make an offer until they saw if Francisco Rodriguez accepted arbitration by the 11 p.m. deadline Wednesday.

 

Hawkins didn't wait around. He is signing with the Los Angeles Angels, reportedly on a one-year deal.

 

Hawkins, who turns 39 in a couple of weeks, recovered from shoulder surgery to have a nice 2011 season for the Brewers. In 52 appearances, he was 3-1 with a 2.42 ERA and became increasingly dependable in the late innings.

 

Hawkins was also a great guy and clubhouse influence, which I'm sure the Brewers will miss.