Prince Fielder signs with...

[jjfanec]

If people get upset with what Prince signs for they are missing the big picture. The Brewers could not afford to sit back and wait until January or February for a guy they didnt think they were going to be able to sign. Due to how much Prince is still going to make we would have had to stand pat at SS and 3B (which some would have been fine with) and we still could have lost Prince. We probably would not have Ramirez or Gonzalez if we did that because they had other suitors.

[Invader3K]

Exactly. I really wanted the Brewers to not have a repeat of the Sabathia scenario, where they offered him a big contract and then waited around for him to "search his heart". Inevitably Prince would end up signing an even bigger deal with a deep pocketed club. And of course by that point, A-Ram and Sea Bass probably would have signed elsewhere, and we'd be looking at bottom barrel options to boost the infield. The Brewers decided not to play Scott Boras' game and I applaud them for it.

[TheCrew]

Loney had a pretty big second half - if memory serves - don't see the Dodgers just giving up on him.

 

I think it's pretty much a given at this point that Prince isn't getting the deal he thought he would - which, makes me wonder if he'd do something like a 3 year deal........... I know it's a long shot..... and then some, but if he's willing to do a shorter deal I could see the Brewers getting back in the mix. Then again, wouldn't surprise me if Boras got a team to bid itself up.

[monty57]

I think the Ramirez signing took the Brewers out of any chance of signing Fielder, even on a short-term deal. They back-end loaded Ramirez's deal, because we're already around $100M this year. I don't think there's any way of trading Ramirez at $16M in 2014, and I doubt we could pay for Ramirez, Braun, Weeks, Yo and Prince. Maybe if all of our minor league SP pan out, but I think that's asking a lot.

 

If Prince said he'd come back to the Brewers on one-year, $15MM deal, I don't know if we'd have the money to pay him (although I'd bet Melvin would call everyone to see if he could trade Hart, Marcum or Wolf to make room).

[Invader3K]

If Prince said he'd come back to the Brewers on one-year, $15MM deal, I don't know if we'd have the money to pay him (although I'd bet Melvin would call everyone to see if he could trade Hart, Marcum or Wolf to make room).

There's no doubt in my mind that Attanasio would make it work some how. With Prince on a one year deal, we'd be completely be going all in on 2012, and probably be a favorite to make the NLCS (but hopefully win this time and move on to the World Series). I just don't see Fielder eating humble pie and doing a one year contract at this point.

[brettac1]

To quote Mike McCarthy, "the train has left the station".

[RockCoCougars]

Prince is not going to take a one year deal. In the unlikely event that he and Boras come crawling back to the Brewers, I'd hope that Attanasio would at least try to creatively make something work. Perhaps a heavily backloaded 5 year deal with a player out after the 3rd year would allow them to save face. I just can't see Prince stooping to this, but if he's not signed in another few weeks, you never know.

[TooLiveBrew]

To quote Mike McCarthy, "the train has left the station".

Yep, and through zero fault of Melvin or the Brewers. This is the bed Prince has made, & if there's backlash against the organization due to the outcome, it'll be incredibly annoying.

[RockCoCougars]

Yep, and through zero fault of Melvin or the Brewers. This is the bed Prince has made, & if there's backlash against the organization due to the outcome, it'll be incredibly annoying.

 

I don't know. I'm not taking sides here, but you can at least make the argument that offering K-Rod arby and signing Ramirez so quickly were mistakes. There is no way that K-Rod would demand what he will be getting in arby on the open market. It would only be a tad surprising to me if Ramirez was still on the market had the Brewers not signed him. Again, this is probably a moot point, since the odds of Prince's 'pride' allowing him to grovel back to the Brewers are slim to none.

[TooLiveBrew]

you can at least make the argument that offering K-Rod arby and signing Ramirez so quickly were mistakes.

 

No. You can't. Prince turned down the Brewers' contract offers & was dead set on free agency. This was set in stone the day he signed Scott Boras to be his agent.

[RockCoCougars]

Regardless of Prince's situation, in hindsight offering K-Rod arby was a huge mistake. Given the opportunity to roll back time, there is no way Melvin would do it again. You cannot positively spin an eight figure contract for a set up man. The Brewers need to realize that the arby/draft pick compensation system is severely flawed, and they need to quit playing games with it. Melvin narrowly dodged a bullet with Sheets a few years ago, and apparently didn't learn his lesson to only offer arby to guys that he wants to keep and pay. Draft picks in MLB are a crapshoot anyway. This isn't the NFL where you can get a couple guys in the first round and they are immediate contributors.

 

As for Ramirez, I actually think he signed a fair deal considering. Others will consider him Prince's replacement, and if he gets off to his patented slow start and/or gets hurt, things could go South fast.

[Crew2323]

Regardless of Prince's situation, in hindsight offering K-Rod arby was a huge mistake. Given the opportunity to roll back time, there is no way Melvin would do it again. You cannot positively spin an eight figure contract for a set up man. The Brewers need to realize that the arby/draft pick compensation system is severely flawed, and they need to quit playing games with it. Melvin narrowly dodged a bullet with Sheets a few years ago, and apparently didn't learn his lesson to only offer arby to guys that he wants to keep and pay. Draft picks in MLB are a crapshoot anyway. This isn't the NFL where you can get a couple guys in the first round and they are immediate contributors.

 

As for Ramirez, I actually think he signed a fair deal considering. Others will consider him Prince's replacement, and if he gets off to his patented slow start and/or gets hurt, things could go South fast.

I don't believe that is true. The chances of K-Rod accepting arby were slim, especially when you consider how vocal he was about wanting to be a closer after he came to Milwaukee. Logic said that there was little to no chance he'd accept arby to come back as a set up man. But then the off-season began and only the Phillies and Marlins chose to spend big on closers. Based on previous off-seasons, I don't think anyone would have predicted that. And when the Padres traded for Street, the opportunities for K-Rod were pretty dried up.

 

I don't think you can blame Melvin for this or call it a mistake. I think it was the right decision--a decision most GM's would make. There were just unique circumstances this off-season. Would I have liked to seen K-Rod's money be used elsewhere? Absolutely. But I'm not upset that we potentially have the best set up/closer combo in MLB to go with our solid starting pitching staff.

[Raw Biz]

Regardless of Prince's situation, in hindsight offering K-Rod arby was a huge mistake.

I don't believe that is true. The chances of K-Rod accepting arby were slim, especially when you consider how vocal he was about wanting to be a closer after he came to Milwaukee. Logic said that there was little to no chance he'd accept arby to come back as a set up man. But then the off-season began and only the Phillies and Marlins chose to spend big on closers. Based on previous off-seasons, I don't think anyone would have predicted that. And when the Padres traded for Street, the opportunities for K-Rod were pretty dried up.

 

I don't think you can blame Melvin for this or call it a mistake. I think it was the right decision--a decision most GM's would make. There were just unique circumstances this off-season. Would I have liked to seen K-Rod's money be used elsewhere? Absolutely. But I'm not upset that we potentially have the best set up/closer combo in MLB to go with our solid starting pitching staff.

Exactly. With how much KRod talked about wanting to be a closer, the fact that Boras was his agent, and how many teams seemingly needed a closer, it wasn't a bad decision. It just so happened that teams (besides the Marlins and Angels) decided not to spend a whole lot this offseason. And like Crew said, we now have one of the best 8/9 inning combos in MLB.

[RockCoCougars]

I'm just not sold on K-Rod being a dominating 8th inning force this season. Hopefully he succeeds, but he's lost a lot on his fastball and he weaseled out of a lot of jams last year. There is something to be said for veteran guile, but I got the impression that at least some of his success was smoke and mirrors. Bottom line, if he approached the Brewers at the end of the season offering to sign a one year deal for ~$12 million, do you think they would have bit? I doubt it. They were gambling for the extra draft pick. I am also concerned that he may not be the best clubhouse guy if he's not getting the ability to pad his save stats for the next payday. Everything is fun in a pennant race, but let's say the Brewers stumble out of the gate and Ax blows a few games.

[KCBrewerfan34]

Couldn't we just trade K-Rod and basically free up some money for Prince???

[jjkoestler]

If the Brewers could trade K-Rod without having to eat a huge chunk of his salary (which is a big if) they would still have to pay him for 4-5 more years after 2012. That mean not resigning pitching. I want the big fella back, but I want quality pitching much more. Prince on a 1 year deal would be awesome if Mark A was willing to expand the payroll even more.

[PrinceFielderx1]

I don't want to extend Greinke and Marcum for the money that they will likely demand. Greinke hasn't been as good as advertised and Marcum I feel has bad mechanics and relies on location, because he doesn't have the velocity to get away with mistakes. With that said, a GM knows his prospects better than anybody most of the time. If DM were to go after Fielder and say we believe that we can contend beyond 2012 without Greinke and Marcum, then I will take his word for it. After all this is a GM that will trade quality prospects for quality MLB pitching, because he's proven it.

 

I trust Doug Melvin and his plan for this team, so far. If he can sign Fielder period, then good for him, and good for the organization.

[MNBrew]

The Brewers wouldn't get any return, but if K-Rod gets $12M in arbitration (for simple math purposes), the Brewers can still cut him by a certain date and only owe him 1/6 of that, or $2M. That would save $10M which could then be turned around toward re-signing Prince.

 

If you have to eat most of a $12M salary to get someone maybe only moderately serviceable or a B prospect in return, I think it's better to just walk away from that type of deal and do the 1/6 payoff IF doing so makes signing Prince "affordable," meaning at least to the extent that Attanasio would be willing to stretch the payroll that much more to bring him back. . . . It would also seem to cinch the idea that after 2012, only Greinke OR Marcum gets extended, Wolf's option doesn't get picked up, and Hart may well get traded anytime between July & the start of the 2013 season.

 

A 2012 lineup like this would seem to make the Brewers VERY strong contenders:

 

IF: Ramirez, Gonzalez, Weeks, Fielder

OF: Braun, Morgan/Gomez, Hart

C: Lucroy

Rotation: Gallardo, Greinke, Marcum, Wolf, & Narveson

 

Reserves: Kottaras (if not traded) or Maldonado; Izturis & Gamel, & a 5th OF tba

Bullpen: Axford, Braddock, Estrada, Loe, Perez, 2 of Dillard/DeLaCruz/McClendon/Kintzler/Fiers/Peralta/etc.

[Hate those Rodents]

Keep in mind we will save money when Braun is suspended without pay for fifty games too. That's another two plus million.

[Baldkin]

Keep in mind we will save money when Braun is suspended without pay for fifty games too. That's another two plus million.

Less than 2M, he's only making 6M for 2012.

[MNBrew]

Well, any odds of Fielder returning may not be larger than microscopic in all reality, but there are a few little things that could be making it seem like only a ridiculous longshot instead of a sheer impossibility.

[patrickgpe]

Keep in mind we will save money when Braun is suspended without pay for fifty games too. That's another two plus million.

Less than 2M, he's only making 6M for 2012.

1.85M, same difference

[RightFieldCoder]

Do the Brewers keep that money, or does it get paid like a fine and go into the MLB charities?

[reillymcshane]

Do the Brewers keep that money, or does it get paid like a fine and go into the MLB charities?

brewers get to keep the cash.

[narwhalattack]

I don't want to extend Greinke and Marcum for the money that they will likely demand. Greinke hasn't been as good as advertised and Marcum I feel has bad mechanics and relies on location, because he doesn't have the velocity to get away with mistakes. With that said, a GM knows his prospects better than anybody most of the time. If DM were to go after Fielder and say we believe that we can contend beyond 2012 without Greinke and Marcum, then I will take his word for it. After all this is a GM that will trade quality prospects for quality MLB pitching, because he's proven it.

 

I trust Doug Melvin and his plan for this team, so far. If he can sign Fielder period, then good for him, and good for the organization.

Brewers without Greinke and Marcum but with Fielder = 2009 and 2010 Brewers

And plus I don't think DM has any more prospects to trade for pitching. They'll probably be able to get 1 mid-rotation pitcher, but that isn't much.

 

To fully advocate signing Fielder seems shortsighted. He's not gonna go below 100mil and the Brewers still have to pay for Braun, Gallardo, Weeks, and Hart. Not to mention that once they do sign Fielder they'll be badly handcuffed by the contract even if they trade Wolf and K-Rod. If the Brewers sign Fielder then they're possibly sacrificing the success of the team for 5+ years from now for a couple more opportunities for the World Series. Seems pretty shortsighted to me.