Paul Konerko

[JohnBriggs12]

The White Sox have clearly waived the white flag. Yeah they signed Danks but that's more for the future than this year. Barring a comeback of epic proportions from Adam Dunn and Alex Rios, they are at best a 70 win team. On the south side, that kind of team won't draw 2 million, much less 3.

 

Now Konerko is beloved by Sox fans, has 5 and 10 no trade rights, turns 36 in March and is owed $25 million over the next two years. But he's also shown no sign of a drop in production even in an otherwise lousy lineup and plays a position the Brewers have penciled in a rookie. I would not expect him to be available now, but if the Brewers found themselves contending but Gamel not producing at a high level, Konerko would seem to be a logical target come July if you could convince him to waive his no-trade rights to be with a contender.

[brettac1]

I like Konerko a lot, but I'm not really confident in the Brewers' ability to remain in contention until the deadline if Gamel isn't playing at a reasonably high level. Also, I hope they give him at least a full season to see what he can do.

[MNBrew]

Ditto that, although Green might also be in a position to earn PT, which he could get on an everyday basis if Gamel blows it badly & Ramirez were moved to 1B. I'd rather see that happen before blowing another $12M/yr. for multiple years on an overly old 1B when we have a rotation that needs to be sustained far more urgently than we need to be looking at bringing more overpaid power hitters.

 

But going back to your original premise, IF there's enough failing production that HAS TO BE patched up somehow but the Brewers are still in a position to make a serious World Series push, I'd say all bets are off and you do what you need to do to put the team over the top. As long as it doesn't cripple the team in the long run, I'd think they'd have to consider options. I'd just hope other "in house" options would prove more viable & successful first.

[JohnBriggs12]

I could see a scenario where at the All Star break, Gamel's not awful, hitting .255 with 10 HR and 35 RBI and the Brewers behind a good first half from their rotation are right there. It's not likely they can win over a full season with that kind of production at first base though and that's where Konerko would come in, assuming of course he's putting up his usual solid numbers in Chicago and they are well out of it. Just his clubhouse presence alone would be a huge plus. Konerko is a solid, solid, guy and who's quietly put up borderline HOF type numbers. It would be a bonus too that they'd have him in 2013.

[TheCrew07]

I've never wanted a player to perform as well as I want Mat to so all this talk of signing more FA veteran fodder goes away, at least in regards to first base.

 

Please Mat settle in and hit the crap out of the ball like you can.

 

JB12 why are you using triple crown stats? His OBP is typically around 70 points higher than his BA and with 10 HR through the first half he'd be slugging around .450. So using your .255 average that would put him at a .775 OPS which is well above league average and pretty darn good for a hitter in his first full professional season. I'm not sure how the Brewers couldn't afford that kind of production from a young player... he could just as easily go .303/.368/.520 in the second half but you'd be looking to replace him after half a season? Yes he's never going to hit 50 HRs like Fielder did, but how many players will?

 

I do not understand the obsession with veteran players around here (the transaction forum), maybe it's a fantasy baseball thing, but my goodness lets give the young players in the line-up more than 3 month window to succeed. Hardy wouldn't have made it through the first year the way people have treated Escobar and now Gamel, maybe not even Weeks. Is it because we got spoiled by Braun and Fielder who came after those guys and hit reasonably well right away? I do remember a nice ovation for a young and struggling Fielder at the start of one of his seasons, funny how things have changed.

[RockCoCougars]

As long as Gamel doesn't turn in a Kevin Barker-esque first half, I think he will be OK. If/when he starts hitting, the question marks and pressure will dissipate quickly.

[brettac1]

Kevin Barker OPS'd over 1.000 in Mexico in 2011. For some reason, this is awesome to me. And he played on the same team as Greg Aquino.

[DHonks]

Barker was fine in Milwaukee, we just gave way too many at bats to Charlie Hayes.

[RockCoCougars]

Barker was the 21st century version of Billy Jo Robidoux, without the catchy name. Powell lost a lot of credibility to me when he was still pumping Barker's ROY candidacy in mid May after he was handed the starting job and was clearly in over his head. I had to confirm that I was not seeing things a few years back when he resurfaced in MLB, that one was nearly as surprising to me as Rob Deer's comeback with the Padres. I honestly thought that there was another Kevin Barker a la Brian Giles, etc.