Brewers sign Michael Olmsted

[MNBrew]

-- Big Dude, and yes, you must read story linked in prior post. Hard to believe Sox didn't add him to their own 40-man.

Am I the only one who didn't find him impressive in that video?

 

Hard to tell.... I find myself wondering, though, if he doesn't become a potential Kameron Loe-type (thinking serious height = the pronounced downhill plane they like so much) but younger, cheaper, more gas on his FB, bigger waistline, & a Melvin-esque cookie duster.

[Funketown]

Why is this guy available? I know he's 25 years old, but 14 K/9, 2.5 BB/9 in 60 innings in A+ and AA last season? It would be pretty silly to not give this guy a look.

[TooLiveBrew]

The battle begins... Stosh v. Stache!

 

http://i.imgur.com/sgnfe.jpg ... http://i.imgur.com/nvyOq.jpg

[Mass Haas]

If you first checked out the SoxProspects.com thread earlier today, quite a bit more discussion has continued there.

 

Part of that includes this update as to the current status of the Red Sox 40-man roster situation. That's at best a middling collection of relief arms the Sox feel they're tied to at the moment.

 

Really makes you apprecate the 40-man roster management Doug has exhibited during his tenure. Hard to believe anyone's been any better. The complete list of players Melvin has lost to waiver claims (not a single tear to shed!):

 

Ransom , Cody

Izturis , Cesar

Conrad , Brooks

Wheeler , Zelous

De La Cruz , Frankie

Heether , Adam

Iribarren , Hernan

Bourgeois , Jason

Swindle , R.J.

Pena , Luis

Dillon , Joe

Anderson , Drew

Aquino , Greg

Liriano , Pedro

Bausher , Tim

 

It's incredible, actually. Compare that to the value obtained via waiver claims. Again, the complete list (key contributors in italics), recent first, thus ending with Melvin's infamous very first Milwaukee player transaction:

 

Leon , Arcenio

De Los Santos , Miguel

Gomez , Hector

Ransom , Cody

Stinson , Josh

Bianchi , Jeff

Wilson , Josh

Herrera , Daniel Ray

Mercedes , Roque

James , Justin

Estrada , Marco

Inglett , Joe

Cruz , Luis

Kottaras , George

Koshansky , Joe

Littleton , Wes

Green , Nick

McGehee , Casey

Coffey , Todd

Gardner , Richie

Munson , Eric

Salas , Marino

Closser , J.D.

Balfour , Grant

Spurling , Chris

Mabeus , Chris

Perkins , Vince

Sorensen , Zach

Turnbow , Derrick

Narron , Sam

Harper , Jesse

Nicolas , Mike

Clark , Brady

Podsednik , Scott

[Mass Haas]

Interesting Peter Gammons tweet:

 

(I'm up to) 4 "what-roster-problems-forced-Boston-to-leave Mike Olmsted off 40-man roster" texts and emails, all from GMs

[brewmann04]

Brewers might have a sleeper

[bigredrobbo]

Jeez, is that Margie's son?

[MVP2110]

I love this signing. Not exactly anything great from him but hopefully he can lock up a spot in the pen. Love this for the fact these are types of signing's that I wish Melvin would do more of. Get 10 or 12 of these guys and just go into spring and the best 7 make it. Seems pretty simple

[bjkrautk]

I think we have our 1st nickname candidate for Olmsted courtesy of SoxProspects.com:

 

"This town needed El Guapo Blanco."

http://www.milb.com/images/players/mugshot/ph_519092.jpg

 

Have to pull out all my old high school Spanish knowledge for this one, the handsome white guy? I like it.

 

I thought it was supposed to be a "Three Amigos!" reference. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092086/

 

Clearly one of us has been set up for disappointment.

[Roderick]

Interesting Peter Gammons tweet:

 

(I'm up to) 4 "what-roster-problems-forced-Boston-to-leave Mike Olmsted off 40-man roster" texts and emails, all from GMs

 

How did the Brewers get this guy if so many MLB GMs were so hot after him? Was there a claim order and he fell to them (which would imply Gammons tweet was BS) or did the Brewers pay him a little bit more than anyone else as some sort of free agent.

[MJLiverock]

Signing a bunch of project guys for cheap is fine but remember somewhere there is someone commenting on how glad they are to see so and so gone that the Brewer's will pick up.

 

Also someone will pick up a Loe or Parra and say how they can't believe the team let a lefty with 95 MPH heat go or a big guy with sink, etc. If we can just tweak this or that he'll be a great find.

 

Seems a lot of shuffling and hoping to fix someone else's problems or a grass is greener hot stove that always happens with bullpen guys. Someone the Brewers find will turn out decent, someone they let go will reappear as a decent player.

[Hate those Rodents]

I'd be okay going with Olmsted and Jeffress (along with Henderson and Kintzler) as main cogs in our bullpen prior to getting Axford the ball in the ninth. I am not sure a five million a year veteran will do any better, and I'd have no problem saving some cash from the bullpen to get an Edwin Jackson/Anibal Sanchez as our number two starter.

[xisxisxis]

Also someone will pick up a Loe or Parra and say how they can't believe the team let a lefty with 95 MPH heat go or a big guy with sink, etc. If we can just tweak this or that he'll be a great find.

 

And they'd be a pretty uninformed baseball fan as both Parra and Loe have years of stats facing major league hitters. Their stats say a lot more about them than their scouting reports....

[RobDeer 45]

MJLiverock, well said, but I think that this approach in the pen as "hate those rodents" said, is an ok approach. It seems like the pen is always a guess when it comes to the average guys, so I'd rather go with project guys, and hope one sticks. I'm ok with spending some money on a closer, setup guy, when appropriate, but I just don't understand how to value these guys. It's tough.

[Kelbysdaddy]

i wont be sad to see parra leave but i could definatly see him producing in someone elses pen.

[monty57]

I like this guy because he seems to have some control to go along with his "stuff." The theory of "find guys with good stuff and see what sticks" too often means "find guys who can throw the ball through a wall, but have a hard time hitting said wall."

 

That approach leads (in the extreme) to Turnbow situations where you can get lucky for a while and have the pitcher dominate when their head's screwed on straight, but then the player turns around and blows the whole team up while he's trying to remember how to throw strikes. Veras, Parra and Axford are all examples of this (although not to the Turnbow extreme). In other words, this is the theory which caused us to go into the season thinking we had a dominant bullpen, but leading to a failed season. In the prior season, we had strike throwers (Saito and Hawkins) who had injury concerns. When they were healthy, the bullpen was great.

 

Why can't a pitcher throw strikes? It's either a mechanical issue, which is possible to fix, but not always permanently and sometimes leads to lesser "stuff." Or, it can be a mental issue... how do you fix that?

 

If I have to choose between option A or option B, I'd take the pitcher with a decent arm who can throw strikes over the one with a great arm who can't get a pitch over the plate. Olmsted seems to be a good find because it appears he has the stuff and the command. Good find, Doug.

[MNBrew]

I'd be okay going with Olmsted and Jeffress (along with Henderson and Kintzler) as main cogs in our bullpen prior to getting Axford the ball in the ninth. I am not sure a five million a year veteran will do any better, and I'd have no problem saving some cash from the bullpen to get an Edwin Jackson/Anibal Sanchez as our number two starter.

 

I'm chronically optimistic, but Olmsted & Jeffress as main cogs? Only once they prove themselves worthy of that status. Olmsted's never pitched above AA & Jeffress couldn't pitch well enough in AAA to earn callups to lousy KC when there were ample opportunities.

 

I'd be all for re-signing Jeffress and I'm quite positively intrigued by Olmsted. But relying on them as main cogs seems to be putting the cart more than a few steps ahead of the horse.

[DoubleSwitch]

I like the approach to the bullpen so far. We've got the 40 man space to grab some guys right now and we can always DFA them latter if someone better comes along. I think it's probably best to wait until Jan/Feb to start giving out million+ major league contracts to relievers because some good bullpen guys always fall through the cracks and you can get them way cheaper than you could in November. My biggest fear this offseason was that we were gonna get desperate for relievers and give out a couple 4 year 20 million dollar commitments early. Once again Doug is being a lot more crafty than I think a lot of us give him credit for.,

[endaround]

Also someone will pick up a Loe or Parra and say how they can't believe the team let a lefty with 95 MPH heat go or a big guy with sink, etc. If we can just tweak this or that he'll be a great find.

 

And they'd be a pretty uninformed baseball fan as both Parra and Loe have years of stats facing major league hitters. Their stats say a lot more about them than their scouting reports....

 

Or maybe some manager will know how to use them. Loe's career splits:

vs LHers .302/.365/.473

vs RHers .250/.308/.377

 

This wasn't Yost deciding, that despite his entire history, Shouse could get RHers out with the entire season on the line, but its up there.

[And That]

How did the Brewers get this guy if so many MLB GMs were so hot after him? Was there a claim order and he fell to them (which would imply Gammons tweet was BS) or did the Brewers pay him a little bit more than anyone else as some sort of free agent.

 

The Brewers might have paid him a little more, or maybe were the only team to guarantee him a 40-man spot. Or maybe Olmsted thought Milwaukee presented him with the best opportunity to contribute at the major league level the soonest.

 

He was a FA - there was no claim order.

[ORBrewerFan]

245 lbs? More like "El guapo blanco."

[TracyThom]

245 lbs? More like "El guapo blanco."

 

You made a crack about his weight. Did you mean to put El Gordo Blanco?

[monty57]

My biggest fear this offseason was that we were gonna get desperate for relievers and give out a couple 4 year 20 million dollar commitments early.

 

Good God I hope not. I could see him doing some one-year, $4-5MM contracts, but I sure hope he doesn't go four years on anyone.

[torts]

who was that reliever the brewers signed 4 or 5 years ago to a 3 year contract of like 4 million, only to have him be hurt for 2+ years of the contract? name is escaping me

[patrickgpe]

who was that reliever the brewers signed 4 or 5 years ago to a 3 year contract of like 4 million, only to have him be hurt for 2+ years of the contract? name is escaping me

David Riske?