Capuano signs Minor League Deal with Brewers - The One True Ace is back!

[Boomer5]

It's a minor league deal and he's very likely not making the team and would probably be like the 5th call up for injuries. Why even get upset about it?

 

I cant speak for everyone, but Im certainly not upset. Not at all. Im just calling it for what it is; another piece to get us to the number one pick as painlessly as possible.

 

We have had a truly brutal offseason as far as MLB talent acquisition goes, and many on here try and spin it as a high on base guy who can play different positions, nice clubhouse guy, crafty lefty, etc, etc, etc instead of what this really is: Houston 2.0.

[Outlander]

What are people crying so much about? That isn't a 100 lose team.

I don't really care what minor league free agents are signed but I would be willing to bet it is a 100 loss team. Not complaining and still will attend games but I don't expect anything from this team. I can understand why fans that really want to see a winning team would be frustrated with the off season but signing anybody to a minor league contract shouldn't be one of reasons.

[SRB]

It's a minor league deal, Capuano has been decent within the last three seasons, and the upside of his role on the major-league team is probably as a LOOGY. Not sure why anyone is upset?

[Boomer5]

The tanking continues. If you are planning on losing 100++ at least give the fans a good guy to cheer for.

 

We all love this guy but nothing says rebuilding like signing a 37 year old coming off an 8 era season.

 

With the first pick in the 2017 draft, the Brewers select....

 

lol is really all I can say.....

 

I just love how people can overreact to minor league deals. Chances are he doesn't make the team, if he does, maybe he can be a LOOGY. We lose absolutely nothing taking a flyer on someone like Cappy.

 

Really with a lineup of:

1B Carter

2B Gennett

SS Segura

3B Cecchini or Westbrook

C Lucroy

LF Davis

CF Broxton/ Nieuwenhuis/ Santana/ maybe Austin Jackson

RF Braun

 

With rotation of

Nelson

Peralta

Garza

Jungmann

Davies/ Lopez/ Hader

 

Smith/ Jeffress/ Knuebel in the backend of the pen

 

What are people crying so much about? That isn't a 100 lose team. We haven't traded anyone else and there is no certainty we will. We have 3 teams in the division who may win 100 games this season. At least 97 or 98 wins. What you want this team to do?

 

We haven't even started to tank yet. KRod, Sardinas, and Lind who was only retained to trade does not make us tank. All this tanking non sense is so blown out of proportion. Complain when we actually trade of pieces that matter such as Lucroy, Davis, Peralta, Sergura, Gennett, Braun, Nelson, Smith, Jeffress.

 

This was a 94 loss team last year and we gained no one of value. The pitching has some potential for sure. The lineup is a dumpster fire and that is before the likely trades of Luc an Davis this year, and Braun next year.

 

Luc says this team wont win, and he is correct.

[StearnsFTW]

I'd be pretty surprised if this team lost 100 games unless they trade Lucroy/Davis/Braun. Even though it wouldn't upset me one iota. I don't really see what this signing has to do with the Brewers' record though. The only role he would ever fill, at least in my mind, is as a LOOGY, which means he's basically worthless as it relates to wins. Could mean one win one way or the other.

[jerichoholicninja]

If Melvin and Ron were still running things you could pencil Cappy in as the #5 starter because they always need to have one crappy veteran make the team out of camp. I doubt that happens now. Smith is the only lefty in the pen and he's not really a LOOGY. I don't think Jimenez is either. I could see Chris being the LOOGY on opening day and if he proves successful that is a very flippable guy at the deadline for at least cash.

[1992casey]

A team doesn't need a LOOGY if its lefties are capable of getting both right and left-handed pitching out. That's a better option than a LOOGY anyway. A LOOGY fills in a gap that seems to exists on most teams, though.

 

These pickups shouldn't bother us, but as jerichoholicninja points out, we've seen them put into roles where they really don't belong. Based on that, I can see the nervousness unless the new regime shows us that it won't necessarily be the case.

[Boomer5]

He is a fan favorite spare arm, not a whole lot more. Nothing to get upset about of course, but the upside is pretty much a prayer at best.

[brewcrewdue80]

Wow, all these responses and not one mention what I believe this signing is about?

 

Twilight of his career that virtually began with Milwaukee. Fans are going to be fond of him. Simply going to guess he gets to fill a few extra seats in Spring Training, sign some memorabilia and then Retire as a Brewer. Craig Counsell as the Manager whom looking it up was part of the trade along with Cappy/Overbay/Spivey/Moeller/De La Rosa for Richie Sexson/Shane Nance and PTBNL.

 

He announces his retirement with Counsell in attendance and maybe you find a coaching job or some other office job within the organization for him.

 

I was thinking and reading wiki he's a rare individual to survive twice having Tommy John surgery. The 2nd mind you in 2007. The Brewers stayed with him in to and through the 2010 not having pitched a ML inning in 2008 or '09. That has to fall on Capuano as being special and by Milw continuing his career make him want to retire as a Brewer in a Brewer uniform.

[brewerfan82]

This may be verging on semantics, but I think some people are underestimating how bad a team has to be, to be a "100 loss" team. There hasn't been a 100 loss team in all of MLB since 2013 and in general there are only 1 or 2 per season in general. Additionally, there's an interesting article on FanGraphs right now (http://www.fangraphs.com/community/being-sunny-about-the-brewers/) that shows some projections of the current roster using Steamer projections for 2016, and if I'm looking at it correctly, only 2 of 300 simulated seasons resulted in a 100 loss team.

 

I'm not saying I expect this team to compete for a playoff spot or even play .500, but even if we trade away a couple more players, 100 losses is REALLY bad and I think this team will be much more watchable than that.

 

Back to the topic of the thread, I'm in the "no harm, no foul" crowd on the Capuano signing. By all accounts, Caps is an extremely smart player, a good teammate and likely a good mentor for the younger arms. So even if his production doesn't warrant a call-up to the majors, I think he has qualities they value and I don't mind a few Capuanos sprinkled into the mix on a rebuilding team.

[Jenkins5]

Brewers have only lost 100+ games once in the history of the franchise and that was 2002 with 102 loses. Only 11 times in our history have failed to win 70 games (92 loses). According to people on this forum this is literally the worst product the Brewers have ever put on the field. The awful teams in the 70s were better, the terrible teams in 90's were better, the miserable teams of the early 2000's are better....and many people with how many games they expect Brewers to lose think we are worse than 2002.

 

Brewers were 37-42 from July 1st to the end of the season and 24-30 from August 1st to end of the season. This roster isn't that much more "horrible" right now than it was in August/September. Considering for good amount of September we had no Nelson, Lucroy, Braun, and all the other guys who were out with injuries.

 

Do I think we are competing? Absolutely not. Do I think this is the worst Brewer team in our history? Absolutely not. My guess is we finish with somewhere between 72-90 to 67-95. You literally need to fire sale entire team like Astros to lose 100 games, we haven't done that.

[MadScientist]

This was a 94 loss team last year and we gained no one of value. The pitching has some potential for sure. The lineup is a dumpster fire and that is before the likely trades of Luc an Davis this year, and Braun next year.

 

Luc says this team wont win, and he is correct.

 

Lohse is not in the starting rotation, that is a huge gain in value. Garza is likely to improve, or else demoted to mop-up duty. Those two were a combine 11-27, or 16 of the 26 games below .500 the Brewers were last year.

 

The lineup isn't a world beater, but should be serviceable an has decent pop. Yes .500 is a pipe dream, and they don't make pipes big and strong enough to imagine them competing. The only reasons they may not improve on last year is the attitude that this is a lost season, and that they will sell off what they can after the break.

[adambr2]

Anyone remember Cappy's lone MLB homerun? June of 2007 against the Marlins I believe. Opposite field at MP. Just a weird one that somehow just kept carrying and carrying. I remember listening to Ueck who was so caught off guard by what he thought was a routine fly off the bat that he didn't even do his signature homerun call.

[homer]

I really don't think people understand what a minor league deal is.

[Boomer5]

Brewers have only lost 100+ games once in the history of the franchise and that was 2002 with 102 loses. Only 11 times in our history have failed to win 70 games (92 loses). According to people on this forum this is literally the worst product the Brewers have ever put on the field. The awful teams in the 70s were better, the terrible teams in 90's were better, the miserable teams of the early 2000's are better....and many people with how many games they expect Brewers to lose think we are worse than 2002.

 

Brewers were 37-42 from July 1st to the end of the season and 24-30 from August 1st to end of the season. This roster isn't that much more "horrible" right now than it was in August/September. Considering for good amount of September we had no Nelson, Lucroy, Braun, and all the other guys who were out with injuries.

 

Do I think we are competing? Absolutely not. Do I think this is the worst Brewer team in our history? Absolutely not. My guess is we finish with somewhere between 72-90 to 67-95. You literally need to fire sale entire team like Astros to lose 100 games, we haven't done that.

 

The Brewers did not bring in a guy from the Astros so he could take the team from 94 loses to 90 loses, like your upside projections suggest. Doug just made probably the best trade of his career and the Brewers went to a new guy who's only resume is the Astros model. I am not a Doug fan and I am not defending him, I am only pointing out that Doug is perfectly capable of making deals for prospects if instructed to do so.

 

Lets get this on the table, hiring Stearns is revolution, not evolution. Im all for it. I want the Brewers to develop a monster farm system that is best in the game. The only way that will happen is for first picks in the draft, and more importantly the associated pool money. 72-90 is Herb Kohl stuff.

 

Is it that tough to connect the dots from his last team's blue print to this offseason's trading away of our closer and middle of the order 1B for nothing of meaningful value for the next 4 years if that?

 

This is currently a bad team and by opening day will be worse, by design. The Brewers arent done dealing as Luc will be gone soon, and we are hearing rumors about Davis and Braun (Orioles) being connected to moves. I do like our young starters, but without an offense, there is only so much you can expect from them. The Bullpen is a serious question mark though it does have some talent, and I think folks are grossly undervaluing a legitimate closer, assuming that teams wants to win. We have some power arms, but the Brewers arent going to put them in the full time closers role because that will just make them more expensive at arby time.

 

Back on topic, Cappy is a fan favorite and rightly so. If you are going to be bad, you should at least do with guys fans like. I think that is the sum total of this signing.

[reillymcshane]

I'm guessing that Cappy is strictly depth for a young and unproven group of starters.

 

The starters next season are Nelson, Peralta, Jungmann, Davies and Garza. But injuries happen, and the club should really have seven guys ready in case of injuries.

 

If a spot or two opens, the big prospects next on the list are Lopez and Wagner, but the club may want them to stay at AAA for a half season or more.

 

That leaves Thornburg, Cravy and Pena as the most likely guys to step into the rotation. You could always consider Suter and Burgos from AAA as well. But the club might prefer some of these guys in the bullpen. Or just don't think they should be in the ML rotation. Who knows. That leaves a guy like Cappy. If things go wrong, he's ready. He can fill in until Wagner or Lopez or whomever is ready.

 

It also adds some depth should Peralta or Garza gets traded (I'm don't think either will, but you never know).

 

Perhaps Capuano knows he is 7th or 8th on the rotation depth chart, and he's willing to start at AAA if needed. But he knows guys get hurt, and he knows a guy like Garza could get moved at some point - and he'd get his chance.

[MadScientist]

It's unlikely that Cappy makes the team, but if he does it will likely be as a loogy or mop-up guy.

[pacopete4]

I really don't think people understand what a minor league deal is.

 

 

http://m.quickmeme.com/img/dd/ddf6463a6af0c67a10ab7b8ae8ae8b7ecaba7a141c4b3b2d4f4e3c8261075b8a.jpg

[Thurston Fluff]

The Brewers did not bring in a guy from the Astros so he could take the team from 94 loses to 90 loses, like your upside projections suggest. Doug just made probably the best trade of his career and the Brewers went to a new guy who's only resume is the Astros model.

 

Yes, other than his internship with the Pirates, his time with the New York Mets, his time in the MLB Central Office, and the Cleveland Indians his only resume was the Astros model. I think you are reading way too much into his time with the Astros. I am sure he learned much during his time there. I tend to think his overall time in baseball, especially with working on rebuilding teams probably taught him something at each stop. It might even mean he realizes there is no single model to follow. That each team is different and each path is it's own.

The whole tanking thing is getting old. Teams do not tank just to get the first round pick. I also don't think the Astros or Cubs intentionally tanked to get the first pick. If they did one team obviously failed. Those two teams like every rebuilding team ever got the first pick because the nature of rebuilding, like trading major league assets for minor league ones, tends to make the major league team suck. To tank on purpose hoping that you can get one player who might help five or more years down the road stretch credibility. Even if it does help to have higher picks it doesn't make it the reason teams rebuild the way they do.

 

AS far as Cappy goes other than he was a cool dude when he was here signing him isn't worth noting. I hope he doesn't make the team because that would mean we have room for him on the 40 man roster. I'm kind of hoping we have too many quality players on it not worth losing for him.

[djoctagone]

one has the wonder if the main reason why capuano made the team is because the brewers are concerned about the poor showings of wily peralta and chase anderson this spring. an early exit for either starter (they will be back-to-back starters by game 5) puts a huge toll on the other projected long guy (ariel pena or tyler cravy).

[patrickgpe]

one has the wonder if the main reason why capuano made the team is because the brewers are concerned about the poor showings of wily peralta and chase anderson this spring. an early exit for either starter (they will be back-to-back starters by game 5) puts a huge toll on the other projected long guy (ariel pena or tyler cravy).

 

doubt it, they wanted a lefty reliever. if one the starters struggle, i think Davies or Lopez gets the first crack at filling in. there is no other lefty in the pen, that is cappy's role.

[djoctagone]

So how much did Cappy sign for? Is it possible that Cappy is a better (or known) clubhouse presence to the youngsters, the kind the Brewers want to have a few around at the cost of a little upside?

base salary of $1.5 million for capuano.