Ways to jumpstart Brewers in 2008

[hauser42]

Byrnes signed with the D-Backs so the original plans are shot on this thread. When I look at his 25 man roster again I see a lot of guys with speed that are suspect hitters, not something I would want to see.

[crewcrazy]

What I'd try to do:

 

- Jenkins option declined, but sign him to something like 2 years at $5-6 million per year. I'd kind of like to keep him, but if the Brewers lose him on the open market, it won't be a big deal. I'd laugh if the Cubs went after him since they're always looking for left handed bats.

- Bring Miller back for another year at $1 million...even though he's getting old and can't catch as much as he used to, I think you'd be hard pressed to find that kind of quality for your back up catcher given the price. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Brewers make another J.D. Closser-type waiver claim in an attempt to find a catching nugget, but I think I can live with Estrada/Miller for another year.

- Find a lefty reliever. Ray King, maybe? There's not really much out there as far as free agent LHRP goes, so I'd settle for a RHRP that gets lefties out very well. Jeremy Affeldt could also be a possibility if the Rockies don't lock him up long-term.

- Figure out who's closing. It'll probably be Turnbow again next year, unless Doug gets a reliever through a trade.

- I might try to trade Capuano or Vargas, but since pitching depth is so valuable, I'd probably only trade one of them. I have no idea what they could bring in a trade, though...if they keep pitching the way they've been pitching the past few weeks, it might be hard to get something of value for them and you'd probably be better off not selling low.

- If Jenkins doesn't come back, roll the dice on someone like Milton Bradley as a short-term solution in LF until La Porta is ready. My only concern is that Bradley's a known nutcase, and I don't know if I'd want a guy like that planting ideas into the heads of the young guys about going crazy if things aren't going well. Since Bradley hits lefties so well, he'd be a better platoon partner for Jenkins than Mench, but it'd probably be too expensive to have both Jenks and Bradley.

[UWRyan428]

Capuano / Vargas / Gross(Billy loves OBP) / Mat Gamel

 

to the A's for

 

The Douche and Rich Harden

-We need to shore up the bullpen, and I have long drooled over the chance to add Rich Harden to the staff...at almost any cost. This offseason would be an ideal "Buy Low" opportunity, with his injury history. Gamel allows them a prospect at the hot corner to take over when Chavez's back forces him to Frank Thomas-status. Perhaps it is overpaying with giving away such young talent, but for Rich Harden, it will have to be an appealling package.

 

Jr. Gwynny / Manny Parra (or CV the Younger...I just like imagining how those their three presumed lefties would slot next year...if Parra could make the rotation)

 

to Minnesota for

 

Nathan....Too much? Too little? I imagined what it would have taken to get Gagne...and Linebrinck...and added the two together. Nathan? A man can dream....

 

Rotation...

 

Sheets

Harden

Yo

Bush

Suppan

 

Bullpen...

 

Shouse

Wise

Parra/CV (whichever isn't traded to the Twins)

Linebrinck (Freshly resigned....Turnbow-type contract)

The Douche

Turnbow

Nathan

[MNBrew]

To Detroit:

P Chris Capuano

OF/IF Billy Hall

OF Tony Gwynn Jr.

 

To Milwaukee:

OF Curtis Granderson

 

----------------------------

To Philadelphia:

P Dave Bush

 

To Milwaukee:

OF Michael Bourn

P JC Romero

 

Jaybird, I gotta say I love the thought you've put into this. But I'm not totally sure these two trades are the ideal ways to do things.

The first trade, flipping Capuano, Hall, & Gwynn for Granderson, seems too much of a textbook case of the Brewers selling low and buying high. I like Cappy in general but he's pretty much stunk since the All-Star break last year. Hall likely isn't going anywhere yet. And trading BOTH primary CF's they have in the same deal doesn't seem like the most practical trade.

 

I'm also thinking you're overpaying for the two guys from Philly. Romero's been so bad that he's basically been dumped by three teams the past couple years (traded for then A-baller Alexi Casilla, then released by both the Angels & Red Sox). I hope he's back on track now - seems so. But I'd put more value on Bush than Romero & Bourn, who, I'll admit, I don't know much about.

 

However, the way you've gone at this does get at one main agenda item for Doug Melvin this off-season: He still needs to do a better job of sorting out his outfield surplus than he has since October.

 

Jenkins isn't a bad player at all. But at $9M he's grossly overpaid for what he's doing. Mench seems to have become more of a singles hitter than a power hitter. I like what his Texas track record shows he can do. But I don't like overall how that's transformed in his time as a Brewer. He would seem to be a prime candidate to trade to an AL team as a corner OF and DH - either as an affordable fit to a team like the Yankees, or as a veteran, proven-type fit for a building team (KC and Tampa always seems to come to mind) - for an okay AA or solid A OF prospect. I'd like to hope Hall would rebound some in CF next year. What we could really use is a monster-type bat in LF again. Mench & Jenkins' combined numbers aren't that shabby. But they both still seem so hit-and-miss when they're in the lineup.

 

I'd love to end up with Cirillo back yet again, too. Counsell is solid defensively and is a nice veteran presence, but even Yost has said repeatedly that at this stage, production matters. If Hardy goes down again, we have a banjo-hitting shortstop. This lineup has enough trouble creating offense when it's not hitting HRs. We need fewer easy outs.

 

Then there's the pitching side of things . . . . And maybe this isn't the best week to look fairly at that big picture.

[brewcrewfan08]

I think we have to do three things...

 

1. Resign Linebrink or Cordero, or trade for a solid veteran reliever or closer.

 

2. Get a LF who is righthanded that can bat in the five hole, wether that be in a trade or in Free Agency.

 

3. Get Weeks healthy so he can have a monster year.

[GAME05]

really, i don't see that there needs to be too much of anything done. i don't see the reason for blowing up the team with big trades or anything like that. it's not like we're two players away from the playoffs as we are right now, so why do anything big? CoCo is really the only impact FA who's going to leave.

 

LF--Menchkins clearly gone, but if Melvin sees LaPorta as a soon-to-be answer, I don't see a big name as a possibility because of the length of contract he'd demand. I'd like someone who would take a two year contract here. Dye might be someone who would take a short contract because of his poor contract-year play right now, or even a one-year fill-in like a Kenny Lofton.

 

CL--smells like Linebrink at $7M per. awful high, but that's the market. Whether or not it's Turnbow, we'd need a set-up guy, but the only way to resign Linebrink is to promise him the closers job.

 

Bullpen--with the Menchkins savings, I'd like to add two FAs at $4-5M per.

 

BUT if I was going to blow up the team some, I'd do this:

 

Trade Sheets for some top-line SP and CL prospects, who could start out in the bullpen and make that stronger or fill in at starter if needs be. Maybe a few players like Detroit's Rodney, who could step in at closer should Linebrink falter.

 

Use the Sheets and Menchkins money to sign a high-end FA to play anywhere in the OF. Use some money for a veteran Util. guy like a Placido Polanco, since our utility guys always end up with a lot of playing time.

[vacin8r]

With the arbitration raises some players are getting, the money saved from letting Menchkins go will be eaten up pretty quickly. I don't know what the payroll constraints will be for next season(probably in the 70-75 mil range again), but I doubt we can make any major splashes. I say let Coco, Linebrink, Graffy, and Menchkins go. This should net us 4 comp picks for 2008. Also, trade Vargas and a low level prospect(perhaps a Brad Nelson type) to Tampa Bay for Johnny Gomes who can play LF and crush lefties without completely sucking against righties(of course Gross would get some of the starts against righties, but not a strict platoon which Yost doesn't seem to know how to run anyways). I also like the idea of bringing back Damian for one more season at 1-2 million. I think that Turnbow wouldn't be bad as closer and we have plenty of internal options to have at least a mediocre bullpen next season. Heres my roster/payroll breakdown, I estimated most non-hard numbers on the high side so perhaps any left over payroll can be used to begin the arduous task of locking up the big guns to keep this thing going for as long as possible.

 

C	Johnny Estrada	$4,500,000.00
C	Damian Miller	$2,000,000.00
1B	Prince Fielder	$500,000.00
2B	Rickie Weeks	$4,000,000.00
SS	JJ Hardy	$4,500,000.00
3B	Ryan Braun	$500,000.00
IF	Craig Counsell	$2,800,000.00
IF	Joe Dillon	$500,000.00
CF	Bill Hall	$4,800,000.00
RF	Corey Hart	$500,000.00
LF1	Johnny Gomes	$4,500,000.00
LF2	Gabe Gross	$500,000.00
OF	Tony Gwynn Jr	$500,000.00
SP	Ben Sheets	$11,000,000.00
SP	Yovanni Gallardo	$500,000.00
SP	Dave Bush	$3,500,000.00
SP	Chris Capuano	$4,500,000.00
SP	Jeff Suppan	$8,000,000.00
LR	Zach Jackson	$500,000.00
LR	Manny Parra	$500,000.00
MR	Spurling or Wise	$3,000,000.00
MR	Seth McClung	$3,000,000.00
LGY	Brian Shouse	$3,000,000.00
SU	Carlos Villanueva	$500,000.00
CL	Derrick Turnbow	$3,200,000.00
	koskie buyout(not sure if we pay this)	$500,000.00
	jenkins buyout	$500,000.00
	total:	$72,300,000.00

 

Keep in mind when you have a team this young competing for a division title, further player development alone can be a big improvement.

 

 

-Don

[endaround]

Now aside from neither Hardy nor Weeks getting that much given how much time they missed, you gave McClung too many zeros. And I highly doubt Tampa does that trade. Vargas is under contract for only one more year he has little value for Tampa.

[vacin8r]

Do I expect the players in arby to get what I listed? Absolutely not. I posted those amounts because I am sure they don't get more than that. McClung is listed that high because he will be in arby and its tough to predict what players will get. Again, this is much more than I expect in order to make sure I don't go over the target amount. Just like players making the minimum should get less than $500K. Any money that is less than that posted can go right in the sheets/prince/braun/jj/yo/whoever resigning fund(as well as signing bonuses for all those picks). As far as the trade with Tampa, you may be right that they wouldnt take just Vargas and Nelson for Gomes, but it probably isnt far off. Supposedly they threw his name out there at the deadline looking for any starting pitching they could get(look at their 3-5 in the rotation, it's scary). To them, he is little more than a platoon DH as their entire starting 8 will be set for a long time if only Baldelli can stay healthy. I know we are frustrated by many of Vargas' starts, but he does have a fair amount of trade value. What I don't know is if Nelson is enough of a throw in to even it up. Maybe we throw in some other guy who they crave more, but all we have to do is replace a oft-backup DH.

-Don

[Nader Raider Tim]

Do the Brewers need a jumpstart? Or are they in need of an overhaul?

 

Areas needed to upgrade on next years Brewers: team defense, bullpen, left field

 

What I would love to see happen:

 

Braun moves from 3rd base to Left field, the Brewers are to good of a club to be allowing team defense to bring this club down. Can Braun turn into a good 3rd baseman? Yes, probably. How long would it take though? The Brewers can't afford to have Braun and Weeks in the same infield, especially when Fielder and Hardy seem to be very limited in range. The Brewers have a huge hole in LF and Braun would at least give the Brewers a trio of OFers that would have +range. Hart, Hall, Braun with Gwynn as primary backup.

 

Now that fills the LF hole but leaves a larger hole at 3rd base. Joe Crede and Chad Tracy are potential trade targets I would like to see the Brewers to explore. Mike Lowell is a free agent who I would also give a look to.

 

Bullpen, Scott Linebrink needs to be resigned. Linebrink, Turnbow, Villenueva is a decent trio of relievers.

 

And finally a move simply to make a move. Trade Bush or Capuono for Ramon Hernendez and a prospect.

 

Weeks

Hart

Fielder

Braun

Hernendez

Lowell

Hall

Hardy

 

Sheets

Gallardo

Suppan

Bush/Capuono

Parra

 

 

Disclaimer: I know the Brewers probably aren't going to move Braun off 3rd base, im just not certain keeping him is the best move.

[DHonks]

Jenkins will not net us any draft picks, as his option would be declined...making him a FA.

Al, the Brewers could decline Jenkins' option AND offer him arbitration. He'd be foolish to take a 1 year deal when some team would give him 2-3 years at 20-30 million. Since we would have offered him arbitration, we'd be getting draft picks. By declining his option he is still our property until the free agency filing deadline. At that point he can opt to become a free agent.

[UWRyan428]

If a team were willing to offer Jenkins a contract for $10mil per year, on a multiple year contract, wouldn't it behoove the Brewz to pick up his option and then trade him to that team, as he would be more valuable to them at $9mil for one year? What I am getting at is that my guess is that Jenkins would be lucky to get a contract like he was originally given, considering his platoon-needs...