2008 Offseason, Possible Ideas

[strawbossisevil]

FA Signings:

Jorge Posada - (2 years, $25 million)

Damien Miller - (1 year, $1 million)

Cheap RH Backup OF - (1-2 years, $2-4 million)

Graffy - (1 year, $3 million)

 

Offseason Trades:

Capuano, Nix and Estrada to Tampa for Carl Crawford (Tampa's catching has two guys hitting below the mendoza line, and their rotation has guys with ERAs over 6 in it, seems like a decent fit)

Gwynn to Texas for Otsuka (new closer)

Vargas, Gamel and Escobar to Houston for Brad Lidge (set up)

Mench to whoever wants him for middle relief/minor leaguer or DFA

 

Team Signings:

Sheets - (5 years - 68 million)

 

Lineup:

1. Crawford (speed in OF helps the team's defense)

2. Posada (great OBP, usually almost 100 points better than his BA)

3. Braun

4. Fielder

5. Hart

6. Hall

7. Weeks

8. Hardy

 

Rotation:

1. Sheets

2. Gallardo

3. Bush

4. Suppan

5. Parra/Villenueva

 

Bullpen:

CL: Otsuka

SU: Lidge

SU: Turnbow

MR: Wise

MR: Parra/Villenueva

Loogy: Shouse

Long Relief: McClung or other bullpen stooge (possibly from Mench trade)

 

Bench:

OF: Gross

OF: RH bat

IF: Graffy

IF: Counsell

C: Miller

 

Signing Jorge Posada would solve the two problems. The need for a high OBP bat early in the order, and the need for a better hitting catcher.

 

Receiving Crawford in the trade would allow us to have time to let LaPorta take his time in the minors (so we can bring him up closer to his prime and when he's absolutely ready) as well as team defense, as our outfield would have three guys who could cover a lot of ground. It would also allow us to generate a lot more offense with another speedster and natural leadoff hitter.

 

Having Turnbow, Lidge and Otsuka would give us one of the best late inning bullpens in baseball. Wise is pretty solid when he's right (without the mental issues). Shouse is very good in the Loogy role. Finally, we would have Villy or Parra to take the role of longer middle relief.

[brettac1]

As I said in that other thread a while back, Posada would be the guy I want the most. That's one spot where they would get a massive upgrade in FA. I really have a hard time seeing the Brewers being able to lure him in, though.

 

I disagree with Posada hitting second, though. He typically hits into a lot of DP's.

 

There's no way that spare parts deal gets a superstar level talent like Carl Crawford. He just turned 26 like two weeks ago, he'll fetch a lot if the ever do trade him (they shouldn't).

[endaround]

Posada will likely ask for four and get at least 3 years. Hard to see the Brewers taking that on. Micheal Barrett might ne a netter target.

 

Tampa won't do that deal. They want young pre-arby pitching for any of their Ofers they move.

 

Likely too much for Lidge at this point, especially with only one year left before FA.

 

Mench will likely get DFA'd. I just see no market for him at his current salary.

[dadofandrew]

Several teams have asked about Mench and been told he's unavailable. Dye gets $11M and Mench has no value at $3M? Heh.

[strawbossisevil]

What if we offered Parra or Villenueva instead of Capuano? Would that get them to bite?

 

The fact of the matter is, Tampa Bay is very weak at Catcher (something we'd be willing to trade if we got Posada), and Starting Pitching (something we have extra of).

 

They have an abundance of OFs, so you would think that there is some possible deal there (even if it means trading Villenueva or Parra)

 

Capuano is hardly worthless too, even with his recent struggles. He was an allstar last season, and has been a solid #2 up until this last year. He is better than just about all of Tampa's pitchers (except for Kazmir of course). But I can see what you mean, since he is not pre-arby.

 

I really wonder if Posada would want to play more than two years though, he's already 39. That's pretty old for a catcher to sign a four year deal.

[endaround]

Several teams have asked about Mench and been told he's unavailable. Dye gets $11M and Mench has no value at $3M? Heh.

Dye is 31st among all OFers with an OPS of .797 Mench would be 53rd with an OPS of .726 which includes a platoon advantage. Which one do you think is easier to replace with a minimum level player?

Tampa would deal for either Parra or Villaneuva but not sure the Brewers would.

[Nader Raider Tim]

Posada would be a nice addition, I would imagine it would be tough to convice him to come hear. Pudge and Lo Duca are also free agents, I wouldn't mind seeing the Brewers look into signing Pudge. Before Pudge signed his last contract weren't there at least some rumors the Brewers made a "competitive" offer to him?

 

The guy I would really like to see the Brewers acquire this offseason, and someone who could potentially be available, would be Ramon Hernendez from Baltimore. Matt Wieters probably won't be the opening day starter but will at some point next year probably take over catching duties. Hernendez could DH and play 1st, but for the right offer I would assume Baltimore wouldn't hesitate to trade him if the right deal came along. Bush/Cappy and Estrada for Hernendez and a moderate prospect.

[MNBrew]

Sounds like Graffanino likely won't play at all next year, so 1 yr. @ $3M is not realistic. Maybe $500K or $1M just to hang onto his rights. But I'd much rather see them go after Cirillo AND Loretta. I like Counsell's experience but I hate his production. Totally banjo hitter. He's not much better than Luis Rodriguez, who the Twins finally sent down to AAA after 4.5 months of his .170s BA.

 

I think the main spot to target for improving in next year's lineup as far as position players go is clearly LF. Can't at all understand why Melvin would want to hang onto Mench. Good friend who actually sees lots of games says the guy consistently looks terrible.

 

Underproduction has been a problem at 2B (Weeks) and CF (Hall), but the Brewers are committed to them so they'll likely be given the chance to turn things around.

 

With the entire roster, the goal is to upgrade the overall talent and ML production as much as possible.

[mothershipconnection]

I don't think I'd give Graffy any more than $500K next year,as the injury he's coming off of won't have him ready in time for the season, so he'll either miss a bunch of time getting ready or he'll be rusty and possibly awful. If we can't get him really cheaply, we may as well go in another direction.

[recte44]

Mench is unavailable? WHAAAA?

[JohnBriggs12]

Nobody is going to sign Graffanino at any price. He's going to need a 2nd surgery in 3 months and 8 months after that to recover. He probably won't play at all in 2008. Besides, they have the utility guy to replace him already on the team in Joe Dillon.

 

Forget Crawford. He's going nowhere especially for that package. Tampa Bay is not going to trade him and if they did, 2 dozen other teams would be bidding on him.

 

Posada, a lifetime Yankee would sign with Brewers? Dream on. Barrett? No thanks. Estrada will be the starter. Rottino will be his backup. Miller will retire.

 

Jenkins at one year $9 million is still the best option in LF or if not Jenkins, then Gross. Mench hopefully will be replaced perhaps even by Dillon. Of course that would require backup IF help, but hey Callix Crabbe is ready to play in the major leagues and he'd make the minimum.

[Team Canada]

This seems like the same basic idea as this one. Perhaps discussion should be moved over there?

[strawbossisevil]

Nobody is going to sign Graffanino at any price. He's going to need a 2nd surgery in 3 months and 8 months after that to recover. He probably won't play at all in 2008. Besides, they have the utility guy to replace him already on the team in Joe Dillon.

 

Forget Crawford. He's going nowhere especially for that package. Tampa Bay is not going to trade him and if they did, 2 dozen other teams would be bidding on him.

 

Posada, a lifetime Yankee would sign with Brewers? Dream on. Barrett? No thanks. Estrada will be the starter. Rottino will be his backup. Miller will retire.

 

Jenkins at one year $9 million is still the best option in LF or if not Jenkins, then Gross. Mench hopefully will be replaced perhaps even by Dillon. Of course that would require backup IF help, but hey Callix Crabbe is ready to play in the major leagues and he'd make the minimum.

My bad on Graffy, maybe Loretta would be an alternative. I'm not ready to put all of my chips into Joe Dillon (who is over 30 and never really performed this well at the ML level before).

 

Crawford can be had if you throw enough at the Devil Rays. What do they need most? Catching (where they have one guy hitting a few points over 200 and another hitting below 200) and pitching (take a look at their rotation if you don't believe me). Where they have too much depth is in the outfield. They are very deep at that position, and could move one of their outfielders if it meant improving their pitching, catching or both. I see it this way, are the D-Rays just looking to collect their players, or are they interested in having a better team. I think receiving a top pitching prospect and a decent catcher (which don't come cheaply in the trade market) might be just what they are looking for. And let's not forget, Crawford is starting to get expensive. I think they'd bite with this deal.

And about Posada, there is a little phrase that goes, "money talks". You throw enough of the green stuff at him, he might consider coming to Milwaukee. Sure he's been a Yankee his entire career, but he's got a chance for one more big payday, and I imagine he won't let his love of the Yankees prevent him from lining his pocketbook. Telling someone to dream on is a bit rude, isn't it? Let's talk civilly please.

Jenkins is a good option at $9. He is a 20+ HR hitter, and those don't come cheaply on the FA market. I would be glad to take on that option, IF we can't get a better alternative (Crawford for example) on the trade market. Next years options in the outfield on the FA market don't look too good, so we won't do much better than Jenkins anyway (Dunn would be an option, but do we really want to get worse defensively?).

Crabbe and Dillon are both unknowns right now. I'd rather our bench have experience, and a track record that we can count on. Having one of those guys would probably be fine, having two could make our bench an offensive black hole.

 

[pitchleague]

My bad on Graffy, maybe Loretta would be an alternative. I'm not ready to put all of my chips into Joe Dillon (who is over 30 and never really performed this well at the ML level before).

 

 

Pardon me, if I'm wrong, but isn't Loretta 35-ish or so? If he is, than the quoted argument has no bearing except that Loretta is a MLB veteran of 10+ years while Dillon has not.

[strawbossisevil]

It has bearing since most players who haven't played much in the major leagues before the age of 30, are usually not good long term options. There are reasons they have not joined a major league team before that point. He's very old for making the jump, that's my point.

 

The other point was, with Loretta we have someone with a proven track record. Yes, he's older. But he's had plenty of time in the majors to show he belongs. I'd rather have old and experienced than old and completely inexperienced. Chances are the second guy will wash out (how many good players do you know that have come up in their 30s and done well), while the first guy you can probably know going into the season what to expect from him

[MNBrew]

Loretta is like Cirillo minus a year or two and with better knees. Proven .300 hitter. Above average defensively (Cirillo was a Gold Glove caliber 3B but the love kept going to stronger offensive players in bigger markets on winning teams, and Loretta was solid and no slouch, though not a Gold Glover). Loretta also has been a regular starting ML shortstop.

 

Saying Tampa Bay would part with Crawford for the right offer is like saying the Brewers would do the same with Prince. You can offer whatever you want. But if they're not interested in considering trading him, it doesn't matter what you offer. Crawford is a very solid ML outfielder with youth and plenty of upside in his favor. And although he'd be a great asset on any team's roster, and I'd love to have him, I think the same reasons that we'd want him are exactly why Tampa's probably not interested in moving him.

[MNBrew]

I should also add that I think that offer you propose for Crawford would at least give Tampa Bay's GM something to think about to the point where he wouldn't hang up on Melvin upon hearing the offer.

[And That]

Trading Estrada to Tampa is a good idea, but you better be darn sure you get someone (perhaps Posada, but probably not) decent to replace Johnny. I'm no big fan of the guy, but relying on Damien Miller and Vinny Rottino/whomever for a year could be disastrous, especially with how good we could be in '08.

 

If we wanted to get Crawford in any sort of deal involving Estrada, we're probably looking at something closer to Estrada, Capuano, Parra and Gamel for the guy.

[twobrewers]

If we wanted to get Crawford in any sort of deal involving Estrada, we're probably looking at something closer to Estrada, Capuano, Parra and Gamel for the guy.

I would say that is about right. That is too rich for my blood - but we always overvalue our players and undervalue the players we want to acquire. Crawford is having a great year. Guys like that don't get traded.

 

Posada will never happen. First, we aren't going to outbid the Yankess AND the Mets for his services. I can't see anyway he doesn't resign with the Yanks. He can even take less money and make it back later by being one of the legendary Yankees. The guy is just a Yankee through and through - not quite on the level of Jeter, but close.

 

Verducci at SI.com just wrote an article about how old all of the free agent catchers are and looking at the sharp decline after a certain age. I had Estrada - but I don't want to see money tied up in a player in decline either. Link

[JohnBriggs12]

And that is right, the Brewers don't have catching to trade. Outside of pitching, catching is their biggest need and has been since BJ Surhoff took off the gear.

[splitterpfj]

How about Ben Sheets and Bill Hall for Johan Santana? There are some decent free agent options in CF.

[colbyjack]

I want Fukudome:

 

http://www.armchairgm.com/index.php?title=Kosuke_Fukudome

 

He's going to be a FA after the Japanese season, meaning no posting fees, and this may be a good year to jump on a Japanese OF bat since there are going to be a bunch of good bats out there in FA (especially if Arod exercises his out clause as reported).

 

He may never hit 20 home runs, but many think he's going to hit a ton of doubles while drawing a ton of walks. He plays great defense in RF and has a very strong arm. Step aside Jenkins...

[kgbaseball]

Is about to have elbow surgery, so that's a concern.

[TwinsBrewersWorldSeries]

BA over .300 and OBP over .400 (4 of the past 5 seasons)... where do I sign? Our new #2 hitter (hell, he'd even be a good #5)... Brewers have good luck with "doubles machines"

Weeks
Hart/Gross
Braun
Fielder
Dome
Jenkins/Hall
Henry Blanco http://static.yuku.com//domainskins/bypass/img/smileys/pimp.gif
Hardy

[Nader Raider Tim]

So would Fukodome project as a Bobby Abreau minus some of the steals. If so count me in as loving the idea.

 

http://rotoworld.com/content/features/column.aspx?sport=MLB&columnid=2&articleid=28803

 

This has a little info on Fukodome, predicts he will end up with the Giants for 3 years 36 million