Brewers interested in Pedro Feliz

[And That]

Feliz is far from my favorite option at third base. His OBP is deplorable and he hasn't even slugged .430 since 2004. That said, putting Feliz in at third and moving Braun to left would *almost* be a lateral move offensively as the OBP in LF was fairly low last year (~.315, IIRC). And obviously the defense would be improved drastically. That's why I could live with the move.

 

Not close to an ideal situation, however, because we need more team OBP, and Feliz is one of the few guys out there who, given regular playing time in the lineup, could actually hurt the team OBP significantly. That's not what we need.

[twobrewers]

That said, putting Feliz in at third and moving Braun to left would *almost* be a lateral move offensively as the OBP in LF was fairly low last year (~.315, IIRC). And obviously the defense would be improved drastically. That's why I could live with the move.

That is basically my point. We really aren't losing much offense - and the defense would dramatically improve.

 

Plus, as I mentioned - there is a chance Joe Dillon shows that he can be an everyday starter at 3B. He really showed a lot last year, and most projections have Dillon around a .750 OPS. However, you would not want to move Braun and completely rely on Dillon.

 

So you sign Feliz, and his .725 OPS becomes the worst case scenario. That is significantly better, IMO, that the worst case scenario of starting Gross/Kapler in LF and leaving Braun at 3B.

Ensberg is a decent choice. Rolen is a better choice. I am just pointing out that everyone looks at Feliz's numbers and immediately shoots down the idea - "We need more OBP" - because that is so quantifiable. But the defensive value that Feliz could add isn't quantifiable. Bottom line, we have plenty of offensive players that can't field a lick. I think we can afford one defensive player who can't hit a lick - but is a whiz with the glove.

[Fear The Chorizo]

based on comments from just about everyone 'in the know' between the Brewers and Cardinals organizations, the Rolen trade just isn't going to happen. with Rolen out of the picture, the rest of the 3B all have significant "warts" as Doug Melvin said. Feliz's wart is terrible OBP. His plus is exceptional defense at third base.

 

while the ideal brewerfan.net solution to 3b would be to trade away some of our marginal starting pitching for a great all-around 3b, reality obviously bites. the 2007 season showed that the Brewers needed significant upgrades to their team defense and relief pitching depth. While I agree that Feliz doesn't improve our offense at all, I don't think acquiring him to play 3rd and allow Braun to move to LF will suddenly cause the team to lose 10 games because he is allergic to taking pitches. Offensively, he's Estrada with more power and I think everyone here agrees that he is one of the 5 best defensive third basemen in all of baseball. I guess I'm indifferent overall to the thought of bringing him in with a 1 or 2 year deal, since it would mean a drastic defensive improvement even if it's at a cost of poor offensive production at 3rd. A bounceback year from Hall, and the offensive production you'd get from all 3 OFs, and the rest of the Brewers' IF would still be potent. They led baseball in HRs, and most of the everyday players should continue to improve their plate discipline and OBP with more experience. Feliz + Kendall in terms of OBP would still be better than last year's combo of Estrada + Menchkins.

 

I personally would rather try to trade for Teahen from KC, since they have a surplus of starting outfielders, and move him back to third. He's a lefthanded bat with a solid OBP, and he was adequate defensively at third prior to Gordon's callup. He'd also give the Brewers another player that's comfortable at multiple positions.

 

Specific to this thread, I'd rather have Feliz at 3rd and Braun in left than keep Braun at 3rd and start 2008 with a platoon of Dillon/Gross (2 poor defensive OFs in their own right, Dillon in particular has more value to the team as a utility backup than being involved in a platoon) in left. IMO, the addition of Feliz would improve the Brewers, but I think there are other options and players that could improve Milwaukee (Teahen, Lofton, Blalock, the pipe dream of Rolen) even more.

[sbrylski]

Teahen has to be the top trade option at this point, though I'm just not sure the Royals are looking to trade him. You'd have to think we have already inquired.

 

Another thing to keep in mind is that we could delay this decision until near the deadline this season, if we have to. See how Dillon plays out, see what Gross can do in a fulltime or full platoon role, or even grab Ensburg cheap and see if he has anything left. If there aren't any trade partners right now, there's just nothing you can do. By late July, something will pop up - especially if we are offering a SP.

[TooLiveBrew]

How hard is it to understand that, just as Braun's O outweighed his stinky D last year, Feliz's D outweighs his crappy O? I don't understand all the uproar. Is he a star? No - but to call it 'backwards' is just plain old misinformation. Lateral? Perhaps - at worst... but certainly not backwards.

[StrangeBreww]

How hard is it to understand that, just as Braun's O outweighed his stinky D last year, Feliz's D outweighs his crappy O? I don't understand all the uproar. Is he a star? No - but to call it 'backwards' is just plain old misinformation. Lateral? Perhaps - at worst... but certainly not backwards.

why on earth make a lateral move at this point?

 

if we are going to make a lateral move, I'd rather stand pat and see what develops with what we have now.

 

as I said earlier, we don't have to accept scrub players like Feliz any longer, we are finally a contender.

 

it's a new attitude now fellas, we don't have to fill our roster with over-priced band aid players any longer.

[wisconsin sports fan]

Wasn't Melvin saying he wanted a guy with a high OBP...Please Doug don't make a move for the sake of making a move. i would much rather have braun at third and a gross/dillon/kapler/gwynn type platoon in left.

[brewmann04]

I thought Feliz can play either 3rd or lf so it might not be a bad addition,and they can still move a pitcher before the season.

[JohnBriggs12]

I've said this before in other posts, but the Brewer pitching staff as now constituted is not one where top defense at 3B means as much as it would with a staff full of lefthanders that get outs with a slider (Capuano doesn't even feature much of slider) or righthanded sinker ballers. Other than Suppan, who features a sinker on this team? No I don't count Chris Spurling. In fact it could be argued that OF defense with the flyballers on the Brewer mound is more important.

 

Sure you'd like to have at least average D at third in a perfect world, but if Braun improves from an .895 fielder (very bad) to a .925 fielder (simply below average), with his offense, he's a huge plus as a third baseman.

[TooLiveBrew]

Can we establish that there's so much to examining defense than just looking at Fldg. %? I don't want to be rude about it, but that's just oversimplification. This would be a lateral move given the vast improvement on D. Couple that with the fact that we could likely afford to bat Feliz 8th since our lineup is so good, and I've honestly come around some on the Feliz idea.

 

Is it the best or my ideal choice? No. But it's probably going to be better than adding a LF, and then hoping Braun's logical offensive regression doesn't get entirely swallowed up by his D - even expecting some slight improvement.

[Milltownhooker]

Ensberg would be a better option than Feliz. Feliz will cost more & likely won't do a one year deal.

[TooLiveBrew]

Ensberg might be a better option. His career has been puzzlingly up & down, and I guess he's had his share of injuries. When healthy, he's probably a no-brainer to be better all-around than Feliz. But it honestly might be very reasonable to never expect Ensberg to out-SLG Feliz in the forseeable future... fortunately we need OBP in terms of offense.

 

Could Ensberg really cost more than a one-year, $4 mil. deal at this point? I'm not sure how much we can improve upon him as an option when considering that any trade would require us parting with someone(s).

[RobertR]

FWIW, if I were to bet on someone right now, I'd think Joe Crede, assuming he shows up healthy in Spring Training, is the front runner. You get a large defensive upgrade with at least a little offensive upside.

 

Robert

[trwi7]

FWIW, if I were to bet on someone right now, I'd think Joe Crede, assuming he shows up healthy in Spring Training, is the front runner. You get a large defensive upgrade with at least a little offensive upside.

 

Robert

 

I sure hope it's not Crede. Injury prone, a year away from free agency, low OBP, career .750 OPS. Just not a good player overall. Much rather have Ensberg.

[Gopher74]

I sure hope it's not Crede. Injury prone, a year away from free agency, low OBP, career .750 OPS. Just not a good player overall. Much rather have Ensberg.

You know, if you could get the 2006 version that looked like they were prone for a huge breakout, that could be a very good trade. High reward, little risk.

 

Exceptional defender at 3rd which is the primary concern. Good power which is always nice, but not important. He's not an OBP type guy and he never will be, but he had a .323 in 06, so take that for a jumping off point and I'll take that.

 

I mean, we're assuming that Ensberg's going to get back to his .396, but he was only around .320 last year and doesn't provide near the defense that Crede does, so is it really that cut and dry? Plus, one was primed for a big breakout, the other is in the midst of a odd career of drastic up and downs. At this time last year people were talking about Crede being one of the real up and comers.

 

I just see him as a good option if he comes cheap and we're not able to make another move. He could really surprise.

 

 

[trwi7]

I mean, we're assuming that Ensberg's going to get back to his .396

 

I never assumed he would get back to a .396 OBP. I can easily assume though that he will out produce Crede in the OBP department though since Crede's career high OBP is .320 something and his career OBP is .305

 

but he was only around .320 last year and doesn't provide near the defense that Crede does, so is it really that cut and dry?

 

You have to put the OBP in the context of the BA as well. Crede hits about .280 and he still can't touch a .330 OBP. Ensberg hit in the .230's the past couple years and one year he had an OBP near .400 and last year it's basically as good as any OBP year Crede has ever had.

 

Plus, one was primed for a big breakout

 

How was Crede primed for a big breakout? Most players don't break out when they're in their late 20's and Crede will be 30 a few weeks after opening day next year. He is what he is. A great defender with some power and an abysmal OBP.

 

At this time last year people were talking about Crede being one of the real up and comers.

 

And that's ridiculous to me. How many players are "up and coming" at the age of 29? Not many.

 

 

The whole point of getting a 3rd baseman is to move Braun off of 3rd base. He doesn't have to be a gold glove defender, just average would be a huge improvement. Just give me an average defensive 3rd baseman with a solid walk rate and I'm happy. Ensberg provides that, Crede does not.

[Milltownhooker]

I'd be for adding Ensberg & Lofton. Thus giving the crew three options at 3rd.

 

Option 1

3rd Braun

LF Lofton/Kapler

CF Hall

Bench Ensberg

Option 2

3rd Hall

LF Braun

CF Lofton/Kapler

Bench Ensberg

 

Option 3

3rd Ensberg

LF Braun

CF Hall

Bench Lofton

[DrWood]

ensberg really can't drive the ball well after his shoulder injury. if pitchers continue to walk a guy that hits .240 with limited power, then I guess it's ok, but I (and apparently most ML GM's) don't look at ensberg favorably.

 

If feliz is brought on at bench warmer prices, I'm all for it. He is versatile and has a bit of pop.

[Gopher74]

And that's ridiculous to me. How many players are "up and coming" at the age of 29? Not many.

 

You're right. But he wasn't 29 years old last year. He was 28 years old and was coming off a 30 HR season and was a GG caliber defender. Not sure what's so "ridiculous" about that, but he was a player who was coming into his own.

 

I never assumed he would get back to a .396 OBP. I can easily assume though that he will out produce Crede in the OBP department though since Crede's career high OBP is .320 something and his career OBP is .305

 

Great. And my point is that it's POSSIBLE that he doesn't bounce back, and if his OBP is only .320 again, then Joe Crede would be without question a better pickup. Agian, I'm not against Ensberg, I actually like him, I'm just willing to acknowledge that there may be other options, and they're not all going to be perfect.

 

How was Crede primed for a big breakout? Most players don't break out when they're in their late 20's and Crede will be 30 a few weeks after opening day next year.

Again, you're taking what I said people were saying about him in 06 before his injury this year and applying his age right now. Actually, no, you're taking what I said about him in 06, and applying it to what his age is going to be after this season starts. And how was he primed for a big breakout? Not exactly sure I know how to answer this question. Not even sure what you're asking. A lot was expected of him. Again, he was coming off a .283/.323 30 HR season and was a great defensive 3rd basemen coming into his prime before he got hurt last year. He was a great prospect, and there was the thought that he was simply a late bloomer and was ready to fulfill his enormous potential. So again, you're getting hung up on one word. I guess you're right. It wouldn't be a "breakout" since he'd already had that breakout that year.

[/i]You have to put the OBP in the context of the BA as well. Crede hits about .280 and he still can't touch a .330 OBP. Ensberg hit in the .230's the past couple years and one year he had an OBP near .400 and last year it's basically as good as any OBP year Crede has ever had.

 

I don't get what you're saying. You're essentially giving Ensberg more credit because of his lower BA. Even when Ensberg's hit .280 his OBP hasn't been any higher. In fact, his OBP has always been lower. His OBP when he hit .291 was .377. Still a very good OBP. If he could put up those numbers, he'd clearly be the best option. Then again, if he could put up those numbers, he wouldn't have been non-tendered, and he'd have a job right now.

 

But I guess I don't understand why I have to qualify it by comparing to his BA. You're saying that you want a guy with a good OBP. I'm simply pointing out that last year his OBP was only .320, and pointing out the possibility that he may not be this OBP juggernaut that we're looking for at 3rd base.

 

 

 

The whole point of getting a 3rd baseman is to move Braun off of 3rd base. He doesn't have to be a gold glove defender, just average would be a huge improvement. Just give me an average defensive 3rd baseman with a solid walk rate and I'm happy. Ensberg provides that, Crede does not.

 

 

Yes, average would be good enough. Great would be even better.

And like I said, you're assuming that Ensberg's OBP is going to come back. It very well may. I'm simply saying that Crede's not as bad an option as you want to make him out to be. He's got very good power, he's an exceptional defender, and while a .283/.323 line isn't ideal, when you factor in his power and his defense, it's still a giant upgrade when you factor in the defensive upgrade at 3rd, and the offensive numbers in LF.

 

He's basically a far better defensive version of Bill Hall a guy that a lot of people are in favor of moving back. I'd rather have Chavez, and Beltre, Rolen or Blalock. But as Melvin said there are warts with all of them, and Crede's is OBP. But the 2007 Milwaukee Brewers would be better with Joe Crede at 3rd and Ryan Braun in LF than they would be with Ryan Braun at 3rd and Dillon and Gross in LF. That's all I'm saying.

[Big Reed]

while it's nice to quote stats, and it's nice to believe a player will bounce back, I have to take the negative approach. it's my nature.

 

Let's look at the reality of what Ensberg is, not what he once was. Ensberg used to be the Astros' starting third baseman. Now he's on the outside of baseball looking in. Ensberg was replaced by houston by several different players as their starter last year, and finally they traded for Wiggington to start at third. Wiggington isn't the greatest of all third basemen. Houston traded Ensberg to the padres for a PTBNL. That's a big white flag. Ensberg didn't fair any better with the Padres than he did with Houston. he only played third in 12 of the 30 games he played for the padres. That's a second white flag. After the season, the padres told Ensberg, thanks for the memories and allowed him to become a free agent. No team has jumped at the opportunity to sign Ensberg. even Jenkins found a team. It's January. it would appear the only interest in ensberg is brewerfan posters who are in love with his old OBP stats. I would have to ask all those in love with Ensberg's stats from the past, did any of you actually see Ensberg play a game for the Padres last year? or do you like him purely based on his stats? two professional teams gave up on him last year, and no team has come calling for him. looking at his games played at third verses his games played for the padres is probably the best stat to use to guage his worth and his future. he played 30 games for the padres last year - 12 at third, and one game at first. he was a pinch hitter for the other 17 games. Clearly his days as a starting thirdbaseman are behind him. Clearly Ensberg is not the answer.

 

I liked Golpher's post about Beltre in the Seattle thread on the major league forum. however, I can't see Seattle having any desire to trade him. In addition to his great fielding skills, he is an offensive cornerstone for their team. Although, I think he comes cheap at $13 million.

 

I like Crede. I know he has his faults. yes, there are better options, but those options are not available in trade.

 

One of the things that is not stressed enough is when a player changes teams, his new team does not always ask him to do the same things he did for his old team. And hitting in a different spot in the batting order, a player's offensive production may also change. an example would be Bobby Abreu. some people think he's on the decline because his offensive power numbers are not close to what he produced as a phillie. my contention is that his power numbers are down because the Yankees don't need him to hit homers . they have other players to do that. two other players that changed teams in the past 10 years were Vlad Guerrero and Maglio Ordonez. Clearly, neither player is in a decline. But both players are now hitting fewer homers than they did for their former team. Why do I bring this up? I bring this up because if the brewers did acquire a player such as Rolen or Beltre, or Chavez, I would not expect their power numbers to be better than what they previously produced. With Braun, Hart and Fielder on this team, the liklihood is that Rolen or Chavez would bat 5th or 6th at best and would not be in a position to be a major run producer or power threat. I can see the potential of where brewer fans will be deeply disapointed if Rolen or Chavez is acquired and he does not equal his past production. but the reality is that if the brewers do acquire a big name third baseman, he would not be filling the same role he filled on his previous team, and his batting performance/role will be different. An example of what I'm saying can be found in Sal Bando. he garnered MVP votes playing for Oakland. he played 5 years for the brewers - three of them full time. His first year as a brewer saw his homer total go from 27 t o 17 while playing 159 games.; but his doubles total went from 18 to 27. Clearly for the brewers he had a different hitting role.

 

I would like the brewers to go after a big name third baseman. but I will not expect him to put up the same type of stats he produced for his previous team.

[trwi7]

You're right. But he wasn't 29 years old last year. He was 28 years old and was coming off a 30 HR season and was a GG caliber defender. Not sure what's so "ridiculous" about that, but he was a player who was coming into his own.

 

Okay he was still in his late 20's. Most players don't breakout that late so forgive me if I'm a bit skeptical. He may hit for power but again, we have that. I don't see him improving his walk rate though which is what I want.

 

Great. And my point is that it's POSSIBLE that he doesn't bounce back, and if his OBP is only .320 again, then Joe Crede would be without question a better pickup.

 

Right of course it's possible but what's more likely in your opinion, Ensberg keeping a .320 OBP or having it go closer to his career average of .366?

 

Again, you're taking what I said people were saying about him in 06 before his injury this year and applying his age right now. Actually, no, you're taking what I said about him in 06, and applying it to what his age is going to be after this season starts. And how was he primed for a big breakout?

 

My mistake but again I fail to see how he's going to improve his walk rate. He may, I have no idea I'm just saying it's not likely that he does.

 

Again, he was coming off a .283/.323 30 HR season and was a great defensive 3rd basemen coming into his prime before he got hurt last year.

 

See that's what concerns me the most. He hit .283 but couldn't even get to a .325 OBP. If he gets unlucky and his average drops to say .250 his OBP will be in the .290-.300 range. That is a liability. My thinking with Ensberg is he won't be a liability on offense or defense just solid across the board.

 

I don't get what you're saying. You're essentially giving Ensberg more credit because of his lower BA.

 

No I'm giving him credit because of his superior walk rate. Just look at their walk rates. I'm more confident if Ensberg has a .250 BA that he can still maintain at least a .330-.340 OBP at minimum than if Crede saw his BA dip to the .250 range.

 

http://www.fangraphs.com/graphs/227_3B_season_full_3_20071001.png

 

http://www.fangraphs.com/graphs/556_3B_season_full_3_20071001.png

 

That's what I'm talking about in those two graphs. Despite Ensberg's up and down batting averages he still maintains a solid walk rate. Crede has been below average, near poor his whole career.

 

 

 

[trwi7]

Big Reed, I wouldn't use the Astros as a team to judge our own personnel decisions on. That team has horrible management, he was unlucky in Houston and that lowered his batting average, however, his walk rate was still good. He still had a good walk rate in San Diego but again they have Kevin Kouzmanoff at 3B and a top prospect Chase Headley in the minors who is almost ready for the majors.

[MNBrew]

Can we establish that there's so much to examining defense than just looking at Fldg. %? I don't want to be rude about it, but that's just oversimplification. This would be a lateral move given the vast improvement on D. Couple that with the fact that we could likely afford to bat Feliz 8th since our lineup is so good, and I've honestly come around some on the Feliz idea.

 

Is it the best or my ideal choice? No. But it's probably going to be better than adding a LF, and then hoping Braun's logical offensive regression doesn't get entirely swallowed up by his D - even expecting some slight improvement.

TLB, you'll trump me on looking up & understanding fielding stats beyond fielding % every time. So you can probably somehow disprove with stats anything I'm about to suggest. Two themes seem to recur in your posts with great frequency in this thread with which I disagree:

 

1. Defense trumps most any offensive consideration in the options the Brewers could/should entertain.

 

While I'm very much on board with the idea that the defense needs to improve appreciably, I think it only needs to be an importantly weighed part of the equation, not the single most important consideration. No matter how good his defense is, the upgrade to Feliz' glove cannot come close to offsetting the significant step down it would be to add Feliz's offense.

 

2. In spite of your last comment above, it seems you don't believe Braun to be capable of any sort of meaningful defensive improvement at 3B.

 

Jenkins was a constant adventure in LF in his first years but became one of the best defensive LFs in the game. Bill Hall was a total wreck in the field when he came up and now he's at least passable if not potentially above average if he'd ever play the IF again. And even though he still has plenty of room for improvement, Rickie Weeks has gotten appreciably better over his first 2 years. I'm not suggesting Braun will turn into Brooks Robinson, Mike Schmidt, or even Corey Koskie defensively at 3B. But the guy is young enough, athletic enough, and talented enough to become a league-average defensive 3B. I'm more interested and willing to let him grow toward that at 3B than to have him start over again (as he did at 3B from SS at U of Miami) by moving to LF.

 

I'll also assert what some may feel is heresy around here: While fielding % doesn't tell the whole story about a player's defense, it sure tells a whole lot more about it than BA does about his offense. As such, it's not so ridiculous to lean on fielding % as a realistic baseline indicator of a player's defensive capability, however simplistic or incomplete that may seem to folks who vigilantly dive in deep on fielding stats.

 

As a convenient example to illustrate my point: Jose Valentin was said to have soft hands and exceptional range at SS. Never mind that he had 51 or so errors a year or two before he came up to the Brewers, and that he often had a high error total with the Crew. For all the positives the fielding stats would've indicated about his overall defense (based on my admittedly simple understanding of "deep" fielding stats), the guy still threw the ball all over creation and tried to make too many plays on balls he just should've eaten. We kept hearing about how Valentin would make plays on balls other players wouldn't even get to. However, that didn't totally offset the fact that he'd also screw up a whole lot more plays than the average guy, too.

 

In summary, to get back to the original point of the thread, I think the Brewers still need to aim high as they look at LFers or 3B to try to acquire. To me, Morgan Enseberg & Pedro Feliz just do not amount to aiming high.

[Gopher74]

No I'm giving him credit because of his superior walk rate. Just look at their walk rates. I'm more confident if Ensberg has a .250 BA that he can still maintain at least a .330-.340 OBP at minimum than if Crede saw his BA dip to the .250 range.

Yea, I get that, it just wasn't a point of contention. I don't think anyone's arguing that Ensberg's BB rate is much higher than Crede's. I guess when we're saying Ensberg's OBP is better than Crede's, I don't get why we need to put it in any context, but anyway, that's a valid point. Crede's going to have to post a good BA in order to even post only a "below average OBP". I just think that .280/.325 from Crede is worth a lot more than .240/.345 from Ensberg.

 

And, the truth is, given the choice, speaking from a position of relative ignorance, as I don't know what's going on with Ensberg, he is probably the person I'd go after. You'd have to think you're going to have to give up something decent for Crede, warts and all. If that something's a Claudio Vargas, or a Mat Gamel remains to be seen, but it'll be something of some value.

Okay he was still in his late 20's. Most players don't breakout that late so forgive me if I'm a bit skeptical. He may hit for power but again, we have that. I don't see him improving his walk rate though which is what I want.

 

And again, break out is the wrong term as he already DID break out. I guess me saying that he was expected to take another step AFTER his breakout year would be more accurate. However, he got injured, and slumped last year. My point is at this time last year, he'd be a very highly sought after player, suggesting that if we got him, it'd be a "buy low" type scenario.

 

Again, forget about Ensberg for a moment. Who would you rather have at 3rd? Crede, or Hall? I think Crede's likely to hit for as much power, and is a far better defender. Plus you get Gwynn in CF possibly if you move Hall to 3rd, or you get Crede and Hall both in the lineup. I just think in lieu of other options, Crede's a decent one.

 

Right of course it's possible but what's more likely in your opinion, Ensberg keeping a .320 OBP or having it go closer to his career average of .366?

 

I'd guess without really knowing much about him that it's more likely that he lands somewhere in the middle. Maybe .245/.345? And the question again becomes is that better than Crede's .280/.325 line when you add in the power and added defensive benefit?

 

See that's what concerns me the most. He hit .283 but couldn't even get to a .325 OBP. If he gets unlucky and his average drops to say .250 his OBP will be in the .290-.300 range. That is a liability. My thinking with Ensberg is he won't be a liability on offense or defense just solid across the board.

 

Well, we hope he'd be solid across the board. But I think his power would be poor for a corner IF'er, and his defense is average at best. But that's a valid point. Do you want 6's across the board, or do you want a 9 in Defense, a 8 in power and then a 4 in OBP(for arguments sake). Again, I'm only suggesting that Crede's at least another viable option ALONG WITH Ensberg.

 

That's what I'm talking about in those two graphs. Despite Ensberg's up and down batting averages he still maintains a solid walk rate. Crede has been below average, near poor his whole career.

 

 

Again, I understand this. I'm simply saying that despite the differential in OBP, Crede's still a good option.

[trwi7]

Reading Adam McCalvy's mailbag it just seems that Ensberg makes too much sense.

 

If Melvin decides to go the trade route, do you think our chances are good of acquiring Texas Rangers third baseman Hank Blalock? There's your left-handed power bat, a decent on-base percentage and he's pretty good defensively. Who do you give up in return? Perhaps Capuano and Bush? I think we'll have enough depth on our pitching staff to compensate. Your thoughts?

-- Donny Z., Pleasant Prairie, Wis.

You might be underestimating what it would take to get Blalock, and that's the problem. The Brewers would probably have to agree to give up one of their young core players (Corey Hart gets asked about a lot) to get a Blalock or a Joe Crede, for example, and Melvin is not willing to go there so far. Blalock is coming off a major injury (he had a rib removed in May), and his numbers since a tremendous 2004 season are more pedestrian, especially over the last two years.

Link

 

This is what I'm talking about. Insane asking prices which actually hurt our team more than help it. So the question is do you sign Ensberg for cheap for a couple years who provides a solid OBP and decent defense or do you give up someone like Hart to get a Crede or Blalock? The answer to me is easy, take Ensberg and run, especially considering the injury issues Blalock and Crede have, same goes for Rolen. If they want one of our excess starting pitchers (Cappy, Bush or Vargas) then by all means go ahead and make the trade but it sounds like they're asking for a hell of a lot and that just isn't worth it for us.