MIL signs Eric Gagne (1y/10M, +1M in incentives)

[LUKE232323]

I guess I'm confused as to why people care how much we're giving him if it's a one year deal. Is that amount going to prevent us from doing something we would have otherwise done? No, so I could really care less.

 

I don't see how anyone could be against this signing. Gagne has had arguably the best closer career of all-time (highest save conversion rate ever), and is still just turning 32 years old, and outside of an 18 inning sample with Boston, was back to himself last year.

 

Great signing.

[lukevan]

Don't want to steer the conversation away from the topic, but....

 

I still wouldn't mind seeing Kearns or Luke Scott in LF, but I'm not giving up on Rolen just yet. I think the Brewers will end up being the best trade partner for the Cards and would likely get some money to help pay for Rolen. The defensive upgrade would be extremely valuable IMO assuming good health of course.

 

I really feel we need to move Braun's glove off 3B.

[zurch1818]

Carrie Muskat is the Cubs Adam McCalvy

[TauPentaRei]

anyone with an ESPN insider log-in share with a brotha what olney has to say?

[LUKE232323]

Olney basically said that the Gagne trade was one of the worst in recent memory by Boston, but then went on to say that while it was a lot of money to give him, it could have been absolutely the perfect move by the Crew. Said that the Brewers have too much talent to win now to leave the closer role unattended, saying that none of the guys before the Gagne signing were ready for that role. Talked about how a one year deal was very smart, given how badly the FA market has turned and their flexibility to sign guys next year.

[mrwisconsin]

Tom H just updated his blog on Jsonline and said the Brewers don't have to clear the 2 spots until it is offical but he said 2 pitchers will leave.

[PeaveyFury]

Tom said one or two of the pitchers he listed "might get punted", so that is likely just his speculation at this point:

 

http://blogs.jsonline.com/brewers/archive/2007/12/09/gagne-is-guaranteed-10-million.aspx

[dpapo]

Something to keep in mind about the 40 man roster. Wednesday, Dec. 12th is the deadline date for teams to offer arbitration. And the Brewers may create a spot or two by not offering arbitration to one or two players. Of the following list of players, I think Mench is the most likely player not being offered arbitration.

Kevin Mench, Dave Bush, Chris Capuano, Claudio Vargas, J.J. Hardy, Brian Shouse, Greg Aquino, Seth McClung and Matt Wise.

[RoseBowlMtg]

Anyone have a fear that when Gagne lost speed on his fastball that he might show up on the Mitchell Report on Thursday?

[endaround]

Since Aquino spent almost of the year in the minors, he isn't arby eligible. He still should be DFA'd. If he actually gets through waivers he'd actually have higher trade value.

[Invader3K]

Didn't he have surgery on his arm, though? I thought that was a big factor in him not being able to hit the high 90s anymore.

 

Anyway, I don't think teams should base any moves on who might show up on such a report, since it doesn't necessarily have any real implications anyway.

[NastyTwig]

With all the talk about the young studs (CV, Yo, and Parra) and new bullpen arms, I kind of forgot that we have the best pitcher in the NL when he's healthy.

[LUKE232323]

With all the talk about the young studs (CV, Yo, and Parra) and new bullpen arms, I kind of forgot that we have the best pitcher in the NL when he's healthy.

 

Jake Peavy?

[LouisEly]

Anyone have a fear that when Gagne lost speed on his fastball that he might show up on the Mitchell Report on Thursday?

 

Gagne is/was more of a changeup pitcher, a la Trevor Hoffman. He never had a real blistering Turnbow-esque fastball; it just appeared to be faster because of a great change.

[trwi7]

Anyone have a fear that when Gagne lost speed on his fastball that he might show up on the Mitchell Report on Thursday?

 

Gagne is/was more of a changeup pitcher, a la Trevor Hoffman. He never had a real blistering Turnbow-esque fastball; it just appeared to be faster because of a great change.

 

I don't know where you get he never had a blistering fastball. I remember him hitting high 90's in his Dodger days and even after his surgeries he can still hit 93-94. Yes, he does have a devastating changeup but he does throw hard.

[SeriesFinale]

I guess I'm confused as to why people care how much we're giving him if it's a one year deal. Is that amount going to prevent us from doing something we would have otherwise done? No, so I could really care less.

Maybe I do have an "old Brewers" mentality, but I can't help but wonder if financial concerns over a lousy million or two might prevent us from dealing from a specific player or two the rest of this off-season

I'm just keeping my fingers crossed for Gagne's health...other than that, I like this signing more and more

 

 

 

 

[TooLiveBrew]

Of the following list of players, I think Mench is the most likely player not being offered arbitration.

Kevin Mench, Dave Bush, Chris Capuano, Claudio Vargas, J.J. Hardy, Brian Shouse, Greg Aquino, Seth McClung and Matt Wise.

Even with endaround's observation on Aquino's status, you still just made Kevin Mench cry. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[JJHardy7]

No one here is privy to the Brewers finances, or Attanasio's bank account, as far as I know. People are being somewhat naive, in my opinion, if they think the Brewers are truly strapped for cash. Everyone in the know is saying "baseball is rolling in cash" right now, more than ever. The Brewers are part of that.

 

Again it's not this simple. It comes down to how much Mark A wants to make. From his view, this is a business. He and the Brewers have enough money to spend, but at what point does a signing not make sense from a business view. This isn't all about how much Mark A has to his name, but it's more of what he wants from his investment. He paid a lot of money to get this team and I think he deserves to decided how much profit he wants for himself. If the Brewers continue the success, the profits for him go up and eventually a small market team can afford large contracts -- but that takes a lot of minor league talent, good spending, and a heck of a lot of winning. Mark A isn't a Brewers fan by nature, he's an owner of a business.

[Ennder]

Gagne threw in the high 90's before his injuries. He has been clocked over 100 MPH before. Scouting reports said he set up his 74 MPH changeup with a 98 MPH fastball.

[kdeval31]

Can't wait until this giveaway... http://lh6.google.com/Kevin.Deval/R1xy2ZNAuAI/AAAAAAAACGM/cc0upKrnzyc/s144/Gagne.jpg

[Patrick425]

Can't wait until this giveaway... http://lh6.google.com/Kevin.Deval/R1xy2ZNAuAI/AAAAAAAACGM/cc0upKrnzyc/s144/Gagne.jpg

Unfortunatly, you probably never will. I doubt that they would plan a bobblehead day for him during his first year on the club, not knowing what type of year he will have. And, since it's a one year contract, there is a very good chance he will not be with the club in 2009. If he has a great year, he will probably be too expensive, and if doesn't have a great year, but the Brewers resign him next year, he probably won't warrant a bobblehead.

[mothershipconnection]

Nice work on the bobblehead pic.

[Invader3K]

Again it's not this simple. It comes down to how much Mark A wants to make. From his view, this is a business. He and the Brewers have enough money to spend, but at what point does a signing not make sense from a business view. This isn't all about how much Mark A has to his name, but it's more of what he wants from his investment. He paid a lot of money to get this team and I think he deserves to decided how much profit he wants for himself. If the Brewers continue the success, the profits for him go up and eventually a small market team can afford large contracts -- but that takes a lot of minor league talent, good spending, and a heck of a lot of winning. Mark A isn't a Brewers fan by nature, he's an owner of a business.

Yes, I understand all of that. Believe it or not, I run my own small business, so I have no delusions that Mark Attanasio is in this just because he loves baseball. Baseball is a business, and Mr. Attanasio deserves a return from his investment. I don't think anyone is disputing that. That is only one very small part of it, though.

 

I'm just saying that no one here even knows how much profit the Brewers made last year, or what Attanasio's ultimate business plan really is. I mean, we could theoretically see them make a big spending push this year or next yet, win a championship, and then slowly scale back (and no, I'm not implying that they are going to a Florida Marlins model), or supplement that spending with revenues from a playoff run. I admit, I'm not sure how much revenue a team like the Brewers makes from going to the playoffs, but I'm sure it's more than a couple hundred K.

I guess I'm really just saying some of the worries about payroll here seem a little premature, since trades will likely be made before spring training yet, and also because we all know Melvin wouldn't be spending money he isn't supposed to. At least we aren't hearing stuff like "We won't be able to afford Fielder because of signing Gagne", like we were last year when Suppan was signed (although that was more in relation to Ben Sheets).

[JJHardy7]

I guess I'm really just saying some of the worries about payroll here seem a little premature, since trades will likely be made before spring training yet, and also because we all know Melvin wouldn't be spending money he isn't supposed to. At least we aren't hearing stuff like "We won't be able to afford Fielder because of signing Gagne", like we were last year when Suppan was signed (although that was more in relation to Ben Sheets).

 

I didn't make a shot at you personally or your own business and I know where you are coming from. I personally don't like a lot of the money talk and I agree the other signings/trades based on money may not impact this at all. I just don't like how some fans say "hey there's money -- spend it!" and then when the Brewers do they say "too much money". There aren't going to be too many great free agent signings anymore. There just won't be. There might be some good signings based on waivers, but in this day and age you have to spend to get -- if you want a player with track record -- or give up players. Mark A wants to make money. I don't think Mark A thought the Brewers stink and are in a bad spot and I'd like to do some charity work and help them out. He wants to make money. That's his bottom line. The next question (post Gagne) will be how much do other players improve my bottom line. If the Brewers think they have the best they have (they will trade pitchers) in terms of cost benefit, they'll sit still. I give Mark A credit because he believes he can make a market of this, but I'm sick of the "the Brewers have money...spend it!" idea or the "we can't get Rolen" idea. Mark A will do what it takes at DMs advice to make this team win -- and make money.

[Big Reed]

I think a major point that hasn't been brought up is that Mr A does have another business. it's not like all of his eggs are in the brewers. I recal l Steinbrenner, Busch , gene Autry, and turner all operated their baseball teams at a loss, knowing they had income coming in from other sources. To them, their baseball team was a tax write off. Who is to say that owning the brewers is not also a tax write off for mr A? Although, if it were, at least he's been making a great profit for the past three years. I recall the last three years of the Selig ownership. Those years were pretty lean years for his car industry as well. Selig didn't have any real extra cash to pump into the brewers. Those last three years of selig's ownership were also some lean years for the other brewers' investors. I think the economy has changed for the brewers' ownership. And they can afford to take less profits from the brewers.

 

I believe what you are seeing here is a new owner who doesn't really need the brewers to be his #1 source of income, and he's using some of the profits from the past couple of years to make a little run for a championship. I doubt highly that the brewers' payroll will go over $100 million. But I believe the brewers could approach a payroll of up to $85 million before they would start losing money. I recall last spring melvin said he was $10 million over his projected budget. but the brewers still made out ok.

 

Watching last year's team, my son kept asking me every game how many runs did the brewers give up in the 6th and 7th inning. there was that one game when we only gave up 3 runs in those two innings. it was getting rather sad but comical, because we all knew come the 7th inning, we'd always give up a few runs. I have to believe Mr A wanted to spend his money to fix that problem. I'm not going to say I would have gone out and acquired mota, Riske, Torres, and gagne. I do like these guys better than brad lidge. I will admit, melvin saw the problem, identified players to acquire to fix that problem, and went out and agressively signed them. melvin certainly earned his paycheck this month. not it's up to the players to reward the faith melvin has entrusted in them.