The Brewers made there biggest splash of the off season so far by signing hall of fame closer Trevor Hoffman to a one year 6 million dollar deal. You make think this is a lot like the deal they gave to Gagne last year except one huge difference Hoffman can still pitch. Well Gagne actually pitched quite well down the stretch and wouldnt mind him back on a cheap deal, but he also sucked for a long time last year. Hoffman is I believe 39 years old so his best days are behind him but he saved nearly half of his teams games last year. He is a change up specialist that doesn't need velocity to suceed so the age shouldnt be that big of a deal. My only concern is that he doesnt strike a lot of guys out, which can be bad in a Milwaukee, however he is murder on righties and should be a nice one two punch at the back of the bullpen with Villy. Good luck Trevor and cant wait for Hells Bells to be blasting through the PA system at Miller Park.
It also appears that offering Sheets arby was a good move. The 1st round draft pick compensation for teams trying to sign sheets is scaring a lot of them away, well that coupled with his injured past. However his numbers are better than AJ Burnett and Burnett got 80 million over 6 years. If the Brewers could bring back Sheets on a one year 12 million dollar deal it very well could be the steal of the off season.
Sheets, Gallardo, Parra, Bush, Suppan is rotation that should finish in the top half of the NL in ERA. There bullpen still has some question marks but at least they have a plenty of options to throw out there. Off the top of my head I count Riske, Dillard, Villy, McClung, Stetter, Coffey, and Jorge Julio. That doesnt even take into acount some up and coming bullpen arms like Luis Pena and Omar Aguilar some quiet pickups in R.J. Swindle and Eduardo Morlan. The Brewers have pleny of options lets hope they can catch lighting in a bottle. Doug Melvin often builds his bullpen like this and often he has success. Remember nobody wanted Solomon Torres last year. He also found Dan Kolb and Derrick Turnbow off the scrap heap and both enjoyed all star years in Milwaukee.
4 comments:
I like the move. Like you said, still need to figure a spot in that starting rotation, whether its Sheeter or going out and getting a Looper or something similar.
Still, nice to live in a time when the Brewers are mentioned as trying to make deals like the Sabathia trade last year or this Hoffman deal and you don't have to roll your eyes knowing it will never happen. This owner wants to win and he goes out and gets shit done.
With another 20 game pack paid for already, I'm looking forward to that shitty AC/DC song blasting, as well.
TK,
I think Melvin is taking a page out of Theo Epsteins playbook at least on a smaller scale. Like Theo, Melvin basically only signs only low risk high reward type guys. Yeah Gagne was a bit of a risk but the money is only guranteed for one year, and they still have payroll flexibility, which is critical when you have guys like Prince, JJ, Corey, and Rickie all in arbitration. They locked up Braun through his arby years and I think they will propobably lock up one more of those guys, I think it will be rickie personally (he will come the cheapest). Then the other guys either will be let to walk and get picks for them or traded to re-stock our farm. However we seemed to have turned the corner with Attanasio(SP?) and we actually seem like a team that is trying to compete year in and year out. I like next years Brewer team a lot. I dont think they will have enough depth to make a run at the playoffs but they should be a competitive team a few games over .500. Who knows maybe they make a deal for a Peavey or a Holliday at the deadline again this year. Regardless we have a solid young core, a good GM, and an owner that wants to win now. Its a great time to be a Brewer fan.
Tasty, its been a while, but it feels good to be back on deal with it. I, however, am not as optimistic about this move. This guy is 41 and just got run out of San Diego. He has been the face of that franchise since Tony Gwynn retired and they still wanted nothing to do with him this year. I think McClung could be a very good closer if he only had one inning to come out and let it fly.
Furthermore, I think Melvin is a very average GM. All of his talent has come through the draft, thank Zduriencik for that and he will be missed. Melvin has been shopping JJ around especially to the Twins for one or two of thier young arms. Not the smartest move considering him and Fielder were the only 2 brewers didn't look scared shitless at the plate the last 2 weeks of the season. I think he is a top 5 shortstop in the national league.
All this being said, I do think the Brewers could contend this year if they can sure up that rotation. Give me Sheets for 75% of the year rather than Braden Looper for a whole year any day.
I dont think Hoffman got run out of San Diego at all. You dont need a closer when you are winning 65 games. It is absolutely pointless to spend your money on a guy that will only give you 45 innings. However for a contender those 45 innings are crucial and I think Hoffman is still valuable closer. He had pretty solid numbers last year. 3.77 ERA, 1.037 WHIP, 46 K's in 44 innings, those numbers compare to Torres first half last year. Yes he is in some decline, but dont forget in 07 he was runner up for the CY Young Award. This guy does not throw hard so age will not be as big of an effect. For 6 million dollars I see almost no risk in this deal.
Not sure what your point is about Melvin shopping Hardy. He really has no other option than shop his arby guys. I agree with you that Hardy is a top 5 SS. If he got traded to the AL I would argue that he is the best SS. However the Brewers best prospect plays the same position and will be cheap and under team control for the next six years. Hardy isnt going to be cheap, and likely is going to leave Milwaukee at some point. I would say the same with Fielder. As a Twins fan you have to know that your GM is going to be shopping your most expensive player to try and reload. I am drooling over the idea of Hardy for Span and Slowey. Though that deal would never happen.
I also am going to disagree a bit with your thoughts on Melvin. Yeah the scouting director deserves a lot of credit for the Brewers, but you cant give all that credit to him. Villy, Torres, Cameron, Kendall, oh yeah and a guy named CC all played pretty crucial roles in getting to the playoffs. Not to mention they canned there manager down the stretch and still made it. (I dont neccasarily think that was the correct move, but it worked out). I think Melvin deserves as much credit making the playoffs as anyone.
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