Baseball truly is life with Over 20/Under $20
November 30, 2009People often say baseball is a metaphor for life, and as the Over 20/Under $20 sale shows, people of all stages of life can benefit from the great holiday values.
“If we want to sign a Type A free agent, we would lose a second-round pick, but we don’t have a way…
November 30, 2009"If we want to sign a Type A free agent, we would lose a second-round pick, but we don't have a way to get picks back. Our whole Draft process needs to be redone."
Doug Melvin, Milwaukee's hapless broken record GM - Brewers officials met Monday afternoon and appear unlikely to offer arbitration to any of the team's five compensation-eligible free agents.
Brewers weigh arbitration decisions
November 30, 2009Brewers officials met Monday afternoon to make final decisions, but it appeared they were leaning against extending arbitration offers to any of their five compensation-eligible free agents, including infielder Felipe Lopez.
Inbox: Can Brewers ink Fielder long term?
November 30, 2009In this edition of the Inbox, fans want to know whether the Brewers can sign Prince Fielder to a long-term contract, the status of several up-and-coming prospects and more.
Monday’s Frosty Mug
November 30, 2009Some things to read while opening your disco ball.
It's a bad news-good news kind of morning. The bad news: I've been up sick since 4:15. The good news: I couldn't sleep anyway, so this morning's Mug is early. Enjoy.
Kevin Millwood was the newest name to surface in Rumorville over the weekend, based on a Boston Globe report saying the Brewers had inquired about him. With that said, Rangers GM Jon Daniels said he hasn't spoken to Doug Melvin in weeks. Two things to take away from this:
- Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe is still a hack and any time spent propagating one of his rumors is time wasted.
- "Working the phones" is apparently still not a big part of Doug Melvin's offseason plan.
Where does Prince Fielder's 2009 season rate among the best in Brewer history? In-Between Hops has it at #4, behind Robin Yount's 1982, Paul Molitor's 1987 and Rollie Fingers' 2001. Notably absent from the top ten: Ryan Braun's 2009.
In the minors:
- The Timber Rattlers are looking for your help selecting a third baseman for their 15th anniversary team. Follow the link to learn about the candidates, then jump over to their front page for the poll.
- Speaking of the Rattlers, Rattler Radio has a nice note on the offseason of 2009 Rattler Jim Henderson, who's spending the winter in Okotoks, Alberta, helping train the next generation of Canadian baseball players.
If Derek Lowe doesn't become a Brewer this offseason, he might be a Dodger again. There's a new rumor floating around that has Atlanta and Los Angeles potentially swapping bad contracts, with Lowe going to the Dodgers and Juan Pierre to the Braves. Meanwhile, Lowe sounds like he'd prefer to stay in Atlanta.
Every now and then someone asks me for a glossary of statistical terms we frequently use (and misuse) here on BCB. It's a project we'll probably get around to eventually, but in the meantime Where Have You Gone, Andy Van Slyke? has a pretty good starting point.
Are you ready to start projecting for 2010? If so, FanGraphs has an opportunity for you to weigh in on players for next season. It could be interesting.
I just heard about it for the first time yesterday, but apparently Cyber Monday is "a tradition worth keeping," so you should head over to the Brewers online store and give them 20% less than all your money. And if you're looking for a gift for a
On this date in 1972, Larry Hisle was traded from the Cardinals to the Twins, marking the third time he'd been traded in 13 months. Five years later, Hisle would become a free agent for the first time, sign with the Brewers and finish third in the voting for 1978 AL MVP.
On this date in 1994, the Brewers sent reliever Doug Henry to the Mets for two players to be named later. Nearly a month later, the final PTBNL was announced: Fernando Vina. Vina hit .286/.349/.389 over five seasons as a Brewer.
Happy birthday today to Ray Durham, who turns 38.
Drink up.
Winter League Update for 11/30/2009
November 30, 2009In Venezuela:
- Alcides Escobar went 5-for-12 over the weekend with a double, a stolen base, two runs scored and three RBI. He's hitting .379/.411/.476 in 110 VWL PAs. He's stolen nine bases in eleven attempts.
- Hernan Iribarren also went 5-for-12, with two doubles, a walk and a caught stealing, scoring three runs. He's hitting .318/.380/.453 in 162 PAs, with seven stolen bases in 13 attempts.
In the Dominican Republic:
- Erick Almonte went 2-for-7 over the weekend with three RBI. He went 0-for-2 on Friday, ending a streak of 20 consective games where he'd reached base safely. He's hitting .327/.453/.447 in 134 DWL PAs.
- Carlos Gomez went 4-for-13 over the weekend with a walk, a stolen base, a run scored, and five strikeouts. He's hitting .361/.467/.500 in his first 40 DWL PAs, and is 3-for-4 stealing bases.
- Juan Sandoval pitched 1.2 scoreless innings Friday, allowing one hit, no walks and striking out two in his only scoreless appearance in the last two weeks. e has a 3.95 ERA in 13.2 innings, with a 1.32 WHIP and 8:2 K:BB ratio.
In Puerto Rico: Martin Maldonado went 1-for-2 on Friday, picking up just his third PWL hit in 20 ABs.
Cyber Monday a tradition worth keeping
November 29, 2009The turkey put away, the initial rush of the big shopping weekend passed, Cyber Monday is the time to regroup and take advantage of 20 percent off during the all-day sales event at the MLB.com Shop.
Weekend Dad Mug — Hall of Fame Edition
November 29, 2009
Hey Kids! Back so soon? -- Why did your Regular Dad drop you off at my doorstop again? Your guess is as good as mine.
In either case let me get some clean sweatpants on (I had a little trouble with the turkey), and tell you all about a bunch of guys that played the game the way it was supposed to be played, not with all the muscle pills that the players use today.
The BBWAA is a group of Busterolney's that randomly elect retired players to be enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown every year. They released their ballot on Friday. The names that are going into the fishbowl this year are as follows:
Roberto Alomar, Kevin Appier, Harold Baines, Bert Blyleven, Ellis Burks, Andre Dawson, Andres Galarraga, Pat Hentgen, Mike Jackson, Eric Karros, Ray Lankford, Barry Larkin, Edgar Martinez, Don Mattingly, Fred McGriff, Mark McGwire, Jack Morris, Dale Murphy, Dave Parker, Tim Raines, Shane Reynolds, David Segui, Lee Smith, Alan Trammell, Robin Ventura, Todd Zeile
Former Brewer, Dave Parker believes he should be elected.
The most interesting ballot newbies this year are Roberto Alomar, Edgar Martinez, Fred McGriff and Barry Larkin. This quartet should make for an interesting election, as none of them are slam-dunks, nor are they easily dismissed.
- The Bleacher Report makes an argument for Edgar Martinez. Did you know only Jimmy Foxx and Babe Ruth have a higher BA, while accumulating more BBs (at least 1200 BBs) than strikeouts in their careers?
- The Bleacher Report then continues on wondering "How can the Crime Dog McGriff not get elected"? Maybe the answer is to kick Tony Perez out of Cooperstown?
- The NY Times catches us up on who Roberto Alomar is spitting on these days...
- MLB.com has a summary of the arguments for including Barry Larkin.
- And finally, the Bleacher Report just wonders if no one at all will be elected in 2010.
In other turkey grease fires, former Milwaukee superstar Bud Selig announced his pending down-stepping. Stories about Bud Selig interest me about as much as stories about your Regular Dad, or what you are doing in school, so I will leave it to you to find more about this if you so desire.
The Red Sox are in the market for a SS, and now that Alex Gonzalez has been inked by the Jays, Marco Scutaro is the Sox's primary target (Too bad the Brewers didn't have a SS to trade to Boston). Weighing in with the definitive opinion on Scutaro, is deep-frying super-utility man Lou Merloni.
Will Felipe Lopez be joining JJ Hardy in Minnesota next year? -- Bleacher Report seems to think Lopez could be a perfect fit. This just in, Felipe Lopez's wife is turkey-fire hot!
Doug Melvin weighed in on the future of Felipe Lopez and other things in a ESPN interview.
- The Brewers may very well pass on offering Lopez and Mike Cameron Arbys.
- Mat Gamel could end up in the OF
- Cory Hart's attempt to embrace patience was an epic fail
- 2010 Batting order musings.
I don't want you to think that every Thanksgiving story needs to be exclusively about turkey fires, so here is a nice piece about Prince Fielder and Casey McGehee's son Mack. On the other hand, I do want you to commit to memory the things I am not thankful for, conveniently organized in one of those Sporcle quizzes your Regular Dad seems to be so fond of.
Unless you are Ned Yost, Ned Yost IV or Julian Tavarez, I hope you had a great Thanksgiving weekend!
Rumorville: Kevin Millwood
November 29, 2009According to the Boston Globe, via Sports Illustrated:
The Brewers have made a few inquiries about Kevin Millwood's availability, but so far the Rangers haven't been inclined to move him. Millwood went 13-10 with a 3.67 ERA last season, but with a change of leagues, he might flourish.
Now, the fact that it's from the Boston Globe means it probably came from Nick Cafardo, and we've discussed how much weight his rumors deserve before.
With that said, Millwood would be a pretty nice addition, given the fact that he's an innings eater and he's actually productive. He's due $12 million for 2010 as the vesting option year in his five year deal.
Free Agent Starting Pitching: BCB Weighs In
November 28, 2009
It just occurred to me that the Winter Meetings are coming up fast, and we haven't told Doug Melvin which two free agent pitchers we wanted. (Frankly, that's probably how the Hardy/Gomez trade went down: we didn't specifically tell DM for whom Hardy should be traded, and he went rogue and made the trade himself.) Assuming we can't (and shouldn't!) get into a bidding war on the services of John Lackey, which two of the free agent pitchers listed below should we try to sign, and why? Be sure to consider salary when choosing.
(Note 1: I'm not including the likes of Mulder and Halama, as you can't sign them and assume they'll win a spot.)
(Note 2: I haven't seen much written about Kelvim Escobar, who hasn't had an ERA north of 4 since 2003. The Red Sox are asking about him, the Brewers should too.)
(Note 3: Shawn Hill is cheap, a sinkerballer, often injured, and one of the few ex-Expos out there not yet 30. A perfect flier for the Brewers.)
Here's the list:- Aroldis Chapman, LHP who throws 100 MPH, albeit erratically
- Randy Wolf
- Rich Harden
- Erik Bedard
- John Smoltz
- Andy Pettitte
- Joel Pineiro
- Jarrod Washburn
- Ben Sheets
- Brad Penny
- Justin Duchscherer
- Pedro Martinez. Vote for Pedro!
- Doug Davis
- Jason Marquis
- Jon Garland
- Vicente Padilla
- Carl Pavano
- Braden Looper
- Randy Johnson
- Mike Hampton
- Hisanori Takahashi
- Paul Byrd
- Ugh...I'll opt for choosing only one free agent and trading Gamel for the other