SB Nation - Bill Hall

Making Your '00 Face: Center Field

KLSnow — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 22:00:17 -0000

With the '00's almost behind us, it's time to take a look back and work together to make a BCB All Decade team for the '00s. Each day, we'll tackle a new position, and we'll have our 25 man roster complete sometime around the 1st of the year.

First Base: Prince Fielder
Second Base: Rickie Weeks
Shortstop: J.J. Hardy
Third Base: Bill Hall

Voting for a corner outfield spot opened yesterday and will close at 4 pm tomorrow. Today, we're looking at center fielders:

Marquis Grissom

Seasons as a Brewer: 1, 2000*
Slash line as a Brewer: .244/.288/.351
UZR (Fielding) as a Brewer: n/a**
WAR as a Brewer: -1.3

* - Grissom was also a Brewer from 1998-1999, but those stats aren't included here.
** - FanGraphs only has UZR data dating back to 2002, so no data on Grissom is available.

Jeffrey Hammonds

Seasons as a Brewer: 3, 2001-2003
Slash line as a Brewer: .241/.321/.398
UZR (Fielding) as a Brewer: -7.5 runs*
WAR as a Brewer: 0.1

* - Only includes Hammonds' 2002-2003 seasons.

Alex Sanchez

Seasons as a Brewer: 3, 2001-2003
Slash line as a Brewer: .278/.327/.358
UZR (Fielding) as a Brewer: -18.1 runs*
WAR as a Brewer: 1.4

* - Only includes 2002-2003 seasons.

Brady Clark

Seasons as a Brewer: 4, 2003-2006
Slash line as a Brewer: .284/.361/.393
UZR (Fielding) as a Brewer: -1.1 runs
WAR as a Brewer: 5.8

Scott Podsednik

Seasons as a Brewer: 2, 2003-2004
Slash line as a Brewer: .276/.344/.401
UZR (Fielding) as a Brewer: -11.3 runs
WAR as a Brewer: 8.7

Mike Cameron

Seasons as a Brewer: 2, 2008-2009
Slash line as a Brewer: .247/.337/.464
UZR (Fielding) as a Brewer: +21.3 runs
WAR as a Brewer: 6.9

Note: Bill Hall was also eligible, but was removed from the ballot after making the team at third base.

Poll

Who should play center field on the BCB All Decade Team?

Marquis Grissom

4 votes

Jeffrey Hammonds

3 votes

Alex Sanchez

2 votes

Brady Clark

61 votes

Scott Podsednik

133 votes

Mike Cameron

224 votes

427 votes | Poll has closed

Friday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 15:33:52 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

I've done pictures of Randy Wolf for three straight days, so here's one of LaTroy Hawkins.

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Some things to read while compounding the problem.

The Brewer front office staff is back home from the Winter Meetings, so it's time to take a look at the recaps:

MLB FanHouse lists the Brewers as the big winner in the NL Central.
In-Between Hops ranked the Brewers #1 in free agent signings.
Big League Stew ranked the signings of Randy Wolf and LaTroy Hawkins as the meetings' 6th and 7th biggest moves, respectively.
John Steinmiller has a recap with pictures of what the Winter Meetings looked like from inside the Brewers' suite.

For the time being, the title of "newest Brewer" belongs to Rule 5 selection Chuck Lofgren, and he's excited for the opportunity. He's been a starter throughout the minors, but it sounds like he'll be given a shot to make the team as a situational lefty. Don't underestimate the value of having one more guy in the bullpen who could be called upon to make a spot start if needed. With that said, he is at best a complement to Mitch Stetter, not a replacement.

Meanwhile, for the second straight day I'm writing about a pitcher who doesn't actually want to be here. Yesterday, it was LaTroy Hawkins, who was "very disappointed" not to return to Houston. Today it's Randy Wolf, who really wanted to return to the Dodgers. Kudos to these guys for being honest, I guess, but would throwing in a "The Brewers are my team now, and I'll work my butt off for them" be too much to ask for?

We could be waiting a while longer for a decision from Mark Mulder. The Brewer front office staff will reportedly visit Mulder in January. Given the fact that this was being reported as a nearly done deal months ago, I'd guess there's a question about Mulder's health.

With Rickie Weeks, Alcides Escobar and Carlos Gomez all projected as members of the opening day starting lineup, Ken Macha has acknowledged he'll probably have the runners in motion much more often during the 2010 season. That prompted Miller Park Drunk to launch their "RUNNING" series. I'll link to the Ken Macha and Corey Hart chapters here...the other two are a little too obscene to even be linked from this site.

In the minors:

Tom H. has a great look (with a terrible headline) at the situation faced by Jeremy Jeffress, as he prepares to return to the minor leagues knowing that one more positive drug test will be the end of his baseball career. Jeffress, who will spend the first few months of the 2010 season in extended spring training, is saying all the right things, but I'll believe it when I see it.
Earlier this week I mentioned Project Prospect's look at the speed of AFL players, and mentioned the absence of Lorenzo Cain from the rankings. Adam Foster filled in the gap for us by looking back at video and giving Cain a 55-65 rating, which is well above average.

Voting continues for our BCB All Decade Team: You have until 4 today to cast your vote for a shortstop, where J.J. Hardy leads Mark Loretta by 281 votes as of this writing. The voting is much closer at third base, where Bill Hall leads Craig Counsell by 54 votes with Russell Branyan and Ryan Braun not too far behind. Voting for our first outfield spot will open at 4 today.

Around baseball:

Astros: Signed Pedro Feliz to a one year, $4.5 million deal and reliever Gary Majewski to a minor league deal.
Athletics: Released reliever Santiago Casilla.
Nationals: Released pitcher Zach Segovia.
Reds: Signed infielder Chris Burke to a minor league deal.
Rockies: Signed Chris Iannetta to a three year deal worth $8.3 million, buying out his arbitration years.

I've already mentioned the Brewer Rule 5 draft pick, Chuck Lofgren, but he's nowhere near the best name selected in the draft. Those honors go to former National/new Blue Jay Zech Zinicola.

The possibility of winter league injury probably keeps some front office execs up at night during the offseason, and in all honesty I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often. D-Backs outfielder Gerardo Parra suffered a muscle tear in his left thigh and is coming home from winter ball in Venezuela (h/t AZ Snakepit).

If you like charts and graphs and you're looking for something to play with today, you should check out Chartball. I only spent a few minutes there this morning, but they've got some fun interactive tools to work with. (h/t Baseball Musings)

On this day in 1997, the Brewers traded Gerald Williams to the Braves for Chad Fox. The deal worked out pretty well for both sides: Williams hit .286/.341/.475 over two seasons as a Brave, and Fox was healthy for two of four seasons in Milwaukee, including the 2001 season, where he appeared in 65 games and posted a 1.89 ERA.

Happy birthday today to Josh Butler, who turns 25.

Oh, and I'm writing today's Mug before breakfast, so this was fascinating. I'm off to go find food.

Drink up.

Making Your '00 Face: Third Base

KLSnow — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 22:00:15 -0000

First Base: Prince Fielder
Second Base: Rickie Weeks

Voting for shortstops opened yesterday and will close at 4 pm tomorrow. Meanwhile, we'll close out the infield. Here are the candidates at third base:

Tyler Houston

Seasons as a Brewer: 3, 2000-2002
Slash line as a Brewer: .279/.326/.475
UZR (Fielding) as a Brewer: -5.4 runs*
WAR as a Brewer: 1.8

*- FanGraphs only has UZR data dating back to 2002, so only Houston's 2002 season is included in this total.

Keith Ginter

Seasons as a Brewer: 3, 2002-2005
Slash line as a Brewer: .257/.344/.458
UZR (Fielding) as a Brewer: -11 runs
WAR as a Brewer: 3.1

Bill Hall

Seasons as a Brewer: 8, 2002-2009*
Slash line as a Brewer: .253/.312/.446
UZR (Fielding) as a Brewer: +8.7 runs
WAR as a Brewer: 7.3

* - Hall played third base in seven of those eight seasons, all but 2007.

Wes Helms

Seasons as a Brewer: 3, 2003-2005
Slash line as a Brewer: ..268/.335/.425
UZR (Fielding) as a Brewer: -24.6 runs
WAR as a Brewer: -1.1

Russell Branyan

Seasons as a Brewer: 3, 2004-2005, 2008
Slash line as a Brewer: ..248/.351/.526
UZR (Fielding) as a Brewer: -9.1 runs
WAR as a Brewer: 1.7

Craig Counsell

Seasons as a Brewer: 4, 2004, 2007-2009
Slash line as a Brewer: .247/.341/.338
UZR (Fielding) as a Brewer: +8.5 runs
WAR as a Brewer: 5

Ryan Braun

Seasons as a Brewer: 3, 2007-2009*
Slash line as a Brewer: .308/.363/.574
UZR (Fielding) as a Brewer: -23.7 runs
WAR as a Brewer: 9.7**

* - Braun only played third base in 2007.
** - Only 1.5 of those WAR came in 2007, when Braun was at third.

Poll

Who should play third base on the BCB All Decade Team?

Making Your '00 Face: Shortstop

KLSnow — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 22:00:16 -0000

The concept here is pretty simple. Each day, I'll give you a list of candidates: For position players, it's the full list of players who appeared in at least 100 games at the position during the '00s. You'll have 48 hours to vote. Voting for our first position, first base, is officially closed, and Prince Fielder is the first member of the team. Voting for second base opened yesterday and will close at 4 pm tomorrow.

Today, we continue to work our way around the infield. Here are the candidates at shortstop:

Jose Hernandez

Seasons as a Brewer: 3, 2000-2002
Slash line as a Brewer: .261/.324/.434
UZR (Fielding) as a Brewer: +4.7 runs*
WAR as a Brewer: 5.8

* - FanGraphs only has UZR data dating back to 2002, so only Hernandez's 2002 season is included here.

Mark Loretta

Seasons as a Brewer: 3, 2000-2002*
Slash line as a Brewer: .281/.348/.374
UZR (Fielding) as a Brewer: -2.7 runs**
WAR as a Brewer: 1.8

* - Loretta was also a Brewer from 1995-1999, but those numbers aren't included here.
** - Again, FanGraphs only has UZR data from 2002 forward, so only Loretta's 2002 season is included here.

Bill Hall

Seasons as a Brewer: 8, 2002-2009*
Slash line as a Brewer: .253/.312/.446
UZR (Fielding) as a Brewer: +2.3 runs
WAR as a Brewer: 7.3

* - Hall only played shortstop in five seasons, from 2002-2006.

Royce Clayton

Seasons as a Brewer: 1, 2003
Slash line as a Brewer: .228/.301/.333
UZR (Fielding) as a Brewer: +1.6 runs
WAR as a Brewer: -0.3

Craig Counsell

Seasons as a Brewer: 4, 2004, 2007-2009
Slash line as a Brewer: .247/.341/.338
UZR (Fielding) as a Brewer: +8.1 runs
WAR as a Brewer: 5.0

J.J. Hardy

Seasons as a Brewer: 5, 2005-2009
Slash line as a Brewer: .262/.323/.428
UZR (Fielding) as a Brewer: +38.3 runs
WAR as a Brewer: 8.6

Poll

Who should play shortstop on the BCB All Decade Team?

Full of Hitting Depth

Matthew — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 04:48:25 -0000

Ryan Langerhans, Bill Hall, Michael Saunders, Jack Hannahan, Ken Griffey Jr., Mike Carp and Matt Tuiasosopo. Those are the people currently on the 40-man roster who profile as bench bats or a starter at designated hitter, first base or left field for 2010. That's seven names for six spots (the three starting jobs plus three bench roles) and that's before we sign anyone else. Heaven forbid those are the seven Don Wakamatsu has to pick from for those last six spots come end of Spring Training.

Here is where I would love to throw in some clear facts on which players have options remaining, but MLB's player option rules are murkier than lead and so the best I can do are educated guesses. Langerhans, Hall, Hannahan and Griffey are out of options while it appears that Saunders, Carp and Tuiasosopo all have two options remaining.

If the Mariners add two more bats in the DH/1B mold (say Nick Johnson and Russell Branyan), then clearly Carp and Tui head back to Tacoma. However, that still leaves seven players for six spots. The consensus so far has been that Saunders is penciled in as the starting left fielder and thus Ryan Langerhans would appear to be the odd man out, a victim of a overprotective seven-men bullpen. I wonder though, given Saunders struggles in his Seattle showcase, and the roster situation, would it not make more sense to send Saunders back to Tacoma, he only has 387 PAs at the Triple-A level after all, and start the season with a Langerhans/Hall platoon in left field?

If the team only adds one more hitter, then this is moot, but given that it appears the team considers neither first base nor designated hitter filled, it seems an interesting discussion to be had, one with reasonable arguments on multiple sides.

It is also a key discussion no matter where the second hitter is added. If the team did manage to sign Adrian Beltre, and held onto Jose Lopez, then Chone Figgins would get moved to left field and Michael Saunders demoted. Or if the team inked Mike Cameron, same result for Saunders. In either case a lock for the team replaces one of your optionable players and takes a roster spot up, once again forcing you into a two spots for three guys decision.

Making Your '00 Face: Second Base

KLSnow — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 22:00:15 -0000

Today, we're opening the voting at second base:

Ronnie Belliard

Seasons as a Brewer: 3, 2000-2002*
Slash line as a Brewer: .251/.327/.384
UZR (Fielding) as a Brewer: -6.9 runs**
WAR as a Brewer: 2.9

* - Belliard was also a Brewer in 1998 and 1999. All stats here only reflect the player's performance from 2000-2009.
** - FanGraphs only has UZR dating back to 2002, so Belliard's 2000 and 2001 performances are not reflected in this total.

Keith Ginter

Seasons as a Brewer: 3, 2002-2004
Slash line as a Brewer: .257/.344/.448
UZR (Fielding) as a Brewer: -0.9 runs
WAR as a Brewer: 3.1

Bill Hall

Seasons as a Brewer: 8, 2002-2009*
Slash line as a Brewer: .253/.312/.446
UZR (Fielding) as a Brewer: -1.1 runs
WAR as a Brewer: 7.4

* - Hall only appeared at second base during five of those eight seasons (2003-2006 and 2008), and only appeared in 50 games at the position one time, in 2004.

Eric Young

Seasons as a Brewer: 2, 2002-2003
Slash line as a Brewer: .271/.340/.392
UZR (Fielding) as a Brewer: -6.7 runs
WAR as a Brewer: 2.6

Rickie Weeks

Seasons as a Brewer: 6, 2003, 2005-2009
Slash line as a Brewer: .247/.351/.415
UZR (Fielding) as a Brewer: -22.1 runs
WAR as a Brewer: 4.2

Junior Spivey

Seasons as a Brewer: 2, 2004-2005
Slash line as a Brewer: .256/.337/.400
UZR (Fielding) as a Brewer: +8.2 runs
WAR as a Brewer: 1.2

Poll

Who should be the second baseman on the Brewer All Decade Team?

Ronnie Belliard

22 votes

Keith Ginter

28 votes

Bill Hall

46 votes

Eric Young

31 votes

Rickie Weeks

218 votes

Junior Spivey

59 votes

404 votes | Poll has closed

The Weekend Mug, now with more Australians! And another Canadian!

NoahJ — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 06:12:07 -0000

After trading J.J. Hardy, Doug Melvin realized he had to win back the hearts of Wisconsin women everywhere. Enter Oeltjen.

View full size photo »

Some things to read while on a social networking site far, far away.

So far this is my second week doing the weekend post. My first weekend was immediately after the Carlos Gomez trade, and this weekend comes after the Brewers announce signing Gregg Zaun. It's my turn again the weekend following Christmas, so maybe Brewers fans can be expecting a Christmas present from Doug Melvin and the gang.

About the Zaun signing:

Adam McCalvy tells us that Zaun was assured the starting catching spot. Zaun has played more than 110 games only once in his career and more than 100 games four times, and he's not getting any younger. There should be plenty of opportunities for whoever the backup catcher should be.
Right Field Bleachers thinks that backup will be either Mike Rivera or George Kottaras, with the idea being another year of minor league polishing for Angel Salome and Jonathon Lucroy.
In Between Hops likens Zaun to a cheaper Jason Kendall. Neither is very good at hitting (some would claim they are atrocious), but over the last three years, Zaun has been Kendalls slight superior in OBP and has been significantly better slugging. Zaun did this in close to half of the plate appearances of Kendall.
I think that View From Bernie's Chalet is more excited about the end of the Jason Kendall era than for the signing of Zaun.
Brewers! Brewers! Keep Turning Up the Heat! finds the signing to be strange and suggests that Milwaukee had enough readily available options. Personally, I prefer having someone like Zaun around. I don't think that Rivera would be a viable option to start the whole season, and the other options (Kottaras, Lucroy and Salome) are all younger and could really struggle, particularly Lucroy who would be skipping triple-A. I think that I would like Lucroy to either back up Zaun for the first couple months of the season (like I said, there should be plenty of opportunities) or for him to be called up sometime in June provided he isn't massively struggling in Nashville. Gradually working in what appears to be the heir apparent to the Catchers position seems like a much better idea than throwing him straight into the fire.
And the Grand National Championships thinks this is the most logical move in the history of sports.
Oh, and if I ever met Gregg Zaun, he does not look like a guy I would want to piss off.

Also from the Grand National Championships, they believe that re-signing Craig Counsell--who Doug Melvin has made an offer to--would be a bad idea and suggests signing someone like Esteban German instead. If we were to go with someone else, I think that going with someone in house (like Adam Heether) would be just as good as signing someone from outside the organization. I also think that a player like Craig Counsell is a boon to any team, though, and would serve as a very very good mentor to Alcides Escobar.

The Brewers also signed former Diamondback and full-time Australian Trent ~~Durrington~~ Oltjean...whichever. Brew City Sports tried to reach him for comment, but unfortunately, Oltjean was too busy doing Australian type activities. Oltjean is expected to provide protection for Ryan Braun in the cuteness batting order after the departure of J.J. Hardy.

For those hoping that the Brewers decide to pursue Brad Penny, the bad news is that he rejected a one year offer to stay with the GIants. So it looks like any team that wants to sign him would either have to offer multiple years or a pretty significant--and guarenteed--amount of money for one year.

In Between Hops reminds us again of the comparison that can be made between Casey McGehee and Bill Hall.

Around the Majors:
Atlanta Braves: Rafael Soriano is considering accepting their offer of arbitration.
Chicago Cubs: Could announce a signing of Mike Cameron as soon as Monday.
Houston Astros: Signed former Giant Ryan Sadowski
Kansas City Royals: Signed Cuban lefty Noel Arguelles
Minnesota Twins: Signed 16 year old Dominican Shortstop Miguel Sano.
Seattle Mariners and Jack Z: Signed Chone Figgins to a $36MM, 4 year deal.

If you were disappointed when they announced they were shutting down production, good news! A movie adaptation of Moneyball is going to be back underway!

Oh, and potentially the most exciting news of the day, Metsblog cites Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus as saying that there will be two big announcements at the winter meetings that will be way bigger than "any player signing or news made during". I don't have any idea what it could be, so feel free to speculate.

Tuesday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:30:24 -0000

More photos » by Darren Hauck - AP

Pretty much everyone except Doug Melvin seems to think the Brewers should offer arbitration to Felipe Lopez.

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Some things to read while not getting what you hoped for.

The Brewers have until 11 pm tonight to finalize their plan to offer or decline arbitration to five free agents, and while Tom H. seems to think the Brewers will extend an offer to Felipe Lopez, Adam McCalvy is reporting the team is "leaning against" making the offer to any of the five (FanShot).

All of this is another episode in the "Doug Melvin Moments" series I think most of us are getting increasingly sick of. Doug, we get it. Times are tough for the ever-so-downtrodden small-to-mid market GM with the job many of us would kill for. If the system is really so unbearable, you're welcome to quit and be replaced by someone who will spend more time working with the tools they have and less time bitching about the ones they don't.

Assuming Melvin does eventually get off his soapbox and get back to the task of improving the team, Wisconsin Sports Tap has a guide for prospective new Brewers that can help them avoid becoming the next Jeff Suppan, Bill Hall or Johnny Estrada.

With that said, it might be a while before we have news on Mark Mulder. Roguejim uncovered a story yesterday that sheds some light on Mulder's rehab and situation, and raises the possibility that Mulder will decide not to come back if he's unable to perform at a level he's accustomed to.

We're also probably just about done discussing Kevin Millwood. Rangers beat reporter T.R. Sullivan had this to say about the rumors:

The Rangers wouldn't mind adding pitching but they don't want to subtract it so they are not trying to move Kevin Millwood. Word is the Brewers were interested but Rangers general manager Jon Daniels and Doug Melvin haven't spoke in weeks, That might change at the Winter Meetings but the Rangers still need Millwood's arm far more than they need to move his salary.

Adam McCalvy opened up the mailbag yesterday and answered reader questions on the possibility of a Prince Fielder extension, Dominican prospect Santo Aybar, Lorenzo Cain and Caleb Gindl.

Elsewhere in the minors:

Lisa Winston of MiLB.com has a review of the season for the Brewer minor leagues, and a look at the attempt to build pitching depth in the system.
Project Prospect has Jonathan Lucroy ranked ninth on their list of baseball's top 15 catching prospects. Angel Salome was not ranked.
The Baseball Chronicle has Alcides Escobar as a backup infielder on their 2010 All Prospect Team. Escobar is on the bench behind Rays prospect Reid Brignac and Cubs SS prospect Starlin Castro, who is playing out of position at second base.
Rattler Radio has photos of the construction at Time Warner Field, where they're hard at work adding the new beach seats, boardwalk and bullpens.

Up for some arbitrary list-making today? Miller Park Drunk has a list of the top ten Brewers of the decade. It's worth a click for the picture, if nothing else.

John Axford might have an outside shot at winning a spot in the Brewer bullpen next spring, depending on how rest of the offseason goes. In the meantime, he spent yesterday talking to college students about life in the big leagues and the importance of education.

On the transaction log:

Cardinals: Re-signed catcher Jason LaRue and signed infielder Ruben Gotay to a minor league deal.
Mets: Signed catcher Chris Coste, and re-signed infielder Alex Cora to a one year deal worth $2 million.
Pirates: Signed reliever Wil Ledezma to a minor league deal and released catcher Robinzon Diaz.

Wondering what it might take for the Brewers to acquire Edwin Jackson? Here's a hint: The Mariners reportedly turned down an offer from the Tigers would have sent Jackson to Seattle for pitchers Brandon Morrow and Shawn Kelley. So apparently the price is pretty high.

If the Brewers are serious about making an effort to sign Justin Duchscherer, they may have competition within the division: MLB Trade Rumors says the Pirates are one of the interested teams.

The Brewers probably won't be players in the Roy Halladay sweepstakes, but odds are the competition will heat up soon. Halladay has reportedly told the Blue Jays he won't accept any deal after reporting to spring training in February.

With the Winter Meetings coming up, we have more Rule 5 Draft notes: Baseball Time In Arlington has a look at the top ten unprotected pitchers, including former Brewer farmhand Will Inman.

Yesterday I mentioned the voting for the third baseman on the Timber Rattlers' 15th Anniversary team, and left a comment on Rattler Radio asking about the fate of top contender Bo Robinson, who had a few promising seasons in the Mariner organization before dropping off the map in 2002. Within 24 hours the answer was the subject of this week's Mehring Monday. Impressive turnaround time, to be sure.

I'm a few days behind on this one, but I recently discovered Cooperstown Chatter, the MLBlog run by the Baseball Hall of Fame, and this post on Rollie Fingers' 1981 MVP season. It's almost as impressive as Matt Stairs having a street named after him in Fredericton, New Brunswick.

By the way, if you've ever been to the Baseball Hall of Fame, or you haven't but would like to go someday, you can become a fan on Facebook. As an added bonus, Facebook fans get to help in the voting for this year's broadcaster induction.

On this day in 1967, Seattle was awarded an American League expansion franchise. I guess that makes today the Brewers' date of conception?

Happy birthday today to Tom Filer, who posted a 4.32 ERA in 39 appearances as a Brewer during the '88-'90 seasons and turns 53, and to Julio Machado, who spent parts of the 1990 and 1991 seasons as a Brewer before being arrested for murder in Venezuela. He turns 44.

Oh, and I haven't actually watched it yet (no sound on the computer where I write the Mug), but this video has Rammstein and Cookie Monster, so what could possibly go wrong?

Drink up.

Brewers Facing Tough Times Ahead

Charlie — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 07:54:11 -0000

More photos » by Darren Hauck - AP

3 months ago: Milwaukee Brewers' Prince Fielder, right, and Ryan Braun celebrate Fielder's home run against the Cincinnati Reds in the fifth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2009, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Darren Hauck)

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Here's an interesting (and fun-to-read) article about the problems the Brewers are facing this offseason. As much as I and others have presented the Brewers as a good example for the Pirates franchise, a dose of reality is in order. Their core of young stars burst onto the scene about as brightly as anyone could have hoped a couple years ago, but now they're getting expensive quickly. When they were trying to contend, they signed a number of players (Jeff Suppan in particular) to contracts that now would be mildly annoying to a team like the Mets or the Cubs, but are a big problem for the Brewers. Several of their core players (J.J. Hardy, Bill Hall, Corey Hart) stalled after putting in a couple of good seasons, and now Milwaukee is pondering life without them. Ben Sheets is now a free agent. The back of the Brewers' rotation is uninspiring at best. They don't really have a catcher. Without major changes, they're probably hoping just to play .500 ball next year.

They haven't been run perfectly. The Suppan contract was a terrible idea from the start, for example. But for a team to get as much right as the Brewers have the past five years and still be struggling seems unfair. They've added significant value to Major League Baseball as a whole by developing stars like Sheets, Yovani Gallardo, Prince Fielder, and Ryan Braun. They've also spent relatively lavishly for a team in their situation. And they're still floundering.

It's not right. The Pirates have no one but themselves to blame for most of their current problems, but that could change in a few years. And even if Neal Huntington's plans work well, the Pirates will still probably looking at the Brewers' last few seasons--a couple of winning seasons, maybe a playoff appearance. For those things to happen would obviously be great, in a way, but that hardly seems like enough.

Looking back at community projections: Third Basemen

KLSnow — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:00:35 -0000

by Morry Gash - AP

Casey McGehee pictured here hitting a grand slam, was an afterthought for most of us before the season.

View full size photo »

Sometimes a tornado blows through and leaves everything exactly how it was. That's kind of how third base went for the Brewers this season: Nothing went exactly how we projected, but the end result was about the same.

Projections:

Bill Hall
Projected: .262/.329/.454
Actual: .201/.265/.341

Mat Gamel
Projected: .274/.334/.442
Actual: .242/.338/.422

Craig Counsell
Projected: .231/.322/.332
Actual: .285/.357/.408

Before the season we were pretty optimistic about Bill Hall, with six of the nine projectors giving him an OPS of .780 or above. Instead, he played his way off the team and got to the point where the Brewers ate most of his salary and traded him to Seattle for a low level pitching prospect.

Worth noting: Mat Gamel's 2009 numbers don't really tell the whole story regarding his performance: Gamel hit .274/.340/.524 in 94 plate appearances as a third baseman, and went just 8-for-44 (.182) as a DH and pinch hitter.

Playing time:

Player	Projected %	Actual %	Diff
Bill Hall	41.6%	30%	-11.6%
Mike Lamb	32.3%	0%	-32.3%
Mat Gamel	24.5%	13.4%	-11.1%
Craig Counsell	1.6%	19.1%	+17.5%
Casey McGehee	0%	37.4%	+37.4%

Obviously, we completely whiffed on Casey McGehee. When we made the projections, many of us expected Mike Lamb to take his place on the roster: Instead, Lamb declined an assignment to the minors at the end of spring training and didn't appear in the majors this season.

Meanwhile, Craig Counsell had a very good season for him, but the fact that he received 50% more playing time than Mat Gamel is puzzling at best.

Overall:

	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Projected	.263	.330	.431	.762
Actual	.267	.330	.440	.770
Difference	+.004	Even	+.009	+.008