SB Nation User Blog: roguejim

Rumorville: TG Jr. for Greg Maddux

roguejim — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 13:33:17 -0000

Rambling Al and and mlbtraderumors have had some discussion on this possibility, but Cute Sports ("from a chick's perspective") gets the winning link because...well, for obvious reasons:

The rumor mill is churning this morning with renewed vigor on the possibility of a Tony Gwynn for Greg Maddux trade with the Padres.

It's no secret that Gwynn would like to be playing full time and the Gwynn's are royalty in San Diego.

It's also no secret that the Brewers are in desperate need of starting pitching.

The trade rumors surrounding Greg Maddux reach far and wide and include pretty much every NL team there is. Maddux has a full no-trade clause, so he'll be a part of whatever decision is made. Conventional wisdom would say an aging pitcher would prefer sunny California to Milwaukee, but you never know.

Maddux clearly has a big contract and is on the down side of his career arc, but I can't imagine we'd be able to get him for just Tony Gwynn and I'm not sure how many guys we should be willing to give up in order to have Maddux for the rest of the season.

Lots of feel good stories here: Gwynn back in San Diego, the Maddux brothers reunited, etc. My favorite is the idea that Greg Maddux could be on the mound in Wrigley, against his old team, personally bouncing them from the 2008 playoffs as the regular season comes to a close.

Also, although he clearly isn't the pitcher he was 15 years ago, his numbers this season --- 4.04 ERA, 1.26 WHIP --- aren't bad at all, though, err, park-inspired. He signed a 1-year deal for $10 million.

Rumorville: Vincent Padilla

roguejim — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 18:42:28 -0000

Ken Rosenthal reports that the Brewers are one of three (or possibly several) teams interested in Vincent Padilla:

The Rangers will be a team to watch at the deadline, acting as both a possible buyer for bullpen help and seller of veteran talent. Right-hander Vicente Padilla, the subject of inquiries from the Mets, Yankees and Brewers, among other clubs, is perhaps their most intriguing commodity. The Rangers, however, only would move Padilla if they received quality young pitching in return.

Padilla, who turns 31 on Sept. 27, is on pace to produce 14-plus wins and 200-plus innings for the fourth time. His contract — $11 million this season and $12 million next season with a $12 million option for 2010 — isn't terribly excessive for that type of performance. And his makeup, an issue in previous stops, has not been a problem in Texas.

For God's sake, let's hope Moustache is only messing with us. Padilla hasn't been good for several years, since 2003. How long ago is 2003? Neither the "Firefox" browser you're using nor "Governor Schwarzenegger" existed until 2003. The thought that we might give up someone of value to get him...someone who had an ERA sneaking up on 6 last season...that we'd be stuck with for one or two more years...for a "reasonable" $12 million...assuming the numbers over the last 3 months and not 3 years are predictive...ow, my head hurts.

Plus he wears makeup.

I just wonder who Rosenthal is trying to convince. "Intriguing?" "Quality young pitching in return?" "Not an excessive contract?" He sounds like he lost a bet and became an agent for a day.

Laynce Nix, You Dummy

roguejim — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 13:02:58 -0000

I hope you like the headline. It's in keeping with the new, edgy Brew Crew Ball.

In perhaps a brazen attempt to prove he belongs in Wisconsin, AAA outfielder Laynce Nix was arrested early Saturday morning in Nashville for DUI. He allegedly had three mixed drinks, was caught speeding, and failed a sobriety test (a test he later claimed he passed).

He posted his bond, and was out of jail by Saturday night.

Schmuck.

The Linebrink trade, revisited

roguejim — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 06:12:30 -0000

Now that the draft is over, it's safe to ask: just how bad was the Linebrink trade? I guess we won't know the real outcome until we see how all 5 players develop (the three we traded and the two we picked up), but I'm curious about the reaction around the ol' gangbang, err, blog.

You'll recall that we traded Will Inman (our 2nd round pick in the 2005 draft, in between Braun and Gamel) and left-handers Steve Garrison and Joe Thatcher for Linebrink, with the expectation that we would get two draft picks for Leiney if/when he signed elsewhere. He signed with the White Sox in the offseason, meaning we received a player in the supplemental first round (our #3 pick, Evan Frederickson) as well as the White Sox's second round pick (our #5 pick, Cutter Dykstra).

Here's how the ex-Brewers are doing so far:

Will Inman: 7-3, 3.00 ERA in AA, 81 Ks in 78 IP
Steve Garrison: 5-3, 3.09 ERA in AA, 65 Ks in 78.2 IP
Joe Thatcher: 0-4, 7.40 ERA for the Padres in 20.2 IP

Let's say we made the playoffs last season. I imagine the conventional wisdom would be, "Well, it cost us those three players, but it was worth it by playing in the postseason." Since we didn't make the playoffs, one assumes that we rolled the 20-sided dice and lost, with a result somewhere in between "it was a good idea at the time" to "an unmitigated disaster."

In retrospect, I suppose you could make the argument that if Linebrink was worth 2 or (heaven forbid) 3 wins, then without Linebrink, we still might be looking for our first winning season since the dinosaurs roamed the Earth. It's a hard argument to make, though: it's not that we traded those three good prospects for Linebrink, per se; we traded them for 25.33 innings of Linebrink's 3.55 ERA. That's a smidge more than 8 innings per prospect. (By comparison, Joe Thatcher's numbers over the same period of time for the Padres last season: 2-2, 21 IP, 1.29 ERA.) It's hard not to think about that particular what-if: what if we replaced Linebrink with Thatcher, thus keeping Garrison and Inman?

(Feeling sick yet? Did you happen to check out Linebrink's line for the White Sox this season? How about a 1.55 ERA / .90 WHIP in 29 innings.)

For me to be OK with the trade, we'd need Frederickson to be about as good as Inman, who arguably was the centerpiece of the deal for the Padres. Given our difficulties in producing quality SP from our minor leagues, though, I guess I'm a little leery of the wisdom of that trade, even in the middle of a playoff chase.

With that in mind, you'll forgive me if I look askance at the Laporta or Gamel for C. C. Sabathia rumors.

Exiting Rumorville: Ben Sheets

roguejim — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 12:56:36 -0000

Per Jayson Stark at espin:

Here's another name to scratch off your rumor list: Ben Sheets. In case nobody noticed, the Brewers are only three games out in the wild-card race. And GM Doug Melvin is telling clubs the Brewers would have to collapse to the point where they're "way out of it" before he'd even think about moving Sheets. So if he pops out on the market at all, it won't be until the last minute before the trading deadline.

I guess this isn't much of a surprise --- and it's just as well. As much fun as it'd be to speculate on what we would get in return, I'd rather keep Sheets if it means we're still contending come August. (Really, we're not THAT far removed from playing absolutely meaningless games in August.) Besides, that's why God created extra draft picks.

Brewers Block Party!

roguejim — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 12:34:31 -0000

He who shall not be named reports that the Brewers will be having a block party tomorrow:

The Brewers will hold the first two Brewers Block Parties on Saturday from 11:00 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.

Saturday's Block Parties will take place at Sherman Park (3000 N. Sherman Blvd.) and Alcott Park (3751 S. 97th St.) in Milwaukee. Players and club officials will be on hand for the parties.

Personnel scheduled to appear at the Sherman Park party include: Mike Cameron, Tim Dillard, Joe Dillon, Bill Hall, Ed Sedar, Dancy Nancy, and Brian Shouse. Scheduled to appear at Alcott Park are: Dave Bush, Mark DiFelice, Jason Kendall, Ben Sheets and Jim Skaalen. Players and coaches will appear from approximately 11:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m., and the schedule is subject to change.

Free food, and free to go.

Cameron in 2009?

roguejim — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 02:07:18 -0000

I would think that if you asked most Brewer fans 'round these parts about Mike Cameron's performance so far in 2008, a look would settle on their faces that suggested they just took a bite of McDonald's new 25-cent cheeseburger, the McNasty. My own impression of him so far is a vague sense of having hit a few home runs, but what sticks out more is the-nail-in-the-coffin error a few games back, the many many strikeouts (only 6 off the team lead despite 130 fewer ABs), and, of course, the April suspension. So far, I'd call him a disappointment.

Buuuut, maybe I'm being (mc)hasty.

Sure, most of his stats aren't as good as we were counting on. He's striking out at a higher clip than at any other time in his career, and he hasn't had an OBP this low since he was a Pale Hoser. (Tell the truth, you didn't know he played for the White Sox either. The Reds, too, but I digress.) However, his OPS is up from last season, and only a little short of his career average (.770 vs .785).

More to the point, he's hitting a home run every 15 ABs. That's a Brauny stat right there (Ryan Braun is 1 every 15.6 ABs.) Over a full season, he'd be looking at 35-40 HRs with a pace like that --- not bad for a guy who's only topped 25 HRs once in his career.

Of course, he's unlikely to reach 40 HRs, of course --- not with missing most of April, and not when it's unlikely that he'll keep this pace up. Still, right now, only 3 NL centerfielders have more home runs this season, and they all (presumably) played in April.

So it makes me wonder:

Is there a chance that the Brewers will pick up Cam's option in 2009? What kind of stats will he have to put up for them to do so?
Anyone want to handicap the chances of him being a class A free agent (assuming we don't pick him up for next season), and thus netting two more draft picks?

On the one hand, I have a hard time believing we're going to pay him $10 million next season. On the other, I don't see any other credible full-time CF options not named Corey Hart, an option that (AFAIK) Moustache is not yet considering. Oddly, it's a similar predicament as what we're in with TG Jr.: we don't necessarily like the CF we have, but we like our other options even less.

The phone lines are open. How do you think this is going to play out?

Rumorville: Prince Fielder

roguejim — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 16:48:22 -0000

The New York Post has a lot to say about the Brewers this morning.

First, they mention the Brewers are possible in the C. C. Sabathia sweepstakes, along with the Cubs. "And keep an eye on Milwaukee," an AL talent evaluator said. "They have a loaded Double-A team and are prioritizing a starting pitcher." Sounds like wishful thinking to me.
Assuming we don't trade LaPorta or Gamel for Sabathia (dear God), it'd seem that we'd need to make room for them on the major league club sooner or later. Other teams are starting to figure that out, which means all eyes are turning to Prince:

Want a surprise name that could come in the market, maybe before July 31, but almost definitely in the offseason when the Mets New York Mets and Yanks could be hunting first basemen: Milwaukee's Prince Fielder. Milwaukee is blessed with a lot of offensive-centric players who could switch to first (Ryan Braun in the majors, Matt LaPorta or Mat Gamel nearly ready at Double-A). Mainly, Fielder is a Scott Boras client who almost certainly will not sign a long-term contract and the Brewers could decide his greatest value is in dealing him sooner than later while his value is highest and cost to them lowest. The Dodgers, Twins and Royals also could have interest.

"It's not something I am exploring," Brewers GM Doug Melvin said. "But I never rule out anything. The day I traded Carlos Lee, I went to work with no plans whatsoever to do it, and by midnight he was a Texas Ranger."

Here's a non-Brewers item you might be interested in, too, from the same article:

New Reds GM Walt Jocketty has told counterparts he wants to clean house, notably of free-agent-to-be outfielders Ken Griffey Jr. and Adam Dunn, plus Ryan Freel and - in the right deal -starter Bronson Arroyo.

Milwaukee Brewers alternate logo in use from 1970-1991

roguejim — Sat, 31 May 2008 16:15:53 -0000

Milwaukee Brewers alternate logo in use from 1970-1991

You Probably Shouldn't Read This

roguejim — Thu, 29 May 2008 16:45:42 -0000

I was reading Marty's great post on "the face of the team" and if Prince is the leader on this team. I'm not sure if it's the big contract, Braun's calling the team out to the media, or the fact that Prince is struggling, but it DOES seem that Braun is assuming a leadership position on the team, and away from Prince Fielder. That's when I started to wonder:

is anyone concerned at all that the "face of the team" is, well, pretty white?

I moved here only a little before we acquired Richie Sexson from Cleveland. Since then, who have the stars been?

Sexson
Burnitz
Cirillo
Jenkins
Sheets
Podsednik (?!?!)
Turnbow
Heck, even Ooooooooooverbay

Now it's Braun, with Corey Hart on deck. Not to mention He Who Shall Not Be Named But With Whom Teenage Girls Would Warm Up Anytime.

(It's not for a lack of effort: we've tried embracing Carlos Lee and Bill E. Hall, and even CoCo to a degree, but none of them quite seemed to stick. )

And the goats? The biggest ones that come to mind most recently are Jeffrey Hammonds, Jose Hernandez, Ronnie Belliard, Ruben Quevedo, Alex Sanchex, and Junior Spivey. (Not to mention Ulice Payne.)

This isn't an indictment of anyone in particular, or (necessarily) of the Brewers. A lot of hero worship comes from play on the field, and the struggle this season by the likes of Hall, Weeks, and Fielder are pretty well documented. (Maybe less so of Hardy, whose struggles had gone unnoticed before he was called out by Neddy Ballgame.) Similarly, I'm sure the club would love to lock Prince up for a Braun-like deal, but I don't get the impression that's he's all that receptive.

Still, although it might mean nothing at all, the white-ness of the Cream City Crusher fan favorites is pretty conspicuous. Are there players I'm forgetting?