SB Nation User Blog: roguejim

Braden Looper Watch

roguejim — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:27:03 -0000

According to Adam McCalvey, the Brewers have until Saturday to decide what to do with Braden Looper's $6.5 million option. Interestingly, A McC says that even if the Brewers decline to exercise their half, The Loop could exercise his half anyway. I didn't think it worked that way, but I guess it does.

Anyway, stay tuned for updates.

No one has heard from Ben Sheets or his agent, according to Brewers GM Doug Melvin

roguejim — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 21:58:02 -0000

No one has heard from Ben Sheets or his agent, according to Brewers GM Doug Melvin

USA Today's Bob Nightengame, courtesy of MLBTR. Maybe it's like Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?, and the team that finds him first gets him for 2010 at the league minimum. Do it, Rockapella!

Jonathan Lucroy: You know, maybe...

roguejim — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:43:29 -0000

I clicked on this link because its corresponding tweet suggested that Jason Kendall might not be a 2010 Brewer after all. Unfortunately, there's no new information that suggests he won't be back, though it sounds like DM is committed to not paying $5 million for a catcher this season. However, the link also talks a little about Jonathan Lucroy's game offensively, and now I'm wondering if a good spring training for Lucroy might be enough to give him the job.

First, I have to admit, I don't know much about either of the Brewers' top two catchers in the system: my impression was that Angel Salome had a promising bat but was not there defensively, whereas Lucroy's defense was about major-league ready but his hitting was not. I still don't know much about Salome, other than Doug talked to him last week and Angel is still something of a work-in-progress.

We know a little more about Lucroy, though. The biggest revelation is that he is an on-base machine: in AA, he hit a modest .267, but he has an OBP of .380. He had walked more times (78) than he had struck out (66). Adam M. says he profiles to be in the mold of Terry Steinbach (Steinbach's stats here), who over his career was...pretty OK, offensively, as a catcher.

Of course, his biggest attribute is that he would be cheap cheap cheap. If he is a plus defender at catcher (and DM seems to think that's the case), even a moderate offensive showing might be enough for him to win the starting job, or at least to split time on the major league club. This is especially true given the FA choices available at catcher: we could bring in a FA catcher for $2-3 million, but not get much of an upgrade, offensively or defensively, over what Lucroy could provide. At the very least, Lucroy could mean we only need to find a part-time FA catcher, playing for $1 million or less.

Finally, the caveat: a lot of this recent Lucroy support is stemming from his play in the Arizona Fall League right now, where he's OPSing .949 over a small sample of 41 ABs (with, notably, 1 walk compared to 6 strikeouts). Lucroy might not even be in the conversation if he were OPSing .798, as he did in AA. Moreover, although Lucroy could give us a solid defense up the middle with Escobar and CarGo, it's possible that none of the three would OPS .700 in the majors next season, which, when you include the pitcher, makes for a lot of outs in the lineup. Just the same, I think (perhaps inaccurately) that OBP translates pretty well from the minors to the majors: if Lucroy can hit .235 but get a lot of walks, he might actually be a better option than your typical FA catcher, especially if you're throwing every last dollar you can get your hands on at pitching.

It's likely that Kendall, who will turn 36 next June, will re-up with Milwaukee.

roguejim — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 02:32:51 -0000

It's likely that Kendall, who will turn 36 next June, will re-up with Milwaukee.

MLB.com, in its review of free agent catchers.

Brewers decline David Weathers' option

roguejim — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:09:25 -0000

Brewers decline David Weathers' option

Another $3.3 million saved. (There was a $400,000 buyout.)

Elias rankings are out and #Brewers' Felipe Lopez indeed slipped to Type B.

roguejim — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 06:49:37 -0000

Elias rankings are out and #Brewers' Felipe Lopez indeed slipped to Type B.

Tweet from mlb.com's Adam McCalvy. Cameron, Kendall, Looper, and Weathers all also qualify as Type B free agents.

2009 Offseason Free Agency Dates

roguejim — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:04:04 -0000

Oh, now that the World Series is over, it's time to start planning free agent shopping. (I've always liked how FA shopping dovetailed nicely with Christmas shopping.) According to MLB.com, here are the dates to circle on your Brewers charities calendar:

As the Yankees have finished off the Phightin' Phillies on November 4th, the 200+ players eligible for free agency can officially become free agents today, on November 5th. (Last year, 65 players declared free agency on the first day, so look alive there, people.)
For two weeks, teams have exclusive negotiating rights with their own free agents. Then, on November 20th, it's open season for free agents: any player can sign with any team.
Will the Brewers offer arbitration to Mike Cameron? We'll know by December 1st.
The Winter Meetings in Indianapolis take place December 7th through the 10th. Really, it's the only reason to be in Indianapolis in December.
Speaking of December 10th, that's the date of the Major League Rule 5 draft. I bet we take a pitcher!
Owners on a budget (ahem) might decide to wait a while before signing free agents. That's because teams have to decide by December 12th whether or not to exercise any club options on their players.
Spring training begins March 4th in Scottsdale against the Giants.
The regular season begins April 5th at home against the Rockies.

If there are any dates I missed, be sure to add them in the comments.

Finally, if you were curious, there were 5 free agent starting pitchers under the age of 33 with a winning record last season: John Lackey, Joel Pineiro, Jason Marquis, Vicente Padilla, and Brad Penny. It certainly gives one pause.

Speculationville: Glen Perkins

roguejim — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:54:16 -0000

Courtesy of MLBTR, we have some JJ Hardy speculation involving the Twins:

If the Twins can't re-sign free-agent shortstop Orlando Cabrera, it would be surprising if they don't consider Milwaukee's J.J. Hardy, who is expendable due to the emergence of Alcides Escobar. Lefty starter Glen Perkins would seem a likely bet to be included if there were an offer to the Brewers.

Glen Perkins's stats are here. He's young and lefthanded, but his ERA and WHIP have gotten worse in each of his 4 years of pitching in the majors, a pattern Brewer fans are all-too-familiar with.

Somebody Get Me My Cardboard: Bob Wolfley Breaks It Down

roguejim — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:20:36 -0000

Before I head out to the airport to meet Zach Grienke, I thought I'd pass along some Brewers professional sportswritery talk from Bob Wolfley, brought to you by the employers of Tom Haudricourt and Tony Witrado. (Ahh, read it anyway.) There are some interesting nuggets, such as:

Baseball's best base-running leftfielder? Why, it's The Deputy.
Only once in 2009 has Prince Fielder advanced from first to third on a single.
Many Brewers were on the list of best defenders at their respective position. Sadly, they were at the bottom of said list. Mike Cameron, though, not so bad.
Although ordering intentional walks might make Ken Macha feel Macha-vellian, he really should avoid them as if he were Ned Yost.

Anyway, there are a few other statistical croutons for you, like win shares and YoGa's curveballs, so enjoy.

Say, BCB looks kinda funny

roguejim — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:45:25 -0000

More photos » by Stew Milne - AP

This person has yet to unwrap the Christmas present of awesomeness that is the new BCB.

Browse more photos »

As you've probably figured out by now, the "visual refresh" KL mentioned in yesterday's Mug went through. Rest assured, your Firefox isn't broken. I dig the changes, actually, though our SBN overlords have more work to do: if you click on, say, yesterday's Mug, the beer mug logo covers actual text, instead of pushing it down. Ned Yost would not tolerate that sort of thing, SBN-y!