The Weekend Shot
by NoahJ on Dec 27, 2009 12:53 AM CST
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PrintBarely anything to read after being extra-good this year.
So, apparently the first couple days after Christmas are pretty slow in terms of baseball news and, especially, Brewers news. For example, when I have the honor of writing the Weekend Mug, I usually take at least a couple hours sorting through the RSS feed for stories to put in the mug. Generally, there are probably somewhere between 600-800 stories to go through over the weekend, give or take. Today, I had about 100 stories to go through and it took me about twenty minutes. So, instead of a mug we are having a weekend shot.
The Official Site does have a list of highlights of the Brewers 2009 season. Included are the triple play, sprinting into the clubhouse after beating the Cardinals, Prince Fielder's first career Grand Slam; his winning the Home Run Derby; and his Princesplosion celebration. Not included, for some reason, is July 30 when Ace Jeff Suppan was placed on the DL.
Also not included on that highlight list is the longest home run ever hit in Miller Park, because that occurred in 2004. It was hit by Russell Branyan, who I am EXTREMELY disappointed to say did not win the final bench spot on the BCB Brewers All-Decade team. Voting for the #3 starting pitcher opened Saturday, so be sure to cast your vote!
Biz of Baseball has a chart showing how much money each team has spent on payroll between 1999-2009. The Brewers come in at the 23rd most money spent over those years, up a spot from the rankings through last year. They were in the top half of payroll in just 2009, though (Not to beat a dead horse, but next time Doug Melvin complains about the strains of being a small market team, someone should tell him that 15 other teams have to work with less money). Of course, after next 2010, the Yankees will have spent more than $2 Billion dollars on payroll since 1999.
In tangentially related Brewers news, Kelvim Escobar signed with the Mets for $1.25M (with a bonus for actually making the roster). I had hoped that the Brewers would sign him as he is an extremely high upside pitcher who signed for a relatively low amount of money, and reports had been saying that Milwaukee did have interest in him. Of course, he would have helped the Brewers more if he were to try to start again, however he has gone on record as wanting to pitch out of the bullpen in the hopes of avoiding injury.
In other transaction news:
Nationals: Signed RP Eddie Guardado to a minor league contract.
Diamondbacks: Signed RP Bob Howry to a one year deal with an option for 2011.
Astros: Apparently allowed newly signed Ryan Sadowski out of his contract so he could sign with the Korean Lotte Giants.
That's all I have for you, though I was thinking earlier today and am curious to know everyone else's thoughts on a question. Considering the current Milwaukee Brewers roster, and not worrying about payroll constraints, which player would you rather have on the team right now: Joe Mauer or Tim Lincecum? Obviously the Brewers need pitching, but adding Joe Mauer would give Milwaukee perhaps one of the most feared 3-4-5 hitters in the history of the MLB. So who would you rather have?
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Lincecum or Mauer
I’d take Lincecum. He would help our pitching staff by 200%, that and tell me how many pitchers and won back to back Cy Young’s at the age of 25?
Mauer
I am all about the offense. Mauer will play in 14o games a year compared to TL’s 35 or so. He would also provide offense at a position that the Brewers have not had a bat since BJ Surhoff left the team.
Granted I would love either on my team.
by Saberilliterate on Dec 27, 2009 10:31 AM CST up reply actions
never understood that argument.
TL has a much bigger impact on those 35 games than Mauer does in his 140. Lincecum is involved in about 30 Plate Appearances per game, while Mauer is involved in about 4.
Lincecum actually faces 900 batters in a year, while Mauer gets 600 PA.
Cards Announcers On Gamel's First Career HR, "That’s all they need is another home run hitter".
I'm not making the argument for pitchers being more important than hitters
but I would certainly think that they’re of pretty equal value.
Cards Announcers On Gamel's First Career HR, "That’s all they need is another home run hitter".
Great conversation starter on a slow day
I’d go with Mauer. He can help the team almost every day, while Lincecum can only help every fifth day.
"A D+ Grade? That must have been a Wittardo grade"- @73_MC
Trade Suppan for Mauer!
What, it can’t hurt to ask.
"I will agree that the attitude [at BCB] is ridiculous and they have done so much to instigate animosity and then block us from responding. Real mature!"
If I were a small or mid-market GM...
… I’d have an intern assigned to make crank calls to the Yankees, Cubs and Red Sox with ridiculously one-sided trade offers. At least when they weren’t trying to hack into their websites.
What begins in fear usually ends in folly.
by Ted Simmons Speed Camp on Dec 27, 2009 8:41 AM CST up reply actions 1 recs
Salary totals
It would be interesting to see that decade-long breakdown by position (or position group). See how in (or out of) line Melvin’s signing veterans for the bullpen is with the rest of the league.
Offseason
During June when I wrote the daily Mug, there were often 1,000 or more stories every morning.
If we know they’re going to be healthy, you have to take Lincecum I think. I’d still probably rather take Lincecum considering the injury risk. If we had a replacement-level catcher and 5th starter, Mauer’s probably the better choice, but this team can probably get average catching production while our 5 starter is about replacement level.
E: George 4 (5, throw, throw, throw, throw).
Actually
Now that I’ve added more Twitter feeds and whatnot to the reading list, there’s usually well over 1000 (sometimes over 1500) on every weekday, even during the offseason. On a Monday morning after a weekend of not reading, it might be over 2500.
That's all I've got for you today, unless you're interested in some Chris Capuano/Tom Haudricourt Fan Fiction.
That's just baseball.
That's all I've got for you today, unless you're interested in some Chris Capuano/Tom Haudricourt Fan Fiction.
I can confirm this.
The Snowman’s reader list is a beautiful, terrifying thing to behold.
by Rubie Q on Dec 27, 2009 3:22 PM CST via mobile up reply actions
also confirmed
and my RSS feed list w/baseball only has about 20 more sites than his does. The amount of baseball news and original commentary out there is only growing and I have about 10 sites that I need to add to my feeds. I just told a friend that I’ve essentially dropped out of sf fandom due to the sheer amount of baseball reading I’ve been doing.
Hey, an actual Brewers related link from Hyatt... shocking
John Manuel released his personal Top 20 Prospects for the upcoming year, and Alcedes and his hose clocked in at #17:
17. Alcides Escobar, ss, Brewers
WHY HE’S HERE: The Brewers brought up Escobar in August but he didn’t surpass 130 at-bats, leaving him prospect-eligible. Then Milwaukee traded J.J. Hardy to the Twins, handing the job to the best defensive player among prospects.
WHAT HE’LL BE: Escobar has the arm, infield actions, hands and range to win Gold Gloves at shortstop. He makes the routine plays and the tough ones, too. Plus, he has speed that impacts the game offensively, and his swing’s not so bad either.
WHEN HE ARRIVES: Escobar is more prepared than Rangers shortstop Elvis Adrus was last year and should have a bigger impact in 2010.
"That's not a weird stat. Rickie is a run-scorer," Yost said. "It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter," Yost told reporters. "See, you guys have no concept. He's a run-scorer. So there's nothing weird about it. That's what he does."
and of course I mispell his name
go me
"That's not a weird stat. Rickie is a run-scorer," Yost said. "It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter," Yost told reporters. "See, you guys have no concept. He's a run-scorer. So there's nothing weird about it. That's what he does."
Lincecum
FYI, I didn’t read any other posts, so apologies if this is repeated info.
Small market teams simply can’t afford to spend big money on pitching. Buying pitching on the open market is a double-edged sword—because of the dearth of high quality pitching out there, starters come at a premium, and particularly for very small market teams. Its vital for small markets to develop and establish quality pitching through their minor league systems.
While a guy like Joe Mauer is a really nice player, its significantly easier to hit on a positional prospect than on pitching, due in part to the high rate of attrition young pitchers face. If you’ve got a pitching staff that can limit the opposing team to 4 runs or less, your offense has to do significantly less work. If you’ve got a strikeout stud like Lincecum on the hill, your defense has to do significantly less work, too.
"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
I like baseball
And I need a duster.
Also, cheese.
I was drunk. Sue me.
by Dikembe Meiztombo on Dec 27, 2009 3:44 PM CST reply actions
If you follow the It's Always Sunny guys on Twitter, they're constantly posting pictures of people they see wearing dusters in public
Cards Announcers On Gamel's First Career HR, "That’s all they need is another home run hitter".
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