Friday's Frosty Mug
by Kyle Lobner on Jan 13, 2012 9:01 AM CST
in Milwaukee Brewers News
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PrintSome things to read while picking up flowers.
We're 36 days away from spring training, and the Brewers have crossed another item off their pre-season checklist: Yesterday they reached agreement with Manny Parra on a one year, $1.2 million deal, avoiding arbitration (FanShot). Parra also made $1.2 million last season while rehabbing various injuries.
With Parra's deal done the Brewers now have five arbitration-eligible players remaining: Kameron Loe, Shaun Marcum, Nyjer Morgan, Francisco Rodriguez and Jose Veras.
Meanwhile, here's another small adjustment for your 2012 payroll projections: It had been previously reported that Carlos Gomez will receive $2 million in 2012, but he's actually getting $1,962,500.
Mat Gamel is facing the most important spring training of his career in 2012, and Adam McCalvy has a story noting that he's saying and doing all the right things to make sure he's ready for it. I remain surprised the Brewers haven't brought in a veteran to push him in camp, but I guess they still could.
Yesterday I mentioned that Ryan Braun will attend "Brewers On Deck" at the end of the month, and it would be his first major public appearance since news broke about his possible suspension. The former is true, but the latter is not: Jon Heyman says Braun is also planning on attending the New York BBWAA dinner to receive his NL MVP Award. He will not, however, be giving interviews at the event.
Here are today's Prince Fielder notes:
- The Nats Blog is comparing Prince Fielder's free agency to Adam Dunn's period in limbo before the 2009 season, which ended with him taking a short term deal from the Nationals.
- Lookout Landing has a look at what a sales pitch from Scott Boras to the Mariners might look like and, of course, PRINCE FIELDER WATCH 2012.
- Jon Paul Morosi of Fox Sports says he's hearing the Blue Jays are not serious contenders for Fielder's services.
- MLB Trade Rumors and David Fung of Beyond the Box Score both noted the significant difference between Fielder and the rest of the remaining free agents.
- Jerry Crasnick of ESPN points out that Fielder may have been more valuable to teams if he'd signed a couple of months ago so the excitement would help with season ticket sales.
Good news, everyone! Zack Greinke won the voting at NotGraphs and has been assigned the nickname "Science or Bravery?" I learned that while perusing the nominees for their next vote, "Dionysus with Rabies."
In the minors:
- Baseball America is reporting the Brewers have signed Venezuelan catcher Kevin Moscatel to a minor league deal. Moscatel is 20 and received $350,000 to sign with the Cardinals as a 17 year old, but has appeared in just 121 minor league games over four seasons since and only hit .225/.301/.314 while playing for Batavia in the (short season A) New York-Penn League in 2011.
- Bullpen Banter is the latest site to rank the Brewers' prospects: They have Jed Bradley and Taylor Jungmann splitting the #1 spot on their two lists.
- Erick Almonte picked up two more hits and Juan Perez pitched another perfect ninth for the save as Gigantes beat Aguilas 6-4 in the Dominican playoffs. You can read about that and more in this morning's Winter League Notes.
- Appleton received roughly six inches of snow in the last 24 hours. Rattler Radio has pictures of the carnage from yesterday, and will presumably have more today.
The effort to rename the pedestrian bridge near Miller Park "Bob Uecker Way" has hit a snag: The Wisconsin DOT says they don't have the authority to rename the structure, and has sent the matter back to the legislature.
Around baseball:
Indians: Signed pitcher Chris Ray to a minor league deal.
Rays: First baseman/outfielder Luke Scott will make $5 million in 2012 with a $6 million club option for 2013.
Yankees: Re-signed pitcher Cory Wade to a one year, $500,000 deal.
Here are today's former Brewer notes:
- Dave Cameron of FanGraphs looks at the reasons why Francisco Cordero is still on the market.
- David Schoenfield of ESPN remembers Ben Oglivie's career year in 1980...and the fact that he somehow finished 13th in AL MVP voting.
Yesterday I mentioned an Eno Sarris FanGraphs post discussing how pitchers' strikeout rates decline over time. Today he has an interesting follow-up looking at the differing curves for various hitting skills.
In baseball economics: The Mets' financial woes remain a top story around baseball as their projected Opening Day payroll is $90 million, a $53 million drop from last season. (h/t @eddymk)
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm not done getting told.
Drink up.
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i think it's worth pointing out
that $40M of that mets payroll is in santana and bay!
(laughs.)
by Capt Science on Jan 13, 2012 12:14 PM CST up reply actions
Jon Paul Morosi on Twitter
Asked a number of people what they thought K-Rod would get thru arb on one-year deal. Some estimates were in the $10M range. #Brewers
Lower than I would have guessed, considering he made $12.16m last year.
did anyone else read this
Good news, everyone! Zack Greinke won the voting at NotGraphs and has been assigned the nickname “Science or Bravery?”
in his voice:
by Fiesta on Jan 13, 2012 11:02 AM CST reply actions 1 recs
No. But I do now.
I give this nickname an A minus MINUS.
Applying pop culture to Brewers discussions since 2009, earning the nickname of "Our Little Abed".
That's the worst grade imaginable!
Packers: Working on a dynasty.
Blackhawks: Taking care of business as usual.
Badgers: Chin up, boys.
Brewers: Move along, nothin' to see here.
Did I miss it in the Mug, or did it not get reported?
Anyhow, apparently John Axford was assigned the nickname “Victorian Sex Rebel”.
Denotations, Connotations, Implications, Intimations, and Incriminations:
The Victorian era was, of course, a time of restrained passions. One did not do certain things in polite company. Sometimes, one did not do anything in polite company. Indeed, for the bodice-ripper to exist, there must first be the binding oppression of the bodice itself.
So the Victorian Sex Rebel was one whose mighty will, heart and loins could not be harnessed by the times. Or it could be someone whose contrived image was at odds with his inner malaise. Something like that.
Applying pop culture to Brewers discussions since 2009, earning the nickname of "Our Little Abed".
That one's pretty good.
I really like the nickname thing in principle, but in practice they’ve gotten really esoteric. “Dionysus with Rabies?” What is the metaphor that I’m missing?
Some news today, not worth a FanShot but still Brewers related.
Dan Meadows received an invite to Spring Training today.
I had to look up his stats to make sure this was legit. He had a 1.51 ERA in 21 relief appearances (41.2 IP) for Huntsville last year, then went to Nashville and posted a 4.04 ERA in 20 relief appearances (35.2 IP, 2.68 ERA combined for the year). He posted a K/9 rate of 8.6 with a BB/9 rate of 2.7.
He’s only 23 but he’s been rising through the Brewers system quickly. If the Brewers like him this much, he could be with the Brewers in a year or two. Here’s his B-Ref page.
Contributor on Brew Crew Ball, Commissioner of Prognostikeggers, Owner of a broken sarcasm detector
I should make one correction.
He did make one start for Nashville last season.
Contributor on Brew Crew Ball, Commissioner of Prognostikeggers, Owner of a broken sarcasm detector
And, perhaps most importantly
He’s a lefty.
by Cheeseandcorn on Jan 13, 2012 12:00 PM CST up reply actions
heck yeah!
Was hoping he would have been called up last September, but there was that whole his not being on the 40-man roster and such. Anyway, Daniel Meadows is all sorts of awesome.
6 inches in Appleton?
That’s nothing!
http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/09/alaska-town-digging-its-way-out-after-record-18-feet-of-snow/
"Aw, people can come up with statistics to prove anything, Kent. Forfty percent of all people know that."
Jeff Sullivan is the best
not only does he spend half his Prince Fielder Watch article complaining about how hungry he is, but he dropped the greatest line ever about a player signing in THIS scouting report/article from last week.
The worst-case scenario is that Iwakuma goes crazy and kills all of the team’s good players.
That’s just amazing.
"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."
BCB Fantasy Football League 1 Champ
i wasn't even going to bother reading the watch until you mentioned this
and i enjoyed it. so thanks.
by Capt Science on Jan 13, 2012 12:12 PM CST up reply actions
ehn
i think i might temporarily put jeff sullivan in that bucket, but other things that have been in that camp have become horrible. baseball prospectus used to be good and now it’s not. fangraphs is terrible, and i think dave cameron falls squarely in that territory. etc…
by Capt Science on Jan 13, 2012 1:18 PM CST up reply actions
RE: Carlos Gomez's salary
HAHAHA, CM was WRONG! So far wrong that he shouldn’t be allowed to speculate on salary any more.
For shame!
Everyone laugh at the dummy!
Packers: Working on a dynasty.
Blackhawks: Taking care of business as usual.
Badgers: Chin up, boys.
Brewers: Move along, nothin' to see here.
Truly the Most Pointless Game Ever
Take a player and look at his best season by Baseball Reference rWAR and the positions he played at least one game at that season (easy to find if you sort by rWAR on his Baseball Reference profile page), making him eligible at all of those positions.
Then, try and find a nine-man roster (C-1B-2B-SS-3B-LF-CF-RF-SP) of players with the same or similar names, i.e. the entire team must share some four-letter sequence in either their first or last names (middle names are too obscure). For example, you could put Babe Ruth in the outfield and have Dick Ruthven as the pitcher.
Players are eligible anywhere they played at least one game in their highest-rWAR season. If there are no eligible players (e.g. you are making a ‘ruth’ team but there is no ‘ruth’ catcher) you can move a position player to another position by deducting 2.0 rWAR from his season total (so you could move Babe Ruth to SS but his +14.7 rWAR season would become +12.7 rWAR). But you must have a player with the team four-letter sequence at all nine positions, otherwise there’s no team to be made. Outfielders are interchangeable.
The goal is to create the highest rWAR nine-man roster possible!
If Plush had to pick Wearwolf or Vampire, I'm a Wearwolf!
My best so far are 66.8 rWAR and 43.1 rWAR. I’m pretty sure the former might be the best possible and one of the more obvious ones.
If Plush had to pick Wearwolf or Vampire, I'm a Wearwolf!
Is it obvious because it is 9 Laportas?
BCB: Pointless Exercises in Devils Advocacy
by Jeo on Jan 13, 2012 4:28 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs
Nice! What name did you use?
My original two were:
C – Gus Bell (* 2.7 *, 1953) 89
1B – Beau Bell (2.0, 1936) 937
2B – Jay Bell (5.3, 1999) 46
SS – Buddy Bell (6.9, 1979) 56
3B – Les Bell (4.5, 1926) 5
LF – Albert Belle (7.4, 1998) 7
CF – Derek Bell (5.4, 1998) 9
RF – George “Liberty” Bell (5.0, 1987) 745
SP – George “Farmer” Bell (3.9, 1910) 1
43.1 rWAR
C – Aaron Robinson (3.2, 1946) 2
1B – Robin Ventura (6.7, 1999) 53
2B – Jackie Robinson (10.3, 1949) 4
SS – Robin Yount (11.5, 1982) 6
3B – Brooks Robinson (8.1, 1964) 5
LF – Robinson Cano (* 4.3 *, 2010) 4
CF – Frank Robinson (8.5, 1962) 97
RF – Floyd Robinson (4.6, 1964) 97
SP – Robin Roberts (9.6, 1953) 1
66.8 rWAR
If Plush had to pick Wearwolf or Vampire, I'm a Wearwolf!
Got two of them -
10.2 - 1964 Willie Mays 3B 11.8 - 1946 Ted Williams LF 8.9 - 1969 Willie McCovey 1B 6.1 - 1998 Bernie Williams CF 7.4 - 1965 Billy Williams RF-CF 8.9 - 1899 Vic Willis SP 6.1 - 1962 Maury Wills SS 7.9 - 1897 Wee Willie Keeler RF 6.4 - 1980 Willie Randolph 2B 73.7 . 15.8 - 1889 John Clarkson SP 7.7 - 1989 Howard Johnson SS 6.9 - 1944 Bob Johnson LF 8.2 - 1993 John Olerud 1B 4.8 - 1976 Jay Johnstone RF 8.6 - 1899 John McGraw 3B 9.1 - 1972 Johnny Bench C 6.5 - 1908 Johnny Evers 2B 6.6 - 2000 Johnny Damon CF 74.2
And that wasn’t the worst of it – I could have put John Clarkson in RF and used Walter Johnson as the pitcher.
Mark Attanasio is the best.
by nullacct on Jan 13, 2012 6:03 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs
15.8 WAR, good heavens.
Bizarre 600+ IP starting pitchers aside, I think the ‘will’ one might be the best possible. You could put Will Clark at 1B too (9.6 rWAR, 1989)
If Plush had to pick Wearwolf or Vampire, I'm a Wearwolf!
oops
Just noticed that I don’t have a catcher for the WILL team. So I guess I have to bump extra CF Bernie Williams and add in William Ashley “Bill” Freehan, who had a 7.0 WAR for the 1968 Tigers, primarily as a catcher.
Mark Attanasio is the best.
What's the ruling on Williams that go by Bill?
I think it should be the name they were known by (i.e. William, Will, Willie). Otherwise you could bring in William Roger Clemens too.
If Plush had to pick Wearwolf or Vampire, I'm a Wearwolf!
If we stretch it a little..
3B - 1980 KCR - 9.6 - George Brett SS - 1897 NYG - 7.9 - George Davis 1B - 1920 SLB - 9.2 - George Sisler 2B - 1945 NYY - 8.0 - George "Snuffy" Stirnweiss RF - 1923 NYY - 14.7 - George Herman Ruth CF - 1996 SEA - 9.7 - George Kenneth Griffey, Jr. LF - 1977 CIN - 8.2 - George Foster C - 2003 NYY - 6.1 - Jorge Posada SP - 1973 NYM - 9.5 - George Thomas Seaver 82.9
Mark Attanasio is the best.
Close
C – Harry “The Horse” Danning (4.2, 1939) 2
1B – Larry Walker (9.0, 1997) 938
2B – Harry Steinfeldt (7.8, 1906) 54
SS – Barry Larkin (7.4, 1996) 6
3B – Larry Gardner (5.9, 1912) 5
LF – Barry Bonds (12.5, 2001) 7
CF – Larry Doby (7.3, 1952) 8
RF – Harry Heilmann (9.8, 1923) 93
SP – Larry Dierker (9.0, 1969) 1
72.9
Could probably pick up a few more points somewhere, or if you use Larry “Chipper” Jones at 3B.
If Plush had to pick Wearwolf or Vampire, I'm a Wearwolf!
Pointless Trivia:
The Gameboy Game “Baseball Advance” would let you put any player in the catcher’s spot with seemingly no effect on their defense.
REWIND YOURSELF!
My first attempt
LF Carmelo Martinez 4.6
CF Dave Martinez 3.1
RF Pepper Martin 6.0
3B Edgar Martinez 8.1
SS Marty Marion 4.8
2B Martin Prado 3.0
1B Tino Martinez 4.8
C Victor Martinez 5.1
P Pedro Martinez 10.1
- -———————--
49.6
by flyingtoasters on Jan 13, 2012 6:42 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs
Jesus Montero to SEA, Michael Pineda to NYY
Interesting!
If Plush had to pick Wearwolf or Vampire, I'm a Wearwolf!
Interesting trade
I like this deal for both teams. Montero was never gonna get a shot in NY and the Mariners desperately need an impact bat. I bet Z regrets not taking Montero instead of Smoak in the Lee deal.
My guess is that Montero will DH and that they are out on Prince. I know seattle is a bad hitters park but I think Montero could be a star.
by bklynbrewcrew on Jan 13, 2012 6:53 PM CST up reply actions
let the Prince to New York rumors begin
I am too drunk to taste this chicken.
by ThroughBeingCool on Jan 13, 2012 7:08 PM CST up reply actions
DH
Since the market for Prince has (supposedly) fallen a bit, I think it would be hilarious for the Yankees to sign him at $20M/year or something to DH. What a lineup.
If Plush had to pick Wearwolf or Vampire, I'm a Wearwolf!
Interesting, thanks.
I don’t have much knowledge of other teams, just the Brewers and the NL Central rivals. I hope Prince ends up some place that will make him happy and I doubt that’s NY, really, but who knows. There are worse places he could end up and at least we wouldn’t have to worry about him hurting us next year.
Well, except when we face them in the WS.
by kotsaythebuzzkill on Jan 13, 2012 8:58 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs
And at the moment he's apparently in Texas to talk to the Rangers
by kotsaythebuzzkill on Jan 13, 2012 8:59 PM CST up reply actions
What a surprise.
One of the most cliched, play-it-safe sports writers out there, Jeff Passan, has the front page of Yahoo’s MLB page right now saying the Yankees are now the World Series favorites because of their two minor moves yesterday. That guy ticks me off. How does he have such a good job? I understand that because he writes nothing but fluff and mainsteam, middle-of-the-road opinions he’s probably well liked by the same people who think ESPN is real reporting, but he even does THAT terribly.
by kotsaythebuzzkill on Jan 14, 2012 10:14 AM CST up reply actions
I've given up caring about the quality of sports writers.
We had a good cathartic dsicussion about how awful they all are at the meetup a couple weeks ago. My anger has been calmed.
In Passan's defense
These aren’t exactly minor moves. The Yankees traded a blocked prospect for one of the most impressive young arms in the Major Leagues (one who was worth 3.4 WAR last year at age 22), and then they went and got another 2-3 WAR pitcher for reasonably cheap. Yesterday was a fantastic day for the Yankees.
by Cheeseandcorn on Jan 14, 2012 11:02 AM CST up reply actions
I agree that "minor" was the wrong word. As soon as I clicked "Post" I realized that.
I’m probably being too harsh on him, but he gets on my nerves more than the others because he writes drivel with such ease and then drips condescension in the articles he does write about smaller market teams like the Brewers. And I won’t get started on the “guilty without a trial” mentality he put forth in his Braun accusation manifesto.
by kotsaythebuzzkill on Jan 14, 2012 12:09 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs
I definitely agree
Passan seems pretty douchey.
by Cheeseandcorn on Jan 14, 2012 12:27 PM CST up reply actions
twitter will start talking about how NYY doesn't have a DH yet
and that Prince isn’t very thrilled with going to Washington, Seattle, or Texas.
I am too drunk to taste this chicken.
by ThroughBeingCool on Jan 13, 2012 7:15 PM CST up reply actions
CC Sabathia knows all the best all-you-can-eat buffets in New York. Just saying.
If Plush had to pick Wearwolf or Vampire, I'm a Wearwolf!
hopefully they have some good veggie options haha
I am too drunk to taste this chicken.
by ThroughBeingCool on Jan 13, 2012 7:21 PM CST up reply actions
oh I didn't know that haha
I am too drunk to taste this chicken.
by ThroughBeingCool on Jan 13, 2012 8:15 PM CST up reply actions
I don't think that veggie thing even lasted the whole season for him.
Give him an offspeed pitch down and in. He will swing and miss.
Odds of Nationals signin Fielder assumedly increase.
Great news for Brewers. That’s the ideal landing spot.
If Plush had to pick Wearwolf or Vampire, I'm a Wearwolf!
As I understand it, picks 1-15 in the first round are protected so if one of those team signed Fielder, we would get a supplemental and their second round pick. Washington picks 16th in the first round, so they would be the highest possible pick we could get back for Prince.
Unless I have that all wrong (very possible)
If Plush had to pick Wearwolf or Vampire, I'm a Wearwolf!
by SRB on Jan 14, 2012 1:04 AM CST up reply actions 1 recs
Ah, the new CBA rules
I forgot what the new rule was regarding that. If you’re right, that would indeed be the best possible scenario for the Brewers in terms of draft compensation.
I'd be willing to sacrifice one spot in the draft for him to go to Toronto
and be out of the NL altogether. Altho Washington offers the best pick, Toronto is right behind them, and MKE would probably be competing with the Nats (among others) for the Wild Card. So wouldn’t Toronto be the best overall option?
by MooseHaas on Jan 15, 2012 5:44 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs
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NL Central Standings
| W | L | PCT | GB | STRK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cincinnati
|
26 | 20 | .565 | 0 | Won 1 |
|
St. Louis
|
25 | 22 | .531 | 1.5 | Lost 3 |
|
Houston
|
22 | 24 | .478 | 4 | Lost 1 |
|
Pittsburgh
|
22 | 24 | .478 | 4 | Won 2 |
|
Milwaukee
|
19 | 27 | .413 | 7 | Lost 1 |
|
Chicago
|
15 | 31 | .326 | 11 | Lost 11 |
(updated 5.27.2012 at 12:11 PM CDT)
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