Dave Roberts is a fine player. I'm sure he's a good guy. I just don't know what the Brewers would want with him. His name has been in the news today because the Padres let his agent know they're not too interested. So Roberts is available, and the Brewers are rumored, anyway, to be interested.
David Pinto gives a good summary of why the Padres decision is a good one:
Quick comparison of career AVG/OBP/SLG:
- Dave Roberts: .270/.344/.371
- Brady Clark: .278/.358/.389
Even last year, a dramatic down year for Brady and a good one for Roberts, Clark was within 10 points of OBP. Clark is also younger. Really, the only edge Roberts has over Brady Clark is that he steals more bases at a higher percentage. That's not worthless, but Brady gets on base at a better clip, has more recent experience in centerfield, and we've got him signed to a cheap, 1-year deal.
Why are we talking about Dave Roberts, again?
Even if you don't like Brady Clark, remember that we have roughly sixteen outfielders reporting to camp. We're talking about moving Billy Hall to the outfield. No team in baseball has more low-power, decent-defense centerfield options than the Brewers, and we've even got a guy (Tony Gwynn) who can steal plenty of bases. Just because Dave Roberts was on the 2004 Red Sox and he's put together a couple of credible seasons on division-winning teams doesn't mean he's better than our in-house options.
And frankly, for me it always comes down to this: any money we misspend on a guy like Roberts is money we can't spend on pitching. Not only this year, but, because Roberts will likely get at least a two-year deal, next year, too. $60 million is great for Milwaukee, but it's not much money, and we don't need to spend any more of it on outfielders. At least not until we get rid of a few of the ones we have now.