The Brewers reached agreement today with free agent right-hander Jeff Suppan on a four-year deal with a club option worth approximately $42 million.
Wow. I didn't think it was going to happen. Say what you want about payroll flexibility, but at least Suppan does improve the '07 club.
The Brewers coveted Suppan to fill the final spot in their starting rotation behind Ben Sheets, Chris Capuano, Dave Bush and Claudio Vargas. Suppan has averaged 203 innings per season since 1999 while never missing a start due to injury.
I guess Villanueva gets the shaft then, though he's obviously next in line if Vargas sucks. Suppan's durability is a nice plus.
Update [2006-12-25 2:57:31 by battlekow]: Dan Szymborski at BTF has a projection up for Suppan:
2007 ZiPS Projection - Jeff Suppan
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W L G GS IP H ER HR BB SO ERA
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Projection 11 10 29 29 177 191 86 23 59 95 4.37
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Opt. (15%) 15 8 32 32 199 199 81 20 59 114 3.66
Pes. (15%) 7 11 25 25 143 167 85 25 53 74 5.35
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