Word is from Ken Rosenthal that the Brewers will sign SS Alex Gonzalez to a one year deal with a vesting option.
Alex spent last year with the Braves and hit .241/.270/.372 with 15 home runs in 593 plate appearances. He is considered to be an above average fielder.
This will end the fear that Betancourt will return. Now... to sign a 3b...
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Winter Meetings Catch Up
Hey all. A million short stories for you.
So word is it's looking like Takashi Saito will resign a one year deal with the Brewers.
After word that there was no interest in bringing back reliever Latroy Hawkins, word is now that the Brewers do have interest.
Rumor has it that SS Rafael Furcal is not being targeted by the Brewers.
A hundred speculations regarding SS Jimmy Rollins. Rollins is reportedly seeking a 5 year deal, with his Phillies only offering 3. The Brewers were then considered to be favorites, but rumors now shift towards him resigning with the Phillies.
The number one rumor out there now is getting former Cum 3b Aramis Ramirez. He is reportedly seeking a deal in the neighborhood of 3 years $10-$15mm per. He would like to stay near his Chicago home and has expressed interest in coming to Milwaukee. If the Brewers do sign Ramirez, it would probably mean the return of Betancourt at SS, and Casey McGehee would probably platoon with Mat Gamel over at 1b, as well as supply some utility type help.
Also, there has been some speculation as to whether or not Francisco Rodriguez may accept the Brewer's offer of arbitration. The market for closers has been weird and lots of guys seem to be available. It'd be nice to have that 8th inning help, but the price would be pretty steep (around $13mm).
In other news the Marlins may start to target Fielder after the end of the crazy bidding war over Pujols if the Cardinals indeed come out on top. I would much rather have Prince in Florida than Chicago...
That's it for now. Hopefully we'll get some signing info soon. It's been a fun couple days.
So word is it's looking like Takashi Saito will resign a one year deal with the Brewers.
After word that there was no interest in bringing back reliever Latroy Hawkins, word is now that the Brewers do have interest.
Rumor has it that SS Rafael Furcal is not being targeted by the Brewers.
A hundred speculations regarding SS Jimmy Rollins. Rollins is reportedly seeking a 5 year deal, with his Phillies only offering 3. The Brewers were then considered to be favorites, but rumors now shift towards him resigning with the Phillies.
The number one rumor out there now is getting former Cum 3b Aramis Ramirez. He is reportedly seeking a deal in the neighborhood of 3 years $10-$15mm per. He would like to stay near his Chicago home and has expressed interest in coming to Milwaukee. If the Brewers do sign Ramirez, it would probably mean the return of Betancourt at SS, and Casey McGehee would probably platoon with Mat Gamel over at 1b, as well as supply some utility type help.
Also, there has been some speculation as to whether or not Francisco Rodriguez may accept the Brewer's offer of arbitration. The market for closers has been weird and lots of guys seem to be available. It'd be nice to have that 8th inning help, but the price would be pretty steep (around $13mm).
In other news the Marlins may start to target Fielder after the end of the crazy bidding war over Pujols if the Cardinals indeed come out on top. I would much rather have Prince in Florida than Chicago...
That's it for now. Hopefully we'll get some signing info soon. It's been a fun couple days.
Monday, December 5, 2011
Winter Meetings are Here!
So today is the start of the Winter Meetings, where baseball's, well, everyone, gets together to plan pretty much everything.
Doug Melvin said it will likely be a quiet one for the Brewer's this year, but stuff could happen. Appparently reliever Latroy Hawkins will attend with his agent again, the same method he used two years ago before signing with Milwaukee. Word has come out of ESPN Deportes in Los Angeles that the Brewers are also interested in free agent righty Octavio Dotel, who put up a 3.50 ERA in 65 games for the Cardinals and Blue Jays last season. Dotel apparently has a one year offer in hand from the Cardinals.
In shortstop related news, it was said that Melvin was scheduled to meet with Jose Reyes agent at the Meetings, however that's all moot considering Reyes signed a 6 year deal with the Marlins. However, ESPN's Buster Olney tweets (@Buster_ESPN) that Milwaukee maybe a prime competitor with Philly for the services of Jimmy Rollins. This is the first real connection I've seen between Milwaukee and Rollins... I kind of don't see it happening.
One thing that's been up lately is increased talk about Milwaukee being a player to bring Prince Fielder back. This is in part due to the slowly developing market for him. However, I don't see this, Boras is pretty notorious for waiting things out, and I think everyone will wait until Pujols is off the board before going after Prince.
Doug Melvin said it will likely be a quiet one for the Brewer's this year, but stuff could happen. Appparently reliever Latroy Hawkins will attend with his agent again, the same method he used two years ago before signing with Milwaukee. Word has come out of ESPN Deportes in Los Angeles that the Brewers are also interested in free agent righty Octavio Dotel, who put up a 3.50 ERA in 65 games for the Cardinals and Blue Jays last season. Dotel apparently has a one year offer in hand from the Cardinals.
In shortstop related news, it was said that Melvin was scheduled to meet with Jose Reyes agent at the Meetings, however that's all moot considering Reyes signed a 6 year deal with the Marlins. However, ESPN's Buster Olney tweets (@Buster_ESPN) that Milwaukee maybe a prime competitor with Philly for the services of Jimmy Rollins. This is the first real connection I've seen between Milwaukee and Rollins... I kind of don't see it happening.
One thing that's been up lately is increased talk about Milwaukee being a player to bring Prince Fielder back. This is in part due to the slowly developing market for him. However, I don't see this, Boras is pretty notorious for waiting things out, and I think everyone will wait until Pujols is off the board before going after Prince.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Adam Kennedy to Dodgers
So as important as the search for a shortstop and for a decent bullpen is, as well as figuring out the futures of both first and third, finding quality bench players is also key.
I haven't really discussed this before, but all three of the Brewers' major bench players from a season ago have left. Counsell may or may not retire, but won't be offered a contract from the Brewers. Mark Kotsay has taken a spot with his hometown Padres, and Jack Wilson was let go.
We have a decent 4th outfielder in Carlos Gomez, but it stops there. Perhaps we can pick up a guy from the minors (maybe Zelous Wheeler?) but we should probably find a veteran infielder and a veteran outfielder to keep the team together.
Adam Kennedy was one of those guys. He can hit a little, and plays practically everywhere. He just signed a 1 year contract with the Dodgers worth $800k, and up to $150k in incentives. That is somebody we couldn't have used, and I hope GM Doug Melvin isn't too preoccupied with his other searches to find us something usefull (and I hope we have the money). However, we have had some luck with waiver pick ups before (see Joe Inglett and last years Jack Wilson as examples.
Later.
I haven't really discussed this before, but all three of the Brewers' major bench players from a season ago have left. Counsell may or may not retire, but won't be offered a contract from the Brewers. Mark Kotsay has taken a spot with his hometown Padres, and Jack Wilson was let go.
We have a decent 4th outfielder in Carlos Gomez, but it stops there. Perhaps we can pick up a guy from the minors (maybe Zelous Wheeler?) but we should probably find a veteran infielder and a veteran outfielder to keep the team together.
Adam Kennedy was one of those guys. He can hit a little, and plays practically everywhere. He just signed a 1 year contract with the Dodgers worth $800k, and up to $150k in incentives. That is somebody we couldn't have used, and I hope GM Doug Melvin isn't too preoccupied with his other searches to find us something usefull (and I hope we have the money). However, we have had some luck with waiver pick ups before (see Joe Inglett and last years Jack Wilson as examples.
Later.
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