Well, the Brewers did not offer arbitration to any of their free agents. The Crew had five type B players who would have netted them a draft pick if the player had declined and signed else where. Type B players were: RHP David Weathers, RHP Braden Looper, CF Mike Cameron, 2B Felipe Lopez, and C Jason Kendall. Pretty much saw this coming, still thought they would offer to Lopez, but GM Doug Melvin hinted yesterday hinted they wouldn't risk him accepting.
Also, the John Halama deal I've mentioned before has officially been completed. The former big league lefty signed a minor league contract with an invitation to big league camp. If John wins a spot on the 25 man roster he will draw a $450,000 dollar salary, otherwise he'll head to AAA.
Showing posts with label cameron. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cameron. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Monday, November 30, 2009
Arbitration approaches, Millwood rumors, Fielder Contract
The deadline for offering free agents approaches. Free agents are given either an A, B, or no ranking depending on there position and production, and teams may recieve compensation for those players leaving, but only if the offer of arbitration is extended. There is more to this, but I do have a longer explanation in a post from the summer. Long story short: Teams want draft picks, but can't just offer in case the player excepts, as he is then under contract. Also, a player almost never takes a pay cut in arbitration.
There is no point in extending offers to free agents who are not ranked since there is no compensation. The Brewers have no type As this year, however do have 4 type Bs. If these players are signed elsewhere the Crew would recieve a draft pick between the first and second rounds.
Mike Cameron- Made $10 million last season and I really doubt he will be making that much in 2010. Brewers have already committed to Carlos Gomez as their outfielder, making it almost a sure thing Cam' is not offered.
David Weathers- The Brewers already declined Weathers' 3.75 million dollar option, paying him a $400k buyout instead. Seeing as David make 3.4 mill this year the decision has already been made, Weathers will not be offered arb.
Jason Kendall- GM Doug Melvin has already said he does not want to allocate $5 million to the catching position, which is what Kendall made this last year. Seems likely the Crew goes the cheap route, Kendall is not offered.
Felipe Lopez- The second basemen had a career season and enters a week crop of middle infielders. After making only 3.5 million in '09 if he were to accept arbitration would likely not see 5. Also, arbitration is a one year contract, and I'm sure Felipe would like to see a couple of years. This being said, it is doubtful that he would accept an offer, and if he does it wouldn't be a bad deal for the Brewers, who could always trade him or Weeks later on. Lopez does get offered arbitration, and declines.
So it is a bit of a shame for the Brewers to have 4 players and only get 1 pick out of it, but it's better than last year when they had 2 type A free agents and only got a supplemental and a 2nd rounder (Ben Sheets never signed with another team).
Now on to new Kevin Millwood rumors. Supposedly the Orioles are interested, and the sourse claims that the Rangers would like to move his 12 million dollar salary to free up money for a bat. This is all and good, however the report coming in a few days ago was the the Rangers had new real incination to move Kevin...
Some other interesting ideas came up in a Brewers Mailbag with Adam McCalvy. It has been said that the Brewers will look to sign Fielder to an extension following the heart of this offseason. Fielder is already under contract for 2010 and under team control for another season after that. What else we know is that Fielder's agent, Scott Boras does not like to sign deals during arbitration years, and it was even surprising when a two year deal was reached last winter. What is scary now is the comparison McCalvy made between Fielder and another Boras agent... Mark Texiera. Tex signed a 8 year 180 million dollar contract last year with the Yankees and will be seen as a comperable for Prince. Mark was 28, with a .282 avg, 140 hr and 450 rbi after 4 seasons while taking 5th in rookie of the year voting, winning a Silver Slugger and making an All-Star team. Prince will be 27 when he hits free agency, and is currently a .283 hitter with 158 hr and 443 rbi while taking seventh in ROY voting, winning a Silver Slugger, making an All-Star team, and taking third in a MVP ballot. Yikes. The point is why would would Prince sign a 3-5 year deal now when he is just two away from would could potentially be a 200 million dollar pay day? I would like to see it happen but it won't. To me Prince will be a Brewer for the next two years MAX (and likely less).
That's it for now, hopefully things will heat up after Tuesday, and the Winter meetings are just right around the corner. Getting cold outside, Brew Up.
There is no point in extending offers to free agents who are not ranked since there is no compensation. The Brewers have no type As this year, however do have 4 type Bs. If these players are signed elsewhere the Crew would recieve a draft pick between the first and second rounds.
Mike Cameron- Made $10 million last season and I really doubt he will be making that much in 2010. Brewers have already committed to Carlos Gomez as their outfielder, making it almost a sure thing Cam' is not offered.
David Weathers- The Brewers already declined Weathers' 3.75 million dollar option, paying him a $400k buyout instead. Seeing as David make 3.4 mill this year the decision has already been made, Weathers will not be offered arb.
Jason Kendall- GM Doug Melvin has already said he does not want to allocate $5 million to the catching position, which is what Kendall made this last year. Seems likely the Crew goes the cheap route, Kendall is not offered.
Felipe Lopez- The second basemen had a career season and enters a week crop of middle infielders. After making only 3.5 million in '09 if he were to accept arbitration would likely not see 5. Also, arbitration is a one year contract, and I'm sure Felipe would like to see a couple of years. This being said, it is doubtful that he would accept an offer, and if he does it wouldn't be a bad deal for the Brewers, who could always trade him or Weeks later on. Lopez does get offered arbitration, and declines.
So it is a bit of a shame for the Brewers to have 4 players and only get 1 pick out of it, but it's better than last year when they had 2 type A free agents and only got a supplemental and a 2nd rounder (Ben Sheets never signed with another team).
Now on to new Kevin Millwood rumors. Supposedly the Orioles are interested, and the sourse claims that the Rangers would like to move his 12 million dollar salary to free up money for a bat. This is all and good, however the report coming in a few days ago was the the Rangers had new real incination to move Kevin...
Some other interesting ideas came up in a Brewers Mailbag with Adam McCalvy. It has been said that the Brewers will look to sign Fielder to an extension following the heart of this offseason. Fielder is already under contract for 2010 and under team control for another season after that. What else we know is that Fielder's agent, Scott Boras does not like to sign deals during arbitration years, and it was even surprising when a two year deal was reached last winter. What is scary now is the comparison McCalvy made between Fielder and another Boras agent... Mark Texiera. Tex signed a 8 year 180 million dollar contract last year with the Yankees and will be seen as a comperable for Prince. Mark was 28, with a .282 avg, 140 hr and 450 rbi after 4 seasons while taking 5th in rookie of the year voting, winning a Silver Slugger and making an All-Star team. Prince will be 27 when he hits free agency, and is currently a .283 hitter with 158 hr and 443 rbi while taking seventh in ROY voting, winning a Silver Slugger, making an All-Star team, and taking third in a MVP ballot. Yikes. The point is why would would Prince sign a 3-5 year deal now when he is just two away from would could potentially be a 200 million dollar pay day? I would like to see it happen but it won't. To me Prince will be a Brewer for the next two years MAX (and likely less).
That's it for now, hopefully things will heat up after Tuesday, and the Winter meetings are just right around the corner. Getting cold outside, Brew Up.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Some tidbits
Thanks to Adam McCalvy for some of these notes.
Carlos Gomez believes he is a starter, saying, "I'm too young to be a backup. If Milwaukee wanted me they know I can play everyday."
GM Doug Melvin has stated that Rickie Weeks remains the Brewers' lead off hitter. This would make me believe that Gomez would hit 8th, as he lacks the pop to be in a run producing spot like 7. This can lead to further conjecture that Kendall will not be back, as it would be awful to have two .245, sub 5 hr hitters at 7 and 8 spots... not to mention the power drop going from Hardy to Escobar.
Melvin also admitted that Gomez means Cameron will not be pursued.
It appears as people have speculated before that the Brewers will be players for lefty Mark Mulder as a reclamation project. Melvin mentioned he has been in contact with Mulder's agent.
Side note, when asked about free agent pitching Melvin mentioned the name John Lackey, the off seasons biggest name free agent pitcher. He didn't say he was pursuing Lackey, but why bring him up at all then?
Carlos Gomez believes he is a starter, saying, "I'm too young to be a backup. If Milwaukee wanted me they know I can play everyday."
GM Doug Melvin has stated that Rickie Weeks remains the Brewers' lead off hitter. This would make me believe that Gomez would hit 8th, as he lacks the pop to be in a run producing spot like 7. This can lead to further conjecture that Kendall will not be back, as it would be awful to have two .245, sub 5 hr hitters at 7 and 8 spots... not to mention the power drop going from Hardy to Escobar.
Melvin also admitted that Gomez means Cameron will not be pursued.
It appears as people have speculated before that the Brewers will be players for lefty Mark Mulder as a reclamation project. Melvin mentioned he has been in contact with Mulder's agent.
Side note, when asked about free agent pitching Melvin mentioned the name John Lackey, the off seasons biggest name free agent pitcher. He didn't say he was pursuing Lackey, but why bring him up at all then?
Saturday, October 31, 2009
My Halloween Birthday Brewers Blog
So it's my B-day, and yes, it's Halloween. In celebration I'm going to randomly talk about some stuff that I would be interested in seeing, trade ideas I may have, and talk about some players that I like.
Mike Cameron-
I like Mike. I hope to see him back in Center next year, but hopefully at a reduced rate (5 mil?) Here is something to think about for Mike. This season he became I believe just the 20th player in the history of the game to hit 250HR and steal 250 bases. Cam only needs 6 more SB, and if he hits just 35 more bombs, he could become just the seventh player ever to do that. To me that is a Hall of Fame career.
Jonathan Lucroy-
This kid can hit, and has seemingly passed Angel Salome on the depth charts to be the Brewers' number one catching prospect. In a story recently on Brewers.com Lucroy said, "I'm not going to settle for being in the Minor Leagues next year..." I'm apposed to bringing back Kendall, and would like to see Angel and Jonathan slug it out in Spring Training, with Rivera backing up once again.
David Bush-
Not a bad guy to throw into a trade somewhere. He has done a nice job of giving the Brewers some innings the last few seasons, but I think his time is over. Gallardo and Suppan are for all intensive purposes locks for the rotation, and it's too early to give up on Parra, there is Narveson and Burns for depth, and GM Doug Melvin is looking to pick up 2 arms this off season. Bye Bye Bushy. He's coming off a poor season but has been durable in the past, trade him for whatever, somebody has to want him...
Craig Counsell-
I'm ready for one more season of Craig. He can't take too much to bring back, and I kind of doubt he wants to play anywhere else. He still picks it at 3 defensive positions, and with his new found hitting ability can contribute at the dish.
This season could actually be pretty damn good. This off season could hypothetically get pretty crazy, and I don't know if Melvin is up for it, but it could kinda get nuts. We have all sorts of people available for trade. J.J. Hardy is one of the more prized SS available and should net something decent. Matt Gamel is a top notch prospect that could now be expendable. Bush is somebody that could go. Hypothetically one of our catching prospects could go. We need two starters and a center fielder... get crazy, have some fun with it. Giants need a 1B and a SS... maybe we could pry away one of those fine starters they have...
That's it for now. Happy Birthday to me. Brew Up.
Mike Cameron-
I like Mike. I hope to see him back in Center next year, but hopefully at a reduced rate (5 mil?) Here is something to think about for Mike. This season he became I believe just the 20th player in the history of the game to hit 250HR and steal 250 bases. Cam only needs 6 more SB, and if he hits just 35 more bombs, he could become just the seventh player ever to do that. To me that is a Hall of Fame career.
Jonathan Lucroy-
This kid can hit, and has seemingly passed Angel Salome on the depth charts to be the Brewers' number one catching prospect. In a story recently on Brewers.com Lucroy said, "I'm not going to settle for being in the Minor Leagues next year..." I'm apposed to bringing back Kendall, and would like to see Angel and Jonathan slug it out in Spring Training, with Rivera backing up once again.
David Bush-
Not a bad guy to throw into a trade somewhere. He has done a nice job of giving the Brewers some innings the last few seasons, but I think his time is over. Gallardo and Suppan are for all intensive purposes locks for the rotation, and it's too early to give up on Parra, there is Narveson and Burns for depth, and GM Doug Melvin is looking to pick up 2 arms this off season. Bye Bye Bushy. He's coming off a poor season but has been durable in the past, trade him for whatever, somebody has to want him...
Craig Counsell-
I'm ready for one more season of Craig. He can't take too much to bring back, and I kind of doubt he wants to play anywhere else. He still picks it at 3 defensive positions, and with his new found hitting ability can contribute at the dish.
This season could actually be pretty damn good. This off season could hypothetically get pretty crazy, and I don't know if Melvin is up for it, but it could kinda get nuts. We have all sorts of people available for trade. J.J. Hardy is one of the more prized SS available and should net something decent. Matt Gamel is a top notch prospect that could now be expendable. Bush is somebody that could go. Hypothetically one of our catching prospects could go. We need two starters and a center fielder... get crazy, have some fun with it. Giants need a 1B and a SS... maybe we could pry away one of those fine starters they have...
That's it for now. Happy Birthday to me. Brew Up.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
2009 Salaries, 2010 Projected
Hey everyone,
Quick rundown of what everybody made in 2009, and what is owed in 2010. This isn't exact obviously with trades and what not, but is generally pretty close.
(Salary in millions of dollars)
Position Name '09 Salary 2010 Salary
SP Suppan 12.75 12.75
CF Cameron 10 FA
3B Hall 6.925 7.15 (Seattle is paying 1.375)
CP Hoffman 6 7.5
C Kendall 5 FA
SP Looper 4.75 6.5 option 1 buyout
SS Hardy 4.65 ARB
RP Riske 4.25 4.5
RF Hart 3.25 ARB
SP Bush 4 ARB
2B Weeks 2.45 ARB
RP McClung 1.6625 ARB
LF Braun .745 1
INF Counsell 1 FA
RP Julio .95 (Released)
RP Coffey .8 ARB
RP Villanueva .477 ARB
SP Parra .426 .426+
C Rivera .415 ARB
SP Gallardo .414 .414+
RP Stetter .4075 .4075+
RP DiFelice .403 .403+
3B McGehee .400 .400+
Midseason Acquisitions
2B Lopez 3.5 FA
RP Weathers 3.5 3.7 option .4 buyout
OF Gerut 1.775 ARB
With assorted other rookies and whatnot on the books, along with portions of signing bonuses being doled out, opening day payroll 2009 was $80m+.
--Here is an explanation of contracts for those of you who don't know--
Players with less than 4 years of service time have contracts decided on by the club. The players listed with a "+" in there '10 column have two or less years of service, and assuming they do not sign a long term deal, will make only marginally more money.
Now players with 4-6 years of service time are eligible for arbitration. This means that unless a salary can be agreed upon my player and team figures will be exchanged and a court will choose one of those two figures. Since Melvin has been GM no arbitration cases have gone to court. There are some players in this service range who have salaries listed, this is because they have signed long term (i.e. Braun, Fielder). Players entering their first arbitration year are typically due large raises (Fielder got about $6.5m more) because they are going from team control to market fairness levels. During these years players may be non-tendered, or simply not offered a contract. If this is done they are free agents and may sign with any team for any amount of money. Players who were making lots of money and then had some down seasons may be non tendered as arbitration allows only a 20% pay cut at most.
Players past 6 years of service time are no longer under team control if they do not have a contract. However, the team they are leaving still has the right to offer the player arbitration. If the player declines they become free agents, if they accept the process is the same as other arbitration eligible players. The tricky part that comes in is that depending on the quality of the player, then can be designated as a type A or B player (most are nothing at all). These designations give draft picks to the team the player leaves; but, the former team only gets the draft picks if they offer the player arbitration. Type A gives the new signing teams 1st or 2nd (depending on standings) round pick to the former team, plus an extra supplemental round pick (between round 1 and 2); a type B is just rewarded the supplemental round pick, with no penalty to the new team. It can be risky to offer players arbitration, as you may end up with paying more salary than you want, or too many players, however it is risked because teams want the extra draft picks.
--End way too long contract system explanation--
Oh man that was long.
The only Brewers free agents who are worthy of a ranking is Mike Cameron and Felipe Lopez, who both look to be type B.
-Cameron will not be offered arbitration, he is currently making $10m, and would get at least a small raise. Way too much money. He has said he would like to come back, and implied that he would take a discount. Maybe not a bad idea as #1 CF prospect for the Brewers in Lorenzo Cain, who is looking like he'll need at least one more season in AAA. If we can resign Cam to maybe something in the 4-5 million range I would be accepting. He still plays plus defense, and can be counted on for .250 avg and 20+hrs.
-Lopez is more interesting. GM Doug Melvin recently reiterated that Rickie Weeks is the Brewers second basemen. However Lopez was signed last year for a reasonable 3.5m, and is coming off of a career season (.310 avg). Seems like the Brewers will take this one up, as I really doubt Lopez would except the offer, and the Crew would come away with an extra pick. But, as always when offering arbitration you need to think of both possibilities. If accepted you get a .300 switch hitter for probably under 5m who can play 2B and SS (though not real well). Picks this deal up.
Because this post is so super long I will come back with a discussion of arbitration eligible players later. I will try to repost some important things, like total salary numbers in every discussion.
That's all for now. I'm spoiling everyone with how much I'm writing. Don't get to used to it, I may actually have something important to do in the future (though probably not).
Brew Up.
Quick rundown of what everybody made in 2009, and what is owed in 2010. This isn't exact obviously with trades and what not, but is generally pretty close.
(Salary in millions of dollars)
Position Name '09 Salary 2010 Salary
SP Suppan 12.75 12.75
CF Cameron 10 FA
3B Hall 6.925 7.15 (Seattle is paying 1.375)
CP Hoffman 6 7.5
C Kendall 5 FA
SP Looper 4.75 6.5 option 1 buyout
SS Hardy 4.65 ARB
RP Riske 4.25 4.5
RF Hart 3.25 ARB
SP Bush 4 ARB
2B Weeks 2.45 ARB
RP McClung 1.6625 ARB
LF Braun .745 1
INF Counsell 1 FA
RP Julio .95 (Released)
RP Coffey .8 ARB
RP Villanueva .477 ARB
SP Parra .426 .426+
C Rivera .415 ARB
SP Gallardo .414 .414+
RP Stetter .4075 .4075+
RP DiFelice .403 .403+
3B McGehee .400 .400+
Midseason Acquisitions
2B Lopez 3.5 FA
RP Weathers 3.5 3.7 option .4 buyout
OF Gerut 1.775 ARB
With assorted other rookies and whatnot on the books, along with portions of signing bonuses being doled out, opening day payroll 2009 was $80m+.
--Here is an explanation of contracts for those of you who don't know--
Players with less than 4 years of service time have contracts decided on by the club. The players listed with a "+" in there '10 column have two or less years of service, and assuming they do not sign a long term deal, will make only marginally more money.
Now players with 4-6 years of service time are eligible for arbitration. This means that unless a salary can be agreed upon my player and team figures will be exchanged and a court will choose one of those two figures. Since Melvin has been GM no arbitration cases have gone to court. There are some players in this service range who have salaries listed, this is because they have signed long term (i.e. Braun, Fielder). Players entering their first arbitration year are typically due large raises (Fielder got about $6.5m more) because they are going from team control to market fairness levels. During these years players may be non-tendered, or simply not offered a contract. If this is done they are free agents and may sign with any team for any amount of money. Players who were making lots of money and then had some down seasons may be non tendered as arbitration allows only a 20% pay cut at most.
Players past 6 years of service time are no longer under team control if they do not have a contract. However, the team they are leaving still has the right to offer the player arbitration. If the player declines they become free agents, if they accept the process is the same as other arbitration eligible players. The tricky part that comes in is that depending on the quality of the player, then can be designated as a type A or B player (most are nothing at all). These designations give draft picks to the team the player leaves; but, the former team only gets the draft picks if they offer the player arbitration. Type A gives the new signing teams 1st or 2nd (depending on standings) round pick to the former team, plus an extra supplemental round pick (between round 1 and 2); a type B is just rewarded the supplemental round pick, with no penalty to the new team. It can be risky to offer players arbitration, as you may end up with paying more salary than you want, or too many players, however it is risked because teams want the extra draft picks.
--End way too long contract system explanation--
Oh man that was long.
The only Brewers free agents who are worthy of a ranking is Mike Cameron and Felipe Lopez, who both look to be type B.
-Cameron will not be offered arbitration, he is currently making $10m, and would get at least a small raise. Way too much money. He has said he would like to come back, and implied that he would take a discount. Maybe not a bad idea as #1 CF prospect for the Brewers in Lorenzo Cain, who is looking like he'll need at least one more season in AAA. If we can resign Cam to maybe something in the 4-5 million range I would be accepting. He still plays plus defense, and can be counted on for .250 avg and 20+hrs.
-Lopez is more interesting. GM Doug Melvin recently reiterated that Rickie Weeks is the Brewers second basemen. However Lopez was signed last year for a reasonable 3.5m, and is coming off of a career season (.310 avg). Seems like the Brewers will take this one up, as I really doubt Lopez would except the offer, and the Crew would come away with an extra pick. But, as always when offering arbitration you need to think of both possibilities. If accepted you get a .300 switch hitter for probably under 5m who can play 2B and SS (though not real well). Picks this deal up.
Because this post is so super long I will come back with a discussion of arbitration eligible players later. I will try to repost some important things, like total salary numbers in every discussion.
That's all for now. I'm spoiling everyone with how much I'm writing. Don't get to used to it, I may actually have something important to do in the future (though probably not).
Brew Up.
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