Arbitration Looms, 2 Week Recap

Hey Everyone,

So quite a few things worthy of mention have happened in the two weeks since my last post, but apparently I write more often when school is in session because I'm just avoiding doing school work. Oh well, let's get to this recap, and then talk about the looming arbitration.

This was more than two weeks ago now but I still want to bring it up, that Tim Dierkes over at MLB Trade Rumors.com called the signing of Gregg Zaun one of the best of the offseason. Part of this might have been related to the fact that two of his worst signings were former Brewer Jason Kendall and Ivan Rodriguez, who each got two years and $6 million. Not that Zaun is an awesome pick up or anything but the Crew got exactly what they needed in him, a catcher to take a one year deal, who hits better than Kendall, good signing. Side Note: Former Brewers CF Mike Cameron's two year $15.5 mm deal with the Red Sox was also listed amongst the best.

Former Brewers Manager Ned Yost is back in baseball after spending last season relaxing. Everyone should remember that Yost was fired with 12 games left in the season in 2008, the latest in the year a manager has ever been fired for a team entering the playoffs. Yost will assume a front office position as a special assistant to the Baseball Operations department. I think Yost was a pretty crummy manager but must admit that he did well with the young guys during his early years, a role in player development for a young team like the Royals sounds like a good fit for him.

The Brewers have signed former Reds outfielder Norris Hopper to a minor league deal. Somewhat surprisingly this deal does not include an invitation to Big League Camp in spring training, so it would appear that Hopper will not be competing for a back up outfield spot. Norris did not play in the Bigs last year, but had decent success from '06-'08 with the Reds, playing decent defense at all 3 outfield spots and hitting a combined .316 with 1 HR and 17 SB in 400 at bats. His worst season was 2008, but he had a decent year in AAA last season split between 3 organizations. He bats righty and should supply some pinch hitter insurance in case guys like Oeltjen don't pan out (see Chris Duffy and Brad Nelson last year...).

The search for another starting pitcher apparently continues... The seemingly never ended saga of the pending signing of Mark Mulder continues. The front office along with new pitching coach Peterson were all in Arizona last week to talk pitching and went over to see Mulder. However, Mark has not progressed far enough to throw off a mound yet (something I thought he had been doing for months). GM Doug Melvin said he plans to revisit Mulder some time in the future. This kind of feels like one of those things were the pitching coach is saying take a chance but Doug is just not feeling it. Mulder will only command a minor league deal.

There have been multiple reports however that the Brewers will indeed sign one more "real" pitcher before the season begins. The number one name that keeps coming up is former Brewer, the lefty Doug Davis. As recent as the last week Melvin has been said to been keeping up with Davis' agent. The other is a man with a long connection to the Brewers this off season as well, Jarrod Washburn. Jarrod is a Wisconsin native that has said he would like to pitch close to home (Minnesota or Milwaukee). Interestingly enough he turned down an offer from the Twins already this off season reported to be near $5 million. I don't see the Brewers wanting to get near that number, so it's probably less of a close to home thing and more of a regular, "I want more money" thing. I just kind of see Davis being signed as I haven't heard of much interest his way. I doubt an incentive laden deal would happen, as he is one of the more durable pitchers in the game. One name that hasn't been brought up much is John Garland, considered to be one of the best left with the two previously named men, Garland is the only righty of the group.

So now on to arbitration, which is used to determine salaries for players with between three and five years of experience (or occasionally two). The Brewers have seven players eligible, down from eight after the non-tendering of Mike Rivera and Seth McClung, plus the addition of Carlos Gomez (who is a Super 2). All seven have filed, which is really just a formality. Tomorrow, unless a deal can be reached beforehand, numbers will be exchanged between the clubs and players. There should be a flurry of signings today to avoid this process, and then there should be plenty of signings after the exchange, as the middle point is quite often decided upon as fair. It was reported that there is more than one Brewers player who is close to avoiding arbitration. Hart may be one, as he is coming off a disappointing year and I see him gaining little in the process, and may be more benefited by signing an incentive laden deal.


More on Arby fun time tomorrow. Peace for now. Brew Up.

More Zaun, Counsell, Oeltjen

It's been reported that the Brewers have submitted an offer now to Craig Counsell. It doesn't seem likely anything will happen before next week's Winter Meetings when GM Doug Melvin can meet with Craig's agent, Barry Meister, face to face. While Melvin won't say whether he is willing to go over one year for Craig, it seems likely that is what the market will demand, or at least some form of a mutual option.

In other news Brewers signed lefty outfielder Trent Oeltjen to a minor league deal with an invitation to Spring Training. Trent made his big league debut with the D'backs last season and hit .243 with 3 hr and 3 sb in 24 games. Seems like he may compete for a back up outfielder position, or at least provide some AAA depth.

Some other notes on the Zaun signing. Like I said before it is a 1 year deal paying 1.9 million with a 2.25 million dollar club option and 250k buyout. There are 600k in incentives based on games played (no idea how many, but I would guess that at least the first few are very reasonable). Also, Gregg said that during talks with Melvin he was asked about mentoring, which Zaun seemed more than pleased to do. This may be related to bringing up Lucroy to back Gregg up. Also, Zaun said that he is ready to go out there and catch 4 of 5 starters, not an uncommon thing, which would equate to around 130 starts. I think 110 might be more realistic, but that may be more related to how well guys are playing.

It for now. Winter meetings start next week, should be fun. Just in case anyone was wonder, Melvin said the Brewers won't be in on any Roy Halliday trades... how surprising... Brew Up.

Zaun Signed

I couldn't feel more smug right now. Gregg Zaun signed a one year $1.9 million dollar contract with the Brewers with a $2.25 million dollar club option and a $250k buyout. I through out the idea back on Nov. 7 that maybe the crew would go after a decent hitting cather, and I think I may have mentioned another time maybe a stop gap for our prospects.

I still kinda see and hope that Lucroy is used to split time with Zaun. Gregg has never started more than 110 games, so maybe a number like that with Lucroy getting around 50 starts. This of course would mean the non tendering of Mike Rivera.

Congrats and welcome to the newest Brewer.

Brew Up.

New Wolf, Counsell, Zaun

Couple quick things.

Supposedly the Brewers are one of several teams to be "aggressive" towards signing free agent lefty Randy Wolf. Weak rumors that the Crew has already submitted an offer (it seems unlikely Wolf would sign until after John Lackey, the #1 free agent starter). Wolf became a more viable option after the Dodgers decided to not offer him arbitration, as Randy is a type A free agent, but will no longer require a draft pick to sign. He made $5 million last year and put up a 3.23 era and a 1.10 whip. This was his best season since 2002, but will likely see 3+ years at perhaps $10 million+ a season.

Gregg Zaun has said that he will sign today. Zaun said the teams were either the Brewers, Rockies, Rays, or Mariners. I personally don't see the Rays after they declined his option though...

Brewers GM Doug Melvin has said that he hopes to submit an offer to infielder Craig Counsell at the Winter Meetings. A while back it was said that 12 teams were interested in Counsell, who is seeking (and probably deserving) a multi-year deal. A comparison made was Alex Cora's recent signing for $2 million as a starting point.

I'm sure I'll have another one by the end of the day. Patience, Brew Up.

Gregg Zaun Rumors

Kuh-Chow. Finally something I guessed has gained some ground. If you remember a while back, I speculated that perhaps the Brewers could look to sign a catcher to a one year deal, filling in until Lucroy or Salome is ready. I also figured he would hope to be a more offensive minded than Kendall given the lack of offense, especially power, in the Hardy-Escobar and the Cameron-Gomez switches.

So here is the rumor: Gregg Zaun. Zaun is a switch hitter who most recently played with the Rays where he hit .260 with 8 HR is 90 games. He is a .251 career hitter but has a .344 OBP and should slug near .400. Also a big point is that Zaun still puts up these numbers, Kendall has a .290 career avg and a .380 obp, but as a Brewers has put up a line of .244/.330/.316 (he never was much for slugging). Rumors say that the Brewers would be attractive to Zaun as the team offering the most playing time. Back-up Mike Rivera and waiver claim George Kottaras have big league experience, but won't start. In reality, a signing like this may open up the non-tendering of Mike Rivera who is arbitratoin eligible. Zaun made 1.5 million last year and expects to decline arbitration (he is a type B free agent), so I would expect any deal to be in the low 2 million dollar range, as the Rays did decline his $2 million option. This would be a savings of say 2.5 million over Kendall, and saying bye to Rivera and using either Kottaras or Lucroy/Salome as the back up could save around $250k (depending on Mike's arbitration numbers).

Been super busy, look for articles to start coming up again in the next few weeks. Brew Up.