Brewers Release Claudio Vargas

I can't believe that he wouldn't have trade value at that salary. Seems like a lot of teams are trying to shave some of their out-of-option players off their roster and Vargas for a LH reliever could have been mutually beneficial ... maybe to Atlanta for Royce Ring since Smoltz is hurt to start the season? I don't know, this just seems lazy.

AJ-
The Brewers Bullpen is Full..everyone is out of options
Gagne
Turnbow
Riske
Mota
Shouse
Torress
McClung
Thats a solid Bullpen

Plus Vargas was on Waivers for 2 days where a team just had to offer 20 grand to claim him and NO BODY DID

Though just glancing at the headline, this seems to not be one of Doug Melvin's better moves. However, this move adds to the Brewers tendency to use younger players. 6 starters should be enough to carry the rotation. Villanueva should fill in nicely for Gallardo and Sheets when he gets injured during the course of the season. Suppan, Bush, and Parra usually have healthy seasons, though Parra is unproven, and should suffice. If the Brewers do get the injury bug, hopefully young players like Zach Jackson will be able to answer the call to the majors. Time was running out on the trade clock until opening day, the move may be for the best.

Gagne: Big Injury Risk; Terrible '07 2nd Half
Turnbow: Big Head Case; Yost doesn't know how to use him
Riske: Actually Solid
Mota: Solid... when on steroids; good for a 5.00 ERA
Shouse: Solid against lefties, Yost uses him against righties sometimes
Torres: Injury Risk; good for 4.50 ERA
McClung: Not Solid, but middle relief in losing games, no worries
Thats NOT a solid Bullpen

The Phils seem to be in need of another long reliever/extra starter type that Vargas seems to be; Tim, do you think the Phils will go after Vargas and if so, would he fit well in the bandbox of a park that the Phillies call home?

Hahaha I love Cub fans..
Gagne-Very good 1st half, bad 8 innings in an uncomfortable spot..NOT CLOSING..(most closers do bad outside of save chances)

Turnbow- Was one of the best MRPs in the league last year lead the league in Holds..

Riske- VERY solid
Mota- change of scenary and working with one of the best pitching coaches in the league has him pitching well with mid 90 fastball
Shouse- good against lefties..had to pitch against righties in the 2nd half because Matt Wise, Villanueva both started to implode in the Bullpen
Torress- Came into 2007 out of shape because he was upset with the Pirates for cheating him out of renting his Traing Center in the Domican Republic..has been a work horse except for last year

McClung- is very solid..had control issues but has been getting better ever since the Brewers traded for him in August..

But thats right Cub fans think
Wood will stay healthy
Howery will not have a bad first half liks last year
Eyre- that he will just keep his 2nd half and not the horrid 1st half
John Lieber- will stay healthy
Marmol- will not be a one year wonder

hahaha good luck cubbie fans...

Our Bullpen fell apart in the 2nd half last year and thats the ONLY way you won the divison...the Brewers bullpen got better Overall even with the loss of Cordero..

Gagne loses to Cordero

Turnbow push with Turnbow

Riske is better than Linebrink

Mota is better than Wise

Torress is better than Aquino/Spurling

Shouse is a push with Shouse

McClung is better than 2nd half Villaneuva

Remeber the Brewers lost 16 games in the 2nd half after leading by 3 runs or more....a lot of that had to do with Matt Wise who was the 7tgh inning man completely falling apart after beaning the reds player...that they made Linebrink be the 7th inning guy instead of Turnbow's backup if he struggled

The Brewers had the 3rd best Bullpen in the NL last year in the First half...Yost used the Bull pen the same way he did in the first half as the 2nd half...so Cubbie fan if you will comment on another team KNOW SOMETHING about that team

The Mets should pounce on Vargas, they need more options for the 5th spot in the rotation....

BTW, Mota better than Wise??? HAHAHAHAHA, that's hilarious... Erbacaine,you have no idea how BAD Mota is....

erbacaine,

Gagne still has to prove something.
Riske has done better in low pressure enviorments/situations and has a shakey WHIP.
McClung pitched 12 innings as a Brewer last year, wait before crowning him solid.
Turnbow is more jekyl/hyde than oliver perez.
Mota has had a lot of changes of scenary since his best years in LA... has yet to help him, steroids worked though.

The point being this is NOT a solid bullpen, this is a bullpen with potential to go either way but will likely be average.

And if you saw Marmol pitch last year you wouldn't suggest he's a one-year wonder.

I saw Marmol pitch in 2006...he was bad...
I saw Marmol pitch last year..he has control issues

I saw Marmol pitch in the playoffs...not very good

Fact is Marmol is STILL a question mark as well..

The kids has some sick stuff, but Bullpen guys are all jeckyl and hyde every year...Cordero lost his Closing job in Texas in 1996 when he was traded to the Brewers..
Then he turns out lights out..

Fact is while losing Gordero was a blow to the Brewers adding these Vets and all guys capable of Closing..helps the Brewers and makes the Bullpen much better than last years..

Mota will not be counted on in big areas...he is the last of the MRPs that will be called upon

McClung is the LRP..he has been getting stretched out for that role..

Gagne- will be the closer
Turnbow- Setup
Riske- Setup
Toress- 7thinning man
Shouse- Loogy
Mota- MRP
McClung- LRP

Hell the brewers when they had the 3rd best bullpen in the first half last year used ELMER Dessens as the long RP...so McClung will be MORE than fine

I saw Gagne pitch in 2006...oh wait...

I saw Gagne pitch last year...he has issues, in general

I saw Gagne pitch in the playoffs last year...ouch...

However, it is very difficult to find anyone who knows anything about Baseball that will say Marmol isn't a very, very good pitcher. 90 ks in over 60 ip last year. Ever since he was converted to the bullpen he has been spectacular.

For the most part I do think the Brewers bullpen is better than some around here will let on, but Gagne is a much bigger question mark than most brewer fans will admit, and definitely a 2nd choice to Cordero. Torres, *eh* he's mediocre enough to make you think he's good, but not good enough to make you feel good about seeing him come into a game. Unless, of course, the situation calls for him to bean someone in the head, in which case he's your guy.

It'll be interesting to see what Riske does with most of his games coming in the NL central. He could be the best value of the lot of them.

As for Mota and McClung, that's trying to catch lightning in a bottle, with McClung having some positive upside...but some doubts whether he'll actually be able to put it together. A move out of the NL east will probably do him some good, though. Overall I think the Bullpen is pretty good, but not necessarily solid.

Many teams seem to have too many ML-Capable Starters with little left to prove in the minors, while so many other teams are going with kids. It makes sense that some of the more borderline starters are being left without an option other than the scrap-heap created by guys being cut. As far as trading such a player, where is your ground to stand on when a comparable can just be had off said scrapheap? Its understandable players like this are just getting released, and even possible that a guy like Vargas could draw no interest and resign on a MiL contract with the BrewCrew.

As far as a bullpen ~ they are such a crapshoot from year to year that you have to go by what the team feels is their best interest. If the team feels comfortable with it, then it should be fine. Trying to go by track-records on BP guys though, well its rather hard to do… One year a BP can be the best in baseball while the next year the same group of guys can be miserable ~ its just one of those things…

Here's a helpful link regarding waiver rules:

http://espn.go.com/mlb/s/transanctionsprimer.html

I don't know where you got the part about $20,000. A waiver claim would mean that teams would take on his contract. It makes sense that he went unclaimed since teams can now negotiate in a context in which the Brewers are paying him $2.7M. Most players clear waivers once they are placed.

Two years ago, Manny Ramirez did. Last year, Andruw Jones did. Every year, many lower profile players pass through waivers without any consequences.

I'm a Cubs fan, and even I'm willing to admit I have my concerns about Marmol. While he was incredible last year, the control issues aren't completely gone, and he never looked as good as he did in 2007. Now, that doesnt mean I think he'll be bad, I think he'll be a stud, but I also realize that its far from a guarentee. Thats another reason why Kerry Wood is closing, outside of Wood's inability to pitch major innings.

And once again, I'm a Cubs fan, but I realize that the Brew Crew do have a pretty good bullpen. In the NL you have to admit that Gagne will be at least a solid closer, and they have pretty good set up men in Riske and Turnbow. Turnbow may be a headcase, but when he's on, he's a beast. Mota, Shouse, Torres, and maybe even Villanueva if he's in the bullpen, those are all good options as well. Now, I think that the Cubs have a better bullpen, with Howry, Wood, Marmol, Wuertz, Pig, Eyre, Marshall, etc.

um...scribbletone...last year was 2007...

Why does everyone only remember Gagne with BOS? He was perfectly fine as the closer with TEX, in a major hitters park. Plus, have all forgotten how automatic he was with LA?

major major typo. i am a cards fan. u here me cards fan. i am a cards fan. and one more time i am a cards fan.

erbacaine,

you're obsessed. are you going to get some sort of a life or respond to this thread with another 5 paragraph essay?

i guess theres not much to do in that crap hole of milwaukee.

I hope we dump Sid-If-I-got-lost-in-the-woods-and-had-no-food-I-could-still-survive-for 3-months-because-I-could-just-burn-all-my-blubber-like-polar-bears-do-when-they-hibernate-Ponson and pick up Vargas. At least Vargas can see his willy when he looks down.

"um...scribbletone...last year was 2007..."

I'm not quite following. Everything I said about Marmol made perfect sense. 'While he was incredible last year, the control issues aren't completely gone, and he never looked as good as he did in 2007,' that makes sense. Before 2007, last year, he never performed as well, and even last year his control wasn't incredible. I don't see where I referenced 2007 and last year as being separate seasons.

Hey Claudio, the Astros called and said hurry and pack your bags to Houston...

Where are the nationals on this one ???

They gave up their ace Patterson, so why not Vargas ?!

If all it will take is a minor league or couple mil bucks, why not ?

“Where are the nationals on this one ???
They gave up their ace Patterson, so why not Vargas ?!
If all it will take is a minor league or couple mil bucks, why not ?”

…Doesn’t your second line answer the first and third rather well? If they just released a guy who would probably produce a 5.0-ish ERA, why would they jump to replace him with yet another? I mean sure, this one is healthier and they very well could do it ~ but…

Scribble...

sorry, I interpreted that to mean that there was time after 2007 that implied he is not as good now as he was then.

Let's remember that Marmol is a converted catcher, and had only been pitching about 4 years when he made the jump from, I believe, AA ball.

Did anyone else see the game against the Cards last year when he struck out Pujols, IMO the best hitter in the game, with a curveball that buckled his knees?

Anyone who can do that to Albert is more than just pretty good.