MLB.com's Adam McCalvy covers a number of Brewers-related topics as part of an online chat with fans….
- When Matt Cain signed his six-year, $127.5MM extension with the Giants, McCalvy "got the sense that just blew things up" in regards to the state of Zack Greinke's contract talks with the Brewers. Before Cain's deal, McCalvy thought Greinke would "absolutely" remain in Milwaukee, and while he isn't quite as certain now, there is still a chance Greinke re-signs with the Brewers even if he reaches free agency.
- Jay Gibbons was released by the club during the final week of Spring Training. Gibbons, 35, signed a minor league deal with Milwaukee in February.
- In the unlikely event that the Brewers are out of the NL Central race by July, McCalvy still doesn't think the Brewers will sell off such players as Greinke, Shaun Marcum or Francisco Rodriguez. The team is drawing more fans than ever to Miller Park and "it would be a very tough sell to those ticket holders if you start trading away your core players."
- McCalvy says he could see the club "dial back a bit" on payroll in the coming years. The Brewers' relatively small TV market and cable TV contract will make it hard for the team to sustain its current payroll, which Cot's Baseball Contracts calculates at approximately $98.15MM for the 2012 season.
Matt Cain’s salary is ridiculous! Why is he setting the market value? Thanks Giants! Regarding Marcum, I still think he’s worth a 3-4 year contract. The guy seems determined to succeed, he want’s to win in Milwaukee, especially after hearing one of his in game interviews this season.
Kevin Brown and Mike Hampton once received market setting salaries. Weird things happen. Brown having a dominant streak with a low K/9 and Hampton receiving an obscene deal apparently on the basis of a lone 20+ win season and Cain for being a good player with a more “prototypical” build and delivery than SF’s true ace.
Greinke is good as well but its hard to say he’s much better than Gallardo, a guy that no would dare say is worth $20 million per.
joe beimel????
I may be in the minority, but I don’t see Greinke as being as valuable as Cain if both were out on the open market.
I don’t think you are in the minority due to Zack’s up and down career and alleged off the field issues. He may not be as valuable to teams, but that doesn’t mean his camp won’t use it as a starting point to work around an agreement. Especially during the season. If it goes to free agency, I put the Brewers’ chances pretty slim since someone will offer him near Cain money.
I think you are, but not because I don’t agree with you. He’s just been the most overrated pitcher in the game for the past two seasons. He’s been league average.
Yeah that league leading K/9 is just plain average.
Zach Greinke WAR over last 4 seasons:
2008: 4.9
2009: 9.3
2010: 5.1
2011: 3.9
Matt Cain over the same period:
2008: 3.7
2009: 3.3
2010: 3.7
2011: 5.2
If Matt Cain pitched anywhere else he wouldn’t be nearly as highly regarded, the weak division and home run friendly park have really made him a much better pitcher than he really is.
I think if the Brewers are out of it by July, most fans will want to see changes. They’ve got some exciting young pitching doing very well right now in the minor leagues. I’d certainly rather pay to go see Tyler Thornburg instead of watching Marcum or Randy Wolf late in a lost season.
I completely missed the day when Rodríguez became a core player for the Brewers instead of the arb contract they shouldn’t have offered.
I believe most baseball fans are smart enough to realize how the game works – if they’re out of it before the deadline, they need to deal everyone of value in a contract year. Greinke, Marcum, Rodriguez… if someone would take Wolf you can throw him into the mix. Hart has another year left on his deal, but I’d move him if a solid return can be had. In the present, I wonder if Nyjer Morgan has any trade value. They’ve got six guys who can play outfield right now… that’s at least one too many, and there’s definitely more upside with Gomez and Aoki.
Gomez has upside? How many more years until we can call his “upside” what it is, disappointment?