The Brewers are next in MLBTR’s 2013 Contract Issues series:
Eligible For Free Agency (4)
- Zack Greinke - It looks like Greinke will be one of the offseason's top free agents. Assuming he spends the entire season in Milwaukee without signing an extension, I expect the Brewers will make him a one-year qualifying offer this fall to be eligible for draft pick compensation. Greinke will presumably decline the offer in search of a multiyear deal.
- Shaun Marcum - It'll be interesting to see if the Brewers make Marcum a qualifying offer when he files for free agency. Qualifying offers project to be worth $12.5MM or so this offseason, a considerable jump from Marcum's current $7.725MM salary.
- Cesar Izturis - While Izturis could be back in 2013, he doesn't appear to have a place in the Brewers' long-term plans.
- Francisco Rodriguez - Rodriguez, 30, is off to a relatively slow start for the Brewers. He won't obtain a qualifying offer from the team this offseason.
Contract Options (2)
- Randy Wolf: $10MM club option with a $1.5MM buyout. The 35-year-old left-hander hasn't looked like a $10MM pitcher so far this year, but the Brewers may pick up the option if he pitches 200-plus innings with an ERA around 4.00, as he did in 2010-11.
- Alex Gonzalez: $4MM vesting option become guaranteed with 525 plate appearances. Gonzalez will miss the remainder of the season after tearing his ACL, so there's no chance this option will vest.
Arbitration Eligible (12)
- First time: John Axford, Travis Ishikawa, Chris Narveson, Marco Estrada, Brooks Conrad
- Second time: Nyjer Morgan, George Kottaras
- Third time: Kameron Loe, Jose Veras, Manny Parra, Vinnie Chulk
- Fourth time: Carlos Gomez
The Brewers will have a large class of arb eligible players this offseason. Axford's case might be the most interesting one facing Gord Ash, Teddy Werner and others in the Brewers front office. This class includes some non-tender candidates (Chulk, Ishikawa, Conrad, Veras and even Morgan), so there's a good chance the Brewers will have fewer than 12 cases to resolve next offseason.
2013 Payroll Obligation
The Brewers have committed approximately $52MM to next year's payroll, according to Cot's Baseball Contracts. The team's payroll has risen to $98MM under Mark Attanasio's ownership, so GM Doug Melvin will have some money to spend this offseason. He'll need it, with two of his top starters hitting free agency and uncertainty on the infield.
If they don’t climb back in to it, they should trade marcum, grienke, krod.. If they get teams in to bidding wars and get mlb ready talent, they could be ready to compete again in 2013.
Definitely.
Especially with the added wildcard making it easier for a mediocre team to sneak into the playoffs, and the one-game playoff making it extremely valuable for said mediocre team to have an ace for that one game.
that could be a fun and lucrative bidding war.
Even if they are within striking distance I wonder if they should trade one of those guys for some offense (likely a corner infielder).
Grienke has a no trade clause though
But he wants to win, if they trade him to a contender he would def. be willing to go. That is the reason he came to Milwaukee in the first place, because he saw them as a contender.
Considering the Brewers seem to really want to keep Grienke long-term, or will likely obtain some decent comp picks if he leaves, a contender would have to make a pretty impressive offer to rent him for a playoff push. Marcum didn’t exactly impress in the postseason last year, so it’s hard to say what sort of interest there would be around him. Dealing K-Rod would basically amount to a salary dump, and could maybe net some kind of organizational filler… maybe. All of this assumes that they see themselves as sellers at the deadline…. a distinct possibility at this point. Given the team’s depth at OF, non-tendering Morgan also seems likely unless he signs an extension at below arb-value…. the team can’t really afford to pay 2.5ish million for a platoon player (can’t hit LHP, and is struggling against RHP too) when they have holes to fill and guys that waiting in the minors who would make league minimum.
I’d definitely deal all of the players mentioned, and possibly Corey Hart as well. With the new CBA in place, I’m guessing that Milwaukee is liable to get less than you’d think. Probably next to nothing for K-Rod, ditto Marcum (at least nothing big league-ready) unless he starts pitching like a solid number two consistently – Greinke would attract plenty of interest, but I doubt he’d fetch a ton unless the team receiving him was also guaranteed the opportunity to extend him. Since Hart has another year left on his deal at an affordable price you might be able to get a couple of nice players in return, assuming he doesn’t fall off a cliff as he has been prone to do.
I think the young starters in their system could effectively take Marcum and Wolf’s places next year. I know there are arb and contract increases, but swapping out almost 18M for rookies would definitely free up money to get the brewers to a 5/100 offer for Greinke. With him, i’d wonder if he almost want a 3/70 deal or something instead though, so he’s not stuck with them too long if they fall out of contention on a regular basis.
does the 52 mil count arby guys?
Getting rid of the only two solid starters? Great..back to being a sub-.500 team…sorry Braun