Brewers Rumors

Checking In On The Newest $100MM Players

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | June 22, 2011 at 3:34pm CDT

Every year a few select players join baseball’s exclusive $100MM club with free agent deals and mega-extensions. Last offseason was no different – we saw six players sign nine figure deals. The contracts were all for five years or more, so it’s far too early to call them successes or failures. But as the season approaches its halfway point, let’s check in on baseball’s newest $100MM players:

Troy Tulowitzki, ten-year, $157.75MM extension – Tulo has slowed down after a scorching start, but he's still having an excellent season. His .274/.339/.491 line and 13 homers look especially good when you consider that he's a good defensive shortstop.
Adrian Gonzalez, seven-year, $154MM extension – Red Sox fans dreamed of a season like this when Theo Epstein acquired Gonzalez from the Padres in December. The first baseman is a leading MVP candidate with a .350/.403/.603 line and 15 home runs.
Carl Crawford, seven-year, $142MM contract – Crawford was heating up before he hit the disabled list, but his numbers are poor overall. He has a .243/.275/.384 batting line, just 8 stolen bases and his lowest walk rate (3.2%) since 2002, his rookie season.
Jayson Werth, seven-year, $126MM contract – Werth is hitting just .233/.334/.409, though he has 10 home runs. Nationals fans may be consoled by the fact that Werth erupted in the second half last year and has traditionally produced better after the All-Star break.
Cliff Lee, five-year, $120MM contract – The prize of the offseason free agent market, Lee has a 3.12 ERA with 9.6 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 in 104 innings. The lefty is in the midst of another fantastic season and this time he doesn't have to worry about being traded.
Ryan Braun, five-year, $105MM extension – Braun is having a monster year. He has a .310/.397/.555 line with 15 homers and a career-best 12.1% walk rate for the first-place Brewers.

It's fair to expect Werth and Crawford to turn their seasons around and produce as they did before signing nine figure free agent contracts. The other four additions to the $100MM club are justifying the deals, at least to the extent that it's possible in less than three months.

Quick Hits: Royals, Brewers, Hanley, Mets

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | June 21, 2011 at 10:20pm CDT

Paul Konerko homered for the fifth consecutive game tonight, which gives him a total of 21 on the season and a share of the MLB lead. Here are tonight's links from around the Major Leagues…

Royals GM Dayton Moore told Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports that he'll remain open-minded about trades that will improve the Royals in 2011 and put them in a better long-term position. Mike Aviles, Wilson Betemit and Melky Cabrera are among the Royals who could appeal to other teams this summer.
MLB officials have had internal discussions about 15 team leagues with no divisions, but the idea hasn't been discussed in collective bargaining with the MLBPA, according to Yahoo's Jeff Passan (Twitter links). MLB is reluctant to push for such drastic change, but Passan hears that an NL team “will” move to the AL to even the leagues out at 15 clubs apiece.
Brewers scouting director Bruce Seid told Adam McCalvy and Audrey Snider of MLB.com that Milwaukee has talked to top pick Taylor Jungmann since selecting him 12th overall and is prepared to continue negotiations in depth.
Marlins president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest told Greg Stoda of the Palm Beach Post that he doesn’t want to speculate about Hanley Ramirez as a possible trade candidate. “We do say that some players are more or less likely to be traded than others, but we don't ever talk about anybody specific," Beinfest said.
Mets GM Sandy Alderson told Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com that he wasn’t surprised to hear that Jose Reyes has decided against negotiating a possible deal in-season.
Alderson added that the Mets’ record won’t necessarily dictate their willingness to trade Reyes (Twitter link). "Whether we’re winning or losing is a lot less relevant in Jose’s case,” he said.

NL Central Notes: Pujols, Bell, Brewers

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | June 20, 2011 at 10:40pm CDT

Albert Pujols will miss four to six weeks with a fracture in his left arm, further confirmation that no NL Central club appears ready to run away with the division. The 40-33 Brewers would deal a catcher, the defending champion Reds are eyeing arms and the Pirates are lurking around the .500 mark. Here's the rest of tonight's NL Central-related news…

Cardinals GM John Mozeliak told Matthew Leach of MLB.com that he isn't ready to determine how aggressive the Cardinals will be in trade talks leading up to the July 31st deadline. The GM acknowledged that Pujols' injury opens "some potential opportunities out there that maybe [the team] wouldn't have explored 48 hours ago."
Here's more reaction to Pujols' injury from earlier tonight.
Jim Callis of Baseball America hears that Pirates draft pick Josh Bell is set on going to the University of Texas, where he has committed to playing. Despite that, Callis likes the pick for Pittsburgh, which should have plenty of money to dangle in the prospect's direction.
Adam McCalvy and Audrey Snyder of MLB.com explain how one lucky Brewers fan signed a one-day contract with his favorite team.

Outrighted: Herrera, Brad Davis

By Tim Dierkes | June 20, 2011 at 7:41pm CDT

The latest group of players who cleared waivers and were outrighted to Triple-A:

The Brewers outrighted Danny Ray Herrera to Triple-A Nashville, according to MLB.com's transactions page. They designated the left-hander for assignment on Saturday.
Marlins catcher Brad Davis, designated for assignment Wednesday to open a 40-man spot for Jose Lopez, is headed to New Orleans according to the team's Twitter account.

Catching Top Priority For Giants; Kottaras Available

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | June 20, 2011 at 4:45pm CDT

Obtaining catching help remains the Giants' top priority, according to Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter links). One potential target is Brewers catcher George Kottaras, who is available according to Schulman.

However, 21-year-old prospect Hector Sanchez has a .310/.375/.448 line in eight games at Triple-A since the Giants promoted him all the way from Class A earlier this month, so GM Brian Sabean does have one internal option. Eli Whiteside, who has picked up most of the playing time since Buster Posey's home plate collision, hasn't hit much. He has a .190/.278/.291 line this year and backup Chris Stewart hasn't done any better.

Kottaras, 28, has been backing up for the first place Brewers. He has a .290/.324/.516 line in 34 plate appearances in support of everyday catcher Jonathan Lucroy this year. In 396 career plate appearances, Kottaras has a .220/.306/.405 line, which compares pretty well with the average MLB catcher in 2011 (.241/.314/.379).

Quick Hits: Kazmir, Gordon, Jackson, Hudson, A’s

By Mike Axisa | June 17, 2011 at 11:14pm CDT

Some late night links as Friday turns into Saturday…

Brewers GM Doug Melvin told Tom Haudricourt of The Journal Sentinel that he has no interest in pursuing the recently released Scott Kazmir once the lefty clears waivers (Twitter link).
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports that the Rangers had interest in Brian Gordon before the Yankees signed him. "[Texas] had been interested from the beginning, but didn't think they had a lot of room," said David Schwartz, Gordon's agent. "On Tuesday, when their pitching staff was getting beat up, they got more interested. But by then, we had come to a verbal agreement – he was going to New York."
MLB.com's Spencer Fordin wrote about Edwin Jackson of the White Sox and Daniel Hudson of the Diamondbacks, who were traded for each other last season and faced each other tonight.
ESPN's Howard Bryant brings us up to speed with the Athletics and their stadium situation.

Brewers Designate Danny Ray Herrera For Assignment

By Mike Axisa | June 17, 2011 at 10:05pm CDT

The Brewers have designated Danny Ray Herrera for a assignment, reports Tom Haudricourt of The Journal Sentinel (on Twitter). He was called up just yesterday.

Herrera, 26, pitched both yesterday and today. He gave up a homerun to Kosuke Fukudome and recorded two outs yesterday, and tonight he gave up four runs in an inning of work against the Red Sox. Herrera was claimed off waivers from the Reds just a few weeks ago, and the lefty's big league career consisted of a 3.69 ERA with 6.4 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 in 92 2/3 innings coming into today.

Rosenthal On Reds, Nunez, Edwin Rodriguez

By Mark Polishuk | June 15, 2011 at 9:39pm CDT

Here's the latest from FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal in this new Hot Corner video…

Of the NL Central contenders, Rosenthal thinks the Reds will be the most active before the trade deadline. They can deal one of their top prospects (Zack Cozart, Yonder Alonso, Devin Mesoraco) for help, or perhaps promote one or more of those youngsters. The Reds also have Aroldis Chapman and Homer Bailey's returns on the horizon.
The Cardinals will rely on reinforcements in the form of injured players returning from the DL, and while the Brewers are looking for "a hard-throwing reliever," Rosenthal doesn't think Milwaukee will be able to make any major trades since the farm system is thin after the Zack Greinke deal last winter.
The bright side of Derek Jeter's injury is that it gives the Yankees a look at Eduardo Nunez, their possible shortstop of the future. Rosenthal also notes that Nunez could be a potential trade chip.
In regards to the rumored realignment plan, Rosenthal says concerns about interleague games being played throughout the year would be addressed by having the majority of AL vs. NL matchups take place towards the middle of the season, as per tradition. Rosenthal, for his part, is a big supporter of realignment since it will create a more fair playing field in regards to scheduling and the divisional setup.
In another video clip, Rosenthal argues that the Marlins shouldn't be quick to fire manager Edwin Rodriguez even though the team is struggling. The injuries to Hanley Ramirez and Josh Johnson have hampered the team, though as Rosenthal notes, even with this excuse for Florida's slump, it's hard to predict Jeffrey Loria's actions.

Outrighted: Toregas, Hughes, Pucetas, Nieves

By Tim Dierkes | June 15, 2011 at 5:07pm CDT

Players who cleared waivers and were outrighted to Triple-A:

The Cubs announced that Brad Snyder has been outrighted to Triple-A Iowa. The outfielder was designated for assignment on the weekend.
Catcher Wyatt Toregas was outrighted to Indianapolis by the Pirates, tweets Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He'd been designated for assignment on Sunday to open a spot for Mike McKenry.
Lefty reliever Dusty Hughes was outrighted to Rochester to open a 40-man spot with the Twins for infielder Tsuyoshi Nishioka, according to the team's transactions page. They'd claimed Hughes off waivers from the Royals in January. The Twins will need another spot for Joe Mauer soon.
Righty Kevin Pucetas, designated for assignment by the Royals on Friday to open a 40-man spot for Mike Moustakas, was assigned outright to Omaha today according to the Royals' Twitter page.
The Brewers outrighted catcher Wil Nieves to Nashville, writes MLB.com's Adam McCalvy. George Kottaras' contract was selected. The Brewers' 40-man roster count remains at 37. The White Sox are the only other team under 38.

Prince Fielder Won’t Rule Out Any Team

By Tim Dierkes | June 15, 2011 at 12:20pm CDT

First baseman Prince Fielder, who is headed toward a massive free agent payday after the season, told Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times yesterday he "doesn't have any problems with any team." Fielder was answering a question about whether he'd listen to an offer from the Cubs. The Scott Boras client was quick to emphasize that his focus is on the Brewers, his current employer.

There's not much of a story here, as we rarely see an elite free agent publicly rule out teams, especially midseason. Sure, Fielder probably hates the Cubs from a competitive standpoint, but eliminating them publicly would just be bad business.

Wittenmyer doesn't think the Cubs can afford to make a huge bid for Fielder – his source says the team's debt structure all but precludes a free agent megadeal for the next two or three years. Still, the Cubs appear to have a crazy amount of payroll flexibility after the season. Even if they slash payroll from $134MM to $120MM, they'd still have almost $50MM to play with in 2012 salaries. Of course, I'm not an accountant and it's more complicated than that.

Fielder, just 27, is having a season reminscent of the '07 and '09 campaigns that landed him among the top four in the MVP vote each year. He's at .300/.416/.617 with 19 home runs in 291 plate appearances. Fielder could aim for the biggest contract in baseball history for a player not named Alex Rodriguez.

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