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Prince Fielder

Brewers Hope To Add Two Starters

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Brewers GM Doug Melvin spoke to reporters today, and Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel has quotes.  A few highlights:

  • Melvin feels that re-signing closer Trevor Hoffman early will aid the Brewers in attracting free agent starting pitchers.  Melvin hopes to add two starters.
  • When asked about trading Prince Fielder or Ryan Braun, Melvin responded, "I don't see that happening."  Might as well close the book on those rumors.
  • The Brewers view Rickie Weeks as their starting second baseman, which implies they'll let free agent Felipe Lopez leave. 
  • Melvin told Haudricourt it would "be very difficult" for the Brewers to keep both J.J. Hardy and Alcides Escobar.  Hardy could be a great pickup given the scarcity of shortstops.  Also, Haudricourt thinks Mat Gamel could be available in trade.

Brewers Owner Acknowledges Fielder Could Be Dealt

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Brewers owner Mark Attanasio believes that Prince Fielder is at his maximum trade-market value right now, writes Don Walker of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.  Fielder is due to receive $10.5MM on the back end of a two-year $18MM agreement and is hitting .297/.406/.596 with 43 HRs.  With that level of production and a reasonable contract, Fielder could fetch an awful lot – especially from AL squads that could put him at DH.

While Attanasio says that he doesn't like thinking about the Brewers sans Fielder, he also acknowledged that one player's strong performance doesn't automatically translate into wins.

At the same time, the Brewers clearly hit a string of bad luck as they lost Rickie Weeks in May and saw their pitching flounder with a team ERA of 4.75 – the fourth worst in the majors.  It's logical to think that the Brewers will see a marked improvement from their club if they stand pat, stay healthy and get better performances out of J.J. Hardy and Corey Hart.

Is it in Milwaukee's best interest to dangle Fielder this winter?  Or would they instead be better off keeping the 25-year-old and looking to improve by other means?  Should they consider signing him to a long-term deal?  Let's hear your thoughts in the comments.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Zambrano, Johnson, Fielder, Felix, Braves

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On this date 39 years ago, the Mets purchased the contract of Dean Chance from the Indians. At the time, the Mets were 1.5 games back in the NL East. The former Cy Young winner would make only three relief appearances down the stretch and the Mets finished six games back in third place. Chance would subsequently be traded in the off-season and play just one more season. With only two weeks remaining before the start of most team's off-season, let's take a look at what is being written in the Blogosphere…

  • Goat Riders of the Apocalypse feels the reports that Carlos Zambrano is largely responsible for the Cubs' failures this season are just PR by the Cubs to make it easier to move Zambrano this off-season.
  • Fangraphs makes a case that Nick Johnson's injury history could increase the number of teams that are interested in his services this off-season.
  • Dodgers Rumors wonders if Ned Colletti will be back next season as the Dodgers' GM and whether he deserves to be.
  • MLB Notebook breaks down the possibility of Prince Fielder being traded this off-season.
  • Jorge Says No! writes about the Mariners' inability to sign Felix Hernandez to an extension.
  • DC Sports Plus looks at some free agent starting pitchers that could help the Nationals next season, with John Lackey, Jason Marquis and Joel Pineiro at the top of the wishlist.
  • The Ghost of Midnight Graham suggests that teams avoid Pineiro this winter.
  • UmpBump takes a look at who might be playing first base for the Braves next season.

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com. If you have a suggestion for this feature, Cork can be reached here, and followed on Twitter here.

What To Expect From Prince Fielder?

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The opinions range far and wide on what the Brewers should do with Prince Fielder, and with good reason. His positives are extremely positive, while the red flags are positively scarlet.

Let's start with the basics. Fielder is signed for $10.5MM in 2010, with the Brewers controlling his rights through 2011. Assuming he continues to hit like Prince Fielder, that means 2011 will likely be even more expensive than 2010 for the Brewers.

Fielder is having a tremendous 2009 season. He turned 25 in May, and has posted a line of .298/.410/.588 in 636 plate appearances entering Wednesday. By any standard, he is an elite offensive player.

But the concern most people have with Fielder is his size. Fielder is quite, shall we say, Rubenesque, and the worry is how such a player will both age and continue to play first base.

On the fielding side, the evidence we have is a bit surprising. Fielder's UZR actually improved significantly in 2009. After posting a -8.8 runs and -8.5 runs in 2007 and 2008, respectively, Fielder is at -0.7 in 2009- a stone's throw from average.

And should the Brewers decide to rip up his current deal and sign him long-term this winter, the contract would begin with his age-26 season. To get a sense of how someone with Fielder's body type will age, one need look no further than his father, Cecil. The elder Fielder, of course, returned from Japan for his age-26 season, and shocked the baseball world with 51 home runs. He hit 258 home runs over his age 26-32 seasons, playing primarily first base, not designated hitter.

In other words, if Prince is anything like his father, that's a lot of offense to give up, no matter how badly the Brewers need starting pitching.

Odds & Ends: Strasburg, Ranaudo, Fielder

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A few links for the evening….

  • Chico Harlan of the Washington Post notes one name that stands out on the Washington Nationals' roster for the Florida Instructional League: Stephen Strasburg. Strasburg is expected to pitch in the Instructional League that runs from Sept. 24 to Oct. 13.
  • Keith Law of ESPN.com reports that LSU righty Anthony Ranaudo has chosen Scott Boras as his adviser for the 2010 draft. Ranaudo projects to be one of the top college pitchers next year and a potential top-five pick in the June draft, assuming Boras' presence doesn't scare teams away.
  • BP's Eric Seidman at ESPN.com follows up on the Prince Fielder to San Francisco speculation by discussing what the Giants would have to give up to net the slugging first baseman. Seidman is doubtful that Giants GM Brian Sabean would want to part with any blue-chip prospects like Buster Posey or Madison Bumgarner, but suggests that of their major league talent, only the front-line starters (Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, and Jonathan Sanchez) would interest the Brewers. Seidman writes that to even consider a trade, the Giants would have to be confident they could sign Fielder to a long-term deal.

Olney On Red Sox, Fielder, Cain

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ESPN.com's Buster Olney caught our attention yesterday when he guessed the Brewers would trade Prince Fielder to the Red Sox after the season. Some MLB executives who noticed Olney's post "flatly disagreed" with the suggestion. Here are the details from Olney's latest column:

  • The executives Olney spoke with believe the Red Sox would prefer not to give up the young pitching it would take to acquire Prince. They gave up a lot of pitching in the Victor Martinez trade, so they will want to keep Clay Buchholz and others.
  • The same executives didn't rule out a Matt Cain for Prince Fielder swap. There's no indication that there's even the smallest amount of truth behind the suggestion that the teams could trade stars, but it makes some sense, in theory.
  • The Brewers, who know they need an improved rotation, get a top young starter to pair with Yovani Gallardo. The Giants get a legitimate middle-of-the-order bat to place behind Pablo Sandoval. Both Cain and Fielder are under team control for two more seasons, so the suggestion is imaginable, if unlikely.

Odds & Ends: Pirates, Fielder, Nationals

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Links for Monday…

Odds & Ends: Brewers, Sizemore, Gomes

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Curious about how untouchable Grady Sizemore is? I had to create a category for him just for this post. In the entire history of MLBTR, no one ever bothered to write any rumors about him…

  • ESPN's Keith Law writes that the Brewers "are closer to noncontention than contention, and trying to prop the playoff window open for another year or two could lead to a miserable bottoming-out not far down the road." He suggests they trade megastar Prince Fielder to help fill other holes, and build the team around Ryan Braun and Yovani Gallardo.
  • Jim Ingraham of The News Herald believes that the recent trades of Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez have effectively shortened the Indians' window to win with Grady Sizemore. Sizemore's contract runs through 2011 with a dirt cheap option for 2012, but Ingraham says there's "no reason to believe when Sizemore becomes a free agent after the 2012 season he won't leave whatever team he is with and sign a monstrous contract with one of the big-market teams."
  • Jonny Gomes is open to returning to the Reds next season, but says he'll "go where I can get the most at-bats," according to Hal McCoy of The Dayton Daily News. Gomes is making $600K this season and is arbitration eligible next year, so he can expect a hefty raise thanks to his .281/.355/.555 batting line.

Brewers Face Plenty Of Roster Decisions

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After a tremendous run last year that resulted in the club's first playoff berth in a quarter-century, the Brewers sat 13.5 GB of a playoff spot coming into today's action, and sport the National League's worst starting rotation thanks to their 5.22 ERA. As Adam McCalvy of MLB.com writes, the club has a ton of roster decisions to make this offseason, although GM Doug Melvin says "We've got a lot of decisions, and none of them will be discussed until the end of the season."

Some of the issues facing the Brew Crew this offseason are…

  • Impending Free Agents: Trevor Hoffman, Claudio Vargas, Mike Cameron, Felipe Lopez, Jason Kendall, Craig Counsell, Frank Catalanotto, and Corey Patterson will all be free agents after the season. The clubs holds a $3.7MM option for David Weathers next year ($400K buyout), and there's a $6.5MM mutual option for Braden Looper ($1MM buyout) that McCalvy says the club "will almost certainly pick up."
  • Arbitration Eligibles: Dave Bush, Corey Hart, Rickie Weeks, Seth McClung, J.J. Hardy, Jody Gerut, and Todd Coffey are all eligible for salary arbitration. Coffey, who's been the club's primary setup man, figures to get a nice raise over his current $800K salary.
  • Starting Pitching: As I mentioned earlier, Milwaukee sports the NL's worst starting staff. McCalvy reports that "Melvin promised this week that he would be much more aggressive this winter in his search for answers," and that the club might take a "little more chances and risks" than they're accustomed to taking.

The Brewers also have questions about the key up-the-middle positions. They have to sort out the Hardy-Alcides Escobar situation at short, and decide whether to try and retain Lopez or give Weeks another shot at second base duty. Cameron and Kendall have both made it clear they'd like to return, but those decisions will have to wait until the winter.

Milwaukee also must figure out third base, and whether Mat Gamel or Casey McGehee deserves the job. Prince Fielder has the other corner infield spot locked down, and is under contract for $10.5MM next year before being arbitration eligible in 2011, his final year before free agency. McCalvy also mentions that manager Ken Macha faces a lame-duck year next season, and that Melvin is fielding questions about whether another managerial change may be in order.

Odds & Ends: Peavy, Fielder, Mets, M’s

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A nice helping of links to get us going here Wednesday night…

  • According to Bruce Levine of ESPN Chicago, Jake Peavy is doubtful to make his White Sox debut on Saturday.  The newly acquired right-hander was unable to throw a scheduled side session Wednesday afternoon due to lingering elbow soreness.
  • Anthony Witrado of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel agrees with Dave Cameron's philosophy that the Brewers should trade first baseman Prince Fielder if they have no intention of improving their starting rotation through free agency this offseason.  "I understand the team would take a PR hit if they traded a star like Prince," writes Haudricourt,"but for the betterment of the organization, it makes sense to deal him if you can't improve around him."
  • FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal says evidence suggests that the Mets, who have sent 19 men to the DL this season, are not taking care of their players. "The Mets can say what they want, writes Rosenthal.  "After a while, the disabled list does not lie."
  • Larry LaRue of the Tacoma News Tribune thinks the Mariners are finally moving in the right direction, and gives a good chunk of the credit to general manager Jack Zduriencik.  "Wait 'til next year now means something again for Mariners fans," says LaRue.
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