Howard Worth Two Princes?

Prince Fielder just signed a two-year contract buying at a couple of his arbitration years for a total of $18 M. He hit .276/.372/.507 last year with 34 HR, .376 wOBA, 113 wOBA+ (and .419 wOBA, 123 wOBA+ in 2007).

Ryan Howard is asking the Phillies for $18 M in arbitration next year, after hitting .251/.339/.543 with 48 HR, .367 wOBA, 108 wOBA+ in 2007 (.398 wOBA, 155 wOBA+ in 2007).

I know there's service time considerations and national recognition (Howard was 2nd in NL MVP voting despite being only the 7th most valuable player on his own team last year, according to FanGraphs), but that seems kind of silly to me.

I think the arbitrator is going to go with the Phillies submitted figure of $14 M, but I wouldn't be surprised if Howard won his case. Read more ...

Brew Crew Really Going For It

The Brewers kept their push for the play-offs going by acquiring second-baseman Ray Durham from the Giants for a couple of minor-leaguers.

The Brewers got:

Ray Durham, 37 year-old 2B, was hitting 293 / 385 / 414 this year. The switch-hitter isn’t a great fielder, but then again, neither is the guy he’ll be replacing in the line-up (Rickie Weeks and his 216 / 326 / 365 line).

The Giants got:

Darren Ford, 22 year-old OF, was hitting 230 / 322 / 303 in A-ball this year, with 48 steals in 59 attempts.

Steve Hammond, 26 year-old LHP, 0-4 this year, with a 7.41 ERA and a 1.71 WHIP in Triple-A, after going 7-4 with a 3.45 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP in Double-A.

The Brewers don’t give up much of value - Ford is really fast and a good defender, but he’s probably limited to being a 4th outfielder at best, and Hammond may not even be a back-of-the-rotation starter, though long-man isn’t out of the question – and get a definite (current) upgrade at second. The Giants save some money and get rid of a guy they have no use for. It’s really a win-win, but the potential reward for Milwaukee is higher. Read more ...

Sabathia No Longer Biggest Player On Own Team

With three weeks still remaining until the trade deadline, the season's biggest deal has already occurred. The disappointing (and last place) Cleveland Indians have traded their soon to be free agent Ace, CC Sabathia, to the Milwaukee Brewers for slugging outfielder (really a first-baseman, and probably a DH in the near future) Matt LaPorta and three other minor leaguers (none of which are particularly big names). The Brewers have the second best record in the NL (behind the Cubs) and now are primed to make a run at a championship this year. That might have sounded crazy a little while ago when they were under .500 and had lost Yovanni Gallardo for the year, but with Sabathia and Ben Sheets at the top of the rotation (that has to be the best 1-2 punch in baseball) Milwaukee just needs to get to the playoffs to have a solid chance. The offense is there - if they could pick up a bullpen arm or two (George Sherrill for shortstop Alcides Escobar and change on either side?) they'd be in a very good position to go deep into October.

While the price was high (LaPorta has 40 HR potential) for a three+ month rental, the success with which the Brewers draft means that the compensatory picks they'll get once Sabathia (probably) leaves for a big money contract will allow them to recoup much of what they gave away. It's a somewhat surprising win-now move by Milwaukee, and the Cubs may need to counter with a big trade of their own to stay atop the NL Central. Another thing of note is that Sabathia is a pretty good hitter for a pitcher - that's extra value that the Brewers are getting. Read more ...

Isn't That Backwards?

The Brewers are implementing a strange practice for their minor league pitchers:

"Beginning this week at Class A Brevard County, relievers will start games before turning it over to the "starters" in the third or the fourth. By starting the starter later in games, the Brewers hope their young players develop a "nine-inning mindset" by the time they reach the Majors."

It seems to me that this is basically a psychological ploy, as it doesn't actually help the pitchers to throw nine innings. I don't think it will work very well, and it may actually be problematic as the pitchers will sometimes come into games with their team behind. That has the flip effect of taking away the "this is MY game" mentality. Like a lot of things, I guess we'll just have to wait and see. If it works (gets the pitchers deeper into games as the progress through the system) then I wonder if other teams will start doing it. The Brewers are a smart organization so I'm sure they put a lot of thought into the decision. Read more ...

O's-Brewers, Double Plays Are Super Unclutch

The Orioles finish out their series with the Brew Crew.

Back-to-back doubles by Roberts and Markakis and an RBI groundout by Millar give the O's a 2-0 in the first. Garrett Olson takes the mound to try to make it hold up, and win this series.

Things start off well as the Brewers go down in order.

Alex Cintron getting the start against lefty Manny Parra. He's got good stuff, but also some control issues. True to form, he walks Cintron on five pitches. Ned Yost doesn't like the strike-zone Olson is getting at the plate and comes out to argue. I was expecting him to get tossed, but it didn't happen. With two strikes on him Garrett actually gets the bunt down fair, and Fielder bobbles it, allowing him to get to first. Ryan Braun robs Roberts of a hit with a nice sliding catch in left. [Correction: Cintron isn't playing because of the lefty; he's playing because Freddie Bynum was designated for assignment with current starter and former hard-throwing reliever Ryan Bukvich getting called up. Apparently, Oscar Salazar will be the back-up at short. Interesting; the team went from all "field" and not hit to all "hit" and no field.] Markakis draws a walk to load the bases. DiFelice - who looked good a couple days ago - is warming up for the Brewers. He won't be needed quite yet, as Mora grounds into a double play.

Fielder doubles just passed Adam Jones in center. The ball bounced around out there, but Prince just wasn't thinking "triple" coming out of the box. For the second time in as many days Corey Hart hit's a two-run homer. The game is now tied. Olson settles down after that, getting a couple of groundouts and a K.

Millar draws a lead-off walk in the third - that's the fifth free-pass by Parra. The left-field platoon continues with Payton in there for Scott. That's fine - it's working OK so far - but stop playing Jay against righties. Double play erases Millar. Rickie Weeks shows some range getting to Jones' grounder up the middle, but he couldn't make a throw on it. Quiroz grounds to short for the third out.

Another easy inning for Olson.

Cintron starts the fourth with a line-drive single to center. Unfortunately, Olson's bunt attempt results in another double play. Roberts bounces back to the mound. The O's have had their chances, but haven't come through very often.

Three flyball outs in the fourth.

Nick draws his second walk (Parra's sixth) to start the fifth. Mora flies out to the warning track in deep center. Millar reaches out and pulls a pitch into the left-center gap. Nick comes all the way around from first to score, and Kevin goes into second with a double. Payton grounds out on the first pitch, and then Jones strikes out.

And the game is tied again. Bill Hall sends one into the Brewers' bullpen for a homer. Gapler gets grazed by a pitch and sprints to first. Kendall bloops one into short right-center, but Jones charges in and makes the catch. He was almost able to double up Kapler at first, but his throw got away from Millar - good thing Q was backing up the play. Parra's night is over, as Joe Dillan pinch-hits for him. Dillan is retired, by Olson loses the zone against Weeks and walks him on four pitches. Hardy singles just passed a diving Cintron at short, but it gets through and Kapler comes in to score (Payton's throw was way off-line). The Brewers take a 4-3 lead. Olson gets the dangerous Braun to flyout to right, but he may be done with Bukvich warming in the pen.

The O's go donw in order versus DiFelice.

Bukvich is in there after Olson was pinch-hit for. A mammoth homer by Prince Fielder makes it 5-3. Bukvich loads the bases with a single and two walks before Lance Cormier comes in to retire Richie Weeks.

David Riske relieves DiFelice, and allows a lead-off single to Roberts. Brain steals second, while Markakis gets ahead 3-0. Is this an unintentional intentional walk situation with first-base open? A strike and then a ball high, and the O's have something going in the seventh. The way this game has been going, Mora will probably ground into a double play. Melvin goes around on an 0-2 pitch, but the first-base ump says he checked it in time. Fastball on the outside corner gets him looking though. The runners take off as Millar hits a bullet to short. Hardy throws him out at first, but they stay out of the double play. Jay "He Sucks" Payton is up. He works the count full and hits a hard grounder up the middle, but Weeks is able to get to it and throw Jay out at first. Two more runners left stranded.

Chad Bradford coming in. I had no idea he had a 2.16 ERA - that may fetch something nice at the trade deadline. Hardy falls behind 0-2 but inside-outs a fastball to right-center for a ground-rule double. Braun fails on a bunt attempt, and then hits a rocket right at Roberts at second. That's it for Bradford - with Fielder coming up we'll see Jamie Walker. Oh man; another big swing from Fielder and out it goes to right. Prince's second homer of the day makes it 7-3. At his current rate of getting murdered by lefties, Walker probably won't bring anything nice at the deadline. Jamie gives up a single to Hall, but picks him off to end the inning. It's big-inning time if the Birds want to get into this game.

Adam Jones singles to start the eighth, but is erased via a double play by Quiroz. Cintron grounds back to the mound for the third out.

New dad, Dennis Sarfate is in there. He sets Milwaukee down in order. It'll take at least four in the ninth.


Luke Scott bats for the pitcher and flies out. Roberts gets a generous strike-zone and works a walk - that's good, since they need baserunners. Markakis up. Nick has been on all four times today - three via the free-pass. Make that four, as Mota doesn't have his control today. Milwaukee's closer, Solamen Torres, will try to finish it. Mora grounds into another double play to end the game.

The O's waste a lot of opportunities (they walked 10 times in the game) and lose 7-3. I don't know what I was expecting, as it is Sunday. At least they're still over .500 at 38-36. [I mention .500 a lot because even though it isn't a goal that the team should be shooting for (that is, the shouldn't say "hey, lets make our decisions so that we can get to .500") it is still a level that the team will eventually need to pass if they want to contend. If they can do so - or get close - in what is supposed to be a rebuilding year, then that would be fantastic.] Read more ...

Braun's Brawn (Very Original, I Know)

Ryan Braun homored twice in Milwaukee's losing effort against the Red Sox. He homered against the Sox on Saturday, against the Dodgers Thursday, the Cardinals (twice) on both Monday and Sunday. That gives him 8 home runs in his last 8 games, including 3 two-homer games. So much for the power-outage - he's now third in the league in HR. It's nice to see the Hammer get going. His average is up to .291, but unfortunately he only has eight walks on the year. With Gallardo and Capuano down, the Brewers are probably going to have to slug their way into contention. Once Prince Fielder gets into the act, they just might be able to do it. Read more ...

Eighth More Years For Braunie

Every time something like this happens, it makes me a little more irritated that Nick Markakis is without a long-term contract:

The Milwaukee Brewers have locked up Ryan Braun (who only has about a year of major league experience) to an 8 year deal for $45 million. The Brewers will control the "Hebrew Hammer" for his first two free agency yours (through age 32). If they had a club option or two tacked on to the end of that then it would be even better. Here that Orioles? Eight years. For a guy with little plate discipline who is seen as a defensive liability (currently, but I think he'll end up being a good outfielder) and is two years away from arbitration. This is obviously a great deal for Milwaukee, as Braun should be an MVP candidate as soon as the Brewers start making the playoffs (as stupid as that is). Frankly, I'm amazed that Ryan would agree to sign for less than $6 million a year. For the club (as usual) there is about the same risk as in any type of long-term contract but with a much higher chance of a reward.

I won't compare Braun's deal to a contract for a similar player since he has so little time in the majors. I will, however, point out that Braun was born on the same day as Nick. Ryan posted an EqA of .320 last year, but is down to .279 in 2008. That .279 is Nick's career mark, and he has improved from .268 to .284 to .296 so far. Braun obviously has much more power, but Markakis has already walked more times this year (30) than Braun did all of last year (29). Combine that with Nick being the better defender, and I think that he (Kakes) isn't a much less valuable player (actually, both guys had 22 Win Shares last year, though Braun did play less).

8 years, $45 million for an All-Star outfielder going into the prime of his career? Yes please, I'll take three.

BaseballMusings has a good point about these type of deals:

"At some point, there won't be any free agents or arbitration eligible players good enough to drive up prices. I starting to wonder if this will change the way the union looks at the current free agent structure. This has a real chance of actually driving down prices. If Ryan Braun is playing for $6 million a year, why should you give a free agent $20 million. Braun's a better player! It's only taken 30 years, but it appears the owners finally figured out how to use the system to their advantage."

Well, some owners anyway. Read more ...

Wait, He Used To Be On Our Team?

This story was written after the Brewers beat the Giants 13-4. The part I found most amusing was:

"Mostly, the Giants were left to admire Brewers starter Carlos Villanueva, who originally came through the San Francisco organization but went to Milwaukee in the 2004 trade that netted pitcher Wayne Franklin. There is a story here in Cheeseland that when the Brewers asked for Villanueva in the deal, Giants general manager Brian Sabean did not know who he was."

It actually wouldn't surprise me at all if that was true. Why would Sabean know who Villanueva was - he isn't a 36 year-old light-hitting overpaid outfielder. It'll be a while until the Giants are back atop the NL West. Read more ...