Friday afternoon ArmChair GM

Frequent Hacker "D'Amicos one good year" posed several questions in the comment section of the previous post. Since we're arguably going into the most boring weekend series of the year v the Nationals, I'd figure I'd give the answers a shot. Bear in mind 2 things: these answers are just my opinion, and I am never wrong.

Q: Is Jeff Suppan an appreciable upgrade over Doug Davis or Tomo Ohka?
My Answer: The word "appreciable" is slightly ambiguous given the context, but I'll give it a shot. To start, I would say Suppan is an upgrade over Mr. Tomo Ohka, who isn't even pitching in the big leagues anymore. Ohka was hurt half the time (his entire career). He also wanted a much bigger contract (if my memory serves me correctly) after his pedestrian 2006 season with the crew. He made 4.5M that year. The crew let him go FA, and he ended up signing with the Jays at 1.5M for 1 year. HA! He sucked, got released, got picked up again by the Cardianls, sucked again, and finally got released for the last time and is probably holed up in a massage parlor somewhere in Kyoto. So, Suppan is better then Ohka.
As far as being better then Davis, that is more tricky to answer. Don't forget we traded Davis to fill other needs (ie...Catcher). We ended up getting the Rat that was Johnny Estrada, and 1 servicable year from Claudio Vargas (we also got Greg Aquino...but let's just not worry about that). You could argue the value of that trade in a separate thread, but I basically consider it a wash. Here are the numbers for Suppan & Davis for 07 and 08:

Davis: 2007 (33 starts, 192 innings, ERA 4.25, WHIP 1.58, salary: 5.5M)
2008 (16 starts, 90 innings, ERA 4.28, WHIP 1.46, salary: 7.75M)
Suppan: 2007 (34 starts, 206 innings, ERA 4.62, WHIP 1.51, salary: 6.25M)
2008 (22 starts, 122 innings, ERA 4.7, WHIP 1.55, salary: 8.25M)

So for like an extra 1.25M, we got a guy that has pitched a few more games, at essentially the same level. The problem with Suppan is the next two years when we pay him 12M or something like that. Both Davis and Suppan are durable veterans that take the ball every 5th day. In baseball economics, these guys are overpaid but it's all relative from teams like the Diamondbacks and Brewers who want veterans in the rotation (3rd or 4th starter) that can hopefully not crap their pants in a playoff push. Let's see Suppan earn his money in September. The guys are a wash in my book, but I'll ride the Suppan train.

Question: Would the Brewers been better off re-signing Cirillo as a utility player this past off-season in retrospect?
Answer: Uhhh...no. Joe Dillon was basically a bust, but Yost made it clear that the utility player this year would have less of an impact, since he expected his young infield to get most of the starts. His right handed bat was replaced by the chipotle eating Gabe Kapler, and he's the man. Utility wise: Craig Counsell is doing...well...he's there. I don't mind having Craig out there every now and again I suppose.

Question: Will Capuano pitch for them again?
Answer: We've already said our good-bye's to Cappy. He's done. He'll be DFA'd as soon as his contract is done.

Question: And finally, why is it every time I look at Jason Kendall I think of the Billy-Bob Thornton guy from Slingblade? Mmmm, Biscuits!
Answer: I like me dem fried taters...mmm..hmmm...