Thursday, January 8, 2009

Go On Record


Trevor Hoffman - too cool for sleeves.
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Time to go on record. Do you like the Hoffman signing at 1 year/$6 million (with $1.5 million in incentives)?
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I'm OK with it. Given the internal candidates and the other closers out there, it seems like adding the career saves leader at a relatively cheap, short-term price makes a lot of sense.
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I think we can chalk up Marlow as a "no". Anybody else?
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UPDATE:
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Count ESPN fantasy baseball dork Eric Karabell as a qualified no.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Similar to Mr Gagne last year I like it, what else would they have done w/ the money anyway.

Keeping in mind I have little baseball knowledge when it comes to this stuff

Charlie Marlow said...

I think with no option its better. However, I think he won't get nearly as many save opps as people think, and he'll blow more than they're expecting.

CHONE predicts a 4.17 ERA in a neutral park. That's not good. I can reasonably see him blowing 7 saves this season, but it will probably be around his career average at 4.

And, at 34 saves, he's making about 176k per save. You have to get to 43 in order to pay less than that, and less than 34 only increases $ per save.

I'd have preferred to see this money sit in the bank and go towards signing or trading for a starting pitcher to pick up the tattered rags there.

Matt said...

The wise commenters on the JS blog seem to think that Cameron brought Hoffman here, and that Cameron and Hoffman are going to try to get Peavy here.

Clown said...

If anything I would say that Tony Gwynn Jr. got him here, not shitbag Cameroon.

woziszeus said...

Woz is on board.

I'd rather see money spent on stop gap veterans then having Mark try and figure out the stock market.

Anonymous said...

I'm in. If he sucks, it's only $5 million. With beer prices about $13 for 8 ounces, they can afford the gamble.

Anonymous said...

I'm fine. He's not Papelbon, I get that.

It's 6 million for a closer; it's minimal even for a small market team. Look at what Cordero & KRod and other closers are making. I just think people are used to guys like JJ and Yovanni and Prince who are awesome and make next to nothing. Keep in mind too that this means we didn't have to give up a draft pick to get a closer since Hoff declined his offer. There's value there too.

It was probably cheaper to stay in house, but we're not really a team that needs to go with the cheapest possible solution anymore. Sure it might be a waste, but the only way it matters is if this prevents us from doing something else. (Resign Sheets, IF depth, etc.) Otherwise it's just Mark spending money. It's better than the alternative.

Charlie-If they resign Sheets, or sign Lowe or Garland, or trade, or do something else for a SP would you feel better?

Anonymous said...

I know that we don't have our rosters set yet, but this has me thinking. What is a realistic prediction for the Brewers this season? They just came off a Wild Card Playoff Berth and finished 2nd in the Central, no CC, and probably no Sheets. Hmmm. If we aren't going to have the same starting pitching that we had last year, we had better beef up the pen a little bit, right. In principle, I like the move. Instead of doing nothing and watching other teams get better, we are doing something. Heck, we don't want to blow as many games as the Cardinals did in the late innings. Is Hoffman the pitcher he once was, but could he be a legitimate closer, absolutely. With that amount of money, it is not as big a risk as Gagne was last year. If he sucks, cut him or trade him. We've steadily built a solid core group of guys on offense, have an OK pitching staff, and I would say a below average pen. If a couple of guys get hot you never know what these guys can do. We could pull an '08 Phillies. On paper, we are competing for a playoff spot this year, but you never know. That is why baseball is so great. Someone gets hot at the right time, some freak injury. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains (except at Miller Park).

Anonymous said...

sweet shirt

Anonymous said...

FWIW, Prince was signing autos today at CES in Vegas at the Sharp booth. I asked him about Hoffman and he had one of those "yet another whitey who gets more $ than me" looks.

Anonymous said...

He's good, we're fine!

Matt said...

Prince will be making more than Hoffman within a month.

Anonymous said...

what have we got to lose? I like it

Anonymous said...

If he can rock the jean shorts and servive the sleve monster he can do anything. Hell's Bells coming to Milwaukee. I like it

Goldy said...

"Off the Record" by My Morning Jacket is a great song. Just thought I would throw that out there.

Anonymous said...

It's ok. Cheapish, honestly.