Starting Rotation And Bullpen Get A Boost: Randy Wolf & LaTroy Hawkins

Pretty good day if you are a member of the Brewers organization or one of their fans. Today at the Winter Meetings in Indy, Doug Melvin worked out two deals to help bolster the Brewers pitching. A 3 year $29.75 mill deal with SP Randy Wolf and a 2 year $7.5 mill deal with RP LaTroy Hawkins. The Wolf deal had been speculated for a few days now and was clearly Melvin's number one target this offseason. The Hawkins rumors started today and before you knew it a deal was done. Both pitchers are coming off fantastic 2009 seasons. For the Dodgers Wolf was 11-7 with a 3.23 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and struck out 160 in 214 IP. Hawkins while pitching for the Astros was 1-4, 11 saves with a 2.13 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and struck out 45 in 63 IP.

Both players are a little older Wolf being 33 and Hawkins 36. So that might be a little worrisome. But overall I like both signings. In my opinion and many others Wolf was probably the second best SP on the market behind John Lackey (you could make a case for Harden, Sheets or Bedard but there are health issues there), he is coming off back-to-back seasons where he was stellar and made 30+ starts. While he is somewhat of a finesse pitcher who gets a lot of fly balls, he can strike guys out which is something Brewers pitcher other then Gallardo didn't do much of in 2009. While he is not quite the #2 we wanted behind Gallardo, he is a damn good #3, better then anyone else we had in 2009 other then Gallardo. Some people want to say this was a "Suppan Deal", I don't look at it that way. Wolf is a far better pitcher then Suppan and we signed him for less years and money (there is a 4th year club option). In this day and age you have to somewhat overpay for pitching because there just is not that much good pitching out there. And with as bad as the Brewers rotation was in 2009, Doug Melvin had to do something and is probably not done as far as starting pitching is concerned.

As for Hawkins, he should fit in perfectly as a setup man for Trevor Hoffman and during the course of the year and can serve as a closer if Hoffman needs a rest or God forbid Hoffman spends anytime on the DL. Right now as it stand with Hoffman as our closer I like how the pen shapes up in front of him with Hawkins, Vargas (deal is close as reported today by McCalvy and Haudricourt), Coffey and Stetter. OF course a few spots will be up for grabs between Villanueva, Smith, Narveson, etc. All in all a successful start to the offseason in my eyes with the trade of Hardy for Gomez and now the signings of Zaun, Wolf and Hawkins. Now lets go get another starter and lock up Counsell to be our utility infielder. Do it Doug!

Peter Gammons Leaving ESPN After 20 Years

Today is a sad day, Peter Gammons one of the absolute best baseball writers and TV personalities for ESPN and ESPN.com will be leaving ESPN after the Winter Meetings end this week. Gammons is 64 years old and had been with ESPN since 1989, before that Gammons wrote for the Boston Globe and Sports Illustrated. In my opinion Gammons is the smartest and most insightful member of the baseball media. As long as I can remember having cable and ESPN he has been the guy giving me all my baseball insider news year after year. And with a lot of the shit personalities on Baseball Tonight and various other ESPN baseball coverage Gammons will be sorely missed. Along with Keith Law, Gammons was the reason I finally caved in and got a subscription to ESPN The Magazine just to get the ESPN.com Insider access. Now it looks like Keith Law is the only guy I will be reading. Sure they have Buster Olney, Jayson Stark, Jerry Crasnick and Tim Kurkjian. But none of those guys can even hold Gammons jock. Oh, and besides being one of the best baseball writers ever, Peter is a big fan of indie rock, blues rock, plays guitar and one of his favorite bands is Pearl Jam. What is not to love about this guy?

No word has been made yet if Peter is just leaving ESPN or if he is actually retiring. I'm really hoping that he joins MLB Network and writes columns on MLB.com. Peter, please do all of us baseball fans who need your knowledge and join MLB Network. Baseball just won't be the same without your expertise.

MLB Winter Meetings 2009 Dec. 7-10

Tomorrow in Indianapolis the yearly offseason winter meeting will begin. It's four days of GM's, agents, players and media members gathering together in hotel rooms and lobbies to heat up the "hot stove". Hopefully it will be an exciting four days for us Brewers fans. Would be nice for Doug and Gord to land us at least one of the two starting pitchers we need so badly. Also maybe resign Counsell or sign a different utility infielder to take his place in 2010. Buster Olney of ESPN.com wrote today in his Insider only Winter Meeting preview that the Brewers will land either Randy Wolf or Joel Pineiro. Personally, I'm not a big fan of Pineiro, don't get me wrong, he was great in 2009. But I just have a gut feeling it was a fluke of a season and I would hate to see the Brewers give him a 3 or 4 year deal based off that. As far as Randy Wolf, he is my top choice for which free agent pitcher I would like the Crew to sign. He is coming off a great 2009 and has a proven track record of being a very reliable #3 borderline #2 type pitcher. He can probably be had on a 3 year deal for between $25-$30 mill.

You can be sure if any Brewers moves are made, I will have my reaction here at View From Bernie's Chalet. So check back throughout the week for updates.

Miller Park Will Be Zaunbieland In 2010

Let me start this post out saying this. Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, hey, hey, hey gooodbyyye! So long to Jason Kendall and his wet paper towel of a bat. No more of our catcher having a .305 SLG%. I will give it to Kendall, he was dynamite on defense in 2008 which really helped in our push to our first postseason appearance in 26 years. But in 2009, his bat like it has been for sometime now was anemic and his defense took a MAJOR step back. I wonder how hard Doug Melvin laughed in his face when Kendall's agent said he wanted to make $5 mill again in 2010? Probably as hard as Jerry Seinfeld laughed at Marty Funkhouser's joke in episode #9 of "Curb" this season.

Now that I got my Kendall bashing out of the way let me say I love the move to sign Gregg Zaun to be the starting catcher for the Brewers in 2010, how can you not? The guy has his own website www.greggzaun.com that plays Rush's "Limelight" before you enter the homepage. 1 year deal worth $1.9 mill with a second year club option. Zaun is a solid vet who has in my opinion been a pretty underrated catcher for quite a few years. While Zaun is certainly no Joe Mauer or Brian McCann, he is a switch hitting catcher who does a good job of getting on base (.345 OBP in 09') and can actually hit for a little power (8 HR/.416 SLG in 09'). He also does a decent job throwing runners out and is one of the best at blocking balls in the dirt. Kendall struggled MIGHTILY in both those categories in 2009. While I would have been okay with the Brewers letting prospect Jonathan Lucroy take over as the starting catcher in 2010, this is probably better for the club. Now you can give Lucroy a whole season at AAA to further develop his game before becoming the starting catcher in 2011.

The Brewers also still have Angel Salome down in AAA, recently signed off waivers George Kottares and arbitration eligible Mike Rivera. My guess is that Salome is traded in some package for pitching, Kottares wins the backup job and Rivera is non-tendered. Nice to see Doug make a good signing for a need of the team early in free agency this season to get the ball rolling. Hopefully during the winter meetings next week he can start getting the pitching help we need to really contend in 2010.

Reader Poll Results

"Should the Brewers resign Craig Counsell?"

Yes: 72% (8 Votes)

No: 27% (3 Votes)

Keith Law Chat ESPN.com 12/3/09

After the Thanksgiving break Keith Law was back with another chat on ESPN.com today. Here are the Brewers related questions/answers. Only two today, Manny Parra possible out of the bullpen? And Keith is not sure if McGehee or Gamel are the answer at 3B in Milwaukee. Ouch.

Dan (Milwaukee)

Do you think Manny Parra would benefit from starting the season in the minors or do you think he will finally put it all together out of Spring Training?

Klaw

(1:03 PM)

I think it's time to think about putting him in the pen.

Dan (Milwaukee)

What do you think of Casey Mcghee? Do you really think he is the Brewers future at third? Is it wise for the Brewers to shop Gamel? What kind of return could he get?

Klaw

(1:09 PM)

I don't think either guy is the future at 3rd. McGehee isn't going to hit enough, and Gamel can't play it.

I could see Parra being a good lefty out of the bullpen, but with his stuff I wouldn't give up on him as a starter and if I did I would trade him before I stuck him in the pen. As for the question on McGehee and Gamel, I like them both. I like Gamel more long term because of his potential with the bat but he has to improve his defense which he has shown signs of, but the jury is still out. It would be interesting to see what McGehee could do starting a full season with a healthy knee, see if 2009 was a fluke or if he is for real. His minor league numbers say it was a fluke. That doesn't mean it was. The Brewers have an interesting situation with those two players.

I Don't Get It

As reported Monday by Adam McCalvy of Brewers.com, the Brewers did not offer arbitration to any of their 5 ranked free agents on Tuesday. Okay, I totally understand why Melvin would not offer arby to Cameron, Kendall, Looper or Weathers. Because more then likely those four guys would have taken it and meant we would be overpaying for guys we don't need nor want. But I just don't get how you don't offer arby to 2B Felipe Lopez. It just baffles my brain thinking about why you wouldn't? Doug thinks that had he offered it to Felipe he might have accepted it and then they might have to pay him $4 or $5 mill and you have a "logjam" on the infield because Lopez would want to start. Would it really be a problem to have too many good infielders? I don't think so, what if there is an injury? Then you would be covered. And the most likely and best scenario is that Lopez would have declined arby since he wants and will most likely get a multi year deal from a team looking for a good starting 2B. Thus the Brewers would have gotten a supplemental pick in the 2010 draft. But instead, no Lopez and no draft pick. I'm a big Doug Melvin fan and believer but I am not to happy with this non-move.

I Finally Broke Down

After saying I would never do it, even though I felt it might be worth the price to read the likes of Law, Gammons and Olney. I have paid for the ESPN.com Insider. But not without a sweet deal, right now till Sunday you can go to Amazon.com and order a year of ESPN The Magazine which comes with a year of ESPN Insider for only $5. Yes, only $5. Even I , who said he would never pay to read articles on the Internet couldn't resist that. Now I can finally read all those Keith Law, Peter Gammons and Buster Olney articles I have wanted to read for the past few years. And the magazine will make for great bathroom reading for the next year.

Reader Poll Results

"Who would you rather see starting at 3B in 2010?"

Mat Gamel: 58% (7 Votes)

Casey McGehee: 41% (5 Votes)

Keith Law Chat ESPN.com 11/20/09

Unfortunately, there were ZERO Brewers related questions/answers in the most recent Keith Law chat. But there were seemingly 564 questions (mostly from Cardinals fans) on Law's NL Cy Young ballot and how he left Chris Carpenter off of it. You may have heard by now he was quite the figure of controversy because his ballot read: 1. Lincecum 2. Vazquez 3. Wainwright. I don't see anything wrong with that ballot, personally I think all three of those guys were better then Carpenter last season. I mean, don't get me wrong, Carpenter had an outstanding season. But at the end of the season Lincecum, Vazquez and Carpenter's own teammate Wainwright were all better. Hopefully this issue will be behind Cardinals fans (doubtful) and in Keith's next chat we can get more questions not about an award ballot. Thanks St. Louis!