Winter Meetings Day #1

Day 1 of the GM winter meetings in Las Vegas is in the books. Not a whole heck of a lot going on as far as the Brewers are concerned. Doug Melvin did finally meet with CC Sabathia's agent's, and only about 5 weeks after the Brewers made their initial offer to CC. Melvin's meeting lasted a little less then a half hour and when it was finished it appears the Brewers are still in the running and have a chance at actually retaining Sabathia. Melvin will meet with CC's agent's again in a few days. The "rumors" going around are that to compete with the huge 6 year $140 mill deal the Yankees have offered is to add another year, maybe $10 to $20 mill or maybe have an opt out clause after three years of the deal. That is all speculation at this point though.

The Brewers avoided an arbitration hearing with relief pitcher Todd Coffey as he signed a 1 year $800,000 deal with $200,000 extra possible in incentives. Love the deal! Coffey signed in September and pitched fantastic out of the pen not allowing a single earned run. Still scratching my head a bit as to why the Reds let him go. Good fastball and a good slider/sinker. Great signing by Melvin, low risk possible high reward much like Jorge Julio.

In a article on brewers.com JJ Hardy said he hopes he is not traded and wants to stay a Brewer. Personally I don't want Hardy traded either and I think it's pretty cool he wants to stay in Milwaukee. He has improved every year he has been in the bigs and only looks like he will get better, I don't think he has reached is ceiling yet. I consider him along with Braun and Gallardo as the true cornerstones of the franchise (sorry Prince). Melvin said he won't deal Hardy and I hope he is telling the truth.

I will share my thoughts on each day of the winter meetings, so please check back if you care to read my thoughts. You know, if you actually read this and give a shit and enjoy my writing and thoughts.

Brewers Sign Bullpen Help

I know this happened a few days ago but I have been sick the past few days and I have not been able to get on my MacBook, hell I didn't even get to see this weeks episode of "The Office" till this morning. The Brewers signed relief pitcher Jorge Julio to a 1-year contract worth $950,000. Julio is 29 years old has a plus fastball and a slider. Last year he spent time with Cleveland and Atlanta. Julio spent his first 5 years in the big leagues with Baltimore where he was actually a decent closer. 25 saves in 02', 36 in 03' and 22 in 04'. Since his last season in Baltimore which was 05' he has kind of bounced around. From what I can tell and have heard about Julio is that he strikes a lot of guys out but he at times has control issues and gives up the long ball. GM Doug Melvin has a history of bringing in guys like Jorge Julio, guys with plus arms who have struggled and then find away to turn it around in Milwaukee (see: Turnbow, Derrick, McClung, Seth and Kolb, Dan). At 1 year $950,000 Julio is totally worth the risk and if the Brewers do not trade for or sign a free agent closer Julio could find himself in a spring training battle for that spot. It is not an impact signing by any means, but who knows if Julio finds his early Orioles days it could be.

Reader Poll III

Wow, a whopping 3 votes! Readership still not where I wish it was. Well anyway 66% (2 votes) said no we should not resign Ben Sheets while 33% (1 vote) said yes we should. Personally I would have voted yes. Sign Ben to a nice 2 year deal with a club option on a 3rd year. We are not resigning CC so we can just forget that pipe dream. But a rotation of Sheets, Gallardo, Parra, Bush and Suppan would be pretty good. If Sheets and Gallardo both stay healthy you basically have to #1's in your rotation and three other serviceable pitchers. I think Parra will only get better, Bush is very solid and Suppan, well he, he umm, well he was NLCS MVP in 2006. Poll #4 is up now, please vote. For the love of God, VOTE!

Giving Thanks

Well I have to say I am thankful for many things on this Thanksgiving version 2008. My fiancee who actually tolerates me and even wants to marry me, my friends, my family, a solid job in a shitty economy and the fact that gas prices have fallen to around $1.75 per gallon. But the thing this year in the sports world that was the thing I was by far most thankful for was that the Brewers traded for Carsten Charles Sabathia on my birthday July 6th and he was able to in my opinion become the MVP of the NL and lead the Brewers to the playoffs for the first time in 26 years. Since I was not even 1 year old the last time the Brewers played October baseball it was amazing to experience playoff baseball for the first time in my life. And although the team as a whole played good ball and had a good year I'm not sure it would have been possible without CC and of course Mark Attanasio for ponying up the money for him and Doug Melvin green lighting the deal with Cleveland. Thank you, and I hope in 2009 I have even more things to be thankful for because of the Brewers organization.

Reader Poll Results Part "Deux"

Well I can clearly see the readership of this blog is no where near where I wish it was. In our second ever reader poll I only got a booming seven total votes. Ah well, we will get there. We asked who you would want as closer in 2009 for the Crew. Survey says?!

Seth McClung: 42% (3 votes)
Sign A Free Agent Closer: 28% (2 votes)
Carlos Villanueva: 14% (1 votes)
Trade For A Closer: 14% (1 vote)
Todd Coffey: 0% (0 votes)

Well out of those seven big votes the big red head Seth McClung got three. Had I voted in my own poll I to would have voted for McClung. Of course I have already made my man crush and want for Seth to be the closer in 2009 known in an earlier post. He has all the things you look for in a closer and he is a hell of a lot cheaper then spending big money on a free agent closer. We did that last year and saw how well it worked (shitty). I wouldn't be super pissed if they went and signed K-Rod, Fuentes or Wood. I just think they could spend that money elsewhere on more pressing needs like say 3B, starting pitching and maybe 2B if Weeks is moved. We shall see what Mr. Melvin has up his sleeve. Reader poll number three is up, please check it out.

Not Much Going On, Lets Talk Music!

Well with the offseason kind of quit right now waiting to see what is up with Sabathia and no other moves made yet by the Brewers. I would like to say something not related to baseball.

Only 4 days until 15 years of work and waiting is over. Guns N' Roses "Chinese Democracy" comes out on Sunday 11/23. I'm very pumped, I know a lot of people hate on Axl because it has taken so long to release the record and because it's not the original GNR. But to me, it's still gonna be awesome because it's Axl and a bunch of very good musicians. I think that is one thing people forget when they totally dismiss this record before it even hits. They say oh it's just Axl and a bunch of no name cronies. Well actually not, the new GNR is made up of guys who have played in bands like: Nine Inch Nails, The Replacements, Primus, Psychedelic Furs, etc.

Some of the early reviews are in and everyone I have seen thus far is positive. Of course I have heard some of the demo leaks online but I can't wait to actually hear the full length studio versions of the songs. 4 days to go, Sunday can't come soon enough. Ooops, almost forgot since it is actually coming out, go to drpepper.com and get your free 20 oz. bottle of soda.

I Get Excited When Baseball Related Things Happen In Winter

The Brewers yearly "Fanfest" event "On Deck" will take place not at Miller Park right before the season starts but instead in January at the Midwest Airlines Center downtown. It is $15 to get in to the event. No problem, well worth it. Bought four tickets today for myself and three of my friends. I actually love the fact this year they are having it during the "dull drums" of winter. It gets me excited for the baseball season that at that point will be on the horizon as spring training will only be a month away. I just hope that there is not a awful blizzard that day that will make it difficult to get to the event for we the fans and the players. Besides autograph (ranging from free to $25 my guess $25 would get you Braun and Fielder) and picture opportunities, other events will include:

• The Q&A Stage
• FS Wisconsin Sports Desk to test your broadcasting skills
• WTMJ Stage
• Anthem Challenge
• Vendor booths with baseball memorabilia
• Kids Area

First Ever Reader Poll Results And NL MVP Voting

In View From Bernie's Chalet's first ever reader poll we asked, who would you most want to see a bobblehead of in 2009. Here were the results:

Yovani Gallardo: 43% (7 votes)
Doug Melvin: 25% (4 votes)
Jason Kendall: 25% (4 votes)
Mark Attanasio: 6% (1 vote)
Mike Cameron: 0% (0 votes)

No real surprise, I figured most would want to see a Gallardo bobblehead. I know that would have been my vote. Although I would be torn for second between Melvin and Attanasio. Both of those would be solid choices. Attanasio already has one, but it was very limited and only given to Brewers employees. They usually go for over $100 more often in the $200 range. Go ahead and vote for our second reader poll which is up now.

A couple of Brewers were finalists for the MVP award in the NL. Ryan Braun got 3rd place and CC Sabathia came in 6th. Both were very deserving of getting votes, no doubt about that. CC very well could have been the most valuable player to any team in either league. What he did down the stretch pitching on 3 days rest 3 times was nuts and without him they may not have won the Wild Card. Braun also was deserving, and I honestly think had he not gotten hurt and continued to put up the numbers he was on pace to put up he may have beaten out the Cardinals Albert Pooh-Holes who took the award for the 2nd time in his career. Personally I hate Pooh-Holes, especially after that fiasco in St. Louis with him thinking he is the baseball ethics police now. But man he had an outstanding year and he was fantastic for my fantasy team. Somehow I was able to draft him 12th overall in the 1st round in my draft. I don't know how 11 people passed on him, maybe is was the concern for his injured elbow. I doubt he lasts that long in my fantasy draft for 2009.