AP: Brewers erecting a statue of Selig outside Miller Park

“The Brewers and Miller Park are in this city because of the commissioner’s vision and dedicated efforts,” Attanasio said Monday.

Selig’s foundation donated statues of Hank Aaron and Robin Yount that were unveiled when Miller Park opened in 2001. Selig’s statue, which will be more than 7 feet tall, will be built by the same designer, Brian Maughan.

How will they choose which inspiring pose to immortalize?

Brewers have history of waiver wire magic | MLB.com: News

It must be just as satisfying as picking up a six year-old Crown Victoria at a police auction.

Winter waiver claims often go unnoticed amid the bigger bubbles on the Hot Stove. Not in Milwaukee, where the Brewers over the years have quietly acquired some key players over the wire.

Brewers Near Deal With Jim Edmonds

Talk about getting late jumps… this one’s a year late!

The Brewers are close to signing Jim Edmonds to a minor league deal, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.

Keith Law: Top 100 prospects

NO.  PLAYER
1 Jason Heyward, OF, ATL
2 Stephen Strasburg, RHP, WAS
3 Carlos Santana, C, CLE
4 Buster Posey, C, SFO
5 Mike Stanton, OF, FLA
6 Desmond Jennings, OF, TAM
7 Martin Perez, LHP, TEX
8 Dustin Ackley, CF, SEA
9 Justin Smoak, 1B, TEX
10 Jesus Montero, C, NYY
11 Brian Matusz, LHP, BAL
12 Starlin Castro, SS, CHC
13 Neftali Feliz, RHP, TEX
14 Domonic Brown, RF, PHI
15 Wade Davis, RHP, TAM
16 Aroldis Chapman, LHP, CIN
17 Jeremy Hellickson, RHP, TAM
18 Casey Kelly, RHP, BOS
19 Aaron Hicks, RHP, MIN
20 Brett Wallace, 1B, TOR
21 Logan Morrison, 1B, FLA
22 Tyler Matzek, LHP, COL
23 Jenrry Mejia, RHP, NYM
24 Michael Taylor, OF, OAK
25 Zach Britton, LHP, BAL

Scouting reports for the top 25 should be free, I think.

Brewers laugh at notion of playing in Orlando

It didn’t take long for the Milwaukee Brewers to rebuff a story by WFTV-TV in Orlando that the team could possibly relocate to Florida.

“The reporter or whoever else is putting that out there should do his homework,” said Tyler Barnes, VP of Communications for the Brewers. “It’s irresponsible. We just finished ninth in attendance, we have one of the best ballparks in baseball and an owner who is totally committed to the [Milwaukee] area.

“That report is beyond hilarious. I needed a good laugh today, and I got it.”

Hunt: Key stat: Two new Brewers starters

But enough about stats for the moment.

Doug Melvin, the Brewers general manager who brought in those two new starters in an attempt to fix one of the majors’ worst rotations, doesn’t worship at the Billy Beane/Bill James/sabermetrics altar. He certainly pays heed to stats and trends, but he has other less nerdy, more holistic ways to fit starters into the Brewers payroll that he hopes can throw strikes that are not too much over the middle of the plate.

“I think the most important thing is to look at the pitcher physically and see what he’s done and see what his stuff is still like,” Melvin said. “Is he still getting people out?

“Statistically, there are some lines and they vary because they’re so dependant on the outcome of the game and the fielding. I look at the body of work and what a pitcher gives you. Do they give you durability? Do they give you attempts to get deep in the game and save your bullpen?”

We all know that an awful rotation had to be bailed out so often last year that it wore out the bullpen.

So back to stats.

Please, don’t.

EV Tribune: Mesa unveils plan to keep Cubs; vote Monday

Mesa’s plan was developed after months of talks with the team to prevent the Cactus League’s most popular team from accepting a bid from investors near Naples, Fla.

The $84 million plan was drafted on requests that the Cubs had to develop a Wrigleyville-themed complex, Mesa City Manager Chris Brady said. The city would own the stadium and training facilities. Mesa maintains the current training facilities, but Brady said the team wanted to take that expense and gain advertising rights at the new complex.

Brewers reach agreement with Davis

Davis will receive $4.25 million in 2010 with a $1 million buyout of a $6.5 million option in 2011.

Davis’ contract is guaranteed, which means he’ll be in the Brewers’ starting rotation

Doug Melvin is now 3/5 finished with bringing the band back together.  Next steps: Ben Sheets and Tomo Okha.  Party like it’s 2006!

Brewers to celebrate 40th anniversary throughout season

Ahh, I remember it well...we thought George Lauzerique had just returned from filming James Bond and all was set.

The Milwaukee Brewers today announced plans to celebrate the club’s 40th anniversary season in 2010, which include numerous special events and promotions both on and off the field.

The Brewers will host four “Retro Weekends” during the 2010 season, designating one decade to each weekend to highlight that specific era in Brewers history.

Each weekend will feature the return of alumni from those decades, and on the first three Fridays, the current Brewers will don retro Brewers uniforms from the celebrated era. On each Sunday of the Retro Weekend, all fans will receive a Bobblehead representing one of the greatest moments in the club’s history. To supplement the special uniforms and all-fan giveaways, the in-game experience during those Retro Weekends will include trivia, music and costume contests reflective of the particular decade.

A special 40th Anniversary logo is also being introduced today and will be featured on a patch to be worn on the Brewers home, road, and alternate uniforms throughout the 2010 season. Special apparel will also include the logo and will be available for the first time at Brewers On Deck (Jan. 31) and the Brewers Team Store by Majestic.

In addition, throughout the season, Brewers fans will have the opportunity to vote on the 40 greatest moments of Milwaukee Brewers baseball with the “40 Years/40 Moments” promotion.

He makes money, fans get cheap tickets, Brewers cry foul - JSOnline

He’s just a middleman looking out for the little guy.

“If I can purchase tickets from someone at a discount and turn around and still sell them at a discount and still make a couple of dollars for myself, that’s a win-win situation for everybody involved, except for the green greed machine, which is Miller Park,” John Slavick told me.

EV Tribune: Mesa puts Cubs batting cages on hold

Mesa is refusing to upgrade a ballpark used by the Chicago Cubs unless the team enters more serious negotiations to keep spring training here.

The city was about to sign off on roughly $684,000 for semi-enclosed batting cages but on Thursday decided to hold off until top Mesa officials meet the Cubs in Chicago on Friday.

The city had expected the Cubs would welcome improvements that the team requested, Mayor Scott Smith said. But he noted that when a Chicago sports columnist asked Cubs manager (sic - he’s team president) Crane Kenney about the batting cages, no comment was given.

“The silence that came out of Chicago and the Cubs was deafening,” Smith said.

KC Star: Royals sign Kendall to two-year deal

UPDATED: (instead of 2yr/$4m originally reported, may now be 2yr/$6m)

Kendall, 35, reached agreement Friday with the Royals on a two-year contract believed to be valued around $6 million—or similar to the deal that Ivan Rodriguez signed earlier in the week with Washington.

The Royals expect Kendall, a 14-year veteran, to provide a significant defensive upgrade over the tandem of Miguel Olivo and John Buck while contributing some much-desired savvy to a youthful collection of pitchers and catchers.
...
The move virtually ensures the Royals will allow Buck to become a free agent by not offering him a contract before the deadline at 11 p.m. Saturday. He made $2.9 million last season when he batted .247 with eight homers and 36 RBIs in 59 games as Olivo’s backup.

Offering a contract to Buck would lock in his right to arbitration and likely boost his salary to $3.5 million or more.
...
Kendall welcomes the opportunity to serve as mentor.

“You owe that to the game,” he said. “You try to give back. It took me six or seven years to figure out how to call a game—how you watch hitters’ feet; how to watch hitters’ hands. It took me a while to figure that stuff out.”

SI/Andrecheck: If you wait too long to sign free agents, you may be waiting forever

While waiting for a team’s young nucleus to come together before adding free agents seems like a good strategy, teams that adhere to this can get stuck in a perpetual cycle of rebuilding. Huntington’s Pirates have been in that rut for the past 17 years. It costs a lot of money to retain decent players with six or more years of MLB service. However, it’s difficult to construct even a .500 team with only young players ineligible for free agency. Hence a team with a rebuilding mantra may be constantly letting free agents go and avoiding major signings because they are not one or two players away from playoff contention.

Interesting take.

Brewers sign [Randy] Wolf, Hawkins as 12 other pitchers change teams

The Brewers, whose starting rotation tied for the worst ERA in baseball with the Baltimore Orioles last season, signed Wolf to a three-year, $29.75 million contract — his first multi-year contract since 2002.

Hawkins’ deal was worth $7.5 million over two years.

“It really shows the demand there is in pitching,” agent Scott Boras said. “Wolf pitched very well this year (11-7, 3.23 ERA), but the issue in his past has been durability. A year-and-a-half of health has brought him a three-year contract. I think that illustrates a very aggressive market for pitching.”

Randy Wolf Signs with the Milwaukee Brewers

An already weak crop of free agent starters just took another hit as left-hander Randy Wolf has reportedly inked a three-year deal worth just under $30 million with the Milwaukee Brewers.

The deal is contingent upon Wolf passing a physical.

Wolf, 33, is coming off a stellar year with Los Angeles in which he went 11-7 with a 3.23 ERA in 34 starts. He hurled 214.1 innings, topping the 200 inning mark for the first time since 2003 when Wolf was with Philadelphia.

MLB.com: Brewers closing in on deal for Wolf

Officially, the Brewers downplayed their contact with free agent left-hander Randy Wolf on Day 1 of the Winter Meetings. Unofficially, the sides appeared close to a deal.

The Brewers emerged Monday as the leading candidate for Wolf, a 33-year-old coming off a career year whose appeal was heightened last week when the Dodgers declined to extend him an arbitration offer. Because of that move, Wolf, despite being a Type A free agent, would not cost Milwaukee a Draft pick. That’s key for a team trying to build a winner today but also trying to sustain some long-term success.

A Brewers official late Monday night downplayed reports that the Brewers’ signing of Wolf to a three-year deal was “imminent,” but those reports persisted nonetheless. AOL Fanhouse first reported that the Brewers were close to signing Wolf and it was later confirmed by SI.com and the New York Post.

Chicago S-T: Cameron’s at center of wish list for Cubs

Center fielder Mike Cameron could take center stage for the Cubs by the time the winter meetings begin Monday in Indianapolis, depending on how quickly they can slam the door on Milton Bradley’s tail and how much room is left in the payroll.

Typical Cubs, going after a player ten years too late...no, wait.  This actually might make some sense.

Brewers sign catcher Gregg Zaun

Gregg siggns!

UPDATE at 1:30 p.m. CT—Done deal. One year contract with a club option for 2011. One quick note after chatting with Zaun on the phone: He has been given assurances by Brewers officials that he’ll be the regular catcher in 2010. “I’ll have to earn it every day, of course,” Zaun said. “But I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Dobrow: Save this Franchise: Brewers will require a little magic to repair

Money-Coutts and BS Walks...or something like that.

3. Make a plan for Prince. The Brewers can forestall the inevitable if they want, but the bottom line is this: They won’t be able to afford the guy once he’s up for a new contract. By the time Scott Boras has finished inserting double-reverse out clauses and NLDS MVP bonuses into Fielder’s next deal, it’ll amount to at least 20 percent of the Brewers’ payroll. You can’t tie up that much cash in a corner man.

Hence it’s time to start laying the groundwork for a Fielder deal, whether you plan to complete it tomorrow or on July 31. There was chatter last offseason that the Giants were willing to deal Matt Cain straight up for him, which may have changed (if the Giants see Pablo Sandoval as their first baseman of the future) or may not (if the Giants decide they can’t bear the eventual price of keeping the Lincecum/Cain duo intact). Either way, it doesn’t hurt to ask.

The Brewers also oughta put in a call to Boston, which has the young, cheap arms (Clay Buchholz et al) that the Brewers would need to make a Fielder deal feasible. If they can make a trade along those lines, they can take the current-year savings and get in on the John Lackey bidding. Filling first base won’t be tough in this saturated market, either. Carlos Delgado, Adam LaRoche, etc.

Unrelated to the to-deal-or-not-to-deal discussion: Raise your hand if you think Prince Fielder will age well. Yeah. Me neither.

BA: Milwaukee Brewers Top 10 Prospects

1.  Alcides Escobar, ss
2.  Brett Lawrie, 2b
3.  Mat Gamel, 3b
4.  Eric Arnett, rhp
5.  Jonathan Lucroy, c
6.  Kentrail Davis, of
7.  Zach Braddock, lhp
8.  Lorenzo Cain, of
9.  Jake Odorizzi, rhp
10.  Kyle Heckathorn, rhp

FanGraphs: Moore: Don’t Forget About Ben Sheets

Michael Landon never forgot about them. Why should you!

In a market with such injury prone aces as Rich Harden and Erik Bedard available to teams this offseason, in can be easy to forget about one ace who missed all of 2009 on the shelf. That would be Ben Sheets, the former ace of the Milwaukee Brewers, who spent the entire season recovering from an elbow injury suffered at the end of the 2008 season, and whose elbow injury negated a two-year contract he had signed with Texas.

As a fan of the Milwaukee Brewers last season, I really missed Ben Sheets, as the Brewers starting pitching staff combined for a miserable 13.1 runs above replacement. Still, it had been nearly as disappointing watching, year after year, as Sheets missed more and more time due to injury. From 2005-2008, Sheets only averaged 150 innings per season. He missed significant time each season, only making more than 30 starts once, in 2008, before his season ending injury which caused him to miss all of 2009.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that Sheets doesn’t bring value to a team. He has legitimate ace stuff. He has a career K/BB ratio of 3.85 and a career FIP of 3.56. His fastball and curveball combo is deadly, as both pitches have been worth nearly +.60 runs above average per 100 pitches over his career.

Much like with J.D. Drew, we have an example of a very talented player who just can’t seem to play a full season. Still, Sheets has potential provide value at the level of a John Lackey type pitcher. Since 2002, Sheets has provided 29.8 WAR, or 3.8 per season (excluding 2009). That total WAR mark ties him for 16th of the win value era with Tim Hudson, who has thrown 200 more innings over that time frame. It’s 1.5 more wins than Carlos Zambrano in 350 fewer innings.

Mike Silva: WAR doesn’t actually lead to real wins in the standings

The Mets looking at Pat Burrell is funny, but not nearly has funny as another case for Mike Cameron- does anyone here watch this game or remember Cameron’s first stint? Guys, hate to break this to you, but WAR doesn’t actually lead to real wins in the standings- you know that right? Part of me would pay to see these guys run a team, I think it might be for some good copy at the very least.

***

There brand is suffering and Mike Cameron isn’t about to help it. It’s about winning, but also attracting customers (i.e. fans) to the seats. The Yankees actually do both. While they field all stars Mets fans sit around and rationalize secondary tier players. Do you think the Yankees rationalize a secondary player because of WAR? Of course not thats why they signed Burnett, Sabathia, Teixeira, etc.

*blank look*

Begel: Yankees’ success is proof Brewers are a lost cause

Beg-El: My friends, you know me to be neither rash nor impulsive. I’m not given to wild, unsupported statements. And I tell you that we must evacuate this sport immediately!

The Brewers will not make it to the playoffs next year, or the year after that, or the year after that or the year after that, or ... well you get the point.

The World Series is over. The Yankees bought it. And the gap between the rich teams and the rest of us is growing faster than Lance Armstrong pedaling downhill.

I know there’s this theory that all you have to be is smart to compete in Major League Baseball. Good decisions are seen as the great leveler of the playing field. People cite the New York Mets, the second biggest payroll in baseball, as a prime example.

But what happens if you’re rich and smart. Let’s say you’re Warren Buffett. You’re a lot more powerful than some brilliant rocket scientist who works at NASA.

I know the world of sports fans is full of optimism. I want to feel like that, too. I really want to have a heart full of hope that the Brewers will be in the thick of things next season.

But my reality is a little different. There is almost no hope in my reality.

Twinkie Town: How Good Is J.J. Hardy’s Defense?

Hardy: Boy, game plan for disaster?

The obvious and most probable outcome is that both groups are right.  Hardy’s speed likely inhibits his range in the field, which is partially made up for by great positioning and an ability to consistently and reliably make outs in situations where he’s expected to make them.  Is his positioning so great that it allows him to challenge for the most plays made outside his zone every year?  Probably not.

I expect that when we finally get to see Hardy play everyday next summer, we will be a little surprised at how he moves.  But that’s where the numbers come in.  He’s obviously making a ton of plays, more than a vast majority of shortstops in baseball, and he’s earned his reputation (on paper and on grass) as one of the best defensive infielders in the game today.

Any questions we might have will (obviously) get answers once we actually watch him play.  Until then I’m content knowing that we did get a very good defensive shortstop in return for Carlos Gomez.

Ultimately it doesn’t matter how you get the out as long as you get it.  It’s just like picking up the win--just get it.  And that’s something J.J. Hardy is apparently very, very good at.  Both sides agree on that.

Powers: Clueless Gomez a bigger risk than slumping Hardy

The Twins have traded a toolbox without a key for a mystery.

Carlos Gomez has talent, the greatest of which is raw speed. He also has the baseball instincts of an Icelandic grade-schooler. As wonderful as he was to watch play center field, Gomez was a disaster everywhere else. He was clueless in the batter’s box. And he was prone to base-running gaffes, one of which probably cost the Twins a playoff game against the Yankees.

If nothing else, his departure to the Milwaukee Brewers will add years to the life of Twins first-base coach Jerry White. Poor Jerry had the unenviable task of trying to keep Go-Go from getting picked off. That was tough sledding.

J.J. Hardy either is an all-star or a bum, depending on which year you check the stats. After a couple of outstanding seasons at shortstop, he actually wound up back in Triple-A last season. When he’s right, he can play Gold Glove-quality shortstop and hit 20-plus home runs. Hardy has a terrific arm. When he’s not right, he can go into seemingly endless batting slumps.

Thanks to Eddy.

Boston Globe/Massarotti: Sox were in on Hardy

Stoking some fires in the ol’ hot stove:

Milwaukee wanted either starter Clay Buchholz or reliever Daniel Bard for Hardy. The Sox were not willing to offer either pitcher. Milwaukee was not interested in righthander Michael Bowden, whom the Sox would have been willing to part with, and the Sox did not have a center field prospect who could match Gomez’s skill set.

I’d have done Bard for Hardy myself - of course I don’t think that would have been enough to get it done, and one wonders what else Doug Melvin might have wanted.

Brewers trade Hardy for (Carlos) Gomez

Another Hardy mystery…

As it turns out, the Brewers will not be trading shortstop J.J. Hardy for pitching help after all.

Instead, the Brewers used Hardy today to address their centerfield position, trading him to the Minnesota Twins for Carlos Gomez, a speedster who has been an offensive underachiever.

The move makes it clear that the Brewers have decided to part ways with veteran centerfielder Mike Cameron, who is eligible for free agency. Cameron, 36, has been the starter in center for two years but made $10 million in salary this year, and the Brewers obviously plan to use that money in their attempts to upgrade their starting rotation…

Gomez made $437,500 this year and I believe he qualifies for arbitration this winter exactly with the 2 years, 141 days needed for “Super 2” status…

Cameron is a Class B free agent. To get a supplemental draft pick in exchange for him signing with another club, the Brewers would have to offer him salary arbitration. Because the signing club doesn’t forfeit a pick, he might sign before that deadline, however, giving the Brewers the draft pick.

Monozygotic: Robin Yount Corked?

Dizzygotic’s is more like it!

A link to this auction was posted on Pat Neshek’s forum. The item is supposed to be a game-used, corked bat used by Brewers legend and Hall of Famer Robin Yount. I for one won’t pass any sort of judgement based on this one piece of evidence suggesting Yount was a “cheater”. For one, even though they have very good reason to believe the bat was used by Yount extensively, it’s still not like they took the bat right out of his hands and caught him red-handed. I don’t know much about the process of corking a bat, but theoretically couldn’t it have been done after he retired the bat? I’m not saying I think that’s the case either. I’m just saying their are too many possibilities to brand Yount a cheater.

This is a 1983-85 Robin Yount Louisville Slugger Professional Model Game Used Corked Bat. This bat dates to the 1983-85 period based on the Louisville Slugger centerbrand period, and the Louisville Slugger factory records, which indicate that Yount ordered the P72C 35″ no finish model bat during the entire 1983-85 centerbrand period. There are several orders of this model bat, made by Baseball Promotions, but based on the distinct ball marks and grain separation present along the top of the barrel, this bat has been attributed to one of the orders, which was sent to Yount himself. This P72C (Cupped Barrel) model bat currently weighs 34.4 ounces and measures 35 inches in length.

This bat exhibits heavy use with ball marks present on all sides of the barrel, but the majority of use visible along the top of the barrel as evidenced by the compressed grains. Blue ball marks, black bat rack marks adorn the barrel of this bat. Yount’s jersey number, 19, appears in black marker on both the knob and barrel end of the bat. The very interesting part of this bat, and what makes it special is the apparent corking, a trait banned by MLB rules, visible inside of the cupped barrel end, which slightly distorts the jersey number 19. The knob of this bat also has 1992 written on it in red ink, which indicates the date that this bat was obtained by a local Milwaukee collector.

Brewers pick Peterson to straighten out arms

10 Minutes: At the end of the earth (Milwaukee?), one man’s journey will begin!

As new pitching coach of the Milwaukee Brewers, Rick Peterson is no stranger to manager Ken Macha or bench coach Willie Randolph.

The Brewers have selected Peterson to help turn around a starting rotation that ranked last in the National League with a 5.37 earned run average in 2009, a performance that ruined the team’s chances of returning to the playoffs. He is expected to be formally introduced Tuesday by the club.

Peterson, who will be 55 at the end of the month, has links to both Macha and Randolph. Peterson worked in Boston’s farm system with Macha and also served as his pitching coach with the Oakland Athletics in 2003.

Peterson then moved on to become pitching coach of the New York Mets, where Randolph was the manager. The two worked together there until they were dismissed during the 2008 season.

Jays Blog: Felipe Lopez worth a look

Lopez was worth 4.6 wins above replacement (WAR) in 2009 based on his outstanding year at the dish and solid play in the field (2B – 7.6 UZR) and with a career 2.0 UZR in 95 games at 3B I don’t think it’s unreasonable to assume he could be an above average 3B going forward.  Based on about 4.5 million/WAR on the free-agent market, Lopez was worth about 20 million last year (similar to Marco Scutaro – who we will get to later) and although no GM in their right mind would pay Lopez as a 4-5 win player (especially if he switches to 3B) I think Lopez can be valuable at 2 years/20 million.  If he could recapture some of his past speed exploits, this could be a real steal.