Brewers - Signed Kendall
Milwaukee Brewers - Signed C Jason Kendall to a 1-year contract, pending physical.
This was plan B? The Brewers didn’t want an over-30 catcher with defensive problems so they trade Estrada for a terrible reliever and the next in the series of moves was to get an even older catcher with even worse defensive problems and also can’t hit?
Jason Kendall was once a terrific player. I was also once 160 pounds. While catcher throwing arm tends to be overrated, when a catcher is as bad as Kendall was, it really does have significant effects on the run prevention. It got even worse as the season went on and it became obvious that Kendall couldn’t throw anybody out any longer and after being acquired by the Cubs, basestealers went an impressive 52-for-57 in Kendall’s 50 starts with the Cubs, making the season total 111-for-131, or roughly 23 runs worse than break-even. Brewers pitchers have enough to worry about with some defensive issues to work out behind them without having to worry about an even higher rate of singles becoming de facto doubles.
Kendall’s even getting less hits-by-pitch (hit-by-pitches?) than he used to, tying his career-low with 9. Apparently, opposing teams are realizing that it’s not within their self-interest to risk sidelining Kendall.
Terms are undisclosed so far, but in a wild guess, I gotta think that the dollars involved in this contract are a wee bit fewer than the ones in the last contract. He does have a vesting option of some type for 2009, reportedly, which simply befuddles me - why would any team want to reward Kendall for playing?
2008 ZiPS Projection - Jason Kendall
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AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG
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Projection 518 61 133 23 0 2 47 46 51 5 .257 .332 .313
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Opt. (15%) 533 76 151 30 1 3 53 57 45 8 .283 .369 .360
Pes. (15%) 350 35 82 13 0 0 24 26 42 1 .234 .297 .271
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Top Comps: Muddy Ruel, Rick Ferrell
Dan Szymborski
Posted: November 22, 2007 at 12:07 AM |
33 comment(s)
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1. Mark Brouhards Jelly Donut Posted: November 22, 2007 at 12:37 AM (#2623066)Should he not, then, well...I guess we just committed a BONER~!
I mentioned this in primer's Estrada-Mota Trade thread: of the 5 baserunners Kendall is credited with throwin out, 3 were actually pitcher-to-1B pick off plays where the runner broke for second. Kendall never touched the ball.
In reality, he tossed 2 of the 54 runners who ran on him - Ken Griffy Jr and some guy on the Pirates.
Weren't they both excellent defensive catchers, though?
Kendall was disgraceful for the A's. He did more in 3 months with the Cubs than 3 years in Oakland. Beane had his a$$ handed to him with Kendall.
I checked earlier today and he was listed as a Type B free agent. Does that mean a 2nd round pick?
Since the intro of the new CBA, Type B FAs don't cost the signing team anything.
The previous team does get a supplemental pick, though - but NOT from the signing team.
1. Ending a game by tagging out the potential tying run with his face. HIS FACE! And then he walked off like nothing happened.
2. Ending a game against the dreaded Angels by drawing a catcher's interference.
3. Ending a game by scoring from third when the dreaded K-Rod dropped a return throw from the catcher, which capped a thrilling run of .800 ball and catapulted the A's into first place.
His badassery knows no bounds.
Kendall was worth 4 batting runs over replacement according to Baseball Prospectus in his time with the Cubs. If he hits just as well in Milwaukee as he did there, that'll be 12-13 runs above replacement in ~530 ABs. If he puts up a similar year with his arm (very possible with the pitchers in Milwaukee and everybody running on him) he'll cost the Brewers a game compared to a replacement level player.
Maybe Melvin should call and ask about Gerald Laird.
Your baseball analysis is just as coherent as your political analysis.
Indeed. At one point he was on pace to threaten the career record. Now, it looks like he will come up way short. So the prospect of a Kendall Plunking Countdown can't be why the Brewers have signed him (as opposed to the big Career Games Played at SS Watch that the Giants evidently intend to market using Omar Vizquel).
I'm getting 11 runs worse, not 23. What numbers are you using for SB/CS values? (I am using +.18 and -.45).
Just a quick guesstimate using the average player's run created line per 150 games and adding 111 SB and 20 CS.
But now everyone gets an icy blast of perspective, because this is what it looks like when a GM actually does something stupid.
Of course, his time with the Cubs was about the best stretch he's had over the last few years, so figuring he'll do that over a full season's pretty unrealistic. (And he put up all his positive value with the Cubs in his first month. After that, he did jack.)
As a Cub fan, I'm pretty pleased with this signing, not only because it saddles a division rival with a lousy player at a key position with no apparent backup plan, but because it officially cements Don Geovany as the starter for '08. Not that there was much doubt about that anyway, but the scars a Cub fan bears after the Baker years take a while to heal...
And just as astute as his pennant drive predictions.
the Cubs had one of the worst playoff showings in recent history. I nailed that!
Which makes the signing go from really bad to downright horrible.
Their making the playoffs at all blew your other prediction out of the water.
Indeed. And that's without mentioning his being another year removed from his prime [though once you're 5 years removed, who the hell cares].
I specified that he was better in his first month with the Cubs than he was with the A's in '06, which he was (and his total output with the Cubs was only marginally worse than his '06).
And of course, hair-splitting over Kendall's offense is pointless, since even if I grant your point about Kendall's hitting, saying Kendall's an "above average catcher not counting defense" is one of those "Other than that, how'd you like the play, Mrs. Lincoln" sorts of things.
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