Tom H. is reporting that the Brewers have signed old closer Trevor Hoffman. The deal is for $6 million in 2009 with $1.5 million in incentives, with a club option for 2010. That sounds like a good deal to me, and frankly, I'm surprised we got it done.
Now we just need to get Sheets signed.
10 hours ago
9 comments:
I'm with you... after spending $10 million on Gagne it seems like a deal. I think I should be ecstatic. Is that just me? I'm sure someone can provide some statistical analysis on if it was a good move.
It's definitely a good signing (getting him that cheap AND with a club option) but I'm not expecting great things from him.
It's definitely a bad signing because if you believe Mark A ($80 million 09 payroll cap) and Doug Melvin (we'll sign EITHER a closer or a starter) we're done improving the rotation. Going into last season, Torres was about the 4th option to be the closer, and ended up getting the job done. Similarly, somebody from this crop surely could've emerged, and the money we just pissed away on a "closer" who surely wears a cape with a C on his chest to prove that he's no mere pitcher, he's a super-powered "Closer", could've been spent bolstering the depth of a very thin rotation.
There is no club option that is what is being reported now
Tracker,
If all of your "ifs" are true, I agree with you. It would have been better to sign Sheets. I want them both though.
Agree with Danny re: Tracker's comments. The lack of a club option also really hurts the value.
Hoffmann will not be fantastically successful in Milwaukee.
I'd like them both too, but by my math (including rough but conservative projections of arby guys' payouts) we're at about $76 million in 09 payroll, give or take a couple. If 80's a hard cap, there's not close to enough money to bring back Sheets for a year.
Tracker, I didn't believe your estimate until I looked at the salaries myself. Maybe if we sign one or more of Hardy, Hart, Fielder to long term deals, we can get some front end relief to be able to sign another starter, Ben Sheets or otherwise. Like with Braun's deal that doesn't pay out until 2011 when Suppan and Hall's contracts are over.
Despite his performance, Braun had considerably less leverage than those guys because he was looking at at least another year before he was arb-eligible. The three you mention already are arb eligible and looking at big paydays. There's nothing in it for them to take any less up front whereas Braun, even with a relatively meager signing bonus of $2 mil and salaries of 750k in 09 and $1 mil next year, will get paid better now than he would've by waiting till arb eligibility. Fielder, fyi, only made 650k in 08, his last season prior to arb eligibility.
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