Hot Stove Rumors Thread

[Warner2BruceTD]

Miguel Tejada

 

[ThomasTomasz]

People always say this, and completely neglect to mention that he also had Eric Chavez, Miggy Cabrera and Jason Giambi, all likely roiding, playing MVP caliber ball.

Yeah, but two of those guys departed as free agents. Oakland couldn't afford to keep all three pitchers plus Tejada and Giambi. He went all-in with the Big Three, and didn't pull out a championship with it. He hasn't done much since, either.

 

[Obst]

Yah this is hilarious. At this rate Beane is gonna be shopping guys immediately after drafting them.

Actually kind of surprising that Weeks isn't on the block yet. I guess he will try to get one or two more years out of him.

 

[NAHSTE]

Miguel Tejada

Okay I'm gonna come out and admit it. I've been smoking a little bit of marijuana this evening.

 

[TheImmortalGoud]

According to ESPN Chicago's Bruce Levine, the Brewers have signed Aramis Ramirez to a three-year deal.

FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal says the deal is worth between $34-$37 million. Ramirez, 33, registered a superb .871 OPS with 26 home runs and 93 RBI in 149 games this past year for the Cubs. He's injury prone, but he's also capable of raking when healthy. The Brewers will hope that he can stay active and help replace some of the offense lost in the departure of Prince Fielder.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

So does this officially put the nail in the Fielder coffin for Milwaukee? Or can they afford both?

I assume it would be a McGahee/Gamel tag team at 1B now?

 

[dj_morton]

Like the move for Brewers....good reasonable contract

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

People always say this, and completely neglect to mention that he also had Eric Chavez, Miggy Tejada and Jason Giambi, all likely roiding, playing MVP caliber ball.

So very true. Those guys were juiced out of their damn minds.

 

[Primetime]

Love it. Hopefully he can stay healthy.

 

[FirstTimer]

Solid signing for the Brewers. Aramis is an odd player at times. You look at his stats at the end of the season and are impressed but you have trouble remembering anything meaningful that came from any of his hits.

 

[Primetime]

Solid signing for the Brewers. Aramis is an odd player at times. You look at his stats at the end of the season and are impressed but you have trouble remembering anything meaningful that came from any of his hits.

In his defense.....he was playing for the Cubs.

 

[FirstTimer]

In his defense.....he was playing for the Cubs.

Meh. Even in 2007 and 2008 this was the case.

 

[Goober]

Terrible. 3/36 for a guy who's averaged less then 120 games a year over the last three years? And this is his age, and he'll be 36 when the contracts over? Fucking Doug Melvin. I can only hope we get a good year, maybe two if we're really lucky before he completely breaks down. And his defense...terrible.

Don't like the signing at all, would have rather signed Pena, cheaper and less years, for similar production. We better have the money to resign Greinke.

:Waits for this:

You're too conservative Gob, it's not your money!

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

I dont love the deal, but lets be honest here gob, you dislike almost every free agent move. Unfortunately, you have to pay for past production in many cases.

So does this kill any chances of keeping Fielder, or what?

 

[Goober]

I dont love the deal, but lets be honest here gob, you dislike almost every free agent move. Unfortunately, you have to pay for past production in many cases.

So does this kill any chances of keeping Fielder, or what?

Was there any chance left at all before this? I thought any talks with Boras this offseason were just to cater idiotic fans who don't understand the system. I never thought there was a chance he'd resign, and I'm glad he didn't because it's too much money for the smallest market in baseball to give up.

What's more important is whether or not it kills the chance to resign Greinke. If Doug Melvin chose Ramirez over Greinke, then words can not describe how stupid he is.

 

[Goober]

Someone post the Klaw article on this signing, kthxbye!

http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/blog...mis-ramirez-help-milwaukee-brewers-not-enough

 

[NAHSTE]

The Milwaukee Brewers were almost certainly never going to re-sign Prince Fielder because they were so unlikely to be the high bidders on a player who seemed all along to be headed to the highest bidder. In that light, signing Aramis Ramirez to a reported three-year deal, even a somewhat overpriced one, is a reasonable alternative. They'll get back a good chunk of the offense they've lost without Fielder while limiting their downside with a short deal. (I didn't say eliminating their downside, though; they now have Ramirez under contract for his age 34-36 seasons, and he's the type of "old man's skills" player who ages poorly.) But if this is their big move of the offseason, is it really enough to make them contenders in 2012 against the World Series champs and a Reds team that should bounce back after an off year?

Ramirez, who will reportedly get approximately $35 million in the deal, is a slow power hitter with a decent idea of the strike zone who has produced lots of contact albeit with few walks; he's been comfortably above-average on offense in seven of the past eight years, producing high averages and slugging at least .510 in those seasons. He's a pull hitter who's vulnerable to good velocity, something that will probably get worse over the next three years but isn't a serious problem yet, while his defense has fallen off a cliff to the point where he should probably trade in his glove.

If the Brewers' intention is to play Ramirez at third base -- and rumors they might sign Carlos Pena, assuming they still have the cash to do so, would appear to confirm that -- then they are punting defense at that position, to the same extent that they are punting offense at shortstop with the recent signing of Alex Gonzalez. Right now, they're looking at below-average defense at all four corners, with minimal offense at first base (for the position), at shortstop and behind the plate, with a center fielder (Nyjer Morgan) who's a little bad luck on balls in play from hurting the team with his bat, as well. You can compete with a number of flawed players on your roster, but even in a weak division you're going to have a hard time contending like that. They'd be better off pushing Ramirez to first base and playing Taylor Green every day at third, which would at least produce a better defensive alignment without a major loss of offense, and would save them some cash to pay Francisco Rodriguez after their giant mistake in offering him arbitration.

If Milwaukee can dump Rodriguez the way the Atlanta Braves did with Rafael Soriano two years ago -- meaning the Brewers would have to pay a third or so of K-Rod's eventual salary -- they'd have some financial flexibility heading into what should be an all-in season, since three of their five starters are potential free agents after 2012. Right now, they're probably two wins worse off in the short term for replacing Fielder with Ramirez, with that gap growing over the life of the latter's contract, to say nothing of what they might lose if Ryan Braun is out for a third of the season due to a reported PED violation. And it's not clear they could do much better than Green or a Mat Gamel/Casey McGehee platoon if they went back out into the market. It's not a great position for a team coming off its first National League Championship Series appearance in 29 years.

Fielder really stands alone right now among potential impact bats on the market; Ramirez was just a poor man's alternative, but the next-best bats on the market now are guys like Michael Cuddyer and Carlos Pena, starters on bad teams who might be best cast as platoon players on good clubs. This strikes me as a very good time for the Reds to get aggressive, if not in free agency then in trades; Yonder Alonso's value has to be rising as the market for bats thins out, and he's superfluous for Cincinnati with Joey Votto at first base.

 

[nflman2033]

This strikes me as a very good time for the Reds to get aggressive, if not in free agency then in trades; Yonder Alonso's value has to be rising as the market for bats thins out, and he's superfluous for Cincinnati with Joey Votto at first base.

ok, Walt its time to do something, No Albert, and No Prince in the division, now is the time.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

ok, Walt its time to do something, No Albert, and No Prince in the division, now is the time.

Don't hold your breath, we're going to keep all of these prospects we don't need until they're 26 and worthless.

To be fair, the trade market for what the Reds need isn't all that strong, but ffs, can he give us something to chew on here? Almost signing the likes of Ramon Santiago, and being attached to (very) weak rumors for guys like Jurjjens doesnt spark much excitement.

 

[Mogriffjr]

Taylor Green had a great year in AAA...not sure if he will get a shot at the 3B spot though.