Corey wants 4.8 Mil, the Crew wants to give him 4.15 Mil and both sides are at a standstill (according to Adam McCalvy). Let’s check out Corey Hart’s arguement:

1. I was totally an All-Star (that was voted in by the fans I later dissed)
2. I’m a 20/20 guy (once in 08)
3. I have to put up with fans asking me how many outs there are every freakin’ inning. I mean, geez, can’t these people read the ribbon board?
4. I lost at bats to offensive powerhouses like Jody Gerut and Frank Catalonotto last year
5. It takes a lot of money to change my hair as much as I do
6. I hit .173 and had an OBP of .192 during our September postseason chase in 08.
7. J.J. Hardy and Jason Kendall were the only opening day starters to have a worse OBP and SLG % than me last year.
8. Even though fans noticed that I didn’t go after as many fly balls very hard in 2009, I had the worst fielding percentage out of every outfielder on the team (including bench players)
9. I got kids to feed
10. I heard Melvin has never been to arbitration yet so I’m figuring he knows he’s gonna lose.

Second verse much different than the first.

Tom Haudricourt drops in some notes from camp and indicates Milwaukee has reached an agreement with Cy Young winner and former Brewers closer Eric Ggane. It is reported to be a minor league deal. Under those circumstances, Haudricourt speculates it to be a one-year, incentive laden deal.

I’d expressed my desire for Milwaukee to look into re-signing Gagne in previous posts. He’ll likely compete for a seventh inning or setup (eighth inning) role in the bullpen, and will provide significant depth in case of injury.

For those who hate this deal - see it as a chance to redeem himself and actually earn some of the $10M he was paid last year. Good going, Dougie!

Update (5:14 p.m.): Haudricourt also reports Milwaukee and Corey Hart have reached an agreement and will avoid an arbitration hearing that would’ve taken place tomorrow. No financials are known. I’m glad to see Doug Melvin’s hearing slate remain clean - even if it pretty much renders THIS useless now.

This week’s topic: Now that the numbers have been submitted: What do you think Hart, Fielder, and Weeks’ salaries are going to be and Is anyone going to go into arbitration hearings?

Jared -

I actually don’t think any of the players will go to arbitration. I felt that Prince would go, but obviously he seems to have worked a deal out with the Brewers. With just Weeks and Hart left as players that are due arbitration that haven’t signed a deal, I think the Brewers will be able to knock out agreements before the hearings. They’ll probably agree to deals at close to the middle point of the numbers submitted, though I think Hart’s number was a bit high. I think Hart will settle for around $3 million and Weeks will settle for around $2.5 million.

Tyler -

Though Doug Melvin has never attended and arbitration hearing in his tenure as Brewers GM, it looks as if he won’t be so fortunate this year. Of Milwaukee’s six arbitration eligible players, three players – Dave Bush ($4M), J.J. Hardy ($4.65M) and Seth McClung ($1.6625M) – have agreed to very reasonable deals. I don’t feel as confident of the other three signings going as painless and favorably as those did.

I’m just speculating here, but I see at least one hearing in Melvin’s near future, with the strong possibility of a second.

I do not imagine Rickie Weeks will opt to go to a hearing. If his less-than-impressive play and injury-riddled past aren’t enough to keep him from pleading his case, the fact that (unlike the other five arbi-eligible players) he’s only up for a slight raise from last season’s pay might help sway him to sign soon. With just an $800K difference in submitted figures, I expect the two sides to avoid a hearing and agree to a $2.4M deal – the exact middle of the two salaries.

I don’t know what to think about Corey Hart. He had another 20/20 season in 2008, a season where his own fans mistakenly willed him into an all-star gam e he had little part being in. I’ve heard that in such hearings, all-star appearances and certain numeric “milestones” are sometimes factored in – all things that occurred before he flatlined over months of the season. That, mixed with Hart’s apparent obliviousness with, well, everything may lead him to test the waters of a hearing. Maybe he’ll realize he’s going to hear about his recent shittiness and put two and two together (seemingly difficult to do in the Hart family) and come to know that squeezing every last cent out of a team will only bold his name on many a Brewers’ fan shitlist. But I doubt it. Hearing or not, I’d assume Hart will get somewhere between $3 and $3.2M in 2009.

Prince Fielder will almost certainly waddle to an arbitration hearing. Blame his agent, his greed, his Hart-like obliviousness or his wrongfully inflated opinion of himself. He’s no longer a team leader, he’s not Ryan Howard and he’s not going to be a Brewer for too much longer. For these reasons, I think Milwaukee’s front office has no qualms with taking Fielder to a hearing in which he’ll probably get between $6 and $7M – and whine about it.

Well, since I’m here for numbers, let’s take a look at some.

Corey Hart -
Last 2 years: 4.6 WAR, 1.3 WAR for an avg 2.9 WAR, worth approx. 12 million dollars open market. An average 1st-year arb player makes about 40% of that which comes to ~4.8 million.  However, Hart projects closer to a 1.8 or 2.0 win player based on last year mainly, so we’ll say 8M open market, which ocmes to 3.2M for arb1.  I expect, however, based on hi’s terrible end of the season and his hostility towards the fans, that the arbitrators will side with the club (2.7M).

Rickie Weeks -
Last 2 years: 3.1 WAR, 1.9 WAR for an avg. 2.5 WAR, worth approx 10 million dollars open market.  40% of that comes out to 4M.  Unlike Hart, Weeks projects a little higher than this at about 3 WAR, worth about 13 or 14 million.  40% of that comes out to 5.2-5.6M.  It’ll be hard to rule for the club on this one, so I say the arbitrators will award the 2.8M to Rickie, which is still a steal for Milwaukee.

Prince Fielder -
Last 2 years: 5.1 WAR, 2.7 WAR for an avg 4.1 WAR, worth approx 20 million dollars open market.  40% of that comes out to 8M.  Fielder projects to be worth closer to 3 WAR, so his figures come in at 15M open market/6M arb1.  The 7M/11M he’ll get for the next two years is slightly over his fair market value, but since his perceived skills are probably valued higher than they’re actually worth, this should really help his trade market if the Brewers feel it is necessary to trade him over the course of the next two years.

*This was supposed to be put up on Thursday night, but I wasn’t able to get to a computer due to and some circumstances (PF) may have changed.

Via Tom Haudricourt, Milwaukee and first baseman Prince Fielder are said to have collaborated on a 2-year/$18M deal pending physical. No specifics are known as far as how much money will he’ll make in 2009 and 2010, but Haudricourt speculates it to be $7M this season and $11M next season.

Fielder was offered $6M in arbitration by Milwaukee, while he submitted an $8M request. If Prince has a decent year this season, this contract could potentially save Milwaukee a lot of money next season, as well as make him more appealing for teams interested in trading for his services.

Expect more updates as they come.

Two down, four to go.

Tom Haudricourt reports that Milwaukee and pitcher Dave Bush have avoided arbitration by agreeing to terms for the 2009 season. No word on money yet, but Haudricourt guesses it’ll be somewhere near the $4.65 M purse J.J. Hardy just agreed to.

It’s not much of a surprise to see Bush and the Brewers pound out a deal, but it’s always good to avoid arbitration. And Dave Bush will likely play a big role this coming season, as he’s expected to hold one of the spots in the rotation.

Rickie Weeks, Corey Hart, Seth McClung and Prince Fielder are the remaining arbitration eligible players that have yet to sign for 2009.

More financial details as they arrive. Look for them in Friday’s In the News.

Update: The official site says Bush’s contract is worth $4 M. That’s a lot of pitcher for the money.

As we all know, Ben Sheets was offered arbitration on Monday – thus preserving the slight possibility of Milwaukee’s ace to remain with the team for another season.

And whether you think he will decline arbitration or also think he will decline arbitration , it’s all just speculation at this point. As a mere fan and humble blogger, I will take it to the next step, skipping whether I think he’ll accept arbitration and going right into why I hope Sheets declines it and signs elsewhere.

Unlike Jack, I’m no numbers whiz, but to drop some statistical data of my own; 80% of Ben Sheets’ career, I’ve been at least 40% disappointed to see him pitch just over ½ a season and totally 69 Milwaukee’s payroll in the process.

For much of adult life, I’ve been regaled with insightful commentary of a hero, a Southern-fried professional who single-handedly ended communism by spiking a curveball into Fidel Castro’s leathery beanbag – an ace. What Sheets actually delivered in his time as a Brewer was a good, but not as good as advertised, injury risk with the ability to take over a game. But apart from select games and, well, pretty much the entire 2004 season, Sheets was far from GREAT, further from healthy and closer to average than most Milwaukee fans will allow themselves to think.

Direct your attention to the Totemgraph, the finest true indicator of a player’s overall quality. Notice how Mr. Sheets sits directly below former Cy Young winner/fellow Type A free agent Carsten C. Sabathia. Sheets rests just above Dave Bush, a player who – like Sheets - has never won 14 games in a season, and has definite strikeout capability. Dave Bush, though not as high on the Totemgraph, isn’t too much worse than Sheets, and where Bush may lack in quality he makes up for in affordability – not to mention the fact he can pitch an entire season without being sidelined with a completely partially non-existent torn set of balls middle finger.

The graphic also shows Sheets sitting just two totem heads above a cute, albeit athletically ineffective, baby. Do you want your ace just two totem heads above A BABY?!?!

In all, as Ben Sheets’ final days of official Brewerhood dwindle to a bittersweet nothing, I will acknowledge I’ve been a tad hard on the guy over the years. When healthy, he is a great pitcher – but how often does that even happen? I’m sure his name will be (rightfully) mentioned with some of the all-time great Brewer hurlers; Teddy Higuera, Fingers, Juan Nieves and Matt Kinney a decade from now. But for the money, Sheets isn’t worth bringing back. His days are numbered, his welcome worn, his price tag insufferable.

So before it becomes official, I would like to dole a hearty morsel of gratitude to one Benjamin Sheets. Thanks for all that you’ve done for the team I love. Thank you for the games won (or – in early seasons – kept in reach), the records broken and the undying image of you biting your nails in the dugout during one of your numerous DL stints.

But most of all, thank you for the first round and delicious sandwich round draft picks gained it your departure. Now get out of here! And don’t let the door hit you in the ass, because it would undoubtedly injure you.

Happy Humper to all you tasty babies and brahs that read this banter. It is Wednesday, and if I am not mistaken - that means you are all RIV positive. Yep. Old J-Riv is back for a time. To appease the masses with another witty, charming, and witty sports blog. And unlike last week, it seems like my clip has the unlimited ammo cheat on. 

The focal point of this entry may rub some of you the wrong way. But understand, the criticizing comes from one of this situation’s heaviest of hearts. Prince Fielder. For what seemed like an eternity, I yearned to hark the crack of his bat against the horsehide. I sat thru sleepless nights perusing his stats, dreaming of the impact he could have. I called him a future HoF’er after his stint in the majors in 2005. In 2006, I bit on him way too fast for my keeper league, and he has been uppercutting taters for the “Dangerfrogs” ever since. But, a diet change, 2 bobble heads (with 100% likeness*), and a myriad of changing hairstyles later, he has fallen out of my favor. And his teamie Ryan Braun isn’t helping his case. He’s hotter, more hung..ry, and signed for 7. He says the right things, plays the right way, and with the move to LF - has virtually no holes in his game. Prince, Look at you now, you’ve lost your team, your fans, and your chance to star in the Time Warner Cable commercials next year. And this colossal collapse that surrounds you was, oddly enough, not incited by your big fat ass, but rather your big fat Boca biter. 

The Brewers reportedly approached you with an outline for a multi-year extension before Spring Training. Which seemingly you balked at, which isn’t shocking in factoring who you chose for representation. Scott Boras is adamant about his clients rejecting multi-year contracts that would buy out arbitration years. Ultimately it was your decision, and you chose to walk the path that will lead you to the most Benjamins. Which you’ve shown matters most to you. 

When the extension talks dissolved, it left the Brewers no other option, but to renew your contract. They renewed you for $670,000. Which made you the highest paid player for your level of Major League experience, aside from players who did sign multi-year deals. Your were vocal about your displeasure with the amount of money offered, and felt like you weren’t getting paid for the production you had the year prior. But, methinks thou should bite thy tongue. The Marlins renewed Hanley Ramirez for a paltry 439,000 after hitting .332, 29 HR, 81 RBI, plus tacking on 51 SB, and his reaction: “That’s OK. Whatever they think I deserve. I don’t care.” Hanley won ROY over you in ‘06, had an arguably better year in ‘07, fields the most difficult position far better than you pick at 1st,  while accepting his renewed contract with a smile. Hanley later signed a 6 year, $70 million dollar deal. Prince, you may outweigh Hanley in fatitude and pancake breats, but he mammoths you in skrill and class.

My parting shot, is reminding Prince Fielder that he is NOT Ryan Howard. He no doubt thinks he should be equally compensated, or perhaps paid more because of his favorable age. But, in your dreams, Princess. Howard was ROY, won a Home Run Derby, and has an MVP under his belt. Even in a down year, his stats slaughter yours. If you think Brewer fans cling to your .31 batting average advantage in exchange for 9 bombs and 34 RBI you are more stupid than you sound. I mean, when, you know, you are a like, hitting cleanup, and like, you got a runner on, you gotta, you know, take your pitches, and I mean, like, hit your spots to like, bring the runner home, for, you know, the team. Take some correspondence classes for Gado’s sake. If only you could hit baseballs like you hit your run-on sentences. I wouldn’t be so pissed at Prince’s production if he hadn’t opened up his veggie hole, but when professional athletes make a stink about the money they make, it really busts my balls. I have two graphs here for bases occupied for this year, #1 is Ryan Howard, #2 in Prince Fielder. Notice the amount Howard elevates his level of play with RISP or with Men On. His BA raises .100 points! If Prince wants to get paid like Howard, shouldn’t he have to play like Howard?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Bobbles look nothing like Prince Fielder.