Remember – We are not a $90M ball club. We have $14.7M tied up in Soup, $7.1 (IIRC) in Hall, $1M in Looper, $7.5M on Hoffman. We are more a $70M at most club, so align your expectations to that.

Every day household items like these salad tongs, can but you on the disabled list.

Today management had a little pow-wow over what to do about Hoffman. You can read the accounts over at the JS Blogs.

The good news: Hoffman won’t be pitching in the 9th. In fact he won’t be pitching at all till he sorts out his “mechanical problems” that Peterson identified.

The bad news: he’s going to be buried in the bullpen till he’s given the O.K. post “tune up” by Peterson.

Hoffman is 42 years old, something has to be sore enough to warrant a DL stint. Failing that give him a pair of salad tongs so he can pull a Matt Wise. Once on the DL he can work on his mechanical problems in the minors or in rehab session with Peterson. He can take all the time he needs, and the best part is we can call up another reliever and spread the load over the entire bullpen. Hoffman will save face by blaming it on an injury, and the club won’t be put in such a bind. But Doug did none of this.

Edit – I apparently can’t count who is doing what. The bench is short not the pen. (Thanks Kyle.. that’s what I get for posting while tired).

We need to maximize our return on him. We love you Prince, but we can't pretend to be a big market club.

I just had that feeling when Hoffman came into the game, that we would end up with some kind of implosion and lose the game. And it happened: 5 batters and zero outs. The Brewers weren’t projected to be a contender at the start of this year. But by getting a few lucky wins and avoiding costly mistakes, we could make a run for the wild card. That ship appears to be sailing into the sunset after every horrible blown save.

Hoffman will not step out off the closer roll on his own. I wouldn’t; even I have delusions of grandeur. Macha and his love of veterans won’t do it. It’s time you make the call and force Hoffman to not close. The ball is in Doug’s court. He has already cost us 4 blown saves (I don’t count that Stavinoha hit, that was a hell of a hit), and shows no sign of figuring it out. Those 4 games are going to be hard to make up, since we already had a slim chance of making the playoffs… Hoffman just made it a lot slimmer. I’m not even going to go into the systematic failure of Doug to field a decent pitching staff.

The Prince Question

This brings me to a huge concern. Unless we shock the baseball world and magically turn it around and get hot, we look to be sellers come later this season. And along with that comes the realization that we need to sell Fielder, and the largest haul we will get for him will be this year. Doug squandered away the Fielder/Braun combo…it will be nothing but a fleeting memory soon enough. Do you trust Melvin to make the correct decision to sign him long term or trade him? Do you trust that if he chooses the right route in trading fielder, will he get the most in return? If trading JJ Hardy is any indication of his ability… we are in trouble.

Doug Melvin needs to be fired before he blunders a Fielder trade or locks us into an Alex Rodriguez type contract that will hurt our organization for years. We need a GM who is willing to play like the Marlins, or the Rays…and make those hard (and often unpopular) decisions t0 maximize our franchise’s ability to produce great players and field a winning team. Doug’s foolishly trying to manage our mid market team like a large market one.

We blamed the players, DFAd Hall and sent down Hardy.

We blamed the hitting coach and fired him.

We blamed the pitching coach and fired him.

We blamed Yost, and fired him.

Yet Doug has gone untouched. It’s time we finally place the blame where it belongs, on the front office. Milwaukee needs a GM who can build a complete team in our market.

The Suppan effect: WE going the wrong way.

I can’t believe I’m saying this. It’s not Suppan’s fault.

I think I just threw up in my mouth a bit. But I’m being serious. By all account it seems like Suppan is a “good guy” (except if you support Stem Cell research), he’s got his flaws like not buying pillows and thinking his system still works. Suppan’s numbers going into the 2006 off season really indicated that he’d be slightly above average, but that’s it. Being an aging gritty veteran, that really doesn’t bode well for the rest of his career. Remember that. This was the last chance for Suppan to make money pitching for an MLB team.

Tonight we suffered through another Suppan start with predictable results. 6R (5 earned) in 4.1ip. Suppan started off the game by giving up back-to-back doubles and the boos started raining down. While I understand the frustration expressed with the boos, it’s not Suppan’s fault that he is no longer an MLB quality pitcher. He isn’t doing anything below his ability–this is what he’s got left in the tank. No more, no less. I don’t blame Suppan for signing the contract he did. If my boss offered to pay me 10 times what I’m worth to do the same job I’m doing now.. you are damn right I’ll take it. Remember who offered this horrible contract, remember who justified the contract, remember who allowed him to pitch for the Brewers this season, and remember who is going to continue to harm the team by allowing Suppan to continue to pitch for us.

So realign your hate. Aim your laser like rage at the person who deserves the anger. Not Suppan, but Doug Melvin. Money is no longer an excuse Doug, we have already guaranteed all the big price tag pitchers. We may as well try to field the best team available.

It wasn’t a nightmare last night, it’s true. Jeff Suppan is going to be activated to pitch tomorrow and Mitch Stetter is being optioned down to AAA.  Assume the sweep.

McCalvy writes..
The only relievers with options were Stetter and right-hander Carlos Villanueva.
“There were only two choices,” said general manager Doug Melvin

Only two? Wrong. You are missing a third giant option that could and should be done: releasing Jeff Suppan and going with one of the two superior starting pitchers you are hiding in the bullpen. Jack Moore at Disciple of Uecker makes a case on why this makes sense. Jack writes,

There’s no question in my mind that this move is wrong. There aren’t any data points from the last 4 years that suggest that the Brewers should give Suppan 120 innings or more of starting pitching while limiting Parra to likely 50 or 60 low leverage relief innings. As mentioned above, the Brewers only have a slim shot of making the playoffs this season, and so they need multiple things to go right. With this move, Brewers management is limiting the potential of this team.

There you have it. Instead of maximizing the upside in our rotation and fielding the best team, we go with Suppan. Swallow your pride and release him, Doug–he’s a sunk cost now. Salary is now guaranteed for everyone, so why not field the best team possible and put someone in the 5 spot who has upside.

How to avoid being these idiots.

Remember when we lost 100+ games in a season? Remember how it caused you to abuse your liver and your wallet? When Suppan is on the mound you are more likely to drink your face off and become the likes of Miller Park Drunk. Here are a few tips form the pros on how to survive Suppan starts this year.

Build a base: Before committing to a long tailgate, make sure you have a good base to help slow down the absorption of Milwaukees finest beers. Some kind of burrito is recommended.

Always hydrate: You’ve been in the sun for hours, you’ve drank the Suppan pain away. You need to hydrate. Chug a few bottles of your favorite sports drink. Those electrolytes are your friends.

Eat something: This goes beyond the base building. Make sure you have something to eat during the tailgate and/or during the game. Food is your best friend.

Don’t drink Bud: Seriously, you are in Miller Parks parking lot, and you are going to drink Bud? That’s just disgraceful. You are a horrible person. Have a little team pride. If you are going to drink a mass produced beer, drink the home teams beer. (And if you drink Old Style you are a douche)

No one wants to do the wave: I know you think it would be sooooo awesome to do the wave. But you are drunk, and things aren’t as they appear (Take another look at that girl you have been talking too). Do the entire world a favor and don’t try to start the wave*

Pace Yourself: Soup is probably only going 4 innings. So front load your drinking, you should emerge from a drunken haze around an hour into the game. But be prepared to be down 6 – 0. You have until the 7th inning to drink beer. You may want to evaluate the game prior to blacking out, if we show signs of life.. stop.

Getting Home Alive (And avoiding putting others at harm): This is kind of important. Take notes.

If you think you can drive home just fine. You can’t.

This should be fairly obvious. After drinking for 6 hours, having a beer or two post game… you are more drunk then you think. Sure you can walk back to your car alright. But half way up the hill out of the Giants lot you will realize that you shouldn’t be driving. So don’t. Here are a few alternatives…

Option 1:
A shuttle to a bar. But you have to promise to take a cab home. They pick you up by Helfaer field.

Option 2:
Take a cab. They stack up behind home plate along Helfaer field. A couple of bucks and you are back home safe.

Option 3:
Take a bus. The city buses are outside of Helfaer field.

Option 4:
Have a DD. Someone has to take one for the team and remember a Suppan start. Just remember to share the burden, someone is likely to go crazy remembering all these Suppan starts.

Option 5:
Phone a friend. You may want to warn them before going to the game, but people are willing at times to come pick you up. Just don’t throw up in their car.

Prepare a safe space at home: Once you’ve made it home safely (By using a DD), make sure you have a safe space setup at home. I recommend two bottles of water, 2 aspirins, a frozen pizza ready in the freezer, a blanket on the couch, a bottle of tums, and a DVD of Family Guy already loaded and remote in an easy place to find. This way you can eat, drink your water and pass out on the couch. Don’t let Suppan hurt you two days in a row.

*Unless you can drunkenly convince the entire section to do slow motion and split wave. Then you are free to do the wave. But don’t do it when the Brewers are at bat. Maybe you should write this one your hand to help you remember

Macha noted that many of Suppan’s statistics were similar last year to Braden Looper, who won 14 games despite a 5.22 ERA. Suppan was 7-12 with a 5.29 ERA.

Seriously?  Seriously?!?!  There is a REASON why Looper isn’t pitching for any club this year. Wins are not an indication of skill, it’s more about luck. Looper lucked out and everyone knows it. So stop trying to justify his rotation spot by using Looper as an example. It’s simply time for Doug to man up and admit he offered a horrible contract with Suppan and deal with it by attempting to make the club better by treating Soup like he’s Elmer Dessens or Chris Spurling. Bury him as last man in the bullpen or cut him. But hey, I guess we really don’t need to win every 5th game.

Doug: <beep beep beep> <beep beep beep> – <beep beep beep beep>
<ring ring>
Suppan: Hello.
Doug: Hey Jeff.  It’s Doug Melvin calling, how’s Soups kitchen going?
Suppan: We had our best Wednesday yet! We made..
Doug: Sorry Jeff, I don’t care. The reason I’m calling is that we recently signed Doug Davis… and we’ve got a lot of starting pitchers..
Suppan: did I mention our new Mango salsa?
Doug: Soup.. I’m trying to say.. we are letting you go.
Suppan: But why don’t you cut Bush/Parra form the rotation?
Doug: They are all out of options and have better raw talent and upside then you….
Suppan: But who’s going to do the Soups Troops promotion?
Doug: Taken care of.. Gomez Generals.
Suppan: You know how much I love ‘Merica.
Doug: Yeah well, can we get our $44 million back?
Suppan: No sorry.. I used it to bling out my anti-stem cell research protest signs.
Doug: Good luck doing.. <click>

Here it is Doug. Your chance to atone for the sin of signing Suppan by cutting him loose. If we want to “go for it” and win now. Then lets do it, and get rid of the worst pitcher with zero upside in our staff. It’s great that you made some moves to improve the staff, but lets cut the fat and dump the biggest boat anchor to the club… the $12 million is already spent… lets make some good use of it by making Suppan pitch for someone else. It’s only $2M more then you paid Gagne to pitch.. so what’s the big deal?

In fact, I will challenge you with this. You dump Suppan like a bad habit. I will shutdown FDM.com, apologize to you, grow a mustache, and register extenddougmelvin.com.

Hopefully this guy doesn't steal games from Mat Gamel.

Lots of contracts to announce. Things are finalized with the MLBPA so here  are your salary break downs for these three signings.

Randy Wolf – 3 Years, $29.75M plus Club Option ($1.5M buy out).
2010 – $9.25M
2011 – $9.5M
2012 – $9.5M
2013 – $10M ($1.5M buy out)

LaTroy Hawkins – 2 Years $7.5M
2010 – $3M plus $500k signing bonus.
2011 – $4M.

Craig Counsell – 1 Year $2.1M with $500k incentive for games played.

McClung and Rivera were both non-tendered. Not a really big surprise, but I for one will miss Big Red. It’s a real downer for both the fan base and Seth himself, but it might be the best thing for his career. Macha didn’t appear to have much faith and trust in him, so a new start may just be what the doctor ordered. With these three signings, this brings our current estimated payroll total to $82.3M. Over the “status quo”, so perhaps Mark is opening the wallet just a hair to position the team better.

The Wolf contract is the biggest splash of the off season. No other clubs offered him a third year, and we gave him a fourth in an option. This isn’t really a bad contract at all, it doesn’t escalate like Suppan’s did, so he’s not going to be the huge boat anchor that the SS Suppan is. I’m not a huge fan of the third year (and a fourth is pretty crazy), but overall I don’t have to much to complain about. Do not expect an ace out of Wolf, his BABIP was down a bit last year. So expect his numbers to rise a bit, but he should make a solid #2 / #3 pitcher. Personally, I would have wanted a high risk/high reward player like Bedard/Harden/Sheets. Sheets seems to be pricing himself out of reality, and Harden signed a pretty decent deal with the Rangers (1 year, $7.5M).

The Hawkins signing was a bit of a surprise to me. But on MLB Hot Stove, Doug mentioned how Hawkins has closing experience and will provide flexibility when Hoffman isn’t able to go. This might actually prove to be a very good signing in the event of a team implosion. If the Brewers are out of the playoff hunt by the deadline, Hoffman can be moved to a contender for perhaps a reasonable haul. I hope this isn’t the case, but it very well might be. Hawkins is a little over priced, but not by much. It seems that Doug might have learned from his Riske signing that long term contracts to older relievers isn’t a wise thing.

Counsell, everybody loves Counsell. He’s the hometown hero that everyone wanted back. He’ll provide protection against injury at SS/3rd and 2nd base. We could have used a cheaper internal option, but with all the question marks we have, it’s good to have a consistent players to back them up. The one thing that worries me is the $500,000 incentive based on games played. So both Zaun and Counsell, who are older, have huge fiscal incentives to play as much as possible in order to vest their incentives. But really, what are the chances Gamel gets to develop and not rot on the bench now that Counsell will want to play all the time? Free Mat Gamel.