Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
March 02, 2008
How to Lose a Player in Three Years

The Brewers managed to upset one of their star players:

The Milwaukee Brewers renewed the slugger's deal for $670,000 on Sunday after finishing third in NL MVP voting last season.

"I'm not happy about it at all," Fielder said. "The fact I've had to be renewed two years in a row, I'm not happy about it because there's a lot of guys who have the same amount of time that I do who have done a lot less and are getting paid a lot more.

"But my time is going to come. It's going to come quick, too."

Going to arbitration after this season, Fielder has every reason to try for a monster year. Given what Ryan Howard received, Milwaukee should be ready to see their payroll increase significantly next season. The question is, will they patch this up, or continue to upset Fielder so much he leaves as soon as he's able to become a free agent? Milwaukee should study Pittsburgh and Barry Bonds and see if they want to go down that road.

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Posted by David Pinto at 09:13 PM | Management | TrackBack (0)
Comments

Matt Laporta and Matt Gamel

Posted by: SmittyBanton at March 2, 2008 09:23 PM

Those two and the fact that he weighs a lot.

Posted by: Nick at March 2, 2008 09:48 PM

Just when it looked like the Brewers were a franchise with a future, they start acting like they don't want to keep their valuables. heh.

Posted by: Devon Young at March 2, 2008 10:09 PM

Sure, LaPorta and Gamel look like they might be decent, but there is no minor leaguer at any level, playing for any team who projects to be as good as Fielder. There was a day when instead of LaPorta and Gamel, you would have said Joey Meyer and Billy Joe Robidoux. It's obvious how that turned out.

That being said, what were the Brewers supposed to have done? Do you think an extra $200K this year would have made Fielder happy? Any long term deal you sign Fielder to would cost the Brewers $10M more this year, and there is no way he's going to sign beyond his free agency year. The strong sentiment in Milwaukee is that Fielder will leave as a free agent anyway. There's really no incentive for the Brewers to pay him any more than they are.

The problem in Pittsburgh is not that they lost Barry Bonds - it's that they don't have anyone in the front office who can evaluate talent. Bonds has been gone for 15 years - they've had plenty of time to reload.

In the coming years, the Brewers will be an interesting study to determine if a) a small market team can actually have a big market payroll, or b) if a team can sustain long term success by using only the first six years of their players careers.

Posted by: Scott Segrin at March 2, 2008 10:12 PM

I'm convinced that more teams should take this attitude. Why do teams insist on a five or even six man pitching rotation? Four men, three days rest. You've got them for six years. Use them, use them hard, use them up, get more.

Scott Boras is going to get every nickel he can. If Fielder is healthy, he's going to be a free agent eventually. When has a Boras client NOT become a free agent? When has Boras ever left money on the table?

Why should teams leave even one inning in a player's tank that they could have got out of them? Why should they pay one penny more than they have to, knowing he's going to be a free agent no matter what they pay him now? They're going to have to pay market price if they want to keep him after year six. What they pay him now has no bearing on that.

Posted by: Paul Bressler at March 3, 2008 03:51 AM

All the potential in the world is not a 50 HR season. Not that I'm aBrewers or Fielder fan but it seems like in this case having him walk away was pretty preventable. Not familiar with these prospects but it's pretty unlikely that either of them will ever have a 50 HR season

Posted by: Bandit at March 3, 2008 12:04 PM

re: prince fielder

i saw the phils play the milwaukee brewers last year at philly.

first, the brewers have some great, great talent. Fielder is far from their only or best player.

Second, fielder is incredibly fat and slow. I remember watching his dad play, and thinking Cecil was heavy, but prince is even heavier and slower and more ponderous than even his dad cecil was.

third, prince fielder is nothing like ryan howard. ryan howard spent the offseason at a conditioning combine arranged by his la agents losing 25 pounds and adding muscle mass down in florida. the kid is all muscle and eats right and has a beautiful swing.

fielder by contrast looks like he will eat his way out of the league as his dad did in just a few more years.

were i milwaukee management, i would not lock up long term dollars on fielder.

they have other excellent ballplayers in milwaukee who deserve long term deals who are mashing the ball, and who will be there a long time.

let fielder whine. who's going to sign a whiny baby?

--art k, philly

Posted by: art kyriazis at March 4, 2008 09:34 AM
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