Arbitrary Meditations

I present for the approval of the MidNight Society a meandering collection of thoughts/opinions on the Brewers’ arbitration proceedings. So with no further ado:

1) CC Sabathia- No brainer, the club guarantees itself two draft picks, which in all likelihood is the best case scenario for the club; and perhaps if Sabathia’s agents have a momentary lapse in judgment and check “Yes” on the form (I’m not sure how the process works, but I imagine a sheet of paper with two boxes, one with “Yes” next to it and the other “No”; I believe this is the same process by which the Pope is selected) and the ball club gets Sabathia for another year for about 20 million. And not to rattle any cages or rustle any feathers, but I’m still very skeptical that signing the man for 5 years at $100 million is a slam-dunk. The Brewers are NOT the Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers, etc etc and could not deal with the very real possibility that CC breaks down in the near future and the team is starting the 2010 season in Milwaukee with Sabathia sitting in Southern California sipping on a tropical drink and rehabbing his shoulder while the Brewers have 20% of their payroll tied up in him. Realistically, this is exactly how the collective bargaining agreement is meant to work for Major League Baseball and the Brewers. Brewers build through the draft and a strong farm system, talent develops and comes together for the one, two, or three years before rookie contracts begin to fade into the Milwaukee night, talent crests and Brewers make a run at the playoffs and bring in high class free agent midseason (see Brewers 2008 season and CC Sabathia), high class free agent leaves for New York, Boston, Los Angeles, etc etc, Brewers get multitude of compensation draft picks, repeat as necessary. Circle of life for the Milwaukee Brewers organization. I think at this point we should thank Mr. Sabathia for the memories he provided Milwaukee and know that he will always have a place in the hearts of Milwaukee Brewers fans. The man deserves and should receive a standing ovation whenever he comes back to Miller Park no matter what uniform he may be sporting. And somewhere in our minds we will hope Matt LaPorta doesn’t turn into the next Manny Ramirez.

2) Ben Sheets- It’s been reported this evening, December 3rd, that Sheets has turned down arbitration from the Brewers, so similarly to Sabathia this is a win/win situation. Call me a dreamer or crazy, but I really would not mind seeing Benny as a Brewer in 2009. I know, even as a write this, I can hear the multitudes yelling “But what happens when he gets injured!?”. Well my answer to that is, “What if he doesn’t?”. I am an adamant defender of Sheets, call me bias because I was there when he got introduced as a conquering hero post Olympics at the closing of Country and I was there to witness his 18K CG against the Braves in 2005, but when healthy, Sheets is a Cy Young caliber pitcher. Look at his 2004 numbers, the man was magic. Glory fades, and in the past couple years one could set their watch to a Ben Sheets summer injury, but I guess my biggest defense of possibly resigning Sheets is this: 1) maybe the free market will do us justice and other potential suitors will be scared away from an aging injury prone pitcher and 2) what are the other real prospects at this juncture for a #1 starter for 2009? Sabathia, as mentioned above, not going to happen and maybe that’s for the better, or going out and throwing a lot of money at Derek Lowe or AJ Burnett, another injury prone pitcher whose numbers are very comparable to Sheets and probably not as good. What do I see the Brewers doing if they don’t resign Sheets or Sabathia? Overpaying for a middle of the road starter, one that is far from a #1 (maybe a Looper, Garland, Ryan Dumpster). Can anyone say….Jeff Suppan all over again? Hardly an open and shut case for paying for Sheets, but maybe he’ll go out, test the waters, and realize he didn’t have it so bad in Milwaukee and come back for reasonable price. At this point, I’d take him over the alternatives.

3) EDIT- Caution: It is not wise to sit down and write 400 words about a baseball player being up for arbitration because you think you read about it in the newspaper over your morning bowl of Apple Jack's. Check your facts, then write. But I still stand behind my pro Seth McClung and Apple Jack's agenda.

4) Eric Gagne- Good riddance to bad rubbish. No need to beat a dead horse or throw gas on the fire here, but I think no one in Milwaukee will be sad to see him go; although I did hear he tipped delivery men $100 each time they brought food to his dwelling which is pretty cool, but if that’s the best thing one can say about a 10 million dollar closer then that is not saying much. The whole Gagne fiasco makes me sad actually. On numerous occasions I became an object of ridicule publicly, most notably a few times on WSSP 1250’s postgame show, because I wrote and called in multiple times saying it was fruitless and mind-boggling as to why Brewers fans insisted on booing Gagne when he would come out of the bullpen in save and tight game situations. Not to get started on Brewers fans booing habits in 2008, but still to this day it makes me furious to think we booed our team/players when we were winning games. I know they’re professionals and all, but didn’t we want Gagne to do well? I guess he became the scapegoat (pre Ned Yost) for all our frustrations , but Gagne and I will always share that scorn from the 2008 season. Maybe him a little more than myself.

Well, I didn’t set a 1,300 word goal for my inaugural post, but here we are. Damage done. I’m not much for goodbyes so I’ll just say; Bring on the winter meetings!