Brewers sign Kyle Lohse to three-year, $33-million deal

So here's my rant about the Kyle Lohse signing and how I'm not exactly "thrilled" to hear that the Brewers caved in to Scott Boras...


(image courtesy ESPN.com)

#1. He's 34. Why are we signing a pitcher, who's been in the majors for 12 years, to a 3-year contract?

#2. From 2001 (his first season in the majors) through 2010, he went 88-98 and had an ERA of 4.79. Take away the past two seasons when he was with the Cardinals and you've got a very mediocre-to-below average pitcher. Is he really worth $11 million/year?

#3. Out of Gallardo, Estrada, Fiers, Narveson, Peralta and Rogers, all are right-handed pitchers except for Narveson. Kyle Lohse is a right-handed pitcher. We don't need another right-handed pitcher.

#4. In the event we make the postseason, Lohse has a career record of 2-5 with an ERA of 4.86. Again, not very good.

#5. As a result of signing Lohse, the Brewers will lose their first round draft pick and the Cardinals, a division rival, gain one. Not only are the Cardinals a division rival, but they already have a stacked farm system, ranked first in all of baseball. The Brewers' farm is ranked in the bottom ten. This move is not only a short-term risk, but a long-term one as well.

#6. We let Shaun Marcum go to the Mets via free agency this offseason. They signed him to a one-year deal for $4 million. Marcum and Lohse, in my opinion, are the same caliber of player. Kinda screwed this pooch there.

#7. Anyone remember Braden Looper and Jeff Suppan...?

#8. Kyle Lohse pitches to contact. Our defense is about as porous as SpongeBob SquarePants. Should be fun...

#9. Scott Boras, Lohse's agent, is pure evil. There's nothing better for the Brewers than having a snake in the Miller Park grass! Got us tagged with Carlos Gomez for the next three years (which is another risk the Brewers have decided to take, but not quite as bad), and now we're on the hook for a mediocre pitcher.

...and finally...#10. Kinda backtracking to #5, but..in the next few years, we will need to replace, realistically, 3/4 of our current infield: Corey Hart, Rickie Weeks and Aramis Ramirez. We have, essentially, not a single possible replacement for any of them in the minor leagues. Sure, we have one of the best offenses in the majors now, but long-term, losing this draft pick really sucks.

#endrant

Whew, that felt good. So now that I'm done complaining, I'm interested in hearing what the rest of Brewer Nation thinks....SOUND OFF, YA'LL!

Brewers sign reliever Schoeneweis to minor league deal

Left-hander Scott Schoeneweis has agreed to a minor league contract with the Milwaukee Brewrs and was invited to major league spring trainig. Schoeneweis would get an $800,000, one-year contract if added to the 40-man roster and would have the chance to earn $700,000 in performance bonuses.

The 36-year-old is 46-57 with a 4.97 ERA in his 11-year major league career, making 93 starts among 562 appearances. Schoeneweis has played for six major league teams and was 1-2 with a 7.13 ERA in 45 relief appearances with the Arizona Diamondbacks last season.

(picture courtesy MLB.com)


My Take

Hopefully Schoeneweis (whose name is quite hard to spell, by the way) will be able to provide something for the team, as it's always nice to have another veteran lefty. However, if he does make the club, lets hope he'll put up slightly better numbers than when he was in Arizona. That 7.13 ERA is just nasty.

Brewers to unveil statue of Bud Selig

Without the persistence of Bud Selig, the Milwaukee Brewers might still be the Seattle Pilots.

That same persistence resulted in the building of Miller Park, which guaranteed the franchise would not relocate again.

On those two counts alone, much less his other accomplishments, the Brewers figured Selig deserved to stand - in bronze - with Hank Aaron and Robin Yount outside of the club's retractable-roof facility.

The Brewers announced recently that they will honor baseball's commissioner and the team's former owner with a statue at Miller Park's Home Plate Plaza.

Selig's statue will be unveiled in a ceremony at 1 p.m. Aug. 24.

"We are proud to honor Commissioner Selig for all of his efforts on behalf of the Milwaukee Brewers and Major League Baseball," owner Mark Attanasio said in a statement released by the club.

"The Brewers and Miller Park are in this city because of the commissioner's vision and dedicated efforts. Just as importantly, he has remained a prominent and highly philanthropic member of our community while effectively leading Major League Baseball during his tenure as baseball's top executive."

"I'm very honored, grateful and proud," said Selig when reached at his downtown office. "Nobody symbolizes the Brewers more than Robin, and everybody knows how I feel about Hank. It's really hard to express my feelings. I never could have dreamed anything like this."

It was the Allan H. (Bud) Selig Foundation that donated the statues of Aaron and Yount, which were unveiled on April 5, 2001, the first year of Miller Park.

Selig's ownership group sold the club to a group led by Attanasio before the 2005 season. Now, his successors will honor his founding-father status in franchise history with a statue.

"You could never dream of anything like this," said Selig. "I can't really tell you what it means to me."

(story courtesy JSOnline)
(picture courtesy NBCSports)

My Take

Mr. Selig truly deserves this honor. Without this one man, the Milwaukee Brewers as we know them wouldn't be in existence. Summers in the state of Wisconsin would be long and boring without a team to follow. Although his later years of ownership and his tenure as commissioner have been frowned upon, he still is the man to thank for bringing baseball back to the great city of Milwaukee.