Kendall A Brewer

First and foremost, Geovany Soto is the starting catcher for the catchers and will make every catcher we get over the next five years look like a piece of meat, so no, we're not blocking the Cubs.

The reason this is a terrible move is that Estrada played the entire year hurt, and nobody gave him credit for it. Kendall is a terrible defender behind the plate who can call a good game and grounds into just as many DPs as Estrada with the same batting numbers w/o the pop. Guillermo Mota is a anabolic steroid beneficiary who clearly couldn't do anything off the juice with a 5.76 ERA last year in 52 appearances. Is this really stability or blind hope because Johnny didn't get along with Maddux who I'm slowly changing my opinion of.

I purchased my 20 gamer this year, but I'm sick to my stomach that I have to watch Jason Kendall play every day. Just straight up unexciting. They should have suggested Johnny lose some weight and picked up a better reliever.

Any news of keeping Vargas and Bush and trading away Ben Sheets is garbage to add to this. Not part of your story, but WSSP won't shut their mouth about it.

For the Cubs... not the catchers. Sorry, this move really gets me steamed and I was typing like a dyslexic fiend.

Aaron,

I think Mota has to earn his way onto the roster this spring, otherwise, if you think about it, nothing is really lost.

Kendall over Estrada only makes the biggest difference in on base percentage. You even have to admit that Kendall is the perfect #8 hitter. He swings at strikes and hardly ever strikes out.

If Estrada was hurt all last season, how come we only found out about this after the season completed? Sorry but I don't buy that. I believe he showed up out of shape which lead to all of his nagging injuries. He can have all the excuses in the world why he didn't throw out more runners. What is his excuse for having a low on-base percentage?

So far, we have picked up two relievers and removed some dead weight behind the plate and we said thanks but no thanks to Geoff Jenkins.

I haven't seen other teams making any moves that have made me jealous yet...

Aaron,

Soto has a ******** 87 plate appearances that cover the last 3 seasons.

Bill Schroeder hit .332 for the Brewers in 1987 with only 270 plate appearances. I remember friends telling me how great Schroeder was going to be. The following year (1988), he hit .156, then .203, then .224, then he was no longer a major league baseball player.

If Soto is as good as you say then why did the Cubs trade for Kendall when they ran Barrett out of town last season? Something is missing here.

I love the moves the Cubs have made thus far by trading away their best hitter in the 2nd half (Jacque Jones) and handing center field to the very light hitting Felix Pie.

Soto was one of the top catching prospects last year and they traded for Kendall because Blanco went down and they needed help at that level. The problem was, LaRussa has the same problem Dusty Baker had and that is, veterans always play. When Soto started to play at the end of the year, he showed promise. The 87 PAs is a reasonable argument, but not one to dismiss him on. Soto is an above average defensive catcher with above average batting skills for a catcher, making him better than any catcher we've had come here in the last 10-20 years.

Kendall is an average defensive catcher with an average bat that has no pop. Granted his OBP is a big step up. The bigger question that you refused to ask is why were the Athletics so willing to dump him? Maybe it was because he batted a ******** .226 over the first 80 games. What I mean by pop is he's hit 5 homers over the last 4 years and during that time his slugging has been well below .400... more on the .350 side. Ugly.

Mota will, in all likelihood, make this squad and falter. This means we've traded away a guy with potential for an ordinary catcher and a bandage for the back end of the bullpen that will fall apart the second he's caught on the juice again. It's a raw deal. If it works out, props to Doug Melvin, but there had to be better options out there.

>> The bigger question that you refused to ask is why were the Athletics so willing to dump him? <<

Two answers.

1. Kendall was being paid upwards of $14 million in the last year of his contract.

2. It was time for Kurt Suzuki who was drafted by the Athletics in the 2nd round of the 2004 amateur draft to play everyday. They were out of the playoff race and it was time to see their future behind the plate.

In my opinion, we traded Estrada instead of non-tendering him. These moves the last few days tells me they had enough of Estrada. Stories are now coming out that most of the pitching staff had problems with how Estrada called games. There is no secret that the clubhouse was divided. We have too much talent to have one malcontent running around the clubhouse causing all these problems.

I still believe that the Brewers think that either Lou Palmasaino or Angel Solome will become major-league ready in the next few years.

Look at the Brewer scorecard this off-season.

IN: Eric Munson, Randy Choate, Guillermo Mota, and Jason Kendall.

OUT: Corey Koskie, Geoff Jenkins, and Johnny Estrada.

While we may not be leaps and bounds better than last season, I don't think we are any worse...

There is no way the Brewers did this to block the Cubs from re-signing him. The Cubs don't want him nor should anyone else want him. I can't believe there are so few quality catchers on this planet.....

The Cubs have no need of Jason Kendall since they have Soto who will win the N.L. Rookie of the Year award and have at least 25 homers and 90 RBI's in 2008

Linebrink-$19 mill for 4 years. You have to be kidding me. Torii gets $18 mill a year for 5 years. This is insane. Sure hope Melvin doesn't lose his mind too.

Dave,
You have to let me know who I should believe and who I should not when I read it. I have read both on ESPN.com and MLB.com that the Cubs were interested in re-signing Jason Kendall.

I see a lot of people unhappy with the Kendall signing. My question is, do you feel that Estrada is so much better than Kendall that the team has taken a major step backwards?

You took a catcher who has shown (to me) that he only seems to care about himself and you dump him for a bullpen arm (any bullpen arm should help the Brewers). Then, you sign a free-agent catcher for a fraction of the price he was making in his last deal. Why is this such a bad thing? Johnny Estrada was not a long-term solution and neither is Jason Kendall.

About the Linebrink deal, congrats to Scott. It looks like a lot of cash but 4.5 a year over 4 years is not as much money as it was 10 years ago.

I'd like to see Melvin pull off a few more deals. I'm waiting to hear where we can send Billy Hall. While I keep reading that Johan Santana could be had, I know have heard that Carl Crawford could be had as well.

When the 2007 season ended, how much of a change did you really feel the Brewers would do this off-season?

I hope you don't believe everything you read. There is no chance in **** that we get Santana. Everyone would love it but it ain't happening.

I can't believe that I'm reading any support for Estrada. Yes, I was optimistic (which I eternally am) about the surgeries that Estrada had and the possibilities that they might allow him for some better numbers. But that was me trying to make the most of a situation that I wasn't happy with.

I do the same thing with Ned Yost. I'm not happy that he's back as our manager, but it's the situation we're in and we know that this one won't be changing prior to 2008.

Speculation is healthy, fun and can be great fodder for a discussionary (did I just make up a word?) blog such as this. However, at the end of the day you can only truly analyze and make projections based on what is, not what might be or what could have been.

Until things are decided, it's a blast to hypothesize. Now that, for example, Torii Hunter has agreed on a contract with the Angels, I can no longer envision him playing center for the Brewers. Time to move on.

Having said all of that, Estrada's surgeries got me hopeful for a turn-around. Now that I know he won't be here, I'm looking forward to thinking about how Jason Kendall can help this club.

Kendall will call a better game. Kendall is capable of playing 140+ games per year...yes, even at this point in his career he's capable. Kendall works hard, might steal you a few bases in put in that situation and hits consistently.

He may hit a bit lower than Estrada on average (I haven't looked at the numbers), but in my recollection, Kendall doesn't hit .320 for a week and then hit .220 for two weeks and then .330 for a week and then .250 for two weeks. Estrada had exaggerated streaks. Kendall will provide more consistency.

And, in a hitter-friendly Miller Park, maybe he'll even hit a home run this year.....maybe not. LOL

But to get the opportunity for something for Estrada when we were probably just going to get rid of him is beneficial. Mota might not work out, but at least we have the chance to find out. Non-tendering Estrada and getting nothing back doesn't make as much sense, even if Mota doesn't get you going.

Rob and Rygg,

If Mota turns out to be a bust, we actually get less than nothing back. In fact, we end up paying Kendall more than he's worth and burn an even bigger hole into the back end of the bullpen which took a huge shot today. I'm upset that I spent my money on my 20 pack in such high priced seats considering the pitching this team has available. We're almost identical in the lineup and have folded most of our bullpen. Let's hope Turnbow brings back his miracle season of 3 years ago and retains his command to stablize our utterly pitiful bullpen.

Dave,
I believe I said Santana could be had. I never said "By the Brewers". The fact that Minnesota is dangling him around is news in itself. Is Carl Crawford out of bounds for the Brewers? I don't think so. If the Brewers were willing to dump $42 million on Cordero, I expect them to make a big trade before pitchers and catchers report. Free-agency will probably dry up with both Hunter and Cordero signing...