By: Big Rygg

Good evening, sports fans! It is I, the Big Rygg, back to the blog for the first time in 2008!

A ton happened to and around me in the last couple of weeks of 2007, so I haven’t plenty of good excuses why I haven’t been on much.

But…none of you want to hear about my personal life. You come here for Brewer Baseball Talk!

The latest rumor (now confirmed by Doug Melvin himself) flying around the internet is that the Brewers are seriously interested in Mike Cameron. There are some people saying that a deal is imminent, but if there’s one thing that following baseball in the off-season will teach you it’s that nothing is a done deal until the deal is done.

Having said that, left field remains the primary hole in your 2008 Milwaukee Brewers and signing Mike Cameron would lend itself to possibly filling that hole.

Here are few scenarios I could see coming from this potential signing. I’ll explain them in as much detail as necessary, and I’ll try to pick what I think will happen and what I’d like to have happen when I’m done.

The following all assume Cameron is signed, sealed and delivered to Ned Yost in a pretty package with a label saying "Tinker With Care":

1. Mike Cameron plays CF, Bill Hall moves to LF
    – While this isn’t the most talk about option, I list it first because it requires the least amount of flux within the roster. Yes, Bill Hall would have to move yet again, but at least it’s OF to OF, and it’s a move from the hardest position in the OF to play to the easiest. It also makes sense because Cameron is a center-fielder first and foremost. He is a multiple-time Gold Glove Award winner in center (three times if memory serves), most recently in 2006. Hall also gets to move to an easier position, one where he’s not running on every play, which might lend itself to an upswing in some of the offensive numbers.

2. Cameron plays RF, Hall stays in CF, Corey Hart moves to LF
    – I’m a big believer in Corey Hart as an outfielder, and personally think his defensive ability would be wasted in LF. Also, if we’re signing Cameron, it’s most likely to play CF. I wouldn’t think he would want to make the move to a corner OF spot when he’s still very capable of playing defense to his own standards (which are admittedly and appropriately high).

3. Cameron plays CF, Hall to 3B, Ryan Braun to LF
    – I have faith in Ryan Braun’s ability to turn himself into a reliable if not above-average defender at third base. I believe he needs that opportunity. The switch from SS to 3B isn’t as easy as it might seem to the casual baseball fan. I could get into the angles, the distance, the timing and all that, but that’s not what this article is really about. What this part of the article is about is Braun believing he will change people’s opinions about his defense. I think he can do it, he thinks he can do it, and if he does it, we’ll be so much better off to have his offensive numbers coming from the hot corner.

I know that people think that Hall is best suited for the infield, and maybe he is. 1250AM WSSP in Milwaukee discussed Bill Hall a bit this morning and paralleled his situation to that of another middle infielder-turned center fielder-turned third baseman-turned member of the Hall of Fame in "The Ignitor" Paul Molitor. No one is saying that Hall is the caliber of Molitor, but perhaps in the same vein, Hall belongs in the infield. Be that as it may, if Bill Hall plays the infield in 2008, I would prefer it to be for another franchise.

4. Cameron plays CF, Braun plays 3B, somebody not currently on the roster plays LF (or vice versa)
    – In this scenario, Bill Hall is playing for another team in 2008, and so are one or two of our 8 potential starting pitchers. Look, I am a Bill Hall fan. I think he plays the game the right way and I cheer as hard for him as I do any other Brewer, but we have a need to fill LF and get better. If we can trade some pieces to fill LF (preferable in my opinion to moving Braun there), then why not? Also, bottom line is that Hall and Cameron both strike out a lot. I don’t want a guaranteed 250 Ks (with a solid shot at 300) from just two players in my everyday lineup. If the Milwaukee Brewers sign Mike Cameron to play center field, I’m only going to be truly okay with it if it’s a precursor to another deal that moves Bill Hall. I’m not saying that I’d necessarily prefer Cameron over Hall, but I know that I don’t want them both.

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I think I’m most for Option 4 if Cameron does indeed sign with Milwaukee. I couldn’t handle both guys in the lineup everyday striking out so much. That being said, in Cameron you get an upgrade in defense, base-stealing (for as fast as Hall is, he’s not much of a base-stealer, period), and power potential. It seems more and more like Hall’s 35 HR 2006 is the anomaly as opposed to the rule. Yes Cameron is 35, but Hall is 28 already…how much better will he get? If 12-18 HRs is all we can ever except from Hall….I don’t know.

Now, having said all of that, I don’t know if I’m for the signing of Mike Cameron whether we move Bill Hall or not. Look at the facts:

• .242 BA in 2007
• .250 lifetime hitter
• 35 years old
• And maybe most importantly, if you sign Cameron to play center field for the Milwaukee Brewers in 2008, who plays center field in April? Cameron has that pesky 25-game suspension looming

I.M.W.T.

If Melvin signs Cameron, and moves Hall and an arm or two for a LF, I’ll support it. I’ll also support giving Tony Gwynn Jr. an uninterrupted month in CF to see what he can actually do with an everyday role. Gwynn is a lefty, as would hopefully be whomever they would bring in to play left.

I’m not sure how that lineup would look (not that it would matter with how often Yost will probably change it), but depending on who comes in after Cameron, I think I’m pretty okay with it.

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Time to sound off on the warmest Hot Stove topic of 2008 so far, Brewer Nation.

What are your thoughts???