Archive for the ‘ Hot Stove ’ Category

With Workouts Officially Underway, Hot Stove Officially Shut Off

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Today at Brewers camp in Phoenix, Arizona, general manager Doug Melvin commented on the state of the roster as it stands today.

“We’re not looking at anybody else,” said Melvin.

Of course, Melvin is like any other GM worth his salt and will always answer the phone. However, when he said that they’re done shopping is important as well. Melvin was asked about the continued dot-connecting between the Brewers and free agent starting pitcher Kyle Lohse. Melvin stated that he hasn’t had any conversations with agent Scott Boras about Lohse but believes that Boras has contacted Brewers principle owner Mark Attanasio directly.

You stay classy, Scott Boras.

Regardless, it appears that Melvin, Ron Roenicke, and the powers the be are content to choose a 25-man roster from those players already under contract with the organization.

So, to the Hot Stove which helps keep us from freezing to death each and every November, December, and January…

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Hot Stove Report: Debunking a Rumor

Personally, I enjoy bringing information when I’m able to be that rumors, official press releases, transaction news, even when the Brewers are hosting their mini marathon again in 2013. I strive to deliver content in this space that Brewers fans care about and would find useful, interesting, informative (or hopefully all three).

That being said, today I write to address something that came up yesterday on Twitter.

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Adams as a Brewer (Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

That tweet came yesterday morning around the same time as I was looking for information about the Brewers’ offer to Ryan Dempster (AAV under $10 million for the guaranteed two years, by the way), so while I was communicating I asked whether the Brewers had shown any interest in Mike Adams.

I was told that the Brewers had not been discussing an offer for Mike Adams.

To be fair, Stark never said that they were. He merely said that the Brewers had been “linked” to the free agent reliever which could simply mean that people mentioned how the Brewers bullpen needs help and Adams used to pitch for the Brewers. That’s a “link” and all it takes.

There’s sentiment around social media that Adams might be too pricey for the Brewers given his performance the last couple of seasons, but earlier this autumn many felt Adams would be forced into a discounted agreement with his next employer because of the surgically-repaired thoracic outlet syndrome he was diagnosed with in late 2012. That’s more because any surgery can be difficult to recover from so you just don’t know how well Adams will respond to it. The timeline under “normal” circumstances would see Adams ready for the regular season though. The surgery to correct the condition was completed in mid-October. For sake of discussion, Chris Carpenter of the St. Louis Cardinals the same surgery in July of 2012 and returned to pitch in the playoffs.

So again fans found themselves in a “What if…?” situation. What if Adams’ surgery scares off suitors? What if the market for a top setup man (who earned $4.4 million in 2012)  is depressed? What if Adams, who felt slighted under-appreciated and under-utilized before he was traded to the Mets in 2006, would be okay with coming back to Milwaukee?

I’m here today (because I didn’t have a chance yesterday at all) to let you know that barring some unforeseen reversal of a couple of things, Milwaukee will not be chasing Mike Adams and therefore he won’t be signing here. He may have been “linked” to the Brewers, but that was out of a matter of circumstances aligning than there being any real chance.

Sorry the news isn’t better on this rumor, but given his cost (slightly depressed or not) I don’t think it’d be the right match for the Brewers this off-season anyway given their self-imposed limitations.

*** UPDATE: Forgot to type this before I hit “Publish”. Adam McCalvy of MLB.com mentioned yesterday that Melvin admitted talking to Adams’ agent this winter but that he got the feeling that Adams had other teams in mind. That article is here: “

Dempster off board, Crew turning to in-house options“ 

***

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Winter Meetings Day 3 Recap: Swing and a Miss, Strike 2!

What a busy day at the Winter Meetings in Nashville, Tennessee.

Busy, but not all that productive for the Milwaukee Brewers.

After expressing their interest in Sean Burnett, Jason Grilli, Randy Choate, Ryan Dempster, and others this week, the Brewers have lost out on a couple of those names.

Burnett is reportedly going to the Angels on a two-year deal worth “just south of” $9.5 million total.

Mike DiGiovanna has since confirmed the cost for Burnett, which is higher than I was told the Brewers wanted to offer.

Jason Grilli tweeted that he was headed to the Winter Meetings for a “full day” (which isn’t over yet) and his agent Gary Sheffield reportedly told Nick Cafardo that he was closing in on a deal. While I’ve been told that Sheffield isn’t as close as he made it seem, it could still come together quickly. Also, Doug Melvin now tells the media that he hasn’t spoken directly to Sheffield this week despite telling those same reporters on Monday that they had talked about Grilli.

CBSSports.com’s Jon Heyman tweeted about why the market for Grilli might be bigger than the Brewers had anticipated when discussing the offer idea I mentioned yesterday.

Not that it’s not understandable to a degree, but Melvin seems to change his story to keep himself from looking bad if his advances are rebuffed by free agents. Manager Ron Roenicke confirmed the team’s interest in Grilli as well, but not in the $5-$7 million AAV range. If you press me to remember specific examples I’ll try, but it’s just a feeling that has been in my head for a while. This new Grilli talk feels no different to me.

For what it’s worth on Grilli, this came in just prior to my posting this early evening recap and I doubt that the Brewers are in play despite being so earlier this week:

Randy Choate, reportedly on the Brewers radar as a left-handed reliever agreed to a (are you sitting down) reported three-year deal with the St. Louis Cardinals.

It’s becoming quite apparent that the market for relief pitching is inflated right now. Melvin may be better of simply biding his time until cheaper options start to sign their deals once the market is set.

The latest on the Ryan Dempster situation is that he still wants three years and the Brewers still don’t want to go over two years. That’s not a secret anymore, but either discuss compromises or simply move on at some point.

More on the Brewers starting pitching desires come from Danny Knobler:

Would the Brewers be willing to trade Hart? They’d listen. Hart isn’t signed past next season and the long-term future at the position is something which the Brewers need to make a decision about. Plus Hart could always ask for way more money than the Brewers want to pay him and he could leave town anyway for no return. Now, should they trade Hart and reinsert Mat Gamel as the team’s every day first baseman? That would depend on what the Brewers would get back beyond the $9.5 million or so in salary relief.

In minor league news, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel passed along that the Brewers have resigned shortstop Hainley Statia to a minor league deal.

Also as I reported earlier, the Brewers signed someone new to the organization in right-handed relief pitcher Chris Jakubauskas:

Doug Melvin did tell the media that he is keeping an eye on a specific player as it relates to the Rule V Draft tomorrow but he doubts the player will reach them with the 16th pick of said draft.

Finally, Gord Ash was a guest on a Toronto-based radio program broadcasting from Nashville. He confirmed the team’s mutual interest in Josh Hamilton and laid out some reasons that Hamilton was drawn to the Brewers but said that it simply comes down to a matter of dollars and Milwaukee’s not having enough of them given the way the market appears to have been shaping up for the free agent former AL MVP.

***UPDATE: Adam McCalvy indicated that Doug Melvin said he met with the agent who happens to be the representative of free agents J.P Howell and Edwin Jackson but wouldn’t divulge what was discussed.***

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Winter Meetings Recap Day 2: Brewers Shift Into Motion

The second day of the 2012 Winter Meetings is nearly over in Nashville. The Brewers still hadn’t signed anybody by day’s end, but at least there’s more to report than yesterday.

I attempt to have some continuity and flow in my posts as a rule, but this post might jump around a lot as I remember the things I need to include.

First, I reported midday that the Brewers had made a offers to a pair of free agent relief pitchers. You can read about that at the link. Later in the day, FoxSports.com’s Ken Rosenthal tweeted this:

That matches up to the what I reported just after lunch. I learned that the Brewers offered Burnett a two-year deal. One of my Twitter followers asked why Burnett isn’t already signed in Milwaukee if the Brewers gave him what he is seeking. I countered with the idea that they may match up on years but that doesn’t mean they match up on money just yet.

General manger Doug Melvin said late in the day that he had not yet extended any formal offers to any free agents, which could very well be true. There is a formality involved in submitting an official offer for a player to consider. What I was told was the framework exists for the offers that were passed along for Burnett and Grilli. That does not mean that they’ve been sent along to the respective players or their representatives.

Moving on, the Brewers were said to have “kicked the tires” on free agent reliever Mark Lowe, recently of the Texas Rangers. That report came from FoxSports.com’s Jon Morosi.

Melvin also told the media in his evening session that he had finally met with agent Craig Landis who represents both Ryan Dempster and Brett Myers. But while Melvin confirmed the meeting, he would not discuss what was said during the meeting. For what it’s worth, it was previously reported that Dempster has reciprocated Milwaukee’s interest but is seeking a three-year deal while the Brewers prefer to limit a deal to two years.

Also confirmed was that Melvin had briefly discussed 2012 NL Cy Young Award winner R.A. Dickey with the New York Mets but that they quickly realized that the teams don’t match up and therefore didn’t even advance to the point of discussing names of other players to have been involved.

Ron Roenicke was at the Opryland Hotel today and held court with the media. He also appeared on MLB Network Radio during the afternoon hours. Roenicke had a few nuggets of knowledge to share. He said that he’s considering moving Rickie Weeks back to the lead off spot in the lineup. Roenicke also suggested the while Mat Gamel won’t be playing winter ball anywhere (per Melvin), Gamel will be getting a good amount of time at the corner OF positions during spring training.

While on MLB Network Radio, Roenicke confirmed again the Brewers’ interest in Grilli “if the money works” but not at $5-$7 million. I was told that the proposed offer the Brewers were formulating was less than that for just one year, so we’ll see if that gets it done at some point.

Finally for Roenicke, he reiterated that the Brewers don’t need to get another starting pitcher, despite the stated desire to. He acknowledged that they currently already have one extra starter. He also said that Marco Estrada has a pretty good foot in the door for a spot in the rotation. That would be a field then of Yovani Gallardo, Marco Estrada, Mike Fiers, Chris Narveson, Wily Peralta and Mark Rogers.

Back to Melvin, he confirmed that they are looking for a backup shortstop option if they can find one. They still have some interest in bringing back Alex Gonzalez if he would accept a bench role.

Melvin also mentioned the names of Tom Gorzelanny and John Lannan as having been discussed. Personally, I’m hoping that they’re using the media to help Sean Burnett remember that he isn’t the only LHP available. A little posturing isn’t necessarily a bad thing, after all.

As for the money situation, Melvin confirmed that the Brewers are actually seeing a significant bump in their local TV contract revenue, but that it still pales in comparison to the money some teams are getting in their brand new local TV deals. Melvin said that they’ll go from $12 million in 2012 to right around $21 million for 2013. The oft-reported national TV money bump doesn’t begin until 2014, which is the year that has always been reported by me at least.

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So there you have it. If I remember anything else I wanted to pass along (and it feels like I”m forgetting something…) I’ll update this blog so check back periodically.

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Hot Stove Report: Brewers Make Pair of Offers

As of last night, Brewers GM Doug Melvin stated that he didn’t have any trade discussions underway. He also admitted to making contact with a pair of free agent relievers.

What I didn’t recall reading was him saying that he hadn’t made any contract offers yet so I was curious. I reached out to a source and was told that the Brewers have offers “on the table” to both LHP Sean Burnett and RHP Jason Grilli.

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Please make sure you read that properly. Offers only. No indication of response. Nothing “imminent” or “guaranteed” nor should anything like that be implied. Does that make sense? Good.

I was told dollar amounts on both deals, but money is very fluid and can change pretty rapidly so keep that in mind. The years I was told don’t change as often so I’ll pass along those specifics.

Grilli’s offer is a one-year deal at a slight raise over his 2012 salary of $1.1 million from the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Burnett’s offer is a two-year pact resulting in an AAV greater than his 2012 salary of $2.3 million with the Washington Nationals. I wasn’t told how the dollars would breakdown between the two years at this time.

Could options or incentives or other elements to contracts change or be added or what have you? Of course. Just passing along what was passed along to me.

It was also confirmed to me what Melvin said yesterday in that Dempster is seeking a three-year deal and the Brewers are still at two (at least right now), but it was not said whether the Brewers had a formalized offer on the table to Dempster. I’d guess not because Dempster’s agent is on the record as saying that (at least for right now) an offer under three years in length would be a deal-breaker.

I was also passed along a note about Josh Hamilton due to assumed interest. I was told that right now Hamilton’s camp isn’t even entertaining teams unless they show a willingness to go seven years on a contract. That seems absurd to me based on the majority of reports out there. I have a feeling that this tidbit is absolute misdirection. It was indicated that the Brewers did express interest (as has been reported of their being “on the periphery”) but at a length of five years (again, at least right now). I’m less inclined to believe that Hamilton will get seven years, for what it’s worth.

So, there you go. As with all rumors, especially those coming out of the Winter Meetings, take them with the necessary amount of salt.

***UPDATE: I was told that the Brewers did not make “official” offers to Grilli or Burnett. Terms were discussed but official offers were not submitted to the players’ representatives.***

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Winter Meetings Day 1 Recap: Rumors and Meetings and Contacts, Oh Well?

The Winter Meetings are underway in Nashville. Hopefully you read my preview column so that I don’t have to re-reference a lot of reasoning behind my forthcoming comments, but if you didn’t you can definitely do so and then come right back.

The first official day of the Winter Meetings is complete and while much talking and negotiating takes place “after hours”, there is daily availability from Doug Melvin to recap the day for the Milwaukee Brewers.

Today, Melvin pulled back the current a bit to confirm that he has made contact regarding a pair of free agent relief pitchers. He also, as I said he would and already basically did, retreated from his previous comments stating that they would not go over two years for a starting pitcher. He reminded those that needed reminding that for the right player at the right dollars, he’d go longer than two years.

Melvin was asked about the team’s reciprocal interest in free agent starting pitcher Ryan Dempster. He said that he hadn’t met with Dempster’s agent yet but that he “might as well” discuss the right-hander while they’re all here. He was quick to note that it might simply be time to let their young pitchers earn their keep. He listed the same group of in-house options that I’ve mentioned more than once in this space, so no reason to list them again. He did state that he feels the top level of the organization’s depth at starting pitcher currently features Tyler Thornburg and Hiram Burgos.

BurnettGrilli

Much-discussed free agent relief pitchers Sean Burnett (left) and Jason Grilli.

The relief pitchers with which Melvin has made contact are righty Jason Grilli and lefty Sean Burnett. Melvin was clear that he wants to get a left-handed relief pitcher but through free agency rather than a trade. He also said that while he spoke to Grilli’s agent, former big leaguer Gary Sheffield (yes, that Gary Sheffield), there is still a long list of available relievers. Those names on Milwaukee’s radar include Jason Frasor, Kevin Gregg, and Jon Rauch. Melvin noted that he has no interest in Matt Capps or Daisuke Matsuzaka. There’s always a group of recent additions to the organization that will get  an opportunity to fill a bullpen spot or two including Michael Olmstead, Fautino De Los Santos, Jairo Ascenio, Arcenio Leon, et cetera.

More specifically on the if any negotiations are underway or any ideas are “down the road”, Melvin said that he had no active trade talks and that the trade market was pretty quiet right now while the top free agents determine the locations of their new home offices.

As for current Brewers, Melvin was asked about Corey Hart and responded that he hasn’t talked to Hart’s agent about an extension yet and also had not fielded any recent trade ideas for the longest-tenured Brewer. In other words: nothing to report.

Melvin was also asked about their current catching situation. He made it sound like he’d prefer to keep Jonathan Lucroy and Martin Maldonado in place but has been asked more a couple of times about the availability of half of the catching duo. He did also say, however, that someone would have to come with a strong offer to pry one away (likely Maldonado would be more available than Lucroy, in my opinion) so that’s not an untouchable situation by any means.

Finally, the subject of the big fish Zack Greinke and Josh Hamilton was broached. Melvin said that he didn’t foresee getting involved on either player because they appeared to be “getting market value” which means too pricey for Milwaukee.

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Brewers Non-Tender Parra

manny parra

The Milwaukee Brewers announced today that they will not be tendering a contract to Manny Parra in advance of tonight’s deadline to do so. This mean that Parra, 30,  will become a free agent tomorrow.

The writing has been on the wall, as they say, for some time regarding the likelihood of this move. I wrote about it earlier this week (which you can read here: http://wp.me/p1wIvV-98Nx) and said that Parra was the likely guy to be in trouble.
No doubt exists that Doug Melvin attempted to trade Parra once they knew that they wouldn’t be tendering him a contract, but the same reasons that the Brewers used to justify cutting ties are the same reasons that every other team would use to not give something up for him.

  • He’s been inconsistent.
  • He’s arbitration-eligible (third time) this off-season which means he’s due a significant enough raise this off-season despite his mediocre performance.

The Brewers have shown a ton of patience with Parra in the hopes that he would develop into at least a capable bullpen option who could be used in more than just LOOGy situations after he floundered in the rotation.

That being said, Parra has been an overall success story in a manner of speaking for the Brewers. Originally a 26th round draft pick, those aren’t the kinds of guys you usually expect to reach the major leagues let alone have any kind of discernible impact.

As for the situation his non-tendering leaves the Brewers in? They now have no left-hander in the bullpen again (just as in 2011). The 40-man roster will now stand at 38 with Parra’s forthcoming departure.

There are also currently four jobs up for grabs in the Brewers’ bullpen. Only John Axford, Jim Henderson, and Brandon Kintzler are set to return from 2012′s group.

***MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy spoke with Manny Parra about the non-tendering. Some highlights follow but for McCalvy’s full column with all of Parra’s quotes, click here.***

“I prepared myself for it, so more than anything I’ll miss being considered a Brewer, because I’ve been one for so long,” he said. “Not only that, but I have so much respect for Doug [Melvin] and Gord [Ash] and the way they do things. They’ve given me so many opportunities.

“At the same time … being a starter — a failed starter, in my opinion — I feel like no matter what I did, I was always being compared to what kind of a starter I was. … I’m excited to move on and improve and be a better player.

“I was never able to let it go,” he said. “I just beat myself up a lot. … I’m really trying to change the way I think.”

“I just keep telling myself I’m a late bloomer. I always have been in my life. I’m 30 years old now, but I’m just going to remain positive and believe that I’m going to keep getting better. What else can you do?”

He added: “I like the idea of being able to sick with the organization you were drafted by for as long as you can and reward them for giving me the opportunities. But there comes a time when you have to move on, and this is it.”

 

Hot Stove Report: Brewers Begin Testing Pitching Market

The Winter Meetings start next week and, as I’ve said more than once in this space, there is opportunity for a lot to get done every year during them.

If I need to post a picture of Ryan Dempster, why not post a picture of Ryan Dempster with Marisa Miller?

Last year we here at Brewer Nation were the first to bring to you that the Brewers made contact and were potentially “down the road” with then free agent Aramis Ramirez prior to the Winter Meetings. We had the money right though we were slightly off on the years (though we later learned that it may have been a misinterpretation on our end of the information we obtained).

Well, Doug Melvin is at it again in the days leading up to the 2012 Winter Meetings in Nashville, Tennessee. Though “it” in this case is merely dipping his toe in to test the water a bit more so than being anywhere significant.

FoxSports.com’s Ken Rosenthal reported this morning that the Brewers are one of three teams that have “shown interest” in free agent starting pitcher Ryan Dempster.

(By the way, this absolutely qualifies as something that makes sense but that I hadn’t yet heard independently so it’s not something I had passed along yet.)

Rosenthal said in a tweet earlier:

Naturally, I’ve already seen on Twitter where someone interpreted that as “The Brewers are close to signing Dempster to a three-year deal.” Jumping to conclusions is one of the most repeated acts on the internet.

But just take Rosenthal’s tweet for what it says which (according to his sources) is:

  • Ryan Dempster wants a three-year contract.
  • The Milwaukee Brewers have expressed interest in Ryan Dempster.
  • The Boston Red Sox have expressed interest in Ryan Dempster.
  • The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have expressed interest in Ryan Dempster.

It does not say that any of those teams are willing to give Dempster a three-year deal, just that Dempster (understandably) is seeking a three-year deal. It does not say that Dempster is not willing to sign a contract at less than three years. It does not say whether any of the mentioned teams expressed their interest in Dempster after they learned that Dempster is seeking a three-year deal.

I hope I’ve covered all the ways the you could read into Rosenthal’s tweet.

I’ve reached out to someone to see if he knows anything further about the Brewers “expressed interest” in Ryan Dempster. I’ll update this space when I hear back.

***UPDATE: I heard back. My friend had heard the Brewers being tied to Dempster but thought it was “speculative” talk that sometimes goes on and not something concrete enough to pass along.***

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Hot Stove Report: Non-Tender Deadline Looms

Midnight EST on Friday is the next milestone in the off-season as all teams must decide whether to tender contracts to players under team control but who do not have a fixed contract value for 2013. This can lead to arbitration, to long-term contract talks, to a simple one-year deal or possibly even to a trade. Player who aren’t tendered become free agents and can sign with any team.

Often times a player is non-tendered because his cost outweighs his value. Non-tendered players are free to re-sign with their original team. This occurs to reduce cost associated with a player’s years of arbitration eligibility.

The Brewers began the off-season with a handful of non-tender candidates. Nearly all of them have since been designated for assignment and subsequently released (or they refused a minor-league assignment with the same effect). The Brewers do have a relatively high-profile non-tender candidate remaining, however…

Manny Parra.

Eventually a well-regarded prospect after being taken in the 26th round of the MLB First-Year Player Draft back in 2001, Parra is now a 30-year-old southpaw relief pitcher who doesn’t exactly get left-handed hitters out like he should if he were to focus his efforts.

It can be accurately stated that over the course of his career Parra fares better against lefties than he does against right-handed hitters. This is reflected in his career splits of .267/.349/.417/.766 against .290/.371/.438/.809. It’s also accurate that in his first season where he only pitched out of the bullpen, Parra beat his career averages.

Therein lies the question which must be answered by Doug Melvin et al. Should Parra become a LOOGy and, if so, how much is he worth (financially) in that role?

Parra has had a bit of relative success against right-handed hitters when you compare him to a “standard” LOOGy. What you have to ask yourself if you’re Melvin is whether Parra is consistently successful enough to continue to warrant a role where he faces multiple hitters are varying handedness in a given appearance.

I personally don’t think so and I would completely understand if Melvin and field manager Ron Roenicke altered Parra’s role in 2013…assuming he’s with the team.

That’s the other question. If Parra, who is arbitration-eligible, isn’t worth the usual increase by way of the arbitration process. This is Parra’s second year of arbitration eligibility. Parra made $1.2 million in 2012* which isn’t all that much in the grand scheme of things. With the premium on bullpen arms, especially given that it could be argued that Parra has added value in that some might feel he could still start games, a 2013 salary of $1.75 million or more wouldn’t shock me.

So Parra isn’t as pressing of an issue as Jose Veras, Kameron Loe, and Nyjer Morgan were, for example. Each of those players were projected for new salaries of over $2.5 million. In other words, if the Brewers decide to keep Manny Parra for 2013, it works financially on its own merit. Putting everything together though with production determining value for that cost is what Melvin and company are no doubt weighing.

The other thing to note about the non-tender deadline is that there will be players released by other teams, some of which might be appealing to the Brewers. It could be a cheaper way to fill some of these bullpen roles which currently stand open for Milwaukee. If they do cut ties with Parra (and then don’t bring him back) the Brewers really only have three players currently in the bullpen. They are John Axford, Jim Henderson, and Brandon Kintzler.

They’ll need help. They’d do well for at least one piece of the help to throw the pill with his left hand. Will that be Parra? Stay tuned.

*Source: Baseball-Reference.com

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Hot Stove Report: Calm Before the Storm

Today is 11 weeks, that’s 77 days away from the first batch of Pitchers and Catchers officially reporting to Maryvale for Milwaukee Brewers Spring Training on Tuesday, February 12, 2013.

The Hot Stove season is underway and I’ve done my best to pass along some information that I’ve learned over the past couple of weeks. Maybe some of it will pan out, maybe not, but I don’t write the blog and do everything that goes with it to keep information to myself.

Doug Melvin at a previous Winter Meetings.

I’ve been asked a bunch over the past few days why there hasn’t been a new Hot Stove Report column lately, or at least comments to the effect of “sure has been quiet”. I tried to head that off at the pass by saying in my last one that I was shocked that they were coming as often as they were, but that’s neither here nor there.

The answer to those inquiries is two-fold across baseball (three-fold in the case of the Brewers).

First, the long Thanksgiving weekend is notoriously slow for baseball activity. Even front offices need breaks and that’s a common time to slow things down. The holiday itself, travel, and spending time with family and friends often leads to a natural slow-down.

Second, the Winter Meetings are less than a week away. An incredible amount of discussing, bartering, speculating, scuttlebutting, rumor-mongering, and yes deal-making happens at the Winter Meetings. Groundwork often gets laid at various times throughout the early portion of the off-season and gets finalized during the Winter Meetings. They’ve become a destination for baseball fans and media types descend on them like a pack of scavengers who haven’t had a meal in three day’s time.

As for the Brewers specifically, the third factor contributing to a lull is that Doug Melvin and his family were overseas on vacation. Not much gets done when the man who pulls the trigger is out of the country. Melvin will be at the Winter Meetings no doubt ready to pursue some targets and possibly (hopefully?) get some ink drying.

But, as I said, there are reasons for a lack of activity which means that there are reasons for a lack of fresh Hot Stove content here on the blog. (Plus I took a vacation of my own over the Thanksgiving weekend.)

This all leads me to my final point to make today: I only post things as having happened if I’ve been told that they have happened. In other words, I don’t just make things up for the sake of posting something.

I haven’t posted a new Hot Stove Report in several days because I haven’t learned anything to pass along. The sources which I have gotten information from in the past (and will continue to utilize in the future) have always provided quality intel and there are proven examples of that information being accurate. It’s a simple reality that not everything pans out. If every idea that was ever mentioned by a baseball person was out there for public consumption, we’d cry uncle for information overload. A LOT of things get talked about that don’t go anywhere. That’s the nature of the business. It doesn’t make a rumor less true because the particular path led to nowhere.

That being said, I could fabricate something that makes a ton of sense and would be believable, but that would be doing myself as much of a disservice as all of you. I get no benefit for floating a rumor out that comes from nowhere. I’ll occasionally discuss an idea that I think makes sense but will always tell you first that it’s purely speculation and not based on any rumor, but that’s entirely separate from passing something along from a source.

Anyway, I hope you had a relaxing Thanksgiving weekend. I know many baseball people did. Accepting the calm can make appreciating the storm much easier. Speaking of which, this year’s Winter Meetings begin next week Monday in Nashville, Tennessee.

Batten down the hatches.

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