Results tagged ‘ Craig Counsell ’
Counsell, Green, Saito contract details
For those keeping track of the Brewers’ payroll obligations for 2011, here are some updated figures on recent free agent signings:
– Infielder Craig Counsell’s one-year deal to return to the Brewers pays him a $1.4 million base salary with a chance to earn an additional $450,000 in incentives for games and starts. He’ll get $50,000 each for 50 and 70 games played, $75,000 for 85 and 100 games played, and $100,000 each for 50 and 70 starts.
– Reliever Sean Green gets a non-guaranteed $875,000 base salary, as I reported when he signed just before Christmas, with a chance to boost his pay to an even $1 million with incentives. Green gets $25,000 for 50 appearances, $50,000 for 60 appearances and another $50,000 for 70 appearances.
– The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported this morning that reliever Takashi Saito’s one-year contract pays a $1.75 million base salary with $1.5 million available in performance bonuses. According to the newspaper, Saito would get $50,000 each for 15, 20, 25 and 30 appearances; $100,000 each for 35, 40 and 50 appearances; $150,000 for 50 and 55 appearances; and $200,000 for 60 appearances. He’ll also benefit from staying off the disabled list. Saito can earn $100,000 each for 30, 60, 90, 120 and 150 days on the active roster.
I thought some Brewers fans may also be interested in the deal Chris Capuano signed with the Mets. Milwaukee made him an offer to return early in the offseason, but the sides broke off talks after the Zack Greinke trade essentially completed the Brewers’ rotation.
I’m not sure what kind of offer the Brewers extended, but here’s what Capuano ended up getting in New York: A $1.5 million base salary with a slew of incentives that kick-in whether he ends up as a starter or a reliever. He’ll get $125,000 for 15 starts, $150,000 for 20 starts, $75,000 each 21-31 starts, $100,000 for 32 starts and/or $100,000 each for 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 relief appearances. Here’s the key: He can earn a maximum of $1.2 million for starts and relief appearance bonuses combined.
Capuano will also get $50,000 for 90 innings; $100,000 each for 100, 110, 120 and 130 innings; $125,000 for 140 innings; $175,000 each for 150 and 160 innings; $200,000 each for 170 and 180 innings; $225,000 for 190 innings; $250,000 for 200 innings.
So, assuming I can add, if Capuano has a magical season and makes all of his starts and tops 200 innings (like he did in 2005 and 2006), he’ll earn $4.5 million. Math people — help me out if you get a different figure.
He’ll also get $50,000 for being an All Star and $150,000 for winning Comeback Player of the Year.
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Brewers sign reliever Green
Update at 4:45 p.m. CT: I’m hearing that Sean Green’s one-year contract with the Brewers pays $875,000. It’s non-guaranteed like most one-year deals.
The Brewers December spree continues:
The Milwaukee Brewers today signed free agent RHP Sean Green and re-signed INF Craig Counsell to one-year contracts. The announcements were made by Executive Vice President and General Manager Doug Melvin.Green, 31, missed most of last season while on the disabled list with a right intercostal muscle strain. He was recalled by the Mets on September 6 and did not record a decision in 11 relief appearances, posting a 3.86 ERA (9.1ip, 4er).Green owns a career record of 10-11 with a 4.36 ERA in 250 relief appearances during five Major League seasons with Seattle (2006-08) and New York (2009-10).A native of Louisville, Kentucky, Green attended the University of Louisville. He was selected by the Colorado Rockies in the 12th round of 2000 First-Year Player Draft.Counsell, 40, batted .250 with 2 HR and 21 RBI in 102 games last season. He made 35 starts (25g at SS, 9g at 3B, 1g at 2B).
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Three Brewers hit the market; three more coming
The celebration was still raging inside the Giants’ clubhouse in Arlington and outside in the streets of San Francisco on Monday night when baseball’s offseason business began. Before midnight, the Major League Baseball Players Association fired up the hot stove by releasing the names of 142 free agents, including three Brewers.
Per new rules made public just last month, Milwaukee pitchers Dave Bush and Chris Capuano and infielder Craig Counsell were declared free agents immediately after the Giants clinched the World Series. Three more — pitchers Doug Davis and Trevor Hoffman and catcher Gregg Zaun — are expected to join the free agent pool when the Brewers decline their 2011 options.
The new rules dictate that options must be resolved within three days of the end of the World Series, Milwaukee assistant general manager Gord Ash said. That would make Thursday at midnight ET the deadline.
The rules also shorten the period of exclusive negotiation between teams and their own free agents from 15 days after the World Series to five. That window closes at midnight ET on Saturday. Beginning Sunday, free agents can negotiate with any team.
Players typically exercise their right to test the open market, but the Brewers may show some interest in bringing back Capuano or Counsell. With Capuano, the question could be whether the team is willing to take on risk — the left-hander returned in 2010 from his second career Tommy John surgery but pitched well, posting a 3.95 ERA in 24 appearances including a 2.91 ERA in six September starts. With Counsell, the question could be whether he views the Brewers as a legitimate contender — he batted .250 as a useful bench option and could draw interest from teams looking for a versatile defender.
The three players with options, meanwhile, will probably move on.
The highest profile of those players belongs to 43-year-old Hoffman, who notched his 600th career save amid a trying 2010 but was replaced as closer by rookie right-hander John Axford. Hoffman’s contract includes a $7 million mutual option for 2011 that the club will decline. The price of his buyout increased from $500,000 to $750,000 when Hoffman finished his 35th game of the season on Sept. 26.
Davis’ deal includes a $6.5 million option with a $1 million buyout. His 2010 season was a bust because of health issues.
Zaun’s contract includes a $2.25 million club option for next season, but he is still recovering from shoulder surgery and will almost certainly get a $250,000 buyout instead. Zaun said in August that he intends to play in 2011, but considering the Brewers have Jonathan Lucroy and George Kottaras on the 40-man roster and Mike Rivera signed to a Minor League contract, it’s difficult to envision Zaun returning.
Of the Brewers’ free agents, only Hoffman qualified for compensation in the Elias rankings. Hoffman made the cut as Type B, meaning the Brewers would reap an extra pick between the first and second round of the 2011 First-Year Player Draft, but only if they offer Hoffman arbitration and he declines and then signs elsewhere.
It’s a moot point, because the Brewers would not risk Hoffman accepting an arbitration offer. That means the Brewers will not have any extra Draft picks for the second straight year.
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Cain gets start in series finale
For the third straight day against the Reds, the Brewers lineup featured a different starter in center field. After Carlos Gomez and Chris Dickerson started the first two games, manager Ken Macha had rookie Lorenzo Cain in the lineup Wednesday.
At shortstop, rookie Alcides Escobar got a second straight day off, with veteran Craig Counsell in the lineup once again. When asked Tuesday about starting September callup Luis Cruz instead of Counsell, Macha said he would not do it against a contender like the Reds.
The only other change to the usual lineup featured George Kottaras behind the plate, as he typically is when veteran lefty Randy Wolf is on the mound.
Here’s the rest of the lineup:
Weeks 2B
Hart RF
Braun LF
Fielder 1B
McGehee 3B
Counsell SS
Cain CF
Kottaras C
Wolf P
– Jordan Schelling, Associate Reporter
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Still no Hart; Counsell plays No. 1,500
The Brewers will aim for a three-game sweep of the first-place Padres on Sunday, without their All-Star right fielder in the lineup but with a shortstop playing a milestone game.
Corey Hart will sit out for the second straight day to rest his tight right hamstring, an ailment that sent him to the showers early on Friday night. Hart and the Brewers have called his absence precautionary, and giving him another day Sunday affords Hart a nice, long break, since the Brewers have an off-day Monday.
Craig Counsell is in the lineup at shortstop and will play the 1,500th game of a fine Major League career that spans 15 seasons and includes two Wold Series wins. He turned 40 on Saturday.
Perhaps Manny Parra will celebrate the occasion by finding his way through the sixth inning. He has yet to pitch more than six innings this season, and has pitched five, 5 1/3 or 5 2/3 innings in nine of his last 10 starts. Considering the bullpen has been used up in the first two games of the series, Parra would do everybody a favor by pitching deep into the game today.
Here’s the full lineup:
Rickie Weeks 2B
Craig Counsell SS
Ryan Braun LF
Prince Fielder 1B
Casey McGehee 3B
Lorenzo Cain CF
Chris Dickerson RF
Jonathan Lucroy C
Manny Parra LHP
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Report says Counsell cleared waivers
Brewers infielder Craig Counsell cleared waivers this week, according to ESPN.com’s Buster Olney, meaning the team is free to trade him to a contender this month if the right deal comes along.
The news does not mean that Counsell will be traded or even that the Brewers are talking to any other teams about him. August waivers are revocable, so teams often expose their entire roster to the waiver wire. If a player is claimed, his club can either pull him back, or use a 48-hour window after the claim to work out a trade. Players have to be on a team’s roster by Aug. 31 to be eligible for that team’s postseason roster.
Counsell could make some sense to a team looking for versatile infield help in the same way the Reds were interested in Milwaukee outfielder Jim Edmonds. The Brewers traded Edmonds for outfielder Chris Dickerson last week. Counsell is earning $2.1 million this year on a one-year contract with the Brewers that pays an additional $50,000 each for 50, 75, 90 and 110 games, and $100,000 each for 125 games and 75 and 100 starts.
So far, he’s played in 83 games and made 29 starts.
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Kottaras, Counsell in starting lineup
It’s Cerveceros Day at Miller Park and the Brewers are looking to win back-to-back games for the first time since winning five in a row from June 20-25.
As they do so, they’ll once again be without the services of rookie catcher Jonathan Lucroy, who is out with a sore right hand. Lucroy’s fellow rookie, Alcides Escobar also is out of the lineup.
In place of Lucroy and Escobar will be catcher George Kottaras behind the plate and veteran infielder Craig Counsell at shortstop.
Aside from those changes, manager Ken Macha also flipped the spots of Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder once again, batting Braun third ahead of Fielder in the cleanup spot.
Here’s the lineup:
Weeks 2B
Hart RF
Braun LF
Fielder 1B
McGehee 3B
Counsell SS
Gomez CF
Kottaras C
Bush P
– Jordan Schelling, Associate Reporter
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Braun, Fielder switch spots
Nothing too surprising in the Brewers lineup Wednesday night, aside from one change near the top.
After switching spots a month ago, sluggers Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder switched back, with Braun batting third ahead of Fielder in the cleanup spot.
Aside from that, veteran Jim Edmonds is in center field against the right-hander Tim Lincecum and Craig Counsell is at shortstop for the second straight night as promised.
Here’s the rest of the lineup:
Weeks 2B
Hart RF
Braun LF
Fielder 1B
McGehee 3B
Edmonds CF
Lucroy C
Counsell SS
Narveson P
– Jordan Schelling, Associate Reporter
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Adam McCalvy
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