The Rangers Just Did the Brewers a HUGE Favor…

Josh Hamilton thinking about how many times he could make Bernie Brewer slide down that stupid yellow slide. Photo: Matthew Emmons-US PRESSWIRE

Look, I am not in any way condoning the Brewers making a move to acquire Josh Hamilton. HOWEVER!!!!  If the price is right and the years are right…?   Then all of a sudden I become a little warmer.  Allow me to explain myself.

The Brewers lineup was the most potent in all of the National League last season, without Prince Fielder.  However, Aramis Ramirez, Corey Hart, Jonathan Lucroy, and Nori Aoki all turned into run producing machines.  It would be unrealistic of us to expect all of them to perform at that same level. 

The starting lineup that finished the 2012 season will be back in its entirety.  Now imagine swapping Carlos Gomez for Josh Hamilton.  Pardon my French, but Holy Hell.  Hamilton hitting in Miller Park…that is just not fair.  How nice would it be to pimp slap the Cardinals for the next 3 to 4 years?

Don’t misunderstand, they should spend every available dollar to try and get Greinke back and to reconstruct the bullpen.  The need for pitching on this team is beyond words, but Hamilton in the middle of the lineup with Braun and Ramirez…might make pitching irrelevant.  For example…

Look at what the Rangers did over the past 3 seasons.  ALCS, ALCS, and Wild Card.  And other than the first ALCS when they had Cliff Lee and C.J. Wilson, they had no pitching to speak of.  Then consider that the Brewers were BETTER without Greinke pitching.  Guys like Mike Fiers and Mark Rogers are more than capable of keeping other teams from getting too far in front, especially if you add Hamilton to the mix.  So, thanks to Baseball-Reference.com we can project an average season for Hamilton, it goes something like this: .304 batting average, 35 HR, 122 RBI, 38 doubles, and 189 hits.  Trust me, we want this guy if he can be had, which leads me to my point.

Here are my terms; 4 years and $84 Million.  He can take it or leave it.  But if Josh Hamilton reads this, he should keep in mind that Milwaukee is a terrific place to be a star.  We treat our hero’s like kings.  Plus his best buddy Johnny Narron is here, teaching the next generation of Josh Hamilton’s how to square up on a high fastball.  Also keep in mind the cost of living and the potential livelihood after you retire.  If Josh Hamilton comes to Milwaukee and delivers us a World Series title…he can do nothing more than open car lots around the state of Wisconsin for the rest of his life.

You may be saying to yourself, “Lou, $21 million is way too much money for us to be spending on a piece we don’t need.”  And you are not wrong.  But how much revenue and Free Agent goodwill will he bring to our organization?  At what point to players start taking less money to be on the Brewers!!!  Did you hear what I said?  By signing Josh Hamilton, to what I consider a reasonable contract for someone of his skills, the Brewers will be able to sign other players at discounted rates.  And for the 2013 season, all we need is pitchers.  In my, often questionable, opinion we can probably survive with the starting pitching we already have (Yovani Gallardo, Mike Fiers, Chris Narveson, Wily Peralta,Mark Rogers, and Marco Estrada).  So then you spend your remaining dollars on some patchwork bullpen pieces, who could not possibly be worse than what you rolled out last season.

Now, you may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one…damn it John Lennon, not now.  I know that this is pretty unrealistic, but thanks to the Rangers not-so-generous offer, Hamilton seems much more attainable.  And I am all about getting things for the best deal.  We also have to consider that maybe Hamilton isn’t in it solely for the money (insert laugh track here).  If everything falls into place, we could land the biggest free agent on the market and still have enough left over to plug up the sinking ship that is our bullpen.

So, thank you to the Texas Rangers organization for this wonderful gift.  They have set the market for one of the most prolific offensive weapons of the past half-decade.  And may have drove him right into our drunken, cheese loving, brat greasy hands.

Go ahead Mark and Doug…I give you my blessings to pull the trigger, even though other members of this staff would beg to differ.  Bring him in and see what he wants.  If it is realistic, pay the man and bring us a World Series.