Brewers Don’t Need Washburn

by ~ December 21st, 2008 at 3:43 pm

It seems to have become commonplace for Mariner fans playing armchair GM to trade Jarrod Washburn to the Milwaukee Brewers.  Typically, the logic is that the Brewers are desperate for starting pitching after loosing CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets.

I’ve too thought that the Brewers might be interested in Washburn, but it’s becoming more and more apparent that this logic makes little sense.

The Brewers don’t have much use for someone of Washburn’s caliber.  Yovanni Gallardo is thier only legitimate top of the rotation arm right now, but Manny Parra and Dave Bush are both much better than Washburn as well, making Washburn their number 4 starter at very best, sitting in front of Jeff Suppan.  The Brew Crew are also said to be on the verge of signing interested in Braden Looper, who is also better than Washburn.  If Looper indeed signs, they’ve got a rotation of Gallardo-Parra-Looper-Bush-Suppan.  Washburn makes very little sense for them, especially considering that they already are overpaying a back-end starter in Suppan, who is due to make $12.5M in each of the next two seasons.

The Brewers don’t need starting pitching.  If they were to trade for a starter, it would only be for an ace or a solid number 2.  That means, if they’re looking at Seattle’s pitching staff, they’re trying to get Felix Hernandez or Brandon Morrow in some sort of mega deal.  Or, they may be willing to consider Erik Bedard after he proves his health in Spring Training, but the return wouldn’t be great.

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  • Digger

    Exactly right. But what they do need is a closer. Heilman?

  • http://myspace.com/tr1ckz pmbaseball7

    M’s are not going to get rid of Heilman unless the perfect deal comes along. It all depends on Looper signing or not to get rid of Wash. Right now nobody really needs him.

  • The Kid

    We will not be able to deal Washburn until mid-season when teams will be looking for a replacement for injuries or slacking back of the rotation pitchers.
    Just a quick question- I was reading on Mets blog, the Angels and Nationals have been said to be pulling out of the race for Tex, leaving the Red Sox as the frontrunner and the O’s standing with their 7 year offer. Will anyone else chirp up for him, or will he wind up with one of those teams? Frankly, if we invested the money, we wouldn’t have to worry about our first base situation and would have many more trading chips available.

  • http://bleedingblueandteal.com Jon Shields

    As far as I can tell, Teixeira wants no part of playing on the West Coast.

  • http://bleedingblueandteal.com Dustin Shires

    The Angels are the only team that have dropped out. The Nationals still have an offer out, and reports are all over on the price. $160M is what MLBTR has, but past reports said they’ve arrived at or topped $200M with their offer.

    But, just to add insult to my hatred of the “Throw money at every free agent” AL East teams (Yankees/Red Sox), I want him to sign with the Orioles. Although I wouldn’t be disappointed if the Nats’ signed him either.