[Loeffle]

October 2007 - Milwaukee Brewers - Playoffs
Manager and GM Fritsche

2007 individual review:

# 54 SP Ben Sheets
10-14, 4.33 ERA, 33 GS, 234.2 IP, 225 H, 42 BB, 206 K, 1.14 WHIP
Sheets was a big disappointment in regular season giving up 53 homers and being inconsistent throughout the whole season. The playoff version - where he won the MVP - of Sheets was a very promising one.
Sheets has one year left in his contract, gettings 11.000,000 next season.

# 95 SP David Bush
15-10, 3.70 ERA, 33 GS, 228.2 IP, 232 H, 56 BB, 161 K, 1.26 WHIP
Actually Bush was our real top starter and he was our "go to" guy in the difficult period in august, when the Pirates were closing in. The question is if he just had a career year or if he can continue to be a very solid Nr. 2 starter.
Bush is arbitration eligible in offseason.

# 57 SP Chris Capuano
16-10, 4.59 ERA, 33 GS, 227.1 IP, 242 H, 66 BB, 163 K, 1.35 WHIP
On the one hand Capuano pitched our only shutout this season, but on the other hand he was mostly very unreliable. His 16 wins came due to great run support. Has to improove to have a long term future at Milwaukee.
Capuano is arbitration eligible in offseason.

# 21 SP Claudio Vargas
12-10, 4.83 ERA, 30 GS, 167.2 IP, 185 H, 52 BB, 123 K, 1.41 WHIP
Vargas entered the season as spot starter, but quickly moved up to Nr. 5 for struggling Jeff Suppan (8.90 ERA in 29.1 IP for the White Sox after being traded). While Vargas was not as bad as Suppan, he was still very bad until the All-Star Break. From august to october he showed glimpses of excellence. Highly considered getting dumped in off-season, Vargas might be offered a new contract after going 2-0 in the playoffs.
Vargas is arbitration eligible in offseason.
# 46 SP Yovani Gallardo *
6-6, 4.51 ERA, 22 GS, 137.2 IP, 134 H, 54 BB, 116 K, 1.37 WHIP
* on the DL with a ruptured tricep tendon
Was our Nr. 3 starter until an injury ended his season 31st July. He is widely regarded to be our best pitching prospect in years, but some scouts are unsure if he can come back for good after his injury.
His contact gets automatically renewed after the season.

# 47 SP Jack Egbert *
2-1, 6,98 ERA, 7 GS, 38.2 IP, 56 H, 13 BB, 22 K, 1.78 WHIP
* currently at AAA Nashville
Pitched well after being acquired in the Suppan - Hart (.285, 12 HR, 49 RBI in 253 AB for the White Sox) deal. So he got the call when Gallardo went down with injury. Half of his starts were decent, the other half were nightmares. He is not yet ready for the big leagues, some scouts doubt he ever will. Let's wait and see ...
His contact gets automatically renewed after the season.

# 11 SP/MR Carlos Villanueva
0-2, 5.19 ERA, 9 G, 3 GS, 26.0 IP, 27 H, 11 B, 26 K, 1.46 WHIP
Villanueva got a couple of starts when Egbert was simply too bad to continue. Villanueva showed promise, but we are undecided if he is the answer as Nr. 5 starter. Pitched awful out of the bullpen.
His contact gets automatically renewed after the season.

# 90 MR Elmer "Victoria" Dessens
11-0, 4.65 ERA, 52 G, 71.2 IP, 72 H, 23 BB, 57 K, 1.33 WHIP
Elmer almost didn't make the active roster after spring training, but then developed into one of our most valuable players. He won more games than Ben Sheets and if we handed him a tie game in 7th or 8th, we would most likely win it eventually. Really magic! He was awful in other relief situation though.
Got a new contract worth 520,000 for the next season.

# 25 MR Matt Wise
5-2-6, 4.42 ERA, 55 G, 57.0 IP, 59 H, 21 BB, 42 K, 1.40 WHIP
Wise struggled early in the season and was one of the reasons why we signed Rui Makino. After the All-Star Break he was a very sharp and reliable reliever. His performance in game 4 of the World Series was a good example.
Got a new contract worth 500,000 for the next season.

# 66 MR Alan Embree
1-0, 2.70 ERA, 20 G, 20,0 IP, 11 H, 8 BB, 14 K, 0.95 WHIP
The definity steal of this years trades. We sent a 35 year old minor leaguer to Oakland for him. Lefties hit only .132 against him, while he was also sharp against right handed batters. Despite his age he should be a cornerstone of our bullpen next year.
Embree has one year left in his contract, making 3.000,000 next year.

# 58 MR Rui Makino
2-2-2, 5.89 ERA, 26 G, 36.2 IP, 45 H, 13 BB, 24 K, 1.58 WHIP
After joining us on 15th June, he pitched 3.2 scoreless innings in his debut. Honestly everybody was thrilled, but he never ever pitched like that again. The scouts still love his stuff, but I don't know what his problem is. Not sure if he will come back for a 2nd season in Wisconsin.
Makino has one year left in his contract, making 400,000 next year.

# 4 MR Brian Shouse
4-3-2, 4.89 ERA, 56 G, 35.0 IP, 37 H, 16 BB, 31 K, 1.51 WHIP
Shouse was great against lefties, but when he had to face one or two righties he usually was quickly in a mess. Anyway he fulfilled our expectations and was much more reliable than Manny Parra.
Got a new contract worth 720,000 for the next season.

# 94 MR Jose Capellan
4-2, 4.40 ERA, 26 G, 25.1 IP, 21 H, 11 B, 31 K, 1.26 WHIP
He was our only option at AAA when Turnbow struggled badly being a set up man. Capellan was pretty dominant and much better than his ERA tells. Milwaukee hopes he can continue to be a good set up man next season.
His contact gets automatically renewed after the season.

# 48 MR Manny Parra *
2-5-1, 7,54 ERA, 37 G, 28.2 IP, 34 H, 17 BB, 21 K, 1.78 WHIP
* currently at AAA Nashville
Parra had a strong springtraining and made the Active roster. He actually pitched well in April and May, but broke down completely in summer. We had no other chance to send him down and acquire another lefty (Embree) by trade. Parra is still young and will get some chances to proove if he is ready for the big leagues.
His contact gets automatically renewed after the season.

# 56 MR Derrick Turnbow *
0-1-2, 7.77 ERA, 22 G, 24.1 IP, 31 H, 13 BB, 25 K, 1.81 WHIP
* currently at AAA Nashville
Turnbow was supposed being a key member of our bullpen, but failed badly. In Mid-June we had no other choise to send him down to Nashville. There he did well as part time closer, but struggled again when being called up in september. Due to his contract it's unsure if he will be in Brewers organization next season.
Turnbow has one year left in his contract, making 3.200,000 next year.

# 90 MR Greg Aquino *
0-0, 5.40 ERA, 5 G, 6.2 IP, 8 H, 9 BB, 5 K, 2.55 WHIP
* currently at AAA Nashville
Pitched decent at Nashville and was a september call up because we didn't have anybody better. Showed he is not ready for the big leagues, and might never reach them as he is already 29. Unlikely he will be with us next season.
His contact gets automatically renewed after the season.

# 29 MR Vince Perkins *
1-0, 1.80 ERA, 3 G, 5.0 IP, 6 H, 6 BB, 1 K, 2.40 WHIP
* currently at AAA Nashville
Was a very dominant starter at Nashville (2.84 ERA, 1.18 WHIP) and deserved a call up to Milwaukee. Scouts doubt his potential, but why not give him another chance in spring training?
His contact gets automatically renewed after the season.

# CL 60 Francisco Cordero
1-4-26, 4.15 ERA, 30.1 IP, 37 H, 21 BB, 41 K, 1.91 WHIP
Milwaukee's strategy doesn't lead to many save opportunites, but Cordero was nevertheless not always as sharp as a closer should be. Four blown saves are an ok number, but his WHIP is too high. He should also be the closer next year, but mostly because of financial reasons