Bill Hall Available?

by FrozenTed9 on Nov 29, 2006 2:11 PM EST Comment 14 comments

http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/whither-bill-hall/

That hardball times article basically details how Bill Hall has been pushed out of every Role on the Brewers Except for CF which their Gm doesn't see him as.

This is probably the 5th or 6th diary about the twins trading for him or that has ended up talking about how we should trade for him. By this point we all know him He hits for great power can play all over in the infield and is a very good 5 or 6 hitter and could hit 3 or 4 for a bad team. He would most likely play 3B for us and provide some much needed pop.

This is a move I would try and make he's not going to come cheap in terms of Prospects but I would offer Brian Duensing and Zach Ward for starters and then move it up to a offer of Anthony Swarzak and Sosa and see if that gets it done.

Although that may not even be what the Brewers want right now. They seem pretty set right now.
.

Poll

How bad do you want Bill Hall

So much it hurt sometimes

26 votes

But I want the Bill Hall nnnnnoooooooowwwwwww.

12 votes

I'd freeze myself until we got him.

1 votes

I'd Give up Garza for him

1 votes

With him we'd win a Couple of WS

6 votes

46 votes | Poll has closed

0 recs | Comment 14 comments

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Comments

Love him...

And would love to have him. Is Ohka still under contract? I'd do a package deal to get Hall, Ohka, and maybe even Gwynn or Nix if possible for a potential future CF for us.

Not sure what it would take, but I'd love to get that done.

C-Mauer
1b-Morneau
2b-Castillo
SS-Bartlett
3b-Hall
RF-Cuddyer
CF-Hunter
LF-Kubel/White
DH-White/Kubel
Supersub-Punto

Staff: Santana, Ohka, Garza, Boof, Silva (Slowey waiting)

by djskilbr on Nov 29, 2006 2:16 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Ohka

Not under contract - unless he signed recently. I thought I remembered reading Bill Simmons on ESPN saying he thought Ohka would be a good mentor for Matsuzaka, so they should sign him. So I checked out Cot's and he's there in the free-agent pile...

by GACTwinFan on Nov 30, 2006 2:52 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Thanks for the info...

I sure wouldn't mind Ohka on this team if the cost is low (4-5 million max). And I really wouldn't mind bringing Foppert in as a "potential" guy. I assume he'd come VERY cheap and he had IMMENSE potential before the injuries. He was the Giants' best pitching prospect just a couple years ago.

by djskilbr on Nov 30, 2006 4:55 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Ohka is bad...

...very bad. Some stats:

4.6 K/G, 3.2 BB/G, 1.11 HR/G, 39.2% GB%, 5.00 FIP, 5.43 xFIP -- 2006

And that was in the NL. Take away pitchers and add in DH's, and I wouldn't be surprised to see 4.2 K/G, 3.6 BB/G, 1.2 HR/G.

There are also other signs that he was somewhat lucky last year. His DER (.730), was much better than you would expect for someone giving up as many line drives (21% of BIP) as Ohka, meaning he either got exceptional defensive support or his line drives happened to find gloves. And with only a 39% GB%, you'd expect him to give up more than 1.1 HR/G next year, AL or no AL.

Basically, it comes down to this--there are three keys to successful pitching: missing bats (strikeouts), getting the ball over the plate (low walk rate), and keeping the ball down in the zone (inducing groundballs and limiting HR.) Ohka is good at none of these things.

I would maybe give Ohka a non-roster invitation to spring training next year. Even that could be a waste of time, though.

by ubelmann on Nov 30, 2006 5:22 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Hall

Hall's got some nice numbers with his decent average, average plate discipline, and a veery healthy dose of power, all along with doing extra-well against lefties, but he also has a few nasty tertiary stats to dampen enthusiasm some. Despite holding his own drawing walks, he strikesout at a ridiculous rate - over a quarter of all plate appearances and nearly a third of all at bats. On the other hand, thought, he does tend to have a nice flyball percentage, gettign the ball up in the air mroe often than not, so I guess a strikeout and a sac fly are better than a double play and a sac fly...

Honestly, in a lot of ways he looks like the player Tony Batista SHOULD be. Plenty of pop, lots of flyballs, and lots of big cuts with big misses, but unlike Batista Hall has decent average and on base skills.

And he plays many positions including a lot of time at short, so he could definitely play third.

He;s got some problems, but he's also got advantages and he'd be the power bat everyone STILL whining about without selling our OBP souls...

Sh*t, I wrote the first Bill Hall involved diary over a year ago, so I'm all for this...

"Baseball is great because you can't take a knee or kill the clock. You have to put the ball over the plate and give the other guy his damn chance." C Stengel

by AdamOnFirst on Nov 29, 2006 3:25 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Strikeouts...

The Twins don't like guys who strike out a lot. That's one of the big reasons they have trouble assembling a team with a lot of power. But anyway, because they don't like guys who strike out a lot, they aren't going to be as high on Bill Hall as many other teams, so even if he gets traded (I'm still not convinced that he's being pushed out in Milwaukee), it just seems more likely that another team will offer the Brewers more than the Twins.

Plus, if you take a look at the tangotiger fan's scouting report on Hall, one of his most similar fielders happens to be Jason Bartlett--in the sort of good range, great arm, bad hands way. And we all know how reluctant the Twins were to put JB at SS because of the way they evaluated his defensive abilities.

by ubelmann on Nov 29, 2006 5:10 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Nice poll

I had no choice, really. I love Hall, but I don't see it happening. The only viable trading chips the Twins have are Castillo, Rincon/Crain, and young starters such as Durbin, Baker, etc. I don't think a Castillo for Hall trade would work, and I would hope the Twins would use thier other chips to get another starter. If the brewers would take Castillo off our hands for Hall, I'd jump at it, but with Weeks there...

More likely, the Dodgers will take Castillo in exchange for someone like Betamit or LaRoch. I would like that very much, but not enough to freeze myself.

Joe Mauer for MVP (for real).

by cmathewson on Nov 29, 2006 3:37 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

As usual...

I'm with you CMath. I'd love either scenario. I don't see it happening, but I'd love it either way.

As for Hall, I actually see him as a bit of a Cuddyer type. He's got very good power but does K some, is a strong guy in playing utility roles, and has a very strong arm. He's a lot more similar to Cuddy than Batista to me.

by djskilbr on Nov 29, 2006 3:48 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Well

if you freeze yourself you could end up 500 years in the future.

by FrozenTed9 on Nov 29, 2006 5:01 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

500 years in the future

And end up in the middle of a war between people and sea otters.

by GACTwinFan on Nov 30, 2006 2:47 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Then

eventually agianst the French-Chinese

by FrozenTed9 on Nov 30, 2006 4:34 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Counsell

Craig Counsell signing with the Brewers for 2 years officially slams the door on this fantasy of trading Castillo.

I guess that was fun while it lasted.

by TheMattWilke on Nov 30, 2006 11:10 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

I don't think...

that Castillo was ever an option for the Brewers. But we could trade him to someone that needs a 2b (Braves after dealing Marcus soon?) and trade what we get or other parts/prospects for Hall or another 3b. It doesn't have to be a 2 team swap.

by djskilbr on Nov 30, 2006 12:40 PM EST reply actions 0 recs