A roundup of some important Brewers stories today:
– Shortly after Ben Sheets’ comeback attempt was put on hold due to a shoulder injury, another former Brewers pitcher has found a job with a contender. Randy Wolf, who was released by Milwaukee last week, will sign with the Baltimore Orioles, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. Orioles beat writer Brittany Ghiroli first reported that the sides were close to a deal, and says that Wolf is likely to be used as a reliever.
We’ve already covered Wolf’s 2011 season and his tenure with the Brewers in detail, but predicting how the 36-year old lefty will fare in Baltimore is a bit of a crapshoot, as we don’t even know what kind of role he will occupy at this point. Wolf has gotten shelled this year with alarming consistency, and conventional wisdom suggests a move to the AL East won’t help.
On the other hand, pitchers worse that Wolf have put up good years in the bullpen due to nothing but pure luck, and it’s entirely within the realm of possibility that Wolf could fool AL hitters for a month or two, especially when you consider his strikeout and walk numbers have remained solid. We’ll be cheering for the Orioles for the remainder of the 2012 season, but Buck Showalter needs to proceed with caution if he plans on using Wolf as a LOOGY – lefties are batting .274/.348/.479 off Wolf this year.
– Even if the Brewers’ relievers have scared away most teams previously interested in trading for them, Shaun Marcum may still be on the move. Ken Rosenthal reported today that Marcum has been placed on waivers, giving the Brewers time to work out a deal with whatever team claims him. (Adam McCalvy has of the details, if you’re interested.) In his article, Rosenthal mentioned the Dodgers as a potential suitor.
Any team that makes a trade for Marcum would be taking on some risk – Marcum is still owed $1.3 million this year and has only made one start after being out for two months with a vague arm injury, but they could also end up getting a good midrotation starter at a bargain price, both in terms of salary and prospects (in other words, a move the Dodgers would almost surely make if given the opportunity). Marcum’s FIP this year (3.73) is within a point of both his 2011 and 2010 marks, and, unless the Brewers plan on pursuing the righty this winter (Marcum seemed to doubt this a couple weeks ago), they would be well served by getting whatever value they can out of him, even if it wouldn’t be much at this point.
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