I still would have taken The Viz back for that deal 2 yrs at 7.5 Million.Ill say it again…We knew what kind of pitcher he was for us in 2007.Who besides Mariano was somewhat reliable in the bullpen last yr??? Luis Vizcaino.

Its nice to get the pick,as a reward for losing your own free agent.I will miss having him as an option in 2008.

So ya got yer wish whozat…..

I’m still all for doing any of the Santanna trades mentioned but I always was and don’t really get how Pettite’s being named in the Mitchell report should factor in one way or another. Its much to do about nothing in my opinion.

Vizcaino rumor is “complete garbage”
By Tom Haudricourt
Friday, Dec 14 2007, 02:37 PM

Brewers assistant general manager Gord Ash just made me laugh out loud. I asked him if there were any truth to the rumor floating around that the Brewers were going to sign free agent reliever Luis Vizcaino.

“You can put that one in the ‘CG’ circular file for Complete Garbage,” Ash said.

As I suspected, there was nothing to it. The Brewers already have signed four late-inning relievers. Why would they want another?

I’ll repeat the promise I made to you at the winter meetings: I will not post false rumors involving the Brewers on this blog. And those of you who do post them as fact in the “comments” file do a disservice to the others who read it and take it as gospel. There’s a lot of crap flying around this time of year.

Ash did explain the move of reliever Greg Aquino being put on waivers and being claimed today by Baltimore. Ash said they first considered non-tendering Aquino, who no longer fit in their plans for the start of 2008. Instead, they were able to sign him to a split contract ($500,000 for the majors, $176,00 for the minors) and then place him on waivers, hoping he would clear and report to Class AAA Nashville in the event they needed him down the road.

Ash said they knew all along Aquino might be claimed, and he was—by the Orioles. So, the Brewers will take the $20,000 waiver fee and move on. It did open a spot on the 40-man roster in the event the Brewers see a player they’d like to sign or trade for.

Ash said the Brewers were still considering both trades and signings but had nothing hot going at the moment.

The rest of the starters were 31-31 with a 5.21 ERA in 499 innings.

The relievers were 29-21 with a 4.35 ERA in 530 innings.

The Yankees don’t need Santana. If Hughes, Kennedy, and Chamberlain can have a 4.35 ERA between them, they have a good chance of winning more than 95 games if the relievers are no better than last year.

The Viz was pretty much an average reliever for them last year. The problem is going to be replacing guys who were better than 4.35—Proctor and Chamberlain being the most prominent.

After you’ve made a valuation of a player, you should stick it it, particularly when you’re faced with a Winner’s Curse situation, which I think Cashman is acutely aware of. If Cashman wasn’t willing to part with Hughes/Melky/Horne before the Mitchell Report, he sure as Hell shouldn’t be willing to part with them afterwards.

Besides, there aren’t too many reports that the Red Sox and Twins have come any closer to a deal. There’s a decent enough chance that no move is made, and the Yankees can pluck Santana from the Free Agent market.

But that just underscores my initial point: don’t overbid for Santana, especially if you weren’t willing to overbid before.