Kendall Agrees to Deal; Linebrink to White Sox

Jason Kendall and the Brewers have agreed to a 1 year deal with an option for a second in 2009. Kendall will take over for the recently departed Johnny Estrada as the Brewers' starting backstop. Kendall brings a career .297 average and .375 on base percentage to Milwaukee.

Kendall didn't hit well the first half of the season in Oakland but hit .270 with a .362 OBP for Chicago in 57 games. Looking at his career stats I don't think the first half numbers should be something to worry about too much. Kendall has been a very good hitter throughout his entire career. He should be an upgrade over Estrada.

In other news Scott Linebrink has agreed to a 4 year deal with the Chicago White Sox worth $19 million. Linebrink had a 3.55 ERA in 27 appearances with the crew. The Brewers will receive a 2nd round pick and a sandwich pick after the first round as compensation for losing Linebrink since he was a type-a free agent.

I was never a big fan of the acquiring Linebrink. I didn't think he was worth Will Inman, let alone adding Joe Thatcher and Steve Garrison to the mix. We'll have to see how these draft picks turn out and see the success of Will Inman before we decide how well this trade worked out.

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Estrada Traded

Apparently one year of Johnny Estrada was enough for the Milwaukee Brewers as they traded him for reliever Guillermo Mota on Tuesday.

Estrada won't be missed. He played poor defense, couldn't draw a walk to save his life, and some think he wasn't the best at handling the pitching staff either. Johnny was definitely a disappointment for the crew.

Guilermo Mota brings the Brewers a relief pitcher to strengthen the bullpen although Mota has fallen off in recent years. Mota posted a 5.76 ERA last season and a 4.53 ERA in 2006 but does have a career earned run average of 3.92 and a pretty good arm. Hopefully he can return to form and improve the bullpen.

With Estrada gone the Brewers are targeting Jason Kendall and it's very possible he could be a Milwaukee Brewer within the next few days. Kendall is not exactly known for his defense but would hopefully mix better with the pitchers. His offensive production went down last season but he is a career .297 hitter. He only hit .226 with Oakland but his numbers with the Cubs in 57 games were actually pretty good. Kendall hit .270 with a .362 on base percentage. It would be nice to have a catcher that can draw some walks.

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Braun Named Rookie of the Year

Ryan Braun was named NL Rookie of the Year on Monday. He edged out Rockies shortstop, Troy Tulowitzki by 2 votes. Braun is the first Brewer to win the Rookie of the Year award since Pat Listach in 1992.

Braun put together an amazing offensive performance in his rookie season. The former Miami Hurricane hit .324 with 34 dingers, 97 RBI, and a major league rookie record .634 slugging percentage.

What makes this so impressive is the fact Braun didn't even join the Brewers until May 24. Had Braun played the entire season he might have hit 40 home runs.

Braun did not win every Rookie of the Year award though. ESPN selected Troy Tulowitzki as NL Rookie of the Year. Their reasoning? Defense. Braun made 26 errors in 112 games. Rob Neyer mentioned in his blog Braun had the second worst fielding percentage by a third basemen with at least 100 games since 1910. Good thing for Braun the ESPN award isn't the one that counts. Braun won the award that counts and that's all that matters. Congrats to Ryan Braun on a heck of a season.

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