The Brew Haus - Brewers Reach Deal with Kendall
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by Corey Kempf
I said that the trade with Johnny Estrada was as close to an indicator the Milwaukee Brewers were close to signing Jason Kendall as possible, and I was right.
On Wednesday, one day after dealing Estrada to the New York Mets for reliever Guillermo Mota, the Brewers reached a one-year preliminary deal with the 33-year-old Kendall. The deal will include an option for 2009 should Kendall start 115 games this season, but won't become official until Kendall passes a physical next week.
Financial terms will not be released until the deal is official, as the Brewers evidently did not want to run into a situation like the Mets ran into in their discussions with Yorvit Torrealba.
Kendall is coming off a down year, during which he batted .242 with three home runs and 41 runs batted in while splitting the season between Oakland and with the Chicago Cubs, but the Brewers most likely are not too concerned with his offensive numbers like they were with Estrada.
Kendall is known for his game management skills, and with an entire pitching staff, save for maybe the two youngest, Carlos Villanueva and Yovani Gallardo, coming off frustrating years, the Brewers will look to Kendall to provide some much needed consistency and stability to the pitching staff.
Kendall's durability and patience at the plate were also draws for the Brewers.
The Brewers now have four catchers -- Kendall, Eric Munson, Mike Rivera, and Lou Palmisano -- on their 40-man roster. The team considers the catcher position a weak point, which is probably the reason they shopped so quickly for a new one. They also have the option of bringing Damian Miller back for another year. Can you tell they are desperate to find the best option?
Once the financial terms are released, we might have a better idea of what the Brewers could offer closer Francisco Cordero, which will certainly be the biggest news of the offseason, pending any trades, for the Brew Crew.
- Corey Kempf covers the Milwaukee Brewers beat for ArmchairGM. His other Brew Haus entries can be found here.
