25 Brewers in 25 Days : Jim Edmonds

As a Brewers fan I am all too familiar with Jim Edmonds, but I am used to seeing him in center field while the Brewers are up to bat. Sometimes I swear to God that there were two of him out there, because there was no way on this green Earth that one man could get to every single ball that was hit in the air and catch it. It didn't matter if it was hot over the outfield fence or if it was a sinking line drive; the ball always magically found its way into the webbing of Edmonds glove. This made me hate the guy beyond belief, but damn it I respected him. Edmonds is one of the greatest defenders of all time, and he has 8 gold gloves to prove that. I tried to find a video of one of his spectacular catches, but they don't exist on the internet due to MLB copy-writes and restrictions. Apparently they were reproduced or retransmitted in any form, and the accounts and descriptions of the games were disseminated without the expressed written consent of Major League Baseball. C'mon guys. They tell you in each and every broadcast not to do it, and then you go and do it. Idiots. But I can use these pictures, even though I think that I'm supposed to give credit or link to some site or something. And even though I have ads on the side and the goofy underline ads, I don't make any money off of this site so I think that it is OK. If you feel otherwise go ahead and comment below. I don't have that option on there to look pretty. It would be nice if someone used that shit every so often. But back to Edmonds because that's what this article is about, right?

After 5 years in an Angels uniform, 8 years with the Cardinals then 2 brief stints with the Padres and Cubs, it's weird to see Jim Edmonds on our side. And even though this 40 year old has probably lost a step or two, he's still a better defender than Ryan Braun, Corey Hart and Jody Gerut. Carlos Gomez gets a slight edge over Edmonds because of his speed, but it is only a slight because Edmonds has experience and instinct. You can't teach either of those things, you just have to learn them with time. But if there was anyone who can teach Gomez how to be a better defender (and he's already a plus defender) and help converted infielders like Braun and Hart become true outfielders, it's Edmonds. The should be able to pick up all the subtleties and nuances of of Edmonds goes about his business, and he should be a huge benefit to a relatively young team. Like I mentioned with Trevor Hoffman being a mentor to the pitching staff, Edmonds will do the same with the outfielders and Counsell will likewise help the infielders. Every team needs veteran presence and leadership, and having 3 guys like Hoffman, Counsell and Edmonds puts us a step above the rest in my opinion.

Edmonds didn't play in 2009, so there was concern that he wouldn't be able to come back and play at the Major League level. But this guy has looked phenomenal all spring and you can tell that he keeps himself in excellent shape. I never like to use Spring Training stats to prove a point, but so far (with a week to go before Opening Day) he has been one of the most productive players on the field with a .273 avg, 2 HR's and 12 RBIs. Like I mentioned in the Jody Gerut article yesterday, Edmonds should see his fair share of playing time for the exact same reasons (left handed bat, experience and the possible failure / inexperience of Hart and Gomez) that Jody Gerut will. I don't know if I mentioned this at all in any of the previous articles, but Manager Ken Macha tends to favor playing the veteran players over the youngsters. Edmonds was concerned about coming back to baseball if he was only there to ride the pine and provide insurance should someone get injured. But thanks to Macha's preference and the other reasons mentioned above, it won't be unusual to see Edmonds playing any of the 3 outfield positions on a regular basis, especially in the dog days of August and the playoff push in September.

I feel extremely confident in the playing ability of Jim Edmonds and the wealth of knowledge that he brings to this team. When the Brewers first signed him, the announcement came out of left field (shouldn't it have come out of center field?) but I instantly loved it. When I've seen guys like Brady Clark, Bill Hall and Scott Podsednik try to play center field, it'll be great to see Edmonds do it right. Granted we did have Mike Cameron the last two years, and Carlos Gomez is supposed to be no slouch out there (don't sell yourself short Judge, you're a tremendous slouch) Edmonds is the real deal. Now I'm not saying that Mike Cameron isn't, it's just that Jim Edmonds doesn't cost $10 million a year. I can tell that I'm really backing myself into a corner, but pit Cameron and Edmonds up against each other and you'll see that Edmonds leads in every single category. Or at least that's my prediction without actually looking it up. It is 2 in the fucking morning and I'm a day behind on this entry, so I'm going to fudge a couple of things and take some journalistic liberties. I don't think that you're supposed to do that, but screw it. I don't write for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, I write for Pookon's Ill Blog.

I'm counting on Edmonds to bring a lot to this team both on and off the field. Apparently this was GM Doug Melvin's idea as well and it is very similar to the Gab Kapler signing in 2008. If we get the same results from Edmonds that we got from Kapler (asking for the same is really reaching at this point in Edmonds' career) Edmonds' stat line in 2010 might look something like this:

.261 avg, 17 HRs, 52 RBIs and a handful a highlight reel plays that will shoot him to the top of Sprtscenter's Top 10 plays of the day.

When Edmonds was signed to a minor league contract it was just a formality and he was always in line to have a spot on the 25-man roster if he wanted it. There simply was no outfield competition in camp and all that he had to do was not play like an old guy and totally suck big time. But one position that appeared to have competition was the back-up catcher. In the entry on Gregg Zaun, I mentioned that there were no fewer than 4 players vying for that roster spot. I hoped that Matt Treanor would get the gig so that he would bring his hot wife to the ballpark but they instead went with 26 year-old George Kottaras. Kottaras was recently playing back-up to Jason Varitek and Victor Martinez on the Boston Red Sox and he only played in 45 games. He may end up playing in a few more than that depending on Zaun's ability to be productive on offense and to also stay healthy, but there's a chance that he'll be regulated to catching a particular pitcher (like Mike Rivera caught Manny Parra or Dave Bush last year). But that my friends, is a topic that will be covered tomorrow. Brewers! Brewers! Keep Turnin' Up the Heat!

- pookon -

www.pookon.com
email: pookondotcom@gmail.com