Lefty starting pitcher Mike Caldwell was a solid pitcher in his time with the Brewers. He pitched 8 seasons with the Brewers and he appeared in 239 games (217 starts) in which he was 102-80 with 2 saves, a 3.74 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP. His best season with the Brewers was 1978 when he finished 2nd in the voting for the Cy Young Award. Caldwell pitched in 37 games (34 starts) with the Brewers in 1978 and he was 22-9 with 1 save, a 2.36 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP. Caldwell is the Brewers’ all-time leader in complete games with 81. He is also #4 all-time in Brewers’ history in games started (217), #2 in wins (102), #7 in ERA (3.74), #2 in shutouts (18), #2 in innings pitched (1,604 2/3) and he is #10 in strikeouts (540). Caldwell wasn’t a flamethrower but he got the job done for the Brewers and that’s the bottom line.

Sure, 25-year old lefty swinging 1B Prince Fielder could afford to lose a few pounds but the extra weight he has really has never hurt him in his career. He played in all 162 games for the Brewers last season and he was 177 for 591 (.299 avg, 1.014 OPS) with 103 runs scored, 46 homers and 141 RBIs. In his first four full seasons in the majors, Fielder has averaged 95.0 runs scored, 39.5 homers and 110.8 RBIs per year. There is no reason to think that Fielder will slow down any time soon. He made 7 errors in 162 games for the Brewers at 1B and that’s not too bad.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 1B IN 2010: A+

The Brewers have signed 39-year old lefty swinging outfielder Jim Edmonds to a minor league deal. He will make $850,000 bucks in 2010 if the makes the Brewers’ roster plus he can make an additional $1.65 million in incentives. Edmonds last played in the majors in 2008 with the Padres and Cubs. He played in 111 games in 2008 and he was 80 for 340 (.235 avg, .822 OPS) with 53 runs scored, 20 homers and 55 RBIs. He has now played in 1,925 games in his major league career and he is 1,881 for 6,612 (.284 avg, .905 OPS) with 1,207 runs scored, 382 homers, 1,176 RBIs and 65 stolen bases. The Brewers must release Edmonds if he is not on the major league roster on March 25th according to this contract. I like this signing for the Brewers as they need help on the bench.

The Brewers have designated 28-year old righty reliever Chris Smith for assignment to make room on the roster for Joe Inglett. Smith pitched in 35 games for the Brewers last season and he was 0-0 with a 4.11 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. He also pitched in 28 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball last season and he was 2-0 with 17 saves, a 1.27 ERA and a 0.87 WHIP. The tradeoff of Inglett for Smith is probably a good one for the Brewers who really never seemed to trust Smith in games.

The Brewers have claimed 31-year old lefty swinging IF/OF Joe Inglett off waivers from the Rangers. He played in 36 games for the Blue Jays last season and he was 25 for 89 (.281 avg, .695 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 6 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. Inglett has now played in 211 games in his major league career and he is 187 for 639 (.293 avg, .745 OPS) with 82 runs scored, 5 homers, 68 RBIs and 18 stolen bases. I really like this move for the Brewers as Inglett can play almost anywhere on the field and he is a pesky little hitter.