Brewers sign Suppan

Apparently the going rate for a middle of the rotation starter that's been mostly average for his career is now 4 years/$42 million. That's what the Brewers gave Jeff Suppan on Christmas Eve, mostly for his NLCS MVP performance, I suppose. COULD the Pirates have matched that offer? Sure, I they probably could've. But SHOULD they have done it? No, I don't think so. The Brewers deal had to have been way above what anybody else had offered, as Suppan and his reps said they were going to wait for Zito to sign to see who else was interested.

This signing leaves the Pirates with Tomo Ohka and Joel Piniero as options to fill the last spot in the rotation, though the amount the Brewers just paid Suppan certainly makes both of them more expensive than they were before the signing. I kind of doubt much will happen in this next week on that front (or the trade front) as everything slows down between Christmas and New Years'. That doesn't mean things will stop, though. If someone makes someone else an offer someone else can't refuse, things will probably move pretty quickly (like, say, Jeff Suppan signing a contract on Christmas Eve).