McClung or Weaver? Decide by June 15

[lukevan]

Jeff Weaver had a decent outing yesterday and will have one more start at AAA before his June 15 cutoff date when he will likely either be called up or released. The question is has McClung done enough to keep his spot in the rotation for the time being or do the Brewers call up Weaver to keep him and move McClung back to the pen?

Obviously McClung has had a few good starts, but it wouldn't surprise me if DM gives Weaver a shot in order to keep him as an option.

[kramnoj]

The Brewers only have to release Weaver if he requests it, correct? Is there any indication that other teams are going to be offering Weaver a major league job if the Brewers don't call him up?

[dadofandrew]

As well as McClung has pitched, minus the 5th innings in his two "getting stretched out" starts, Weaver does not look like an upgrade, not to mention he's much older. Weaver, as of right now, looks like depth. I'm sure the Crew will let Weaver go if someone wants him in their rotation...hopefully, thye can make that promise to him and keep him around.

[rluzinski]

Really, what is supposed to get me excited about Weaver:

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?n=Jeff%20Weaver&pos=P&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=213711

 

5.51 ERA in 49 IP in AAA? Yuck His 6 K/9 and 3 BB/9 would be around average had it come in the majors, but against AAA batters, not so exciting. He's given up a bunch of bombs, which I would dismiss as just small noise if he also hadn't had the same tendency in 2006 and 2007 in over 300 innings of work.

 

So, he was bad in 2006 and 2007 in the majors and has been slightly below average in the minors this year. Someone give me a reason why he should even be up for consideration?

 

Here are my choices for the #5 spot, in order of preference:

 

Villy - McClung - DiFelice - Weaver

[Dmiles23]

I don't think there is any way Weaver reaches Milwaukee unless there is an injury. DiFelice is really the only pitcher on the roster that can go back to AAA. Dillard would have to be the second option, but he hasn't yet given up a run in Milwaukee. I'm guessing Gagne will be coming off the DL eventually, so it really boils down to having Dillard or Weaver. So until Dillard has a blow up, or shows that he isn't a good option from the pen, I'd vote for Dillard every time. Plus, Melvin and Yost have put their chips on McClung since spring training. So why would they change their "project" now after he's shown a little success?

[joepepsi]

Keep McClung and Sign Sidney Ponson!

[lukevan]

I'm not advocating for Weaver, just pondering what the Brewers may do with him. I agree with you guys, I don't think Weaver has done enough to warrant moving up especially since McClung has at least shown some productivity in a small sample. My worry though is that DM would be worried about depth in case of injuries and may call Weaver up just to have someone else around. DeFelice would be an option but we know DM propensity toward veterans.

 

Would Weaver be willing to push the cutoff date back again? My guess is another team would give him a shot in the minors but not likely anyone would sign him to be on the major league roster.

[brettac1]

McClung without a hesitation. Not to say he's great, but at least he's not Jeff Weaver.

[Tisko]

The Brewers only have to release Weaver if he requests it, correct? Is there any indication that other teams are going to be offering Weaver a major league job if the Brewers don't call him up?

I thought that he had to get a major league offer for him to opt out of his contract. I am not sure though.

 

[Fatter than Joey]

I would be happy with letting Weaver walk. I hope he never pitches in Milwaukee, -- unless he is facing us.

[BrewCrewForever]

McClung has had two very solid starts out of 3. So I have to go with Seth. In his two solid starts he had zero or minimized the walks. In his bad outing he had I believe 4 or 6 walks? It's simple if McClung throws strikes he is very effective and a very good #5. There is something about McClung I really like, he just has some kind of "it" in him. He has very good stuff its just a total matter of throwing strikes and not walking guys.

[lcbj68c]

It's simple. Weaver can be guaranteed his release, IF HE REQUESTS, if the Brewers dont offer him a major league contract by June 15th. Weaver is not pitching well enough to deserve an offer. He knows it, the Brewers know it. The Brewers won't offer and Weaver won't object until he starts dealing. The June 15th deadline is a non-issue at this point. If Weaver's smart, and I think he is, he'll keep battling in AAA becaues he knows no other team is going to offer at this point either.

[JJHardy7]

It is nice to see a few somewhat positive things said about McClung after some of the hate he's received from this site. Again I'm not saying he's going to be an All-Star, but I think he could be a nice piece at the backend of a pitching staff. I still believe Seth is best served out of the bullpen and he's not going to be as effective in terms of pitching deep into games. I think he's going to be a 5 or 6 inning guy at best which I think in the long run could hurt the bullpen.

 

I still have a feeling that Weaver is in Milwaukee after his next Nashville start. He's had some rough outings in Nashville and he hasn't pitched well the past few years, but he didn't really have a spring training and it'll be interesting to see if the Brewers think it's just "rust" or lack of talent. I personally would like to see DiFelice get a shot at starting and seeing what he can do, but my gut says Weaver up to Milwaukee and Dillard/DiFelice to Nashville.

[BrewCrewForever]

I hope Dillard stays. He has done nothing wrong yet to be demoted. He actually has looked pretty sharp.

[JumpinMacFlash]

I was slightly torn on this, but I have a feeling I'd rather see McClung stay as opposed to seeing Weaver in the rotation. You know what you're getting with Weaver, and I think that Seth is a bit of an enigma. Who knows what he's going to be? Maybe he will find consistent control. He hasn't exactly killed the team lately, so I say why not? Weaver has had a couple of nice starts recently, but his overall body of work in the minors has been kinda craptastic. Also, I would hate to see Dillard go as well.

 

That being said, I think I'm going to side with JJHardy7 and say that I too think that Weaver will end up being in Milwaukee. Not my preference, but I don't make the decisions.

[thablingster]

McClung and Dillard/DiFelice is more appealing than Weaver/McClung, thus I'll side with taking McClung.

 

Plus Weaver's ceiling seems to be at this point league average or worse, which is the hope for McClung who is 4+ years younger and has a much livelier arm.

[Never Outhustled]

Weaver is the worst starter in Nashville. I'd rather see Steve Hammond promoted to his spot in AAA.

[DougJones43]

If Weaver didn't have those few good games during the 2006 postseason, would we even be discussing this?

[ECThirdWard]

Why isn't Bush in this discussion? Would anyone else prefer McClung AND Weaver over Bush? I say keep Villy and Dillard working out of the pen (for the time being), give Weaver a shot in the rotation and ditch Bush. I've tired quickly of Bush's inconsistency. It seems like we always play behind while he pitches. At least we could see something new in Weaver.

[Fatter than Joey]

Would anyone else prefer McClung AND Weaver over Bush?

 

Good Gravy no.

 

At least we could see something new in Weaver.

 

James Belushi's show is new every week, I would rather watch a Simpson episode for the 9 millionth time.

[BrewCrewForever]

Bush got roughed up in the 1st against Colorado but pitched fine after that and before that had a string of good outings. I'm fine with Bush, and I'm fine with McClung. As a matter of fact I used to call Seth names after those first two bullpen outings this season but since then I have really become a big fan of the guy. Heck I would go as far as to say I have a man crush on McClung.

[thablingster]

No way to McClung and Weaver over Bush. I'm not the biggest Bush fan, but he's either really really good, or really really awful. Dave doesn't have too much of a middle-ground, while the best we can hope for with Weaver is "alright" and "awful." So yeah, I'll pass.

[endaround]

This is pretty much :Would you like to be hung or shot?

[rluzinski]

It's a shame that McClung could have been skipped but the Brewers want him to make a start? I'm starting to lose faith.

[logan82]

This is pretty much :Would you like to be hung or shot?

One more injury and it will become hung then shot.

 

I don't understand why we wouldn't start skipping one pitcher every turn through the rotation if possible at this point. It isn't early so we don't have to build guys up anymore like we do in April.