MIL recalls Mat Gamel, Brad Nelson designated for assignment

[DHonks]

PrinceEatMeat, I've had him pegged as our 1b once Fielder is gone. He'd likely hit .260 with 25 homers, providing a decent stopgap until someone else came along. He's the only 1b prospect in the system, unless you count Wilson, and he's in A+

[brewerjamie15]

Looking forward to seeing Gamel. I have to go with some earlier sentiments though, the timing seems kind of early. I would have thought that next week when we need a DH would be more appropriate. Who ever gets the boot to make room for him matters little. Counsell is about the only one playing like he deserves the slot.

I am interested however, in what happens with Hall. I guess Hall's future is up to Gamel at this point.

[JJHardy7]

PrinceEatMeat, I've had him pegged as our 1b once Fielder is gone. He'd likely hit .260 with 25 homers, providing a decent stopgap until someone else came along. He's the only 1b prospect in the system, unless you count Wilson, and he's in A+

 

Agreed. This move makes no sense to me. It's not that Mat can't hit MLB pitching. It's just that he should be playing everyday. I don't want to see him sitting on the bench. If it is to DH, that's fine...but we're not at that point in the schedule yet.

[pogokat]

dhonks---

 

Koshansky has a lot in common with nelson..he probably wouldn't be a lot different as a stop gap

[PrinceEatMeat]

I disagree that he'd replace Prince. We have Prince two more years. By then Taylor Green will be ready, so Gamel moves to first. No Nelson there. If not I think Salome could move there in favor of Lucroy. I don't see a scenario where Nelson is our starting 1b with how stacked we are with more talented players than him in the minors.

[sheethead]

I am also glad I picked up a bunch of Mat Gamel autographed cards the last couple weeks to resell for this very moment!

 

Ahhh capitalism :-| Does that stuff really go up in value just because he gets called up?

[hauser42]

But then what? Would that mean Hall would play shortstop?

Hall would be a down grade with the D and bat at SS for the Brewers if he took over for Hardy. He is not the steady glove like Hardy even with his better range. Halls hold the ball and double pump throws would allow more hits.

[TheCrew07]

Gamel isn't a 21 year old prospect, he's in his mid 20s... he'll be past his prime by the time his contract is up.

[kramnoj]

If not I think Salome could move there in favor of Lucroy.

 

Salome is too short to play 1B. Who is the shortest regular 1B that anyone can remember?

[Never Outhustled]

Well it looks like I'll be checking my Blackberry on the bus ride down tomorrow to see if Mat gets the start. Tough 1st assignment against budding ace Josh Johnson.

[GAME05]

i have a hard time thinking they'd bring up a superstar prospect just to have a better bat off the bench. and with Hall playing so well, i don't see the advantage of Gamel beyond a better DH during the interleague series. and is it really worth Super 2 status for a slightly better interleague lineup?

 

really just don't see the advantage of switching out Hall ABs for Gamel ABs at this point (this presumes Gamel is given a major role in the lineup).

[Ennder]

i have a hard time thinking they'd bring up a superstar prospect just to have a better bat off the bench. and with Hall playing so well, i don't see the advantage of Gamel beyond a better DH during the interleague series. and is it really worth Super 2 status for a slightly better interleague lineup?

 

really just don't see the advantage of switching out Hall ABs for Gamel ABs at this point (this presumes Gamel is given a major role in the lineup).

They did it with Fielder and that was a season with lesser expectations than this one.

[PrinceEatMeat]

Gamel isn't a 21 year old prospect, he's in his mid 20s... he'll be past his prime by the time his contract is up.

 

Are you joking? Gamel is turning 24 in July. Major leaguers don't pass their prime at 27. Braun turns 26 after this year, so does that mean that he only has 1 good year left?

[kramnoj]

Gamel is turning 24 in July. Major leaguers don't pass their prime at 27. Braun turns 26 after this year, so does that mean that he only has 1 good year left?

 

Gamel is under team control through 2015, when he will be 30 at the end of the year.

[PrinceEatMeat]

Either way I see that as a good thing, not a bad thing. We won't have to worry about losing him at all.

[jhart05]

I hope he platoons with Hall at 3B, and his bat makes up for his glove.

[wibadgers23]

Starting tomorrow, we will be facing four RH pitchers in a row. So it'll be interesting to see if Gamel starts all four.

[patrickgpe]

im going to the game tomorrow and would love if he started at 3rd tomorrow. sucks for hall but we do need to see what he can do.

[PrinceEatMeat]

Well it's official now. Nelson is gone.

 

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/44954177.html

[rluzinski]

Hall has an updated ZiPS projection of .253/.329/.451/.780, so we have to expect him to be pretty bad against lefties, going forward. I'm just worried that we'll have another Braun situation on our hands, defensively. Hall is at least an average defensive 3B this year and Gamel has basically no chance of matching that this year, IMO. I can accept that Gamel is better than Braun was, but Braun was epically bad, so that's little consolation for me. So count me as being in the concerned camp with regard to the prospect of Gamel getting starts at 3B this year.

[GB12]

If not I think Salome could move there in favor of Lucroy.

 

Salome is too short to play 1B. Who is the shortest regular 1B that anyone can remember?

Prince is the shortest that I can think of. And there's a big difference between 5'10" and 5'7" still.

 

 

EDIT: Matt Stairs is 5'9" and he started a good number of games at firstbase.

[LouisEly]

"We did this four years ago with Prince and it worked out well. He got his first taste of the major leagues. After interleague play, we'll re-evaluate and see where we are."

 

That last sentence is very intriguing. I'm wondering if there was a handshake agreement between Melvin and Nelson where if Nelson agreed to go down to Nashville he would be given regular PT and hopefully get his mojo back, and then after the interleague series or no later than September 1st make good on the handshake agreement and bring Nelson back up. I'm guessing that Nelson had already cleared waivers, and if he had not cleared waivers they would have pulled him back and the move not made.

 

Branyan said something interesting in the other thread about him in Seattle... he mentioned that when you are on the bench you feel a lot of pressure to get a hit every time you come up, and because of that you keep tinkering with your swing and ultimately mess it up. Nelson is probably going through that right now.

 

If this was simply to bring up a pinch hitter, I would rather have brought up Catalanotto. Methinks Gamel will be seeing some starts, particularly with four righties coming up. In one of the articles they acknowledged that pinch hitting is very difficult for young players, so I doubt this was made solely for pinch hitting and would have brought up Catalanotto if that was the case.

[phxMILWfan]

"We did this four years ago with Prince and it worked out well. He got his first taste of the major leagues. After interleague play, we'll re-evaluate and see where we are."

 

That last sentence is very intriguing. I'm wondering if there was a handshake agreement between Melvin and Nelson where if Nelson agreed to go down to Nashville he would be given regular PT and hopefully get his mojo back, and then after the interleague series or no later than September 1st make good on the handshake agreement and bring Nelson back up. I'm guessing that Nelson had already cleared waivers, and if he had not cleared waivers they would have pulled him back and the move not made.

I took that to mean "If Gamel is raking and playing a decent third base he may be here to stay". I wonder what the mind set was for Melvin and Co. when they brought Braun up. I don't know that they thought he would never need to go back down. I think you are totally right though, if Nelson doesn't clear waivers you don't make this move. Theoretical spots in the lineup are fine but if Fielder, Hart or Braun were to find themselves on the DL Nelson might be our best option to play every day. I deleted the part of your post about Branyan but it makes total sense. After waiting a long time to get his call up and then barely playing it's understandable for Nelson to put a lot of pressure on himself. I wonder where he would be if he got a hit or two to start the season. Once he went 0 for 10 or so I think it got to his head big time.

[Ennder]

I think the signing of Catalanotto made it so losing Nelson wouldn't be a big deal to the team. He can serve the exact same function and is on a minor league contract.

[DougJones43]

I really don't understand this move. I mean, we have a perfectly good DH in Tony Gwynn Jr. to avoid using Gamel's service time...