TooLiveBrew

Castro. That pains me to say.

Alright. Sept. PA count... - Inglett: 2 - Gomez: 1 - Gamel: 0 Career-best AAA OPS (full-ish season)... - Inglett: .841 (age 27; part-time season) - Gomez: .777 (age 21; 157 PA) - Gamel: .898 (age 24) Top prospect called up? Let's play the career backups instead, just to show that top prospect! He's a flake, and doesn't deserve to be treated in any normal kind of way!

Whoa -- that tap list looks awesome

Nashville will be stocked with prospects next season. Jeffress, Rogers, Lawrie, Peralta, Rivas, Heckathorn, Davis, Green, Lamontagne... just some of the guys that could spend time there in '11.

Yeah -- very frustrating. I was just coming here to post this quote again, followed by the PAs of Gomez v. those of Gamel: "We don't like calling up players unless they're going to play"[/i] I just wish the franchise didn't have a kooky double-standard about Gamel, and that they'd recognize that even if you don't necessarily like someone, it doesn't mean he can't do his job well & help you do your job better. But what do I know. Let's go out and sign some more aging, average free agents. They're grittier.

Just a bit of info & a bump to this thread... Weeks has been the second most valuable 2B in MLB this season in terms of WAR (his lead over third place is pretty substantial), and the 14th-most valuable position player overall. I'd have to guess that's largely due to him improving his UZR/150 to -0.4 entering play today. The next closest Brewers position player to Weeks's 4.9 WAR so far this season is Prince at 3.5. I really hope the Brewers can get an extension worked out with Rickie, but at this point I wouldn't be surprised if he elects to just play out next season & shoot for free agency.

Just like they did with Manny Ramirez. No, they were outbid by their hated division rival. Like they did for Carlos Beltran? No, they were outbid by their cross town rival. Whether you're going to put any importance in it or not, both those signings took place when The Boss was still in complete control. Since Cashman has been allowed to run the team the way he wants, the top priority targets aren't getting away -- Burnett, Teixeira, Sabathia, etc. I can see why you don't believe it as strongly as I do, but I am as close as you can get to 100% certainty without having clairvoyant abilities that Lee will be a Yankee next season.

in the end, we're all sure animated about what TH writes, and his articles are drawing a lot of reaction, whether that's positive or negative. and isn't that the whole point of his job? I just don't like yellow journalism much. TH doesn't go that far imo, but the statement you make to me implies yellow journalism should be the goal of any newspaper.

Macha called him a "flake" last season, and Melvin had some comments (this past offseason, iirc) praising McGehee's work ethic so strongly that you couldn't help but read btw. the lines & see it as a comment about Gamel's relative lack thereof.

“I love the pen,” Jeffress said. “It’s a great spot for me. I come to the field every day ready, knowing that I could be asked to throw. I would prefer to stay in the pen, but I will play whatever position they need me to play.” Wow, I knew it was his idea to move to the 'pen this season, but I had no idea he felt this way about it. His agent might need to review some career earning potential charts with him. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

Yeah, that's a pretty crummy way of dragging a guy down unnecessarily. Even if Gamel sounded unexcited in his responses, objectivity shouldn't include trying to badmouth him in a passive-aggressive way. Further, why should Gamel be excited about moving to 1B or RF? He could earn more money in his career if allowed to stick at 3B (assuming he developed into a passable defender, of course). I wouldn't be excited about that move either. I don't care if he's not excited about moving, he said all the right things about the move & didn't badmouth the organization in any way.

Glad you enjoyed Jeffress last night, X. I did too, and am thrilled the Brewers called him up.

Would you care to add more to the conversation? So he threw an elbow earlier in the week. Here is Prince charging the Dodgers loccker room. Within 5 more minutes of looking I am sure I could find something that he did in the preceding week of this event to tick of a team. At the end of the day the Marlins took not one but two opportunities to possibly end his career. "Anyway he got clocked with a huge clothesline after a rather futile, weak punch to Volstad's face so it didn't seem to be the smartest response." If by clocked you mean blindsided with a cheapshot you are correct. Watch the video the entire team piled on him and basically gouged out his eyes. I wasn't making a comment in either direction. I provided video of the play against the Cardinals. End of story. Thought the video of the incident was an interesting contribution.

Excerpt from San Francisco Mercury News story on last night's 2-1 defeat of the Rockies. The win pulled the Giants within three games of the West-leading Padres, and 1.5 games of the Wild Card leaders, Philly. The Giants' lone September callup, Darren Ford, played a starring (albeit limited) role. *** Called up from Double-A Richmond, Ford didn't arrive until the second inning because of a two-hour flight delay in Detroit. That might be the only way to slow down the 24-year-old speedster. With the score 1-1 in the eighth, Ford pinch ran for Mike Fontenot, who had drawn a walk. Lincecum bunted Ford to second, and when Jimenez's slider to Andres Torres skipped a few feet toward third base, Ford took off. Catcher Miguel Olivo pounced on the wild pitch, but his throw to third sailed into left field, allowing Ford to scamper home. "I thought I could make it, so I just told myself to go, and it was a good decision," Ford said. Lincecum said Ford "was like a blur," and Fontenot called his replacement's speed "unbelievable "... something I was hearing stories about in the dugout." But manager Bruce Bochy remembered Ford's strong spring training, which he called "one of the best displays of baserunning I've seen." "He's electric, and he has no fear," Bochy said of his decision to use Ford right away. "This kid can outrun the ball." Before Wednesday, Ford had never even entered a major league ballpark. He conceded to being nervous, and when asked what he remembered from his first moments in a big league dugout, said, "I think Tim Lincecum was striking somebody out, but I'm not sure who it was." *** A bit more from Mercury News beat writer Jeff Baggarly's blog: *** Much more on young Darren Ford in the game story, but I wanted to share some of the tidbits from his remarkable day. Ford’s flight was delayed two hours in Detroit this morning, meaning he didn’t even get to the ballpark until the second inning… (On a side note, Ford was asked how he passed the time and hit us with a beauty: “It was a long flight. I had a couple conversations with a couple girls. A couple friends, some girlfriends. They kept me busy a little bit. I took a little nap and came here and was ready to go.” Well played sir.) But I digress. He was listening to the game while being driven to the yard, and knew he might have to pinch run late in the game so he prepared for it. And how ‘bout this – Darren had never even been inside a major league ballpark before, not as a player, and never as a fan growing up. He certainly made a grand debut. I won’t even bother to describe it; if you missed the game, go watch the highlights of Darren running online. What a weapon down the stretch, and for the future. Fastest Giant since ____. I dunno, anyone have a good answer? *** MLB.com video recap of the game: http://mlb.mlb.com/video/..._id=8879974&c_id=mlb

Ok, outside of German teams, just choose a superpower team. All your buddies already have.

Haha -- nice. Good grief WMLW games are brutal. Brutal.

I would have loved to have added someone like Hideki Okajima. He was a dominant reliever for his first two seasons, and very good in '09. The language barrier really isn't something anyone should let stop them from acquiring talent. Might as well just stop scouting outside of the U.S. & Canada in that case.

This MLB.com game recap from Aug. 28th includes Morgan running into the Cards' catcher. It's at roughly the 1:50 mark.

Gaby Sanchez ftw

One example from last night's game was Braun misplaying Janish's double in the LF corner that allowed Hanigan, the catcher, to score from first. Sure, that was already a poor start from Gallardo, but something like that doesn't show up in the box score aside from being another ER that Yo shouldn't have been tagged with on that particular play. That ball wasn't hit very hard, and any competent LF would have been able to keep Hanigan from scoring. That's just one instance, but on a team full of questionable defenders, the plays they're unable to make add up. I agree Yovani's main problem this season has seemed to be his BB totals, and subsequent higher pitch counts, but to say you're not sure whether or not the poor defense is even a part of his problems is surprising to me.

I think Gamel will strike out a similar amount, but I believe he'll hit for a higher AVG & draw more BBs. I agree Mat's ceiling is higher than Matt's.

Both NY teams are out of the running That's true, but teams like BOS, LAA, PHI, CHW, STL, & DET could all conceivably get involved. I would imagine the Red Sox would want to retain his services. Another aspect to note is that Beltre's 2011 player option increases to $10M if he reaches 640 PAs on the season. He needs 111 as of today to reach that marker. If he can stay healthy & the Red Sox don't play any shenanigans with him, he should get there with one more month+ to play. If he reaches & takes that option, it's possible the Red Sox could work out a 2-yr. extension with him on top of the '11 player option.

I would love to see Beltre targeted. Trouble is that he's not exactly an under-the-radar guy. Elite defense, and as noted having a 'monster' season. There are a lot of teams that would love to have him.

I guess we'll see if Melvin was doing anything more than spouting hot air with regards to these call-ups: "We don't like calling up players unless they're going to play" Sadly, I think Villy is going to get by far the most playing time of this trio.

Can Mat Gamel pitch?