TooLiveBrew

Thank you for linking that stuff. I really wonder about McGehee's mobility, because he's even still listed as being 195 lbs. on the Miller Park scoreboard. 195 -- hah, yyyeaaah. And I've got a wicked slider. McGehee looks like he weighs something more like 220-230 now. To the layman (me, in this case), it looks like he bulked up to become more of a power hitter -- which is what held him back both in terms of MiLB production & prospect status. *How* he put the weight on (PEDs/not PEDs) isn't really my main concern here, but just *that* he put it on. I wonder if perhaps 195-lb. Casey McGehee was able to be a plus defender at 2B, and very good elsewhere, but the 225-lb. version isn't. I don't think anyone would argue he's had a good start defensively to his big league career, from watching him, he does seem very sure handed. He struggles coming in on balls, and he doesn't have great range to his left, but he's got very good reaction times, very sure handed, a very strong arm and it appears to be very accurate from what I've seen. I agree on the arm, and the reaction time. I also agree on coming in on balls & range to his left as being weaknesses. The main problem I see is that the range to the left & charging balls are basically what set the good 3Bmen apart from the pack. I'm not sure that I'm supremely confident in Gamel charging the ball (as his main problem has been throwing footwork), but I can say I feel confident in his range to the hole. With regard to McGehee moving over to 1st, I don't think he'll hit well enough to be anything more than average there. I think the most value he has to the Brewers is to move him now, but that seems unlikely to happen. I just fear that we end up moving Gamel to 1st, or worse yet trading him and keeping McGehee only to see Gamel outperform McGehee in years to come. I think McGehee has the talent to hit well enough to be an asset at 1B. Just for a point of reference, NL 1B had a composite line of .282/.373/.485/.859 last season, and .277/.359/.479/.838 in '08. Part of why I have faith in him there is that I think he'd be a good defender at first (and a nice upgrade over Fielder, to boot). I share your concern that the Brewers will either keep Gamel & move Mat to 1B, or trade Mat away. As long as they keep both Gamel & McGehee, I guess I'll feel alright, even though I obviously think Gamel should be the one to play 3B.

Ugh, for the love of... Please be ok, Rivas http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/frown.gif

He was jerked around more than any top prospect I've seen in some time, and despite that his overall .760 OPS is definitely respectable for a guy in his first big league action Not to mention that it was basically the league average for third basemen

Put my response to this post from HiAndTight in this thread -- We're not even close to being there, and again, when you factor in that he was playing hurt last year at 3rd base limiting his range severely...McGehee could barely move at times last year. I think there have been several plays this season, with his reportedly 100% healthy knees, where he's shown very little moblility. Then when you factor in his minor league scouting reports that are fairly unanimous in their praise for his defensive abilities, and I definitely think we're rushing to said conclusion. You're the first person I've seen cite strong fielding scouting reports from the minors. Everything else I've seen has mentioned mediocre or solid scouting reports. Can you share any links, or anything along those lines? As for his FP%, his Minor League FP% in almost 600 games was about .960 as opposed to the .940 it is this year. .960 isn't great, but it's certainly respectable. I'm definitely in agreement that we're dealing with small samples here. However, the phrase 'he makes all the plays he gets to', while undeniably harmless hyperbole, would imply that his rate of converting BIP into outs is strong. To this point, it hasn't been. Getting back to the small sample note, I agree that, in terms of data, we need more time with regards to Casey. However, imho, the eye test & the data match pretty well thus far. I think the ceiling for McGehee the 3B on defense is below average to average (while I view someone like Gamel's as average to well above). I would love to see the Brewers keep McGehee, but at 1B.

http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/frown.gif Best of luck, Brent.

With McGehee, I think I want the Brewers to gamble on him being able to sustain his offensive production through at least 2011. He'll be making the minimum until 2012, his first year of arbitration eligibility, and as has been noted he'd be important to keep in the fold as a cheap option until at least then.

I think we're really rushing to this "McGehee is a terrible 3B" conclusion I'm not sure that we are. 3 seasons of data for UZR/150 is considered a reliable sample, and obviously we aren't there yet with Casey. However, his UZR/150 at 3B was around -20.0 last season & that's right about where it is this season. The comment about him making the plays he gets to isn't all that accurate, either. His fielding percentage at 3B in his MLB career is only .930. Even at 3B, that's not exactly special. He has the arm for 3B, he probably has the hands/glove for it, but he just doesn't have the range.

The other question is if you're testing for PEDs do you also pay to test for illegal drugs that are athletic code violations in most high schools and have implications for college scholarship players as well? I knew a girl in college that played on the UW-Madison softball team, and she told me that all student athletes got tipped off as to when they'd be having a drug test... and they all kept clean urine samples around as well. There's just way too much that can be done to get around testing imo to believe anything 100%.

Why do I just have this cloud hanging over me telling me it's Vargas & not Soup

This is hilarious. Seems too good to be true. Good for Billy!

Congrats! #900 in spectacular fashion. Thanks for yet another Angel update; hope he's getting well.

That OBP is kind of an encouraging sign. I hope the Brewers don't demote him (even though I'd love to see him play in Appleton), because I wonder if the hits will start to come with that solid of patience at the plate.

This is ... awesome. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/laugh.gif

Good call on the quotation marks -- calling that a toss, or saying he threw his glove, really overstates things. He just dropped it off his hand.

Saves the driver time, and those behind him/her time. At least that's how I took your original post on this, nodak.

That is not fair because you can only ground into a DP when you come to the plate when a DP is in order with less than 2 outs, and you have far less than 600 PA is those scenarios so the DP is much, much higher if you only consider PAs with a DP in order. There are many balls hit during the season by a player that would have been DPs if there was a runner on first. That's a good point. I'm glad it's Friday.

"He's becoming a joke, is what he's doing. He's becoming a joke to the umpiring profession." I have to say, for once I actually agree with Hawk Harrelson. Guillen had some pretty accurate comments as well. "When you are a professional, you have to respect the manager the way we respect the umpires," Guillen said. "The umpire is supposed to respect back, but obviously they have more power than we have. And we get aware every time it happens." Everyone is aware of the problem, and MLB continues to stick its head in the sand. Frustrating. To be fair, the second balk call did look like a balk. I couldn't really tell on the first one, since there was no side angle. I can see why West ejected Buehrle for dropping his glove like that, but West was certainly the one that escalated the whole situation.

Whenever I hear about umpires either being bullies and/or flat-out stinking, I think of the quotes from Adrian Gonzalez earlier this season during the series with the Brewers at PetCo Link

It's interesting how often managers manage against the worst possible outcome (like walking the bases loaded as to 'not let [player x] beat you') instead of the most likely. I know the payoff is big, but when you walk a guy to 'set up the double play', you're betting on a scenario that, even for a slow runner, occurs at most roughly 30 times out of 600 PAs... playing that 5% chance!

Really interested to see how Cappy fares tonight. A bad outing would really kinda cloud things, while a good or solid one would seem to make the decision whether or not to add him to the 25-man for the Brewers

I would compare the team to a very bitter IPA. You really like it but it makes you wince. Nice! I'm not sure I can come up with anything too witty, but I'll give it a try. Budweiser = St. Louis Cardinals: Self-proclaimed royalty that in reality is just annoying & trashy

Going for my 900th win today, single elimination, tough team 91 arm against us whom Ive coached and my best friend on the other bench whom I coach with in the Fall and beginning of each summer before I leave for USA or All American Team baseball. Should be interesting and I dont want to wait til March to win that one game!!!! Wow, good luck Coach Steve! Only 900?

Wow, what an incredible pitching matchup. This is one of the best we'll see all year. I can't wait. Hopefully the righties can rough up Johan & give Yovani some support.

I don't see where anyone said that in this thread recently, but I do recall reading about the Brewers shopping him this past offseason for pitching. Not sure who reported that, but probably Haudricourt.

Coach, thanks for the update. You've mentioned a possible position change a few times now -- do you think Angel needs to move off catcher at this point to succeed?