EbbaStClaire

In another thread (Transactions/Proposal) I pointed out that the average number of starters used by a Major League team in 08 was >10. The Brewers have no one in the minor leagues ready to be a starter in 09 so in effect they need another 2-3 "starters" for depth given that the current roster's potential starters are Gallardo, Parra, Bush, Suppan, Villanueva, and McClung (who may be a better relief pitcher/closer). In addition only Bush is likely to pitch 200 innings, thereby increasing the need for more starters. I think the Brewers should sign a couple of guys like Kip Wells and Mark Hendrickson (just using them as examples) who have started many games but actually have pitched better in relief. They would also have the ability to pitch more than one inning at a time. There are many options for the relief pitching staff once a closer is identified. McClung looks like the best to me but I actually like him better as a starter. Torres can do a decent job but would be better in the 8th inning and Coffey looked good that last three weeks but he has failed to do the closer's job in the past. With a lefthanded pitcher like Hendrickson the Brewers would need only one LOGGY, Stetter or Shouse. They could also consider Gagne at $4-5M because he looked good at the end of the season. As others have said we do need a horse for a starter. CC would be terrific and Sheets for another year would also be okay. I'm surprised no one has mentioned Braden Looper. He pitches a lot of innings also. I think there are quite a few options, including signing Capuano, before the Brewers have to start trading away a player like JJ Hardy who I think was better hitting 5th than 2nd. If I were Doug Melvin figuring out my pitching options would be my first priority but it looks like they need at least one good and proven starting pitcher plus 2-3 more pitchers who can start and/or be relief pitchers.

There are a number of threads in a couple of fan forums that attempt to predict what the 09 Brewers should look like but I (along with a few like TheCrew07) believe that the structure of the 09 Brewers begin with the pitching staff, namely the starting pitching. The Brewers current staff has 6 pitchers who could be starters--Gallardo, Parra, Bush, Suppan, McClung, and Villanueva. In my opinion there were no potential Major League starting pitchers on the Nashville staff and the best of the Huntsville staff was Periard, Jeffress, Welch and Wright and I don't think any of them is ready to pitch in Milwaukee. The last time I looked the average number of starters used by major league teams in 08 was >10. The Brewers used 8 different starters. Of course there are various reasons for the high number of starters used by teams including ineffectiveness, injuries, trades, and showcasing for 09. The point is the Brewers need another 2-3 starting pichers, some of which could be in Nashville. In fact the number might be more than that if there is more than one injury or more likely other than Bush or Suppan the younger guys may not be able to pitch more than 190 innings. I submit that only Bush will reach that number. Of course trades and/or free agency signings hopefully occur but what can the Brewers do in the meantime. I would try to sign a couple of veteran pitchers who have both started and relieved, e.g., Kip Wells and Mark Hendrickson. I am just using them as examples since they both have their share of warts. But both of them have started and have pitched in relief and actually have pitched better in relief than when they were starting. The advantage of guys like this is that they can pitch more than one inning at a time and aren't considered left or righthanded specialists. This approach to signing pitchers would allow the Brewers to have a lot of flexibility on the staff. Assuming a 12 man staff they would have at least 5 pitchers who could start or relieve -- Suppan,Villanueva, McClung, Hendrickson, & Wells. In addition you still can chose between Torres,Shouse, Stetter, Riske, Coffey, Mota & Dillard, Pena & possibly Aquilar. There would be enough relief depth at Nashville. Hopefully, someone surfaces as a closer. My own prejudice is that the best starters are Gallardo, Parra, Bush, and McClung (who may also be the best potential closer). Using this approach the Brewers would only have to sign one free agent and wouldn't necessarily HAVE to trade anyone for pitching. I would prefer they sign Sabbathia because every good team has at least one horse. I wouldn't sign a Class A free agent that costs both a lot of money and draft choices. Sheets would be okay if his problem heals with rest. I would sign Capuano and wouldn't mind Braden Looper. As someone else mentioned the state of the economy may blunt the escalating signing costs. Who closes for 09? McClung, Torres or Coffey. If Torres retires the Brewers need someone else to chose from. Gagne for $5.0M.? I'm only half kidding since he finished very strong.

It seems to me that Gallardo's start will be followed by McClung in relief. I don't think Gallardo should pitch more than 5 innings and McClung certainly can pitch 4 innings.

It is surprising that only 3 players out of the first 10 rounds of the draft ( 14 players) had a good first year. I realize that there were late signings, numerous injuries, and 5 high schoolers but later round draft choices did better. In my opinion the best performances were: 1. Robert Wooten #13 Reached and dominated in low A 2. Erik Komatsu #08 Hit consistently at Helena 3. Cutter Dykstra #02 Fine OPS for high schooler playing against college guys 4. Lucas Luetge #21 Pitched well for WV 5. Cody Adams #02 Got a lot better after his first 13 innings 6. Michael Marseco #11 Good numbers until he got hurt 7. Jacob Odorizzi #01 8. Blakeney Billings #19 9. Brandon Rapoza #31 10 Marcus Salmon #48 It will be interesting to see whose 1st year performance translates to the next level.

Having been born 6 months prior to Pearl Harbor, I recall it was Japan who bombed Pearl Harbor.

I don't advocate for the following suggestion but why not trade Hardy and Weeks for Roberts, Mora and Tillman. I really like Hardy so I wouldn't do it but I bet the Orioles would like it better.

At the risk of jinxing him, Gamel has made no errors in the last 15 games.

Thanks for another P50 effort. The controversy over who is a prospect or not is a lot of fun. To add to that controversy I'll argue that Steve Chapman is not a prospect and should not be included and Corey Frerichs should be included even though his walk rate is to high; his K rate is terrific and he had a wonderful outing last night. Bull was effusive in praising Frerich's 3 innings during the broadcast. Frerichs along with Fryer were terrible in Helena last year and have made great strides. Hard to judge a draft on short season stats.

Nelson also has more walks than strikeouts.

Considering all the happy moments of the year, THE MOMENT for me was the 6-5 loss to Arizona after being ahead 5-0 in the 9th. While I'm to old to have something like that affect my life it caused more loss of sleep than any of the great wins.

Thank You.

Is there one site that lists the entire Canadian olympic baseball roster?

One fact that seems to be overlooked is that Green has no protection behind him in the Manatee line-up and he is still putting up very nice numbers.

When I last checked (4-5 weeks ago) most of Gamel's errors were fielding rather than throwing errors. Actually by a wide margin. Since then I have noticed throwing errors are more frequent. In one of the newspaper accounts of the game the reporter mentioned that Gamel committed an error when he made a one-hop throw to first base that was not handled by the first baseman ( I think it was Errecart). The point is that some of Gamel's throwing errors may be the result of the lack of defense on the other end of the throws. I'm not trying to make excuses for either player but unless you see a lot of games it is hard to make the proper judgement.

Carlos (the great hitter and poor fielder) George is really an interesting case if one believes scouting reports. The scouting report posted on the 2008 draft forum suggests he is a good fielder with raw hitting skills. Someplace I read he didn't play high school ball this year because he was academically ineligible. So if he didn't play this year is the scouting report based on observations from the 2007 high school season? Did he play summer baseball? Which Brewer scout saw him play and when? The scout deserves a lot of credit for convincing the Brewers to take a chance and believing in the player. While its a long time before one can take an AZL player very seriously it appears that he is an early example of another poor fielder who can hit--there alot of those guys in the system.

Where is Eric Fryer?

I wonder if Fredrickson's promotion is a result of a desire to have him work with a very good left handed pitching coach.

If you trade Fielder to the Mets you start by asking for Maine.

No! No! No1

I saw Taylor Green play parts of two games last year, a game in Lexington ( Jeffress' last game) and a playoff game against the Catfish. He looked fine to me. I also saw him play an intrasquad exhibition game in Phoenix this past March after the Brewers left for Milwaukee. I thought he showed the ability to move laterally quite well. I don't remember seeing any great plays but also no butchered plays. I believe he is playing 3rd base because the WV Power needed a 3rd basement last year and no one else could do it. It seems to me it had to do with Holmberg coming back from an injury the year before and he could only play 2nd base. ( I could be wrong about that but that is what I remember) As I recall they stuck him at 3rd base with no preparation in spring training. I've said it before but I think he is a 2nd baseman in 3rd baseman's clothes.

I'll take the big ol'boy from West Virginia.

I haven't looked at Bryson's long relief stints but another guy who seems to pitch better in long relief for the Power is Corey Frerichs. His last six appearances( 19.1 innings) are really good. High K's and low BB's and hits.

I am a bit surprised no one has mentioned Taylor Green. His league totals are impressive. 4th in RBI 5th in Average & OBP 6th in OPS He has accomplished this in a pitchers league and he plays on a team that provides no protection behind him in the order. In addition he has 30 walks and 31 K's. If he was viewed as a 2nd baseman rather than a 3rd baseman he would be more highly regarded.

There were a lot of factors that led to the loss last night. I thought the worst mistake was allowing the first batter to get a hit. Every pitch was down and away and why Kendall didn't call for an inside fastball I don't know . The kid wouldn't have hit it. The next unfortunate play was that Weeks didn't catch what looked like a catchable ball, but then again he seems to have a lot of trouble catching line drives that look like he should catch. Counsell would have been a good replacement for Weeks in that situation but that doesn't ever happen. I also agree that Cameron would have caught Helton's long drive and he should have been playing defensive in the 8th inning and he may have caught the ball hit to right center field also. Of course the roster problems continue to impact this team--those being only one left-handed relief pitcher and too many pitchers on the staff. It sure was a bad loss.

I would hope that of the first 9 picks the Brewers select 7 pitchers, 1 catcher, and 1 shortrstop. Its time for a influx of pitching.