monty57

I'll assume that Melvin isn't blind, and I'll assume that he has some knowledge of the Brewers' minor league system. Therefore, he has to know what's going on, and has to know that changes are likley going to have to be made. It seems (at least I hope) the All Star break is probably what Melvin is targeting for making moves, as he'll be able to justify them by saying that he gave McGehee and Kotsay a chance to turn things around. As Invader3K mentioned, we're now in 3rd place behind the Pirates. We're going into a series against the Reds. It may seem menial, but I'd like to see the moves made now to give the team extra talent and a seemingly needed shake-up rather than seeing us limp thgough another series and fall behind the Reds.

Brett Lawrie is batting .354 with a 1.092 OPS and 15 HR's in 223 AB's with Las Vegas in AAA ball, and he has started every game at 3B.Green's batting .305 with a .891 OPS and 11 HR in 246 ABs with Nashville, starting at 3B & 2B, and we're still watching Casey's .585 OPS in Milwaukee. But really, Wilson's starting in LF tonight and no one in the Brewers' brass thinks we might want to take a look at bringing someone else up? Betancourt is our #5 hitter, but we're fine with our current roster? Wolf is argueably the best hitter in the lineup after Prince, Weeks and Hart and no changes are made? This is getting a bit tiresome.

Heartbreak, I see what you're saying, and see some truth to it. One thing I like about what the Brewers are doing is that they have been able to lock up some of their core talent. If they are able to lock up Marcum and / or Greinke, they should be able to remain competitive beyond next year. They also avoided a mistake by not extending McGehee, and after seeing what Werth signed for, Hart appears very tradeable if some of the minor league OFs make him expendable. As long as they continue to extend the core players while they're young, they can continue to maintain success. I personally think their minor league system, while not nearly as strong as we're used to, is not the barren wasteland we were led to believe prior to the start of the season. The re-emergence of players like Green and Gamel give hope to the immediate future, and there is talent at the lower levels (and a lot of recent draft picks) which should help when our current group of extended players start coming to the end of their contracts. This does play into the theme of this thread, as we should see Green soon. I would start him in a "soft platoon" with McGehee. In this case, Green could get weaned into the big leagues, while Casey would get eough PT to hopefully right the ship. If one of them performs while the other falters, that one can take the starting job. If both play well, great! If niether plays well (which I don't think is likely), we're not any worse off than we have been with Casey playing everyday. This would also showcase what, if anything, we need to do in the offseason at 3B. I don't want to give up the farm for a SS this season. I would rather get a Jamey Carroll type upgrade and then make a move for one of the off-season free agents (Reyes, Furcal, Rollins), which would give us a very good, balanced offense next year as Gamel takes over the reigns at 1B. This is why I don't want to see Gamel up all year as a pinch-hitter. I expect big things from him, and would rather have him for five years as a starting 1B than waste a year of service time as a pinch hitter... we already lost one year by misusing him in the past. Finally, dumping Kotsay for one of the AAA guys will probably be an upgrade offensively and defensively this season with the added benefit of showcasing the player for the future. I don't know what Boggs' future holds, but it would be great if we found out that he could be our backup OF for the next few years. Until he gets some more MLB ABs, we won't know. He's old enough that I'm not worried about hampering his development, but still young enough that we could have him as a cheap 4th/5th OF through his prime years. As negative as some of my recent posts may seem, I am optimistic for the Brewers this year and beyond. We just need to make a few easy changes soon to increase our chances of winning the division. We can then hold much of the core of this winning team together for a few seasons, making the future look bright.

The starters obviously have more say as to how a team performs over a season. However, I don't believe we're in a position to find a new first baseman who will out play Prince, or new starting pitchers who will outplay our current staff. What we can do relatively easily is: -stop trotting Loe out in tight situations. He's fine when used correctly, but setting him in stone as the "8th inning guy" is not using him correctly. We have better options for tight situations. -bring up Green to platoon with or replace .585 OPS / bad defense McGehee. If this continues, McGehee will go down as one of (if not the) worst 3B in history! -bring in a 4th/5th OF with the potential to hit over a low-.600 OPS while being an asset rather than a liability in the field. Kotsay may have had a couple of decent games (although the ball bouncing off his glove for a triple on a routine grounder probably single-handedly lost us a game), but he has been a bad player this year, while we have numberous players doing well in AAA. I'm not upset over what's happened the past week, as any team has down times, and I'm certainly not going to get upset with Prince because he's had a down week. I just can't understand why we continue to accept mediocrity when we have better options for free in our system. For that reason, I'm not overly upset with the SS situation, other than that we have three bad SS's taking up space, so one of them should be sent packing. If we are able to find a better SS, great, but the other moves can easily be made to make us better now without giving up a thing.

The team's bullpen has a 3.94 ERA, which isn't bad. The problem is some of its best relievers pitch the lowest leverage innings, while its worst reliever pitching in the highest leverage situations. I'll agree here. In addition to Loe, Roenicke put Green into a lot of situations he should never have been. With better bullpen management, we should have at least 5-6 more wins this season, and that's probably being generously low, as it could well be in the double digits. I understand every reliever has bad outings, but Roenicke's "go to guys" have cost us an exceptional amount this season. Thankfully, Saito, Braddock and Hawkins are all back and Green was DFA'd before he could do more harm. Our bullpen should be a strength to this team. Unfortunately, I haven't seen any signs that Roenicke will take Loe out of the "8th inning guy" role, so we will see more & more good SP efforts go to waste in the 8th inning while better relievers are forced to sit and watch.

1) Saito, Hawkins and Braddock share important innings leading up to Axford. Loe has been the biggest disaster all year, and that's saying a lot when your 3B is on pace for the worst year for a 3B in the modern era. Having him as a middle reliever isn't bad, but get him out of the 8th inning role ASAP. We don't need to trade, we've got better options which we aren't using. 2) Green replaces Wilson on the 25-man to split time with McGehee. Green is tearing up AAA, and plays 2b/3b. He would be a big addition to this team. 3) Boggs, Carroll or Gindl replace Kotsay. Boggs seems to get the attention here, but any of the three would be an upgrade. Katin would probably be an upgrade as well, but I think he's hurt. All of these moves cost nothing and make us a better team. If we can find a decent SS or reliever in trade, that's great. Just making the free moves above would make a big difference.

Let me restate that: Kotsay is a big problem which could easily be solved in-house. However, relative to McGehee and Yuni, Kotsay is less horrible because he is a 4th/5th OF, which McGehee and Yuni start every day. Kotsay has a .638 OPS in 142 ABs Yuni has a .612 OPS in 284 ABs McGehee has a .585 OPS in 312 ABs All I'm saying is that McGehee and Yuni have hurt the team far more than Kotsay. I agree that Kotsay should be replaced by any of Boggs, Gindl, Katin or Carroll, and I hope it happens soon. How McGehee is holding onto a starting spot when Green is tearing up AAA is incomprehensible to me. If he is not replaced, he could go on record as having the worst season for a 3B in the modern era.

I agree with Logan. Right now, if we were to go outside the organization, it wouldn't be about who's better than Kotsay, it's about who's better than one of our many options at AAA who we aren't taking advantage of. The only problem we have that we can't solve in-house is SS... and maybe manager.

Because he's been playing as much as he has, its a pretty big concern. An outfielder with a .642 OPS, almost no power, almost no range, and almost no speed is a pretty big concern if he ever gets to start Yes it is awful, but because he's a 4th/5th OF, the other two evils (Casey's play at 3B & the three-headless monster at SS) are much worse. I'd also have to say that the incomprehensible trotting out of Kam Loe every time we have a lead is far more meaningful as well. He's personally responsible for around ten Brewers losses this season, but Roenicke refuses to realize we have at least three superior relievers (Saito, Hawkins & Braddock) who should be out there instead of Loe. Simply put, we have better options at Nashville, so Kotsay should be gone. We also have two 3B at Nashville who could put up better numbers than McGehee has posted this season. Green is LH, so he should be up and it's really not a difficult decision. At worst, he's a better bench option than Wilson. He's likely a great platoon mate for Casey, and at best he's a good everyday player. At reliever, moving Loe to long-reliever behind Braddock, Saito and Hawkins is a no-brainer. Other than SS, most of our problems could be solved in-house, and we're not doing it... that's what's so frustrating.

Until Braun's back, on any given day the pitcher has a decent shot at outhitting our 5, 6, 7 & 8 hitters, which today consists of Betancourt, Kotsay, McGehee and Lucroy. I don't know what the best course of action is with McGehee. We know he's capable of being better than this, but he's been terrible. I don't care if Casey's sent down to play every day and "figure it out," or left up to be part of a platoon, but we need to get Green up soon, as our 3B situations a joke right now. Gamel wasn't a good 3B when he played everyday. I certainly hope they don't intend to stick him out there at the MLB level when he hasn't played the position for a year. Defense does matter. I agree that Wilson/Counsell wouldn't be much (if any) better than Yuni. I hope we pull off a trade to bring in a real SS, but for now there is no need to hold three bad SS on the MLB roster. Try to sneak Wilson to AAA, and if he gets claimed, it's not a great loss. Kotsay's probably the least of the concerns right now, but it's magnified with Braun out. The big issue here is that we have multiple players at AAA who would probably be better than Kotsay right now, and at least have some upside potential. Like Green, it's an easy fix which the Brewers' brass refuses to make.

Third base has been our biggest hole this season, even worse than SS. Bringing up Green to replace Wilson gives you a potential platoon at 3B, which would mean significant PT for Green, who is left-handed. He was a highly regarded prospect before he got injured, and he is finally healthy and playing well at AAA. An added bonus is that he can play 2B as well. What joepepsi said about Wilson is spot-on. He is unnecessary right now, as we have two other bad SS on the team, but I like keeping him in the system as insurance against injury. He could hold a spot down next season as a utility guy when Yuni is dumped and Counsell retires. We need a better SS, but that will have to come in trade, as we don't have the answer in the system. For now, we should at least divest ourselves of one of them to bring up someone who will help the team. We have multiple OFs playing very well for Nashville, and any of them would seem to be an upgrade over Kotsay. This is a relative value case. We have an expendable piece in Kotsay and we have cheap, in-house options to replace him, so we should do it. As for Gamel, again I side with joepepsi. Gamel is too big a part of our future to waste a year of service time on 100 or so PAs. Green is a better option for 3B right now, and any of the OFs (Boggs, Gindl, Carroll, Katin if healthy) would be fine as a bat off the bench.

Am I the only one noticing the year Brett Carroll (.300/.374/.505, 13 HR, 45 RBI, 12 OF Assists) is having at Nashville? Why does everyone assume Boggs gets a call ahead of Carroll? No Briggs, you're not. I'm noticing Carroll (.865 OPS), Boggs (.875) and Gindl (.823)who would all be better options than Kotsay whether Braun is out or not. A healthy Katin (.938) would also be an improvement. I'm also noticing Green (.899 at 2b/3b) and Wheeler (.815 mostly 3B) who could help the team more than holding three bad SS's. I would be happy with any of these OF coming up. I'd guess most feel it will be Boggs because of what Baldkin noted, plus Boggs was already up and he's also playing well at AAA.

Unfortunately that might not be enough in a playoff race. They really need to trade for a SS upgrade if possibleI agree they need to trade for a SS, as they don't have anyone in the system to fill that role. What's frustrating is that they have numerous players tearing up AAA who could help the team. Green should be a no-brainer, whether it's to take over 3B or as part of a platoon with McGehee. Boggs and Carroll are both far better options than Kotsay. Instead, we sit with three bad SS on the MLB roster and Kotsay, who doesn't seem to be able to fill the role as "LH bat off the bench." Our bench was upgraded when we brought up Kottaras for Nieves, but it still has to rank as one of the worst ever assembled. Simply replacing Kotsay with Boggs and swapping Green for Wilson would make us a much better team without need of a trade. Then we can focus on finding a SS via trade. Until then, a Yuni / Counsell "soft platoon" would be better than everyday Yuni.

It's worth looking into imho. That's probably a good way to say it. Kotsay's time as a Brewer should be coming to a close (not saying it is, just that it should be). We have multiple AAA guys who could fill the role better than Kotsay. If it appears to Brewers' brass that Cameron would be better than the AAA guys, we should sign him. If it appears the AAA guys would be better options than Cameron, we should bring one of them up. Either way, we should get rid of Kotsay and replace him with one of the better options. btw, I don't want "Cameron's a good guy" to be the reason they think he's the better option. From articles I've read, Kotsay is a really good guy and quite a character in the locker room, but he's not performing on the field relative to our other options. As long as we're not bringing in a "clubhouse cancer," I want the player who will play the best baseball.

Why can't they have 4 OF's? 2 of the 4 play everyday anyway.Some teams even use three :-) Sure, they could have 4 OF on the 25-man, but I doubt they will. I agree with PEM that if only Kotsay goes, Boggs will come up. If only Wilson goes, Green would come up. Personally, I hope both happen, and the sooner the better.

So what you're saying is, in clutch situations McCann hits like Ryan Braun does in every situation. If a catcher hits like a stud LF or 1B, than he certainly should be in contention for MVP.

I agree Nottso. Even if he was doing better in relief, I'd still want to see Estrada in the AAA rotation. He's our most viable option as an injury replacement SP this season, and we voluntarily eliminated him from that role by making him a reliever. I haven't been too comfortable knowing that Narron or de la Cruz could be in the Milwaukee rotation. We've just gotten lucky that no starters have been significantly injured since Estrada was made a reliever. As for Mitre, it was an odd move, when we could easily have sent Estrada or Dillard back to AAA and we wouldn't have had to lose a pitcher. Even if Mitre's not that good, we don't have a lot of "MLB ready" pitchers, and we just gave one away unnecessarily.

I have no problem seeing Kotsay jettisoned, or seeing Wilson sent to AAA (assuming he pass through unclaimed). I don't really want to see Gamel used as a pinch hitter. We have plenty of guys at AAA who could do that job, and allow Gamel to continue to develop as a 1B playing everyday at Nashville. I don't know the exact timing, but I think all these moves should be made: Additions: Saito from DL, Boggs & Green from Nashville Subtractions: Kotsay DFA'd, Wilson & Gamel to Nashville (Eventually, we will also add a SS and subtract Yuni, but that's another 42-page thread) Saito takes over 8th inning duties, allowing Loe to be used more situationally. Boggs replaces Kotsay as backup OF / bench bat, only he can switch hit, so he's also the RH bat off the bench we've needed all season. Green can platoon with McGehee, shoring up what has been our weakest position all season (yes, even weaker than SS). Wilson remains in the system as insurance in case Yuni gets hurt before another move is made to bring in a decent SS. Gamel gets to play everyday in AAA, so he's ready to be Milwaukee's Opening Day 1B next year and for the foreseeable future. These moves really answer most of the nagging problems this team has, with the notable exception of Yuni.

CheezWiz, I agree with you that Gamel has little left to prove offensively at AAA, but he does need to continue to learn defensively. He has also proven that with everyday PT he continues to grow as a complete baseball player. We don't know how he would react to spending the next 1/2 season getting sporadic playing time. I'd prefer to continue with was has worked and let him play everyday, as the difference between him and someone like Kotsay would not be significant over the limited number of appearances he'd have for the remainder of this year (until September when he will surely be called up). Also, we wasted a lot of Gamel's service time two years ago when Macha misused him. Melvin has even acknowledged that he was misused. We then lost more of his service time last season when he was injured while at MLB Spring Training. We've lost one year of Gamel with little to show for it. I don't know how much time he has before we'd lose a second year. I'd certainly rather have Gamel playing 1B full-time five years from now over having him get a limited number of pinch hit appearances this year, so while we could make room for both Gamel and Green on the bench, we need to think of what's best for the franchise now and in the future. Green has a LOT of value to this year's team, while Gamel may or may not provide relative value over someone like Kotsay. For the next five seasons, Gamel has a LOT of value for the team. So, let's bring up Green now and save Gamel's service time for when it helps us most.

Kotsay goes out for Saito and Cameron replaces Gamel when Interleague ends. I'd rather have Wilson go to AAA when Saito returns and have Green replace Gamel after interleague. That would give us a 3B platoon (Green / McGehee) and rid us of one of the three horrible SS's we currently have wasting space on our roster. Cameron becomes the backup in LF & RF with Gomez and Morgan only in CF. Additionally, Cameron becomes the right handed bat with pop on the bench. If Cameron's healthy, I'd just exchange him for Kotsay straight-up right now, because I agree with this.

So when Gamel does bad in 17 PAs everyone can complain about him? No thanks, I'd rather just keep Kotsay. Over the limited amount of PAs that role will play the rest of the season, Gamel could be much better, much worse or about the same as Kotsay. I'd prefer he play everyday in Nashville until September and let someone else get those 3-4 MLB PAs per week. Then give Gamel the starting gig next season. He's a big, big part of our future, so why waste his service time now in a negligible role? Green is more valueable to this year's team, so bring him up instead. If Prince gets hurt and Gamel would get significant playing time, that would be a different story.

Rock and BA also said that Gamel had glowing reviews of Taylor Green offensively and defensively. Doug Hopefully we will see Green soon ,I think the Fo takes a long look at that during the All Star break.They are all in and need to get this right before the trading deadline. It's kind of sad that other prospects have to cheerlead for an obvious change. It's getting to the point of frustration that Green isn't up. I'd like to see him play some 1B while he is up. Me too. I'd guess he'll get at least one game there to give Prince a rest. Problem his...where does he play? At DH for the next week or so and then back to AAA until September. He'll be our starting 1B next year. As Briggs noted, he's shown growth playing everyday, so there's no reason to screw him up again and waste service time by sitting him on the bench. I hope the two topics of this post will come together, and Green is brought up to replace Gamel when interleague is over. While Gamel will probably be more valueable over the next five seasons, we can use Green a lot more than Gamel this season, as we need help at 3B, and he could get a couple starts at 2B if Rickie needs a rest. Bottom line is that the season Gamel is having, paired with a decent season last year when he was finally healthy, make me comfortable penning him in as the everyday 1B for the next five years. There are very few players who could fill Prince's shoes, but at least we'll have a good, young and inexpensive in-house option so the loss of Prince will be softened a bit.

If we only care about how Greinke has performed so far this year, relative to the rest of the Brewer's current starting rotation, sure. I personally care more about what to expect for the rest of the year. I care about how he has pitched and I care about how he will pitch. I care about relative value, but generally only if someone should be replaced, and Greinke isn't in that category. If we had numerous stud pitchers in AAA banging on the door, then we'd need to attempt to determine Greinke's value in rotation vs. trading him and inserting stud prospect. Right now, there is no replacement for any of our SP, so I don't care how he's pitched relative to Yo, Marcum, Wolf and Narveson... I just care how he is helping the team, and how he may help the team in the future. I guess some could lament the relative value of what we traded to get him, but I try to stay away from fretting over past decisions. There's too much uncertainty. For example, maybe if we didn't trade for Greinke, St Louis would have, and his presence was the reason we didn't make the playoffs. Sometimes it's fun to speculate, but as a general rule, it's probably better to look at what actually did happen rather than trying to determine what could have happened if some relevant fact were changed.

If there was any validity to the trade rumors last season, it appeared that some teams were willing to give up decent pitching prospects for 1/2 season of Hart. The rumors may have been unfounded, or the "decent" pitching may have been "meh" pitching, but I would think the contract makes him more valueable. I agree that if he's traded, I'd like to see him traded for pitchers, but I wouldn't object to a good, young SS if one could be found.

In the AL, bench players often don't see the light of day for weeks at a time, while there are often multiple pitching changes in the same inning. We have plenty of dead weight on the bench which could've been discarded so we could keep the extra pitcher. That said, I'm glad to see Braddock back, and very glad that they decided to bring Gamel up this time, instead seeing more Kotsay. Not too upset with the Mitre move, but I do feel some of endaround's angst over our depleted SP corps. Our #6 starter coming into the season is now a reliever, and we're a sore hip away from seeing someone like Sam Narron starting every five days. We really can't afford to lose many potential SP candidates... even if they are Sergio Mitre. As for the James move, I think the surprise is that it didn't have to be done. We have plenty of 40-man space, and James was already in AAA, so he didn't need to be DFA'd. It would seem that he either did something he's being punished for or there's a trade brewing where we're going to move a few non-40-man guys for some 40-man guys, so we needed the extra spots.