monty57

Trading Parra also means another SP hole we'd need to fill in 2011 when Bush and Suppan are gone. We'll have Yo, Wolf, Davis (option), Narveson, but would need to rely on someone from the minors stepping up. That's entirely possible, but we'd be thinning out the ranks by trading someone we control for several years. We're finally getting to the point that we may have some starting pitching depth, so I'd hate to see us trade that away until we get a little more certainty. If some of the young starters look good in AA, or if the AAA guys look capable, then maybe trade Parra mid-season, when he'll have a lot of value to a contending team in need of a starter, but I'd be very hesitant to trade him now. It's possible we'll need more OF, if Gomez and Cain flame out, but we're okay this year with five capable OFs, and Cain should step into RF next season. After that, we have quite a few good prospects coming up. If we really need a corner OF next season, we should be able to find a decent free agent at a fairly low price without having to jeopardize our SP depth.

But there is a definite possibility that having Hart on the team instead of Stern/Katin/Cain could gain us an extra win or two, which could be the difference in making the playoffs or not. I'm not real high on Hart, but he does have some talent, and is likely to be a decent (if overpaid) RH part of a platoon. It's definitely not a cut-and-dried decision, as there are "warts" on all options. If we had an in-house option that could come in and rake against lefties for $400k, I'd be all over dumping Hart. However, we don't have that option right now (we probably will with prospect progression next season). In addition to my above-quoted post, I'd also hate to see us dump Hart for nothing, have him join another team and post a .780-.800 OPS and see us miss the playoffs by a couple games because of a black hole in RF. If I was certain that Hart was finished, it would be an easy decision. However, Hart was a good player not too long ago, and has not had any injury that would limit his physical abilities. Therefore, he should be able to bounce back... it's just far from certain that he will. As it stands right now, Hart is probably our best option for the right handed bat in RF. If we make the move and sign someone like Dye, we would probably have to pay more than the $3.8MM we'd save by dumping Hart. This may make us better, or it may not, and Dye would have to be willing to accept the role of part-time RF that would be pinch hit for late in games. I'd be shocked if Melvin hasn't considered this option, and since Dye isn't wearing a Brewers' uniform right now, I'd guess Melvin didn't think the benefit would be worth the cost. In my opinion, our best non-Hart option would probably be to let Cain get his feet wet as a part-time RF. However, I'd like to see Cain get a little more post-injury time in the minors to make sure he's ready to step up to the majors. In other words, let him come up later in the season if Hart is floundering, and slate him in as the full time RF next year after Hart isn't offered arby.

To be fair, I doubt Hart will be a bench player, but he could well be the RH part of a platoon, which would mean he'd spend a lot of days on the bench. Your point is well taken: is it worth spending that much money on someone who may get less than 300 PAs this season? I'll stick with my long-standing assertion that he should be platooned with Gerut/Edmonds this season and will not be offered arby after the season, as he would be paid $7-8MM next year because of the "automatic raise" arby would give him. He'll sign on with someone else next season and the Brewers will move on with younger and cheaper talent. If we hear in July that we can't afford some key addition that would cost us $3-4MM, then I will be upset that we held on to Hart. If that truly would be the case, then we should dump him now. However, I think Melvin budgets in "Mid-season additions" when he puts a team together, so I don't think holding on to Hart will stop us from adding talent mid-season if we're in the playoff race.

With Opening Day less than a week away, and all the negative vibe going on regarding Suppan, Hart, will Fielder be traded, etc., I thought I'd turn things positive and see what everyone is most excited for this upcoming season. Here are a few of the things I'm really looking forward to: Can Braun & Prince repeat last season? Our 3/4 combo is one of the best in baseball. Sure, Prince could be gone soon, so let's enjoy it while it's here. How good are Escobar and Gomez? They may or may not make it at the plate, but with all the hype I'm looking forward to see just how good these guys are defensively. Rickie Weeks - Here's to Rickie staying healthy and putting up the season we've all craved forever Our rotation 1-3. We've been going on and on about the final two spots in the rotation. This is a good thing, as it means spots 1-3 look better than they have in a while. And at the minor league level, I'm pumped to see how well our young arms progress, especially with some of them making the telling jump from A to AA. Will they be major league ready next year, or even later this year? We should find out this year. We have a lot to look forward to this year... Play ball!!

I'm not one to root against the Brewers, but if Suppan gets the April 15 start, I hope he gives up 20 runs in the first inning. Maybe, just maybe that will be what it takes for the Brewers to realize that having him start will hurt the team. If this whole ruse is (as it appears) a way to keep Suppan on regular starts leading to April 15, my hope right now is that they are just going to give him the starting spot for the first month while the 5th starter gets irregular playing time, and will hand it to Narveson or Parra once the off days become more rare and the 5th starter gets regular starts. Back to reality, I think we have to prepare ourselves for another year of Jeff Suppan as a regular Brewers' starter. On a side note, how are our RH relievers going to hold up with three lefties in the pen?

At this point, if the Brewers were to let him go, he'd probably be replaced by Stern or Cain. If Hart were only going to be the RH part of a platoon (which I'd like, but I haven't heard anywhere but here), then he'd only see 200-300 PAs. The decsion would then be how much dropoff would you see from Hart to Stern/Cain over 200-300 PAs and would that be worth saving $5MM or so. I highly doubt it will happen, as it would likely weaken the team in a year where playoffs are the goal, but that's considering Hart/Edmonds/Gerut are used correctly. As has been said discussing Suppan: if it costs us 1-2 wins, that could cost us the playoffs. I still see him as a .750 OPS guy with upside potential if he can put it together. However, if everyone who is watching him play do indeed feel that he is "done," as has been rumored to have been stated by several scouts, then I could see it happening. It would be a pretty monumental fall from grace for someone to go from as good as he was to washed up in a couple of years. If it were to happen, platooning with Edmonds/Gerut may be a good way to wean Cain into the majors. I'd probably rather see a Cain / Edmonds / Gerut platoon in RF over seeing Hart as the everyday starting RF.

Certainly, no one is overly concerned with what, 40-50 PA's in 'Zona. No, I'm far more concerned with the fact that he has been in the bottom third of all MLB RFs in OPS for two straight seasons and is not that good a fielder, making him one of the worst RFs in baseball and one of the Brewers' weak spots this season. Couple that with the fact that they have two other options in Gerut and Edmonds, and I think that there is a big question as to why Hart is given the starting RF spot without any questions. Could he break out? Sure he could, but I'd guess Gerut has at least as good a chance if given playing time, and Edmonds is likely to be much better against RHs than Hart. On top of that, Gerut and Edmonds are much better fielders than Corey. Personally, I'd like him to be platooned or "soft-platooned" this season. I've been saying that for quite a while, and the "40-50 spring ABs" adds to my belief. If Hart breaks out, great... he can be the full-time starter. However, he has done nothing since 2008 to merit a free pass start in RF. After his platoon role this season, I could very easily see him let go (no arby offer) after this season with Cain in RF/Gomez in CF next season. Then our plethora of young OF talent will start to get MLB ready leading to an excess of OF talent in the near future..

I agree with your choices. Also, Kottaras did everything he needed to beat out Treanor and make the club. Now I hope he gets some PT to keep Zaun rested. Stern may not be a top prospect, but he put his name on the map with this spring. Estrada and Loe had good springs, and there's a chance we'll see them in Milwuakee at some point this season. I was very happy to see how Cain performed this spring. Here's to a good season in the minors. I could definitely see him as a starting Brewers outfielder next season if not later this year.

I don't think there's any chance of Hart not making the team. However, if we had someone who could play RF and mash left handed pitchers, we've definitely got the LH bats in Edmonds and Gerut to from the LH side of a platoon. I'd guess the Brewers believe that the potential for Hart to regain lost form is worth the $3MM or so they could save if they went with someone like Katin or Stern. Of course, watching Hart bat yesterday reminded me of late 2008. Not to mention the lazy fly ball that he misplayed turning an out into a triple. If he's looked that bad all spring, maybe he will be dumped... stranger things have happened.

I read somewhere they're using the 5th starter for the first time on the 15th, so would appear they're only skipping #5 once.

In Bill's defense, I think he said that after Cruz turned a nice double play. If Counsell or Inglett got hurt, I could see Cruz getting called up as the 25th man on the bench, or I could see him called up as the backup SS/defensive replacement if Escobar gets hurt, as Inglett hasn't played there much. I couldn't see him coming up to get any significant playing time.

Should this in any way effect the "courtesy" invites to spring that the Brewers give to their young stars (like Arnett this year)? It's bad enough that someone who is near MLB ready will lose some service time due to a spring injury. It would really be frustrating if a top A-Ball prospect got injured in the spring and lost a year of service time.

Agreed that Edmonds has always been well known for making diving plays he may not have needed to make, but what the announcers have commented on is how shallow he plays and how well he gets back on the ball, making a number of plays at the fence. Sort of the anti-Jenkins (my comment, not theirs). I, too believe that Gerut could be a fine CF, but I'll hold out hope that he's the platoon RF :-) Plus, I believe that Edmonds has played his entire career in CF, so he may be better there than in a corner spot.

Well, you can always cut Hart before ST is over and save 80% of his contract. This way both Edmonds and Gerut should get more playing time. The money saved could be use to add payroll flexibility for future personnel move should an opportunity arise before trade deadline. You could, but even though I'm skeptical as to whether Hart will regain his past glory, cutting him would definitely diminish the talent level on the team, as he's probably better than Stern or Katin, and I really don't want to see Cain brought up to ride the bench. Even with the arby win, Hart probably isn't ridiculously overpriced this year, but unless he finds his old form, the guaranteed raise in arby would make him ridiculously overpriced next year, so I could see the Brewers not offering him arby after this year. I don't want to see Hart cut this spring, I just hope Macha uses the available talent wisely. If Hart plays well and Gerut doesn't, I'd be glad to see Hart play a lot. If Gerut or Edmonds is playing better than Hart, then I hope they get most of the playing time. I think two consecutive sub-par seasons by Hart should have the Brewers thinking about platooning him, especially with two very capable OFs in Gerut and Edmonds sitting on the bench. I've discussed Hart in other threads, so I'll make one more comment and then I'm done: Melvin shouldn't have to cut talent in order to get the best players to play... he should just make sure he has a manager that will play the best players.

For what it's worth, I've listened to many of the ST games this year, and the announcers all seem to think that Edmonds has been playing extremely well in CF. He's not going to be anywhere near as good defensively as Gomez, who by all accounts is probably one of the better CF in the league, but I think he'll be able to cover as backup CF. That said, I want to see Gomez as the regular CF with Edmonds getting some starts. Gomez isn't good enough that he absolutely needs to be in the lineup everyday like Prince and Braun, so there should be PT for the backup. I've said for a while that I'd like to see a platoon in RF, and it's not at all based on this spring. Hart and Gerut have been similar in that they had very good seasons a few years ago, but have cooled off. Gerut has the excuse of having been injured fairly seriously after his big seasons. Hart apparently found out that he can't see, but still isn't wearing his glasses this spring. If both are given playing time, I'd guess that one of them would play his way into the starting role, while the other would play his way into a bench role. I'd like to see Gerut given a shot, as I think he could be a good everyday player. For some reason, Hart has been cemented into being a starter, and I think the addition of Edmonds, which is a good addition in that it adds talent where needed, will likely mean that Gerut will be forgotten on the bench until and unless someone gets hurt. He'll leave unceremoniously next offseason and have a good season for someone else next year, while I question whether Hart will even be offered arby because he'll be vastly overpaid for his talent level. Bottom line is that I'm glad Edmonds is on the team, and I hope Macha is able to utilize the OF talent wisely.

It'll be Parra. Suppan's in Macha's doghouse for having to be reminded to throw offspeed pitches on numerous occasions, and Macha said that Narveson pitched well at the end of last season, but nothing in his minor league stats jumps out at you. Therefore, by process of elimination, it's Parra. While I think the Brewers would be better with Villy (or someone other reliever) in the pen instead of Suppan, as long as he's only used in blowout situations to save the productive members of the bullpen, he could provide some service to the team. Of course this spring (I know, small sample), he's given up a boatload of 1st inning runs, so maybe he won't even cut it as long man.

So he's improving as the spring goes on... that's better than his last two outings.

First off, props to Logan for predicting the "we'll keep them all with Villy to AAA" scenario early on, as that looks like what's going to happen. I definitely think Suppan is the worst choice between him, Bush, Narveson and Parra. I think the best option would be Bush at four and either Parra or Narveson at five. I'd rather keep Villy (or another reliever) and cut Suppan, but I now think all will stay, at least to start the season. What I'd like and what I think will happen are two different things. My guess is that Suppan will end up in the rotation with one of Parra/Narveson with Bush and Parra/Narveson in the pen. As thebruce said, this could definitely cost the Brewers, and one or two games could be the difference in making the playoffs. Please, please, please Doug, Ken, whoever, make the right choice, and if Suppan has to stay on the team, make him the long man that only sees action in blowouts.

If played right, I like having Gerut and Edmonds as backups as they're both talented and give us a lot of OF depth. But Macha will almost assuredly never play Gerut unless Edmonds ends up in a straight platoon with Gomez in which case we could be making a Gamel-esque mistake with Gomez. Personally, I'd like to see Gerut platooned with Hart, with Edmonds backing up Braun and Gomez but I'm sure I'm higher on Gerut than most.

From Adam McCalvy's article: So let's assume that the Brewers indeed offer Edmonds the lone opening on their 40-man roster -- it would be something of a surprise if they did not -- and he accepts. How might he be used? Macha was posed that question the other day and he said it would be difficult not to use an eight-time Gold Glove center fielder in center field. But Edmonds has also seen action at both outfield corners -- he started in right field on Sunday -- and has also played first base. Since Casey McGehee is now a fixture at third, that would make Edmonds the primary backup to Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder. Macha cautioned that he is "still evaluating" Edmonds, but there were early signs that this was not going to be a replay of last spring's Trot Nixon experience. The first was in a March 3 intrasquad game, when Edmonds worked a long at-bat against Brewers left-hander Manny Parra. The bat speed, it was clear, was still there. "He still has his strike-zone discipline," Macha said. "He's drawn some walks. He's gotten on base. You know how I feel about guys getting on base in front of our [middle of the order] guys. If Rickie [Weeks] is going to be the leadoff man, it's nice to have a left-handed hitter there with the ability to put the ball in the hole and have some patience at the plate." Edmonds should get some more clarity this week. He can elect free agency beginning Thursday if he's not added to Milwaukee's 40-man roster. The Brewers happen to have one open spot. I'll place my bets that Macha will give Edmonds at least 1/3 of the starts in CF, and probably will be in a straight platoon, giving him about 75% of the starts since he's LH.

Yeah, I wouldn't boo him for going out and playing his hardest. I may boo Melvin, Mark A and Macha for putting him there, but not Suppan.

I hope the Brewers get this cleared up quickly. If he's only with the Brewers this spring to showcase himself for other teams, I'd hope they'd drop him or at least stop giving him much playing time, as they'll need to figure out who will fill the 5th OF/backup CF spot (especially with Iribarren now gone). I've been calling for a Hart / Gerut "soft platoon" for quite a while, and when Edmonds was signed, I figured that he would be given that spot, with Gerut rotting on the bench. However, Edmonds has been playing mainly CF this spring, so he may not want to play corner OF, and I don't see the Brewers sitting Gomez for Edmonds... at least not unless he has a horrible month or so to start the season. I still think Edmonds will be on the Brewers' opening day roster, and if used correctly, he could be a good addition to the team. However, if he is planning on refusing the job, the Brewers need to cut ties with him quickly, figure out who their 5th OF will be, and get Gerut some PT in CF over the next few weeks. They'll need someone who can be a backup CF, and I really don't want to see them have to bring Cain up for that role. That would be the same mismanagement they pulled on Gamel last season.

I'd bet that if Bush doesn't take a screaming liner off his pitching arm again this year, effectively turning his tricep into mashed potatos, he'll be significantly better than he showed last season. Parra's a question mark because his problems seem mental. If he learns to trust his stuff, he could be dominant, and we still have him for several years, so I wouldn't give up on him. Narveson seems to be the best of the bunch at this moment, and we have him under control for a long time, so I'd be really upset if we dump him. I'm in the Bush vs. Suppan camp, which TheCrew07 described very well a few posts up. We could save some money by dropping Bush, but if he is clearly the better pitcher, I really hope the Brewers choose the extra talent over a few million dollars. Suppan's abilities are diminishing (and he never had dominant stuff) and his body seems to be wearing down, as he was brought in because he never got injured, and he's been injured each of the past two seasons. To me, it seems that if it is truly based on who is likely to be the better pitcher this season, it's a pretty obvious choice that it would be Bush. The question is whether he will be $3-4MM better than Suppan, as that is the money the Brewers could save by getting rid of Bush, while Suppan is a sunk cost.

It is very rare for a major league team not to use at least 8 different starters in a year. When you have a roster that is a marginal playoff roster at best every little bit can make a difference. I agree, but there is a big difference between a team that has their starters stay relatively healthy and only need spot starts by 3 or 4 others vs a team that has three of it's starters go down for a significant period of time, with a large number of starts going to the 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th starters. If we remain relatively healthy (who knows what will happen), we may lose out by having a converted starter in the pen vs having a "proven" reliever. If you go the Yost method of putting a "long man" in the pen who only pitches when you are up or down by 5+ runs, it puts additional strain on the rest of the pen, as they are effectively one man short. Do that with two spots in the pen, and assuming Hoffman is only going to pitch in save situations and Stetter is going to be mainly there for tough lefty situations, and you are going to have a lot of outings by Coffey, Hawkins and Vargas. Now, if you use the two "losers" of the Suppan/Narveson/Bush/Narveson battle in a more "traditional" bullpen role, then they will not be stretched out if someone goes down, much like Villaneuva and McClung last year. Therefore, if someone is out for a start or two, we will need to go to AAA to get a starter anyways. The only way a non-stretched-out-former-starter will get stretched out is if someone goes down for a siginificant period of time. In this case, Suppan/Parra/Narveson/Bush would go an outing or two with a limited pitch count before they would be able to go over 3-4 innings. So, the "insurance" you're getting by keeping the two "losers" in the pen really only goes into effect if two of our starters go down with significant injuries at the same time. The premium you're paying for this "insurance" is likely a worse bullpen than you would have if you keep someone like Villy or Axford in the pen over Suppan or Bush. Throw in that players are probably better in a role they're used to, meaning Suppan, Bush and Parra could completely flop if placed in the bullpen, and we very well could be in better shape for the long haul if we divest ourselves of Suppan or Bush and keep a more traditional reliever in the pen to start the season.

After reading the first sentence, I thought the names rhymed with Spank Fratalanatto, Mason Trendle, Gory Fatterson and Slim Redmonds