JJHardy7

I'm not a 'I told you so' kind of guy, but when Nelson was released and the moves that followed I posted numerous times (probably too many) that this team didn't have a plan. It wasn't that Nelson was an all-star or anything like that. My point was a guy like Nelson could sit on the bench and not play and then PH. It really wouldn't hurt his development. Nelson would be a much better option right now than Gamel given his position on the team. You never put your best hitting prospect in the boat that Gamel is. I'm embarassed with how this has gone. For all the posts about it's about the Brewers not Gamel, it's about winning, etc. etc....how many teams call up their #1 hitting prospect and have him rot on the bench? And please...don't give me the regular playing time piece...even when he was playing I posted facts about how he really wasn't playing for any rhyme or reason. Regular playing time IMO = you play on given circumstances or have a plan. The Brewers never had that with Gamel. The 'getting his feet wet' before the road AL games has turned into Gamel riding the bench. Why? I know some have posted 'there's a move to be made, etc'. There isn't. Even if there is..what the heck are the Brewers doing? You can easily book Mat a flight to Nashville so he can actually play. I know I was more pro-Yost than most here, but Macha has his own flaws. I'm sure there will be 'fire Macha' threads sooner or later. If Macha doesn't want to play Mat, send him to Nashville. I know we debate back and forth about streakiness, but does anyone here believe that Casey is going to be a lifetime .300 hitter? Even if he is he can play 2B. There's zero reason as to why Gamel is on the bench and for that I'm anti-Macha. Put the best players on the field and I still think Gamel is one of the best hitters on this team...if you actually play him.

The time to trade JJ for pitching was last off-season, but that bandwagon had plenty of room at the time. I'd be shocked if they could get big league pitching for JJ now, we'd be looking at prospects which probably won't help us this year anyway. Why do you think that? If he goes on one of his tears, I still think we could get a pretty nice haul for him. I do think we might get more for him this year than next year though and that's another debate I guess.

I know the more this goes on I wonder even more why we didn't just give him the 3B job. It wouldn't have mattered one bit at all...but Bill Hall's contract stated otherwise. No Bill Hall = Branyan is a Brewer.

That is why you call it lucky even though it is really just natural variation I guess. I know I'm late to the party, but I believe you yourself have called it luck on more than one occasion....that's why I brought it up. Is it luck when a should be out is a hit? Where can we count those? Calling things luck when they go against the hitter forgets the luck that went for the hitter. Where is the natural variation for that? I just don't buy 'luck' over the long haul. If you want to say it happens over 2 - 3 seasons...fine, but I don't see luck/natural variation playing a huge factor in one season. True all-star players don't have that type of variation. JJ can be an all-star and probably will be again...he's just not one that will be every year. I don't think JJ is a bad hitter by any means, but I do think that he might not be a very consistent hitter...which in turn I'd rather have a more consistent hitter even though I really like JJ. I'm fine with calling it 'natural variation', but at the same token if JJ is going to be so up and down we should all hope he ends up on a high note this year so we can trade him. I've been anti-trading Hardy for a long, long time, but at this point it's Escobar's job next year. Luck or variation is all great or we can make up a new word...he just isn't consistent. My guess is right now he wouldn't haul that much in a trade so we need to hope he ends up on a high note. Again, I love JJ and I think he's a good player. We just don't need a hitter like him on the team in the future. We have enough streaky guys on this team.

this guy seems to have the will power and brains of a coconut. and honestly, he's not THAT talented. Have you met him? Seen him pitch? I'm sorry, but comments like these don't belong on bf.net. Dude can throw 100 mph...everyone in baseball can do that...right?

I probably did. I thought he was making a point he shouldn't be in Nashville. My bad.

And it's not a role I want him getting accustomed to. That role is for "has been's" and "never will be's" like Counsell and Brad Nelson, not for someone you are basing much of your team's future on. What? I don't get this at all. So Gamel right now is at his peak level and playing everyday does him no good? That's flat out wrong. The entire point of him going to Nashville is so that he can play. I've stated numerous times that he is not getting regular playing time. When he starts, there's usually not a reason behind it. Again, he's hit both RHP and LHP before. I highly doubt there's any plan with Mat. Again, so since he doesn't get regular playing time and then you insert him you expect big results? Give him the everyday job at 3B or send him into the minors. For those that claim the Brewers job isn't to worry about Mat's long-term future, you're not seeing what's going on. We're wasting Mat's service time by having him on the bench. What's the point of that? He needs to improve his defense, but you can't also think he can sit on the bench and not have regular playing time and be hitting like an all-star. There's a lot of timing involved in hitting and him sitting on the bench is hurting his play both on defense and hitting. If he doesn't get regular playing time, send him to AAA to start everyday and then when you figure out how to play him call him back up and start him. That makes a lot more sense than wasting service time and not mess with a guy's swing.

I know you can't "prove" what you are talking about. Well then what are you looking for? I think it's pretty clear this team is in a much better position in the minors than it's been in years...it would've had winning seasons 10 years ago if it was where it is today. I think if you want to compare the 'best ever' or something like that you'll have to wait until the current wave gets to the bigs and compare it to the group guys in Milwaukee. And usually you're high round picks get on the radar sooner than late round picks...it's just how it works. Guys that were drafted later have to 'prove' they belong, but guys like Mitch Stetter will eventually get the props they deserve. I personally think it's too early to compare this crop to the guys in Milwaukee, but that's part of scouting and such. I do think the one thing this wave will bring that should beat the current Milwaukee crew pretty easily is pitching. The one flaw with the last wave was pitching. I also don't think it's fair to compare any prospects to Braun or Fielder...those guys are very, very special. I think if you want to compare the current prospect you just have to start with the amazing pitching depth we have at the lower levels. In a few years, you could have cheap, young guys in the rotation and that should save the team a lot of money to spend elsewhere.

Well I understand they have had good luck bringing up quality position players the last 5 years. But again, when people say this is the best depth they have ever seen in the system, how are they determining that? Are the prospects now truely higher prospects and performing better? For all I know, most of these guys could turn out to be Brad Nelson/JM Gold types. I am not an expert at all when talking about prospects that is why I am asking. For all I know, our pitching prospects could all be throwing 95+ and are striking out more than a batter an inning and in past years that was never the case. If you knew exactly what every prospect could do in the minors long-term, they wouldn't be called prospects. I think you want some 'evidence' when there really isn't any. It's just a collection of thoughts and ideas. It doesn't mean it's right or wrong, but it's also not a reason to just think it's a bunch of junk. In the minors, it's about ability/potential and not 100% stats. I don't know how you want anyone to prove that. You've asked if it's true and that's just an opinion. I don't know of anyone here who can predict the future 100%, but X might be your best bet if that's what you're looking for.

If you can prove that players get individual instruction in the minors I would love to be proven wrong. From what I've seen, they do receive individual instruction in the minors, but I don't think it's as early as you or I would like. I know guys get extra time in Nashville and I think they do in Huntsville, but I don't know as much about that. I think that's a little too late to be honest. I also think it's really up to the manager on the team to put in the work. I believe Money and Gamel have a pretty strong relationship and I think Money would be willing to put in extra time and the same with Mat. Bosio seems like a similar guy in that manner too. It's not ideal if you have a manager that's not willing to put in extra time. I'd love to see the Brewers hire more guys at the lower levels, but I guess that's a different topic all together.

I think there is a plan for Mat, I just don't like the plan. The plan is for him to spot-start twice per week and be a LH pinch hit bat. It serves it's purpose, but not the best option IMO. We'll just have to disagree that the coaching is better at Milwaukee than Nashville. Don Money has so many managing responsibilities as do the other coaches like TheCrew07 mentioned. Small sample size surely, but I think the time Randolph and Sveum have spent with him on a daily basis has paid off. I'm not saying it's a slam dunk either way. There are just a lot less obligations playing in Nashville than there are for Milwaukee (or any other big league team). Once you go to a game (not sure if you have) it'd make more sense. There might be (and I say might be) a handful of people asking for autographs or pictures. Money is busy being a manager, but let's remember the goal in the minors isn't to win every game. He also worked with Mat last year so there's a bit of a relationship there. Mat has also made some nice strides working with Money. We can agree to disagree on that, but I do think any amount of practice isn't going to be ideal if he's not putting that to use at all in real game action. The time spent may have paid off, but until Mat is playing almost everyday we really don't know. I know Casey is hot right now, but Casey can also play a few different positions. I get the feeling Macha isn't really fond of Mat/doesn't like to play rookies. I have nothing to back that up, but a team that relies heavily on prospects and such should have a better plan than this. We could debate what is best for Mat, but I think it's clear in the ideal world he plays everyday (MLB or AAA) and we don't waste his service time with him sitting on the bench. How is this helping his development as a hitter? I hate to say it, but I think Mat is likely taking steps backwards as a whole instead of forward and that's not Mat's fault.

I presume there is a reason Don Money is not at the ML-level. Most certainly there are more resources here to work with Mat 1-on-1 on a daily basis as opposed to Money who must manage that ballclub. Money is just as good of a coach as any guy in Milwaukee when it comes to helping Mat. If there is a difference, it's not huge. I think getting the practice time and live game time would be the ideal situation. I've posted this enough here so I won't get into it, but it just doesn't seem like there was/is a plan for Mat.

I have a hard time believing he got down on himself and started smoking again over despair from his demotion... chances are he wanted to start smoking again and thought he could mask it somehow, maybe he was masking it all along, maybe his circle of friends he spends time with in the off-season are big smokers... the variables here are pretty litmitless... the point is that Jeffress seems like a bright kid in his interviews, so to think that he'd just light up without considering the consequences seems like quite a stretch to me. I could be wrong, but my gut impression is there's more to the story than a kid who made a couple of poor choices, this wreaks of deliberate intent to me. So...we should keep trying to figure it out by posts like yours? That doesn't make any sense to me. There's no need to speculate at all IMO. We flat out don't know why, how, or when any of this happened.

Intentional, or an unintentional choice of words? Iverson has played a lot at the 2, and Meeks is only listed as 2" shorter than Redd, so I don't think that being 6'4" is really too small to play the 2. I think other factors are more important. Intentional. There are shorter players that have overcome their height. We'll see if Meeks is one of them. I worry that he's not going to be able to create enough space between himself and the defender before he gets the ball. Again, it's not a bad 2nd round pick. I would've like to see them take Danny Green though.

I'm actually hoping they go the Braun route with Gamel and turn him to an OF this offseason and have him in RF next season and try to trade Hart. If McGehee continues to hit this season with his defense I would be fine with him playing 3B next season as the starter. No way...Gamel hasn't done anything to be moved to the OF this year. Again, start him somewhere and we can talk about his stats. Having Casey next year he could be the super sub or replace Weeks. Having 15 - 20 HRs a year doesn't excite me. I also am going to wait a bit before I think Casey's numbers are all legit. I'm not saying he stinks, but I would his numbers will slow down a bit. Long-term I think he'd make a fine starting 2B.

I'm very well aware of the Josh Hamilton story but the point being missed here is it doesn't matter your background or how you came through things the chances of long term success aren't good. I hope he can stay on the straight and narrow the rest of his life. Few that have been through what he has succeed long term. Based on your comments...I don't think you are. I'm not going to say anything more on this subject because it's obvious a lot of people just don't get it. He's 21, he's just a kid, forgive him I here. Whether it's fair or not he's a pro athlete and they are held to higher standards. Jeffress obviously isn't up to it and for anyone to suggest he is, is absurd. Well...nobody is saying he should smoke weed everyday and blow his career. I am saying that if you have a problem taking your kids to see him pitch you have a problem with almost anytype of entertainment. Nobody is perfect...there's no need to release the guy and also, again, no need to make up stuff without knowing the facts.

Yeah, but they had to offer arbitration to hopefully get any compensation picks anyway. What if he accepted though? The Brewers would've been screwed this year. It's pretty clear (IMO) that at least one of the parties didn't know about the injury.

My point is he likely never will. And if he ever does it will be several years from now with another organization anyways. What kind of example does this set for the rest of our legitmate prospects? Sorry to knock your posts...but you're just missing some major points. Missing a year of baseball (more or less) is a huge deal. It's not like JJ is in the majors tossing no-hitters. He's still developing. It sets a pretty damn good example for the prospects. If you do something you're not supposed to, you won't play. How does that not set a good example? A player throwing 100 mph is gone for a year...and like it's been mentioned the Brewers probably could move him to the 40-man or other manuevers to have it benefit the team. I do also think that if this is a serious problem (again...he didn't test positive at all last year during the season and some here are totally dismissing that fact and treating him like a hardcore drug addict...we don't know) the team probably knew about it. I'm going to guess teams have and will find ways for talent to keep playing despite drug testing. Let's face it...it's minor league drug testing and I'm going to guess it'd be pretty easy to screw with the test. The simple fact is all we know it that he's been suspended 100 games for substance abuse...that's it. This isn't at you, but can we please, please, please stop the 'he was pitching high, etc'. How is that anywhere near true? I'd like to know the source or some links to that. I personally have never had to take a drug test at the places I work, but I've heard weed stays in your system for 30-days (no clue if that's true). So let's say when he had a day off he smoked/did whatever drug he tested positive for...woke up the next day and didn't touch the stuff for a few weeks...then tests positive. This is not being high on the mound or doing something in the dugout. That should be more than clear and it's a joke it keeps getting brought up. If he was going to figure it out he would have the 1st time. Unless I'm wrong this is technically his 3rd offense already. Didn't the Brewers catch him on there own as well? So they should release him and move on...why? There's not point. The money on JJ has been spent. I don't know if you have a 401k or anything...but it sucked for a bit...should you just pull everything out and put the money under your mattress? Again, these are failed drug tests. We don't know anything more than that. Is he addicted, dumb, etc? We don't know and to be posting things that aren't facts like facts is dead wrong IMO. This is the one case where I couldn't care less if he caught on with another team and made it. He's not much of an example for kid's to look up to. What am I supposed to do if he's up with the Brewers someday. Lean over to my kids and say quit cheering for our team for a minute while this idiot pitches? Not the type of conversation I want to be having at a ballpark. So are you the most perfect person in the world? Come on...most people make mistakes...that's a fact. If you have never and will never make a mistake of any kind big or small and want to sit on top of the mountain, I'd just suggest not having your kids watch sports, tv, or any movie. I'd also recommend not going out in the public...there are far too many people who have made mistakes...that'd be a terrible thing for your kids to see. People keep referring to Josh Hamilton on this site. For every Josh Hamilton there are thousands of others who end up dead, in jail or homeless. So really what is your point. I have a better chance of winning the lottery than Jeffress does at truly turning his life around. For his sake I hope Josh Hamilton has turned his life around. Time will tell. You don't have to be with it to be a major leaguer or pro athlete either. Does anyone really think Milton Bradley or Elijah Dukes for example have it all together. I doubt either will last very long in he real world once their playing days are over. Have you ever read anything on Josh Hamilton? I could go on here, but my guess is that you haven't. I'd suggest doing a little research on him and learning a thing or two before you comment more on him.

Blair would've been a great second 2nd round pick, or second 1st round pick. He's had bad knees since high school, and he never missed a game or practice all throughout then and in college. He's a tough son-of-a-gun, and has plenty to prove in the NBA. The Spurs got another steal, and right now, they're my favorites to win the West. I predict a San Antonio-Cleveland/Orlando final. I agree on the Spurs...don't agree on what you're saying about Blair. My main question with him is why did he slip? Obviously (at least from what's out there) it was his knees and such. 1st round picks have guaranteed contracts in the 1st round, but not in the 2nd round. Why wasn't he picked with the first 2nd round pick? That is exactly what I thought would happen, but there must be other issues about him. My guess is he hasn't missed games in college, but he's also going to play 50+ more games a year. I still would've liked to see the Bucks have bought him, but there have to be serious concerns about him for him not to be the 1st pick of the second round. I'm betting he's wishing he stayed in school and played a year for Calipari, though...I think he would've been a first round pick if this wasn't such a guard-heavy draft. I've heard Meeks didn't have much of a choice. Kentucky just bought a ton of recruits and they had too many players with scholarships for next year... Thing is Redd was not a jump shooter at Ohio State. He was mostly a slasher but he could only really go left. It worked fine in college but pros can go either way on defense. It has worked out so bad for Redd...at least it looks like you're knocking on him. I honestly don't like the Meeks pick. He's too small to play the 2 IMO, but for a 2nd round pick it's nothing to be upset about I guess. The real question will be how much Meeks can develop.

What pitcher do we have that's the most 'Perez like'? Any clue on who the PTBNL is? I have to imagine it's a decent prospect...or I'll be sad.

There you go Fielder says the players who work here just have to deal with it. I did not read that as Fielder "complaining" about it, he just noted the existence of the issue and indicated it was something that comes with "working" here. Never having rain delays and never having to play in cold miserable weather is something else that also comes with working here...so it is a trade-off. That's really how you take those comments? Usually a 'I just work here' comment means you can't control it and I'm sure he doesn't want to create a stir. I'd think it suggests he thinks it sucks since he was 'lucky' to hit the HR. Shouldn't that really say something? The reason they're also talking more about it is that the team is actually good. When the team sucked, would anyone really care if they complained about the shadows? Some still don't care that to me there's obvious issues coming straight from the players. Again, if it was the same way the whole game...no problem. It sucks, but that's just how it is. The fact that based on what time of the day it is controls the outcome of a came is a joke to me. It should be fixed. It's not a 'natural' problem either.

I know, it's not a horrible pick, but I thought it was a lock that once Holliday fell to the Bucks that we'd take him. Even the guys on ESPN said Jennings would be a "project player". The lock was Jennings. Ford at ESPN reported pretty much all day Thursday that Jennings was the guy if Flynn was gone. IMO Jennings is going to be a pick that teams will look back on and wonder why they didn't take him. He's been called Iverson Jr...I don't think that's a bad thing. Also, how is taking Tyler at #13 a bad pick? Because he played 4 years? The dude was among the best players in college every year and has decent size for his position...something you can't say about several other first round picks. I think Tyler will easily be among the betters player in this 'terrible draft'. Do you want a guy that will be in the league 10+ years as a bad pick? I kind of wanted the Bucks to take him at #10. In a league full of players that don't put forth the effort and such, Tyler is going to easily have a long career. Energy guys that are getting paid millions now, but lack basketball IQ prove that Tyler should be a good player in this league. All-Star? Maybe not..but I don't see how anyone can question that pick.

I do feel that right now some posts are going beyond the situation. I don't think we really need to discuss whether or not pot should be illegal...that's not really relevant to this situation. I hate to say it, but it is what it is. It's not like 75% of minor leaguers have been suspended for this. It's a rather small problem when it comes to the minors or at least in testing. If you are one who thinks Jeremy has been treated unfairly, think about this: how would you like to go to the plate with your future depending on it, facing a 100 mph pitcher who may be stoned? I certainly wouldn't. This certainly helps explain the lack of control this year. I wish him the best but expect nothing from now on. I don't think this is fair at all. There is zero evidence that he was high while pitching. I honestly think this thread is getting a bit out of control. There are posters stating their experiences and comparing that to JJ when we really don't know anything. That's not fair at all. It is fairly clear that almost anything and everything can become an addiction and it impacts people different ways. JJ could've smoked a few times or a lot...we don't know. He could do this on off days or he could do it right before games he's pitching in...but there's no evidence either way. I think we should quit the 'well this...or that....' and treat it like fact. I support JJ 100% and hope he can get this thing cleared up. The bashing on him is pretty sad since we don't know the facts...if he's smoking all the time before pitching and such...what about last year? Did they just not test him? To me, it's sad that so many here are purely speculating.

That's what the D-League is for, isn't it? The competition in Europe might be just a bit better... Also, I think there are some cap impacts if they're in Europe too (ie they don't count against your cap). It makes perfect sense why a lot of foreign players were taken in this draft. Teams are pushed up against the cap and don't want to pay luxury tax...so you draft a European player to keep the rights and not count against the cap.

Didn't that guy just say that his friend told him about the Amare trade, I don't think he came up w/ a link. If we could get Amare for that package sign me up. On the next page someone posted the link..not sure if it was a joke or not since I didn't click on it. Maybe I got played http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif