Why is roster being held hostage by Seth McClung and his 6.16 ERA?

[JohnBriggs12]

Sure Seth McClung has a great arm. In a perfect world it would be nice to keep him around.

But lets take a closer look at this guy. He's no kid. He's 27 years old. He's had chances before. He's got 263 major league innings under his belt. In that time, he's posted a 6.16 ERA. 6.16!. He's walked 160 guys in those 263 innings. That's bad. He's walked 9 in 12 innings this spring.

Yet it appears, the Brewers are certain that if they exposed McClung to waivers, he'd be claimed, so instead of the obvious move of either Bush or Vargas to the pen for long relief and opening a rotation spot for the more than worthy Villanueva.

Now I'm not convinced that McClung would get claimed off of waivers or if he did it would be any great loss. Why is Brewer braintrust so enamored with this guy that they're willing to risk a weaker rotation just to keep him?

[dadofandrew]

You can't teach velocity.

[TheCrew07]

Melvin seems to have a philosphy of throwing power arms against the wall and see what sticks. It's worked well for him to this point, but I'm not overly excited about him either, walks drive me nuts, they've always been personal pet peave.

[Brian the Automator]

But lets take a closer look at this guy. He's no kid. He's 27 years old. He's had chances before. He's got 263 major league innings under his belt. In that time, he's posted a 6.16 ERA. 6.16!. He's walked 160 guys in those 263 innings. That's bad. He's walked 9 in 12 innings this spring.

 

He had an ERA of 3.75 and a K:BB ratio of 2.2 last season (admittedly, in 12 IP). If Mike Maddux believes he can harness that potential, I'm not going to question it, as he's been right more than he's been wrong. Given the fact that there aren't many long-term options in the bullpen, I'm fine with giving him a longer leash.

[bball123h2]

That, and it appears they are trying to find out if he could be used in a long relief role, given the length of his spring outings. If he can handle the long relief role, whoever misses out on the rotation can go to AAA and be called up to start without having to be stretched out first.

[Fatter than Joey]

I always thought that after he hit Pujols, that ensured him a roster spot.

 

I don't see a lot of upside in McClung. I'd be happy if he was cut.

 

You can't teach velocity.

 

No, you can't teach velocity -- but you can clobber it at the MLB level if you can't locate your offspeed pitches.

[JohnBriggs12]

But lets take a closer look at this guy. He's no kid. He's 27 years old. He's had chances before. He's got 263 major league innings under his belt. In that time, he's posted a 6.16 ERA. 6.16!. He's walked 160 guys in those 263 innings. That's bad. He's walked 9 in 12 innings this spring.

 

He had an ERA of 3.75 and a K:BB ratio of 2.2 last season (admittedly, in 12 IP). If Mike Maddux believes he can harness that potential, I'm not going to question it, as he's been right more than he's been wrong. Given the fact that there aren't many long-term options in the bullpen, I'm fine with giving him a longer leash.

 

Is the object to win this year or not?

 

Or is the object to make the pitching coach look good?

 

Did they not pick up McClung for a song (Balfour) last August? Doesn't that tell you guys like that are not that hard to come by?

[endaround]

McClung over his career has walked 5.48 per 9. I have no idea how you can trust McClung to give you 3 innings, which is what you need from a long reliever. Yes you can't teach velocity but no one has been able to teach McClung control.

[JohnBriggs12]

The "accumulate as many power arms as possible" was the White Sox philosophy too. Last year they had a bullpen full of guys with major heat, Aardsma, Cisco, McDougal, Masset, etc.

 

They thought their pitching coach, Don Cooper, was a genius too because of Bobby Jenks.

 

They had one of the worst bullpens in history last year. Thinking your pitching coach is smarter than the other guy's usually doesn't prove to be the case.

[DrWood]

has the roster been finalized? McClung is the kind of guy that could get traded for a prospect by next Sunday.

[Brian the Automator]

Is the object to win this year or not?

 

Or is the object to make the pitching coach look good?

 

Did they not pick up McClung for a song (Balfour) last August? Doesn't that tell you guys like that are not that hard to come by?

The object is ALWAYS to win now and in the future. It's just that the emphasis on which one changes. McClung pitched well for the Brewers last year, so it's not like they're carrying an Enrique Cruz-type here.

Sure, they picked up McClung for a song, just like they picked up any other number of nuggets that turned out to be quite beneficial. If Maddux can see something in a guy that he thinks he can turn into a plus piece, who am I as some dude on the internet to question that?

 

[brwrsfan]

I guess my main problem with keeping McClung has more to do with Villanueva getting shipped out to AAA, more than McClung being on a major league roster. Villanueva absolutely should be starting for this team, not sitting down in the minors.

 

If the idea is to win now, keeping the best 25 players should really be the objective here, and I just don't think that is the case if McClung makes it and Villanueva doesn't...

[TooLiveBrew]

McClung pitched well for the Brewers last year

 

Given that it was only 12 IP, and that his GB% & LD% were way off career norms, I'd say it's more that Seth got pretty lucky with us last year. 3.8 BB/9 is not good in any way.

 

who am I as some dude on the internet to question that?

 

http://whatthecrap.files.wordpress.com/2007/11/dude.jpg

The Automator, man.

[Brian the Automator]

I guess my main problem with keeping McClung has more to do with Villanueva getting shipped out to AAA, more than McClung being on a major league roster. Villanueva absolutely should be starting for this team, not sitting down in the minors.

 

If the idea is to win now, keeping the best 25 players should really be the objective here, and I just don't think that is the case if McClung makes it and Villanueva doesn't...

I guess I don't see the association between McClung and Villanueva. One's a reliever, whereas the other is slated to be a starter. Better to have Villanueva stretched out and ready to go by getting a few starts in AAA than to have to stretch him out "on the job".

But honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if Villanueva was in the rotation on opening day. I wouldn't take anything Melvin or Yost says at face value until the season starts.

 

[endaround]

My problem with keeping McClung means that Vargas pitches in the rotation and McClung can cause the bullpen to blow up if he is actually needed for long relief.

[JJHardy7]

I guess I don't see the harm in potentially having McClung on the opening day roster. It's only March/April. If the Brewers see something in him and he struggles in April, they can risk sending him down and losing him...and it will still only be April/May. I think if McClung is on the roster in July/August with a bunch of innings and an ERA over 6 that's a different matter.

 

McClung has pitched well in his time in Nashville and Milwaukee. He pitched very well in Nashville actually. I don't think he's played all that awful in his time with the Brewers and maybe a change of scenery was the answer. The bottom line is I'm not going to get too worked up on where McClung is at in April. There's plenty of baseball to be played.

[brewers4eric]

I don't really have a problem with keeping McClung at this point. As I see it, he will only be around until Gallardo is ready for the rotation, or until Cameron serves his suspension. The decision on whether or not to keep him will be quite a bit easier at those points, and unless he has pitched spectacularly over 25 games, I don't think he'll be around.

 

The Brewers typically break camp with a name for the message boards on the roster. The list over the last few years might include Elmer Dessens, Jared Fernandez, Tommie Phelps, and Ben Ford. None of those guys accumulated more than 25 innings in a Brewer uniform during a single season, I don't think that McClung will either. Manny Parra and Carlos Villanueva, however; will be around for the long haul.

 

During the opening series against the Cubs, McClung is just the guy you need when the shoulder flys open and someone gets plunked.

[jimmyjeromehardy7]

I wouldn't take anything Melvin or Yost says at face value until the season starts.

I agree that there is alot of smoke being blown around. Why would a team trade for McClung if the Brewers openly announced that Villy is in the rotation and Vargas is in the pen. Teams will quickly figure out the McClung is headed to waivers and will be available without giving up anything.

[Brewguru2]

I agree that I don't understand why you keep McClung at the expense of Villanueva.

 

Again, Villanueva is getting the shaft by the administration's love of Claudio Vargas. The reason the bullpen blew up in the second half last year was because the starters couldn't go deep into games. Vargas' 5 IP and 100 pitches every outing was a big reason why.

 

So, when August rolls around this year and David Riske and Guillermo Mota are toast, don't wonder why.

[lukevan]

Villy has an option, Vargas doesn't. If Vargas has added a decent changeup over the winter it's not unfathomable that he could prove to be more effective than Villy would've been. If Vargas puts up some good early stats he could be moved for a valuable piece.

[JJHardy7]

I agree that I don't understand why you keep McClung at the expense of Villanueva.

 

Again, why are these two connected? If you want another relief pitcher in Milwaukee instead of McClung than you have that option, but the Brewers are going to keep Villanueva as a starter. It is not at the expense of Villanueva unless McClung is one of the starting five pitchers the beginning of the year -- and that is not going to happen.

 

Again, Villanueva is getting the shaft by the administration's love of Claudio Vargas. The reason the bullpen blew up in the second half last year was because the starters couldn't go deep into games. Vargas' 5 IP and 100 pitches every outing was a big reason why.

 

Is he getting the shaft if he gets called up in April? Villanueva is most likely going to Nashville to pitch every 5th day. That doesn't happen in April in the bigs and as last year shows when CV went down to Nashville and pitched every 5th game and came back he pitched quite well. If world series are won in April, than the Brewers won one last year.

[TuesdaysWithRillo]

Again, why are these two connected? If you want another relief pitcher in Milwaukee instead of McClung than you have that option, but the Brewers are going to keep Villanueva as a starter. It is not at the expense of Villanueva unless McClung is one of the starting five pitchers the beginning of the year -- and that is not going to happen.

They are connected because Vargas is a candidate for the long relief job instead of in the rotation which would take a spot from Villanueva. McClung to long relief means Vargas is in the rotation means no spot for Villy.

[lukevan]

The Brewers have never tried to put Vargas in the pen. We as fans think he's a candidate for long reliever.

[Oldcity]

If the Brewers do end up keeping Vargas all year, that's where I think he'll end up. If Villanueva pitches well in AAA, there just won't be room for Vargas in the rotation. The only reason Villanueva is the odd man out is because of options.

[clancyphile]

Again, why are these two connected? If you want another relief pitcher in Milwaukee instead of McClung than you have that option, but the Brewers are going to keep Villanueva as a starter. It is not at the expense of Villanueva unless McClung is one of the starting five pitchers the beginning of the year -- and that is not going to happen.

They are connected because Vargas is a candidate for the long relief job instead of in the rotation which would take a spot from Villanueva. McClung to long relief means Vargas is in the rotation means no spot for Villy.

If McClung had an option, it wouldn't be an issue.

Alas, MLB, in its wisdom, has determined that you can only option a player three years and outright him once before other teams can snap him up.

There is a chance, based on his 2007 numbers, that McClung has started to put it together. If he puts it together for the Brewers, then the bullpen is that much better. The question is, do you go with Vargas for a month or so, let him rack up decent numbers (and then dealing him when Gallardo returns), thereby getting something for a Brewers pitcher, or do you lose McClung on waivers for a pittance of what he could bring? The option of dealing McClung later also exists, and after a good year, he can bring in some more nuggets later.

 

Long-term, the Brewers need to maximize what they get for their players if they have to deal them.