Rickie Weeks looks the same to me; like a bust.

[TuesdaysWithRillo]

I'll take Rickie Weeks on my team. You can have Calix Crabbe.

[piccione88]

For me -- I'd like to see him moved off of 2b so his defense doesnt cancel out his offense

 

I dont think second base is the best fit either. Where are you going to move him to though? I would love to see him in the outfield, with his speed, and arm strength he could really be a plus defender, out there. However with Cameron here, and Laporta coming within the next year or two, that is not an option. Third Base could have been an option, because you see less action, and Rickie's lack of range would not hurt as much, but I dont see that as a good fit. Bill Hall has had experience at third, whereas with Rickie would have a steeper learning curve, and his bat would not be nearly as valuable there. The way the defense is aligned now is probably the best fit, for the here and now.

 

It is way too early to call Rickie a bust. He has shown that he is capable of great things, the problem has been consistency. Last year over the last month, Rickie looked to me better than I, have ever seen him. I am biased since Rickie, and Corey Hart are my two favorite current brewers, but I truly belive that if he stays healthy he is going to have a monster year.

[JenksFan5]

I am with the others that say it is too early to say whether or not Weeks is a bust. His ability to get on-base is extremely valuable to this Brewers team. So far, Rickis has accounted for nearly 20% of the teams runs scored (10 out of 55). When he gets on-base, the offense usually clicks and it is not by accident. He has become a very good base stealer so pitchers worry about him taking a base and has always had the ability to leave the yard with a flick of the wrists. He has shown some weaknesses as well, especially laying off the low and away offspeed pitch and his glove-work at 2nd base, but give the guy this full season and I think this thread might be obsolete.

 

An injured wrist definitely has an effect on OBP. To say otherwise is completely untrue. If you aren't hitting the ball well, pitchers are going to go after you and are not going to nibble and as a result it will be tougher to draw walks. That wrist injury really got Rickie into some bad habits last season and caused him to pull off the ball and change his swing to compensate for the sore wrist. That is why everyone is saying this is a make or break year because he is fully healthy and we will see his true potential hopefully come to fruition. If he has a bad year all season, then we can talk about possible replacements, but my prediction for Weeks line this year is .270/.390/.430 with 20+ bombs and 30 SBs and 120 runs scored. If he does indeed put up those numbers, many teams will gladly take him off our hands.

[TuesdaysWithRillo]

Didn't the Twins want to give us Joe Nathan for Rickie Weeks this past offseason? If you put that deal on the table right now, I still wouldn't do it.

[piccione88]

I did not here that one. I know the Nationals kept asking for Weeks, in return for Chad Cordero.

[TuesdaysWithRillo]

I'm pretty sure Melvin called the Twins about Nathan, but I'm not sure if the Twins wanted Hardy or Weeks. It was one of the 2, I believe.

[berniebrewer4life]

Didn't the Twins want to give us Joe Nathan for Rickie Weeks this past offseason? If you put that deal on the table right now, I still wouldn't do it.

Agreed. I still like Weeks. I'm not certain he will ever live up to his full potential, but he's still a pretty solid lead off guy IMO.

[Boy Jeenius]

Bust is truly the wrong word. Not live up to the hype? Maybe. A bust would be Luis Montanez or Mike Stodolka (#3 & #4 in 2000) or Eric Munson (#3 in 1999). Maybe the Brewers should have taken the next player chosen after Weeks instead, Kyle Sleeth? This guy is a solid MLB player, with potential to really break out. Bust? Hardly.

[bando1234]

Bust is truly the wrong word. Not live up to the hype? Maybe. A bust would be Luis Montanez or Mike Stodolka (#3 & #4 in 2000) or Eric Munson (#3 in 1999). Maybe the Brewers should have taken the next player chosen after Weeks instead, Kyle Sleeth? This guy is a solid MLB player, with potential to really break out. Bust? Hardly.

Now Sleeth is a bust, he retired last week due to arm problems.

[Menace II Sobriety]

I think if all we get out of Rickie is what he is now, it is still worth that pick at that time. What; 6 teams passed on Prince but you just never know. Braun was the 3rd 3b taken at the 5 spot in his draft.

All of this being said I believe Rickie is going to be the team MVP at the end of the season and I have been saying this for months, no knock of Braun, Prince, or Sheets but when you can get a power guy with speed at the top of the order (dirty word Soriano 4-5 years ago) he can easily be the MVP no matter what is behind him if he hits the .400 OBP 30/30/100 runs scored.

Even if he doesn't hit these numbers his value is still there and I find it hard to knock him for injuries that he got for playing the game hard.

I feel he can hit those numbers, just an opinion. I also hope his little bro slides to the comp picks in this draft so we can take a stab at him again but I highly doubt it.

[pebadger]

Why does nobody ever call the front office a bust?

[Invader3K]

Why does nobody ever call the front office a bust?

Well, the team is making money, so on that measure they are successful. I would say that if the Brewers don't make the playoffs this season, you could possibly call Melvin's plan a bust.

 

[kramnoj]

Why does nobody ever call the front office a bust?

 

They do. There are people on this board who are still on the fence about Melvin. Previous front offices were ripped for their failures. Why do you think this never happens?

[naivin]

This team has shown steady and consistent improvement under Melvin, and by all accounts, that should continue this season. Exactly what failures ore you referring to? I didn't realize a GM had to be correct on 100% of his personnel moves to be succesful.

[pebadger]

I'm not talking about Melvin in particular. I think he's done a fine job and I'm gald he's in Milwaukee.

 

In the bigger picture though, a team will pick a player high in a draft. Then the player is faulted for not living up to others' expectations, which are assumed to be fair, accurate and reasonable. Isn't it just possible that sometimes the front offices, not the players, are the ones who get it wrong? And, when they do, why are they not subjected to derisive labels like "bust"? I'd like just once to see a headline reading "Dragons GM A Bust", with a quote from a source in the organization that says, "We've followed this guy from high school through college. He did a great job lining up hotels for us with Visalia, but really came into his own in the video room in Pawtucket. We really liked his numbers, intangibles, and grasp of the BABIP stat, but for whatever reason, he never reached his potential. He's just not as smart as everyone thought he was. For the good of the organization we had to let him go."

[TauPentaRei]

I'm not talking about Melvin in particular. I think he's done a fine job and I'm gald he's in Milwaukee.

Except for the Overbay deal. That's probably a topic for another day though.

 

Rickie is the key to this ignition.

[sgtcluels]

God this guy stinks.. DFA him

[OOOverbay]

He needs to start showing some power.

[TooLiveBrew]

3 HR through the first 12 games. What a bum. Clearly, he's a bust.

[uwisfan]

weeks is having a great offensive game today, but had some costly mistakes in the field. Personally, I think the Crew shouldnt have played Weeks (and probably Hardy) through injuries last year..

[jazzytrav]

He also made some great plays in the field. Even though he's struggling a little on the routine things that he's always struggled with, he seems to be making some of the insane plays that I never expected him to. I don't remember a time where I thought our 2nd baseman would be making plays in short LF.

 

Also, regarding why the Brewers haven't talked about giving him an "extension", didn't he sign a MLB contract when he was drafted? It wouldn't really make sense to offer him an extension if he's not going to be getting substantial arbitration-year raises. Then again, maybe I don't understand how that all works, so someone please correct me if I'm way off.

[1992casey]

Rickie's initial contract ended after the 2007 season. This year, he was re-signed at a pay cut: $1.057 million vs. $1.32 million last year. I would guess that if the Brewers had the desire to re-sign him long term, the situation wouldn't be a lot different than that of some of the other players with approximately the same amount of service time.

[Tbadder]

I'm really surprised by this thread. A bust? I don't get it? I've read the arguments and I'm lost. David Hume, the Scottish philosopher, said that people really go wrong when expectations become knowledge. So lets not talk about what he should be, lets talk about what he is. He not very good in the field, that's the major strike against him. Offensively he doesn't hit for a high average, but makes up for it with BBs, HBPs, stolen bases, and a ton of power for a second baseman. If he can get his OBP up to .400 from .375 he'll be an elite offensive second baseman. He's still got a year ot two years to improve. Rickie is just fine, sure you're gonna take Utley, but how many other second baseman are CLEARLY better? I can understand the argument that he needs to be moved, but then he doesn't seem to be even close to an elite outfielder.

[brewjihad]

I really don't get this either. You'd have to take Utley, Phillips, probably Cano, Kendrick, and then maybe Kinsler. I'm probably missing a few, but that's only about five second basemen that I'd rather have than Rickie right now.

[Tbadder]

I agree with all those but Kinsler. Rickie really is right up there.