Build the 2009 Brewers Infield...

[Raw Biz]

This is probably more for 2010 but I would like to see Prince traded for pitching, LaPorta in Left (Braun to Right, Hart to Center), and Gamel at First.

[uwisfan]

it may be a small sample but all reports have his glove heading in the right direction. It's clearly the best spot the organization can put him in to remain flexible.

[bill hAll Star]

1B - LaPorta or Gamel : Move Gamel there if you want LaPorta for OF...or something. I'd rather have one of these guys than Prince who is swinging as if he were a rookie and playing his usual terrible defense and is unable to run. Trade Prince while he still has a few years left so we aren't doing a trade deadline desperation move a few years from now. Get some high-level pitching.

 

2B - Rickie Weeks : He will finish the year once again in the top 10 amongst 2B and leadoff hitters when he gets it going again.

 

SS - Alcides Escobar/Hardy : Start moving Escobar in. Hardy is good on defense but his D is overrated by many.

 

3B - Hall : I honestly want to see him with lasik for a while. Look what it did for Kendall. I'd prefer it to just happen right now since we are fading out of the race. If he still struggles, start the process of bringing in Gamel.

[hauser42]

Fielder

Weeks

Hardy

Hall

 

I could see Hall being moved out of town if his play doesn't get better, but his contract is a good deal right now for the team. Hall would be a poor SS for the long haul. He is not a great defensive player and he would have to hit a lot more to make up for his lack of defense.

 

IMO Escobar is going to be a Ozzie Smith type guy and I dont think this will cut it on todays game.

 

Gamel I think will end up at 1B and Laporte in RF when all is said and done.

[uwisfan]

IMO Escobar is going to be a Ozzie Smith type guy and I dont think this will cut it on todays game.

So a guy who was a 15-time all star and first ballot HOF, who played just a decade ago, wouldn't be able to cut it? Wow, your expectations are pretty strong there.

 

[Weirdos19]

1B- Prince

2B- Weeks

SS- JJ

3B- Gamel/Hall platoon

LF- Braun

CF- Hart

RF- LaPorta- Currently playing RF in minors.

C- ?????

[brettac1]

Yeah, if he was as good defensively as Ozzie Smith, I think an exception would be made. He's not, though.

 

I think he's more like a "Rey Ordonez type".

[nate82]

2009

1B. Prince

2B. Weeks

SS. Hardy (sadly)

3B. Hall (Gamel comes up later in the year)

C. Kendall (Rivera isn't that good and Salome isn't ready yet)

 

2010

1B. Prince(Laporta if Prince is traded after 09 season)

2B. Weeks

SS. Escobar/Hall

3B. Gamel/Hall

C. Rivera/Salome

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

The only one that concerns me for 2009 right now is Hall. His defense on this road trip has been brutal. As much as I love Billy Hall the person, he has earned the platoon with 3TO. I hope this allows himself to find his swing, but he is a shadow of his 2006 self. Prince & Hardy are a year removed from all-star seasons, and need to make the adjustments to counter those that pitchers have made to them. Weeks was the team MVP for the last 6-8 weeks of last season...he's got it in him if he can just get that OBP up.

 

A big reason we are going through all these issues now is our team is relatively young. I think we've also been spoiled by the early success of guys like Prince & Braun. Expecting the same out of 3 guys currently at AA is asking alot. They are all likely to have the same growing pains that these guys are having. Not to say they can't be good down the line, but some on this board have an infatuation with these guys that reminds me of a good friend's constant love of Brett Favre's backup QBs. I hope Escobar turns out better than TJ Rubley, but it's far too early to make that judgment.

 

My guess is LaPorta will be the only one called up next year before the roster expansion, which could allow Hart to move to Center.

[ILuvDaBush]

My question is how many games has LaPorta actually played 1B in his minor league career? I know he was immediately moved to left when he was drafted and now they moved him to right to accomodate Braun and most likely move Corey to center at some point. All these moves could begin to catch up to his bat. Also, to expect a right fielder to play 1B would be a bit of a stretch. If you want to move a RF to 1B, why not move Corey? With his height, Rickie would have a hard time over-throwing him. TO answer the question.

 

2009

 

C-Kendall/LaPorta..kidding. Probably RIvera, but THIS is what's sad. Can I hypothesize a trade for Laird?

1B-Prince. He's going to get hot really quick. How does Rickie have more HR's than him? Next thing you're going to tell me is that he has more SB's than Prince.

2B-Weeks. More HR's and SB's than Prince. Steadily improving, both offensively and defensively.

SS-Hardy. Great arm, good defense. Decent bat. Has shown the ability to get hot. Former All-Star and lady's fan favorite.

3B-Hall. I'd like to see us upgrade this position, but it would seem to be abnormally difficult. Perhaps a trade for Scott Rolen is in the cards, as he would probably be very easy to obtain this offseason. Adrian Beltre could probably be obtained if the Mariners start selling.

 

2010

 

C-The Grand Salome. Personal favorite

1B-Prince. Could probably be traded after this (2010) season if you wanted to move one of the big bats to an easier position, but I wouldn't be inclined to move him until then, unless I was offered a bounty. Is there more power potential in baseball?

2B-Weeks. "This is the year that Rickie really turns it on and becomes an MVP candidate, batting .275/435/540". Perhaps my expectations improve more with him than he improves in reality. Still, I swear he stole Pat Burrell's bat, and he has speed to spare.

SS-Escobar. You can't bury that defense at AAA any longer, and his defense will be a true revelation, while his offense... Did I mention he's got a killer glove? Bat sold separately.

3B-Gamel. I would hope with the amount of work the organization is putting in with him to help him defensively, that it will ultimately be paid off. He definitely has the offensive potential for his position, and you would think that bat would play anywhere. But until he proves he can't improve his defense steadily, I'm holding out hope.

 

Obviously, you would then have traded Hall/Hardy/Hernan (though Hall and Hernan would have value as utilitymen, both in the infield as well as the outfield). FUrthermore, the OF would probably dictate some other trades. You would hope that Hart handles CF well, being flanked by Braun and LaPorta, with Jr. Gwynny being the fourth OF/defensive specialist.

[JJHardy7]

I don't see Gamel up in 2009 or at least early in the year. I think the Brewers are going to take it slow with him and hopefully develop him at 3b...at least that's what I've seen/heard a bit so far. The big question is if Gamel gets called up to AAA at some point this summer.

[logan82]

Gobias Industries wrote:

In a perfect world, I'd like to give the stud prospects a full year at AAA next year, taking more of the same path Hart did. And then make room for the prospects after the 09 season.

I would like to see this approach as well. Hart seems to be the only one of our young players who was ready to play when he was given a starting spot. The rest had major deficiencies. Most still have a lack of fundamentals in one or more areas.

[T B0NE 10]

I want this

 

1B Prince- To trade him would honestly hurt as a Brewer fan, who would have thought our big core of awesome players would have played together a whopping 2-3 years! I say we keep him as long as possible and force feed him some meat.

 

2B- Rickie- Once Nedley is fired I hope the new manager will move him to a spot that suits him in the lineup. I still see him being a great hitter in this league hes got all the tools. Id almost try to lock him up for a while cheap while you can. I got a feeling if we ever let him go, it is gonna haunt us.

 

SS-JJ- Hes solid, and average. But thats all he will ever be. I think I'll take JJ's 270 average over "rey ordonez" escobar. he showed what he can do last year when hes hot. i dont think hes that good bad he is a solid SS, who could be hard to replace. Id rather take Hardy and know what your gonna get than have Escobar come and be a AAAA guy

 

3B- I wanna see Gamel here- I dont know much about him but I think we all know Bill Hall is too inconsistent for a winning team. Bill Hall is meant to be a supersub.

[twobrewers]

In a perfect world, I'd like to give the stud prospects a full year at AAA next year, taking more of the same path Hart did. And then make room for the prospects after the 09 season.

A few people have echoed similar sentiments. My question is - What is the difference between learning in the minor league vs learning in the major league?

 

Unless the Brewers do something drastic (Sign Sheets or another #1 starter), I don't see us competing too much in 2009. Therefore, to me, I see little difference between Gamel learning 3B at AAA or the major league team.

 

Do you worry about the young player's confidence? Are you worried about starting their arbitration clocks before they are "fully developed"? Or do you think the Brewers are going to be too competitive in 2009 to have players learning on the run.

[Gobias Industries]

Are you worried about starting their arbitration clocks before they are "fully developed"?

For me, this is pretty much the main reason. I'd just like to see the front office let the top prospects dominate each level before for about a whole season before being called up and becoming regulars.

 

Hart's minor league career examplified this the best, as well as Fielder to a lesser extent.

[Dmiles23]

A few people have echoed similar sentiments. My question is - What is the difference between learning in the minor league vs learning in the major league?

To me, it's all about pressure. Pressure from the fans. Pressure from the media. Pressure from everyone. I'd assume it's a lot different learning in front of, 5,000 people at a triple A game, than learning in front of 40,000 at a big league game. The minor leagues are so laid back, where as the big leagues are go, go, go. In the minors you don't have media breathing down your neck when you're on a cold streak. You don't have drunk guys booing you when you strike out in a big situation. It's just a different environment. Florida may be able to do this because they have about as many fans as a minor league team. But Milwaukee is trying to build a winning mentality, and trotting prospects out there to "learn" isn't the way to do that.

 

I understand every prospect has to learn to deal with this at some point, but I'd think it would be much easier when he is completely ready for the show.

[logan82]

twobrewers wrote:

A few people have echoed similar sentiments. My question is - What is the difference between learning in the minor league vs learning in the major league?

I would rather a player become better and make game changing mistakes in the minors instead of the majors. You can bench a star in the minors much easier than in the majors. I am not saying that all our players would be better for staying another year in the minors, but I doubt it would have hurt.

 

Are you worried about starting their arbitration clocks before they are "fully developed"?

Yes, I want the ready to contribute instead of coming up with extreme deficiencies like Weeks(defense), Hardy(offense, coming off injury), Hall(overall baseball smarts). We shouldn't expect much learning to be going on on the MLB team, it should be done in the minors.

 

Or do you think the Brewers are going to be too competitive in 2009 to have players learning on the run.

I would hope that the Brewers will always be in a position to be competitive where we don't have time for players to learn on the run.

[clancyphile]

2009

1b: Fielder

2b: Weeks

ss: Hardy

3b: Hall/Gamel

lf: Braun

cf: Cameron

rf: Hart

c: Kendall

 

2010

1b: Fielder

2b: R. Weeks

ss: J. Weeks

3b: Gamel

lf: LaPorta

cf: Hart

rf: Braun

c: Salome

 

2011

1b: Fielder/Kyle Long (drafted in 2008 draft)

2b: R. Weeks

ss: J. Weeks

3b: Gamel

lf: LaPorta

cf: Hart

rf: Braun

c: Salome

 

2012

1b: Kyle Long

2b: R. Weeks

ss: J. Weeks

3b: Gamel

lf: LaPorta

cf: Hart

rf: Braun

c: Petey Paramore (2008 draft pick)/Salome

[Fatter than Joey]

What is the difference between learning in the minor league vs learning in the major league?

 

The difference is, is in the Majors you get benched mid-game for Craig Counsell, when you are "learning to play 3b" -- that wouldn't happen in Nashville.

[Oldcity]

2009 is too soon for all those rookies. I'd keep the same infield as this year (if they don't make a move for a third baseman) and then trade Prince before 2010.