Eric Hinske

[nate82]

I stole this from the Doumit thread and it really deserves its own thread.

 

Maybe the Pirates would take Nelson for Hinske once Doumit is back playing.

I don't believe the Pirates would be looking at Nelson unless they are going to trade Adam LaRoche at the deadline for something. Nelson really wouldn't get much playing time with the Pirates and Nelson is out of options so they wouldn't be able to send him to the minors.

 

Onto Hinske though. I believe Hinske is the veteran bat the Brewers should be looking at to acquire. The team really needs someone who can come off the bench and be able to hit. Duffy, McGehee, and Nelson are really not those type of players. Hinske would be more like Kapler was last year for the Brewers. I'm not sure who the Pirates would want in a trade for Hinske. I doubt it would be much though.

[TooLiveBrew]

Duffy, McGehee, and Nelson are really not those type of players.

 

Except that Nelson is, and is younger & cheaper than Hinske. Hinske & Nelson play the same positions (unless you count Hinske playing 3B poorly as some kind of edge). There is absolutely zero reason that the Crew should be looking to dump Nelson, and especially zero reason when his purported replacement would be the same exact player except older.

[nate82]

Duffy, McGehee, and Nelson are really not those type of players.

 

Except that Nelson is, and is younger & cheaper than Hinske. Hinske & Nelson play the same positions (unless you count Hinske playing 3B poorly as some kind of edge). There is absolutely zero reason that the Crew should be looking to dump Nelson, and especially zero reason when his purported replacement would be the same exact player except older.

Nelson really needs every day at bats right now and there is no where in the lineup that he could be getting those plate appearances. I love Nelson I just don't believe he is at that stage of his career where he can come off the bench and get a base hit. Coming off the bench and getting on base is probably one of the most hardest things to do in baseball. I just don't believe Nelson has had enough experience in the majors to be relied upon as a pinch hitter. I would feel more comfortable with Hinske than I would with Nelson.

 

This has nothing to do with Nelson and the way he has been playing. The Brewers really do need another player like Counsel who can come off the bench and be able to get on base. I just don't see that in Nelson, McGehee, or Duffy. Nelson or McGehee would be the odd man out and I don't really want to get rid of Nelson but there comes a time when you have to make a hard decision. You either go with the younger player or the veteran. I would just feel more comfortable with Hinske coming off the bench than Nelson or McGehee.

[logan82]

I think we should trade for Gabe Gross.

[dadofandrew]

<<>>

 

Hinske's major league numbers are not that far from Nelson's AAA ones. If you're looking at Brad getting 100 AB's as a PH and once every couple weeks as a LF/RF, that's fine. If you need a guy to cover for Braun or Hart if they pull a hammy, I'd feel much better with Hinske out there.

[JohnBriggs12]

Duffy, McGehee, and Nelson are really not those type of players.

 

Except that Nelson is, and is younger & cheaper than Hinske. Hinske & Nelson play the same positions (unless you count Hinske playing 3B poorly as some kind of edge). There is absolutely zero reason that the Crew should be looking to dump Nelson, and especially zero reason when his purported replacement would be the same exact player except older.

Hinske is a proven major leaguer with nearly 3,000 major league AB's who's appeared in 2 World Series and been AL ROY. Nelson's major league career is hanging by a thread. A team like the Pirates can afford to give Nelson more time, but the Brewers have higher aspirations. They are not comparable in the least as far as what they've accomplished.

[TooLiveBrew]

I could really give two hoots whether or not someone is a "proven major leaguer". Mark DiFelice wasn't a "proven major leaguer" & he seems to be doing just fine -- in fact, he was hit with the dreaded 'AAAA player' label by many/most. Iirc Briggs, you posted at one point about how DiFelice wasn't a good MLB option since he wasn't a proven MLBer with a proven out pitch, etc. (apologies if you never did)

 

And if you really think Nelson's major league career is hanging by a thread, I honestly have no idea what to say.

 

 

They are not comparable in the least as far as what they've accomplished.

 

Unfortunately that carries just about zero relevance to the issue of who is a better choice for the Brewers heading forward. One is in his age-31 season & has a price tag of $1.5M for 2009, while the other is in his age-26 season & is under salary control for ~ 6 seasons & is extraordinarily cheap for this season & the next 2 after that.

 

I don't know... it just doesn't seem like a hard decision to me. Just as an fyi, here is the MLE line (park & league-adjusted, via minorleaguesplits.com) for Nelson, based on his 2008 AAA Ab v. RHP -- .265/.339/.430. Hinske's career MLB line v. RHP is .264/.347/.456. So for what is almost a completely negligible difference, people are advocating cutting Nelson & losing him entirely. Makes no sense to me.

[Invader3K]

I think saying "hanging by a thread" might be a bit of an overstatement, but Nelson certainly can't feel he has a secure spot on the MLB roster at the moment.

[TooLiveBrew]

If the Brewers decide that, not only has he struggled thus far (let's not forget Brad has come up just short on a couple of shots so far that would have been huge PH HR), but that he has also completely lost (basically overnight) the ability to post what his MLEs indicate he is capable of doing, then yes I think Nelson shoud feel his roster spot is in jeopardy.

 

On the other hand, if the Brewers see this as a slump that just so happens to be taking place at the outset of the season (& when it stands out readily visible to fans), and see that Nelson hasn't forgotten how to hit... and that cutting him would be letting a very solid, cheap LHB in his physical prime go for nothing... then I don't think Nelson has any reason to sweat.

[liveforoctober]

I've been chuckling to myself the last few weeks... because a bench of Counsell, Rivera, Gross, Kapler, and Branyan would be perfect. *sigh*

[JoeHova]

Nelson's MLEs are barely major league quality for a backup 1B/OF, so I think it is fair to say that his career is hanging by a thread. The type of guy that he is needs a team to fall in love with them and let them play for a while so they can acquire that "proven veteran" tag. He's pretty much the definition of a replacement level player. I know he came up in the system, but he just isn't good enough to worry about hanging on to.

 

To address the topic, I would be in favor of trading Nelson for Hinske. Hinske is a guy that can actually spot start if somebody goes down for a couple weeks. Also, while he may be below average at 3rd, UZR has him above average at 1st and in the corners. I can't believe that the same can be said for Nelson, though stranger claims have proven true.

[brewdude15]

With the signing of Catalanotto, I think Melvin has addressed our bench concern.