Brad Nelson signs with Seattle

[jjkoestler]

Per TH. http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/44954177.html

 

I feel bad for him. Would have liked to see him get a hit in a Brewers uniform.

 

(edit: added information to title --1992)

[GB12]

Any chance at all he passes through?

[jjkoestler]

I really doubt it. I think he'd be a good pickup for a lot of clubs.

[Ennder]

Per TH. http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/44954177.html

 

I feel bad for him. Would have liked to see him get a hit in a Brewers uniform.

He did get 2 hits last september so he did get a hit in a Brewers uniform.

[jjkoestler]

I stand corrected. Now I'm glad I didn't pay a lot for the Snappers Nelson bobble.

[battlekow]

It would be really nice if Haudricourt could be bothered to get the facts of the transaction right. Nelson was not outrighted and indeed cannot be until he clears waivers, which would be three days from now if they Brewers put him on tonight.

[JohnBriggs12]

It would be really nice if Haudricourt could be bothered to get the facts of the transaction right. Nelson was not outrighted and indeed cannot be until he clears waivers, which would be three days from now if they Brewers put him on tonight.

 

I believe he may have already passed through waivers. Teams don't have to announce that a player is on waivers. Haudricourt wasn't making up the term outright, the Brewers used it in their press release. Macha alluded to it in his press conference that Nelson has several days to accept or decide to become a FA.

[brains and braun]

The way fans rode him was ridiculous. Wish him well.

[jackalope02ca]

I wish him the best. Always rooted for the guy over the years. I would be very surprised if anyone claims him though if he hasn't passed through waivers yet.

[endaround]

He will pass through waivers. The point is afterwards he becomes a free agent and there is really no reason for him to stay especially since he doesn't have a real place to play in Nashville anyway.

[Ennder]

The way fans rode him was ridiculous. Wish him well.

In general I don't like the fans at miller park. Way too quick to boo and I find it distasteful. I didn't like that they were booing Looper last night after the 1st inning much either.

[davego]

End makes a good point. Brad has to find a place to get At-Bats. I wouldn't pretend to know AAA baseball enough to guess where that would be. Call the batphone for Mass Hass.

[JoeHova]

Yes, the fans should not have booed Looper yesterday. I know I've defended booing in the (recent) past but that took it to a ridiculous extreme.

 

Anyway, I've never felt like Brad was a real option at the major league level but now I find myself feeling bad about him being cut. I guess it's because we've followed him and cheered for him all these years. My wife got his autograph at an Iowa Cubs game, I think 4 years ago. He seemed nice. I hope he catches on with another team and does well. Good luck Brad.

[joepepsi]

Good luck to him. He earned his way onto the roster this Spring and the Brewers deserve kudos for giving him a chance. Maybe he never got a true shot to do something, but even with a small sample, at some point you have to get a hit. Just a couple hits and he would still probably be on the team.

[Tbadder]

I just hate the way the Brewers treat they're marginal prospects. I hope he refuses assignment and signs with the Cubs and beats us late in the season. It's so frustrating. When will the Brewers learn that you need to give your young players a real shot. Then if they fail cut their butts and be done with it, but this is just ridiculous. And if you don't have a spot for the--keep them raking in the minors and package them in a deal. There's got to be at least a small market for powerful left-handed hitters.

[JoeHova]

What marginal prospects have been screwed by the Brewers? I don't agree with that viewpoint at all.

[jjfanec]

I just hate the way the Brewers treat they're marginal prospects. I hope he refuses assignment and signs with the Cubs and beats us late in the season. It's so frustrating. When will the Brewers learn that you need to give your young players a real shot. Then if they fail cut their butts and be done with it, but this is just ridiculous. And if you don't have a spot for the--keep them raking in the minors and package them in a deal. There's got to be at least a small market for powerful left-handed hitters.

I do not understand this at all. Brad Nelson was given a shot. No hits in 21 at-bats and honestly he was not making good or hard outs. He was not swinging the bat well and a good team shooting for the playoff cannot have a bench guy who can't hit right now. Also calling him a power hitter seems a bit of a reach. He never eclisped 20 home runs in a season in the minors and only had an OPS above .850 twice. I do not seem him as a power hitter really. He is 26 years old and did not prove in his at-bats that he was swinging the bat well enough. Why flat out cut him when there is a chance you could keep him by DFA him? Two me the Brewers had to do this, I just do not know if Gamel was the right guy to bring up right now.

[Invader3K]

I just hate the way the Brewers treat they're marginal prospects. I hope he refuses assignment and signs with the Cubs and beats us late in the season. It's so frustrating. When will the Brewers learn that you need to give your young players a real shot. Then if they fail cut their butts and be done with it, but this is just ridiculous. And if you don't have a spot for the--keep them raking in the minors and package them in a deal. There's got to be at least a small market for powerful left-handed hitters.

I completely disagree. Nelson had a legit chance given to him, and he failed. It's too bad, but that's what happen. Then to generalize that the Brewers do this with most or all of their "mariginal prospects" is just really reaching, in my opinion. Are we supposed to go back to the days of the earlier part of this decade when the team had marginal guys starting regularly?

[jjfanec]

I completely disagree. Nelson had a legit chance given to him, and he failed. It's too bad, but that's what happen. Then to generalize that the Brewers do this with most or all of their "mariginal prospects" is just really reaching, in my opinion. Are we supposed to go back to the days of the earlier part of this decade when the team had marginal guys starting regularly?

I agree with this completely. We are no longer a team that can let "marginal prospects" sit in the majors for extended periods of time if they are not producing. 5-10 years ago we could have but not now.

[RyDogg66]

I just hate the way the Brewers treat they're marginal prospects. I hope he refuses assignment and signs with the Cubs and beats us late in the season. It's so frustrating. When will the Brewers learn that you need to give your young players a real shot. Then if they fail cut their butts and be done with it, but this is just ridiculous. And if you don't have a spot for the--keep them raking in the minors and package them in a deal. There's got to be at least a small market for powerful left-handed hitters.

No offense, but what are the Brewers supposed to do? They are loaded at 1b and corner OF spots and have been for the better part of the past 2-3 years. If this were the Kevin Barker era I could see getting upset, but what are the Brewers supposed to do with Nelson? Bench Braun Hart or Fielder to give him everyday playing time? There is a reason it took Brad so long to make the big leagues, that is because he wasnt a very good option for most of his minor league career. It is just bad timing for him in Milwaukee. I dont see him getting playing time for the Cubs so you can forget about that dream. He is better off landing with someone like Pittsburgh or Baltimore.

[Ennder]

Nelson is not a major league starting player, he might be a bench level player vs righties preferably if he can be hidden as a DH. I don't have a huge issue at all with them sending him down. When you aren't a good baserunner, he doesn't hit for high average, he is pretty good at taking walks, he doesn't have a lot of power. That is a very vanilla skillset. It took him 2 partial seasons and 2 full seasons in AAA before he finally had a productive season in his 5th time in the league.

 

I'm not going to lose much sleep over them moving to someone else after 21 AB. Hopefully he goes down to AAA, rakes and can help somewhat later in the year.

[JJHardy7]

I really like Nelson. I know he's limited in what he can do and I somewhat expected him to be moved off the MLB team unless he turned things around. I just didn't think he'd be moved for Gamel. Not a real fan of that since I would've liked to see Nelson get some ABs against the AL teams. I think he is a MLB player. Is he an everyday starter? Maybe not, but it's too bad he couldn't produce as a PH. I think long-term he could be a PH, but if he's not producing in his role on a team that has playoff hopes the writing was on the wall.

 

I'm more interested to see where he ends up. If he's in Nashville, I'm fine with it. I would just prefer to keep these types of guys in the system in case he's needed later or starts raking and can produce as a PH later in the year. IMO it's nice to keep these guys around (ie trading Gabe Gross last year) and if that's in the minors thats fine by me.

[Thurston Fluff]

If I'm him I'd start looking at teams with little hope of winning this year but in need of cheap major league ready players to fill holes. I think there are teams that might view him as serviceable now with some long term potential. Seattle, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Houston, Arizona, San Diego, San Francisco all might have a use for him at this point in time. Even if he isn't going to be the long term solution he would get playing time now and at least get a chance at regular enough play to prove his worth one way or the other. I wish him well and hope he at least gets a legit shot however it turns out. That's all any player can ask for. Heck look how long it took Nelson Cruz and 3TO to get their chance. It certainly isn't the end of the line for him.

[zurch1818]

Per Haudricourt, Nelson has declared free agency. Good luck Brad.

[patrickgpe]

he was never given an opportunity to succeed and most fair weather fans saw that he was hitless and started piling on him. Its very hard for someone who is used to a an every day player in the minors to come up and pinch hit in the bigs. I hope this is not what the brewers are planning on doing with gamel because we may see similar results and it could destroy his confidence.

 

I understand that doug wants to do well this weekend and wants a well stocked bench and we need a dh and don't have any great choices on the bench, but this could backfire.

 

I still hold adement we need a veteran righty off of the bench and we continue to add lefties.