Brad Nelson signs with Seattle

[Invader3K]

I don't know how you can really say "He was never given an opportunity to succeed." Nelson won his job by given the chance to prove himself in spring training, but he was never going to be a regular starter on this team. In the small amount of starts he did get, he didn't do much, and he was mainly supposed to be a pinch hitter. He did nothing to contribute in that role either. The Brewers are a contending team and can't necessarily hold onto a struggling marginal player, waiting for him to get his act together. It's too bad, but it's the reality of professional sports.

 

I don't think there's much to worry about with Gamel...everything indicates that he is and will be a much better player than Nelson.

[brewerfan82]

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

I still think with the number of righties in our lineup, it's more important to keep the lefties we have on the bench than to swap one out just for the sake of having a righty. We don't need a right-handed bat to compliment Prince at first, and the rest of the lineup rakes against lefties and should only have days off against righties, in which case a left-handed compliment would be beneficial. In the case of pinch hitting scenarios, with most teams having only a couple left-handed relief options, most of those pitchers will be saved to face Prince (who you're not pinch hitting for) and possibly Gamel (and if Gamel's in the game, you have Hall on the bench if you really want to pinch hit for him). So most often, our pinch hitters will be facing right handed pitchers anyways. At least, this all seems to be the case logically to me. If anyone can find the splits on how many pinch hitting at-bats we've had against lefties, that would be cool. But I'm guessing it's not high since McGehee has only 16 at-bats total on the year as our only viable right-handed hitter off the bench.

 

That said, I could see the case to replace McGehee with a veteran right hander, especially now with Gamel adding depth to the corner infield spots. With little need for a player that actually plays on defense much (hey, we went with Nelson to this point...) we could probably get away with replacing McGehee with a Grudzielanek, Alou, Durham or even Frank Thomas (although that's mostly for my own amusement!). I also still wouldn't mind us taking a waver on Edmonds over Duffy, although Duffy's defense has definitely been a plus to this point. But there's no reason to complain about replacing Nelson with Gamel (with Catalanotto available to fill that spot at times during the year).

[Ennder]

Yeah I tend to agree brewerfan82. McGehee pretty much proves the point that we don't need another RH off the bench, he isn't getting enough playing time as it is. Replacing him with a different RH would be viable though.

[bklynbrewcrew]

The Mets are interested in Nelson.

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

This is a good move for him. It's too bad for us it didn't work out since we really need a better power LH bat off the bench. I hate to lose him too, but realistically there is no spot for him outside the bench in Milwaukee nor will there be for sometime. He's better off going somewhere where he has a chance.

[bklynbrewcrew]

I hope Nelson does well. Cant really blame a young player for not being an effective pinch hitter when he used to playing every day. He had a very nice spring and has a chance of becoming a decent offensive player. Unfortunately we really had no room for him and he would never have had a real shot at an everyday job as a Brewer.

[Blancofan1]

The Mets are interested in Nelson.

With the news about Delgado today, when I first saw that Nelson decided for free agency I immediatley thought about him going there. He probably would be in a platoon situation right away and get at least some regular playing time.

[JoeHova]

I wonder if Seattle is interested in Nelson. I would think they would be because of the Zduriencik connection but Brad would face the same problem there that he has in Milwaukee: lefty hitting first baseman and no playing time available in the OF/DH. The Mariners offense is atrocious but their corner and DH spots are filled with guys they like (Ichiro, Chavez/Balentien) or who can't conceivably be cut yet (Ken Griffey). Plus, one of their top prospects is a first baseman (Carp) and they have two backup DH/1B types in Mike Sweeney and Chris Shelton (Shelton's at Tacoma).

 

The Mets situation seems good for Nelson if Delgado has to go on the DL. He might be able to get two weeks of pretty much uninterrupted playing time if the Mets are interested in giving him a shot.

[liveforoctober]

Best of luck.

 

It's tough just to lose a quality depth option like this without compensation... but the Brewers had to make a tough choice. We are looking like a team that is going to contend for the playoffs and we need to pile up as many wins now as possible... and those pinch hitting spots late in games are crucial. There was a void there that needed to be filled...

[jeffy]

Why is it that the Brewers could not have traded him and gotten something in return?

[dlk9s]

Why is it that the Brewers could not have traded him and gotten something in return?

I'm just guessing here, but I don't think the Brewers would have had much leverage in a trade negotiation. They're not going to be in the driver's seat when trying to trade a 26 year-old rookie with limited defensive skills and who has barely touched the ball on offense in his short career. Teams probably knew that the Brewers were going to have to DFA him, so any interested parties would just wait and take their chances trying to sign him.

 

Basically, it wouldn't be worth it to a team to deal anything for him.

[And That]

It takes two to tango - I don't think the market for Brad Nelson right now was such that a team would have felt the need to give up a player for him. If you have a decent shot at getting him for free, why pay?

 

Best of luck, Brad. Sorry it didn't work out here in the end.

[jeffy]

Thanks, since I don't know too much about trading rules, options and all that sort of thing, I thought maybe there was some rule that I did not know about. I assume they could not just send him to the minors, if he did not agree to go, because of those sorts of rules.

[JohnBriggs12]

Going in to spring training the odds were Nelson would be in the exact situation he's in right now. They lined up Trot Nixon to be the lefty corner OF/PH bat. They had signed Scott Thorman (who eventually was replaced by Koshansky) to replace Nelson at Nashville. They didn't expect Nelson to so clearly outplay Nixon that they had little choice but to keep Nelson and see if he could handle such a part time role. He couldn't. He's gone. This is no shock to anyone including Nelson and his agent. It is what happens after guys exhaust options without establishing themselves as major leaguers. It's as simple as that. Catalanotto will get that job once he's ready and Gamel will return to play everyday at Nashville.

 

Nelson is a fine guy, but I've never seen such angst over a roster move on an unproven player.

[steve267268]

Here's a question.. If he gets just 2 hits instead of 0 does he get released?

 

Is there much of a difference between 2 hits and 0 hits?

 

Is there much of a difference between 4 hits and 0 hits?

 

It's just a very frustrating situation. It was obvious that he needed some time to work through his issues. EVERYONE goes through slumps, that's just the way it is. Unfortunately, as stated above, we just didn't have the time or the availability for him to work through it.

 

Bad news for Brad: He no longer has a job.

Bad news for us: We no longer have Brad Nelson.

Good news for Brad: Someone will pick him up, and he could very well perform at a high level this year, yet.

Bad news for us: He could sign with an NL team, or even worse, an NL Central team.

Good news for us: This is a sign that DM and MA are not messing around. We might not have Sheets and CC but we are still serious about winning and this move proves it. You don't release Nelson and bring up a guy who is still working on his defense but can mash the ball if you aren't serious about winning RIGHT NOW. They are basically saying, "I don't care how Gamel develops for the long term, right now we NEED his bat off the bench for our major league club." This is a good sign that we are going to be buyers when the deadline approaches and that we will look to bring in pitching.. provided we are still in the hunt. So much for the "2009 is a step back" idea.

 

For the record, i know Nelson wasn't released, but he might as well have been. They knew he wouldn't want to go back to AAA if he could find a job elsewhere.

[Baldkin]

Honestly, if the ball he hit to the wall in Cincinnati goes an extra 3 feet for a game tying 9th inning HR.... I can't imagine he's gone.

[OglivieHomePerm]

Honestly, if the ball he hit to the wall in Cincinnati goes an extra 3 feet for a game tying 9th inning HR.... I can't imagine he's gone.

 

Exactly. If that ball goes over the wall, suddenly he's regarded as "Clutch".

 

I think a lot of the "angst" over losing Nelson is that many of the members of bf.net have developed an attachment to him after following him for what, seven years? We've seen him go from top prospect to non-prospect, back to prospect, and finally to the major league roster on opening day. Personally, when Nelson was a top prospect, I spent more time in the minor league forum than in the major league forum...it sure was the more promising area to focus on at the time. We followed him all the way through the wrist injury that played a large part in his non-prospect status. You spend that much time following a guy, and it's going to sting a bit when he gets jettisoned.

[endaround]

I wonder if Seattle is interested in Nelson. I would think they would be because of the Zduriencik connection but Brad would face the same problem there that he has in Milwaukee: lefty hitting first baseman and no playing time available in the OF/DH. The Mariners offense is atrocious but their corner and DH spots are filled with guys they like (Ichiro, Chavez/Balentien) or who can't conceivably be cut yet (Ken Griffey). Plus, one of their top prospects is a first baseman (Carp) and they have two backup DH/1B types in Mike Sweeney and Chris Shelton (Shelton's at Tacoma).

 

The Mets situation seems good for Nelson if Delgado has to go on the DL. He might be able to get two weeks of pretty much uninterrupted playing time if the Mets are interested in giving him a shot.

 

Seattle is counting on both Branyan and Griffey being healthy for an entire season. When has that ever happened?

[LouisEly]

Mike Sweeney is a luxury for a team like Seattle. And that's being generous because he hasn't been anything since 2005. Perhaps they hold on to Sweeney to see if they can get something for him at the trade deadline, but if I'm Seattle I view Nelson as an upgrade over him at this stage of Sweeney's career.

[JoeHova]

Mike Sweeney is a luxury for a team like Seattle. And that's being generous because he hasn't been anything since 2005. Perhaps they hold on to Sweeney to see if they can get something for him at the trade deadline, but if I'm Seattle I view Nelson as an upgrade over him at this stage of Sweeney's career.

But Sweeney is a righty. That means he can platoon with Griffey at DH, which he's been doing this season so far.

[Pointer1VB]

Also Mike Sweeney is valuable on the bench because he is essentially a player/coach.

[LouisEly]

My point is that Seattle is going nowhere this year, and thus would be better off developing youth.

[JoeHova]

Apparently Nelson signed a minor league deal with Seattle. I'm not sure that's the best fit for him given Tacoma's plethora of 1B types, but good luck Brad!

 

link:

http://ussmariner.com/200.../19/ms-sign-brad-nelson/

 

edit: I see that this is being discussed in the Gamel/Nelson thread.

[Tbadder]

I'm sad to see him go. I really thought he was our best option if Corey implodes this year. I guess I'm just sentimental about powerful lefthanded hitters who solider through thick and thin to make it to the Bigs and then are released after a tiny sample. Oh well.

[TooLiveBrew]

I really worry that this is going to play out like the Balfour situation. I think it's pretty obvious that the Brewers are already missing what Nelson brings to the table.