Weeks out for the season; Hurricane's a-comin'

[Pointer1VB]

I also heard Winfield's comment and was dumbfounded.

[naivin]

Well Dave Winfield just told me the Mets losing Carlos Delgado is a bigger loss than the Brewers losing Weeks, so it must not be that bad.

I'd say Dave Winfield is correct. Probably the equivalent of the Brewers losing Fielder.

[dadofandrew]

Weeks to Counsell (and I assume McGehee) is not a downgrade in OBP or defense, just in SLG. Delgado to Tatis/Murphy is a huge downgrade on offense, not sure about D. I'd say Winfield is very accurate.

 

In fact, if Gamel plays more now, you could argue he'll replace some of the SLG, and the only downgrade will be the first 6-7 innings of defense at 3B versus RH pitchers.

[Pointer1VB]

Well Dave Winfield just told me the Mets losing Carlos Delgado is a bigger loss than the Brewers losing Weeks, so it must not be that bad.

I'd say Dave Winfield is correct. Probably the equivalent of the Brewers losing Fielder.

Well, with Wright, Beltran, and Reyes on that team I don't think Delgado is as important to them as Fielder. Also, Weeks has outplayed Delgado so far this year and most Brewer fans are under the consensus that the Weeks this year is the real deal. I'm not discounting the loss of Delgado, it still is big, but it just seems like ESPN to say that what happens in the New York market is always more important than the midwest. The way Winfield said it also seemed like a dismissal of the Brewers. He basically said, "yeah, it sucks the Brewers lost Weeks, but the Mets lost Delgado and that is by far more important."

[Pointer1VB]

Peter Gammons did say some great things about Weeks though.

[naivin]

The way Winfield said it also seemed like a dismissal of the Brewers. He basically said, "yeah, it sucks the Brewers lost Weeks, but the Mets lost Delgado and that is by far more important."

Couldn't disagree more, and this from an avowed ESPN hater. Sounded to me like what he was saying is that the Brewers would be much more easily overcome the loss of Weeks, than the Mets would be able to overcome the loss of Delgado. I still think the Brewers need to address the lead off spot, but I would say Delgado creates a much bigger hole in the line up than Weeks does.

[TheCrew07]

If Gamel stays up, I fully expect him to crush the ball. Will he hit like Braun did? No idea, but it's not out of the question, he's hit 9 HRs already between the top 2 levels of professional baseball.

 

Offensively with Gamel in the lineup there's no hole. Defensively I'd agree there is, but short of bringing in someone off the street I'm not sure that situation is fixable.

 

As far as the Escobar comments go... Escobar hasn't been terrible in AAA, he just hasn't been great, he also hasn't had an extended hot streak yet either. A little hot streak and he's up over .300, his power numbers have already begun to improve greatly. I wonder if all this focus on stealing bases has taken away from the rest of his game to this point. We're 6 weeks into the season, Hardy hasn't exactly set the world on fire either.

[Pointer1VB]

The way Winfield said it also seemed like a dismissal of the Brewers. He basically said, "yeah, it sucks the Brewers lost Weeks, but the Mets lost Delgado and that is by far more important."

Couldn't disagree more, and this from an avowed ESPN hater. Sounded to me like what he was saying is that the Brewers would be much more easily overcome the loss of Weeks, than the Mets would be able to overcome the loss of Delgado. I still think the Brewers need to address the lead off spot, but I would say Delgado creates a much bigger hole in the line up than Weeks does.

Eh, I guess I could be mistaken.

[Ennder]

If the Brewers had to lose a player I think Braun, Hardy, Fielder, Gallardo, Hoffman, Cameron were all harsher losses than Weeks. It really sucks to lose him but it is an area of strength for us and probably will cost us 1-2 wins at most.

[PrinceEatMeat]

I would have to agree with you on everyone but Hardy. However, I do see Weeks as being a big loss, mainly because he was playing so well. I know that we may be able to mostly make up for his loss, but it still hurts to lose a player of Weeks' caliber. We don't know what else will happen, and I hate to lose any of those players you listed. I was very sorry to see Rickie go out like this again. I think Hardy could almost be replaced in the same way though. He hasn't outproduced Rickie at all offensively. Counsell and Hall could fill in just like they are at 2b, or we could've given Escobar a shot. I really think that losing any of our starting pitchers would hurt pretty badly, and losing Hoffman again would be terrible. It's obvious that without Braun or Fielder we wouldn't be able to compete. We also have no outfield depth, especially in CF, so losing Cameron would be bad, especially defensively.

[rluzinski]

If the Brewers had to lose a player I think Braun, Hardy, Fielder, Gallardo, Hoffman, Cameron were all harsher losses than Weeks. It really sucks to lose him but it is an area of strength for us and probably will cost us 1-2 wins at most.

 

Not sure if I agree with Hoffman but I am on board with the general sentiment. I think 1-2 wins might be the average though. Could be zero or it could be 4, depending on how the ball bounces.

 

The one thing that I don't understand is how some seem to think that true defensive talent can make such huge jumps in a short period of time. I'm not sure we think that's true for offense, so why defense? If Gamel was a very bad defensive 3B for the last two years and a bad 3B to start the year.... he's still a pretty bad 3B, defensively. He's probably not as bad as Bruan was but we should in NO WAY expect him to get anywhere near the offensive numbers Braun put up his rookie year, either. A 1.004 OPS? Never say never but the odds of that are beyond remote. If his injury last year really is messing up his projections, I can see being optimistic about him offensively. .350/.500/.850? I'd still take the under but it's at least a reasonable guess.

 

I haven't looked at any of the numbers yet. I'm just not yet sold that having Gamel play everyday is really the obviously best option. His defense really worries me.

[Oldcity]

I don't see how Delgado is tougher to replace than Weeks. Delgado's only value is in hitting, and Weeks has been a better hitter than Delgado this season. Weeks also brings value in defense and baserunning where Delgado does not.

[JJHardy7]

As far as the Escobar comments go... Escobar hasn't been terrible in AAA, he just hasn't been great, he also hasn't had an extended hot streak yet either. A little hot streak and he's up over .300, his power numbers have already begun to improve greatly. I wonder if all this focus on stealing bases has taken away from the rest of his game to this point. We're 6 weeks into the season, Hardy hasn't exactly set the world on fire either.

 

In my opinion, Escobar still has a decent amount of room to grow with the bat. There wasn't much left for Mat to do with the bat. Obviously there are questions about Mat's defense, but his bat will play. I think Escobar is a year away form starting and that's not a bad thing. I think he also has some room to grow physically too.

 

I'd prefer that the Brewers leave him at SS for now though. I don't see a real need to play him at 2B because he wouldn't be a huge upgrade offensively over Hall IMO. Now if Hall is terrible at defense that might all balance out. I do think Escobar will be a fine MLB player. I just wouldn't rush him up quite yet.

[Invader3K]

I thought BBTN had a good analysis of this last night. John Kruk of all people noted that the Brewers should be OK as Counsell has a higher OBP than Weeks but won't hit for near the power. He was also aware Counsell has won two World Series rings. Gammons (I think) said the loss hurts but they should be able to get past it.

[JJHardy7]

I thought BBTN had a good analysis of this last night. John Kruk of all people noted that the Brewers should be OK as Counsell has a higher OBP than Weeks but won't hit for near the power. He was also aware Counsell has won two World Series rings. Gammons (I think) said the loss hurts but they should be able to get past it.

 

The thing I worry about with Counsell is that he's old and has an issue with his knee. I just don't think he'll be able to play more than 3 - 4 times a week and be productive or have his knee flare up.

[Invader3K]

Well, I think you have to get Bill Hall in there somehow, if Gamel is going to be playing regularly at 3B. Casey McGehee is also an option, and Catalanatto could be in the mix.

[endaround]

The fact that Counsell has been hot does not mean it will continue. His BABIP is 70 points over his career average and 100 points over the past two seasons. He's likely to be the same .230/.340/.310 hitter going forward like he has been the past 2 years

[steve267268]

Injuries like this happen all the time in sports, and often times on championship teams. It's just a matter of finding the guy that is going to step up. That's why you give inexperienced guys like Gamel a shot. Really, though, it could come from anywhere. Counsell, Hall, even Mgehee. If no one can do it and we are still in it by the deadline then you add second baseman to the list.

[jeffy]

With Gamel being able to hit lefties, it might be best to give him a shot at being the everyday 3b and move the current 3b soft platoon of Hall/Counsell to 2b.

That seems like it might make the most sense, but then in late innings with a lead I think you would want to go to Hall and Counsell at 3rd and 2nd (or visa-versa).

 

Not sure where Iribarren fits in to that concept though.

[southpaw121505]

Get Cat in where? I thought he was just OF/1B

[Postseason2006]

If Cleveland continues to "disappoint", what are the odds that DeRosa's available?

[Ennder]

I'm sure DeRosa will be available but I don't think we really need to trade for him given our other options. While losing Weeks absolutely stinks I think it is probably the easiest position for us to fill with what we have on the roster already.

[davego]

I don't know how relevant that is, but I trust this more mature group of players to handle this better than the group the last couple years would have.

 

The point I was trying to make (and maybe failed at) is that Yost seemed to struggle more with adjustments with line-ups and roles, especially with teams that carried expectations. Ken via his past experiences seems to have demonstrated more success here. Obviously we can't know how both would handle the 2009 team. I'm not sure a great amount of maturity is present over last year's club, but I can't guarantee that is the case.

[pebadger]

The problem with saying the loss of Delgado is a bigger deal than the loss of Weeks is the fact that Delgado will be back in late July or August. Rickie is done for the year. To say that Delgado is a bigger deal is to imply that two months of Delgado is worth a year of Weeks.

[TheCrew07]

I think there's a disconnect here on whom we are comparing to whom.

 

I was complaring both players to their actual replacements in the lineup. If you can replace Weeks' production with Gamel's, what have you really lost offensively?

 

The problem obviously is defense, we all saw Mat's total game last night... great range and a fantastic play (I didn't realize his arm was that good), and then the horrible throw later in the game. He has the potential to be a plus defender, no one knows how long it will take to get him there, or even average.