Melvin Press Conference, 3:00 PM CT

[jjfanec]

What a bunch of crap from Attanasio. If it was completely performance based then you would've gotten rid of Suppan and Kendall too.

Again you have to people better than these guys to replace. That is what the case was with Hall, Hardy, and Castro (okay I dont know there). But right now we have about 5 guys who can do better than what Hall was doing. Escobar and Counsell are both putting up better numbers than Hardy. Kendall has no one to really replace him. Salome is hitting alright but not very good (.755 OPS) and his defense is not good. Rivera is not hitting too well either. I guess either one could come in and play but it would be a lateral move.

 

Suppan has much less reason to go. Before his injury his ERA was 4.5. What more do you want from a number 5 pitcher? I do not care about what he is getting paid because you have to pay it anyone and we have no one to replace him. Villy, Burns, Dillard, and the now injured McClung are worse options.

[kramnoj]

What a bunch of crap from Attanasio. If it was completely performance based then you would've gotten rid of Suppan and Kendall too.

 

I think this season has shown that random AAA guys aren't better than Suppan when he's healthy. As far as Kendall, there really isn't an obviously better solution to play everyday.

[naivin]

Suppan is an overpaid SP, not an overpaid utility infielder. Kendall is a catcher, not a utility infielder. There is no reason to eat Suppan's contract when they do not have enough SP's even when he is healthy and pitching, so unless you can trade him, you hang onto him for depth. There is no good reason to pay him to walk away when you have no alternatives. You could argue that they have alternatives to Kendall, but I guess I would disagree. He will likely be gone next year, so again, no real reason to just dump him at this point.

 

What Attansio said and did in this case is right on, and I believe he gets it, and is sincere when he says what he says.

[nate82]

Corporan maybe a fit in a pinch at catcher replacing Kendall. Corporan will probably be the second catcher next year anyways if Salome isn't full healthy with Rivera.

 

That is interesting that Bobby Valentine was released I didn't know that he will not be returning. It seemed as though he was happy over there and didn't really want to come back and manage in MLB. It looks as though it is a money issue the team not having enough to bring him back for another year. I would definitely would love to see Bobby Valentine as the Brewers manager. He should have been the one the Brewers went after.

[JoeHova]

I don't think people are understanding just how bad Kendall is. He needs to go. He's hitting far, far worse than Hardy was. He's hitting as bad as Bill was. Salome is hitting approximately the same as Escobar is in AAA. If Escobar's bat is ready, then so is Salome's. Let him work on his defense in the majors, it's not like Kendall's been good in that department either.

[kramnoj]

I don't think people are understanding just how bad Kendall is

 

It's clear how bad he is.

 

Let him work on his defense in the majors, it's not like Kendall's been good in that department either.

 

As long as there is a sliver of hope that the Brewers could have a miracle comeback, Salome has no business catching in the majors.

[JoeHova]

As long as there is a sliver of hope that the Brewers could have a miracle comeback, Salome has no business catching in the majors.

I disagree, but even if you think that Salome isn't ready, Rivera's lack of playing time makes no sense. Kendall is actively hurting the team.

[yogallardo43]

"As long as there is a sliver of hope that the Brewers could have a miracle comeback, Salome has no business catching in the majors." Neither does Kendall.

[JJHardy7]

What a bunch of crap from Attanasio. If it was completely performance based then you would've gotten rid of Suppan and Kendall too.

Like others have said there just aren't better options in the minors....especially if we're 'in it'. I do hope that if we're out of it in September Kendall takes a seat on the bench. If it doesn't happen then, someone has a huge crush on Kendall inside the Brewers organization...

[kramnoj]

Kendall is actively hurting the team and we would all prefer to have a better catcher, but there really isn't a clearly better option right now. Catching defense is hard to measure, but it's also incredibly important. If it wasn't, any AAA player that could hit but wasn't being promoted would take up catching to get a job.

[JoeHova]

Kendall is actively hurting the team and we would all prefer to have a better catcher, but there really isn't a clearly better option right now.

There also isn't a clearly worse option. I don't think Rivera or Salome is likely to be worse than the worst player in the majors (qualified), but maybe I'm wrong. The downside risk is so slight as to be nonexistent. It can not be overstated how bad Kendall is. The difference between having Kendall catch and setting a garbage can on its side and letting it catch (and bat) would probably be half a win at this point.

[kramnoj]

Kendall is only bad in 4 or 5 times a game. A catcher that isn't good defensively can negatively affect the team more often than that. If defense doesn't matter, we should make Casey the everyday catcher and call up Gamel.

[MickeyDavis]

There is no website up for FireMacha.com but the domain is owned by Jeff Wallach of Pewaukee. If someone wants to get that site up give him a call at (262) 391-0852 and see what you can work out.

 

FireKenMacha.com is also not used but the domain is owned by Chris Hill, who has a Las Vegas address but a Milwaukee phone number, (414) 732-1653.

 

This is all public info so posting it shouldn't be a problem. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[JJHardy7]

There also isn't a clearly worse option. I don't think Rivera or Salome is likely to be worse than the worst player in the majors (qualified), but maybe I'm wrong. The downside risk is so slight as to be nonexistent. It can not be overstated how bad Kendall is. The difference between having Kendall catch and setting a garbage can on its side and letting it catch (and bat) would probably be half a win at this point.

 

Have you seen Salome play?

[JoeHova]

Where is the evidence that Kendall is good at defense? Before becoming a Brewer, he was never one of the guys who was lauded as some standout defender. That's just been the company line that the announcers and coaches have been spouting the last couple years.

[JoeHova]

Have you seen Salome play?

Only a few times, but I've seen Kendall play more than enough. Every young catcher will have some trouble at first, why not get whatever problems there will be out of the way this year, when it doesn't matter anymore and the alternative is Jason Kendall? And if Salome is that atrocious, I'm open for Lucroy getting a chance. I think that Rivera, Salome, and Lucroy should all get 2 starts a week in September. At the least the guys will be able to get a little experience. What is the reason to stick with Kendall until the bitter end? How does it help now or in the future?

[jjfanec]

There also isn't a clearly worse option. I don't think Rivera or Salome is likely to be worse than the worst player in the majors (qualified), but maybe I'm wrong. The downside risk is so slight as to be nonexistent. It can not be overstated how bad Kendall is. The difference between having Kendall catch and setting a garbage can on its side and letting it catch (and bat) would probably be half a win at this point.

 

Have you seen Salome play?

You seem to have watched play some. What are your opinions of his defense? I am going only off what Money said about him and what scouts have said, which are not always the most encouraging. His caught stealing numbers are up but I do not know about the rest of his game.

[kramnoj]

What will you accept as evidence, since it's so hard to measure? CC and Sheets couldn't wait to praise Kendall in their post-game interviews last year. They routinely did so without provocation.

 

I don't know if Kendall is "good" defensively. He might be around average. But I've seen him make good plays, and I know that in one of the few games Rivera had this year he didn't look good at all, and it was commented on here. I am definitely happy that Rivera is catching Manny, they have had good success together, and Kendall catching as often as he does is certainly excessive. But I don't think Melvin would put himself in a position to lose his job if he didn't have confidence that Kendall is the best option right now.

[JoeHova]

Melvin has already put himself in a position to lose his job, playing Kendall every day is just going to make it more obvious that he should. He demoted a far better player than Kendall and ate $10.5 million to get rid of another guy whose crime was merely hitting as poorly as Kendall the golden boy. I've always believed that catchers are subject to a very harsh weeding out process. In other words, guys who can't catch don't catch, thus the spread in defensive abilities from the best catcher to the worst is not nearly as large as one would believe.

[The Truth]

In my opinion Kendall is a vastly better defensive catcher than Rivera. And Yadier Molina is an equal amount better catcher than Kendall. We have a "slightly above average defensive catcher" in Kendall

[phxMILWfan]

Have you seen Salome play?

Only a few times, but I've seen Kendall play more than enough. Every young catcher will have some trouble at first, why not get whatever problems there will be out of the way this year, when it doesn't matter anymore and the alternative is Jason Kendall? And if Salome is that atrocious, I'm open for Lucroy getting a chance. I think that Rivera, Salome, and Lucroy should all get 2 starts a week in September. At the least the guys will be able to get a little experience. What is the reason to stick with Kendall until the bitter end? How does it help now or in the future?

I think the reason you stick with Kendall until the end is the same reason you don't screw JJ out of service time by 1 day like some have suggested. You don't want to be THAT organization. If you want free agents to sign in Milwaukee, which is less than a top destination for most players, you don't bench Kendall with 7 weeks left. Whether people want to admit to it or not Kendall has had a long, successful career. 7 weeks of a few extra hits isn't worth it. It would be an embarrassment to a well respected player. When I watch other teams broadcasts of the games they almost always mention Kendall. That alone doesn't mean much but you give the guy the rest of the season playing atleast 5 days a week and part ways in the off season.

[kramnoj]

He demoted a far better player than Kendall

 

Because he had an option who could be better defensively and shouldn't be that much different than what Hardy had already been hitting.

 

to get rid of another guy whose crime was merely hitting as poorly as Kendall the golden boy

 

He should have been gotten rid of, as that level of hitting is unacceptable at any other position.

 

In other words, guys who can't catch don't catch, thus the spread in defensive abilities from the best catcher to the worst is not nearly as large as one would believe.

 

Since you believe in this weeding out process, there is probably a good reason why Salome and Rivera aren't replacing Kendall, as they are obviously better hitters.

[owbc]

We should have asked, "Can Bill Hall catch?" If the answer was yes, then Kendall should have been the one to get DFA'd.

[southpaw121505]

So our evidence of Kendall's value comes from praise from two stud pitchers? Come on, those guys would be lights out with Bill Schreoder catching. I'm so sick of watching Kendall play everyday. The day he hit his hr rock made an interesting comment, "looks like the off day helped Jason." Hmm, ya think? Dude's too old (and crappy) to be playing everyday, it's disgusting. And then to bat him leadoff? ....

 

I swear to god if Escobar doesn't play at least 5 days a week I will go nuts. Why doesn't Melvin just straight up tell him, look he's playing 5 days a week, we didn't bring up our top prospect to sit on the bench. He's not here for matchups, he's here to play. If Macha doesn't do it he should be canned immediately. Between playing Kendall everyday, batting him leadoff, playing Hall so long, raping Gamel's confidence and development..if he screws with Escobar on top of it, I'll go nuts.

[JoeHova]

Since you believe in this weeding out process, there is probably a good reason why Salome and Rivera aren't replacing Kendall, as they are obviously better hitters.

They are also better players. Kendall is playing because he's a veteran. That's the only reason and it's a piss-poor one. Jason Kendall is the worst starting player in baseball. The Cubs realized that and replaced him with a young guy, as did the A's. Let's hope the Brewers aren't too foolish to do the same, although all signs so far point to that not being the case.

 

This GM has a track record of falling in love with total garbage catchers- Gary Bennett, Chad Moeller. Jason Kendall is another in that line and those guys were also praised to the high heavens by the announcers and coaching staff. It was claimed that they were defensive studs and worked so well with pitchers and were so integral to the team's success. However, none of those things were true and they were easily replaced by guys who were, at worst, as bad as them. Kendall is as bad as it gets in MLB. There is no one that is worse. Replacing him with anybody at all is a lateral move at worst.