Adam Heether added to 40 man roster

[twobrewers]

I don't think "Heether added to the 40 man roster" makes anyone expendable.

 

Either Heether or Gamel will open the season in AAA.

 

I'm really happy for Heether - he certainly deserved it.

[LouisEly]

You never know - everyone said McGehee would be marginal at best at the ML level and look what happened.

 

This allows my prediction to still be possible - McGehee+Peralta+Rivas to Florida for Nolasco. Better yet, McGehee+Salome+Peralta+Rivas to FLA for Nolasco + John Baker (or Josh Johnson - stranger things have happened, look at what MIN got for Santana). Adding Bakers LH bat and .759 OPS in the catcher spot (compared to Kendall's .636) would really help neutralize the offensive dropoff from Cameron to Gomez. Heck, I might even take Ronny Paulino from them instead of Baker - either one is a significant upgrade offensively from Kendall. Then spend the $14M freed up from Hardy/Cameron on a legit #2 starter, then back up the Brinks truck to Fielder's doorstep after next season with the $20M from Suppan & Hall's expiring contracts. It's all coming together.

 

I have a better chance of winning MegaMillions than all of those things happening, but I'll take either one. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[Thurston Fluff]

If they did it now without bringing him up in September I would think they plan on Heether being AAA depth next year more than a major league bench player. He has options so they keep him no matter what and they have a guy who can come up and play right away if there is an injury. I don't think Melvin is big on young players off the bench. More so after last season with Nelson flopping so badly. He commented on how hard it was for young guys tho handle bench roles. That is only compounded with the way Macha uses, or fails to use, the bench.

[kramnoj]

At 28 next season, Heether isn't exactly young. Right now he would be one of the 5 oldest position players on the Brewers.

 

Nelson's problem may have been that he felt so much pressure to hit, because he was out of options and didn't have defensive value. If Heether comes up and struggles, he can be safely sent down, and he does have more defensive and positional value than Nelson.

[Thurston Fluff]

young as in major league experience not age. I would be far more comfortable with Heether in the minors waiting to come up for injury than having him as a primary contributor off the bench. I think we can do better by having established veterans who knows the league and how to handle bench duty over having a rookie learn not only the league but a new role as well.

[Hate those Rodents]

Here is a blurb from Rosenthal in his blog.

 

"If Sizemore's ankle becomes a concern as the offseason goes along, it wouldn't be surprising if the Tigers pursued a veteran infielder like Craig Counsell, a longtime favorite of manager Jim Leyland. "

 

Maybe Heether ends up replacing Counsell. So many of us just automatically think 100% that he'll be back cheap. Let's not count our chickens before they hatch.

[TooLiveBrew]

The point on Heether & Counsell is that Counsell can handle SS well, while Heether is more of an emergency option at short. I still think Counsell will be a Brewer in '10, but it's not surprising to see interest in him after the fantastic season he had in '09.

[Invader3K]

I have to believe Counsell would rather stay in Wisconsin at this point in his career. I'm sure if Melvin makes him a reasonable offer, he'll be back.

[dadofandrew]

Counsell might be tempted by a contender and a platoon job. I hope he returns, but nothing is for sure.

[LouisEly]

Counsell already has two WS rings - I don't think the contender thing is as important to him as other guys who have none.

 

young as in major league experience not age. I would be far more comfortable with Heether in the minors waiting to come up for injury than having him as a primary contributor off the bench.

 

In order to get experience, at some point you have to play the guy. Worked pretty well for McGehee last year. You don't get ML experience being sent down to the minors. What are they supposed to do - loan him to the Royals to get ML experience and then ask for him back?

[jjfanec]

Can Heether play RF? I would love to have someone to slide in when Corey Hart goes into one of his prolonged slumps. I would love to see Heether become a Mark DeRosa type guy

[yoshii8]

He hasn't yet, but he has played a lot of LF, so I'm guessing he could.

[jjfanec]

Outside of a poor 2006 Heether has had an OPS over .800 since 2005. This year he had an OPS over .900. Yeah he was old for his league but those are impressive numbers. He was only a year older than Mark Derosa at most stops and put up much better numbers. I am hoping he can turn into that type of player. He played 17 games in LF and at 2b this year, 22 at SS, 63 at 3B. I am interested to see what he brings to the table. Hopefully he gets some chances like Casey did this year ro show what he can do.

[southpaw121505]

"If Sizemore's ankle becomes a concern as the offseason goes along, it wouldn't be surprising if the Tigers pursued a veteran infielder like Craig Counsell, a longtime favorite of manager Jim Leyland. "

What am I missing? What does Sizemore's ankle have to do with Counsell being pursued by the Tigers?

[JohnBriggs12]

Is everyone forgetting that next year Iribarren is out of options and Hernan was no slouch himself in Nashville last year: .311/.362/.411? Plus he's 2 1/2 years younger than Heether?

 

Gamel (assuming he's not traded) and Heether have options left. Assuming McGehee isn't traded either, Gamel likely goes back to Nashville and Heether does too. Iribarren makes the roster over either of those 2 because otherwise they'd have to expose him to waivers. Assuming Catalanotto doesn't return, Iribarren replaces his lefty bench bat role too.

 

If Counsell signs elsewhere, they'll need to pick up a backup SS. Iribarren's defense last year at 2B was stellar (just 5 errors in 98 games), so maybe with some work at SS in the spring he could be used there in an emergency too.

[joepepsi]

Would love to see the Hurricane get a legitimate shot, but don't think he ever will in Milwaukee.

[dadofandrew]

Hernan is only a 2B, who can also play OF. No SS, only casual experience at 3B. He's not much of an IF reserve.

[clancyphile]

Hernan is only a 2B, who can also play OF. No SS, only casual experience at 3B. He's not much of an IF reserve.

With Rickie's injury history, another 2B is not a bad idea.

 

Irribarren to back up 2B and CF

Heether at 2B/3B/SS/LF/RF?

Gamel/McGehee platooning at third...

 

That could work.

[twobrewers]

You'd really be willing to head into the 2010 season with Escobar as your starting SS - with only Heether backing him up?

 

Heether is not a SS. I like Heether, but if Escobar is the starting SS - signing a veteran like Counsell is a top priority.

 

Come to think of it, they probably should have resigned Counsell before trading Hardy.