what are the thoughts on Matt Laporta?

[DHonks]

brantley went to the minors and Laporta to LF because Branyan is back. Nothing more to the situation than that

[berniebrewer4life]

brantley went to the minors and Laporta to LF because Branyan is back. Nothing more to the situation than that

I really wish we still had Brantley. I still think he's gonna be a star. Laporta will be a solid everyday player, but nothing special.

[Patrick425]

brantley went to the minors and Laporta to LF because Branyan is back. Nothing more to the situation than that

 

Well...Brantley didn't really give them anything to think about (as far as sending him down)..hitting .156

[craigharmann]

The one thing LaPorta could do great was hit. Not really a position for him. Great DH for the AL, I guess.

[RockCoCougars]

Someone made a great comparison earlier that has come to my mind in the past as well- Paul Sorrento. I am also upset that they took Brantley instead of Taylor Green though.

[Funketown]

Someone made a great comparison earlier that has come to my mind in the past as well- Paul Sorrento. I am also upset that they took Brantley instead of Taylor Green though.

I just don't see as much in Brantley as others do. He hasn't been very productive since going to Cleveland in the Sabathia deal, and looks like he doesn't have the bat to play in the corners or the glove to play in center. I think Green has a much better chance of being a solid major league player for a significant portion of time.

[BREWCREW5]

He hasn't been very productive since going to Cleveland in the Sabathia deal, and looks like he doesn't have the bat to play in the corners or the glove to play in center.

 

I seem to remember reading an article where Melvin basically said this same thing. I am fairly certain. Melvin explained that he was blocked (Braun and Hart (Hart was decent at the time)) and that he did not have the glove to play center. There was also questions about him ever hitting enough to play the corners anyways.

 

I am not sure what the fascination is about him.

[jwill535]

Remember LaPorta was drafted to be traded. IIRC Jack Z or Gord basically said that when they drafted him. Something to the effect of that he was the best hitter available and although he would be a good major league hitter, he may not have a place on the big league club and would be an attractive trading piece.

[Tedaldtada]

The CC trade just keeps getting better and better for the Crew.

[TheCrew07]

The CC trade just keeps getting better and better for the Crew.

The entire 2009 season begs to differ with you.

[Invader3K]

The entire 2009 season begs to differ with you.

The 25 seasons before 2008 beg to differ with you.

[jjfanec]

He hasn't been very productive since going to Cleveland in the Sabathia deal, and looks like he doesn't have the bat to play in the corners or the glove to play in center.

I seem to remember reading an article where Melvin basically said this same thing. I am fairly certain. Melvin explained that he was blocked (Braun and Hart (Hart was decent at the time)) and that he did not have the glove to play center. There was also questions about him ever hitting enough to play the corners anyways.

 

I am not sure what the fascination is about him.

I agree with you two. I thought all along that the fascination with Brantley was weird, especially if he was unable to play CF. Yes he has a solid OBP but his lack of power makes him a odd prospect to fall in love with.

[TheCrew07]

How does the 25 years prior have anything to do with the trade supposedly getting better? Acquiring Sabathia directly led to the the pitching situation in 2009, it wasn't wasn't the first domino to be sure, but it was the 2nd to last chance Melvin had to improve the rotation long term. Listen, you guys can have your playoff appearance. I get how much it meant to many of you, but don't revel in the failure of the prospects traded as proof it was the right move.

 

The trade doesn't keep better because LaPorta hasn't hit like Braun and Brantley hasn't established himself yet. The Brewers still traded top prospects for a rental, it doesn't matter if both players get hurt tomorrow and never play another MLB game. I happen to like Cleveland, quite a bit actually, and I wanted the trade to work out well for both sides. People around here seem to forget that the Brewers wouldn't have made the playoffs even with Sabathia had the Mets not totally tanked for a 2nd year in a row, the Brewers did not control their own destiny. How would history view the trade without the playoff appearance, again regardless of how LaPorta and Brantley are playing?

 

I'm still surprised how many posters aren't connecting the dots, looking at all of the trades that were made, the assets moved, to end up with the rotation we did in 2009. Be happy we made the playoffs 2008, but then don't whine about the rotation, and I think it's incredibly weak to root against the prospects traded. I can see people rooting against LaPorta for personal reasons, but Brantley was a classy young man that never did anything but work his tail off for the organization, and Byrson certainly didn't do anything to warrant anyone from Brewerfan to be rooting against him.

[Tedaldtada]

Crew07, I know you have commented before that getting to the playoffs should not be the goal, winning the WS should be. I agree with you. That said, anything can happen in playoffs. But you gotta get there.

 

I don't really want to rehash all of 2009 either. Maybe we should have traded that package for Greinke or Haren, etc. I can tell you this much though, none would have stepped to the rubber like CC did at the end of 2008. He was Randy Johnson, the Astro, good. He rivaled what Sutcliff did for the Cubs. It was simply amazing. I feel pretty confident in saying that we don't make the playoffs without him.

[dadofandrew]

There was no complaints about CC in October of '08. Anything else is revising history.

[NYChez]

Melvin didn't know that Sheets was going to get hurt when making the trade for CC. He was thinking that he was going to have a beast of a rotation heading into the postseason. Remember, after CC became a Brewer, Sheets started the all star game. It could have been a completely different postseason if Sheets hadn't gotten hurt. They wouldn't have had to use CC on 3 days rest as often, either, if Sheets was healthy. A rested CC, healthy Sheets, along with Gallardo would have beaten the Phillies, IMO.

[Tedaldtada]

Crew07, not one person has ever suggested they are rooting for those prospects to fail. The fact is those players' values are dropping because of their performance.

 

You will never let this die, will you?

[clancyphile]

Someone made a great comparison earlier that has come to my mind in the past as well- Paul Sorrento. I am also upset that they took Brantley instead of Taylor Green though.

I just don't see as much in Brantley as others do. He hasn't been very productive since going to Cleveland in the Sabathia deal, and looks like he doesn't have the bat to play in the corners or the glove to play in center. I think Green has a much better chance of being a solid major league player for a significant portion of time.

Green reminds me a lot of Cirillo - plate discipline (which was still there in the injury-plagued season), doubles power, and a high batting average. Could do a lot worse than to have a 3B like that for ten years.

 

Then again, if they hadn't moved Braun to the outfield after 2007 (all he did was post a superb rookie season), would the Crew need a third baseman? Might there instead have been a 2008 OF of LaPorta-Cameron-Hart, with Gamel the centerpiece of the Sabathia trade?

[Invader3K]

They had to move Braun from 3B though. He was terrible defensively. Even as a huge Ryan Braun fan, I'll admit that.

[monty57]

I hope the players we sent to Cleveland do well. I kind of enjoy watching the team and having someone to root for.

 

That said, I think Gomez will be better than Brantley, and we're going to have a glut of OFs in the not-too-distant-future. As others have said, the biggest loss could be that LaPorta could fill in a corner OF spot this season, and we could save the money we're spending on Hart. However, that position (filled by Edmonds and Hart) has been pretty productive so far this season. I still think Hart will be gone next year, with Cain taking over in RF.

 

While I recall the unusual "he could be traded in the future" comment regarding LaPorta, but I was still one of those that thought LaPorta's presence meant that Fielder would have been traded this past offseason for pitching. Seeing how LaProta's progressed, we're probably better off having traded him and keeping Fielder this season, but we'll see how the future unfolds. Hopefully, we'll get our young pitching from a Fielder trade.

 

I blame last year's demise on Bush getting a liner off the arm, Suppan getting hurt when he still had a few drops of gas in the tank, Looper giving up far more homers than he ever had and Parra forgetting how to throw a strike. We were in the playoff chase when the injuries started, but we didn't have nearly enough depth to cover all them. I'd like some young pitching too, but I'm pretty happy to have the memories of CC's fantastic performance getting us to the playoffs. Yes, it still took the Mets collapse, but even with that, if CC wasn't a Brewer, we would never have made the playoffs.

[yfinn6]

I don't really understand how the trade "keeps getting better" for the Brewers. They traded for CC, and the playoffs in 2008 were great, but CC isn't on the team anymore and the team had a losing season in 2009. Someone please explain to me how that equates to "keeps getting better" for the Brewers in 2010.

[Invader3K]

One thing to keep in perspective is the draft picks we got for CC. Off the top of my head, I can't remember who they were, though.

[TooLiveBrew]

#1-39 (#39 overall): Kentrail Davis

 

#2-24 (#73 overall): Max Walla

 

 

Both are guys that are considered to have big-time power upside. Davis, as a collegiate player, is obviously well ahead of Walla. Davis is playing for A+ Brevard County at this point (I believe he's on the DL currently), while Walla is at R+ in Helena.

[Tedaldtada]

yfinn6, maybe I should have said, 'this trade keeps getting worse and worse for Cleveland.' But to me, both statements are related.

 

If the players we lost end up being role players or worse, then doesn't the trade become more appealing from the Brewers' perspective? It's not looking like we lost a Hanley or Liriano type of player for a rental (even though many thought we did at the time). How is this not a good thing?

[monty57]

How is this not a good thing?

 

Just a shot in the dark, but maybe if our "can't miss" prospects flop, teams will no longer deal with us for prospects. After our "big three" of Fielder, Weeks and Braun, we haven't had a big surge of talent. Maybe if we're in first place this year and decide to "go for it," we'll seriously have to overpay, as the trading partner believes our prospects are over-hyped.

 

Or, if other GMs think Melvin is "too shrewd" in a trade, they won't deal with him.

 

Neither of these will probably be the case, but I just wanted to throw it out there.