anyone else seeing big changes ahead? Latest: Mark A says Melvin is going to be here a long time, Macha will not be fired Monday

[craigharmann]

What on earth are you basing firing Peterson on?

I think principle.....not sure.....

[naivin]

I am by no means a big fire the pitching/hitting coach as a quick fix guy, but I would have to say that the Mad Scientist's tenure as the Brewers' Pitching Coach has been an unmitigated disaster.

[Invader3K]

What on earth are you basing firing Peterson on?

Maybe because all the pitchers are pitching the same or worse than last season?

 

I'm not saying they should fire Peterson, personally. But it would be nice to see some sort of return after the Brewers gave him a decent contract and he talked up all his bio-mechanics knowledge and such.

[TooLiveBrew]

There is no way you can discern Peterson's impact (positive or negative) over this small a sample. Since the entire organization revamped its pitching model with the hiring of Peterson, I sincerely doubt he is in any trouble just yet.

[Invader3K]

You are right, but I think it's understandable that some are frustrated at this point. You really have to wait at least a full season to assess a pitching coach, I'd think.

[Postseason2006]

Can Hoffman make the All Star game as honorary AL pitcher for the homerun derby?

[pebadger]

Other than Ryan Braun batting 3rd and playing left field and Gallardo being one of the top 2 starting pitchers, there is absolutely nothing on this team that should be immune from being changed in terms of the longer term. Casey may be the only one approaching that status, but he may be better dealt now while hot than anything.

 

At this point anyone not seeing huge changes ahead needs to be examined.

[hawing]

There is no way you can discern Peterson's impact (positive or negative) over this small a sample. Since the entire organization revamped its pitching model with the hiring of Peterson, I sincerely doubt he is in any trouble just yet.

If there is a mid-season housecleaning (or next week housecleaning or whatever), I wonder if Peterson would stay even if he were spared.

I don't know enough about the working relationships between Macha and the coaches to be able to comment knowledgeably on that.

[Postseason2006]

Well signing Hoffman to that deal is looking a bit more ridiculous than ever. Melvin has trouble finding closers.

No he doesn't. He has trouble finding closers that work out for more than one or one-and-a-half seasons.

So that's not trouble finding them? Turnbow made us trade for Cordeo. Cordero's meltdowns killed the Brewers in 2007 - two games stick out include the Ramirez dong game and the first game of a DH in St Louis. Gagne's were near terrible in 2008. And now Hoffman can't even record outs before giving up the game

 

[Invader3K]

My point was that he has found guys like Kolb, Turnbow, Cordero, and Torres who have all been quite good for at least a while. And of course he signed Hoffman who was nearly lights out last season.

[3Putt]

I think we have to remember to separate what Melvin was given through the draft from what he has actually accomplished through his own dealings.

He hasn't done a great job supplementing the talent he was given by Jack Zdurencik (Braun, Fielder, Gallardo, etc.)

Melvin drafted Gallardo over Jack's objections. So yeah, not really as cut and dry as you think.

As much as Jack Z gave us some terrific position players he left us a long period without big league ready pitching. We're paying the price now.

 

 

[brewtank34]

I think we have to remember to separate what Melvin was given through the draft from what he has actually accomplished through his own dealings.

He hasn't done a great job supplementing the talent he was given by Jack Zdurencik (Braun, Fielder, Gallardo, etc.)

Melvin drafted Gallardo over Jack's objections. So yeah, not really as cut and dry as you think.

As much as Jack Z gave us some terrific position players he left us a long period without big league ready pitching. We're paying the price now.

 

Z was also working under the helm of DM. It was Melvin's choice to focus on certain areas such as position players. Z did a good job with what he had to work with, or should I say...work for?

 

 

[joepepsi]

Actually, they drafted a lot of pitching in the last several years. Just few of them signed or turned out to be any good.

[Invader3K]

As far as Macha, with this coming Monday being an off day, I could see that being pink slip day for him.

[PeaveyFury]

It was Melvin's choice to focus on certain areas such as position players.

 

What's Jack's excuse for his first three years, then?

[TheCrew07]

No. Because the Brewers don't play in the worst division in baseball, and they've won as many WS as the Twins in the last 15 years.

Go back and look at the 2000-2002 drafts. Pre Melvin. Look at how many of those guys did ANYTHING to contribute to the MLB club. 3 of them? 3 of 120?

2000: Dave Krynzel is the only name I recognize from that list.

2001 - Hardy, Brad Nelson, Sarfate, Dillard, Chris Barnwell

2002 - Fielder, Eveland, Dillard (again)

He inherited a big steaming pile of refuse & Ben Sheets. He's turned it into a park.

They actually have guys in the minors who might contribute to the MLB squad!! It's amazing!

You know who the big hot new GM was 4 years ago? Dayton Moore. Ask any Royals fan how that turned out.

You should be looking at the draft history prior to Jack Z, comparing apples to apples as Melvin didn't hire Z, he retained his services as scouting director. It's also been proven many times that Melvin does not make selections on draft day. Z didn't get enough pitching into the system, Melvin didn't correct the issue, that's where all of these problems stem from.

[TheCrew07]

The Lee trade will be largely a waste of three good prospects with their lack of competitiveness since he's shown no interest in re-signing so far.

But they knew going into the trade that Lee was 100% committed to hitting FA (that was the reason Philly was looking to move him). It was a move done exclusively with contending in mind, and iirc the thinking from the Mariners was that the three prospects they gave up for him were roughly equal to the two likely comp picks they'll get for him walking.

 

I don't disagree that, based on some pundits' picks, you can call the year disappointing so far. I just don't think the move was a waste of prospects, as Z seemed to have a plan heading into it.

I said in the GM thread I wasn't impressed with what Jack Z had done in Seattle this off season. Name players don't mean much to me, ultimate value means something. Z seems to be like Melvin in that he prefers veteran pitching and given he built our farm system largely on his acumen at identifying hitters, I'm not sold that Seattle won't ultimately suffer the same pitching fate that Milwaukee has. I've said as much before, but I just think he's been vastly overrated by many analysts. The one thing he has that Melvin doesn't is that he'll be able to compete for impact talent in FA if they want to.

 

The deal that's eating away at me is the Morrow for League trade. I admit I really like Brandon Morrow as a project, his K rate is very good, if someone could figure out a way to get him to quit walking people he'll be an absolute stud. I just can't see trading that kind of upside for a reliever... ever. League is a good pitcher, but he's a reliever, and I firmly believe in building a team from the rotation up. Morrow's season reminds me a little of Champan's in AAA, he's had 2 horrible starts, 1 bad start, and 5 good starts, most his games are on the extremes.. There's still hope for him. I guess Chavez is a nice prospect, but I just disliked this deal from the start.

 

I'd prefer a younger GM who is aggressive, would marry up scouting and sabermetrics, and would make building and maintaining the rotation a priority. Where do we find such a perfect candidate? I don't think it matters much, my gut feeling is that Mark A wouldn't be into such a guy, something tells me he'd want a "baseball guy" to run the show. Who knows though, maybe if he fires Melvin he'll surprise me and hire a Friedman clone.

[jeffy]

[quote name=3Putt wrote: As much as Jack Z gave us some terrific position players he left us a long period without big league ready pitching. We're paying the price now. [/b]

Actually just hitters and poor (defensive) position players, for the most part.

[Invader3K]

Another big change ahead: Very soon we could see the starting rotation consist of Gallardo, Parra, Estrada, Narveson, and Bush. Doesn't sound so bad to me at this point.

[bklynbrewcrew]

Invader3K]Another big change ahead: Very soon we could see the starting rotation consist of Gallardo, Parra, Estrada, Narveson, and Bush. Doesn't sound so bad to me at this point.

You forgot about Wolf who makes way too much money to be taken out of the rotation. It would be great if Wolf could go on some sort of run so we could dump his contract.

 

[Invader3K]

Whoops, yeah, I did forget about Wolf.

[naivin]

As far as Macha, with this coming Monday being an off day, I could see that being pink slip day for him.

This is just what I was thinking, particularly on the heels of the comprehensive beating they are likely to take at the hands of the Twins this weekend.

[TooLiveBrew]

Another big change ahead: Very soon we could see the starting rotation consist of Gallardo, Parra, Estrada, Narveson, and Bush. Doesn't sound so bad to me at this point.

You forgot about Wolf who makes way too much money to be taken out of the rotation. It would be great if Wolf could go on some sort of run so we could dump his contract.

Yo, Wolf, Narveson, Parra, & Bush works for me. Showcase Bush until the first few pitching injuries & get what you can for him. Then plug Estrada in his place so we can find out what we've got with both him & Manny. Yo/Wolf/Narveson/Parra/Estrada sounds fine by me.

[Invader3K]

Yeah, TLB, realistically that's a more logical scenario. I guess they can keep using Marco as a long man out of the pen for right now.

[TooLiveBrew]

Oh, and I meant "first few pitching injuries around the league", not on the Brewers of course