So now what?

[craigharmann]

We've hashed, re-hashed and re-re-rehashed the problems with the Brewers over and over again, but in my mind, it keeps coming back to pitching. Who needs to be on this team, given the players we have in the Majors and Minors

 

Rotation

Yo

Wolf

Loe

Cappy

Not sure of the 5th starter

 

Bullpen

Axford

Coffey

Hoffman

Stetter

Braddock

Villanueva

Parra

Narveson

 

I'd like to see Narvy as the long man, and at this point, I don't know who would be a good 5th starter. I'd bring up Loe, and see what he can do. Estrada needs to go back down, Soup needs to go away. As I see it, it's the best of what we've got currently, however I think making sure Soup doesn't pitch another inning for the Crew is a great place to start. Or establish the rule that when the Brewers are down by 10, he can come in....NEVER when they have a lead or are tied.

[RayKingsForemanGrill]

I think we're passed the point of knee-jerk reactions, right? It's late enough in the season that we can rule out small sample sizes and occasional lapses in judgement. I'm all for mixing it up as shown here to see what happens. Fortune favors the bold.

[craigharmann]

The problem is, I don't see DM or Macha being for it.

[craigharmann]

Which means, watch the Brewers for 6 innings, and pray there's no implosion after!

[trwi7]

I'm pretty much drained watching this team. Really the only thing I look forward to watching these games is the young pitchers. Gallardo, Parra, Villanueva, Axford and Braddock. None of the other pitchers excite me very much, maybe Narveson. I'll be really excited to watch Capuano pitch, even if he doesn't do well just because of him beating the odds and making it back to the majors.

 

I still enjoy watching Fielder and Braun hit. I'm interested in watching Lucroy and Kottaras the rest of the year as well as Escobar. Gomez is still just very meh to me. For some reason even going back to when he was with the Twins, I don't like him. Something about him just doesn't sit well with me. Maybe it's the showboating bat flip crap that he does even after doubles.

 

After that, I'm just hoping that Mark A. and DM are smart enough to sell at the deadline. Fielder should be traded, signing him is a pipe dream and a bad investment even if it was possible. Hart should be gone as well.

 

Other than that, I'm basically going to follow the minors. They're more exciting than the major league team, even though I rarely see them play in person.

 

I think the rest of the year should be all about the development of the young players. If that means some veterans are pushed out of the picture. So be it.

[benji]

I think you need to have Parra pitch as a starter for a long period of time and finally decide if he is worth a roster spot.

[BrewCrewForever]

I think you need to have Parra pitch as a starter for a long period of time and finally decide if he is worth a roster spot.

I agree with this. I would move Narveson back to the pen and have Parra start in his spot.

[craigharmann]

I think you need to have Parra pitch as a starter for a long period of time and finally decide if he is worth a roster spot.

I went back and forth on that with my 5th starter spot. I think Parra probably would be good there, instead of being shuffled back and forth. We all saw how Villy struggled with that of being a starter/reliever back and forth.

[brewmann04]

well we see what Bush has this week and see if he can keep his Spot.

[DannoMac21]

I'm pretty much drained watching this team. Really the only thing I look forward to watching these games is the young pitchers. Gallardo, Parra, Villanueva, Axford and Braddock. None of the other pitchers excite me very much, maybe Narveson. I'll be really excited to watch Capuano pitch, even if he doesn't do well just because of him beating the odds and making it back to the majors.

 

I still enjoy watching Fielder and Braun hit. I'm interested in watching Lucroy and Kottaras the rest of the year as well as Escobar. Gomez is still just very meh to me. For some reason even going back to when he was with the Twins, I don't like him. Something about him just doesn't sit well with me. Maybe it's the showboating bat flip crap that he does even after doubles.

 

After that, I'm just hoping that Mark A. and DM are smart enough to sell at the deadline. Fielder should be traded, signing him is a pipe dream and a bad investment even if it was possible. Hart should be gone as well.

 

Other than that, I'm basically going to follow the minors. They're more exciting than the major league team, even though I rarely see them play in person.

 

I think the rest of the year should be all about the development of the young players. If that means some veterans are pushed out of the picture. So be it.

 

I agree on mostly all of this. I too, think Fielder is a bad investment in the long run, and think he should be traded.

 

The only thing I don't agree with is trading Hart at the moment. We have no one who could step into right field and produce like him.

[jeffy]

Maybe they need to go with about 7 starters until some of them demonstrate the ability to go at least 6-7 innings regularly? How about if you go at least 6, you get another start on the normal 5th day, otherwise you go to the pen after a couple days off and get another start when there is an opening due to someone else's failure to go at least 6. If all 7 fail, then Suppan gets a start. http://l.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/3.gif

[Bruce Ciskie]

Maybe they need to go with about 7 starters until some of them demonstrate the ability to go at least 6-7 innings regularly? How about if you go at least 6, you get another start on the normal 5th day, otherwise you go to the pen after a couple days off and get another start when there is an opening due to someone else's failure to go at least 6. If all 7 fail, then Suppan gets a start. http://l.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/3.gif

As long as you still make sure Gallardo and Wolf (I still think he has value) are starting every five days so they can stay on routine, I'm okay with some experimentation in the rotation. These guys are very routine-oriented, so I don't think we need to be throwing them more off than they've already been this year.

[craigharmann]

That's a thought!!

[JohnBriggs12]

I think they really messed up Estrada by using him in back to back to back days, the first of which he threw 52 pitches. This for a guy who was starting every 5th day in Nashville. I know they want to see what Parra could do, but after 6 weeks in the pen, Parra wasn't stretched out. Parra wasn't terrible out of the pen. Maybe they should have just let him be there.

 

I would keep Narveson in the rotation. That he wilted in Miami in a day game in the 6th inning shouldn't be cause for making a change. A lot of guys would wilt in that place.

 

Capuano is just as big a question mark as the rest. When we last saw him in 2007, he'd be fine the first two times through the order, then get lit up the 3rd time through. He got past the 6th inning in 3 straight starts for Nashville, but surrendered 10 hits in one of those.

 

Loe was a groundball machine for Nashville (2.24/1 ratio). As a result he got through at least 6 innings in 8 of 10 starts. Ground ball pitchers tend to be more efficient as they pitch to contact more and get more double plays turned. Since pitch efficiency is so lacking in this group, I'd like to see Loe get a shot as a starter. I don't see him as a savior but I think he could give them 6 innings more often than most of the guys in this group.

 

Maybe 6 starters and sometimes 7 is the answer. Look at the team and matchups.

[sheethead]

In general? Wait until next year.

[craigharmann]

In general? Wait until next year.

The real question is, with DM and Macha still being in charge, will next year be any better than this year?

[sheethead]

Since Macha is a lame duck, I would think there is zero chance Mark Attanasio signs off on his presence with the Brewers next year.

[craigharmann]

Since Macha is a lame duck, I would think there is zero chance Mark Attanasio signs off on his presence with the Brewers next year.

I have a hard time believing that will make everything better.

[monty57]

I think you need to have Parra pitch as a starter for a long period of time and finally decide if he is worth a roster spot.

I agree with this. I would move Narveson back to the pen and have Parra start in his spot.

Since we have control of Narveson and Parra beyond this season, I'd move Bush to the 'pen. Yo, Wolf, Capuano, Narveson, Parra and I don't care if it's four lefties. The biggest reason I wanted to keep Bush in the rotation was for the pipe dream that his numbers would be good enough that a playoff hopeful team in need of a 4/5 starter would trade for him. With his last few outings, I doubt that will be the case now.

 

I'm all for using the rest of this season to prepare for the future. Prince should be traded when we will get the most value for him, even if it means we trade him late June/early July rather than waiting for the deadline. Most of our other possible trading chips are now worthless (Zaun, Davis, Bush, Hoffman), but I would capitalize on Hart's hot start and trade him away this season as well. Many on this board have been lamenting not trading him when his value was high, well, it's high again. Let's see if we can turn this hot start into some young talent. If Edmonds can get hot again, we could possibly trade him for something, as I'd guess Macha will have him starting most days in CF and since I want this year used to build for the future, Gomez needs as much PT as he can get.

 

My worry is that what I want and what Macha needs to do are two separate paths. I want everything this season to be focusing on the future, while Macha needs wins this season if he wants any chance of saving his job. I hope Gomez plays full-time, but I'd bet Edmonds will start at least half the games in CF now that he's off the DL. I want Bush in the pen, but Parra is going there instead. I want Axford to continue to close unless he falls apart, but we'll see Hoffman closing again soon. If Hart gets traded, I'd want to see Cain up and playing every day, but I'd guess Edmonds would play everyday. I like Kottaras, but now that Zaun is out for a long period, I hope Lucroy starts 2/5 of the games and eventually gets to 50/50, as he could get "Gamelized" if he continues to sit 80% of the time.

[sheethead]

I don't want to imply it will be better next year, just that we wait until next year.

[naivin]

If they continue to stink, and can declare the season over by the 4th of July (I am prepared to do so already), we know from the CC Sabathia trade, that an extra month can certainly increase the value of a guy like Fielder. When you factor in next year as well, he could bring a pretty good haul for a mid-season trade (Obviously, the question is who is your trading partner and what do they have to offer? A couple AL West teams. Atlanta and LA are sort of intriguing.), and would make all the sense in the world.

[craigharmann]

I think come the trading deadline, anyone not named Escobar, Braun, Lucroy, Gomez, Gallardo, Axford and Braddock on the MLB roster is open and available for trade.

[brewmann04]

It should be a big Fire Sale for the Brewers by the July Deadline.

[nate82]

I think come the trading deadline, anyone not named Escobar, Braun, Lucroy, Gomez, Gallardo, Axford and Braddock on the MLB roster is open and available for trade.

You can add Fielder to that list. I don't see Mark A trading Fielder this year there maybe a possibility that Mark A allows Melvin to trade Fielder this off season if a deal can not be made between the Brewers and Fielder at that time. Fielder is just way to much of a cash cow for Mark A right now to just let go of even if it does make the team better in the long run. Basically what I am saying is you are setting yourself up for a big let down if you think Fielder is going to be traded by this deadline for a bunch of prospects.

[craigharmann]

I doubt Fielder gets traded, but I'd at least listen to offers. If someone blows you away, you take it. If not, you can hang on to him and see what's out there in the winter.