How important is winning this year to the organization?

[bklynbrewcrew]

I ask this question in regards to putting the best lineup out there regardless of egos or contracts. The bottom line is this team is not trotting out the best lineup that they have in regards to the pitching staff. There is absolutely no justification for leaving struggling starters like Suppan and Vargas in the rotation with guys like Villanueva and Parra in the bullpen. Before the last week or so Villy has been mostly dominant and from the one inning I saw from Parra it is apparent to me that he has what it takes to step into the rotation. How much longer can this team go on knowing that Suppan and Vargas are not capable of pitching more than 5 innings. Pretty funny how Suppan is supposed to be this great innings eater all while pitching 5 innings each time out there. The bullpen is going to fall apart as Villy, Turnbow, and Cordero are being badly overused. Just as this team has benched Weeks for his subpar play its time that Suppan and vargas get demoted in favor of Villanueva and Parra. I truly believe that this team cannot hold on to the division lead as long as these guys are pitching 2 out of 5 days and giving us 5 innings per start. If we want to win now we need to put our best pitchers in the rotation and that means taking Vargas and Suppan out of the rotation immediately. I dont care how much money Suppan is making; that was the owners doing and something must be done. I apologize for the long winded message but I hate to see this team blowing the division because of veterans getting the nod of younger and better pitchers.

[MoneyballMan]

I don't disagree that Suppan has been disappointing, but it's not as easy as just dropping him and inserting a rookie SP. There are reasons rookies are rookies - the main one being they've never faced big-league batters before! So, Gallardo, Villy, Parra may all wind up with long, great careers, but is it a risk you take when you have veteran pitchers?

 

There's just a fine balance that's required. And like it or not, with Suppan's contract, he's going to keep taking the ball. Also, it's difficult for everyone to bad-mouth "the owner" for giving him the contract - we've all been waiting years for our owner to step up to the plate with free agents. We can be worried that Suppan isn't living up to the expectations of that contract.

[treego]

Quote:

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How important is winning this year to the organization?

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It's important enough to Attanasio that he said on tonight's Brewers game on TV that he is watching 6 hours of baseball daily now: the Brewers game AND the Cubs game.

[brettac1]

In the big picture, probably not overly important. This is the first in what should be several seasons of either postseason berths or serious contention for one.

 

But since they've gotten this far, I think it takes on an air of greater importance.

[danzig6767]

nd from the one inning I saw from Parra it is apparent to me that he has what it takes to step into the rotation

 

It's possible that Parra could step into the rotation now and be good right away,he wouldn't be the first guy in big league history if he did so.With that said,one good inning doesn't make anything apparent.

 

The Brewers aren't going to drop a guy they invested 42 million dollars into and then insert a young kid off a good first inning.I did like though that Parra didn't look nervous at all and he attacked the strike zone vs the nibble fest we saw all game prior.

[kmcasper23]

You can't win a division with 3 rookies in the rotation. They need that veteran presence who has pitched in big games and that is Suppan. I feel he will regain the command he had earlier in the year and late last year at some point yet. I would have no qualms with moving Vargas to the bullpen since he can't get out of the 5th inning anyways.

 

Going into this year I would have been happy to compete for the wildcard. The great start the team had kind of changed that plan for this year. However, I do think this team is still a year or two away from being a complete juggernaut and dominated the NL for a few years!