How does Mark A see us contending in 2011? What is he thinking/planning?

[owbc]

The lack of defense should be priority #1. Why would any free agent pitcher want to sign here?

 

Out of the top 12 defensive teams in MLB, 11 are serious playoff contenders. Toronto is the only team out of contention, and they are 42-43.

[pebadger]

And that is 42-43 playing in and against the best division in baseball.

[LouisEly]

I absolutely want nothing to do with the post '10 FA pitchers.

 

You want nothing to do with a guy who has been in the top 10 in WHIP 3 of the last 4 years, top 10 in fewest walks/9 innings 3 of the last 4 years, top 15 in ERA 3 of the last 4 years, and top 10 in fewest HRs allowed in 3 of the last 4 years?

 

They look like 25 guys doing their own thing.

 

Bingo. This is the primary responsibility of the manager, and he is failing miserably at it, which means he should be fired. I think you might be surprised how good of a team we have with a good leader as manager. There is a big difference between a "leader" and a "manager". Your first order of business is right on; you might not need #2 and #3 after the execution of #1.

[LouisEly]

Agreed, I think Gamel is a better defender has more range but a worse fielding percentage than McGehee.

Fixed.

[logan82]

I absolutely want nothing to do with the post '10 FA pitchers.

 

You want nothing to do with a guy who has been in the top 10 in WHIP 3 of the last 4 years, top 10 in fewest walks/9 innings 3 of the last 4 years, top 15 in ERA 3 of the last 4 years, and top 10 in fewest HRs allowed in 3 of the last 4 years?

Nothing at all. He will be 35 at the start of next season. No thank you.

[danzig6767]

Let's try winning games 3-2 instead of 8-7. Hit and run. Steal bases. God forbid....bunt. Scratch across a couple runs a game, and they still have enough power to score more runs on the road.

 

That is losing baseball trying to play small ball to score 3 runs. Better pitching would certainly be welcomed as well as better defense but bunting and stealing bases is not anywhere near the problem with this team. The core issue is Jack Z and Melvin drafting for offense and nothing else and I get why they did it. The second issue is we are still early in the rebuild, we are still on the first set of players drafted and it is usually the 2nd set of players that are the ones that put you on the map long term. Rebuilding a sad organization is a 10-15 year project.

It's a 10-15 year project if the owner makes bad decisions in who he hires as his GM.

[Ennder]

It's a 10-15 year project if the owner makes bad decisions in who he hires as his GM.

 

No, it is 10-15 years for anyone. You have to draft a good group of prospects over a 3-4 year period, have them work their way to the majors, show success at the majors and then turn those prospects into even more prospects or sign them long term while a 2nd group of prospects come up. Now an organization with a lot of money like the Cubs might be able to cut corners and do it faster but an organization that isn't large market and has very little talent in the majors or minors is a 10+ year project. Look at the Rays, it took them around 11 years too and they were in better shape than the Brewers when they started imo.

[Roscoe Chill]

No, it is 10-15 years for anyone.

 

I don't agree at all. But let's pretend you are correct. Why should I care more than a couple times in my lifetime then?

[adambr2]

Let's try winning games 3-2 instead of 8-7. Hit and run. Steal bases. God forbid....bunt. Scratch across a couple runs a game, and they still have enough power to score more runs on the road.

 

That is losing baseball trying to play small ball to score 3 runs. Better pitching would certainly be welcomed as well as better defense but bunting and stealing bases is not anywhere near the problem with this team. The core issue is Jack Z and Melvin drafting for offense and nothing else and I get why they did it. The second issue is we are still early in the rebuild, we are still on the first set of players drafted and it is usually the 2nd set of players that are the ones that put you on the map long term. Rebuilding a sad organization is a 10-15 year project.

It's a 10-15 year project if the owner makes bad decisions in who he hires as his GM.

 

Which becomes an even longer project if the owner continues to stick by aforementioned bad GM.

[monty57]

monty57 wrote:

Gamel isn't a good defender, so I'd think there would be a fairly steep learning curve at a new position, even if it's 1B. I'd rather he learn in AAA.

Gamel's problems from what posters have said and I saw of him last year seemed to be mostly his throwing. I think he would easily be able to field at 1B. I would leave him at 3B though since he will be around longer than McGehee and it isn't like McGehee is a good or even average defender.

 

Agreed, I think Gamel is a better defender than McGehee.

I don't doubt that either McGehee or Gamel could play 1B, but the most important part of 1B defense is the ability to scoop bad throws. That's something that takes practice, which you don't receive unless you're playing the position. If we are going to move someone there, I'd just rather see it done at the AAA level, when the mistakes don't count nearly as much. You may be correct in assuming the Brewers will move McGehee to 1B, and keep Gamel at 3B, which could be why they're leaving Gamel there in AAA.

 

I don't know who is the better/worse 3B, but if one of them is going to play RF, I'd much rather it be Gamel than gimpy-kneed McGehee. Playing corner OF with bad knees can be done (see Barry Bonds), but OFs have to run, and I don't think that's Casey's strong point.

[The Truth]

At this point I would hope Attanasio realizes that the Brewers are not going to contend with Macha as the manager...

[The Truth]

From MLBTR : "Brewers owner Mark Attanasio is reluctant to become a seller because he believes his team can contend next year, if not this year, says Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times."

 

Hopefully that is just a strategy in upping the ante in trade talks, but I'm beginning to believe that he thinks they can contend next year. I still don't see how they can get enough pitching to do that without trading Hart and Fielder though, but I'm looking forward to finding out how it all plays out

[Invader3K]

I think it's a lot of posturing on Attanasio's part at this point.

 

Translation: "We'll do trades, but we don't want your junk."

[GB12]

Attanasio: selling not necessary

 

Crap

[Ennder]

He is absolutely correct, there is no reson to tear the team apart. Selling Fielder or Hart now is fine but that isn't tearing the team apart either and you don't want to give them away cheap just because the team isn't contending atm.

[logan82]

Tearing the team apart would be a bad idea, but we are not going to be competing next year without some additions so guys like Weeks, Fielder and Hart who are not likely to be around after that are pretty expendable in my opinion. Although I hope they extend Weeks. We can probably replace Weeks pretty easily but I think he would come cheap(ish) and gives us more depth for trading in the future if need be. I am not really concerned with who we trade as long as we get good value back. I think we are going to be slightly disappointed with our return on Fielder. As long as we get better players back than the compensation picks a Type A FA will get us I will consider it a good trade though.

 

There is a definite difference between tearing the team apart and making trades that will improve the team in the future. When people talk about selling I believe they mean trading away players to make us better in the future, not tearing the team apart.

[Point Beer Is Best]

I think(hope) it's posturing. Has a team ever come out and ever verbally declared that they were looking to be sellers? Not that I can think of.

[Flood Pants]

I wouldn't read any more into MA's comments than the PR speak that they represent. Honestly, what do you expect him to say? "Sorry folks. We're pretty much done this year, so let's cut our losses and get ready to win again in a year or two."

 

I'll certainly give him the benefit of the doubt until he proves otherwise. After all, he made his fortune off of real estate. I'm sure he knows how to sell high on something valuable. The Brewers are in a good bargaining position right now. They don't have to trade Hart of Fielder, so they can let teams try to blow them away if they really want to make a deal. I'm sure he'd authorize a trade for the right price, but why not act like he has every intention of keeping his talent?