Roster finalizations: Boggs accepts assignment to AAA Nashville; Almonte, Reed formally added to 40-man

[TooLiveBrew]

Yeah, glad to hear that

[CheezWizHed]

Someone please explain to me this sadness over losing Luis Cruz.

 

My $0.02 a little late... I just had a feeling he was going to be a late bloomer. Nothing significant, but a decent option at SS.

 

And now that he has gone to Texas, I'm sure it will happen... http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

[jimmyjeromehardy7]

Does anyone know the answer but I'm guessing that Boggs and Cruz earlier can talk to other teams while deciding to accept the AAA assignment or declare FA so they know what their options are if they do go the FA route and it isn't so much a gamble. Cruz seemed to have contract in hand with Tex pretty quickly so I would guess so.

[Mass Haas]

Erick Almonte and Jeremy Reed were formally added to the 40-man roster this afternoon (roster now full).

 

Adam M. noticed a nice touch by Doug.

 

Also Hart and Lucroy to the DL, no mention yet of backdating, but they would have to be, you'd think, regardless of projected return dates.

[patrickgpe]

so the question is who goes once the 5 get activated, my guess is

 

greinke --- estrada

hart -- reed

lucroy -- nieves

parra -- stetter

hawkins -- kintzler

[PrinceEatMeat]

so the question is who goes once the 5 get activated, my guess is

 

greinke --- estrada

hart -- reed

lucroy -- nieves

parra -- stetter

hawkins -- kintzler

Except that Estrada isn't on the roster. So you'd have to account for someone else.

[Mass Haas]

Also Hart and Lucroy to the DL, no mention yet of backdating, but they would have to be, you'd think, regardless of projected return dates.

Yes, they were back-dated to the 22nd.

[TooLiveBrew]

What are all you guys going to complain about when Yuni's hitting .280/.315/.410, the team is 20 games over .500, and 8 games up at the All Star break? That if they had a better SS, they'd be 10 games up?

 

Or Greinke could miss a month or more, and the little things like having a terrible shortstop that doesn't project to hit .315/.410 *or* defend competently become that much more important.

 

There's never a bad reason to improve a position of obvious weakness. Nevermind that a difference of two games could well be what decides the division, how many games you were up in the regular season doesn't mean much come postseason time. The goal is to build a team as completely & well as possible, not to just get the big ticket items checked off & then go to sleep on other things that can be relatively easily improved. I do believe, though, that Melvin will make a deal to improve SS mid-season once Betancourt continues to play as poorly as he has been in recent seasons.

[The Truth]

I do believe, though, that Melvin will make a deal to improve SS mid-season once Betancourt continues to play as poorly as he has been in recent seasons.

Probably a wise prediction. Depending on how great a SS we could get for a rental, I really hope we don't end up losing Gamel, Rivas or Rogers for a rental... I could see trading for someone like Furcal but I really hope we can keep a few of our top prospects

 

[Oldcity]

I don't take solace in the fact that Melvin will "probably make a deal" at midseason for a shortstop. Does he really need another half-season to realize that Betancourt sucks? It's clear to everyone by now. There was no excuse for not cutting him right after the trade and upgrading the position immediately.

[derflotr]

I'm very relieved Boggs accepted the assignment, he'll be on the roster at some point this season.

[MJLiverock]

I don't take solace in the fact that Melvin will "probably make a deal" at midseason for a shortstop. Does he really need another half-season to realize that Betancourt sucks? It's clear to everyone by now. There was no excuse for not cutting him right after the trade and upgrading the position immediately.

He probably has to wait and see who is available. Teams that fall by the wayside or deside to go with a youngster will be more willing to deal as the season progresses. I didn't see anyone on the scrap heap that was a clear improvement, just a lot more guys with plenty of questions surrounding them as well.

 

 

[strawbossisevil]

I don't take solace in the fact that Melvin will "probably make a deal" at midseason for a shortstop. Does he really need another half-season to realize that Betancourt sucks? It's clear to everyone by now. There was no excuse for not cutting him right after the trade and upgrading the position immediately.

Most of the "upgrades" were guys in their mid to upper 30s and trending downwards. Some who hadn't played a full season at SS in a few years. Add to that, no one is going to trade an average to above average shortstop at the start of the season. So, if we want average or above average performance at SS, we have to wait until a team is willing to give up such a player (like Furcal).

All that were available on the FA market when we got Betancourt in the Greinke trade were aging below average MLB SS.

I can already tell, too, that people are going to be whine everytime Betancourt makes an error this season (I've already seen it in the game threads). Never mind that he had less errors last season than Escobar. The problem is not his errors, it's his range that makes him a below average fielding SS.

 

[CheezWizHed]

The problem is not his errors, it's his range that makes him a below average fielding SS.

 

Ok, so we need to whine when he missed on up the middle or between he and McGehee... http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

[strawbossisevil]

The problem is not his errors, it's his range that makes him a below average fielding SS.

 

Ok, so we need to whine when he missed on up the middle or between he and McGehee... http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

Exactly. If you are going to whine, at least make sure it's about one of his weaknesses.

[endaround]

A below average shortstop over a whole season is just as good as an above average shortstop over half a season and costs less in terms of talent and likely dollars.

[monty57]

As MJ & Strawboss commented, there really weren't a lot of better options available, so Melvin asked for him to be added to the trade, which I'm sure the Royals were happy about since they were getting Escobar and it saved them some money. I can understand Melvin wanting someone who's got some experience over relying on someone like Cruz. Yuni's offense is almost certainly going to be better than Escobar put up last year. Since we had a very good offense last year, we should have a very good offense this year (or at least Yuni won't be the reason it suffers). I just wish we had an internal backup plan in case Yuni's defense is as bad as reported. Our upgrades at pitching could be somewhat negated with a bad defensive SS to complement our bad defense all over the field.

 

As far as mid-season upgrades, in addition to Furcal, both Rollins and Reyes will be free agents at the end of the season. I don't really think the Phillies will be out of the race, but there's a good chance the Mets could be shopping Reyes.

[strawbossisevil]

Which below average, past his prime shortstop are you suggesting we should have gotten? Truth of the matter is, there wasn't much out there that was even much of an improvement on Betancourt.

 

Also, I'll add that having a below average SS in the playoffs will not be as appealing as having an average/above average shortstop in the playoffs. When the Crew is making their playoff roster I'd rather have Furcal in there than Punto.

As for Melvin suggesting that they add Betancourt to the deal, I guess I'm not convinced that actually happened. I think that is Melvin not trying to make it sound as if Betancourt wasn't someone the Royals forced upon the Brewers in the Greinke trade. (I could be wrong, but it is a hunch I have that makes a lot of sense IMO). You don't want to come across as dissing your own player.

[PrinceEatMeat]

I'm very relieved Boggs accepted the assignment, he'll be on the roster at some point this season.

Yep, he'll be first one up if anyone gets hurt or sucks.

[tigerbrew]

I wonder if Luis Cruz has signed with another team, if not I hope he returns to Nashville.

[Invader3K]

I wonder if Luis Cruz has signed with another team, if not I hope he returns to Nashville.

He signed with the Rangers.

[The Truth]

If the Brewers go with Nieves when Lucroy comes back, what is the likelihood that Kottaras clears waivers and accepts an assignment to the minors? And, does that then mean that Rivera would be waived or sent to AA ball?

 

It would appear that Roenicke might favor Nieves over Kottaras for the backup spot. And with a Lefty going for the Reds on Saturday, I would think Nieves will start that day, too

[MNBrew]

I just wonder how much Melvin might play coy about when Lucroy's ready to return from the DL on the chance that Kottaras might garner them something of a bit of value on the trade market. I'd think if Kottaras hits at all, and quite possibly even if he doesn't, I seriously doubt he'd make it through waivers down to Nashville.

[PrinceEatMeat]

It really all depends on the catching situations for other teams. I would think that most are set, but some might have injury situations in which case I would think they would claim Kottaras. Otherwise, I doubt he accept an assignment to the minors. He would probably go somewhere else that would offer him a better chance of getting called up. Here he would only come up if one of our catchers got hurt, and he might not even play a lot in AAA. We want to look at Maldonado right now. If for some reason he did accept, I would think Rivera would just be let go.

[The Truth]

http://www.jsonline.com/s...s/brewers/119038789.html

 

Based on that article, Roenicke is either going to use an extremely small sample to determine who the backup catcher will be for 2011, or he already knows and just isn't saying. Maybe I'm reading way too much into Nieves starting on Opening Day, but the fact that Nieves not only started but had 2 hits and made a few plays behind the plate that I rarely see Kottaras make has me wondering about just how much longer Kottaras will be a Brewer

 

Nieves will start Saturday with Kottaras going on Sunday