Hawkins activated, Kottaras outrighted, McClendon optioned; Morgan DL'd, Boggs' contract purchased

[PrinceEatMeat]

Or, is the reason for clearing a 40-man spot, that we are claiming someone? Such as Brandon Wood? I hope not, but it's possible.

[monty57]

Maybe Melvin just wants to boost Yuni's spirits. No one can say Yuni's the worst player in the league as long as Nieves is still on someone's roster :-)

[umphrey]

Nieves defense is overrated. He only gets the label because it's better than his offense which is putrid. Lucroy is a right handed hitter with better defense. Why keep a crappy version of your starter instead of a backup that you can play matchups with and get better offensive production if you play him the right day? The discrepancy in their defensive skills is not that big of a gap, IMO, certainly not close to justifying his roster spot.

[yoshii8]

I'm assuming someone from AAA will get called up after tonights game? Otherwise it doesn't make any sense to play 1 player short for a game.

[PrinceEatMeat]

I'm assuming someone from AAA will get called up after tonights game? Otherwise it doesn't make any sense to play 1 player short for a game.

Yeah, I'm guessing they'll just wait until the game at Nashville tonight is over. Maybe an early Hart activation? I doubt it, but it's possible.

[djoctagone]

Or, is the reason for clearing a 40-man spot, that we are claiming someone? Such as Brandon Wood? I hope not, but it's possible.

the roster's been at 39 since the brewers outrighted jeremy reed. roster outrighting is all about timing. the brewers must have felt that given the state of the 25-man and 40-man rosters of the 29 other teams, that very few teams would be willing to sacrifice someone else to claim kottaras.

 

remember, had another team claimed kottaras, they would have had to place him on their 25-man roster, or risk exposing him to the same waivers that they plucked him from.

[Kricket755]

As far as the 24 man roster until Marcum gets back, is it possible the Brewers will activate Marcum before his scheduled start Saturday? He isn't on the D.L. He is on the bereavement list. Technically, once he re-joins the team I believe the team should re-activate him as to not take advantage of the rule that is in place.

 

With that said, I am not sure when he is planning on re-joining the team.

[Eddiehitsthefoulpole]

I don't know if there are stats to measure these things, but I like the Nieves calls a game and I like the way blocks ball in the dirt (so far). I also think he throws better than Kottaras. It is wrong though, to base someone's defensive ability solely on the way they throw out runners. It is important, but it is not the only factor.

[RyDogg66]

Keith Ginter

Russell Branyan

George Kottaras

 

Brewerfan love is powerful stuff.

[RockCoCougars]

Keith Ginter

Russell Branyan

George Kottaras

 

Brewerfan love is powerful stuff.

Chris Dickerson...

 

" The gap between Nieves and Kottaras' defense is far greater than the gap between their offensive production."

This is the major question at hand in this case. Unfortunately since both are bad at one and horrible at the other, there is no satisfying option. Kottaras has the worst arm from a catcher that I've seen in Brewer history next to Johnny Estrada and perhaps a 1985 Ted Simmons, and it's maddening to see singles and walks turned into almost automatic doubles. That said, has Nieves gotten a hit since opening day? This is why I'm almost more worried about catcher than shortstop or center field. If LuCroy goes down again for an extended period- or if he falters- there will be some major issues.

[PrinceEatMeat]

Nieves is actually slugging better and getting on base more than Kottaras at this point. Kottaras is clearly a better hitter, but he's not that great. He's also absolutely awful defensively, which is probably the only real reason why he wasn't kept. If Lucroy got hurt for an extended period of time, you'd have to think Doug would try to acquire someone better than both of these two.

[derflotr]

This is difficult, because I much prefer Kottaras to Nieves. However - as someone said earlier - the reality is that the job is to play 1 out of 4 or 5 games. Nieves is probably a better defender overall but he just poses absolutely no threat offensively. But I'm probably not nearly as upset about it as Randy Wolf.

[JJHardy7]

So...did George make it back to Nashville?

 

If he did, I don't really feel the need to get worked up about this at all. He's still in the organization.

[battlekow]

Haudricourt: "Looks like Brewers are getting ready to place OF Nyjer Morgan (thigh) on the DL. Top candidate to be called up is Nashville OF Brandon Boggs"

[endaround]

Keep in midn that Nieves has incentive clauses which means each PA costs the Brewers a bit more. Not Kotsay hundreds of thousands more, but still more.

[PrinceEatMeat]

Crap. But at the same time, I'm happy Boggs is coming up. Hopefully he'll get some starts over Kotsay and Gomez, and then he'll stay on the roster even when Morgan comes back.

[Funketown]

Wil Nieves is a good field/no hit catcher who isn't particularly good at fielding. It's going to be really difficult watching this guy get 200 plate appearances this year. Hopefully they can find someone in a cheap trade.

[PrinceEatMeat]

http://brewersbeat.mlblog...rgan-expected-to-hit-dl/

 

Well, this article explains a lot. Sounds like the moves had to be made so Marcum could return to the team Friday. Also, Nieves was kept because they had a greater chance of losing him, either to waivers, or him refusing an assignment.

[PrinceEatMeat]

Now, the best thing that could happen is we dump Almonte and keep Boggs when the time comes for Morgan to come back. We are carrying an extra pitcher for now, so I think we'll just send one down when Hart is activated.

[Hate those Rodents]

So...did George make it back to Nashville?

 

If he did, I don't really feel the need to get worked up about this at all. He's still in the organization.

This is a good point. I believe Nieves signed a one year deal. If George improves his defense slightly and hits in AAA the rest of the year, I see no reason why we can't let Nieves walk and go with Kottaras next year as the backup.

 

[And That]

The Brewers kept the much better defensive catcher. Nieves isn't a Gold Glover, but Kottaras is the worst defensive catcher I've seen at the Major League level, save for Matthew LeCroy. And as mentioned, Kottaras still in the organization. Buy MiLB.TV and get your Kottaras fix that way if it worries you that much.

 

Nieves' bat will cost us almost nothing, given that Lucroy is probably going to start all but 25-30 of the remaining games, assuming he stays healthy.

[PKBadger]

People act like we just sent Mike Napoli down or something.

 

Late to the party in this thread but....it's not exactly like we kept Yadier Molina, either.

[RockCoCougars]

The Brewers kept the much better defensive catcher. Nieves isn't a Gold Glover, but Kottaras is the worst defensive catcher I've seen at the Major League level, save for Matthew LeCroy. And as mentioned, Kottaras still in the organization. Buy MiLB.TV and get your Kottaras fix that way if it worries you that much.

Don't forget Estrada. By the end of his season here, he was so fat that it looked like he could hardly get out of the squatting position.

[DuWayne Steurer]

http://brewersbeat.mlblog...rgan-expected-to-hit-dl/

 

This sucks. Nice for Boggs, but not so much for Morgan.

[carniesandrubes]

Guess Morgan was never really as close to coming back as they made it seem.