Morgan activated; Rivera sent down, off 40-man; Boggs accepts Nashville assignment

[Raw Biz]

Boggs outrighted to Nashville to make room for Wilson.

Nieves better be the next to go for Morgan. He is terrible offensively and average defensively. There is no reason to keep him.

Edit: Article originally said Boggs outrighted to make room for Morgan, with Wilson move coming tomorrow.

[monty57]

So either a third catcher with no apparent MLB value is more valueable than Boggs, or Melvin/Roenicke think that Rivera is a better RH bat then Boggs. It really doesn't make any sense to me... Nieves is useless, just stick a big fork in that experiment and let it die.

 

Glad to see Morgan back, and hopefully that means Kotsay will purely be a LH bat off the bench, but some of the moves this year are very questionable. It's almost like we're trying to have the worst bench in baseball.

[berniebrewer4life]

Boggs was outrighted because they had to add a spot for Josh Wilson, Morgan won't be activated till tomorrow, in which i think they will send down Nieves.

[JohnBriggs12]

It will be interesting to see whether Nieves or Rivera gets DFA'd. It's difficult to fathom why they would have bothered to bring up Rivera for a little more than a week. Of course it's difficult to fathom why they think they need an extra infielder when they haven't had one all year, especially one who was castoff from one of the worst offensive teams in baseball.

[joepepsi]

I think most all MLB managers are stupid. Throughout history there have been a handful who were only mildly stupid yet were lucky to have talented rosters so their idiocy wasn't much of a factor. Joe Torre is an example.

 

There are maybe 6 in history that were truly brilliant and their leadership elevated the teams they managed. Earl Weaver is an example.

 

The rest are just stupid. The last couple weeks presented a great opportunity to play Boggs in CF and once or twice at the corners to see if he might be able to contribute to the club this year and in the future. But Roenicke never even considered that option.

 

There is a real chance Boggs could be as good or better find than McGehee. A switch hitting OF'er with quickness and occasional power whose career oba in the majors and minors is over 100 points above his batting average. But instead our manager is focused on playing a has been with no power who can't run or play defense, and who probably will not be on the team next year.

 

Brandon, I hope you declare free agency, go somewhere like Seattle or Toronto and post an .800+ OPS for the year.

[CheezWizHed]

I think most all MLB managers are stupid.

 

Its also easy to easy to be an arm-chair GM/manager because no one is scrutinizing your every decision day in and out. Somethings that seem really stupid, often make more sense when you have all the information they deal with. Walk a mile in their shoes...

 

Welcome back Nyjer. Hopefully, he can get back on the role like he was at first.

 

I'm not too broken up about Boggs. He has more potential then others on the bench, but that hasn't been transforming into production. Still, I would have kept him over Nieves, but...

[brwrsfan]

I think most all MLB managers are stupid. Throughout history there have been a handful who were only mildly stupid yet were lucky to have talented rosters so their idiocy wasn't much of a factor. Joe Torre is an example.

 

There are maybe 6 in history that were truly brilliant and their leadership elevated the teams they managed. Earl Weaver is an example.

 

The rest are just stupid. The last couple weeks presented a great opportunity to play Boggs in CF and once or twice at the corners to see if he might be able to contribute to the club this year and in the future. But Roenicke never even considered that option.

 

There is a real chance Boggs could be as good or better find than McGehee. A switch hitting OF'er with quickness and occasional power whose career oba in the majors and minors is over 100 points above his batting average. But instead our manager is focused on playing a has been with no power who can't run or play defense, and who probably will not be on the team next year.

 

Brandon, I hope you declare free agency, go somewhere like Seattle or Toronto and post an .800+ OPS for the year.

This might be a tad harsh, but I do tend to agree with you on this situation. We've had Boggs up here and he's barely played. He has shown some power, quickness and ok range in CF. With Gomez sucking and Hart needing a day off here or there, we had a chance to see if he could really do something or not. Granted, small sample size, but it would have been something. Instead we started Kotsay and gave him way too many at bats. Just to prove what everyone thought for the last three years - that he's no longer any good.

 

[RockCoCougars]

I'm still trying to figure out the point of this Josh Wilson character. Outside of hitting right handed, what does he do that Counsell doesn't?

[djoctagone]

boggs and doug melvin could have a gentlemen's agreement for this season. boggs knows that if he had a minor league option remaining, he'd be the first player recalled if an outfielder went on the disabled list. but he's not on the 40-man roster . . . but neither is any other outfielder (that can play all three spots).

 

maybe melvin told boggs that they'd like to treat him like a player on the 40-man roster. the brewers could have brought jeremy reed back or purchased brett carroll's contract . . . or given a minor league prospect his first shot in the bigs. but they chose boggs . . . both times . . . and i don't doubt that he'll be called ahead of reed, carroll, gindl or schafer if an outfielder goes down again (especially considering that at the present moment, not all of the aforementioned players are healthy).

[endaround]

I'm still trying to figure out the point of this Josh Wilson character. Outside of hitting right handed, what does he do that Counsell doesn't?

If they are planning on palying Counsell more they might want insurance in case of injury since they have no depth. Wouldn't be surprised to see him DFA'd in time for a DH. My god I don't want to see Kotsay DH.

[RockCoCougars]

I'm still trying to figure out the point of this Josh Wilson character. Outside of hitting right handed, what does he do that Counsell doesn't?

If they are planning on palying Counsell more they might want insurance in case of injury since they have no depth. Wouldn't be surprised to see him DFA'd in time for a DH. My god I don't want to see Kotsay DH.

I guess that he's the Rob Picciolo to Counsell's Ed Romero, then.

[monty57]

djoctagone, I'd guess that Boggs will stick around as long as it's his best option, but if another team calls his agent right now and says "We need someone for our MLB team," I'd bet that he'd be on the next plane out of Dodge.

 

As far as Wilson, I understand picking him up, as we were in a situation where if Yuni got hurt we had no everyday SS, and would have been forced to play Counsell until his body broke down. I don't understand why he needs to be on the MLB team. If we want to play Counsell more, that's fine... it means that either Yuni, Casey or Rickie are on the bench. If someone gets hurt, then they (Yuni, Rickie or Casey) come in and Wilson is called up the next day. To me, this means that Counsell will be used for PH duty and late-game def replacement duty. I don't know that this makes up for the loss of production we'd get from having Wilson pinch hit instead of Boggs.

[PrinceEatMeat]

I feel bad for Boggs. He's a better player than pretty much everyone on our bench, but gets a raw deal. I guess I can understand keeping Kotsay and Counsell over him, but there's no way that Wilson deserves his roster spot. That is a complete joke. And now I'm sure Rivera will get outrighted instead of Nieves. I don't know why we need crappy players like Nieves and Wilson on the major league roster. Wilson at AAA would be fine, but we don't need him on the roster. Boggs is a better pinch-hitting option by far. Plus, he was the only player with decent pop on our bench.

[battlekow]

if another team calls his agent right now and says "We need someone for our MLB team," I'd bet that he'd be on the next plane out of Dodge.

If another GM needed Boggs for their MLB team, they would have claimed him on waivers one of the three times he's been on them this year.

[derflotr]

I had a small hope that Gomez would be sent down to AAA when Morgan returned. I think that guy needs to experiment offensively without having to worry about results. But I don't feel like getting into that right now. I think Brandon's a useful player, but he just hasn't been used. No point in keeping him on the roster if the manager doesn't use him.

[endaround]

Wilson would only be available for AAA if he refused his assignment and hope for a job so he might jsut as well stay with the team that already called him up. Now if the Brewers were to DFA him he may stay seeing they are willing to give him shot.

[Raw Biz]

I had a small hope that Gomez would be sent down to AAA when Morgan returned. I think that guy needs to experiment offensively without having to worry about results. But I don't feel like getting into that right now. I think Brandon's a useful player, but he just hasn't been used. No point in keeping him on the roster if the manager doesn't use him.

I think it would be useless to send Gomez to AAA. Not all guys are going to be studs on offense. Some guys aren't even going to be average. Gomez plays elite defense in an elite defensive position and that is where his value is. He has the physical tools to be a stud on offense but unfortunately doesn't seen to have the mental ones and I don't see that changing. However, he's still a valuable player because of his defense. Kotsay, Nieves/Rivera, Counsell, Wilson should all be sent packing before Gomez IMO.

[hawing]

Well, I'm glad Brandon stayed in Milwaukee long enough to score the eventual winning run Tuesday night. I was all ready to doctor up my Villanueva shirt in honor of that play, but I guess I can hold off for now.

[monty57]

if another team calls his agent right now and says "We need someone for our MLB team," I'd bet that he'd be on the next plane out of Dodge.

If another GM needed Boggs for their MLB team, they would have claimed him on waivers one of the three times he's been on them this year.

Unless there's been an injury since then. Or, maybe another team's decided to give up on a player. There has to be a team with a 5th OF who they are ready to give up on.

 

Really, if a guy like Boggs were to be released by another team, there would be a 20-page thread here on why we should ditch anyone on our bench to pick him up.

 

 

[Mass Haas]

Mike Rivera outrighted to Nashville -- Tom H.

 

Rivera has the right to decline the assignment, though that seems unlikely, so he should be back in Nashville before the weekend's out.

 

How the 40-man sits now

[djoctagone]

boggs and rivera should both take into account the two currently open spots on the 40-man roster and accept their assignments. it's quite possible either of their contracts could be purchased again by the brewers--especially boggs given his versatility.

[JohnBriggs12]

337 ABs. 36 Runs, 88 Hits, 21 Doubles, 11 HR, 55 RBI, 3 for 3 in SB, 32 BB, 67 K, .261/.333/.421, .755 OPS.

 

19 caught stealing in 94 attempts (20.2%)

 

 

Those are Mike Rivera's numbers as a Brewer. How many backup catchers carry a .755 OPS?

[adambr2]

Yeah, Rivera is fine as a backup. I can't for the life of me understand why this organization is so in love with Nieves.

[Raw Biz]

Everyone was saying Nieves is an above-average defensive catcher. Personally, I haven't seen anything out of him to indicate that. He's basically just been another catcher to me, nothing special. This is just another one of those things that makes me hate Roenicke. I'm sure it's his decision because he said he wanted a veteran defensive catcher and because Melvin has had Rivera on the team for a few years already. I have no doubt that if there were a different manager, Rivera/Kottaras would be the backup and we never would have had 3 catchers on the roster at all.

[joepepsi]

The brewers really do want to have the worst bench in baseball. With the exception of Counsell there is a better option in AAA than what is sitting on the bench in Milwaukee.

 

The worse you are with the bat as a catcher, the better your defensive reputation.