DH / Interleague Play -- Latest: Brewers will "likely" call up hitter, Gamel leading option

[Never Outhustled]

Taylor Green is a making a play to be in this mix. He's outhitting Gamel for the season, and more importantly is blistering hot right now. His OPS in June is over 1.500, that's sick. He also offers more defensive versatility.

[DHonks]

I wouldn't be surprised to see it be any of Green, Kotteras, or Gamel. Kotteras would then stay up with Nieves being DFA'd to be send down (after AL games).

 

The bigger thing is who has options? We could go to an 11-man staff by sending down someone like Dillard (unlikely since he's a multi-inning guy). Would it have to be Dillard or Estrada? I would love to see McGehee go down for 2 weeks just to get back to driving the ball. I'm not sure he can be sent down either, though.

[ReverendBrewmeister]

Taylor Green is a making a play to be in this mix. He's outhitting Gamel for the season, and more importantly is blistering hot right now. His OPS in June is over 1.500, that's sick. He also offers more defensive versatility.

Sometimes going with the hot hand makes sense. Even without the hot hand, Green's defensive versatility would be a good asset, since there are the six "non-DH" interleague games from June 20-26 sandwiched between the road trips to (a) Boston and (b) New York/Minneapolis. Green would give the potential of having Weeks out of the field for a game or subbing for McGehee at 3B.

 

The only issue with Green is that he's not on the 40-man roster, at least that's what the brewers.com site reports. (Not sure what roster moves would be required to add him.)

[endaround]

They have an open 40 man spot. The issue is who does Green replace on the 25 man roster. Do you see if Betancourt is willing to be optioned down and if not do you release him? Do you release Kotsay? Do you DFA Wilson and hope he makes it through waivers? Do you send down a pitcher? These issues are also why I'm not sure Gamel is coming up either. I mean I've been ready to release Betancourt since the day one but the Brewers haven't been.

[brwrsfan]

You'd have to send down a pitcher and roll with 11 man staff for a couple of weeks I think. This shouldn't be that big of a problem though. Our starters have consitently gone 6-7 innings and in the AL games, you don't have to PH as much so there are less pitching changes.

[Invader3K]

They have an open 40 man spot. The issue is who does Green replace on the 25 man roster. Do you see if Betancourt is willing to be optioned down and if not do you release him? Do you release Kotsay? Do you DFA Wilson and hope he makes it through waivers? Do you send down a pitcher? These issues are also why I'm not sure Gamel is coming up either. I mean I've been ready to release Betancourt since the day one but the Brewers haven't been.

Betancourt seems like he makes the most sense to be sent down/DFAed. It's not like anyone would claim him with his salary. Wilson has actually been producing (granted, small sample) and I think he would be claimed. Kotsay doesn't warrant being released right now. Kotsay actually has an OK-ish batting average and OBP at this point. He just doesn't bring power to the table, but that's OK for a fifth outfielder (aside from the fact we have no power bat on the bench right now anyway).

Personally I'd have no problem with the Brewers trying a Counsell/Wilson shorstop platoon. Can't be any worse than what Betancourt has been displaying.

 

[JohnBriggs12]

They can get by on a short term basis with an 11 man staff. Mitre and Dillard both can go multiple innings. Braddock and Hawkins have hardly had any work lately.

 

Personally, I'd go with Almonte, who is as hot as anyone (9 for his last 22, with 2 HR, 11 RBI and 1.208 OPS.) simply because the two best pitchers on the Red Sox and Yankees are Lester and Sabathia, both of whom figure to face the Brewers. Kotsay (8 for 24 in June and an incredible 25% line drive percentage on the year) has been swinging the bat well enough to plug in there at DH against righthanders.

[JohnBriggs12]

Will the Brewers bring anybody up to DH when our interleague schedule starts?

 

We currently don't have anybody on our bench that make sense in that role to me.

 

Gamel seems like he would be the first choice, but I'm not sure if he has any options left.

 

Otherwise, what about any of these guys:

 

Brendan Katin,

Taylor Green,

Caleb Gindl,

Brandon Boggs,

Sean Halton,

or Erik Komatsu

 

Give me something beyond Kotsay, Counsell, Gomez, or Wilson...please!

You are completely forgetting Almonte who has been torrid on his rehab.

[CheezWizHed]

I would think by now someone would claim Estrada if we sent him down. I'm pretty sure he is out of options. I know its a dream to send out Betancourt, but if the guy is still starting, I really doubt they are suddenly going to DFA him. But at least CC is getting some starts.

 

Maybe its Braddock that goes (since he has options).

[JohnBriggs12]

I would think by now someone would claim Estrada if we sent him down. I'm pretty sure he is out of options. I know its a dream to send out Betancourt, but if the guy is still starting, I really doubt they are suddenly going to DFA him. But at least CC is getting some starts.

 

Maybe its Braddock that goes (since he has options).

Estrada has an option left, as does Dillard. Dillard's been on a roll lately though so I would expect Estrada would be the one to go down.

[endaround]

Estrada has one option remaining but I half think the Brewers might be trying to save it for next year if he's not in the rotation.

[Hate those Rodents]

It would be a good idea to get Estrada stretched out as a starter in AAA. I am not keen on any of our AAA pitchers starting if an injury bug strikes us sometime this summer (knock on wood). Seems like getting Estrada some starts in AAA might be a wise move.

[CheezWizHed]

Estrada has one option remaining

 

That's right, he never was on the 40-man this spring. I was thinking he was DFA-ed for lack of options, but he was on a minor league deal at first. Yeah, probably he or Dillard would make the most sense.

[djoctagone]

The bigger thing is who has options?

nifty options sorter

 

you do have to take into account players like mat gamel, cody scarpetta and mark rogers--all of whom are using up their final option year in 2011. (scarpetta will likely get another option, but that's for another thread.)

 

bottom line . . . these players can be recalled and demoted without having to expose them to waivers.

[Never Outhustled]

Parra and Saito are on the 60 day DL, so there's 3 open spots on the 40 man roster. Also, Eric Farris and Martin Maldanado could be removed without repurcusion.

[thablingster]

Haudricourt tweeted that Gamel likely won't be called up. Hooray, Kotsay? I can see it now, Kotsay at first, Fielder DH. Kotsay in left, Braun DH. Yet, it has been said RRR doesn't have control over roster decisions.

[PrinceEatMeat]

Dumb decision. Now we get to see Kotsay playing all the time. I guess they couldn't afford to option Estrada or Dillard, neither of whom they use anyway because Loe has to pitch everyday.

[benji]

So is it the wOBA of .291 or the -0.3 WAR that RRR loves so much about Kotsay? This decision makes no sense.

[rluzinski]

This is getting so painful. It's going to be hilarious to see our supposedly best option for DH sporting a .640 OPS. Bill will be thrilled.

[Baldkin]

No, what will happen is Kotsay will start in CF, Morgan will sit, Nieves will catch and Lucroy will DH. I'm only half kidding.

 

Would that be better or worse than DHing Tony Gwynn, Jr?

[trwi7]

You are completely forgetting Almonte who has been torrid on his rehab.

And you're forgetting the blue font.

 

[alwz4gbp]

I'd like to see Gamel come up so that Casey can sit. I'm tired of watching him "protect" Prince. That would add some avg/obp, then DH Braun and play Plush in right and Gomez in center. Then you've got an awesome outfield with speed to burn. That would also allow Prince to DH for a day or two to get a day off. I see it as a win/win. Plush and Gomez in the OF would be awesome. Like them or not, they are exciting to watch. I like the way RR is running this team. Has he made out some questionable line up cards? Yes, of course, who hasn't. But you'll have to admit he likes small ball and knows how to play it. The safety squeeze last week was great. How often do you see that? Just think, Braun, Rickie, Plush, Gomez on the base paths would cause absolute chaos and probably score more runs. Lets face it, with Prince gone next year, we're gonna have to stop looking for the 3 run homer to win the game. I think Gamel will be more like Overbay with a bit more power but lots of doubles. Lets see what we've got. By the way, is there any possible situation that we could hide Yuni on the DL? He makes me throw up in my mouth a little bit.

 

Don't bother calling me an idiot, I've got an ex-wife for that and you're not gonna get alamony. Your thoughts?

[MJLiverock]

Not calling someone up to DH is just plain stupid in my opinion. There is absolutely no reason to not try an improve the offense and possibly even the defense for the AL games. Gamel is going to be a Brewer next year when Fielder is gone, he's been up before, let him DH, his option has been used already for the year iirc. This just screams of the Tony Gwynn, Jr. DH debacle all over again. What is Melvin's problem with bringing a guy up to hit? Gamel can miss a few AAA games traveling back and forth, it won't kill him.

 

I don't know that Green will hit right away but Casey needs some time off or a platoon for a bit. The team has 3 bad SS, I think they can spare one of them to make room. I doubt Yuni would get claimed and if so, who cares. Green can play 2nd or 3rd, Casey can play 3rd, Wilson can play 2nd or SS, Counsell can play 2nd, 3rd, SS. That's plenty of infield flexibility.

 

At least try to show fans that Melvin is awake and not just going with the roster he set in March. Of course a Nieves for either of Rivera or GK wouldn't be bad either and would further improve the bench for the AL series.

[jmeks23]

Someone else said it, but yeah, at the end of the day the roster isn't Roenicke's call. He has influence, but Melvin is the one who is sticking with the crappy roster. He doesn't need Ron's okay to get rid of Yuni, or Nieves, or call up someone to DH for interleague play. I understand that 6 games in between are at home and play NL rules, but what's the problem of having a guy like Gamel able to PH late in games? It just makes absolutely no sense to be so content with mediocrity on your bench. Yes the team is winning for the most part, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't want to continue to improve the ballclub. Kottaras is a better hitter then Nieves, and is LH. Wolf also liked working with Kottaras last year, so he can take Nieves' place as Wolf's preferred catcher. His defense isn't that bad. His throwing arm is a little weak but I haven't exactly seen Nieves be lights out behind the plate. Betancourt is TERRIBLE, and I know Melvin doesn't write the lineup card but my goodness, I think at this point his experiment is over. He sucks, and although his defense hasn't been as bad as advertised, his offense has been FAR worse. This roster could stand to make some serious improvement with relatively minor moves, yet Melvin is doing nothing. Don't get it.

[monty57]

I understand that 6 games in between are at home and play NL rules, but what's the problem of having a guy like Gamel able to PH late in games?

 

That sums it up pretty well. I don't want to see Gamel rotting on the bench the rest of the year like he was a couple seasons ago, but having him DH / 1B for Boston and then pinch hit for a week and DH / 1B again before getting sent back down wouldn't be a problem.

 

Not necessarily in this order, but I expect we'll see Prince DH / Kotsay at 1B, Rickie DH / Counsell 2B (Yuni SS), Braun DH / Kotsay LF for the three game set. This assures us that we'll get an added dosage of Kotsay / Yuni / Counsell / Wilson instead of someone who can actually hit.

 

We have some in-house solutions to our problems. Why do we fail to utilize them?