DiFelice optioned to AAA; Latest-- Mitre DFA'd, James outrighted off 40-man roster; Braddock and Mat The Batt recalled; 40-man at 36

[fondybrewfan]

I would have preferred Dillard or Defelice be sent down but it isn't that big of a deal to me. Mitre has been the last guy in the bullpen for a while now. We still have 2 guys that can go 2+ innings if need be in the bullpen (Defelice & Estrada) so we should be fine in the event of an occasional short start. I think our starteres are reliable enough that 7-8 times out of 10 they are going to go at least 6 innings.

[HiAndTight]

I get that Mitre wasn't a world beater, but he has pitched better than a lot of the guys in the bullpen.

 

Either way, very happy to see Gamel get called up. He better be DH'ing or giving Prince a breather 4 or 5 games. Really don't need to see him riding the pine as a pinch hitter.

Who are "a lot of guys" in our BP?

 

Axford, Loe, Braddock, Estrada, Hawkins? Would you really take him over any of those guys?

 

He's posting a shinny 14-10 K/BB rate, throws 88 MPH and is just a really nothing reliever.

 

Does anyone actually trust Mitre at all? And I think it's rather obvious that Gamel is up to DH.

[endaround]

It was more why move James now. There isn't a 40 man squeeze unless a trade is coming.

 

The point about Marcum is that the bullpen can be made short in a day. Now someone might claim Mitre and the Brewers have no fall back. And the Yankees have been known to give a variety of pitchers short starts so now is when the Brewers drop down to 11 pitchers? I don't want to see Dillard-long reliever.

[HiAndTight]

I would have preferred Dillard or Defelice be sent down but it isn't that big of a deal to me. Mitre has been the last guy in the bullpen for a while now. We still have 2 guys that can go 2+ innings if need be in the bullpen (Defelice & Estrada) so we should be fine in the event of an occasional short start. I think our starteres are reliable enough that 7-8 times out of 10 they are going to go at least 6 innings.

DiFelice did get sent back down.

[trwi7]

It was more why move James now. There isn't a 40 man squeeze unless a trade is coming.

Maybe they plan on adding Taylor Green to the 40 man.

[And That]

There isn't a 40-man squeeze if they added 4 Taylor Greens to the roster.

 

The Brewers now have 35 players on the 40-man, pending the return of Saito.

[HiAndTight]

It was more why move James now. There isn't a 40 man squeeze unless a trade is coming.

 

The point about Marcum is that the bullpen can be made short in a day. Now someone might claim Mitre and the Brewers have no fall back. And the Yankees have been known to give a variety of pitchers short starts so now is when the Brewers drop down to 11 pitchers? I don't want to see Dillard-long reliever.

Oh. I took the Estrada comment to mean you wanted him to get sent down, not out righting Mitre. And we've got fallbacks. We'll be able to get through a game if we have a short start. Estrada comes in and goes 2-3-4..whatever. We're rested, and we called up the two best players while sending down the worst pitcher.

 

 

As for James...meh, can't work up any emotion about that whatsoever.

[strawbossisevil]

Wouldn't the extra space on the 40 man be for Saito? Since he will be returning from the DL. Or am I wrong in thinking that a player on the DL doesn't count against the 40 man roster.

[battlekow]

Wouldn't the extra space on the 40 man be for Saito? Since he will be returning from the DL. Or am I wrong in thinking that a player on the DL doesn't count against the 40 man roster.

60-day DL players do not count against the 40-man roster, and the Brewers currently have two of those: Saito and Parra. So even if they were both activated and Taylor Green was added, there would still be two empty spots.

[Invader3K]

I'm just glad to see that Braddock has apparently sorted out his sleep/tardiness issues. Also excited to see Gamel up, even if he is just primarily a DH-sub for Prince and power bat off the bench.

[endaround]

It was more why move James now. There isn't a 40 man squeeze unless a trade is coming.

 

The point about Marcum is that the bullpen can be made short in a day. Now someone might claim Mitre and the Brewers have no fall back. And the Yankees have been known to give a variety of pitchers short starts so now is when the Brewers drop down to 11 pitchers? I don't want to see Dillard-long reliever.

Oh. I took the Estrada comment to mean you wanted him to get sent down, not out righting Mitre. And we've got fallbacks. We'll be able to get through a game if we have a short start. Estrada comes in and goes 2-3-4..whatever. We're rested, and we called up the two best players while sending down the worst pitcher.

 

 

As for James...meh, can't work up any emotion about that whatsoever.

So Marcum last 4 innings and Estrada comes in for 3. Next day Gallardo last 3 innings, and then? I'm hardly a fan of Mitre but the Brewers are exposing him and have absolutely no depth for a #6/7 starter.

[Eddiehitsthefoulpole]

I know that Sergio Mitre is no world beater but I thought he performed better than a lot of people who were used more than him. I would have used him over Green, Dillard, Difelice, and Kintzler. All of those guys got more opportunities than Mitre when they were with the team. I think Mitre has more value than Ron thought. I like Braddock back in the bullpen. I like having Gamel on the big league roster. I just wonder if it is wise to go with one less pitcher going into NY.

[And That]

Dillard can go multiple innings... I don't think they care about his arm too much. McClendon can be recalled, too. I'm not too worried about it.

[logan82]

I thought Dillard was a ROOGY.

[HiAndTight]

It was more why move James now. There isn't a 40 man squeeze unless a trade is coming.

 

The point about Marcum is that the bullpen can be made short in a day. Now someone might claim Mitre and the Brewers have no fall back. And the Yankees have been known to give a variety of pitchers short starts so now is when the Brewers drop down to 11 pitchers? I don't want to see Dillard-long reliever.

Oh. I took the Estrada comment to mean you wanted him to get sent down, not out righting Mitre. And we've got fallbacks. We'll be able to get through a game if we have a short start. Estrada comes in and goes 2-3-4..whatever. We're rested, and we called up the two best players while sending down the worst pitcher.

 

 

As for James...meh, can't work up any emotion about that whatsoever.

So Marcum last 4 innings and Estrada comes in for 3. Next day Gallardo last 3 innings, and then? I'm hardly a fan of Mitre but the Brewers are exposing him and have absolutely no depth for a #6/7 starter.

Do you really envision a GOOD outcome if Marcum and Gallardo go 3 innings in back to back games either way?

 

And if that happens, if Marcum goes 3, we can call DiFelice back up, or Rivas or another pitcher.

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

Maybe Mitre just needs more work. This is the opposite problem of last year...by now the bullpen was fried, this year a bunch of the guys could use some work. Granted, much of that has been from abusing Loe, but it is what it is. If Marcum has an issue, they could make a move for McClendon by the weekend at the latest...maybe even have him sit at the Nashville Airport just in case.

[PrinceEatMeat]

I really don't care about the moves. Mitre probably deserved to stay over Dillard at least, but oh well. He was replaceable. Just happy to see Braddock back, and Gamel up to DH. Not sure why they need to get clearing 40-man space though. What's obvious in all this is that Roenicke has a man crush on Dillard, and we wanted Estrada as insurance for Marcum.

[And That]

I thought Dillard was a ROOGY.

He may be much better v RHB, but he can go multiple innings. He's stretched out for about 50 pitches.

[paul253]

I didn't think Mitre was pitching all that badly. It seems like a lot of bullpen moves are being made just for the heck of it.

[logan82]

I thought Dillard was a ROOGY.

He may be much better v RHB, but he can go multiple innings. He's stretched out for about 50 pitches.

It isn't that he is much better so much as he is really terrible against LHP.

[monty57]

In the AL, bench players often don't see the light of day for weeks at a time, while there are often multiple pitching changes in the same inning. We have plenty of dead weight on the bench which could've been discarded so we could keep the extra pitcher. That said, I'm glad to see Braddock back, and very glad that they decided to bring Gamel up this time, instead seeing more Kotsay.

 

Not too upset with the Mitre move, but I do feel some of endaround's angst over our depleted SP corps. Our #6 starter coming into the season is now a reliever, and we're a sore hip away from seeing someone like Sam Narron starting every five days. We really can't afford to lose many potential SP candidates... even if they are Sergio Mitre.

 

As for the James move, I think the surprise is that it didn't have to be done. We have plenty of 40-man space, and James was already in AAA, so he didn't need to be DFA'd. It would seem that he either did something he's being punished for or there's a trade brewing where we're going to move a few non-40-man guys for some 40-man guys, so we needed the extra spots.

[Thurston Fluff]

So Marcum last 4 innings and Estrada comes in for 3. Next day Gallardo last 3 innings, and then? I'm hardly a fan of Mitre but the Brewers are exposing him and have absolutely no depth for a #6/7 starter.

 

Not to nit pick but Wolf starts after Marcum. But the larger point should be how much risk do you assume in other areas trying to make sure you are covered should a relatively unlikely event occur? They aren't going with less players they are adding a lefthanded reliever who can go multiple innings and a batter who will contribute far more towards producing runs than Mitre would preventing them.

 

To answer your hypothetical question. Granted there can be consecutive short starts anytime. It's not nearly as common with good starters and a manager willing to let them go long. Barring injury if a starter is in trouble and the pen is short they'll ask him to go an extra inning along with using everyone to get thorugh the game. They can bring up someone else to help on day 3. I guess you could be arguing there should be 12 pitchers is that what you're saying?

 

It was more why move James now. There isn't a 40 man squeeze unless a trade is coming

 

My guess it that tells you what they think of him as a prospect. Does anyone know if a guy on the 40 man is worth less than the same guy off it? It could see how a non 40 man guy could help give flexibility in a trade.

[And That]

It isn't that he is much better so much as he is really terrible against LHP.

"Really terrible" might be pushing it. He has a decent change-up which can be effective v LHB.

[logan82]

He hasn't been so far. Small sample definitely applies though. I don't think side armers typically fare well without the platoon advantage.

[battlekow]

I'm hardly a fan of Mitre but the Brewers are exposing him and have absolutely no depth for a #6/7 starter.

Eulogio de la Cruz (stats) actually is moderately interesting as far as starters as Nashville go. Throws in the mid-90s.