If you're DM, what do you do to make this team better?

[RockCoCougars]

And the pitching on the major league team would be extremely weak. I'm glad you're happy with minor league success, because I'll take major league success. Maybe they'll amount to something some day, but so far they haven't. The only player traded away for Linebrink who has even played in the majors is Thatcher, and he's just a LOOGY. The comp picks they got for Linebrink turned into Nyjer Morgan. So they got a Linebrink rental (do you remember how poor the relief pitching was that year - that was what almost cost them the playoffs)

It actually did cost them the playoffs, as that was 2007 and they finished 2 games out of winning the division.

Linebrink was a gas can that September, so he played a large part in the team missing the playoffs. I was glad to see him gone, unfortunately he was replaced by Riske, who did his best to cost the team the playoffs the next season. Now Kammy Loe is doing a great job in outdoing both of them. He actually is on pace to threaten the MLB record for losses in a season for a reliever. Not a good thing for an '8th inning' set up guy.

[logan82]

Ehh, this is a bad stretch when we were expected to have a bad stretch. A big part of it over the last few weeks has been the brutal interleague schedule which we knew would be bad.

 

We have needed to make changes for a while now and as others have pointed out most can be made internally. These changes were being called for at least a month ago when things were going well and are not knee jerk reactions in most cases. Green and Boggs up and Kotsay and one of the SS cut are pretty obvious moves to be made. While not major positions they can make a big impact especially when you take the leverage of the PA's into consideration.

[danzig6767]

Ehh, this is a bad stretch when we were expected to have a bad stretch. A big part of it over the last few weeks has been the brutal interleague schedule which we knew would be bad.

 

We have needed to make changes for a while now and as others have pointed out most can be made internally. These changes were being called for at least a month ago when things were going well and are not knee jerk reactions in most cases. Green and Boggs up and Kotsay and one of the SS cut are pretty obvious moves to be made. While not major positions they can make a big impact especially when you take the leverage of the PA's into consideration.

Don't hold your breathe for any of those type of moves. Watching Melvin over his tenure as Brewers GM, i think he just has a weakness in general of overvaluing experience, except in the case of elite prospects. I have a feeling that the Brad Nelson situation changed Melvin and thus it explains his Kotsay signing, along with keeping Boggs in the minors even though he can switch hit and likely would produce better.

 

Same with McGehee. Doug saw Casey have success on the big league level over the last year and a half, thus he's not willing to take the "risk" in his eyes of calling up Green who has never done anything in the majors. Melvin would rather hope/pray that McGehee through his experience can eventually turn things around, regardless of the fact that McGehee isn't in just some fairly common slump, he's been killing the team both offensively/defensively for almost 60 games and the vast majority of his ugly at bats show no sign of him snapping out of it.

 

When Doug acquired Betancourt, i can't find the article, but i remember him saying that he considered Yuni an important part of the deal because he had so many years of experience playing shortstop, and Doug didn't want to hand that important defensive position to an unproven player. That and the well Yuni had 78 RBI's last year angle.

 

When Melvin signed Nieves, he again mentioned the experience angle, that he wanted a backup catcher with experience handling a pitching staff.

 

Some GM's are like Doug in that they have a very strong affinity for experience and thus, they'll almost always give the benefit of the doubt to guys who have played in the majors, especially to bench or role player jobs. Other GM's are more willing to make moves quicker and/or call up a kid to replace a veteran not getting the job done, especially in a playoff race where each game can be so huge.

[adambr2]

I've seen way too many unrealistic suggestions lately. Melvin and Roenicke aren't going anywhere, so why even bother suggesting it? Maybe one of the other coaches could get the axe, but they will have to fall much farther than one game out of 1st for that to happen.

 

They could use another reliable arm in the bullpen. If Roenicke is going to be stubborn and use a designated 8th inning guy, Melvin needs to get him a reliable 8th inning guy. Trading with the Mets might work if they are interested in taking some cash. But there are plenty of other teams out there interested in relief pitchers with more to give up. If we are really "all in" this year, do we trade another decent prospect? I agree that a new shortstop could help, but the improvement would probably be marginal. Yuni's going to play out the year, whether we like it or not.

 

Like others have suggested, 3B is the best position to make improvements. McGehee likely has the next 6 games to make significant strides or he will lose his starting position.

 

I would like to see one new arm in the bullpen and a change to the bench. The areas of concern mostly relate to games when the starter gets pulled early. If the starting pitching is solid, many of these other problems tend to fade into the background, as they did in May-early June.

Are you sure about this? I think if the Brewers flounder around .500 this season, Melvin's job is most certainly at least in some degree of danger.

 

And Roenicke, unfortunately, you're probably right, but you never know. Mark A. pulled the trigger on Yost despite a winning playoff contender in '08, even well into September, when he didn't think Yost was the right guy to put them over. It's unlikely that it would happen again, but depending on what this team does in September, you never know.

[bill hAll Star]

The book obviously has not been closed on 2011 but if all he can get out of 2 HOF players, Weeks, Hart, Hardy in his good years, etc. is a squeak into the Wild Card in 2008 spot I think it is a good indication that he has failed.

 

I was one calling for his head the past few years hoping for a youthful continuation like the Rays so smartly do instead of trying to build on the house of cards that Doug has by paying for overpriced vets and gutting the farm system to get short-term goals (I don't totally hate every move of this strategy, just not what I'd prefer).

 

He bought himself some time/excitement with the Marcum/Greinke trades, but I immediately lost the enthusiasm when he finished filling out his roster.

 

It's pretty incredible that in today's world of stats and information so readily available that a GM has no clue what OPS, OBP, UZR, etc. have to do with a team is incredible. To boot, a manager that can't use any of those stats to play a matchup or fill out a lineup card is also staffed. Plus, Melvin just had his "eureka!" study last year that... *gasp* ...big pitchers with a plus fastball and secondary pitch are more prone to success!

 

Of course Doug has heard of and knows of all of those stats, but other than Cameron who he had to pay big bucks for that most casual fans hate but is a great advanced stats player, none of the moves I've seen Melvin make show me he's looking at anything other than AVG, ERA, and RBIs. He may have some sabermetrics guys on staff, but he's definitely not listening to them.

[yfinn6]

Doug Melvin should start fining players for swinging at the first pitch and weakly grounding out or popping up. I don't mind swinging at the first pitch, but that should be only if you get a fastball belt high that cuts the plate in half. I've been noticing it more since the Yankee series. A lot of weak swings and grounders on bad first pitches.

 

This post is only half serious. But good grief, some of these guys could stand to take a pitch or two.

[danzig6767]

Doug Melvin should start fining players for swinging at the first pitch and weakly grounding out or popping up. I don't mind swinging at the first pitch, but that should be only if you get a fastball belt high that cuts the plate in half. I've been noticing it more since the Yankee series. A lot of weak swings and grounders on bad first pitches.

 

This post is only half serious. But good grief, some of these guys could stand to take a pitch or two.

If anyone should be fined for that it should be Melvin, he's the one who brought in those free swingers. Managers and batting coaches can try all they want to change very impatient hackers, but it rarely ever works. That's why it's up to the GM to avoid bringing impatient hackers.

[Flood Pants]

I think the biggest thing Doug can do is give Ron a shorter leash. No more Loe in the eight inning. No more batting Casey in the middle of the order. Nyjer should be starting every day, Kotsay should be starting never. More Counsell, less Yuni. It's obvious that Ron has no concept of how to utilize stats, but the front office does. So it's time to step in. This team could squeak out a few more wins with better management.

 

Also, if Doug could go back in time, he could option Estrada instead of DFAing Mitre. He's going to regret that move down the stretch.

 

It's unlikely that there will be any kind of big move at the deadline, because we're lacking the prospects. So the best avenue to improve is to make better use of what we already have.

[fondybrewfan]

Why do people still want Counsell to play more? He has been AWFUL. It really doesn't bother me much that Yuni plays over Counsell. Isn't he 0 for 20 something right now?

 

The problem is that we have absolutely no depth at SS so RR has no choice but to ply Yuni, Counsell, or Wilson who are all just terrible options

[endaround]

Because Counsell is better than Yuni. Yes Counsell can't hit but he can field. Yuni can't hit or field. But hey if you want to see if you can get a career type 200 PAs from Wilson that is a viable alternative as well.

[Invader3K]

They need to do something. We're now in third place behind Pittsburgh, of all things. Hopefully Braun is back today and picks up where he left off, but other obvious roster moves should be happening soon, hopefully by the All-Star break.

[monty57]

They need to do something. We're now in third place behind Pittsburgh, of all things. Hopefully Braun is back today and picks up where he left off, but other obvious roster moves should be happening soon, hopefully by the All-Star break.

I'll assume that Melvin isn't blind, and I'll assume that he has some knowledge of the Brewers' minor league system. Therefore, he has to know what's going on, and has to know that changes are likley going to have to be made. It seems (at least I hope) the All Star break is probably what Melvin is targeting for making moves, as he'll be able to justify them by saying that he gave McGehee and Kotsay a chance to turn things around.

 

As Invader3K mentioned, we're now in 3rd place behind the Pirates. We're going into a series against the Reds. It may seem menial, but I'd like to see the moves made now to give the team extra talent and a seemingly needed shake-up rather than seeing us limp thgough another series and fall behind the Reds.

[Invader3K]

That's just the thing. McGehee and others have had enough time. Does anyone really believe he's going to suddenly turn it around against the Reds' pitching? One more series isn't going to prove anything either way.

[endaround]

Its just so frustrating looking at the WAR for position players on this team:

 

Lucroy 1.4 despite missing time

Fielder 3.7

Weeks 3.4

Betancourt -0.7

McGehee -0.8

Hart 1.5 despite missing time and taking a while to find his swing

Morgan 1.8

Gomez 1.5

Braun 4.1

 

 

This team is getting great production out of 6 positions and putrid production out of two.

[rluzinski]

This team is getting great production out of 6 positions and putrid production out of two.

Which, in theory, makes Melvin's job of upgrading the lineup that much easier. ZiPS ROS projections:

McGehee: .257 / .309 / .395

Betancourt: .262 / .289 / .389

McGehee's projected line isn't THAT bad for a 3B but since he is also a pretty poor defender, he has little value. Betancourt is so bad at playing baseball in general that he never should have been on the team, much less getting the majority of starts this year. Any slick fielding, no hit AAA SS would probably be an upgrade.

 

[The Truth]

Honestly, and I know I'm not the first person to write this, but at this point the best thing Doug Melvin can do to help the Brewers is fire Gord Ash and then fire himself (i.e. resign). I add the "fire Gord Ash" part so as to guarantee that there would be a complete change at the top, as Ash might likely make similar decisions as Melvin

 

You trade away 6 years of Lawrie, 4-5 years of Alcides Escobar, Odorizzi, Jeffress, 5-6 years of Lo Cain, all of that talent for Marcum & Greinke. OK, fine, but then you are going all in, you don't fill out the rest of the roster with Betancourt, Kotsay & Nieves, & Josh Wilson and a 41 year old Counsell, and a bullpen based on a wish and a prayer that a 41 year old Saito still has it and a bunch of other retreads and hopefuls.....

[monty57]

and a bullpen based on a wish and a prayer that a 41 year old Saito still has it and a bunch of other retreads and hopefuls.....

 

I don't think the bullpen would be bad if Roenicke would just realize that Loe isn't the "8th inning guy," and he shouldn't be used against lefties. If we have Axford as closer, Braddock, Saito, Hawkins as 7th/8th inning/tight situation guys, we have a good back end to the 'pen. Roenicke's use of Loe (and of Green when he was here) has cost us more than anything else this year, including Betancourt and McGehee.

[The Truth]

If we have Axford as closer, Braddock, Saito, Hawkins as 7th/8th inning/tight situation guys....

Most of this season, we haven't had Saito or Hawkins, and again I put that on Melvin and his repetitive nature of relying on over-the-hill relief pitchers. It is no shock that Saito & Hawkins have spent much of the season the DL so far. Braddock's stint on the DL, that one you couldn't really see coming. So when you rely on over-the-hill guys, you end up in a situation where a guy like Loe, who should be a right hand specialist, becomes the 8th inning set-up guy by default. And the wheels come off the bus and the manager gets blamed. But really it is the GM's fault

[monty57]

To be fair, it would have been hard for any GM to account for Hart, Greinke, Lucroy, Hawkins, Braddock, Parra, Saito... did I miss any ...getting hurt at the same time to start the season. Blaming a GM because they "should have seen the injuries coming" is getting a bit nit-picky.

 

I am frustrated that we're watching a bunch of gimps playing far too much when we have better players in AAA, but much of the angst here and elsewhere is because Melvin has assembled the most talented team in the NL Central and we're blowing it. Some is on Melvin for not making a few seemingly no-brainer moves. Much is on Roenicke for things such as continuing to play Loe in the 8th inning even though everyone's healthy and playing Kotsay in CF even when Morgan & Gomez are healthy, etc.

[LouisEly]

You left out Kintzler and Stetter but I don't know if they count as "the same time".

[ELCABALLO45]

What games are you guys blaming everything on Betancourt and Kotsay watching?

 

"Massive holes in the spots Melvin messed with"?? Like CF where he picked up Nyjer Morgan for essentially a bag of balls? Betancourt's hitting .284 since June 1. Sure he'll drive you nuts some times with his approach at the plate, but he's not kicking balls all over in the field, and he figures to still get his share of hits.

He is now hitting .278 since June 1st, with a OBP of .280. That is terrible.

[Funketown]

You're probably not having a great year when in your best month you hit .284/.281/.409/.690.

[The Truth]

There is no way to sugarcoat this: a .280 OBP is absolutely horrible. I'm not singling anyone out, but anyone who doesn't understand that, simply doesn't understand baseball

[Polish Falcons]

Its just so frustrating looking at the WAR for position players on this team:

 

Lucroy 1.4 despite missing time

Fielder 3.7

Weeks 3.4

Betancourt -0.7

McGehee -0.8

Hart 1.5 despite missing time and taking a while to find his swing

Morgan 1.8

Gomez 1.5

Braun 4.1

 

 

This team is getting great production out of 6 positions and putrid production out of two.

Where do you find this information? Would it be possible to post other teams? Is it normal to expect positive WAR from 8/8 players on a team and say anything with negative WAR is "putrid"? At least for me this is totally out of context, and I'm not really familiar with WAR, but I would expect that most teams have a mix of players above and below replacement. Without seeing the league wide data I would guess the Brewers WAR mix is somewhere between normal and good compared to the rest of the league. Otherwise every team in the league would be on pace for 100 wins.

[logan82]

[quote author=Polish Falcons wrote:

[/b]Where do you find this information? Would it be possible to post other teams? Is it normal to expect positive WAR from 8/8 players on a team and say anything with negative WAR is "putrid"? At least for me this is totally out of context, and I'm not really familiar with WAR, but I would expect that most teams have a mix of players above and below replacement. Without seeing the league wide data I would guess the Brewers WAR mix is somewhere between normal and good compared to the rest of the league. Otherwise every team in the league would be on pace for 100 wins.

You can find this information at Fangraphs.

 

Doesn't matter what other teams have for players. We don't have the best players available to us on the MLB team.