The Bring up Taylor Green Thread

[Ayt]

I definitely don't see us signing a veteran 1B. We can't afford it assuming we want to extend our pitchers (as danzig pointed out), and we don't need one anyway. We'll have our 1B and 3B positions sorted out with McGehee, Gamel, and Green.

[adambr2]

Gamel is a pretty big question mark to replace a position of expected big offensive contributions.

 

We could probably afford to bring in Lance Berkman on a 2 year deal and have little or no dropoff at all.

[igor67]

Berkman is also a pretty big question mark, given age and combination of recent seasons. It's way to easy to think he's a safe option.

[JohnBriggs12]

Berkman is also a pretty big question mark, given age and combination of recent seasons. It's way to easy to think he's a safe option.

I don't think anyone's saying it's necessarily a "safe" choice for the reasons you cite. On the other hand, Berkman's put up big numbers and given that he has this year, it's conceivable he could again in 2012. We don't exactly know what Gamel is capable of because he's never done it.

[TooLiveBrew]

What's funny to me is that, in a different organization, we could be talking about Gamel entering his 4th full-time season in 2012. The guy is an absolutely legit hitter. I really wish people would stop doubting him and/or get past the 'prospect block' (as in, mental block) that is, "he hasn't hit at MLB yet!"

 

'prospect block' also applies to Green, for sure

[Bernman23]

What's funny to me is that, in a different organization, we could be talking about Gamel entering his 4th full-time season in 2012. The guy is an absolutely legit hitter. I really wish people would stop doubting him and/or get past the 'prospect block' (as in, mental block) that is, "he hasn't hit at MLB yet!"

And expounding on your point, people should stop doubting him because of the stigma that he recently turned 26 and is still in the minors. He would have likely stayed in the bigs at 24 if it weren't for McGehee suddenly emerging at the position he was groomed and his lack of defense. In his only extended run back in '09 he posted a .760 OPS in 128 AB's. Those were good enough numbers to stick and continue to improve at the major league level. The fact he'll be 26-27 next season is actually a positive because he should be a more seasoned hitter than your ordinary rookie. We should get the nearly prime Gamel after he gets over early season jitters and adjustments.

 

With Berkman you have to worry that he's another Cardinals' player who can't near duplicate the success he had there and you'll have to pay him a significant amount of our remaining payroll allotment which could be better allocated to extending pitchers, re-signing Hawk, and maybe even upgrading ss (Betancourt's buyout throws in a little bit of a wrench).

[monty57]

The fact he'll be 26-27 next season is actually a positive because he should be a more seasoned hitter than your ordinary rookie.

 

And we'll have him really cheap for most of his MLB career. How the Brewers have handled Gamel (and his being "blocked") are bad for his lifetime earnings potential, but will probably be good for the Brewers.

 

I really wish people would stop doubting him and/or get past the 'prospect block' (as in, mental block) that is, "he hasn't hit at MLB yet!"

 

It is kind of a scary trend that we basically are looking like we'll doubt anyone who comes up through the system. I like getting players like Greinke and Marcum, but I don't want our future to be us continually trading all of our good prospects for proven players simply because we don't trust prospects to play in the big leagues. We don't have enough money or prospects/draft picks to keep that up for too long.

 

I equate it to the problem people run into after graduating: Employers want experience before they'll hire you, but you can't get experience until someone hires you. We won't know how Gamel will perform as a starting MLB player until he is allowed to be a starting MLB player. His minor league numbers (the only time he's been allowed to start everyday on a regular basis) seem to suggest that he will put up good offensive numbers. Few will put up numbers like Prince, and that's why he's going to be paid over $20MM per year and probably won't be wearing a Brewers uniform next year. Gamel and Green should be good players for league minimum, allowing us to remain a playoff contender and use our money on a position where we don't have a good option, like Shortstop and possibly the bullpen, and in potentially extending the likes of Greinke and Marcum.

 

Without young, inexpensive players coming out of the minors, we will not be able to continue to extend our star players. Gamel and Green are the two best options to help us out next year. They could help us this year, but I'm beginning to give up on that happening. Then hopefully Peralta will step in to replace Wolf after next year, and the cycle continues. Maybe guys like Thornberg and the other young prospects will allow us extend another star player when guys like Hart are gone. Without (not with) rookies getting a chance, the Brewers will cease to be a playoff contender in the future.

[1992casey]

Closed in favor of this topic:

 

Taylor Green called up; Dillard optioned to AAA