Disappointed in Brewers Deadline Moves

[strawbossisevil]

Worst of all we are stuck with a manager who thinks all 4 of those players will somehow contribute enough that they should get starts.

You can't put this on RR - he has to play these guys and he can only play the guys on his roster. It's Melvin's job to give RR quality players.

 

That said, a number of quality players were available - Furcal was a PERFECT fit and not only did we pass, we let a division rival get him for a fringe prospect. Blows my mind that Melvin wouldn't do that..........

It remains to be seen why the Brewers passed on Furcal. Apparently they saw something they really didn´t like. If he is injured or has been slowed significantly by injury he wouldn´t be a "Perfect Fit". Perhaps the Brewers know something, perhaps they just goofed this up. Only time will tell.

[logan82]

Worst of all we are stuck with a manager who thinks all 4 of those players will somehow contribute enough that they should get starts.

You can't put this on RR - he has to play these guys and he can only play the guys on his roster. It's Melvin's job to give RR quality players.

I agree that Melvin needs to make a few moves. I stated that in an earlier post. Counsell and Kotsay starting today. DRP has choices and constantly makes bad lineup choices.

 

Have you been watching the games lately? Betancourt has been red-hot at

the plate. I don´t blame Ron at all for letting him play while he´s

hitting everything hard.

More excuses. His defense still stinks and even during his "hot" streak he is barely hitting better than Harriston has been hitting all year. There is no reason at all to continue stating YunE-6 more than a handful of times a week to give other, more talented players, a day off.

[strawbossisevil]

Have you been watching the games lately? Betancourt has been red-hot at

the plate. I don´t blame Ron at all for letting him play while he´s

hitting everything hard.

More excuses. His defense still stinks and even during his "hot" streak he is barely hitting better than Harriston has been hitting all year. There is no reason at all to continue stating YunE-6 more than a handful of times a week to give other, more talented players, a day off.

If that´s what you think, then you honestly haven´t been watching over the past week +. He's been red hot, and hitting far better than what could be expected from Hairston. I don't expect him to keep it up, but while he's a hot hand, you ride it. I know this isn't a game thread, but it is a good thing he started today as he has half of the Brewers RBI.

[crossface21]

I know Betancourt's defense sucks, I think everyone can agree on that one. However, everyone says that now Yuni is starting to hit. He actually just had one really bad month. He's hit every other month. When they got him in the off-season, I figured he'd be around .270-.280 and that would be good enough with the rest of the offense. The problem is that McGehee has been so bad they needed Yuni to do better to overcome the void left by McGehee sucking.

 

April .273

May .178

June .284

July .301

[logan82]

strawbossisevil wrote:

If that´s what you think, then you honestly haven´t been watching over the past week +. He's been red hot, and hitting far better than what could be expected from Harriston. I don't expect him to keep it up, but while he's a hot hand, you ride it. I know this isn't a game thread, but it is a good thing he started today as he has half of the Brewers RBI.

Yuni has had hot weeks before. Having a good game should not increase expectations of a player for the next game. You don't ride the hot hand. It is terrible strategy.

 

I know you like Yuni but starting him is really indefensible.

[strawbossisevil]

There is clearly something to players having a good stretch of games where they are seeing the ball well. Betancourt is having a streak where just about every time he has an at bat he is hitting the ball hard. You don't bench him while that is the case. It isn't a terrible strategy, it is the smart move.

 

Clearly your hate for Betancourt isn't even allowing you to make a rational argument.

 

When your tagline is "Anyone but Betancourt", I suppose we already know what argument you are going to make, no matter if it makes sense or not. And in this case, it clearly does not.

I don't like Yuni. You clearly haven't read any of my posts. I wanted him replaced by Barmes and Furcal, although apparently there was something about Furcal the Brewers didn't like, and the Astros weren't willing to trade Barmes. It stinks. But in this case, given what we have, with Betancourt hitting as he has been, you have to play him. Especially with our other option (JHJ) coming off of an injury.

[TheCrew]

It's not even about Yuni - it's about Counsell and McGehee at 3B and the refusal to upgrade the position, even when you have internal options.

 

There is no excuse anymore.

[strawbossisevil]

It's not even about Yuni - it's about Counsell and McGehee at 3B and the refusal to upgrade the position, even when you have internal options.

 

There is no excuse anymore.

Agreed there. Now that the deadline has passed, I hope they bring up Green. It's time to give him a shot. Counsell and McGehee are not the answer. I can't expect Green to be any worse.

Wish they could have gotten A-Ram, although for all we know they tried and A-Ram blocked a move with his no-trade clause. We really can't know all that went on behind the scenes.

 

[mothershipconnection]

"Hairston".

 

Everyone practice writing that accurately 50 times before you post references to him.

You can keep it straight by remembering that it's made of the words "Hairs" and "ton".

[Tbadder]

I'm satisfied with the trades given the enormous holes we had, and the very little firepower on the minor league level we had to give up. K-Rod will help significantly in high leverage situations, and I really like the Hairston move. The Cards hurt us when they got Jackson, but Furcal is done. He was a talent; he's a basketcase now. it's gonna come down to the wire and two of the three teams are going to be disappointed. I truly believe the Cards are better than us without Rickie, but they're also more fragile, and I'm counting on them hitting some potholes along the way.

[pitchleague]

with regards to Green, you gotta wonder if it's just personal preference of Melvin, Roenicke, Mark A. or a combination of those three that they don't seem to have much faith in young guys and would rather go with veterans. I look at the Indians and they have a rookie starter at 3B and a rookie starter at 2B that they JUST TRADED THEIR VETERAN 2B so he could be the starter. It kind of boggles my mind that there are other teams who are contending and also have the vision to give the young guys a chance and see what they can do.

 

As for the topic of this thread, sure, I'm guessing most of us have a little bit of disappointment in our souls of how the deadline played out, no matter what they say on a message board. My thought is that if Weeks doesn't get hurt, Melvin doesn't go after both Lopez and Hairston. Maybe one of them, but not both. The injury kind of forced his hand to focus on guys that can play 2B instead of just SS/3B. If Weeks doesn't get hurt, my guess is the Brewers may have made more of a push for a SS/3B (not saying he would have acquired one, however.)

 

I still think the Brewers may be able to pick up a Jason Bartlett or Clint Barmes type guy before the August 31st deadline. I'm not saying that they definitely will, of course, but we'll see.

[pebadger]

This played out about how I expected, except for the K-Rod deal which was a surprise. I simply think that DM doesn't believe in completely disrupting the team by taking a position away from the guy who has had that job every day, all season, unless he gets an absolute superstar or unless he feels he has no other option. The Brewers weren't going to get superstars, and it's pretty clear how much veterans are preferred over guys with limited experience. I just don't see CM or YB being forced out at this point, nor do I see CC or MK going anywhere.

 

Not defending those positions taken by the management, but I think that writing has been on the wall for a while now for all to see.

[strawbossisevil]

This played out about how I expected, except for the K-Rod deal which was a surprise. I simply think that DM doesn't believe in completely disrupting the team by taking a position away from the guy who has had that job every day, all season, unless he gets an absolute superstar or unless he feels he has no other option. The Brewers weren't going to get superstars, and it's pretty clear how much veterans are preferred over guys with limited experience. I just don't see CM or YB being forced out at this point, nor do I see CC or MK going anywhere.

 

Not defending those positions taken by the management, but I think that writing has been on the wall for a while now for all to see.

I don't see that as the case. The Brewers were reported to have been looking, quite seriously, at the medical reports of Furcal. Apparently they decided to pass after seeing them. And there were reports of the Brewers contacting the Astros about Barmes as well. So it looks like Melvin was making an effort to upgrade the SS position, it just seems that there weren't any good options, outside of Jerry Hairston Jr, who due to his age won't likely be able to play SS everyday.

Right now, I just hope the changes the Brewers did make are enough to get us into the playoffs. Once you are in the playoffs, anything can happen.

 

[MadisonBrewerBlue]

brewers are being fiscally responsible at the deadline. the real deals were done in the beginning of the year with the acquisitions of marcum and greinke.

[The Truth]

I'm more disappointed in the Brewers being unwilling to DFA Craig Counsell and their being willing to start Mark Kotsay of all people in CF, than I am in the Deadline moves

 

K-Rod, Hairston Jr and Lopez are additions that improved the team

[FVBrewerFan]

I wish DM would have been able to swing a deal for a LHP in the pen. As RR reminds us almost every day, there's no sense in having one if he isn't any good. I think we would all agree with that, but having an effective lefty in the pen would be one more weapon they could really use down the stretch and in the playoffs. They had a plan coming into the season. Parra, Stetter, and Braddock. Reasonable plan, but it didn't work out. The little things will matter in the playoffs.

[pebadger]

I don't have any doubt that Melvin was doing his due diligence with regard to some of these guys. But I'm not convinced that there was any real commitment to making something happen. He certainly wasn't going for a home run in the case of the SS position. It seems pretty clear he wasn't doing anything at all with respect to the 3B position. Now, his options were certainly limited, as I don't beleive that a 'splash' was there to be made, even if he wanted to make one. I'm just speaking with a view to the record DM has established. It just seems to me there is a commitment to continuity within the context of a given season. The one place where DM has made big moves is with respect to pitching, but there is always a fluidity in the pitching situation, of almost every team.

[Bernman23]

My only disappointments were not only did we miss out on Furcal but also allowed him to join our #1 competitor. However, I am content with the moves because they did constitute upgrades, and we didn't significantly hinder our chances next year and going forward, pending the PTBNL's in the K-Rod trade. You can't have tunnel vision just because you are in a playoff race in that current year. We are equipped to make a playoff run next year if the team outside of Fielder is kept largely intact and use the money wisely that his departure frees.

[geddymd73]

Way too much is made of the "need" to upgrade the infield. Melvin didn't need to, but he has yet another utility guy who can play the infield. There is no further move to make. Yuni is hot, and frankly, his defense was tolerable today. We have 4 options for 3rd base which is way more than anyone can ask for.

[gregmag]

Jerry Hairston Jr, who due to his age won't likely be able to play SS everyday.

You've now said that twice. Are you saying that based on specific knowledge, or just on the fact of his age and the demands of the position? I just haven't seen that statement anywhere else.

 

I would love to have seen more upgrades, but when you make such a big splash in the offseason, and to a lesser extent in-season, you sort of diminish your expectations for the deadline. I didn't see any allegedly realistic deals that I'm mad we didn't make. If Hairston can indeed play ss at least semi-regularly, I'm not sure I see him as a less attractive pickup than Furcal. Also, I hate trading top prospects for relievers (assuming such a trade might have been possible), and our bullpen situation seems to have settled down lately.

 

 

[dlk9s]

People whining about the lack of exciting deals made in the last couple days need to consider that we have no idea what Melvin tried to do and what other teams wanted in return. It's not like there was a grab bag full of useful players from which Melvin could just take what he wanted.

 

And really, does anyone think the Cubs or Astros would want to trade us their best players?

[strawbossisevil]

Jerry Hairston Jr, who due to his age won't likely be able to play SS everyday.

You've now said that twice. Are you saying that based on specific knowledge, or just on the fact of his age and the demands of the position? I just haven't seen that statement anywhere else.

 

I would love to have seen more upgrades, but when you make such a big splash in the offseason, and to a lesser extent in-season, you sort of diminish your expectations for the deadline. I didn't see any allegedly realistic deals that I'm mad we didn't make. If Hairston can indeed play ss at least semi-regularly, I'm not sure I see him as a less attractive pickup than Furcal. Also, I hate trading top prospects for relievers (assuming such a trade might have been possible), and our bullpen situation seems to have settled down lately.

 

I'm saying it because of his age, the demands of the position, and because he hasn't been playing it much lately. I could be wrong, but I just don't see him as an everyday player anymore.

[fondybrewfan]

I am pretty happy with the trading season. Hairston covers a lot of our weaknesses; if/when McGehee/Yuni go back into slumps we at least have someone to step in now. Obviously we also have more coverage in the OF as well.

 

I think Melvin will pick up a waiver wire LHP; I think that is really the only othe major missing piece.

 

I think it is a little crazy to criticize Melvin for not going for it when in the last 10 months he has brought in Marcum, Grienke, Saito, Morgan, K-Rod, among others. I guess I was never in love with Furcal either; Hairston might be much more valuable to the team due to his versality. Yeah the team still has some holes; but so does every other team that has a payroll under $100 Million. I really like our chances going into the final 2 months. Obviously the the other 3 likely playoff teams will be awfully tough; but you never know what can happen in the playoffs.

[And That]

My wishlist:

Aramis Ramirez

Ryan Ludwick (get rid of Kotsay)

Michael Bourn

Clint Barmes (at least he's a helluva defender)

I have bad news for you...

 

Ramirez: said he wouldn't waive his full no-trade clause.

Ludwick: the Brewers aren't going to get rid of Mark Kotsay to get a slightly better Mark Kotsay. He might be available in August if Pirates fall out of it, anyway.

Michael Bourn: why would the Brewers trade for a CF?

Clint Barmes: Astros told a bunch of teams they weren't interested in trading him.

 

Look, I'm as bummed as anyone that Betancourt is still the SS, Counsell is still on the roster, Taylor Green, but the Brewers can't make roster moves in a vacuum. They have to be able to trade for players that are available (which Ramirez and Barmes most likely weren't) and are worth the price in prospects relative to the upgrade they're worth on the roster (Bourn is not).

 

The Brewers will probably make some moves in August for another IF and a LOOGY. The IF won't be Jose Reyes and the LOOGY won't be Sean Marshall, so please don't set yourself up for disappointment.

[YoungGeezy]

Hard to be disappointed in getting Greinke, Marcum, K-Rod, Lopez, Haiston Jr. Yes I count both Greinke and Marcum because they were moves that were made to win NOW. I don't care if they didn't make some giant splash because they already had in the off-season and had another big one during All-Star break. Sure, Counsell, Wilson, Kotsay, Bethencourt could all easily be upgraded over which in fact the Brewers did do with Lopez and Hairston. Way to much hype goes into the deadline because most times you dont have the Sabathia type performance. We are thin in the minors and we are not a team that has a budget that that is a fine isue to have. We NEED a strong system in order to compete. Both to fuel the future and future trades. We trade anymore away we would have zero to work with next year.

 

Ask is this team better than it was prior to mid season trades, if yes, dont be disappointed.