Next question now we have the waiver deadline?

[brewmann04]

I was wondering if anyone thinks that the Brewers will go out and make a move before September 1st.

I heard DM has stated he thinks he can find a LHP during the waiver period.

[PrinceEatMeat]

Yep, I think Doug will get a LH RP at some point. That's probably it.

[TheCrew]

Not sure if he'd make it through waivers - but Casey Blake is an option I would love to take over for McGehee and shouldn't cost too much.

[pingman]

I've said this before & I'll repeat it here: you MUST have three southpaws in the pen to beat the Phillies.....and at this point with the team playing great, this must be Melvin's objective because the road to the World Series goes thru Philly

 

It must be karma because it seems like you'll see Howard, Utley & even Rollins (switch hitter) come to the plate in innings 7-9 with ducks-on-the-pond....need those lefties to control those cats

[JohnBriggs12]

Not sure if he'd make it through waivers - but Casey Blake is an option I would love to take over for McGehee and shouldn't cost too much.

That is never going to happen. One, Blake isn't an upgrade over McGehee. Secondly, you don't upset clubhouse chemistry to put a 37 year old part time player with a mediocre .729 OPS ahead of the very popular McGehee, who despite his struggles has gotten a ton of key hits in key situations. In "late and close" situations (71 plate appearances), McGehee is hitting .349/.423/.540.

 

Remember it was McGehee's double on Sunday that set up the winning SF from Morgan. That's just the latest of a number of key hits he's gotten late in close games.

[Invader3K]

I'd love to see him claim a veteran power bat for the bench, but just not sure if it will happen. They seem content with what they have. I do agree we'll probably see a LHRP added at some point.

[igor67]

A solid lefty reliever, and a lefty power pinch hitter would be great (Thome is perfect).

[DHonks]

at this point I wouldn't add anyone. I would consider Wolf and Narveson to our bullpen lefties. At our current pace, we won't need a lefty to get in the playoffs, just once we're in the playoffs. Those two can cover us in the playoffs.

[FoxyFoxes]

I think they use Wolf as a starter in the playoffs and go with Narveson and Braddock as the lefties. That would work for me.

[dadofandrew]

I think Doug will find a loogy. Randy Choate would be perfect, Dolug tried to get him last offseason, but will be claimed by many teams and FLA has no reason to give him up. After Choate is gone, he'll look at others and find someone. They've looked for a bat off the bench in July, so that makes sense as well. You don't need 12 pitchers if you make the playoffs, so a bench guy makes sense.

[MNBrew]

I think Weeks' returning makes Hairston (who already is part of the time) and Lopez (who should be all the time) and Wilson (already in that role) the bench guys. In other words, the return to health & to the active roster of Weeks gets us the bench bat we're missing.

[brewmann04]

I believe DM has been looking for the Loogy before the deadline and still thinks he can pull something off.

[DHonks]

Foxy, why would you expect Braddock to be on the team?

 

As for Wolf, yes he could start. But we'll try to avoid using him and sticking with a 3-man rotation like most teams try to do.

[markedman5]

No way Braddock is on the playoff roster after the year he has had.

[TheCrew]

That is never going to happen. One, Blake isn't an upgrade over McGehee. Secondly, you don't upset clubhouse chemistry to put a 37 year old part time player with a mediocre .729 OPS ahead of the very popular McGehee, who despite his struggles has gotten a ton of key hits in key situations. In "late and close" situations (71 plate appearances), McGehee is hitting .349/.423/.540.

 

Remember it was McGehee's double on Sunday that set up the winning SF from Morgan. That's just the latest of a number of key hits he's gotten late in close games.

Blake is a huge upgrade. He is a far superior defender and is far more consistent at the plate - furthermore, my post was on August 1st, that was before McGehee had a "ton of key hits" - he's had a good two week stretch, but let's not get carried away. He's been brutal pretty much all season at the plate and his defense is offensive.

 

Casey has had some good luck in high leverage situations, with a BABIP close to .400 - don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed his big moments - but all you need to do is look at his medium/low leverage at bats (and the avg in the .220's that goes along with it) to see how badly he has struggled all year. I'm pulling for McGehee and hope he has turned it around, but I would gladly take Blake in a heartbeat on the roster over a guy like Wilson. Keep McGehee on the bench and he can pinch hit in this high leverage/late close situations since that is the only thing he has done well this year.

[brettac1]

How "popular" can a player be with his teammates when he doesn't pull his weight? I'd get pretty sick of watching one of my co-workers under-perform over and over.

[PKBadger]

How "popular" can a player be with his teammates when he doesn't pull his weight? I'd get pretty sick of watching one of my co-workers under-perform over and over.

I get the sense that most ballplayers don't evaluate their teammates purely on sabermetric output.

 

This line of thinking annoys me with regard to Betancourt as well. I remember during spring training there were some quotes from Greinke that were complimentary of Yuni and some of the reactions around here were to the effect of "oh, he's just pretending to be nice, I'll bet he really hates playing with Yuni." http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/eyes.gif

 

Do you think Braun is sick of watching Mark Kotsay? Probably not, because he's a professional.

[HiAndTight]

How "popular" can a player be with his teammates when he doesn't pull his weight? I'd get pretty sick of watching one of my co-workers under-perform over and over.

I get the sense that most ballplayers don't evaluate their teammates purely on sabermetric output.

 

This line of thinking annoys me with regard to Betancourt as well. I remember during spring training there were some quotes from Greinke that were complimentary of Yuni and some of the reactions around here were to the effect of "oh, he's just pretending to be nice, I'll bet he really hates playing with Yuni." http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/eyes.gif

 

Do you think Braun is sick of watching Mark Kotsay? Probably not, because he's a professional.

And because they actually play baseball everyday. There's a substantial disconnect from playing the game, to analyzing to death UZR ratings, and VORP and things of this nature.

 

 

For all the crap Kotsay gets, they see a guy who makes contact, and has a decent average and is probably pretty likable. Some people are far too wrapped up in being right or wrong about a particular player to kinda step back and appreciate human nature. This is why there are GM's. They may always be able to see the trees from their vantage point, and the "tree," is that Yuni couldn't get to a play "in his zone," or that the grizzled vet they respect might have a hollow .265 batting average.

 

And for the record, I'm all about the Yuni bashing despite the fact that he's played a passable SS as of late, which to my mind would include offense and defense(he's been surprisingly not terrible defensively). That, and the lack of any other real option will make him the SS for the rest of the way. But the Kotsay bashing is a BIT over the top. He's not a good player, but he's not that bad for a bat off the bench. And I do put "bit," in all caps as I think it's only been slightly overplayed. .260/.320 off the bench. If the Brewers could add another power bat in lieu of Wilson, ie, Gamel and go with Hairston, Gamel and Kotsay, or Hairston, Thome and Kotsay, he's not a bad guy to have coming off the bench in the post-season, and he hasn't been THAT bad during the season.

[FoxyFoxes]

I just think Melvin is absolutlely blowing it if he doesn't acquire a lefty for the playoffs to go with Narveson. Need to make that happen . Gamel up before September would be a good thing too.

[MNBrew]

Maybe I'm just overly simplistic about this in my thinking, but I couldn't care less if there are no lefties in the bullpen so long as whomever is in the bullpen can get LH batters out on a steady basis.

[brewmann04]

6 days wonder if DM will make any other moves heading down the stretch.

[pretendastronaut]

Supposedly they've gone after some infielders, but it hasn't made any noise;

 

Brewers had interest in Carroll in July. Brewers have put in some claims on infielders this month.

 

Link

[brewmann04]

4 days left wonder if Melvin will make a finishing move.

[TooLiveBrew]

I would hope the F.O. can find a decent LOOGY; that has to be the type of player you could actually get off these waivers.

[PrinceEatMeat]

Melvin said he was awarded claims on two players already, and neither team wanted to trade. He implied they were both LHP.