Who will be this years Yuni or Kotsay?

[logan82]

What about a dark horse candidate like Brooks Conrad if he steals pt from Gamel?

 

Somebody stealing playing time from Gamel would definitely be a problem to me.

[brettac1]

I think Izturis is possible, because you will have times when he is the designated bunter, doesn't get it down, and makes an out. He'll also probably bunt twice a game in the games he starts.

[RockCoCougars]

http://gapersblock.com/tailgate/sportsgifs/GonzalezD2.gif

Wow.

[razzzorsharp]

Braun. The city could turn on him at some point as crazy as it sounds.

[mothershipconnection]

Gamel's the most obvious choice. This is largely because the organization hasn't tested him sufficiently in the bigs before getting to the point where he'd be thrust into a starting spot without a viable backup.

 

My 2nd choice is a PTBNL reliever who will be given too many chances despite sucking. Perhaps Parra.

[Nottso]

Marcum. As soon as he hit the wall last year there was great wailing and gnashing of teeth. If he gets off to a rough start, hate and discontent will likely be the order of the day.

[MNBrew]

Gonzalez is a virtual lock to slide into the Yuni role, if you ask me. I really don't think that he's going to be the upgrade that people expect....

RockCo, you & I often see things differently, but not this time! I think his offensive approach is going to drive people through the roof just as Yuni's did and to many, at that point, his defense will have to be Ozzie Smith-like to have even a slight chance of offsetting the justified frustration with his offense.

 

In spite of his defensive reputation, if he starts blowing a few plays in the field, he'll "elevate" himself to Yuni B status 'round here in a hurry.

[DHonks]

Gomez and Hart. Hart is awful defensively, Gomez can't hit

[danzig6767]

Well, yes, but the question remains 'does RRR understand splits'? Like I said, I don't have a player I hate, so Loe is my guess for the lightning rod the masses will turn against, pitchforks in hand. Average-Brewers-fan-Joe isn't going to care if the reason Loe is getting lit up is that he's being used against big LH bats.

Hoping I'm wrong, but who's the better guess on the roster at this point? Maybe K-Rod just since he's so expensive.

While i agree a certain percentage of fans will be bothered by K-Rod simply because of his salary, i think overall he'd be spared so long as he pitches really well. If though he isn't mostly lights out at protecting leads and instead is only decent, while making 10 million to do so, it will lead to some heat. More so i think directed at Melvin though.

[Ennder]

Gonzalez is a virtual lock to slide into the Yuni role, if you ask me. I really don't think that he's going to be the upgrade that people expect....

RockCo, you & I often see things differently, but not this time! I think his offensive approach is going to drive people through the roof just as Yuni's did and to many, at that point, his defense will have to be Ozzie Smith-like to have even a slight chance of offsetting the justified frustration with his offense.

 

In spite of his defensive reputation, if he starts blowing a few plays in the field, he'll "elevate" himself to Yuni B status 'round here in a hurry.

His offense is as good as Yuni's so unless he is one of the worst fielders in baseball he will be an upgrade and he isn't one of the worst fielders in baseball. It is rare to find a player who incompetent on both sides of the game who still gets full time starts in baseball so it is rare to find a player like Yuni.

[MNBrew]

My point was that Yuni's approach & lousy success (for a while) at the plate is what drove people through the roof. My point was that that would be the case IF Gonzalez hits like *that* Yuni rather than the playoffs Yuni.

[ilikewisco]

I never had that big of a problem with Yuni's approach. He struck out far less than Gonzalez will this year and he was capable of getting hot. Gonzalez is going to be hard for me to watch this year. Similar power to Yuni, but the swing and misses are going to be way to frequent for me to stomach. The defense should make it a wash for me. I didn't like Yuni's approach, but it was better than I think we will see with Gonzalez this year (does Gonzalez take pitches?).

 

For Kotsay, I guess I would go with Aoki if he signs. He could be a disaster at the plate similar to Nyshioka and playing everyday in left for 50 games could get real frustrating. He may be played in right when Hart has a day off, and it sounds like his arm is terrible. So comparables: Kotsay filling in for Braun + occasional start in center = Aoki for Braun + RF

[Ennder]

Yuni's approach is just awful, but his contact skills definitely had some value to them.

[cadillacjosh]

Cesar Izturis. If he's on the MLB roster, the guy is pure agony with the stick. He's just like Yuni, except he cant make contact.

[Madtown343]

Yuni actually makes contact. His rarely strikes out he just has not patience and swings early in the count at horrible pitches.

 

Gonzo has the contact issues which lead to high K numbers. If he plays elite defense much of that can be overlooked.

[BREWCREW5]

Who knows. It is crazy how much better I would feel if Brauny wasn't about to be suspended.

[Ennder]

I may be in the minority but assuming the same stats I'd gladly take the guy who works the count and strikes out too much over the guy who swings away and makes more contact. Yuni's approach is more or less the worst case scenario in baseball but he makes enough contact to make it work at least a little bit.

[chickinbrickin]

Yuni actually makes contact. His rarely strikes out he just has not patience and swings early in the count at horrible pitches.

 

Gonzo has the contact issues which lead to high K numbers. If he plays elite defense much of that can be overlooked.

There is nothing elite about Gonzo's defense. He is better defensively than Yuni but that is about it. My vote is for him.

Also, I don't see where all the Gamel hate is coming from. Other than his struggles in very limited big league action what has he done to warrant all the hate? It wasn't long ago he was a top 50 prospect. He couldn't really control his playing time in the big leagues. When he gets regular ABs in the minors all he does is mash. What's not to like there?

[jjfanec]

chickinbrickin wrote:

There is nothing elite about Gonzo's defense. He is better defensively than Yuni but that is about it. My vote is for him.

This is just wrong according to scouts. The fielding bible had him as the 3rd best SS in baseball last year. He had one first place vote, one second place vote, and five third place votes. So out of 10 votes 7 were in the top 3. He finished ahead of Alcides Escobar

[RockCoCougars]

We shall see about Gonzalez' defense. I never remember hearing anything about him being a great defensive SS until Powell talked him up. The stats certainly don't back this assertion, though he has gotten a little better with age. As for his hitting, I can't stand guys who strike out unless they have power. If he hits 20 homers, I'll give him a pass. Otherwise, the only thing that you can say about strikeouts is that they are better than a GIDP (though Gonzalez was among the league leaders in that last season as well).

 

Bottom line, Gonzalez is most likely an upgrade over Yuni as long as he stays healthy. At the same time, I'm not sure that his play will justify the cost and/or that he will be the huge upgrade that most are assuming. I'd have preferred Barmes at any rate. With Gonzalez' easily vesting option, the contracts are a virtual wash as far as I can remember.

[logan82]

He had a couple really good years on defense but I don't think Gonzalez will be much better than average on defense. End results for the hitting should be about the same as Yuni. Looks like their batted ball % are pretty similar except Gonzalez hits more HR/FB and he will see a couple more pitches a game.

[TooLiveBrew]

We shall see about Gonzalez' defense.

 

Sounds familiar... we shall 'saw' Betancourt's defense, and guess what? No one was exaggerating it. Same is true for Gonzalez. People need to stop believing that stats are just used to spread misinformation. Gonzalez is one of the best SS defenders in the league/world.

[Ennder]

His career UZR/150 is 6.3 which is elite for a SS so the stats support the scouts here. Then again statistically the best defensive SS over the past 10 years has been JJ Hardy and people on this board still seem to think he was just average defensively which makes no sense to me since he always looked great to me.

[logan82]

His career UZR/150 is 6.3 which is elite for a SS so the stats support the scouts here. Then again statistically the best defensive SS over the past 10 years has been JJ Hardy and people on this board still seem to think he was just average defensively which makes no sense to me since he always looked great to me.

Gonzales DRS is fantastic but his UZR is 12.2, 4.2, and -0.3 over the last 3 years. He might be above average but he is 35 so I wouldn't count on anything to far above average. DRS didn't really like him much until the last couple years. He has hung around average for the most part. Once you regress a bit for the uncertainty in defensive stats I think average is a good starting point. He hasn't been consistently one really good or really bad(like Yuni). He has bee consistently average or better though.

[RockCoCougars]

His career UZR/150 is 6.3 which is elite for a SS so the stats support the scouts here. Then again statistically the best defensive SS over the past 10 years has been JJ Hardy and people on this board still seem to think he was just average defensively which makes no sense to me since he always looked great to me.

Hardy was probably the best defensive Brewer shortstop that I've seen. The main criticisms that I've seen leveled to him regard a lack of range. He wasn't a mainstay on the highlight reels, but the same time, he made all the routine plays, and some non routine look easy.