Deep Down, what are your thoughts about Gamel?

[djoctagone]

deep down, i wish he'd spell his first name with two t's.

[theavrock]

Mat Gamel will be the next Corey Hart. Under appreciated while putting up above average if not great numbers for the Crew regularly.

[djoctagone]

deep down, i feel better with mat gamel as the 2012 first baseman than with matt laporta as the 2012 first baseman.

[lukevan]

Deep down, I feel Mat will have a fine year if he is given the PA's to succeed. Melvin/Roenicke must be patient with him if he struggles out of the gate. He needs at least 300 PA's to start the season before anything hasty is done.

 

Roenicke gave McGehee quite the leash last year; why not let Gamel have the same? I predict an .850 OPS with 24 homers if he gets the opportunity to stick in the lineup.

[JohnBriggs12]

To me his ceiling is Adam LaRoche. Whether he's that player this year is to be determined.

 

Even in LaRoche's best seasons though, he's been very streaky. I would expect Gamel to be streaky too but if he can match a typical LaRoche year of .270/.340/.480 that would be fine.

[jjkoestler]

I think Gamel will have a rookie season similar to Prince's first year. 275/350/450/800 25 HRs and play solid defense.

[Fear The Chorizo]

I think Gamel projects as an above average hitter that will help the Brewers. His downside is that he isn't the prototypical masher many teams have playing first base. If we wasn't atrocious at third defensively, Gamel would have been a starter for the Brewers 2 years ago.

 

The Brewers have next to no lefthanded pop on their roster other than Gamel, so hopefully he can settle in right away and produce. He really does need a full season of regular MLB playing time for the Brewers to know whether he's a long-term solution or merely a stopgap for their organization. I hope he plays well, because it'd do wonders for the organization if they can get solid production at pre-arby cost from him while freeing up some budget to extend starting pitching.

[Outlander]

Mat Gamel will be the next Corey Hart. Under appreciated while putting up above average if not great numbers for the Crew regularly.

I was just going to post something similar to this, Corey Hart version 2.0. Gamel will be a good player and make a couple of all star games but will always have his doubters.

[patrickgpe]

we have no idea, he hasn't had a chance to play in the bigs. i think he has earned the chance to play 1st after his season in Nashville.

[yoshii8]

Deep down, I think he'll be a very solid 1b for the Brewers. I'm excited for him to finally get a chance, and think he's more than ready for it.

[Warning Track Power]

Mat Gamel will be the next Corey Hart. Under appreciated while putting up above average if not great numbers for the Crew regularly.

I was just going to post something similar to this, Corey Hart version 2.0. Gamel will be a good player and make a couple of all star games but will always have his doubters.

Ditto for me. While I'm not willing to go as far as multiple All-Star games, I see Gamel being an above average 1B that will constantly be reminded that he isn't Prince Fielder. Given the chance as an everyday 1B, I see Gamel putting up Geoff Jenkins-esque numbers by 2014 (.275-.285 AVG, 25-30 HR, 85-100 RBI)

 

[jjfanec]

I would be surprised if he makes an All-Star just because 1B is a tough place to make an All-Star game. I do think he will be a solid player

[xisxisxis]

Mat Gamel will be a better 1B than Ron Roenicke is a manager. So above replacement level.

 

I think Matt will be a Sean Casey type of 1B with decent average, less power, a 2B machine and good OBP.

[thebruce44]

Deep down, I don't know why people are so against him.

 

I think he will eventually top out as a 4-5 WAR player who will hit .300+ and be around 25-30 HRs. This year, I would like to see him be above average on offense, which I don't think is out of the question at all. I expect his defense to be better than Prince's and I think he will continue to develop at 1B, making the other infielders better.

[jjfanec]

Deep down, I don't know why people are so against him.

 

I think he will eventually top out as a 4-5 WAR player who will hit .300+ and be around 25-30 HRs. This year, I would like to see him be above average on offense, which I don't think is out of the question at all. I expect his defense to be better than Prince's and I think he will continue to develop at 1B, making the other infielders better.

I agree but here are some of the reasons I can think of for why people are down on him

1. Don Money's and Ken Macha's comments. Both were pretty hard on Mat

2. Mat seeming to come in out of shape the year he had a chance to make the team out of Spring Training

3. Over-reaction to small-sample size the last two year when he was a pinch hitter

4. The Prince Factor - It is hard to follow Prince

 

[MVP2110]

I think Mat will be a solid option. I expect a .260 avg with around a .330 obp and 20-25 hrs and 75-80 rbis. I also expect him to lead all 1b in the majors in stolen bases.

[Warning Track Power]

Deep down, I don't know why people are so against him.

 

I think he will eventually top out as a 4-5 WAR player who will hit .300+ and be around 25-30 HRs. This year, I would like to see him be above average on offense, which I don't think is out of the question at all. I expect his defense to be better than Prince's and I think he will continue to develop at 1B, making the other infielders better.

I agree but here are some of the reasons I can think of for why people are down on him

1. Don Money's and Ken Macha's comments. Both were pretty hard on Mat

2. Mat seeming to come in out of shape the year he had a chance to make the team out of Spring Training

3. Over-reaction to small-sample size the last two year when he was a pinch hitter

4. The Prince Factor - It is hard to follow Prince

 

 

I think we also need to factor in the overachiever status of Casey McGehee. McGehee beat out the far more naturally talented Gamel. Didn't hurt that McGehee was a perceived harder worker and Gamel had a go with the flow, more cool attitude. Far easier as a fan to root for a McGehee in that situation than a Gamel.

[RobDeer 45]

I agree but here are some of the reasons I can think of for why people are down on him

1. Don Money's and Ken Macha's comments. Both were pretty hard on Mat

2. Mat seeming to come in out of shape the year he had a chance to make the team out of Spring Training

3. Over-reaction to small-sample size the last two year when he was a pinch hitter

4. The Prince Factor - It is hard to follow Prince

 

 

Ya, the first two were the ones that I was remembering and were skewing my ideas on Mat. I was so excited about him in the begening but at some point I noticed I was starting to worry about him more. I do know that I love his swing and he seems pretty athletic. I'm hoping he can be an average first basemen with an above average bat. I think with the added defense the team has this year, we can handle a few mistakes as he continues to learn the position.

 

Glad we could talk this out, it gave me a boost in excitement for him and the team!

 

 

[RockCoCougars]

I saw the comparison to Overbay, and that's what I've expected as well. There have been lots of similarities in their career paths (long term prospect status, hit the heck out of the ball in the minors, blocked in the majors, with relatively poor early MLB performance on a small sample, right down to both being 27 years old when given the shot in Milwaukee). The only major difference is that Gamel was Machaed. For 2012, if Gamel can come close to matching the production Overbay had in his first year in Milwaukee, I'll be happy. Frankly, I have less concerns about Gamel than I do in with other spots in the lineup.

[thumperden]

I see Gamel with 150 K's or more with 600 PA's. I think he'll produce somewhere in the middle of (dare I say) Jose Hernandez and Mark Reynolds. 20-25 HR .250 BA .335 OBP .465 SLG = .800 OPS. I think his HR totals will climb with more experience and if he takes his stance a little further away from the plate. In what little I've seen of him, he crowds the plate too much and his head is in forwrd of his feet, leaving him off balance.

[TooLiveBrew]

While MiLB stats aren't anywhere close to perfect to use to try & guess at MLB production, one thing I check sometimes on a young player transitioning to the bigs is how he did each time he moved up a level. Did his production suffer a lot? Did his BB/K ratio get worse? Did his XBH power show close to his normal rates?

 

Gamel's track record throughout his MiLB career is that he's handled moving up levels at least as well as your standard top (meaning Top 100 overall types) hitting prospects do. I think thumperden is pretty close with that slash line guess; only difference for me is I'm a tad more optimistic about his OBP skills translating quickly.

[Yeti73]

Gamel has a total of 6 SB in the past 3 seasons combined, so I doubt he'll lead the league in stolen bases.

 

Personally, I think he is a below average 1B this year and we end up moving ARAM to 1st next year and Green slots into 3rd. Gamel will platoon a bit and end up being traded after the season. I just don't have high expectations.

[JohnBriggs12]

Taylor Green is listed at #2 on the depth chart at 1B. If Green is hitting .325 at AAA, while Gamel is languishing, I don't think they will wait long to make a switch. Aoki still isn't showing up in the depth chart, but I find in interesting that they had Green listed 3rd in LF having never played an inning in the OF in the minors. It would appear that had they not signed Aoki, they were ready to stick Green out there for 50 games. That would have made things interesting when Braun got back if Green were outhitting Gamel.

[Bombers]

I think he'll be fine as long as he gets consistent PT and is given at least 300 regular AB to show what he's got. I doubt RR will give that to him.

This is the key for Mat. Consistent playing time. If he pulls a Brad Nelson and starts out horrible, the fans will jump on him. (Especially if 2 of Morgan/Gomez/Aoki/Green are hitting better than him.) Spring training will be interesting to see him play everyday. Here is to hoping he doesn't get injured as that would really suck.

 

 

[RightFieldCoder]

Taylor Green is listed at #2 on the depth chart at 1B. If Green is hitting .325 at AAA, while Gamel is languishing, I don't think they will wait long to make a switch. Aoki still isn't showing up in the depth chart, but I find in interesting that they had Green listed 3rd in LF having never played an inning in the OF in the minors. It would appear that had they not signed Aoki, they were ready to stick Green out there for 50 games. That would have made things interesting when Braun got back if Green were outhitting Gamel.

How accurate are those depth charts? I always thought that was just the web guys (like McCalvy) guessing about who will back up what.