Roster construction problems with this team

[adambr2]

Does it seem to anyone else that Doug and Ron just didn't do a very good job constructing the bottom of this roster which may come back to bite us this year?

 

We have a lefty reliever, but no LOOGY. While I don't necessarily have a problem with Parra's presence on the team, we have multiple long-men with no real defined purpose other than to eat up innings. We would be much better served having strictly a LOOGY in the pen to be able to call on this year in big situations facing some of the elite lefties late like Votto. There is no one in the pen right now that you'd feel good about against an elite lefty. I don't understand why we did not pursue this yet again -- LOOGY's are not particularly hard to come by and not expensive.

 

The infield is baffling. Ishikawa is strictly a backup for a position that you really don't need a backup for since 1st base is probably the easiest position on the diamond to find a replacement for in a pinch. Meanwhile, you've got an even worse player in Izturis backup up three different positions.

 

This is all made worse by the fact that there really is no righty off the bench (Izturis is a switch hitter, but too terrible of a hitter to count), unless you count Gomez, which you really don't as part of a strict platoon. Our righty option off the bench is a first-year lefty hitter, literally.

 

So to sum it up, still no LOOGY, still no righties on the bench, and an awful infield bench.

[adambr2]

I definitely more appreciate now what Hairston brought to the table. A bench player who can give you serviceable defense anywhere in the infield and doesn't suck at the plate. Probably aren't too many of those.

[3and2Fastball]

Ishikawa is a perplexing decision to say the least. I know that Roenicke loved Kotsay and wanted a "Kotsay-like" player on his bench but Ishikawa is not Mark Kotsay.

 

Brooks Conrad is injured anyways.... Izturis is just plain not an MLB hitter anymore

 

We really should have overpaid for Jerry Hairston. Think of how much better this team would be right now with Hairston.

 

That is one thing I don't get about Doug Melvin: in a "we are going for it" year he doesn't add the extra few millions for a great bench

[Baldkin]

I really don't think they had the extra millions.

 

They added 15 extra millions for Ramirez and K-Rod.

[adambr2]

Ishikawa is a perplexing decision to say the least. I know that Roenicke loved Kotsay and wanted a "Kotsay-like" player on his bench but Ishikawa is not Mark Kotsay.

 

Brooks Conrad is injured anyways.... Izturis is just plain not an MLB hitter anymore

 

We really should have overpaid for Jerry Hairston. Think of how much better this team would be right now with Hairston.

 

That is one thing I don't get about Doug Melvin: in a "we are going for it" year he doesn't add the extra few millions for a great bench

 

He never really was, save for one overperforming year in 2004. It's a wonder he's been able to skate by in the league this long.

[adambr2]

I really don't think they had the extra millions.

 

They added 15 extra millions for Ramirez and K-Rod.

 

Well, Izturis is costing them $875,000. Hairston is making $2.25M this season.

 

So assuming Hairston would have taken identical money to stay if we had offered it, that's an extra $1.375M that it would have cost us to keep Hairston over Izturis. I have a hard time believing that there was no way to accomplish that.

[3and2Fastball]

I really don't think they had the extra millions.

 

They added 15 extra millions for Ramirez and K-Rod.

 

I guess I don't understand the point of signing Aramis Ramirez & keeping K-Rod if your infield bench is Ishikawa & Izturis and you don't have LOOGY.

 

It is like assembling a team with hopes and prayers and duct tape. Maybe Melvin's plan is just to hope for the best and then try to finish assembling the team at the trade deadline if we're still in it...

 

My question is: how bad do things have to get before Taylor Green takes Ishikawa's place? Surely they aren't going to give Ishikawa until September like they gave McGehee last year?

[adambr2]

To highlight my point on Ishikawa, Corey Hart can easily fill in at 1st if Gamel needs a day off. That's never a problem since outfield is probably where we're deepest at.

 

Even if it was, Kottaras has even played a little bit of 1st. I doubt having him do it once a month or so would be a problem.

 

There is really no purpose to have Ishikawa on the team. If anything, it just gives RRR a way to jerk Gamel around if he shows any signs of struggle at 1st.

[3and2Fastball]

Even though Aramis Ramirez has yet to do it in an MLB game, I have no doubt he could play 1B for a game or two also, but that would depend on having a capable back-up at 3B

 

I mean seriously how can you have Cesar Izturis as your only 3B backup?! That makes no sense!

[adambr2]

Even though Aramis Ramirez has yet to do it in an MLB game, I have no doubt he could play 1B for a game or two also, but that would depend on having a capable back-up at 3B

 

I mean seriously how can you have Cesar Izturis as your only 3B backup?! That makes no sense!

 

Only 3B backup, only SS backup, only 2B backup. It's scary to think how many AB's he'll get this year if he's on the team the entire season.

 

We're already getting the first taste of that now with Gonzalez on paternity leave. Him and Ramirez are probably going to need 15 days off or so apiece this year at their age, that's already 30 starts for Cesar. Plus, what's the chance that the entire infield avoids the DL this season? Not very good.

[FVBrewerFan]

Toyed with posting a similar topic myself Adam. You lose Hairston, Saito, and Hawkins. Replace them with Izturis, Dillard, and Parra. No reason they couldn't have built a bullpen that makes sense, and bench players that fit wh is needed. Frankly, I said long ago they should have let Morgan walk and use that money on the bullpen.

 

You caught lightning in a bottle one year with Plush, be thankful and move on. Aoki should be getting that playing time and ABs.

[Baldkin]

Veras is the guy that replaced Hawkins and Saito -- they only pitched 82 games last year combined.

Dillard and Parra are replacing the likes of Mitre, Braddock, Sean Greene, and Dillard himself.

 

As for Morgan, his BABIP is .222 right now. There's no way it stays that low, his career babip is .340. He'll be fine.

I'm more worried about Ramirez who looks like he can't get around on a fastball right now.

 

I wish they would've signed Hairston, but he signed really early, and obviously wanted to play on the West Coast. He probably could've nearly doubled his money had he waited a month to sign.

[TheCrew07]

Chalk me up in the "Could care less about LOOGY" category.

 

Relievers that only provide value 1/3 of an inning at a time when the opposing players get themselves out over 60% of the time seems like a waste of a roster spot. I'd prefer lefties who can go an entire inning but outside of Parra we're kind of thin on those with Braddock leaving the Sounds. He was placed on the restricted list which isn't a good thing at all given everything that transpired with him last season, his mental health issues, and his loss of velocity.

 

With that in mind I'm not opposed to the idea of LOOGY for this season but I don't like the concept in general.

[MNBrew]

While there are some reasons not to like the bottom of the bench (ditto TheCrew07 re: LOOGY, and I don't mind Ishikawa, either), the fact is that the so-called bottom of the roster can easily be re-invented without sacrificing much in exchange. So the fact that it looks like what it does right now, while maybe not ideal to my thinking, doesn't phase me.

[BrewCrewForever]

Ishikawa serves no purpose on this team. I wish they would DFA him and call up Green or DFA and call up Conrad when he is healthy. With the way this bench looks, I would love to still have Kotsay and it goes without saying I wish they would have given Hairston what he wanted.

[Ennder]

Ishikawa serves no purpose on this team. I wish they would DFA him and call up Green or DFA and call up Conrad when he is healthy. With the way this bench looks, I would love to still have Kotsay and it goes without saying I wish they would have given Hairston what he wanted.

 

Kotsay would be worthless on this team, he would never ever have a reason to see play. Ishikawa is just there to provide some insurance in case Gamel comes out and stinks it up and they have to cut his playing time some, I don't hate it though I don't expect him to see much time either. The bullpen is pretty cruddy but that is mostly because KRod took arbitration so we are kind of stuck on cash to help it out, bullpens tend to work themselves out though so not too worried.

[Polish Falcons]

I'm really low on Tim Dillard. Don't they have a better bullpen option than him in the minor leagues? I would've rather kept De La Cruz around, who also might not be very good, but is better than Dillard. Who could the Brewers call up to take the last spot in the bullpen?

[Ennder]

The thing with the last spot in the bullpen is you don't want someone who should see consistent play there, so some young guy with upside is the wrong guy. You want some mediocre vet who can just soak up pitches on a random schedule. Dillard is probably fine for that.

[endaround]

If Axford and Rodriguez weren't having some control issues/poor defensive play behind them the bullpen wouldn't be an issue. Parra and Dillard are #6 and #7 in the bullpen.

 

Ishikawa brings nothing. He isn't even an Almonte who at least crushed the ball in AAA the previous season. He's more Jeremy Reed who has consistently proven he is a backup AAA player.

[pebadger]

Agree that Dillard is just fine for the role he's slotted into. The problem isn't Dillard. The problem is a team that has gotten itself into situations where Dillard has had to pitch as much as he has.

 

The basic problem is that the team has too many outfielders and not enough infielders. Can't get ABs for Aoki, stuck with ABs for Izturis. The way to diminish the impact of that situation in the short to medium tern is to have Weeks and Ramirez produce the way they need to. Longer term they probably need a replacement for Ishikawa. Wouldn't be opposed to moving Izturis eventually either, but you can gain more utility by replacing Ishikawa first (provided you actually replace him with a guy who gives you that utility).

[Oldcity]

Hairston would have been great. I'd rather have him splitting time with Green at third and backing up everywhere else than Ramirez.

 

I don't get Ishikawa either, but I don't expect him to be here long. Really, I think just the last few spots have room for improvement, but I don't think there's a team in MLB you couldn't say that for.

[Raw Biz]

Hairston would have been great. I'd rather have him splitting time with Green at third and backing up everywhere else than Ramirez.

 

I didn't mind the ARam signing that much, because I thought Green would've been on the team getting one start a week at both 3rd and 2nd. It just makes too much sense to have had that happen. I think ARam will also eventually be fine as he's a notorious slow starter but a platoon at 3rd with Green/Hairston would've been pretty solid too. The ARam money then could've been spent on another bullpen arm or better SS.

 

Looking back on it, I might reconsider the ARam signing but there are definite ways to make it not suck. The main thing would be bring someone to the team who can actually back up 3rd and 2nd while maintaining an OPS north of .650 (whether that be Green, Conrad, or someone else).

[PrinceEatMeat]

The bench is what it is really. There wasn't much Melvin could do with the funds he had available. Ishikawa is horrible, and should be replaced with Conrad. Other than that, Izturis is probably the best option. The only other options really are Farris, who doesn't play much SS, and Maysonet. None of those look that great. At least Izturis can field, and has experience. Not a big fan of him, but not much Melvin can do about it. I really don't think there's a huge need for a LOGGY. It's a nice luxury, but it's not necessary. At least Parra is there as a LHP. Most of out relievers, with the exception of Dillard and Loe fare well against LHH. I could see Dillard being replaced by someone else, maybe McClendon. Stetter was also re-signed to a minor league deal, so wouldn't be surprised to see him up as a LOGGY later this year. Not sure it will really be necessary to have Estrada, Parra, and Dillard all in the bullpen later in the year. The only change I see coming soon is Conrad replacing Ishikawa. Conrad is just more versatile, and will actually be able to get some playing time to stay sharp. Ishikawa really is only a starting option at 1B, and I don't see Gamel sitting much at all.

[JohnBriggs12]

The problem is Ramirez was a dumb signing and an overreaction to losing Fielder. No way Ramirez was going to replace Fielder. He might not be any better than a McGehee/Green platoon at 3B.

 

Alex Gonzalez (3 errors in 8 games) isn't much of an answer at SS either. It's not like they needed another free swinging HR or nothing bat in the lineup.

 

The left side of the infield is decrepit and costly. That's not a good combo. It might have worked if either of those two provided great clubhouse leadership (another woefully lacking ingredient with Prince gone), but that's not the case either.

 

It is still early but the signs aren't good. They are 1-5 against quality teams.

 

Hopefully at some point Dan Meadows can solve the lefty reliever issue.

[RightFieldCoder]

Alex should only have 2 errors. Too small of a sample to worry about 2 errors at this point. Especially if he continues to get to more balls than our last guy.