Braddock released

[markedman5]

Such a shame

 

http://brewersbeat.mlblogs.com/2012/05/04/game-to-dl-braddock-released/

[patrickgpe]

had such promise, i wish him nothing but the best as he deals with his issues. maybe some time away from baseball would be best for him.

[3and2Fastball]

Wow! Really?! They spend all those years developing him and then just give up on him? Things must be really bad with Braddock.

[longball04]

Will be interesting to hear Doug's talk on this topic. Zach did have a ton of promise but the last two years have just been filled with so much non-baseball problems that one can understand the split. Best of luck to him going forward. I hope he can get his problems corrected and get back into baseball.

[craigharmann]

It wouldn't pass the language filters here, but check out the tweets from @sessilefielder regarding Zach's release. Spot on. Hopefully Zach gets his problems solved and is able to have a productive life, and maybe continue his baseball career.

[RockCoCougars]

This makes no sense to me. You don't give up on a lefty with that kind of arm when you have Vinnie Chulk on your 40 man.

[3and2Fastball]

He must be really messed up. There has gotta be something going on with him behind the scenes that the public doesn't know about.... otherwise he'd have trade value as opposed to just releasing him

[fondybrewfan]

He has been on the restricted list the entire year; there are obvious problems that are not allowing him to compete right now. If you need to open a spot on the 40 man you might as well cut the guy that isn't even playing and by all accounts isn't prepared to play anytime soon.

[phnxcrew]

bummer. I have been a huge braddock and gamel fan for awhile now. Not a good week for those two. Maybe we need to call up Robin Williams to help him.... It's not your fault zach

[Mass Haas]

As you may know through our eleven years here at Brewerfan, we have been privy to information on many occasions that isn't always made available through traditional sources.

 

We have a long history of respecting those sources, and we don't believe we've ever breached someone's trust, not even accidentally.

 

That being said, we do have private archived communications, the specific contents of which will not be revealed here now nor at any time in the future, that indicate that some of the things impacting Zach in his Milwaukee career date all the way back to his first summer with the organization, with Helena in the summer of 2006.

 

The Brewers have been exceedingly patient.

 

Zach is a strong young man in so many ways, and we hope to see him flourish not only on a baseball diamond but also in life for many years to come.

 

That's it from me on the subject, thanks...

[Funketown]

Braddock's stats in his first season as a reliever, between A+ and AA:

40.1 IP, 8 ER, 62 K, 7 BB, ~1.80 ERA.

 

Just a shame it didn't work out. Best wishes for a player who always had such promise...

[PrinceEatMeat]

Sad to see a guy with so much talent fall so far. He had tons of promise, but that quickly vanished with the issues he's had. I have a feeling he'll never pitch again, but I hope he can get his life back to normal. Best wishes to him.

[PrinceFielderx1]

Zach Braddock over the last season or two had a pretty big drop in his velocity and was never really the same pitcher.

[foamboy1]

This is a really sad situation. He had come so far - from high school kid to prospect to super-prospect, battling some physical setbacks to place himself on the doorstep of superfandom and financial well-being --- only to see it slip away.

 

I'm sure the Brewers have been patient. You don't give up on a young, hard throwing lefty.

 

The Brewers have reported a sleep disorder and lack of timeliness to meetings. I think they are describing the symptoms and not the problem. They don't owe us the truth of course - nor should we necessarily believe their spin. Their intention is to protect the player and franchise - but not protect the knowledge base and understanding of the fan. The disinformation makes it more bewildering since we're not being fed the truth.

 

Speculation about Zach would begin with a drug problem - the symptoms of which would cause sleep issues and timeliness/responsbility relating to meetings. This could be any number of drugs - you know the leading suspects. Wrapped inside drug abuse is mental health issues. It's oft-debated about which one comes first, the drug addiction or the mental health issues.

 

It's sad. This isn't like losing Wilhelmson or others who flamed out before getting out of the starting gate. Zach was in the show with a cannon arm and a great age and pedigree. I wish him the best and hope he figures it out. His odds are probably longer at this point than when he was in A ball.

[Ennder]

I know one person who met him and had to deal with him on a professional level and she said he was one of the least pleasant people she has ever met. The guy certainly has some attitude issues holding him back.

[adamds22]

Any reason why they decided to put Gamel on the 15-day DL and release Braddock now? Seems weird to me since Gamel is all but done this season why not just put him on the 60-day DL and either release Braddock now if that's what they felt needed to be done or hang onto him until you absolutely need to release him.

[MJLiverock]

Well there goes my prediction from that early season thread. I had the Brewer releasing Parra and going with Braddock as a lefty in pen. I assumed the money saved and Braddock getting off the season the right foot after a winter to get himself in order would pay off. I didn't know some of the issues being alluded to here but it makes sense that he has more problems than just sleep apnea.

Salome and Braddock both showed great talent in the minors but didn't pan out at the ML level. Sorry to see something other than talent hold guys back.

[chadomac]

Not a surprising move, but like everyone else said it's a shame. He had the stuff to be really good. It is definitely strange that they didn't put Gamel on the 60 day DL first and then release Braddock if they needed to free up yet another spot for some reason.

[TheCrew07]

I've always had a very strong affinity for LHP just because there aren't enough of us types around. I've had a very hard time not taking Parra's career path as a reliever and now Braddock's release very personally as I would have killed to possess their physical gifts.

 

I was pretty confident this was going to happen when he wasn't active to start the season in AAA and posted about it a couple of times on the minor league forum, but it doesn't make it any easier to swallow. I'm just extremely disappointed it came to this.

[igor67]

At this point I have complete faith that the team did everything within reason based on Zach's talent. That said on an emotional level I put it in the same category as Neugie, and Saenz. You get these guys with the big time talent up on then it seems like only one thing takes them down. Whereas others like Rogers seem to just keep doing enough to hang around without putting it together the same way. Talk about looking real thin on lefties in the minors. Just last spring it looked more like you'd have more guys coming out of hte pen as lefties than you could find places for (Stetter, Parra, and Braddock)

[HiAndTight]

I know one person who met him and had to deal with him on a professional level and she said he was one of the least pleasant people she has ever met. The guy certainly has some attitude issues holding him back.

 

 

I'm guessing I know who you're talking about(And it's just a guess), but I've actually known Braddock and spoken with him 15-20 times and I find her assesment to be 100 pct inaccurate.

[TooLiveBrew]

As you may know through our eleven years here at Brewerfan, we have been privy to information on many occasions that isn't always made available through traditional sources.

 

We have a long history of respecting those sources, and we don't believe we've ever breached someone's trust, not even accidentally.

 

That being said, we do have private archived communications, the specific contents of which will not be revealed here now nor at any time in the future, that indicate that some of the things impacting Zach in his Milwaukee career date all the way back to his first summer with the organization, with Helena in the summer of 2006.

 

The Brewers have been exceedingly patient.

 

Zach is a strong young man in so many ways, and we hope to see him flourish not only on a baseball diamond but also in life for many years to come.

 

That's it from me on the subject, thanks...

Thank you for this post, Mass Haas -- I was assuming there was something to this effect at play

[jerichoholicninja]

Another reason why you can't let Greinke walk just because Peralta, Thornburg, Jungman, etc. are in the system. Pitcher prospects fail more often than they pan out. The Brewers franchise should be well aware of this and proceed accordingly.

[HiAndTight]

Another reason why you can't let Greinke walk just because Peralta, Thornburg, Jungman, etc. are in the system. Pitcher prospects fail more often than they pan out. The Brewers franchise should be well aware of this and proceed accordingly.

 

 

Well, I fully agree....but in addition to prospects falling off, Greinke and Gallardo allow the Thornburg's, Peralta's, Jungman's, Bradley's, Fiers, Scarpetta's of the world have a lot less pressure if they slide into the #4 spot into the rotation. Gallardo came up and was expected to be a front of the line guy right out of the gate. To be a guy like Thornburg who can throw in the upper 90's, and has potentially dominant secondary stuff, or Bradley who has the potential to be a #1/2 power lefty, Jungman who could be a #2, Peralta...same thing. If we can ease those guys into the rotation while we have two frontline starters, I think we'll get more out of them earlier as they have a lot less burden to bear.

 

And it certainly seems as though the Brewers future lies with it's pitching and defense.

 

 

So...pony up...pay Greinke. It's a franchise saving move for the next decade IMO and I don't think that's hyperbole.

[kalle8]

i know the mentality in Amerca is quite different than ours as it comes to dealing with professional athlete, but don't you think the Brewers (or any other professional club) shuold get more "involved" in private life of athletes?

 

i am not suggesting a "big brother" control but complete laissez faire is a nono to me!

 

braddock, jeffress, escobar, grienke playing pick up basketball during springtraining, rogers, all dealt with (different) off the field problems.

Usually these young guys need as much help developing off the field as on.

 

i know every case is different but i suggest the brewers to monitor their players on and off the field.

 

when i hear guys like gamel saying "i cut junk food and i came to spring training in a better shape" i go mad.