Mat Gamel

[vegasbrewcrew1993]

I feel bad for mat gamel. He was once thought as a big time prospect. A combination of bad luck, injuries, and mismanagement ruined his career. I still think Casey McGhee was the worst thing to happen to gamel. If McGhee had never gone on his hot streak, gamel would have been called up sooner. Macha couldn't really justify playing him because of mcghee's good play. The brewers should have trades gamel when they had the chance. Weren't there rumors of a gamel for Roy halladay trade? It was either gamel or alcides Escobar that was linked to Halliday.

[Raw Biz]

It was either gamel or alcides Escobar that was linked to Halliday.

 

Never heard that but that would have been nowhere near enough for Halladay.

[nate82]

Halladay was never coming to Milwaukee because of his no trade clause (the Brewers have their spring training facilities in AZ and not in FL being the reason why).

 

[sarcasm]Macha also sat Gamel after Gamel sneezed incorrectly not because of McGehee.[/sarcasm]

[TooLiveBrew]

Gamel is as much at fault as anyone else for his missed opportunities in the past. The recent injuries have been just plain unlucky, but the guy held himself back as much as he helped himself as a younger player, and he's admitted as much.

 

I still love his swing & approach, though, so I will naïvely continue to hold out hope for a healthy 2014 campaign...

[DHonks]

Vegas, Mcgehee was not starting ahead of Mat initially... Bill Hall was. Mcgehee was playing lots of 2b

[vegasbrewcrew1993]

Gamel is as much at fault as anyone else for his missed opportunities in the past. The recent injuries have been just plain unlucky, but the guy held himself back as much as he helped himself as a younger player, and he's admitted as much.

 

I still love his swing & approach, though, so I will naïvely continue to hold out hope for a healthy 2014 campaign...

 

Sad story either way. I had great hope for Mat Gamel. Hopefully he comes back next healthy. next year is now or never for Gamel.

[The stache]

Gamel is as much at fault as anyone else for his missed opportunities in the past. The recent injuries have been just plain unlucky, but the guy held himself back as much as he helped himself as a younger player, and he's admitted as much.

 

I still love his swing & approach, though, so I will naïvely continue to hold out hope for a healthy 2014 campaign...

 

I'm with you, TooLiveBrew. And I don't think you're blindly holding out hope. Will he ever become the player we all thought he could be? Probably not. But let the guy get healthy, I mean really healthy, and see if he can't come off the bench next year. Finding left handed hitters with that kind of a swing and power potential would cost a lot of money, and I think Gamel could provide some real value to us.

[DHonks]

I'm hoping he can rebound like Jason Kubel. He was a can't miss prospect who blew out his knee in the AFL and was never the same with the Twins. He's finally reaching his potential

[The stache]

I don't think Gamel has to even approach his potential to be a valuable player for the Brewers.

 

He's not going to get big bucks anywhere with his lack of production to date, and two knee injuries. But if he can get healthy, he could be really good off the bench.

 

Who's on our bench right now that scares anybody on opposing teams?

[JohnBriggs12]

Gamel's "bad luck" was exasperated by his going all out in a ballpark he wasn't familiar with toward a wall for a foul ball then having to put the brakes on too late. Part of becoming an everyday player at the major league level is knowing when it's wise not to go all out and live to fight another day. Giving up your body to catch a foul ball might be admirable, but not always smart.

 

Two years off have put his major league career in serious jeopardy. He might be useful off the bench, but it might be to his benefit to land an everyday AAA job somewhere, and force his way on a roster that way.

[djoctagone]

to add insult to all of mat's injuries, this thread was created in the minor league forum.

[The stache]

Part of becoming an everyday player at the major league level is knowing when it's wise not to go all out and live to fight another day. Giving up your body to catch a foul ball might be admirable, but not always smart.

 

Agreed, and that's been something I've seen Nationals fans post repeatedly with Bryce Harper. He's a "110% go" all the time kind of player. If he's going to have a long career, he needs to learn how to pace himself.