How long until you make moves regarding position players

[HiAndTight]

It's not always about sample sizes or things that you can quantify. Anyone can see that Braun's not swinging the bat anywhere near how we've seen him swing it in the past.

Look around the league -- the current list of guys with a sub-.700 OPS in the NL includes Heyward, Wright, Granderson, Craig, Sandoval, Pence, Headley, & Hill.

 

Braun's OPS is .797, even though he hasn't looked completely like his normal self yet. I'm not worried at this point.

 

 

I literally used the words that it's not about sample sizes or something you can quantify. You're taking only part of my response towards Braun. To be honest the last time I looked Braun's SLG was at .568, above his career numbers, and his OPS was much higher than just under .800. And I would be far more surprised at this point if there wasn't a list of all star caliber players who were off to terrible starts than if there was.

 

In fact I never even mentioned stats. What I mentioned was how his swing and at bats looked to me on a daily basis. His mannerisms. The way he seemingly gets his bat started earlier, winces when he tries to check his swing. Which is why I said it was my belief that he was starting his bat earlier to compensate which was why he wasn't drawing as many walks.

 

Now he had a big night last night.

 

But he himself has said that his thumb is better some days than other. And one day isn't going to change my opinion as to how his swing has looked as a whole thus far.

 

I only hope that he continues to perform as he did last night to alleviate any of my concerns. But his given stats in relation to anyone elses this early has literally nothing to do with any concerns I have for him.

[LouisEly]

As far as when, the first date I think you look at is the Super Two cutoff. Are there teams with a 1B prospect (or LF/3B prospect who is blocked) that would move their starting veteran LH 1B to make room for a prospect after the Super Two cutoff? I don't know if there are, I'm just posing a scenario. The next date you look at is probably shortly after the draft when teams might have a chain reaction through the organization to make room for the new draft class, and/or Kendrys Morales no longer costs a draft pick.

 

It can happen at any time, as this weekend's trade of Ike Davis proved. If there is a team in contention that has a couple of starters go down and no SP depth, you pick up the phone and have conversations about Fiers and Burgos.

[HiAndTight]

Gennett has as many hits vs. lefties so far as Weeks does this season. The idea that he's completely useless vs. lefties based on 40 or so AB's last year is really overstated. In a lineup loaded with RH bats, they could live with Gennett playing everyday.

 

Velez has been on fire at Nashville. He might be an option if Davis flounders. If Gindl can catch fire, he too might get a shot. Morris has been just ok.

 

Weeks and Overbay are done. That's pretty simple. It might take each another 30 or so AB's to convince Brewer management though. But if they need a 40 man spot, those are the obvious spots.

 

 

Yet your counter argument is that Scotter Gennett in 7 AB's has as many hits vs left handers this year as Rickie Weeks does in 17?

 

Seriously, what is everyone's problem with Ryan Joseph Gennett? He has been great thus far and currently sports a 720 OPS, has made not only the routine plays but great ones too. I think he contributes more than "little else" as you state. I just don't understand the hate for him.

 

Are you just going out of your way to take things out of context Bombers?

 

A-Who ever said they had a problem with Scotter Gennett? I love the kid. Part of the reason I love him is because I was excited when I saw where we picked him. I've followed him all the way up as many on this board have. You're confusing a lack of blinding love and over exuberance with, "everyone having a problem with Ryran Joseph Gennett."

 

B-reillymcshane said:

Scooter's doing about what I expected - good BA, but little else.

 

Do you see how that comes off quite a bit differently than,

I think he contributes more than "little else" as you state. I just don't understand the hate for him.

 

He's a guy who doesn't draw a lot of walks and he doesn't hit for power. But he's had a good batting average. Don't try and frame what he said as though he hates him or turn it into anything other than it is. That IS the type of player that Scooter Gennett is and has been thus far in his career and he's done a very good job at it.

 

If someone said the same thing about Ichiro, they would have been right. He hit for a high BA and did little else, ie, didn't hit for power and didn't draw a lot of walks.

 

 

Scooter Gennett has been a very nice player. I wouldn't say ANYONE who's hitting a light .295 with a .704 OPS has been "excellent," but that's a really nice start for him in his second year at 23 years old. But I also wouldn't discard his history of struggling vs left handers and make him a full time player because he has 2 hits this year vs lefties and Weeks has 2 in 17 at bats. Weeks AB's incidentally coming vs very good lefties for the most part and he's sporting just a .154 BABIP with only 3 K's, so I'd expect his line vs lefties to improve closer to his career average.

 

Or hell, even if he just hits lefties as well as he did last year he SHOULD provide a better option vs left handers than Gennett.

Weeks 2013 vs LHP=.705 OPS

Gennett 2014 =.704 OPS

 

Of course players can change, they can mature, they can struggle and a whole @#$%load of things can happen in between.

[liveforoctober]

There are two moves that I think can be made to help a bit immediately. First is to get Segura, at least temporarily, out of the two spot. He is a free swinger and added to Gomez is quick get through at the top of the order. Scooter can at least take some pitches at this point. Let Segura gain some confidence at the bottom of the order and bring him back up when is swinging again.

 

Secondly, Mark Reynolds needs a lefty to platoon with. (Small sample size alert!) .. Reynolds against lefties this year thus far is OPSing at 1.15 ... let him get the majority of the at bats but against tough righties get someone who is competent enough that he can sit. Right now you have to play him against everyone bc of Overbay. Temporarily Taylor Green is the answer. He is hitting .364 right now (small sample size alert!) against righties in the minors. That move should have been made yesterday. Long term maybe Morneau, short term get Taylor Green up here. A Green/Reynolds platoon is the best we can do right now to resemble a real first baseman. (By the way, Reynolds on pace for 36 HRs, not the worst thing).

[Mr Southpaw]

I second that motion!

[HiAndTight]

There are two moves that I think can be made to help a bit immediately. First is to get Segura, at least temporarily, out of the two spot. He is a free swinger and added to Gomez is quick get through at the top of the order. Scooter can at least take some pitches at this point. Let Segura gain some confidence at the bottom of the order and bring him back up when is swinging again.

 

Secondly, Mark Reynolds needs a lefty to platoon with. (Small sample size alert!) .. Reynolds against lefties this year thus far is OPSing at 1.15 ... let him get the majority of the at bats but against tough righties get someone who is competent enough that he can sit. Right now you have to play him against everyone bc of Overbay. Temporarily Taylor Green is the answer. He is hitting .364 right now (small sample size alert!) against righties in the minors. That move should have been made yesterday. Long term maybe Morneau, short term get Taylor Green up here. A Green/Reynolds platoon is the best we can do right now to resemble a real first baseman. (By the way, Reynolds on pace for 36 HRs, not the worst thing).

 

 

Well, as someone who never really understood the Overbay addition, I'm all for that.

 

 

But those are very logical little tweaks. Hard to argue with either. You could also use Green to give Ramirez a day off as he's not going to be able to play 155 games. In fact, 145 should be their aim at this point I would think.

 

Taylor Green's shown enough that he can be part of a platoon(though he's hitting .265, not .365). Still, works for me.

 

 

 

Who would you then advocate hitting 2nd vs lefties? Weeks hoping that maybe he can draw some walks and at least get on base at a decent clip for the time being? Or just move Segura back into the 2 slot vs lefties?

[PrinceEatMeat]

 

2B - How long to you keep Rickie if he continues to struggle? I just hate to admit Weeks isn't looking good. I always thought he was a good player. Scooter's doing about what I expected - good BA, but little else. If you dump Rickie, do you need a platoon partner for Scooter?

 

 

2B - Weeks either needs to play more or get released, because he's a waste of a bench spot just like Overbay due to his lack of versatility. Bianchi or Herrara could face LHP if need be.

 

2nd-Gennett has to have a platoon partner. The problem with Weeks is that he doesn't strike me as the type of guy who can do much with sporadic playing time, and he has shown nothing to earn more playing time. I'd keep him for now, but if you can add someone from a team that's out of it later in the year... So maybe you just wait until we're closer to the quarter point and then decide what to do with Weeks.

 

Seriously, what is everyone's problem with Ryan Joseph Gennett? He has been great thus far and currently sports a 720 OPS, has made not only the routine plays but great ones too. I think he contributes more than "little else" as you state. I just don't understand the hate for him.

 

What did I say to knock Gennett? I simply said that Weeks is essentially useless if he's not getting more at-bats to stay sharp at the plate, and he clearly won't with how Gennett has played. Therefore, he should be released then. I personally like Weeks, but he doesn't have much value to the team right now. Bianchi or Herrera could play against some LHP. That's not a knock on Gennett either. He just struggles more against LHP.

[Bombers]

Prince and HiAndTight - sorry if I misread that but I took it as Scooter needs a platoon mate / Rickie needs more ABs = Scooter provides little value besides a high batting average as the original poster said. The more Scooter succeeds the more ABs he should get IMO. Plus his D has been great

[HiAndTight]

Prince and HiAndTight - sorry if I misread that but I took it as Scooter needs a platoon mate / Rickie needs more ABs = Scooter provides little value besides a high batting average as the original poster said. The more Scooter succeeds the more ABs he should get IMO. Plus his D has been great

 

 

No problem. Scooter's looking great so far. His D has been better than advertised thus far. He's still hitting the ball well. It'd be nice to see him hit with the power he did last year or get his walks up a little bit, but it's early not only in the year, but his career.

 

And I don't believe Weeks should be getting more at bats, but I do think he NEEDS more at bats as a player to be successful. He's probably got through May to prove me wrong or the Brewers are just going to have to eat it and use someone else vs tough lefties.

 

Bianchi as I just saw someone else mention would be a really nice platoon option IMO. Without looking at his stats or splits, he has a good approach and is solid with the glove. Still, holding out hope that Rickie can still be a productive player on this team in his limited role.

[JohnBriggs12]

I'm the lone voice but I think Gennett would be fine playing everyday against either type pitching. He's a fundamentally good enough hitter that he's going to get his share hits vs. lefties over time if he sees them regularly. He was up there yesterday with a runner on 3rd and one out in extra innings against a very tough lefty and although he ended up popping out after fouling off a couple, he was facing some nasty, nasty stuff. Besides, he has the same number of hits vs. lefties as Weeks does this season, two.

[monty57]

Reynolds is playing as well as could be expected. He's a low BA, high power guy, and that's exactly what he's providing. I don't see a huge need to replace him. He's got a .231 avg / .310 OBP / .558 SLG / .868 OPS at the moment, and it's very possible that he finishes the year with a similar line. Yes, he'll strike out a lot, but he could very well be a good pick-up by Melvin. Overbay is useless, but Reynolds does not need to be replaced. I don't like him as the backup 3B (especially since that means Overbay as everyday 1B), but that's another issue.

 

The Weeks/Gennett situation goes beyond what's going on at the plate. When Roenicke pinch hits Weeks for Gennett late in games, he then replaces Weeks defensively with Bianchi. Due to the terrible defense Weeks is playing these days, I'm fine with playing Gennett or Bianchi against lefties. However, as I've said elsewhere there isn't really any position player at AAA that is a top prospect, so Weeks keeps his spot by default. I don't think the Brewers want to give up on "the former #2 overall pick and All-Star" for a guy casual fans have heard of.

 

SS is Segura's spot to sink or swim, as we don't have anyone else with his upside. Even if he hits poorly all year, he'll probably be the favorite for the job next year. I do agree that he should be moved down in the order.

 

I'd like to see Gindl up to get some starts at LF, and Roenicke already gave some LF starts to Schafer. Davis will hit better than he has, but he (like Gennett) isn't a star player. He provides value as a decent inexpensive player and deserves to be a MLB player. He will hit better than he's hit so far, but people had way too high an expectation for him based on his play last year.

 

So the only moves that should be made are moves that should've been made prior to the season starting. Weeks and Overbay should be replaced as soon as a better option can be found. If Herrera plays well, he may stay on the roster at the expense of one of these two. Green and Gindl are other possibilities.

 

I do give kudos for Roenicke's handling of personnel this year. On opening day, he replaced his closer because he wasn't pitching well. Most managers would've let Henderson blow a few saves first. He gave Overbay about one start before putting Reynolds out there nearly every day. He started Schafer a few games in LF to give the struggling Davis some time. He wanted to get Wang (who had never pitched above A ball and missed last season) out there in as low a pressure situation as possible. He's got an inflexible roster, and he's managing it pretty well.

[liveforoctober]

There are two moves that I think can be made to help a bit immediately. First is to get Segura, at least temporarily, out of the two spot. He is a free swinger and added to Gomez is quick get through at the top of the order. Scooter can at least take some pitches at this point. Let Segura gain some confidence at the bottom of the order and bring him back up when is swinging again.

 

Secondly, Mark Reynolds needs a lefty to platoon with. (Small sample size alert!) .. Reynolds against lefties this year thus far is OPSing at 1.15 ... let him get the majority of the at bats but against tough righties get someone who is competent enough that he can sit. Right now you have to play him against everyone bc of Overbay. Temporarily Taylor Green is the answer. He is hitting .364 right now (small sample size alert!) against righties in the minors. That move should have been made yesterday. Long term maybe Morneau, short term get Taylor Green up here. A Green/Reynolds platoon is the best we can do right now to resemble a real first baseman. (By the way, Reynolds on pace for 36 HRs, not the worst thing).

 

 

Well, as someone who never really understood the Overbay addition, I'm all for that.

 

 

But those are very logical little tweaks. Hard to argue with either. You could also use Green to give Ramirez a day off as he's not going to be able to play 155 games. In fact, 145 should be their aim at this point I would think.

 

Taylor Green's shown enough that he can be part of a platoon(though he's hitting .265, not .365). Still, works for me.

 

 

 

Who would you then advocate hitting 2nd vs lefties? Weeks hoping that maybe he can draw some walks and at least get on base at a decent clip for the time being? Or just move Segura back into the 2 slot vs lefties?

 

I'd advocate for Gennett against those lefties. Let him play everyday. Last year's numbers and this years start have given him the right to an opportunity. Bianchi if you need to sit him occasionally.

 

I pulled Taylor Green's #'s against righties this year in AAA, not his overall average. He is still above .300 against righties. Hunter Morris is an option as well, but I would still take Green for his versatility.

[djoctagone]

Temporarily Taylor Green is the answer. He is hitting .364 right now (small sample size alert!) against righties in the minors. That move should have been made yesterday. A Green/Reynolds platoon is the best we can do right now to resemble a real first baseman.

if green isn't on the 40-man roster by 15 june, he can declare free agency.

[JohnBriggs12]

Temporarily Taylor Green is the answer. He is hitting .364 right now (small sample size alert!) against righties in the minors. That move should have been made yesterday. A Green/Reynolds platoon is the best we can do right now to resemble a real first baseman.

if green isn't on the 40-man roster by 15 june, he can declare free agency.

 

 

At 15-5, I think they can wait on Green. Let him get some AB's at AAA. I've been critical of the Overbay signing, but doing what's he's doing, filling in here and there, mostly PH and defensively, he's not hurting them. He hasn't gotten a lot of hits but his AB's have been decent. He can still get the bat through the zone. That's all you can ask. Reynolds has been Reynolds. As long as he's hitting with power, he's the starter anyway.

[liveforoctober]

Temporarily Taylor Green is the answer. He is hitting .364 right now (small sample size alert!) against righties in the minors. That move should have been made yesterday. A Green/Reynolds platoon is the best we can do right now to resemble a real first baseman.

if green isn't on the 40-man roster by 15 june, he can declare free agency.

 

 

At 15-5, I think they can wait on Green. Let him get some AB's at AAA. I've been critical of the Overbay signing, but doing what's he's doing, filling in here and there, mostly PH and defensively, he's not hurting them. He hasn't gotten a lot of hits but his AB's have been decent. He can still get the bat through the zone. That's all you can ask. Reynolds has been Reynolds. As long as he's hitting with power, he's the starter anyway.

 

I don't disagree .. but the reason Overbay has only been 'filling in here and there' is because they can't start him against anyone anymore and Reynolds is forced to hit against everyone .. which isn't ideal. If Overybay was a capable offensive player he would be splitting at bats with Reynolds.. but that isn't the case. Reynolds is a great platoon player and bench bat when he doesn't start but he HAS to be our everyday right now because we have no other options on the major league roster. It hasn't cost us yet, but if we are trying to field the best 25 man roster we can against all match ups and scenarios... Green is a better option in my very humble opinion.

[pacopete4]

I almost want Green to come back up just because I am sick and tired of hearing about him. I'm not sure what he has done to become the second coming but I guess let's see it so we can finally put it to rest if he can play or not.

[brwrsfan]

I don't disagree .. but the reason Overbay has only been 'filling in here and there' is because they can't start him against anyone anymore and Reynolds is forced to hit against everyone .. which isn't ideal. If Overybay was a capable offensive player he would be splitting at bats with Reynolds.. but that isn't the case. Reynolds is a great platoon player and bench bat when he doesn't start but he HAS to be our everyday right now because we have no other options on the major league roster. It hasn't cost us yet, but if we are trying to field the best 25 man roster we can against all match ups and scenarios... Green is a better option in my very humble opinion.

 

I 100% agree with this. I don't believe Overbay has it any more. Green provides the ideal platoon partner, he also provides defensive flexibility in that he can actually play other positions.

[monty57]

Platooning Green with Reynolds means that Green gets around 80% of the starts. Reynolds career consists of 3474 ABs, and he's got a career .793 OPS. His 2014 OPS is currently .808. An .800 OPS player is pretty good. Yes, he had a couple of down years in Baltimore, but there is a distinct possibility that he can be an .800+ OPS player as an everyday 1B.

 

I've always cheered on Green, but he hasn't done anything to deserve taking 80% of the PAs away from a guy who's sporting an .808 OPS (even in a small sample). If Reynolds starts looking bad, which is certainly possible, than they should explore every option, but let's not just assume he's going to suck when he's actually looking decent and has an MLB track record showing that he can be a good player.

 

I have no problem replacing Overbay, and Green could be a good replacement, but his job should be spot starts at 1B/3B when the starters need a rest.