Doug Melvin appreciation thread

[jjfanec]

There are enough threads that will question his decisions and that is a good thing but i do think it is time to recognize the things Melvin has done right. We can question what he is doing at 1B, allowing Seid to oversee the farm system, or if the Lohse/Garza signings were good but right now we have a 15-5 team that is winning in different ways.

 

1. The Carlos Gomez trade and subsequent signing of Gomez to a very team friendly deal.

2. Signing Lucroy to a team friendly deal before he blew up

3. Building a solid bullpen. How nice is it to feel like we have a great chance of winning if we are tied late in a game.

4. He hasnt broken the bank to sign pitchers but was able to fill out a rotation nicely without having to rush guys. It is great having guys like Nelson, Thornburg and even Friers and Burgos available if a starter goes down.

5. Getting Smith for Aoki. This goes along with number 3 but Smith has been great and Aoki was a relatively old corner OF'er with a young guy ready to take his place. Which leads to number 6

6. I think he is getting better at trusting younger talent. He gave the starting job to Davis and let Gennett beat out Weeks. Davis started slow but he will be fine.

7. Getting Segura for Greinke. Sure Jean is starting slow this year but he is only 22 with plenty of time to grow as a player

[gregmag]

3, 2, 1 . . .

[Teatoe993]

When you see Jack Z drop 200 mil on Cano to put more butts in the seats and sell some jerseys you really get to appreciate the genius that is Doug Melvin. Dude retaliated this move by finding an abandoned dog and making him the face of the franchise. I promise you that mutt is gonna sell so much more swag and get way more butts in the seats than Robinson Cano ever will in Seattle. Probably win more games too. Brilliant move Melvin. Brilliant move.

[adambr2]

This is coming from someone who has been critical of Doug in recent years, especially with trades that focus primarily on the short-term like Lawrie for Marcum. For what it's worth, I do suspect that some of these deals may be done with some encouragement/pressure from the top.

 

I also hear a lot of heat for the Rickie Weeks deal. Look, Doug missed on Weeks. But 90% of us would have done that deal at the time. He was coming off a tremendous season. His value at the time was comparable to Braun. It didn't look like a bad deal. Now it is, but you know what? Look at our 25. It's the only "bad" contract on the roster. Most rosters are going to have a Rickie Weeks contract on it.

 

Ramirez, Lohse, Gallardo, among others, are all performing at their market value or higher than it. Contracts like Lucroy and Gomez are tremendous steals, and as of right now, Braun is still one as well. Doug managed to get a guy who is a bonafide top closer for us for cheap. Not only is the rotation filled with underrated #2's, the bullpen is full of guys who are legitimate 8th/9th inning guys. The pitching is suddenly stocked, and underrated moves like with Mark Reynolds have really covered us at 1st.

 

I will be honest -- coming into this season I did not think this team had any chance to compete. My logic was simply that we were already too far behind teams like the Cardinals and Pirates, and the fact that they were also well ahead of us in the farm system would make it almost impossible for us to close the gap.

 

If I end up being wrong, and they certainly look good so far, that's definitely a testament to what Melvin has been able to do to improve the club from last year with the resources that he had to do so.

[fondybrewfan]

Most of the roster right now is made up of Melvin "Wins" including Braun, Lucroy, Segura, Gomez, Ramirez, Krod, etc. The only real downgrades on the current team is frickin Weeks (Although who could have though he would turn into this when he signed the extension). 1st base is still a long term problem and so is the strength of the minor league system in general

 

Melvin has made a lot of good moves with the major league roster; now Seid and the development team needs to come through and start coming up with some good prospects.

[jjfanec]

Most of the roster right now is made up of Melvin "Wins" including Braun, Lucroy, Segura, Gomez, Ramirez, Krod, etc. The only real downgrades on the current team is frickin Weeks (Although who could have though he would turn into this when he signed the extension). 1st base is still a long term problem and so is the strength of the minor league system in general

 

Melvin has made a lot of good moves with the major league roster; now Seid and the development team needs to come through and start coming up with some good prospects.

 

I completely agree. Weeks was a mistake but I am guessing the move was widely praised when it happened. It does boggle my mid that 1B is such a hard position for us to fill. But when you look at this team even in spite of some poor drafting recently and lets not let Jack Z off the hook for his struggles hitting on pitchers this team is set up pretty well. Even the pitching has good young potential with Peralta, Thornburg, and Nelson.

[Warning Track Power]

I think Melvin has done a solid B job in Milwaukee. Should we be run more like the A's or Rays? Yes. Do they not put enough of an emphasis on the development of minors? Yes. Do they spend too much in free agency to fill holes? Yes. However, have we enjoyed a nice product of baseball in Milwaukee over the past decade? Absolutely. Who would have ever imagined the Brewers turning into one of the small town success stories just one decade ago.

 

I guess it all depends on your perspective on the definition of success.

 

Are the A's more successful than the Brewers? Since 2008, the Brewers have 515 wins, have made the playoffs twice and made one NLCS appearance. The A's in that same time have 508 wins, have made the playoffs twice and lost both times in the ALDS.

 

Are the Rays more successful? The Rays have 559 wins, have made the playoffs 4 times, lost 3 times in the ALDS and made one World Series appearance.

 

Am I content with where we as a franchise are? Yes and no. I want more consistency and I want the roster to be churned in the manner of the Rays where we can sustain high 80s low 90s win totals for a decade rather than the focus of the failures of the previous season. I also want to avoid short term trade like Marcum-Lawrie, but that seems to be more the exception than the rule. However, if I am judging Melvin in regard to the success and failure on the field, I have to give him a solid above average grade.

[danzig6767]

3, 2, 1 . . .

Yea, i was expecting Melvin haters to chime in, but i guess the good start makes it harder.

 

One bad thing IMO of pretty much most forums whether it's about sports or say politics is a number of posters tend to go to the extremes and thus X person is either great or a bumbling idiot, when often there instead are varying shades of gray.

 

Even for those here who like Melvin more than dislike him, the vast majority of them have still been annoyed by a variety of his decisions over the years, obviously his affinity for Yuni Betancourt being at or near the top of the list.

 

I by no means believe that Doug is say a top 2 or 3 GM in baseball, but he's not the clueless idiot which some seem to think also. Plus, he has to work under the perimeters of an owner who clearly is not mainly just a silent partner who sets a budget and then allows his front office to do as they please, like how Ted Thompson of the Packers is allowed to do.

 

While the current roster has it's flaws, what i do like is the nice mix of quality older veterans, in their prime vets, and youth. Teams that win generally have that sort of mix. My biggest concern is the lack of patient hitters. It would seem that any offense who draws so few walks will eventually start paying for it, even worse when they keep making dumb outs on the bases.

[jjfanec]

I think Melvin has done a solid B job in Milwaukee. Should we be run more like the A's or Rays? Yes. Do they not put enough of an emphasis on the development of minors? Yes. Do they spend too much in free agency to fill holes? Yes. However, have we enjoyed a nice product of baseball in Milwaukee over the past decade? Absolutely. Who would have ever imagined the Brewers turning into one of the small town success stories just one decade ago.

 

I guess it all depends on your perspective on the definition of success.

 

Are the A's more successful than the Brewers? Since 2008, the Brewers have 515 wins, have made the playoffs twice and made one NLCS appearance. The A's in that same time have 508 wins, have made the playoffs twice and lost both times in the ALDS.

 

Are the Rays more successful? The Rays have 559 wins, have made the playoffs 4 times, lost 3 times in the ALDS and made one World Series appearance.

 

Am I content with where we as a franchise are? Yes and no. I want more consistency and I want the roster to be churned in the manner of the Rays where we can sustain high 80s low 90s win totals for a decade rather than the focus of the failures of the previous season. I also want to avoid short term trade like Marcum-Lawrie, but that seems to be more the exception than the rule. However, if I am judging Melvin in regard to the success and failure on the field, I have to give him a solid above average grade.

 

I think the B grade is extremely fair. The A's and Rays comparisons are very interesting. Obviously the Rays are more impressive considering the division they are in and their overall success. One huge part of the Rays success is from 1999-2008 the Rays picked in the top 8 every year including top 3 6 times! That is a great way to build up a franchise. The Brewers have only pick in the top 3 once since 1985. The Rays even missed on a few of those picks but did a great job trading them once they got expensive. They are an extremely well run team who was able to build up a terrific farm system by being terrible for a decade up until 2008. The A's are more impressive to me because they havent had a pick in the top 9 since 1999 but have still built up a great team.

[jjfanec]

3, 2, 1 . . .

I by no means believe that Doug is say a top 2 or 3 GM in baseball, but he's not the clueless idiot which some seem to think also.

 

This is essentially the main point of this thread. We dont need to go all good or all bad on Melvin

[Thurston Fluff]

Most of the roster right now is made up of Melvin "Wins" including Braun, Lucroy, Segura, Gomez, Ramirez, Krod, etc. The only real downgrades on the current team is frickin Weeks (Although who could have though he would turn into this when he signed the extension). 1st base is still a long term problem and so is the strength of the minor league system in general

 

Melvin has made a lot of good moves with the major league roster; now Seid and the development team needs to come through and start coming up with some good prospects.

 

I think some of the perception of a weak farm system was based on what we lost in trades as opposed to what we still had. I think many outside the organization also underrated some player's up side. Peralta and Thornburg come to mind. Hell nobody ever mentioned Davis at all until he got a shot. BA had him rated the 16th best prospect in the system and the system as one of the worst in baseball. I'd hate to see the best farms if Davis was rated correctly in ours. Ditto for Gennett.

[igor67]

I think Doug did a great job selling high on a bunch of prospects frankly. Lawrie's rough start only makes it more likely that his sell-off netted far more wins for the major league team than those guys ever turn into.

[jjfanec]

I think Doug did a great job selling high on a bunch of prospects frankly. Lawrie's rough start only makes it more likely that his sell-off netted far more wins for the major league team than those guys ever turn into.

 

Yep the only complaint with trading Lawrie was that we could have maybe received a younger pitcher with more upside but Lawrie has not looked like someone we will regret not having. I thought he would be a solid pro. There were some here who said we traded away a perennial all-star and one went as far as to compare him to Braun. His character was a question and now so is his bat. His OPS .435 right now. So far Michael Brantley has had the most success of the guys we have traded under Melvin. I guess that would actually be Nelson Cruz

[paul253]

Yea, i was expecting Melvin haters to chime in, but i guess the good start makes it harder.

 

I have some beefs with Melvin. There is no doubt about that. But if you sit back and look at the overall picture, especially considering what it was like when he came in, you can't really be all that upset. He has made some really good moves. Braun's contract. Lucroy. The Greinke trade (both of them). And even though I didn't like it at the time the Gomez deal is looking like a winner. He's made some terrible moves (Suppan, Weeks extension, the botching of the first base issue this offseason). I do think he relies too much on veterans and should give his own guys more a chance. And I think the one thing that could really increase his grade is to fix the mess of the player development system we have. Overall I'd give the drafts in his term a D+. Some good talent drafted but overall way too many misses and way too conservative a draft strategy. I realize he doesn't scout or pick the guys but he's in charge of the people that do. If he fixes that I think the organization could really take off. It's got great facilities and a great fan base.

[Bombers]

3, 2, 1 . . .

Yea, i was expecting Melvin haters to chime in, but i guess the good start makes it harder.

 

One bad thing IMO of pretty much most forums whether it's about sports or say politics is a number of posters tend to go to the extremes and thus X person is either great or a bumbling idiot, when often there instead are varying shades of gray.

 

Even for those here who like Melvin more than dislike him, the vast majority of them have still been annoyed by a variety of his decisions over the years, obviously his affinity for Yuni Betancourt being at or near the top of the list.

My only gripe with Melvin has been his spending on the fielding/hitting side of the team and reluctance to spend more on the starting pitching. The skeleton of this team: cheap relievers, a few league minimum type starting positional players mixed in with elite talent and quality starting pitching has always been what I wanted. I grimaced as they spended way to much money away from the starting rotation. For Example:

2009

Starting Pitching = $22.3 Million

Starting Positional = $40.3 Million

Top 5 paid Relievers = $ 13.6 Million

 

2014

Starting Pitching = $38.8 Million

Starting Positional = $39.6 Million

Top 5 paid Relievers = $ 8 Million

 

To me, I have always wanted to spend more on starting pitching and he finally has a very good rotation top to bottom. Great job Doug!

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

That Rays/A's comparison is really interesting. Beane always says his [stuff] doesn't work in the playoffs, but it's really interesting that the Crew actually has more regular season wins over the last six years.

 

Considering how far this team has come since the mid-90's, it's hard to complain as a fan. There's always room for more consistency, of course, but there's a lot to like about these Brewers!

 

Maybe this belongs in the optimism thread...

[DoubleSwitch]

Drafting has been bad for a bit now, but even the best teams have their bad stretches. Take a look at the past 5 or so Rays drafts. They've extended their window of success with smart trades and signings and they always build a cheap quality bullpen, but they pipeline of homegrown talent has dried up since they started winning and stopped getting such good picks. Taylor Guerrieri might be their first big draft prospect in quite a bit and he hasn't played above A ball, and he's currently suspended for his second bad drug test+tommy john.

 

Melvin has frustrated me at times like everyone else here, but I will say I think he's learned from some mistakes and gotten better as time goes on. I don't think he's made a completely indefensible trade since selling Carlos Lee, and really has done quite well. Really he's made quite a few great trades. You can say that it's only hindsight, but all the things that made those guys disappoint were evident when they were traded. Escobar's ability to hit was always his question mark. LaPorta didn't have a position, he stuck out to much and his discipline was a question. In many ways LaPorta was a prototypical 'Melvin player' so I give him even more credit for getting value for him when he could. The power Lawrie showed in 2011 hadn't showed up when he was with the Brewers and it hasn't come back to him since. His soft tossing veteran free agent has consistently upgraded from Suppan to Wolf to Lohse. Lots of people hated the Ramirez signing, but I think it's pretty clear by now it was a good move. The book is still out on Garza, but I am a bit worried about HRs and falling strikeout rate. The big thing is that none of these deals have been big enough or bad enough to totally tie our hands. Is this the best run team in baseball? Obviously not, but I think everyone should take a look around the league and count our blessings. If you told everyone prior to the 2012 season that Melvin wasn't going to tear things down and rebuild I don't think many would envision this team would be as good as it is right now. Plenty of other teams have gone for the traditional rebuild lately and ended up spinning their wheels.

[danzig6767]

Yea, i was expecting Melvin haters to chime in, but i guess the good start makes it harder.

 

I have some beefs with Melvin. There is no doubt about that. But if you sit back and look at the overall picture, especially considering what it was like when he came in, you can't really be all that upset. He has made some really good moves. Braun's contract. Lucroy. The Greinke trade (both of them). And even though I didn't like it at the time the Gomez deal is looking like a winner. He's made some terrible moves (Suppan, Weeks extension, the botching of the first base issue this offseason). I do think he relies too much on veterans and should give his own guys more a chance. And I think the one thing that could really increase his grade is to fix the mess of the player development system we have. Overall I'd give the drafts in his term a D+. Some good talent drafted but overall way too many misses and way too conservative a draft strategy. I realize he doesn't scout or pick the guys but he's in charge of the people that do. If he fixes that I think the organization could really take off. It's got great facilities and a great fan base.

 

Reynolds isn't ideal as a starting firstbaseman, but there didn't look to be many other options given we weren't the only team looking for a quality firstbaseman in the offseason and little happened. Multiple teams were interested in Ike Davis during the offseason, but the Mets were asking for to much, like wanting Thornburg from the Brewers. Loney i didn't want Melvin to give a pricey multi-year deal. I'd rather have Reynolds on a cheap one year deal than having caved to the Mets for Davis or given Loney a three year deal.

 

As for relying to much on veterans over young prospects in the system, i think Doug has been ok on that front. He traded Aoki who was the leadoff hitter to allow Davis to start in left. Gennett is starting much more than Weeks. Segura was handed the starting job right away. Among the everyday players, i can't think of a single prospect in AAA or AA who i think should be starting instead. I'd probably rather see Morris on the team than Overbay though. On the pitching staff i can't see anyone in the minors who i think should currently be on the roster instead. Nelson likely is the guy who will be called up if/when a starter needs to go on the DL, so i'm fine with him being in AAA for now at least. Who am i missing?

[DoubleSwitch]

Yeah for as much as I hear that Melvin doesn't let prospects play I can't think of anyone who was held down too long or screwed over. Gamel didn't have a spot to play and when he did his knees couldn't hold up. You can argue that Taylor Green should have been playing over McGehee in 2011, but Green hasn't shown himself to be anything too special. There was some wisdom in sticking with a guy who had put up two good seasons in the big leagues, even if it didn't end up working out too well.

[danzig6767]

My only gripe with Melvin has been his spending on the fielding/hitting side of the team and reluctance to spend more on the starting pitching. The skeleton of this team: cheap relievers, a few league minimum type starting positional players mixed in with elite talent and quality starting pitching has always been what I wanted. I grimaced as they spended way to much money away from the starting rotation. For Example:

2009

Starting Pitching = $22.3 Million

Starting Positional = $40.3 Million

Top 5 paid Relievers = $ 13.6 Million

 

2014

Starting Pitching = $38.8 Million

Starting Positional = $39.6 Million

Top 5 paid Relievers = $ 8 Million

 

To me, I have always wanted to spend more on starting pitching and he finally has a very good rotation top to bottom.Great job Doug!

I don't really agree with that statement. For a team with a payroll in the 90-100 million range, i think you let the exact circumstances dictate where you spend the money.

 

If the farm system had been better at drafting/developing starting pitchers, i'd rather pay say Wacha and Miller peanuts as the Cardinals are than pay Gallardo and Garza about 20 million per combined. Then use that saved money elsewhere. That wasn't the case though so money was spent on free agent starters.

[DoubleSwitch]

One thing Doug tended to do with Free Agent pitching was tend towards 'safer' guys rather than higher risk higher upside types. Of course some of those 'safe' guys ended up being awful. I'm impressed with the Pirates bringing in high upside guys three years straight now. Burnett and Liriano were great moves and Volquez is looking pretty good too. Starting pitching is so sought after that sometimes when you think you're sure you're 'getting what you paid for' you don't end up getting very much at all.

[HiAndTight]

I think Melvin has done a solid B job in Milwaukee. Should we be run more like the A's or Rays? Yes. Do they not put enough of an emphasis on the development of minors? Yes. Do they spend too much in free agency to fill holes? Yes. However, have we enjoyed a nice product of baseball in Milwaukee over the past decade? Absolutely. Who would have ever imagined the Brewers turning into one of the small town success stories just one decade ago.

 

I guess it all depends on your perspective on the definition of success.

 

Are the A's more successful than the Brewers? Since 2008, the Brewers have 515 wins, have made the playoffs twice and made one NLCS appearance. The A's in that same time have 508 wins, have made the playoffs twice and lost both times in the ALDS.

Are the Rays more successful? The Rays have 559 wins, have made the playoffs 4 times, lost 3 times in the ALDS and made one World Series appearance.

 

 

 

The Rays are more successful in every aspect of baseball that you can come up with. I don't think it really matters what your definition of "success is," by virtually every definition the Rays are THEE standard for a smaller market team.

 

If the Rays have the resources the Brewers have had over the same time period, I have no doubt they'd have an even wider gap in terms of actual Major League success.

 

They're absolutely loaded with young pitching talent. Of course some of that talent has deal with serious injuries as of late, it's hard to argue that's the result of poor management. They're the most proactive team in baseball. They have a healthy farm system right now(IMO) that could turn into an very good one real quickly if they decide to trade David Price. They just netted an elite middle of the order bat for a pitcher that was only still their property because they bought out some of his FA years as well as a very good middle of the rotation type pitcher.

 

TJ has really decimated a couple of their top arms, yet they're still a contender in the NL East where they compete with the Yankees and Red Sox every year as well as the Jays and O's who are both very talented teams.

 

 

I'm not a fan of the direction Melvin has taken the team in general. I think it's great we're off to a good start this year and that's a lot of fun, but I think this team should have been rebuilt a few years ago. The only question I have is how much of that is due to Attanasio and how much is Melvin? It sounds from comments made to the public that you can attribute the signings of Suppan, Gagne, Looper, Lohse and Garza all to Mark A. At least at the urging of Mark A. We're very early into the Garza era, but I'm not confident he's going to give us 4 strong years.

 

So what I judge Melvin on are his trades and his under the radar type signings/extensions. That's just based on my beliefs. In just those area's, I think he's done well.

The Marcum trade baffles me to this day, but I also believed that Lawrie would be an elite 3rd basemen. Hasn't developed into that yet. But Gomez has turned into a top 5 position player in baseball(at least since the start of last season he has). He's identified a lot of good young players and locked them up early. The Weeks signing looked like a good signing at the time.

 

The reality is though that the Brewers are a team that has no margin for error, has a very poorly rated farm system(though I think a bit underrated) cannot add much salary to improve this team.

 

 

So I'm not sure what to make of Melvin at this point in time. Without knowing for sure what moves have been driven by Melvin and what moves have been pushed upon him by Mark A, I can only evaluate where the team is right now, and right now is a whole lot more than 1st place about 20 games into the season.

[HiAndTight]

My only gripe with Melvin has been his spending on the fielding/hitting side of the team and reluctance to spend more on the starting pitching. The skeleton of this team: cheap relievers, a few league minimum type starting positional players mixed in with elite talent and quality starting pitching has always been what I wanted. I grimaced as they spended way to much money away from the starting rotation. For Example:

2009

Starting Pitching = $22.3 Million

Starting Positional = $40.3 Million

Top 5 paid Relievers = $ 13.6 Million

 

2014

Starting Pitching = $38.8 Million

Starting Positional = $39.6 Million

Top 5 paid Relievers = $ 8 Million

 

To me, I have always wanted to spend more on starting pitching and he finally has a very good rotation top to bottom.Great job Doug!

I don't really agree with that statement. For a team with a payroll in the 90-100 million range, i think you let the exact circumstances dictate where you spend the money.

 

If the farm system had been better at drafting/developing starting pitchers, i'd rather pay say Wacha and Miller peanuts as the Cardinals are than pay Gallardo and Garza about 20 million per combined. Then use that saved money elsewhere. That wasn't the case though so money was spent on free agent starters.

 

 

I completely agree with you. I can't imagine why you'd have a preference to spend money on pitching with by nature is more volatile than being an everyday player. I'm also not sure those numbers are correct, but even if they are, so what?

 

I'd actually rather see the Brewers in a position to do the exact opposite. I'd rather see more of the Brewers money committed to position players as opposed to pitchers just due to the inherent risk.

 

Of course that would entail the Brewers developing their own staff which is always harder said than done. If Thornburg, Nelson and Peralta all live up to their ceilings, perhaps an ace and a couple #2's(best case scenario of course) that's about 1.5 million dollars in your staff.

 

Now usually to lock you FA pitchers you either have to overpay, get lucky(as we did with Lohse as his value was suppressed due to the qualifying offer) or take a risk and pay a guy like Garza 50 million dollars when he has some serious injury concerns.

You get more certainty out of position players than pitchers.

 

Danzig pointed this out, but the Cards are the epitome of what you'd like to do.

 

Michael Wacha-510,000

Carlos Martinez-505,000

Adam Wainwright-19.5

Joe Kelly -523,000

Shelby Miller -521,000

Lance Lynn -535,000

That's a little over 22 million. That might be the ideal rotation in my opinion. You have your veteran ace who's definitely worth the big salary, but you have several great arms. It's a bit of an aberration in that you're not often going to produce that much young talent on the mound, but at the same time, the Brewers had several elite position players in 2009.

 

The Rays are THEE team I'd like to model ours after.

David Price 14 Million

Chris Archer-511,000

Alex Cobb -516,000

Jake Odorizzi -503,000

Matt Moore -1 M

Your dominant ace, Matt Moore in theory would have been your co-ace, but he has to have TJ surgery(furthering the idea that pitching is much riskier than position players) and in the middle, three good, strong young arms.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'd LOVE to be able to spend 100 million on just our rotation like the Dodgers are going to do, but our entire payroll is not much more than that.

 

 

Our salary for our starting pitchers could SOOO easily be a helluva lot lower had we selected Jose Fernandez and Sonny Gray rather than Jungman and Bradley in the draft. So with that being said, I'd prefer to let the needs of the team dictate where you spend your money, but ideally, build a staff from within so you're getting their strongest and cheapest years and spend money on the position players who aren't one pitch from spending 14 months recovering from Tommy John surgery.

[JohnBriggs12]

Yea, i was expecting Melvin haters to chime in, but i guess the good start makes it harder.

 

I have some beefs with Melvin. There is no doubt about that. But if you sit back and look at the overall picture, especially considering what it was like when he came in, you can't really be all that upset. He has made some really good moves. Braun's contract. Lucroy. The Greinke trade (both of them). And even though I didn't like it at the time the Gomez deal is looking like a winner. He's made some terrible moves (Suppan, Weeks extension, the botching of the first base issue this offseason). I do think he relies too much on veterans and should give his own guys more a chance. And I think the one thing that could really increase his grade is to fix the mess of the player development system we have. Overall I'd give the drafts in his term a D+. Some good talent drafted but overall way too many misses and way too conservative a draft strategy. I realize he doesn't scout or pick the guys but he's in charge of the people that do. If he fixes that I think the organization could really take off. It's got great facilities and a great fan base.

 

Reynolds isn't ideal as a starting firstbaseman, but there didn't look to be many other options given we weren't the only team looking for a quality firstbaseman in the offseason and little happened. Multiple teams were interested in Ike Davis during the offseason, but the Mets were asking for to much, like wanting Thornburg from the Brewers. Loney i didn't want Melvin to give a pricey multi-year deal. I'd rather have Reynolds on a cheap one year deal than having caved to the Mets for Davis or given Loney a three year deal.

 

As for relying to much on veterans over young prospects in the system, i think Doug has been ok on that front. He traded Aoki who was the leadoff hitter to allow Davis to start in left. Gennett is starting much more than Weeks. Segura was handed the starting job right away. Among the everyday players, i can't think of a single prospect in AAA or AA who i think should be starting instead. I'd probably rather see Morris on the team than Overbay though. On the pitching staff i can't see anyone in the minors who i think should currently be on the roster instead. Nelson likely is the guy who will be called up if/when a starter needs to go on the DL, so i'm fine with him being in AAA for now at least. Who am i missing?

 

Two guys I think Melvin overlooked at 1B were Mike Morse and Justin Morneau. Both were excellent buy low opportunities but we heard nary a blurb about any interest on the part of the Brewers. Morse is less of a defensive liability at 1B and always raked in Miller Park. Morneau started showing flashes of his old self at times last year.

[fondybrewfan]

Hindsight is 20/20 when we are talking about guys like Morneau, Morse, Liriano, Burnett, etc. There were plenty of red flags at the time those guys were signed. Of course I wish the Brewers could have gotten them now; but 29 other teams weren't too excited about them either

 

Suppan was an obvious mistake; the Weeks contract in hindsight as dumb, 1st base is a black hole. However I think Melvin has overall done a really good job keeping this team competitive almost every year since the "core" players starting emerging in 2007.