Kyles: Parra and Balfour (paraphrasing): Ready Now

[brettac1]

His arm doesn't allow him to bounce back for a second day in a row. But, when he is given the ball he is good.

 

I know that Thatcher has pitched full innings in the past, but I would think that if the Brewers thought of him as more than a specialist they would be having him used for full innings at Nashville to see how he fares, because I think they place development of prospects over W-L record there.

[Boy Jeenius]

As I reported in the game thread the other day, I saw Balfour throw 2 innings against OKC the other night. He pounded the strike zone with 94 to 96 mph fastballs, striking out 5 of the 6 he faced. He faced hitters 2 thru 7 in their line up. He got ahead in the count and then stayed on the black until they went down. He's got a real tight, late moving breaking ball too. It was man against boys. Thatcher pitched an inning each night I was there, striking out any lefty that faced him. He's just unfair to left handed hitters.

[danzig6767]

I didn't know Balfour threw that hard,i was under the impression that he was more a 91-92ish pitcher that was more schooling AAA hiters via command over velocity.

 

It must be kinda frustrating for him to stay in the minors given all the relief problems some teams have and knowing if he was in another organization he'd likely be called up by now and given a look in the majors.

[dadofandrew]

Balfour is worth all but nothing as trade bait right now, his ceiling is as a middle reliever, and he's 29. He is good depth for the bullpen, and that's about it.

[TheCrew07]

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Balfour is worth all but nothing as trade bait right now, his ceiling is as a middle reliever, and he's 29. He is good depth for the bullpen, and that's about it.

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We'll see.

[ryanbraun75]

i could see him being a closer candidate next year if we don't have Cordero. He was the twins top prospect back a few years ago but had 3 arm surgurys, but he is back now and its just really dumb to keep spurling up here and him down there. Parra and Balfour should both be in our bullpen right now.

[endaround]

So Al an average reliever with major league success and on a minimum contract has no value?

[dadofandrew]

He's 29 and has not pitched in the bigs for years, and is coming off surgery. AAA relievers with good numbers...that's a pool about 60 deep. Some are younger, some throw harder, some are true prospects.

 

If a team had offered us much for Balfour, he'd be either up or gone, as Doug does not hold back minor league vets from big league service time. A team like TB or DC should be calling all over looking for guys like this, and I'm sure they do somewhat.

 

For the most part, even veteran middle relief guys going to contenders at the deadline bring back a middling prospect. Balfour, until he proves himself in the bigs, is worth very little.

[FVBrewerFan]

Without seeing him pitch, I would think a guy who throws 95 with movement is a candidate for the closer in 08. If Cordero is gone, who else would you suggest is the front runner? Certainly not Turnbow I hope. Balfour could be a top of the list Power 50 guy, a veteran ML pitcher, or a guy coming back from arm surgeries. What does it really matter? If his arm is sound now, and he is throwing 95 with late movement he is a closer candidate-period.

 

As far as THIS year, be patient. Yes, Parra and probably Balfour will be called up but that may be now, or it may be in two weeks. Give it a little time to work itself out. Given Melvin and Yost's history, they will not hesitate to bring up players when they'r ready.

[twobrewers]

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Without seeing him pitch, I would think a guy who throws 95 with movement is a candidate for the closer in 08. If Cordero is gone, who else would you suggest is the front runner? Certainly not Turnbow I hope

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I think suggesting an AAA pitcher coming off of 3 arm surgeries as a front runner over a former all star who has almost pitched as well as the current all star closer is going a little too far.

 

I am hopeful that Balfour can help us. But I can't imagine he is nearly as good as Turnbow.

 

As for Al's assertion that Balfour has very little to no trade value - he is closer than we might think. Any team could have taken a chance on Balfour this past winter. Pitching well at AAA doesn't make you a future all star - plenty of players have reached that level and failed to move out.

 

HOWEVER, if we see a future in Balfour - he might be used as trade bait in that we KEEP him, and trade the player who he will be replacing in our bullpen. (IE, if he doesn't have enough value - trade someone who does)

[logan82]

Seeing as how none of our relievers are completley stinking up the place I don't see any moves being made unless there is an injury. Same goes for all the players on the big club. The next move I see getting made is one that involves Hall coming off the DL. None of our relievers are terrible if they are used correctly. That means Shouse only against lefties.

[JohnBriggs12]

"Seeing as how none of our relievers are completely stinking..I don't see any moves being made."

 

Not completely stinking is not good enough. Mediocrity is not the goal.

 

If you wait until someone is "completely stinking", you could cost yourself the season.

 

Man I've been posting on here for 5 years now and I see there is still a mindset that average is good enough.

[1992casey]

I don't think it's always a mndset that average is good enough. In my case, I'm often anal about giving up a guy via DFA when a potential injury could put the team in a pickle as soon as a few days later.

[Never Outhustled]

Quote:

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I think suggesting an AAA pitcher coming off of 3 arm surgeries as a front runner over a former all star who has almost pitched as well as the current all star closer is going a little too far.

 

I am hopeful that Balfour can help us. But I can't imagine he is nearly as good as Turnbow.

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Turnbow had a 6.87 ERA last season and has the highest ERA in the Brewer bullpen this season. Melvin is currently seaching for a top setup man to replace him in that role. He's been OK, but hasn't earned a promotion, and theres a chance, be it small, he could fall apart at any time, since he's done it before.

 

I like Balfour's chances of being a quality reliever, but this team will have too many leads to roll the dice on either of those too as its closer.

[kmcasper23]

If these guys are as good as they say they are, bring them up now! We don't have much of a cushion in the division anymore and cannot afford to not be putting our best team on the field night in and night out. Bringing Parra and Balfour up in place of Spurling and Shouse would make this team better!

[gregmag]

Man I've been posting on here for 5 years now and I see there is still a mindset that average is good enough.

 

John, your insights are often worth a lot, but please spare us this "I'm morally superior to you weaklings" bit. You're talking to a community of over 2000 people. First, that's way too big a group to stereotype as having any single mindset. Second, many people here, believe it or not, are just as smart and insightful as you. Third, everyone here (except for the visitors from elsewhere in the Central -- One Love, guys) wants the Brewers to succeed just as much as you do.

 

When somebody suggests that the team should stick with relievers who aren't stinking up the joint, the reasonable inference to draw is that the poster is making a point about the risk-reward calculus of using somebody with a current MLB track record as opposed to somebody who has thrown some strong innings at AA or AAA. You may disagree with that person's risk-reward assessment, and FWIW, I'm inclined to agree with you in this case.

 

But to beat on such a poster because he doesn't satisfy your macho ethos of condemning mediocrity in all its forms -- and to insult every person on this board in the bargain -- is unfair, mean-spirited, and totally unworthy of your obvious intelligence and baseball acumen.

 

Greg.

[whizkid]

John, your insights are often worth a lot, but please spare us this "I'm morally superior to you weaklings" bit.

 

But to beat on such a poster -- and insult every person on this board in the bargain -- because he doesn't satisfy your macho ethos of condemning mediocrity in all its forms

 

Wow, you read all that into it? You must have some special glasses. Moral superiority? Weaklings? Macho ethos? That's a big stretch. I don't feel personally insulted.

 

I'm with casey, you move more cautiously when you have to DFA someone and may not have the option of going back. There's certainly the possiblity Parra/Balfour could struggle.

[Thurston Fluff]

I'm with casey, you move more cautiously when you have to DFA someone and may not have the option of going back. There's certainly the possiblity Parra/Balfour could struggle.

 

Same with me. DFAing someone should be a last resort for someone who just has not and most likely will not contribute. Obviously Spurling was doing well enough in AAA to warrant the call up when he did. If Spurling could produce well enough at AAA to be called up then not pitch up to some people's expectations what makes those same people think the others will? Especially ones with a history of injury and very little major league experience to go on. If you have to DFA someone to call up another you darn well better be right about them being an upgrade. You better be equally sure the move doesn't drain your depth ion the event a rash of injuries occur.

[monty57]

Having depth during the playoff stretch could be what gets us into the playoffs. If/when one of our starters goes down, either Carlos or Yo will be moved to the rotation. We will then need all of our current bullpen plus one of Thatcher, Parra or Balfour. If more than one of our pitchers go down over the same period (which is fairly likely over half a season), we will need two of the above.

 

With that in mind, if the Brewers braintrust feels that 2 or 3 of the above players are better options than Spurling, what do you think we could get for Spurling in a trade? We managed to get what looks to be a pretty good young arm for Capellan. Would we be able to net anything of value (maybe a high-risk/high-reward player) for Spurling?