The Return of 3TO (Ridiculously Raking in Nashville) [merged with Hall platoon thread]

[Greg Vaughn]

I'm honestly concerned with Melvin right now.....the make-up of the roster this year has been atrocious. No other way to put it.

[mothershipconnection]

and Branyan starts racking up the K's? Now we have to try and get him through waivers again and we just wasted a major league contract on him.

 

Oh well, that's what he was signed for: emergency help. If he helps us in a bind and we have no more use for him and let him go, that's a better use of a player than letting him play all year in the minors.

[jjfanec]

I still believe Branyan should be brought up to almost platoon with Hall. Here are my reasons. One, they are essentially the same player right now in some ways. They both have home run potential every time they go up there. They both strike out a lot (Hall is striking out over 25% of the time). So, it isn't like we would be losing anything starting Braynan, actually he would walk a ton more than Hall. Second, Hall has crazy bad splits against RHP compared to LHP. His OBP and OPS vs LHP are almost double what they are vs RHP. To me that shows he is a platoon guy right now. My other reasons for bringing Branyan up are similar to others mentioned. I am sick of being down two late in a game with a guy on but only to have either gwynn or counsell go out there. It is nice to have a guy who is a threat to tie it with one swing.

[mls4]

I am also on the Branyanwagon. Especially after the Gwynn DH experiment- embarrassing is a good word for that.

 

I still have this feeling that if we brought up Branyan, all of the other MLB teams would laugh and call the Brewers desperate.... but management should be willing to step out on a limb. Everyone was probably laughing at the Gwynn DH too. With Branyan at least we would have a chance to have the last laugh...

[TooLiveBrew]

One, they are essentially the same player right now in some ways. They both have home run potential every time they go up there. They both strike out a lot (Hall is striking out over 25% of the time). So, it isn't like we would be losing anything starting Braynan, actually he would walk a ton more than Hall. Second, Hall has crazy bad splits against RHP compared to LHP. His OBP and OPS vs LHP are almost double what they are vs RHP.

 

Couldn't agree more. Right now, imo the Brewers need to focus on how to put the most competitive team on the field, and stop worrying about being 'committed' to certain players and/or scenarios. It's far too early in the season for me to worry that 'it's over', but we've gotten to the point where the player production has started to clarify itself a bit more. Clearly Braun, Hart, Fielder, & Kendall have played at least up to expectations this early. Beyond that, it's time (imo) to start assessing how to improve. The pitching sort of 'is what it is' to this point -- barring a trade, there's really no more to be done.

 

I still vote patience with Weeks, Cameron, & Hardy... largely due to their BB rates. For Hall, I think he's clearly useful to this team. His defense has been a joy to have at 3B, and he certainly is ready to play every game. But I think there's been enough time to see that he clearly (as with most RH batters) is more dangerous against lefties, and Branyan seems to compliment him well. Russ BBs well, and has the power our bench lacks. Even in games where lefties start, there will be many chances to face RHP late in the game. I also don't think it would hurt to start Hall v. RHP from time to time.

 

Why the organizational response has been about 'We don't want to burn his option' is beyond me. There's a space on the 25-man rotting away, but that's not a dig at Gwynn -- he just doesn't offer anything the team doesn't already have for 2008, and keeping him limits the effectiveness of the 25-man unit. Calling up Branyan is a way to improve this team without weakening it, and I don't see why the discussion goes any further than that.

[kramnoj]

I think this should be emphasized as well, Branyan is hitting .355 right now to go with his .431 OBP and .645 slugging. He certainly won't maintain that, either at AAA or the majors, but he is smoking right now. I know that hot streaks aren't predictive, but I would much rather Branyan ride out his hot streak in Milwaukee than in Nashville.

[brettac1]

I think Brad Nelson would be a good compromise, even with as much as I heart Russell.

[LouisEly]

Yeah that's just great, but what do we do when Bill Hall's bat catches fire like it usually does at some point and Branyan starts racking up the K's? Now we have to try and get him through waivers again and we just wasted a major league contract on him.

 

Who cares? They signed Branyan for emergency purposes and to take a gamble; now it's time to see if that gamble pays off. If it doesn't, then DFA him - if he doesn't hit in the majors then no one will sign him and if they do then I guess they resign Abraham Nunez. Who cares about Nashville. Their purpose is to feed the ML club in times of need.

[danzig6767]

I don't like Branyan nearly as much as many on this board does, but man, Hall has been utterly feeble vs righty pitchers. Even if the team didn't want to run a strict platoon between Hall/Branyan, i have a hard time seeing any harm from at least letting Branyan start in games with a very tough righty on the mound that has proven to give righthanded batters fits.

 

Plus, there are few things more frustrating than seeing us be down by say two runs in the ninth with a runner on firstbase and we pinch hit with either fly swatter bat, Counsell or Gwynn.

[dpapo]

It appears as though Counsell is going to be getting more playing time, at least in the near future. Per Haudricourt's blog,

 

"Craig Counsell is playing third base in place of Bill Hall. Anthony said Yost finally conceded that Hall's awful numbers against right-handed pitchers mean Counsell needs to play more, so another guy is being held accountable for lack of production."

 

Of course with Yost, as we have seen in the past, this could be just end up being a 1 or 2 game thing. You just never know. Anyway, for now at least, it doesn't appear as though the Brewers are planning on calling up Branyan.

[TooLiveBrew]

At this point, I'd like to see the Yost/Melvin tandem get held accountable for lack of production. Where is Branyan?! How many more absurd reasons are going to get run out there as to why he's rotting in Triple-A?

[dpapo]

In the same blog entry, it mentioned that Melvin was in Nashville today, which I believe he has been for the past couple days. So, maybe there is a chance that Branyan gets called up sometime soon. I have to think that Melvin is at least thinking about making some moves, especially if the Brewers struggle in Pittsburgh and Washington.

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

With only 2 righties to face in the Pitt/Wash series (one tonight), I would doubt you'd see Branyan until after. The comment from Yost RE: Hall seems to be the most concrete evidence this is under serious consideration.

 

Any thoughts on how Branyan's defense has been this year? Hall has been a nice addition at third this year defensively. Although this weekend his plate struggles seem to be effecting him in the field.

 

I've never been a big Branyan fan like most people on this board, but at this point, Hall looks lost. Why not give the platoon a shot. Maybe it helps get Hall going.

[DrWood]

Who else would rather have Branyan than Counsell give Hall a day off against RH pitchers a couple times a week? I don't know if it was stated above, but Russ had another HR tonight (though he did pop out with two runners on in the bottom of the ninth while a run behind).

[brewjihad]

Who else would rather have Branyan than Counsell give Hall a day off against RH pitchers a couple times a week?

 

Me! And really, it shouldn't be much of a debate, especially considering that Branyan is dominating AAA and Counsell isn't really hitting much.

 

Branyan, last year OPS: .743, Career: .805

 

Counsell, last year OPS: .684, Career: .689

[TuesdaysWithRillo]

I seriously wonder what the tipping point is for Melvin and Yost to give Branyan a shot. When we are starting Craig Counsell at 3B when you have a 100 point higher OPS available at a low price/risk, what is stopping them?

[ELCABALLO45]

with Craig Counsell however...

http://milwaukee.brewers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080522&content_id=2746326&vkey=news_mil&fext=.jsp&c_id=mil

 

Say it with me...

 

Russell

Branyan

[danzig6767]

Ugggg

 

I agree with platooning Hall for awhile, but Craig Counsell

[Mr QL]

Ugh, Counsell.

[trwi7]

I love our management. You have Russell Branyan raking down in AAA and a struggling right handed hitter, so you put 2 and 2 together and it means platoon the struggling righty with a hitter who just flat out sucks altogether.

 

Even if you don't like Branyan at all you can't debate the fact that he would give us more than Craig Counsell.

[RU Rah Rah]

What I especially don't like is the explanation that Branyan shouldn't come up because he won't clear waivers on the way back down. Why was he signed, then? Just to give Nashville some patented 3TO action until the rosters expand? And the fact that other teams might want to claim him should suggest that he's got something to offer at the plate.

[brettac1]

Ugh. I'd rather just hope that Hall gets hot playing everyday than platoon him with Counsell.

 

Russ needs a freein'.

[PrimeTime955]

I seriously wonder what the tipping point is for Melvin and Yost to give Branyan a shot. When we are starting Craig Counsell at 3B when you have a 100 point higher OPS available at a low price/risk, what is stopping them?

 

I'm assuming a roster spot. Personally I wouldn't mind Gwynn going down. Kapler and Dillion can be used as OF reserves. Branyan actually provides some pop off the bench in the later innings besides platooning with Hall.

[bklynbrewcrew]

Counsell is a gritty battler and Branyan is not.

 

Its situations like this that make me question Melvin. Counsell cant get the ball out of the infield while Branyan is killing it at AAA. There is no way in the world to justify keeping Branyan in AAA. Just send down the useless Gwynn and call up Branyan. Just makes too much sense not to happen.

 

 

(merged consecutive posts --1992)

[giffted1]

Maybe BF.Net should stage a protest during the next home stand. A group of fans with FREE 3TO signs would be awesome. Seriously though, what the heck is Doug waiting for?