Gamel up, Nelson out
In the coming weeks, the Brewers have three interleague series on the road, where the designated hitter will be used. The first of those series is May 22-24 in Minnesota.
Rather than wait for those series, the Brewers opted to summon Gamel and let him get his feet get wet with some at-bats off the bench and perhaps an occasional start.
"He’ll probably get some pinch-hits, get acclimated a little bit to the big leagues," said manager Ken Macha. "He may get a start. We’ll see how that all plays out.
"This kid is probably our best prospect. I don’t think the plan is to have him sitting on the bench."
For further discussion, see the previous Gamel FanShot and Wednesday's game thread.
6 months ago
battlekow
29 comments
0 recs |
Email
PrintComments
i'm a bit sad
i wanted to see just how terrible brad the bad could be. i was hoping for an 0-50 season at least.
by sicklebeat on May 14, 2009 12:34 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Note that Tom is wrong (shocking!) and that Nelson has not--yet--been outrighted to AAA
For the Brewers to outright him, he would first have to be placed on waivers and then would have to clear waivers, which takes three days, and means no other team claimed him. As Tom noted, if Nelson does clear waivers and the Brewers do outright him, he has the right to refuse the assignment since he has previously been outrighted.
"I didn't realize his velocity was that high," said Macha, noting that radar readings aren't flashed during exhibition games.
by battlekow on May 14, 2009 12:37 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Is it possible
that he’s already cleared waivers? I seem to recall the same thing happening with someone else (I think TGJ), where he was on waivers but they didn’t announce it till after he’d cleared.
Brewers Baseball and other assorted nonsense (mostly the assorted nonsense) at my blog, What's a Tararrel?
by Lefti on May 14, 2009 1:04 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
There's a couple types of waivers
The waivers that a player is placed on when DFA’d are called outright waivers, and they are irrevocable, meaning that if the player is claimed, the waiving team cannot pull him back. As such, I think it would be a little odd to irrevocably waive a player that was still on your 25-man roster, since you could lose control of him at any time, but I can’t actually find anything saying it’s impossible to waive the player before DFAing him. However, certainly the convention is to DFA the player and then place him on waivers.
As for Gwynn, it’s not unusual to not announce that a player has been placed on waivers. No reason to publicize it if you want to keep the guy, though I doubt it makes much a difference one way or the other; there’s surely someone monitoring the waiver wire for each club.
"I didn't realize his velocity was that high," said Macha, noting that radar readings aren't flashed during exhibition games.
by battlekow on May 14, 2009 1:43 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
For a team to claim him
Do they have to put him on the 25 man, or can he be stowed away on the 40-man?
by tcyoung on May 14, 2009 2:00 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
25-man
One of the points of designating for assignment is to give the player a chance to avoid the minors.
Obscure baseball records and more at my blog, Recondite Baseball.
by TheJay on May 14, 2009 5:01 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
"I think it would be a little odd to irrevocably waive a player that was still on your 25-man roster, since you could lose control of him at any time"
The waiver period is 48 hours, so you’d have a couple days to prepare, right? I guess the worst team in the league (1st in waiver order) could claim the guy right away and be awarded the claim immediately, but I still think it takes some time to make the move official.
Re: Announcing Gwynn on waivers, I thought outright waivers were supposed to be confidential even if it somehow (wink, wink) slips out to the media. I don’t think teams officially announce those things.
Obscure baseball records and more at my blog, Recondite Baseball.
by TheJay on May 14, 2009 5:19 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
My understanding is that, technically, the DFA process is just a convenience.
It just allows you to re-use the roster spot immediately, without having to wait for the outright/release/whatever waiver period to finish. It’s obviously become near-automatic to DFA & waive at the same time, but I don’t think there’s any causal relationship between the two; you could (as far as I can tell) waive players without DFA’ing them all you want.
by Zeyes on May 14, 2009 10:29 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
And...
Likewise, you can DFA without waiving immediately, since the DFA period is 10 days long and thus much longer than the waiver periods. I have a feeling the MLBPA wouldn’t look too kindly on clubs that were to routinely keep players in limbo like that, though.
by Zeyes on May 14, 2009 10:33 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
I'm just being a big retard
I was for some reason operating under the assumption that Gamel was replacing Nelson on the 40-man roster, which is of course not the case. I’m calling it a bad night and moving on.
"I didn't realize his velocity was that high," said Macha, noting that radar readings aren't flashed during exhibition games.
by battlekow on May 14, 2009 12:37 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
I love Nelson and wanted to see him get a hit...
But seeing Gamel playing some meaningful baseball will be awesome.
by Braun Holio on May 14, 2009 2:38 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Same. I think everyone is pulling for Brad, but, hopefully, he’s done so bad off the bench that he stays in our system.
That said, with how we’ve been hitting, it’s going to be incredible to see Gamel add to that. Just hope any time spent on the diamond by him doesn’t cost us anything.
PensBurgh penalty - Lavender - 2 minutes for hijynxing.
by Lavender on May 14, 2009 7:06 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
They better use him. A lot.
Gamel better get starts. Don’t want to see him wasting away on the bench when he could at the very least be improving his defense in AAA. If I don’t see him as the #1 lefty off the bench, starting 1 out of every 3 games, it’s a little bit of a waste, in my opinion.
by Mykenk on May 14, 2009 7:31 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
1 out of 3 is ridiculous
Based on Melvin’s comments on the radio this morning, It’s pretty clear that they brought him up with the hopes that he can pinch hit a little bit and DH for the interleague games. I understand that you’d like to see him improve his defense and get playing time, but when a team is tied for first place and starting to click on all cylinders, it would be foolish to screw with the lineup just to give experience to a prospect, however talented.
by tosabrewfan on May 14, 2009 8:19 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
I agree. Which is why he should stay in AAA. He shouldn’t be working on his defense at the MLB level.
by Mykenk on May 14, 2009 8:24 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
He'll have plenty of time to work on defense even if he doesn't start.
Willie Randolph has done wonders for Rickie’s defense thus far.
by Brew Believer on May 14, 2009 8:41 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
I’m a believer in getting young potential stars consistent at-bats. If they can do that in the bigs, great. Most likely, not so much. Notice what a lack of consistent at-bats did for Brad Nelson.
by Mykenk on May 14, 2009 8:42 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Two thoughts
1) Gamel doesn’t really replace Nelson. We could go with 4 outfielders, but to me this looks like Catalanotto will be coming up if he can hit at all. When Frank comes up, McGahee goes down.
2) Bill Hall is the guy backed into a corner. He is already losing some playing time to Counsell because he can’t hit righties. And if they give Gamel a couple of starts, that will further reduce his playing time. The long-term use of Hall is really up in the air.
by grant76 on May 14, 2009 8:22 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Which is disappointing
because Hall’s much better defensively than both of them. I’d say replace the Counsell starts with Gamel starts.
by Mykenk on May 14, 2009 8:25 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
When does Rivera come off the DL?
I know off topic but just wondering
Let me spell it for you Cub fans O N E H U N D R E D A N D O N E Y E A R S
by WSB Chris on May 14, 2009 8:29 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Today. Supposively Catching Bush.
Which may or may not be a good idea.
by Mykenk on May 14, 2009 8:34 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
You're something of a Debbie Downer today. :)
"I will agree that the attitude [at BCB] is ridiculous and they have done so much to instigate animosity and then block us from responding. Real mature!"
by roguejim on May 14, 2009 8:43 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Well, I think he might be tired, he’s been playing a lot (more than usual) lately. He’ll be fine once he gets into his 1 in 5 rotation again.
But hopefully he’ll be fine.
by Mykenk on May 14, 2009 8:49 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
he's not tired
he’s pumped!
Also, cheese.
by Jeff Sackmann on May 14, 2009 8:56 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
referring to yourself in the third person?:P
playin’ a lot lately?
by PagsBrewCrew on May 14, 2009 10:11 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recent FanPosts
NL Central Standings
| W | L | PCT | GB | STRK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
St. Louis
|
91 | 71 | .561 | 0 | Lost 6 |
|
Chicago
|
83 | 78 | .515 | 7.5 | Lost 1 |
|
Milwaukee
|
80 | 82 | .493 | 11 | Won 3 |
|
Cincinnati
|
78 | 84 | .481 | 13 | Won 2 |
|
Houston
|
74 | 88 | .456 | 17 | Lost 3 |
|
Pittsburgh
|
62 | 99 | .385 | 28.5 | Lost 2 |
(updated 11.22.2009 at 10:31 AM CST)
FanShots
Quick hits of video, photos, quotes, chats, links and lists that you find around the web.
Recent FanShots
Certain photos copyright © 2009 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
