What we learned this week: August 10, 2013

The Biogenesis evidence was much more solid than we thought.

After months of news reports, rumors, and a lot of reports that the suspensions were about to be handed out, the big day finally came on Monday.  Thirteen players received suspensions on Monday, with twelve getting 50 games and the thirteenth (Alex Rodriguez) getting 211 games.  Three other players were also named in connection to the clinic, but were not suspended since they already served one.  All twelve of the players receiving 50 game suspensions accepted them and began serving them, but Alex Rodriguez is appealing his suspension that will most likely continue into the offseason.

Many of us wonder why these players would risk their careers to take banned substances like performance enhancing drugs.  On Monday, Kyle looked at the case of former Brewer Nelson Cruz, who had been struggling for years before having a career revolution with the Rangers.  He doesn't ask for sympathy for Cruz, just to understand what was at stake for him and why his choice made sense.

The Brewers are still trying to make some trades.

We're past the non-waiver trading deadline, but there's still a month left to make trades.   In the past week, the Brewers began placing players on revocable waivers to see what they could get in trade value, or if the players would clear completely.  As usual, we don't hear about all of these moves, though a few reports have come out in regards to some of the players who have been put on waivers.   Mike Gonzalez was one of the first players to end up on waivers, getting placed on the waiver wire over the weekend.  We haven't heard if he was claimed or not, which is common in these situations.

Later in the week, more reports came out, this time that Kyle Lohse had been placed on waviers.  Lohse has been one of the hotter names out there, so his name generated a lot of discussion.  However, later in the week, more reports came out that Lohse had been claimed.  Doug Melvin didn't see a potential match with the claiming team, so he pulled Lohse back off of waivers.  It's possible that Lohse will be traded one day, but it's not happening before the end of the season.

Yovani Gallardo isn't the only player who has been worse since 2009.

Even though Yovani Gallardo is currently on the DL, the analysis on him keeps coming in.  Over the weekend, Noah compared Gallardo to over players with velocity drops, and found that Gallardo isn't the only player that has faced a velocity and effectiveness drop.  Several other players have also faced similiar problem.  Reports are that he should be ready to return as soon as the minimum 15 days on the DL.

Carlos Gomez deserves consideration for MVP

With the Brewers out of contention, the chances of them having an MVP candidate are small.  However, they still have some players who should at least be discussed.  The best player for the Brewers in 2013 has been Carlos Gomez, and on Wednesday, Kyle began making a case for Gomez as MVP, and looked at his case compared to others in the MVP discussion.  Gomez has a lot of work to do to earn MVP, and even with an amazing finish to the season, the state of the Brewers may prevent him from winning the award.  However, he definitely will have a shot at getting a Gold Glove this season, which would be the first award for Milwaukee since 1982.

Jean Segura has had an excellent first year in the league.

Last year's big acquisition just before the trade deadline was Jean Segura.  He came in and has solidified the shortstop position, which had been in flux for the past several seasons.  On Tuesday, Segura had his one year anniversary of his Brewers debut.  To mark the occasion, Jordan looked at the last year for Jean Segura, comparing him to other shortstops around the league and the shortstop position in general.  He's been one of the better shortstops in the league, and he's only 23 years old.  If he continues to improve, he could become one of the best (if not the best) shortstop in the league.

The praise for Jonathan Lucroy just keeps coming.

While he hasn't received the same level of praise the Gomez and Segura have received, Jonathan Lucroy has been just as important and valuable for the Brewers as those two, even if his name isn't known as well.  Earlier this week, Fake Teams looked at Lucroy as one of the more unusual players on a hot streak.  Going even further into the numbers, Disciples of Uecker really went in-depth into Lucroy's performance and found that the Brewers are getting a lot of value from his contract.  Lucroy has also been constantly praised as a great pitch-framer, and he discussed that with FanGraphs yesterday.  Before Lucroy came to the Brewers, the catcher position had been a rotating door for several years.  With him, the Brewers have that position nailed down.

The Rickie Weeks injury clock finally hit zero.

In what has almost become a yearly tradition, the day has come where Rickie Weeks sustained an injury.  In Wednesday's game, he tripped over his bat as he was running to first base.  He had to be helped off of the field and his injury was classified as a hamstring strain.  He went back to Milwaukee to be reevaluated, and an MRI revealed that one of his hamstring tendons had separated from the bone.  As a result, Weeks chose surgery over rehab and is out for the remainer of the 2013 season.

With Weeks injury striking again, and another rough season over for him, there are questions about his future with the team.  He is still under contract with the Brewers for the 2014 season, and has an option that can still vest for 2015 if he reaches 600 PA in 2014 and ends the season healthy.  The Brewers will have to reevaluate their situation in the offseason, and whether Weeks is their best option at second base, or if they need to go in a different direction.

Another Brewers great was lost on Friday.

For the second straight week, the Brewers organization lost another great.  Former Milwaukee great Johnny Logan passed away on Friday at the age of 86.  He played for the Milwaukee Braves from 1953 to 1961, and was the shortstop on the 1957 World Series championship team.  He was still involved as a scout with the Brewers in recent years, and was loved by many people around the organization and around baseball.  Bob Uecker had some comments looking back at his life, and there are a lot of people who will miss him.