Reader Poll Results

"Should the Brewers offer Dave Bush a contract extension after this season?"

Yes, a 3 year deal: 69% (9 Votes)

Yes, a 4 year deal: 7% (1 Vote)

No: 7% (1 Vote)

Not till after his final arby year: 15% (2 Votes)

"Run Off" Win On Memorial Day

I was in attendance today at Miller Park on Memorial Day to witness the "run off" win. All I can say is it was awesome. The Cardinals want to bitch and moan all the time about how the Brewers celebrate victories by untucking their shirts and how it is "classless" or "disrespecting the game", well today they said "screw you St. Louis, we will just celebrate out of your sight so you don't get all upset over it."Don't know who's idea it was on the team, but it was classic.

Other then that Yovani was just dealing today. After the way the pitching got beat up in Minnesota Yovani sure looked like an ace today, a true stopper. I know he didn't get the win but he was a HUGE reason we were in a position to win 1-0 today. And what can you say about Bill Hall, myself and numerous others have crucified him and how bad he has been against RHP. Well today, he replaced Gamel late in the game for defense and ended up winning the game with his offense. See what happens when Billy goes with the pitch to the opposite field? Good things, very good things.

Iv'e Done It, Joined The Revolution Of.....

Twitter. Really didn't want to, but if you want to be able to view the "tweets" of Brewers Assistant GM Gord Ash you have to have an account. So there you have it, I actually think it's kind of cool though. Anyway, if you want, follow me: twitter.com/jdondlinger

Oh Rumors

I just don't buy it, so I'm not going to get excited about it. According to SI.com's Jon Heyman, the Cubs and BREWERS are the front runners to get a deal done for Jake Peavy. The Cubs part is believable and is probably where Peavy will end up, which sucks for us since the Brewers face the Cubs a bunch more times. I don't get where Heyman is getting the Brewers in the mix though? The Brewers are not on the list of of teams Peavy would accept a trade to. Also the Padres want good young pitching in exchange for the 2007 Cy Young winner, the Brewers have ZERO of that. The only piece(s) I think the Brewers could offer San Diego is either Alcides Escobar or JJ Hardy, since the Pads are also looking for a SS in addition to starting pitching. And as much as I like Peavy and it would be nice to get him, he has a pretty hefty contract yet and does have some injury history. On the other hand, Peavy is a stud and if we got him perhaps the clueless face Manny Parra would be dumped out of the rotation. Stay tuned.....

Even Political Commentators Know How Awesome Mat Gamel Is

Saw this over at MSNBC's "Countdown" host Keith Olbermann's MLBlog (Olbermann is a huge baseball fanatic and Yankees fan he started an mlb.com blog this season, it's pretty good and interesting), even he knows that Gamel is good and needs to play more if he is up in Milwaukee.

"HOW ABOUT USING GAMEL IN A GAME?

Did the Brewers really call up one of the game's top two or three power prospects so he could sit behind the bench for a week, get some DH work during inter-league, and then send him back down?

Apparently.

Third Baseman Mat Gamel was summoned Wednesday from Nashville and entering play today had gotten exactly one at bat. Even when Rickie Weeks took himself out of this afternoon's game with soreness in his wrist, the Brewers simply moved Craig Counsell from third to second, and inserted Bill Hall at third.

Milwaukee started the day with the second best record in the NL, Counsell has been hot lately, and Ken Macha and Doug Melvin have done a lot more managing and general managing than I have, but the week's inactivity makes no sense, not in a division as competitive and seemingly as balanced as the Central. The Brewers say they want to treat him more like Prince Fielder in 2005 than Ryan Braun in 2007 but that may not be a luxury they can afford. Gamel is either a vital component (if he can improve to bare-minimum status defensively at third), or a wonderful trading chip (if he can't, and he has to become a corner outfielder, first baseman, or DH, none of which Milwaukee needs).

Why just have him sit around?

In short, play him (at Milwaukee or Nashville), or trade him!"

It's Official (If It Wasn't Already)

Bill Hall should never, ever play against RHP again. In what may have been his last chance at playing against RHP tonight he went 0-3 with 2 K's and a GIDP. Macha pulled him in a double switch in the bottom of the 6th. Like last night, Hall just looked awful not covering any part of the plate and swinging at bad pitches while letting good ones go. I have full faith in Ken Macha that he will do the right thing and now go to a straight left/right platoon with Hall and top prospect Mat "The Batt" Gamel. However, with the Brewers going to Minnesota this weekend for interleague play Gamel will most likely DH and Counsell will be at 2B so Hall may actually play against RHP. Unless Macha decides to give Casey McGehee a chance at 3B against RHP while Gamel DH's?

Emptying My Thoughts 5/21/09

Time for me to empty these thoughts on current Brewers news out of my head.....

It totally sucks that Rickie Weeks is out for the year with another wrist injury, this time left hand. Of course all of us in Brewer Nation know and feel that way. Rickie was really putting his total game together and then it gets taken from him because of injury. I have total confidence though that Rickie will work hard to get back and be ready to pickup in spring 2010 where he left off in May 2009.

With Weeks now gone, I like the fact the Brewers are looking internally to fill the 2B void. No need to go making a trade, at least not yet. While no one can really replace the skill set Weeks brings to the park everyday, a Counsell/McGehee platoon should do just fine. If it does not I'm sure Doug Melvin can swing a trade for a veteran 2B, I know DeRosa's name has come up but the Brewers don't have the pitching Cleveland wants for him. Of course they could even sign an unemployed 2B like Durham or Grudzielanek. Hopefully it does not come to that and Counsell and McGehee can get the job done. If they don't, before a trade happens you might see Alcides Escobar get a chacne since he will now play 2 out of every 3 games at 2B for AAA Nashville. I'm not a big fan of that idea since Escobar is a SS and would somewhat be wasted at 2B.

With Counsell now set to platoon at 2B, that opens up a perfect opportunity for top prospect Mat Gamel to actually stay up with the Brewers even after the interleague series. With how bad Bill Hall has been against RHP, and he has been brutal (especially last night in the 9th, that was ugly), Gamel should now go into a strict platoon with Hall at 3B. It just makes to much sense, and if this were the case Gamel would get most of the starts and it would be worth keeping him up. However, if Macha does not feel this way I hope they send Mat down to AAA to paly everyday instead of rotting on the bench with the big club. Gamel has already shown that great bat he has, of course he has also shown how bad his glove can be. But like they old saying goes, the bat plays. And Mat has a mighty good one.

I LOVE the trade of Tony Gwynn for Jody Gerut. Let me say that again, I LOVE THE TRADE. Gwynn was going nowhere fast in the Milwaukee organization. He couldn't even beat out Duffy or Nelson to make the team this year. To me he will always be a AAAA type player who always had hype around him simply because of the name on the back of his jersey. Now hes gone where the Brewers won't be tempted to give him more chances. The Brewers get in return a solid 4th OF in Gerut who can play all three OF spots and has some pop from the left side of the plate, he has struggled so far this year though after a solid year in 2008. With Gerut meeting the team in Minnesota for the weekend series it appears either Duffy or Iribarren are going down to AAA Nashville. Let me say as much as I have ripped him, I do wish Gwynn the best. Maybe he can find something playing for his hometown team. Good luck Jr!

Reader Poll Results

"Do you want Mike Cameron back in CF for the Brewers in 2010?"

Yes, another 1 year deal: 42% (3 Votes)

Yes, on a 2+ year deal: 28% (2 Votes)

No: 28% (2 Votes)

Memories Of An Old Obession, Baseball Cards

As someone who collected cards pretty hardcore when I was younger and still like to buy the occasional pack or two when I'm at Target, I found this video over at AwfulAnnouncing.com. Brings back a lot of memories of standing around wasting hours upon hours in card shops opening box after box of cards. You know trying to get that Pat Listach or Cal Eldred rookie card. It's a mini movie of sorts a little under 10 minutes long about a card shop called "The Dugout" in Brooklyn, NY. Enjoy!

Catching Up To Do

I just got back yesterday from my 7 night honeymoon in beautiful Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. Me and my bride had a fantastic time, it was sunny and in the 80's every day we were there. While the weather was hot in the DR it was not hot here in Wisconsin, but the baseball team sure was.

In my absence out of the country the Brewers won 5 of 6 games in home series over the Cubs and Marlins. This led the Brewers to now being tied for 1st place in the NL Central with the hated Cardinals. While I was able to text a friend to get final scores each day it seems I missed out on some happenings while I was gone. So I spent some of last night during that rain delay/postponement and this morning catching up on what happened in these 6 Brewers games I missed.

Nelson was DFA and then selected free agency. I wish Brad the best, I liked him a lot and thought it was cool he finally made an opening day roster. He just didn't do anything after spring training though and we need some production off the bench other then Craig Counsell. Hopefully Nelson catches on somewhere else, just not in the NL. I think he would come back to haunt us at some point.

With Nelson DFA the Brewers called up top prospect Mat Gamel. This kind of shocked me when I first heard the news. I thought the Brewers might trade Hall which I did not want to happen. But it does not seem likely and more likely Gamel was called up for much of the same reason Prince Fielder was in 2005. Spend some time with the big league club, maybe get a start or two and DH in some inter league series before going back down to AAA Nashville. I like the move and look forward to seeing Gamel hit and see if his defense has gotten better.

Weeks and Bush seemed to have continued their strong starts. It seems 2009 really will be the "breakout" season for both guys. Weeks is hitting well and has an over .880 OPS while Bush has been the Brewers 2nd best pitcher after Gallardo. At the beginning of the season I told a fellow Brewers fan at work that Bush would breakout this year and legitimize himself as a solid #3 and maybe even a #2. So far Dave is proving me correct, thanks Dave.

Braun has a RED HOT week and was the NL player of the week. But it seems the local and national media has a problem with his "attitude" or "cockiness". I say screw them both. Braun is no more cocky then any other star in MLB. He is good, he knows it and he is super confident in his ability. So he watches his HR's a little bit, so does A-Rod, Pujols, Manny and many other of the stars of the game do. Can you blame him for the one he hit off Dempster? I mean Dempster did hit him the freaking head in the at-bat before the HR. Bottom line, Braun is a superstar that is super confident. Just let him play the game and don't worry about what he does after he hits a HR. And he will hit A LOT of them before his career is up so get used to it uptight media members.

Reader Poll Results

"How many games per week should Mike Rivera start?"

0: 11% (1 Vote)

1: 33% (3 Votes)

2: 55% (5 Votes)

3: 0% (0 Votes)

If Braun Goes To The DL

If Ryan ends up having to spend some time on the DL with this intercostal/back injury I think the best scenario for the team is to call up Mat Gamel to start at 3B and start Bill Hall in LF (which he is doing tonight in Pittsburgh). Yes Gamel makes errors at 3B and Hall has been stellar there. But with Braun's bat gone you need someone who also has a big stick. Neither of our backup OF's Nelson or Duffy do really and I shutter to think of Gwynn getting called up and getting a lot of regular playing time. So you have Gamel come up and play 3B with his electric left handed bat and you move Hall to LF to keep his bat in the lineup and he has played in the OF before all be it in CF. Obviously this is all speculation but with Braun sitting out his third consecutive games you have to wonder if a DL stint is imminent. Although he did have an MRI today that was negative, which is good news.