VFBC Podcast Episode 35 "Bill Castro Edition"

Breakdown of The Show:

Latest on Braun Drug Test Situation :00-21:00
Break
ARam Signing/McGehee Trade 22:03-41:21
Break
Winning Bid for Aoki 42:22-54:11
Break
News & Notes 55:18- 1:10:14

Say Car RamRod

Casey McGehee was dealt yesterday for Pittsburgh reliever Jose Veras, a move that no Brewers fan worth their salt didn't see coming. With the signing of Chicago's Aramis Ramirez Milwaukee found themselves without need of the 3rd baseman's services. Not only do I love this move, but Melvin proves me wrong again by pulling some great deals off these past couple days. After giving K-Rod his money, and signing mediocre shortstop Alex Gonzalez, I was worried that other areas, such as additional bullpen arms and the absence of a true clean-up hitter, would suffer. Now we made a 3 year $34-$37 million contract offer to Ramirez, and added much needed depth to our bullpen.

Jose Veras may not be a household name, but what he does do for the club is add another hard throwing righty into our pen. By adding Veras the Brewers now have 2 bullpen arms that can consistently hit 95 mph or better on the gun. Over the last two years Veras has also posted a positive WAR, had a K/9 of more than 10, and had a ground ball ratio hovering around 40%. Every indicator on paper says that this trade was a straight up steal by Milwaukee who only lost a backup third baseman at best. But, while Brewer Nation may be happy trolling through the Bucs forums is a different story. Most Pirates fans are not happy with this deal, but it was justified on their end as well, and they got more seasoned help for young corners Pedro Alvarez and Garrett Jones who struggled mightily last season.

I personally am slightly sad to see McGehee go. Not really for what his bat brought to the team, or his defensive prowess at third, but because I have loved this guys story from day one. Unknown infielder comes over to the Crew after being released by the Cubs, plays out of his mind, and becomes cemented into our hearts and the Milwaukee lineup after just killing Chicago every chance he got. Baseball activities aside McGehee was also a great person, donating time and money to charities close to his heart due to his son's condition. Even in June 2011 when Casey was batting .177 I defended him, and tried to make a case for Casey to rebound, sadly, as we all watched, that didn't pan out.

I guess the Brewers, and the resident's of the great state of Wisconsin, can say we took two good third baseman out of the quicksand of Wrigley Field with the inevitable signing of Aramis Ramirez to a 3 year deal. At first this is going to be a little strange for me, kinda like if we would have signed Jim Edmonds 4-5 years ago, but no one can deny that his bat is legit. We get about a match on the defense with McGehee, but his offensive numbers he puts up every year are on par with Casey's memorable 2010 season. Last season in 149 games the slugger batted .306 with 26 home runs and 93 RBIs. He has had four season in which he has hit over 31 home runs, but those days may be a thing of the past since he hasn't hit 30+ since 2006.

A-Ram serves two purposes since he not only fills a questionable position both in the lineup and in the field, but he also makes a weak and slowly sinking Cubs team that much weaker, and no matter what Epstein does this year I think it may be another 3-4 years before the the northsiders will be relevant again. Will A-Ram give us the power we lose from Fielder? No, but it's as close as we are going to get, and with Mat Gamel set to go at first we could see even better power numbers than last season with Prince if he can match even 2/3 of what he did in the minors. A-Ram also has a bit of an injury history to keep track of that may cause problems down the line.

So, Melvin appears to have done it again, and Milwaukee is setting up for a bright season. Hopefully it is not darkened by the cloud of PEDs and tarnished reputations. But, no need to dwell on the drakside since after the signings of both K-Rod and A-Ram, not to mention getting a mid tier reliever with a great breaking ball for next to nothing, Brewers fans have a lot on their plate this season, and we will see what RRR has up his sleeve. Now say car RamRod!

-Alex

VFBC Podcast Episode 28 "Prince Fielder Edition"

Breakdown of The Show:

K-Rod and Fielder Stir Pot With Comments:00-16:14
Break
Rickie Weeks Returns To Lineup/Impact 17:25-30:02
Break
Casey McGehee, Human Rally Killer, Time To Bench? 31:34-45:08
Break
Preview/Chalet Award Winner 46:44-56:24

VFBC Podcast Episode 24

Breakdown of The Show:

Betancourt/McGehee On Fire! :00-12:54
Break
Gallardo, Is He The #1? 14:10-29:28
Break
Minor League Update 30:35-52:38
Break
Preview/Around NL Central/Chalet Award Winner 53:39-1:09:05

Casey On The Lookout For Lost Bat

With his bad showing at the plate this season, and questions about his lack of value, Casey McGehee is making fans breath a sigh of relief that a contract extension wasn't signed. I am not one of them, and some fans should look past the initial numbers this season and try to remember what happened in previous years. This isn't some flash in the pan, got hot for two weeks, rookie call-up, as McGehee proved in over 1000 PAs the past two seasons where he boasts 170 RBIs and a batting average of .293. That is as consistent production from third base as you can ask for, but this season has been completely opposite from past seasons.

When I first took a good look at McGehee's stat sheet the glaring holes were obvious, like average, on-base, and slugging, but their had to be another story here than just bad mechanics or approach at the plate. Looking a little deeper you can see that his approach is about the same as his average, taking walks 7.8% of the time and striking out about 17% of the time. So, the next place I looked was his contact rates. Is he just swinging at bad pitches, or are players pitching around him? Neither appears to be true either since his O-Swing%/Z-Swing% are only slightly down, about 2%, however his Contact% has gone up and he isn't getting fooled anymore than usual at the plate.

In my mind the two stats that tell the biggest story on McGehee's slump is his BABIP and ISO. McGehee is one of the few batters in the majors to be pretty luck neutral, in that his BABIP is usually within a few points of his actual average, but down from .306 in 2010, he is sitting on a .252 and right now McGehee seems to finally have a black cloud over his head. With higher ground ball rates, and decreases in line drives and fly balls, Casey has seen his power go from an ISO of .179 to a paltry .094. With McGehee's lack of speed, and his usually average to below glove, he needs to find a way to bring his 100+ RBI power back into the Brewers line up. Casey seems to be trying everything to get his power stroke back, like changing his stance or just trying to hit for contact, but his best efforts so far have yielded no results except DPs and groundball outs.

Casey has been trying to work back, getting 3 singles in recent games, yet his average still sits at about .080 for the last week or so, with no production coming out of those singles either. With all these factors taken into effect the only conclusion I can come up with is it is a mental issue, and not so much a fundamentals problem. This guy can hit when he is on, no one would deny that, but is it possible that he is holding himself back at this point instead of settling into the role the Brewers and all fans want him to fill? Maybe it's just a matter of his bat speed being slower than past years, maybe it's pressure to perform at a high level because of the team around him, or maybe he is just the unluckiest player in baseball. One thing I do know is if he doesn't find a way to get on base soon he is going to be dropped in the order as opposing pitchers give Fielder nothing to hit knowing Casey and his .225 average are up next.

I believe Casey will turn things around soon, and while 100+ RBIs is probably out of the question now, 75-80 isn't a long shot if he can figure out his problems at the plate. Long story short: He is a fan favorite who loves playing in Milwaukee and is involved in the community, really those are all intangibles that his stats aren't going to show. Give McGehee a chance and I think he still may surprise us all before it's over.

-Alex

VFBC Podcast Episode 3

Break Down of The Show:

Possible McGehee Extension? :00-22:28
Break
Options For 6th Starter 23:20-41:25
Break
Spring Training Surprises/Youngsters 42:01-1:00:55
Break
News and Notes (Catching, Injury Updates, Broadcast Teams) 1:01:46-1:20:29
Close

2010 Milwaukee Brewers Team Awards

After the Milwaukee chapter of the BWAA totally whiffed on the team awards, Miller Park Drunk wrote a post ripping them (mostly the Journal Sentinel staff) to no end for picking Casey McGehee as the Team MVP, as well they deserved to be ripped for that crap. No doubt McGehee had a great season, but to pick him as MVP over say Rickie Weeks, who won our Team MVP award is downright ridiculous and the stats prove it. So this got Jaymes over at The Brewers Bar thinking that members of the Brewers Blogosphere should also vote on the team awards and that McGehee would not get a single first place vote. Here are the results of that vote. Just want to thank Jaymes again for letting me cast my ballot. Here is said ballot:

Team MVP:

1. Rickie Weeks
2. Ryan Braun
3. Prince Fielder

Most Valuable Pitcher:

1. Yovani Gallardo
2. John Axford
3. Randy Wolf

Top Newcomer:

1. John Axford
2. Lorenzo Cain
3. Jonathan Lucroy

Unsung Hero:

1. Kameron Loe
2. Zach Braddock
3. Jonathan Lucroy

Good Guy Award:

1. Trevor Hoffman
2. Rickie Weeks
3. Casey McGehee

Embarrassing

That is the only way to describe today's game between our beloved Brewers and the Braves. Actually the entire series was an embarrassment, but today was the worst of the three games. That is of course because I was 1 of 30,000+ that was at Miller Park for today's matinee, series finale. It was my first game of the season, I was pumped. A couple of friends and I bought the tickets before the season started. It's always nice to take a vacation day from work in the middle of the week and go see a game. It's one of my favorite things to do. It's just a shame there was not a whole hell of a lot to cheer about on this day.

The Brewers played pretty much exactly as they did the previous three games of the series. They were in the game till the 6th or 7th inning, the offense was pretty much non existent save for Casey McGehee who continues to impress after his strong 2009. Casey was 2-4 with a double and an RBI. The bullpen crapped the bed and the game got out of hand. Yovani Gallardo was on the hill, it is always a treat to see him pitch in person. He once again had a high pitch count that chased him to soon. He still managed to pitch 6 inning with 6 K's and only giving up 2 earned runs. In the bottom of the 6th the Brewers offense did manage 2 runs to tie the game. But it could have been more, Jody Gerut got caught stealing 3B and Prince Fielder narrowly missed a HR on a ball that went JUST foul.

Then the 7th inning came. Manny Parra comes in, boom! 2 runs given up. 4-2 Braves. Then Carlos Villanueva comes in to pitch the 8th, boom! 2 more runs given up. 6-2 Braves. Hoffman comes out in a non-save situtation to get some work, he gives up 3 runs all earned. 9-2 Braves and that was all she wrote. Ryan Braun did sit out his 2nd straight game after getting hit on the elbow by Tommy Hanson on Monday, that surely did not help the offense. But in any case the Brewers are now 4-11 at home this season. That is very embarrassing, this team used to dominate at home, had one of the best home records in all of baseball. This season they have gotten taken to the wood shed at home and it is so frustrating.

I think today was the first time this season I felt "demoralized". It's not that early anymore in the season and this team is all or nothing. Teams like that don't contend and certainly don't make the playoffs. We still have a couple of months to go before the All-Star break, but if this team is under .500 and more then 5 games out of 1st or the Wild Card I hope they blow up the team and bring up some of the prospects. Trade all the veterans who have no future with the team; Hoffman, Davis, Hawkins, Edmonds, Zaun, Gerut and maybe even Counsell. Get whoever you can for those guys. And then the big one, trade Prince. It now seems very unlikely that he will settle for any kind of "home town" discount, thus we can't afford him. Move him so the team you trade him to gets a year and a half of his services, giving us a good haul back to re-tool and get ready for 2011 and 2012.

With some of the good young prospects (Gamel, Lucroy, Lawrie, Cain, Braddock, Axford,Arnett, Peralta, Rogers, etc), our core guys (Braun, McGehee, Escobar, Weeks and Gomez) and who ever we get back for Prince we should be in good position to contend for real in 2011 or 2012 at the latest.

Keith Law Chat ESPN.com 12/3/09

After the Thanksgiving break Keith Law was back with another chat on ESPN.com today. Here are the Brewers related questions/answers. Only two today, Manny Parra possible out of the bullpen? And Keith is not sure if McGehee or Gamel are the answer at 3B in Milwaukee. Ouch.

Dan (Milwaukee)

Do you think Manny Parra would benefit from starting the season in the minors or do you think he will finally put it all together out of Spring Training?

Klaw

(1:03 PM)

I think it's time to think about putting him in the pen.

Dan (Milwaukee)

What do you think of Casey Mcghee? Do you really think he is the Brewers future at third? Is it wise for the Brewers to shop Gamel? What kind of return could he get?

Klaw

(1:09 PM)

I don't think either guy is the future at 3rd. McGehee isn't going to hit enough, and Gamel can't play it.

I could see Parra being a good lefty out of the bullpen, but with his stuff I wouldn't give up on him as a starter and if I did I would trade him before I stuck him in the pen. As for the question on McGehee and Gamel, I like them both. I like Gamel more long term because of his potential with the bat but he has to improve his defense which he has shown signs of, but the jury is still out. It would be interesting to see what McGehee could do starting a full season with a healthy knee, see if 2009 was a fluke or if he is for real. His minor league numbers say it was a fluke. That doesn't mean it was. The Brewers have an interesting situation with those two players.

Reader Poll Results

"Who would you rather see starting at 3B in 2010?"

Mat Gamel: 58% (7 Votes)

Casey McGehee: 41% (5 Votes)

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!

Mike Lamb, Boom, Outta Here!

Today Mike Lamb was informed he would NOT be making the club and will be placed on waivers at 1pm on Wednesday. There is still some question on if it will be release waivers or outright waivers, depends on if he would accept a job at AAA Nashville. This news means Casey McGehee, the guy I wanted to make the team all spring has earned a 25 man roster spot. YES! It's not that Lamb is a terrible player, I just preferred McGehee because of his versatility, youth, right handed bat off the bench and he just raked this spring. One thing I am a bit concerned about is that McGehee has not walked once this spring if my memory serves me correct. With Counsell, Nelson and either Gwynn or Duffy making the team Rivera would have been the only right handed stick off the bench which could have caused some late inning pinch hit problems. The Brewers management made the right choice with Nelson and now McGehee for bench spots. Will they make the right choice again and choose Chris Duffy over Tony Gwynn Jr.? We shall see. Something tells me they can't let go of TGJ for some reason and will send Duffy to AAA.

If You Have Options You May Be Punished

I got a little upset when I read this Haudricourt blog post today. It looks as though Chris Duffy and Casey McGehee are in danger of NOT heading north with the Brewers simply because they have options left. That is bullshit. So because Duffy and McGehee who have looked awesome this spring at the plate and in the field have minor league options left they may be going to Nashville while Tony Gwynn Jr. and Mike Lamb, two guys who have done nothing this spring (Gwynn hurt most of camp) might head north because they have no options and would have to go through waivers to go to Nashville. Unreal, I still stand by my comments that the only reason anyone even cares at all about Tony Gwynn Jr. is because that is his name. If his name was Tony Smith Jr. no one would think twice about him. He is not and will never be even half the player his Dad was. Duffy is a much better player overall. As for Lamb if you take him over McGehee you will have one right handed hitter on the bench at all times and that would be Mike Rivera the backup catcher. Oh and Lamb sucks, where McGehee is younger with more potential and he can play 3B, 2B, 1B and serve as an emergency catcher. Options or no options I want the best players on the Brewers I don't care if we lose Lamb and Gwynn through waivers. I guess one good thing is it seems Nelson is safe since he like Lamb and Gwynn have no options. And the Brewers know Nelson would be claimed since most teams like power hitting left handers who take walks on their bench. Maybe I'm getting worked up over nothing and Melvin and Macha will take the guys who deserve to be on the team, but it could well happen that Gwynn and Lamb make the team over Duffy and McGehee and that would be a crime.

I Swear.....

If Casey McGehee does not make the final 25 man roster I'm going to be royally pissed at both Doug Melvin and Ken Macha. Another big day from Casey today 2-5 with 2 RBI and his 4th HR this spring, now batting .410. Oh and he played his third different position this spring playing at 1B today. I have said it before and I will say it again McGehee has to make this club. We need at least one other right handed bat off the bench besides Mike Rivera and Casey is versatile and has performed to well this spring to not make the team over an older Mike Lamb. Do it Doug!

Casey McGehee Must Make This Club

Let's go back, shall we? To this post I wrote way back in October. I said that signing Casey McGehee was a really small signing for the Brewers. Well it still and probably won't ever qualify as big but it sure is looking like a good pick up by Doug Melvin because McGehee should and probably will now make this club as a major player off the bench.

McGehee continued his hot spring by going 3-3 against the White Sox today in Cactus League action. He is now hitting .450 this spring (9-20) with 2 HR's and 5 RBI. Doing all this while Mike Lamb, who seemed to be almost a sure shot to make the club as a bench player and possible platoon with Bill Hall at 3B has hit just .190.

To me and probably to Ken Macha and Doug Melvin it just makes too much sense to take McGehee over Lamb on the final 25 man roster. Casey hits LHP and RHP about equally as well, if you want to start a left handed batter at 3B for Hall once in awhile you already have Counsell (no need for Lamb), we will more then likely have a left handed bat heavy bench with Counsell, Nelson and Duffy which would leave Rivera as the only righty and he is the backup catcher, then there is the versatility of McGehee he not only plays 3B but could play some 2B and could serve as an emergency catcher. So there you have it, all the reasons it Casey McGehee needs to be a Brewer in 2009 and why Doug Melvin may have found a bench diamond in the rough. Oh and one who was a former Cub who Chicago gave up on.

Hall Injured, Before Position Players Even Report?

Billy Hall who had the inside track to be the starting 3B this season or at least half of a platoon with Mike Lamb now will not. At least at the start of the season. Hall tore his left calf muscle yesterday while exercising on his own, position players don't even officially report until the 17th. Tough break for Hall who will now miss 4 to 6 weeks which could carry into the beginning of the regular season. I feel bad for Hall as I think he had a chance to put it together again like he did in 05' and 06' after having lasik eye surgery. Now Hall will have to make up for missed time to do that.

If there is anybody happy about this news it has to be Casey McGehee and Mat Gamel. Those two will now get more reps at 3B. McGehee is a right handed batter who may get the opportunity to platoon with Mike Lamb in Hall's place. Gamel is the Brewers 2nd best prospect who now has the chance to show everyone his glove has improved and if he blows everyone away with hist bat which is possible he could start at 3B opening day for the Crew. Everyone knows Gamel's bat can play in the bigs already, but his glove is considered worse then Braun's was in 2007. However, Gamel has improved each year with the glove so maybe he makes a big enough jump this year to make the opening day roster. Stay tuned.

Brewers Make First Big (And By Big, I Mean Really Small) Offseason Move

Today the Brewers claimed former Cubs 3B Casey McGehee off waivers and out righted Joe Dillon (who might possibly be the worst pinch hitter in the history of MLB, well not really but he was BAD in 2008). McGehee is a 26 year old right handed hitter who .296 with 12 HR and 92 RBI at AAA Iowa for the Cubs. During a September callup with the Cubs he batted .167 (4-24) in 9 games.

Not sure what this means really. I'm just glad to see Dillon gone, I wouldn't be surprised though if they signed Dillon to a minor league deal at some point. I suppose McGehee is a bit of insurance at 3B for a couple of reasons. Mike Lamb and Russell Branyan are free agents to be. Craig Counsell could be a free agent if they don't exercise his 2009 option, Mat Gamel may not be big league ready yet (might not even stay at 3B) and Bill Hall had a shitty year. At only 26 McGehee could have some upside and that coupled with the questions surrounding all the other guys they have that can play 3B is probably why Doug Melvin claimed McGehee.