Parra Not Going To Nashville, Insanity

Even though Manny Parra has pretty much sucked all of this 2009 season, and is making Jeff Suppan look like Cy Young, the Brewers have no plans to demote him to Nashville for even a little bit. I have to say I STRONGLY disagree with GM Doug Melvin on this. I don't disagree with Doug to often, I trust in him and feels he almost always does what is right for the club. But this has be scratching my head. Parra is now 3-7 on the season after last nights massacre in which Parra surrendered 11 hits and 10 earned runs in just 4 innings of work. His ERA is 6.75 and he has an astronomical WHIP of 1.83, that is just not acceptable for a starter on a team with a chance to win their division.

I'm not saying demote him for the season and I'm not even saying I have totally lost confidence in Parra someday being a good starting pitcher. (although, I could easily see him as the next Ben Hendrickson. A guy who is a stud in AAA and shows a ton of promise but can't get it done in the bigs) What I am saying is Parra should go down to AAA Nashville for at least a few starts, maybe even a month to work on whatever it is physically and mentally that is not allowing him to get it done, we all know he has the "stuff" but the results are just not there, at all. It worked for Dave Bush last season, he went down for just one start because of Gallardo's injury was right back up and was money the rest of the season and has been great so far this season. Besides Parra going down to work on his game, perhaps it would be a humbling experience for a young pitcher that nothing in this game is guaranteed and you have to produce.

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!