Milwaukee Brewers Blog - Bernie's Crew : Mat Gamel

Possible Three-Way Deal With M's & Detroit?

Jim Breen — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:22:00 GMT

Jason A. Churchill from Prospect Insider (as well as ESPN, so that ups his credibility) is reporting that several media outlets have told him that the Mariners and Tigers are exploring a three-way deal that would send Edwin Jackson to Seattle and Brandon Morrow to either Detroit or an unknown third team.

The latest speculation is that the third team is flexible at this point, but Churchill says Tampa Bay is one of the teams in the mix. With Jack Zduriencik in Seattle, the natural tendency is to connect the Milwaukee Brewers to this trade as well.

Could the Brewers send Mat Gamel to Seattle to fill their hole at third base? The Brewers might have to request more than Morrow in return, as the number of control years for Morrow tips the scales against the Brewers.

Free agents can begin negotiating with prospective teams starting tomorrow, but this three-way deal is a perfect rumor to begin what should be an extremely exciting offseason.

What do you think?

Brewers Acquire Felipe Lopez

Jim Breen — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 21:48:00 GMT

According to Tom Haudricourt:

While on the hunt for a starting pitcher, Brewers general manager Doug Melvin decided to give his offense a boost today by trading for Arizona second baseman Felipe Lopez.
Melvin sent Class AAA Nashville outfielder Cole Gillespie and Class A Brevard County reliever Roque Mercedes to the Diamondbacks for Lopez, who should help fill the void created when second baseman Rickie Weeks was lost for the season with a wrist injury in mid-May.

Manager Ken Macha has struggled to find a right-handed hitter to put atop his lineup when the Brewers faced lefties, so the switch-hitting Lopez will fill that gap, also. Left-handed hitting Craig Counsell had been playing second base against right-handed pitching.

I had heard rumbles just this morning that the Brewers were interested in Felipe Lopez, but the rumors did not appear to have legs at the time. Obviously, the deal was far more than just a rumor and Lopez will join the Brewers for tomorrow night's game in Pittsburgh.

Felipe Lopez will fill the gap atop the Brewers' batting order -- a spot that has largely been passed around since the injury to Rickie Weeks in mid-May. The switch-hitting second baseman is hitting .305 with a .368 OBP, including 18 doubles and 6 home runs. This should allow Craig Counsell and Casey McGehee to platoon at third base (saving Counsell's legs for the stretch run), while allowing Mat Gamel to return to Nashville and receive regular playing time.

[UPDATE] Mat Gamel has been sent down to Nashville to receive regular playing time.

Second base was not a major issue for the Brewers, but the move makes sense considering the Brewers did not give up much to acquire him. I am higher on Cole Gillespie than most, but his .245/.336/.429 line this season is not major league caliber. Not to mention his lack of range and fringe-average arm relegate him to left field. Prior to this season, it seemed his bat could borderline play in left field, but that has proven not to be true this season. There is no reason to believe the young man could not return to his .283/.387/.473 performance from last year, but even then he does not grade out to more than a fourth outfielder -- given his defensive limitations.

Roque Mercedes is a young man who has flourished in his new-found bullpen role in High-A Brevard County. The right-hander was underwhelming as a starter last season with the West Virginia Power, but has posted an impressive 1.08 ERA and six saves in 41.2 innings. He is striking out over a batter per inning and has kept his walk rate around 3.00 BB/9. A potential bullpen gem like Mercedes is difficult to give up, but his 2009 numbers are an aberration from his previous totals and is bolstered by a 83.3% LOB mark.

When it comes down to it, the Brewers traded a fringe-fourth outfielder and a high-upside bullpen arm that is still a ways away from the big leagues for a versatile infielder who can hit from both sides of the plate and fill the void atop the Brewers' batting order. Lopez can also handle himself at second base fairly well and projects to be worth +2.2 wins at second at the end of the season. It is also of note that the Brewers will likely receive a compensation pick in the 2010 Draft, as Lopez currently profiles as a Type-B free agent.

While this is not the move the Brewers need to be a legitimate contender in the NL Central through the remainder of the season, it is a solid baseball move by Doug Melvin.

The Beginning of the Mat Gamel Era?

Jim Breen — Mon, 25 May 2009 16:34:02 GMT

Ken Macha has opted to start Mat Gamel, not Bill Hall, at third today against Chris Carpenter and the St. Louis Cardinals.

Craig Counsell SS
Casey McGehee 2B
Ryan Braun LF
Prince Fielder 1B
Mike Cameron CF
Mat Gamel 3B
Corey Hart RF
Jason Kendall C
Yovani Gallardo RHP

Could this be the beginning of a strict left-right platoon with Gamel and Hall at third base?

Gamel up; Nelson down

Jim Breen — Thu, 14 May 2009 14:30:44 GMT

The Milwaukee Brewers promoted top-prospect Mat Gamel to the big leagues in preparation for interleague play.

The organization did something similar with a young prospect named Prince Fielder just a few years ago. Doug Melvin and company are hoping that a similar path will follow for Gamel.

“Instead of bringing Gamel in when we get to Minnesota, we thought while we’re going on this road trip it’s a good time to get his feet wet. I didn’t give Ken any orders. He doesn’t have to play him (before interleague play).

“We did this four years ago with Prince and it worked out well. He got his first taste of the major leagues. After interleague play, we’ll re-evaluate and see where we are.”

To make room on the 25-man roster, the Brewers outrighted Brad Nelson to Triple-A Nashville. This is significant because Nelson has the option to refuse assignment and become a free agent.

Honestly, I would be surprised to see Nelson accept his demotion to Nashville. With Joe Koshansky entrenched at first base and the outfield as crowded as it is, the former number-one prospect for the Brewers is unlikely to find consistent playing time in Triple-A. He could conceivably play left field every day, but Milwaukee promoted Cole Gillespie just a few weeks ago to man left. Tony Gwynn Jr. has the center field job handcuffed, and Brendan Katin has consistently played right field.

Just thinking off the top of my head, but there are a few teams across the majors that could use a young bat like Brad Nelson's. The Pittsburgh Pirates are certainly one. He could either play left field or right field and allow Brandon Moss to be played less regularly. The Arizona Diamondbacks are desperate for some offensive pop and could be patient with the young Nelson. The San Francisco Giants are also always on the look-out for some offense on the waiver wire.

Doug Melvin and the Brewers gave Brad Nelson every opportunity to stick with the team this season, but his bat simply could not cut it. The young man picked the worst time of his career to have a 0-for-20 slump. Best of luck to Brad, no matter which avenue he chooses.

Gamel will likely serve as a pinch-hitter for a couple days, but Ken Macha seems intent on playing the young third baseman.

“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.”

The idea could be for Gamel to start against some tough right-handers to spare Bill Hall, but I find it intriguing that Milwaukee is making this move when Hall is actually performing well at the plate -- not to mention the fact that Billy has played above-average defense at the hot corner.

Unfortunately for Hall, it was just impossible to keep Gamel's bat in the minors. He was hitting .330/.420/.624 in Nashville, good for an astounding 1.074 OPS. His walk rate has jumped dramatically to 14.8%, but his strikeout rate has also risen to 28.7%. The kid's ISO power is an unheard-of .322. If you consider the fact that .200 ISO is considered plus-power, .322 is off the charts.

How will his defense pan out? That is the real question. Gamel has never been known for his defense, but Tom Haudricourt is attempting to gloss over that fact by saying that he has looked better in the field as of late. If Gamel gets a start at third, I would not be surprised to see a couple of errors, as Mat begins to make poor throws once he thinks about it too much. The big leagues could do a job on him mentally on the defensive end if the Brewers are not careful. At least Willie Randolph is about to get his hands on him.

Gamel on his way to Milwaukee

Jim Breen — Thu, 14 May 2009 02:25:21 GMT

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is reporting that Mat Gamel is on a plane, heading to Milwaukee to join the Brewers.

What?

I suppose it makes sense because the Crew has a couple interleague series coming up in the next few weeks, but who are the Brewers sending down? Will Casey McGehee travel back to Nashville to get more regular at-bats? Is Doug Melvin and Ken Macha finally fed up with Brad Nelson? I have no idea.

Since Bill Hall just entered the game, you can forget the idea of Billy being hurt.

More to come as I find out.