Thursday, January 24, 2008

NL Central predictions

With Abraham Nunez as the most intriguing story right now, here are a couple articles covering the Brewers that could interest you:

On a separate note...

I've still been hearing a lot of grumbling about the defensive switches in store for Bill Hall and Ryan Braun. After some thinking, here's another possibility.

Melvin is obviously improving our defense from last year by moving Billy to 3B and Braun to LF. I'm not saying that Braun would never have been a solid third baseman, as Braun's athleticism and some patience by the Brewers faithful would have allowed Ryan to eventually corrected his footwork. Melvin could simply be thinking about the future of the franchise by moving Braun to the outfield. Two of the Brewers' best prospects were blocked at 3B when Braun was there (Mat Gamel and Tyler Green). Unless Hall has an offensive rejuvenation, the Brewers will either be looking to trade him, or simply lose him to free agency in a couple years. By that time, Melvin could be banking on Gamel or Green being ready for the big show. While it doesn't seem like it could be this way on the surface, moving Hall to 3B could actually be opening it up for prospects down the road.

On the other hand, Braun still has something to prove in left field. It's not as easy as many people are making it out to be, but Braun's athleticism should allow him to make the switch. Ryan's speed and his arm should allow him to flourish in the outfield. Eventually, however, Braun will most likely be moving to right field to make room for Matt LaPorta, who has been showing great power in the minors already. This would move Hart to center. The Brewers do have many outfield options in the minor leagues, but I doubt Melvin and company can find a better outfield trio than LaPorta/Hart/Braun. Match those three with Fielder, Weeks, and Hardy, and the Brewers have a lineup absolutely stacked with firepower.

All in all, I think the Cameron move was made to help our defense improve in the short-term, yet Melvin may have solved our positioning problems down the road too. Maybe this Cameron signing isn't so bad after all...

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

"C - Jason Kendall: OK, we get him out of the way first. The guy stinks. I mean, why did they even sign him? Damian Miller could do the same thing for this team and probably even hit a little better"

Way to completely destroy any credibility I would give the article with the first couple of sentences...

jimmyb1799 said...

Yeah, you think he's a little hard on Kendall? I thought it was very interesting how one article said that Kendall was one of the sleeper signings for the Brewers, and the other said that Kendall cannot function behind the plate.

Nothing against Damien Miller, as he's a fan favorite and a great guy, but Kendall is obviously a little better than Miller. I read the guy's take on Kendall and questioned the article too. The article's evaluation of the bullpen is a little pessimistic too. Oh well, let's have the Crew prove everyone wrong this year and win the Central!

N8Dogg said...

Kendall is obviously better, cause there's no way Miller would be able to start four of five games at his age