Sveum to Manage Cubs, Gamel Waits for 1st Chance

Longtime Brewer's coach, perhaps most well known for his managing the team during the 2008 playoffs following the dismissal of Ned Yest, current hitting coach Dale Sveum has been tapped to be the new manager for the Chicago Cubs.

I was somewhat dissapointed when Sveum was passed over for the managers spot in 2009, a post which later went to Ken Macha. Luckily he stayed on to be the hitting coach and just seemed like a great guy to have around the team. He interviewed for both Chicago and Boston this off season, and had ties to both organizations. Sveum both played and coached for Boston, and new Cubs President Theo Epstein was the GM in Boston during Sveum's coaching tenure there. I thought I'd see him go to Boston personally, and am a little sad I'm going to have to see a guy that I like wearing Cubbie pinstripes.

But congrats to Dale Sveum and his first big league managing gig. He deserves it.



So what has essentially come out of all the talks surrounding Prince Fielder this off season is that Mat Gamel will be the Brewers first bagger in 2012. Gamel is out of options and continues to crush the ball in the Minors. Some issues have been raised regarding his attitude, first during the 2011 spring training where he showed up late several times, and after this most recent season, where AAA Nashville manager Don Money made some pretty harsh comments regarding Gamel. I'm not making excuses for Mat or anything here, but some of this could be a guy who is killing it in the minors and mad he's never been given a shot. He's been shuffled around the diamond, starting at 3rd, getting time in the outfield, and now moved over to first. He commented shortly after the move that he was not pleased by it, but reports have come in that he's really put effort into it and should shape up to be at least a passable first baseman (not that Milwaukee is used to have a brick wall at first anyway).




Also, just want to throw out there that Tom Hardricourt over at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal seems to be leaning more and more towards feeling that Doug Melvin will resign Betancourt for 2012. This would be a disaster in my opinion. I'm not sure why we would want a shortstop on only a one year deal. There are no minor league SS in our system... I would think a two year deal for someone would allow something to develop more. Word on the street is that Furcal is looking for two years and an option, sounds alright to me.

My Halloween Birthday Brewers Blog

So it's my B-day, and yes, it's Halloween. In celebration I'm going to randomly talk about some stuff that I would be interested in seeing, trade ideas I may have, and talk about some players that I like.

Mike Cameron-
I like Mike. I hope to see him back in Center next year, but hopefully at a reduced rate (5 mil?) Here is something to think about for Mike. This season he became I believe just the 20th player in the history of the game to hit 250HR and steal 250 bases. Cam only needs 6 more SB, and if he hits just 35 more bombs, he could become just the seventh player ever to do that. To me that is a Hall of Fame career.

Jonathan Lucroy-
This kid can hit, and has seemingly passed Angel Salome on the depth charts to be the Brewers' number one catching prospect. In a story recently on Brewers.com Lucroy said, "I'm not going to settle for being in the Minor Leagues next year..." I'm apposed to bringing back Kendall, and would like to see Angel and Jonathan slug it out in Spring Training, with Rivera backing up once again.


David Bush-
Not a bad guy to throw into a trade somewhere. He has done a nice job of giving the Brewers some innings the last few seasons, but I think his time is over. Gallardo and Suppan are for all intensive purposes locks for the rotation, and it's too early to give up on Parra, there is Narveson and Burns for depth, and GM Doug Melvin is looking to pick up 2 arms this off season. Bye Bye Bushy. He's coming off a poor season but has been durable in the past, trade him for whatever, somebody has to want him...

Craig Counsell-
I'm ready for one more season of Craig. He can't take too much to bring back, and I kind of doubt he wants to play anywhere else. He still picks it at 3 defensive positions, and with his new found hitting ability can contribute at the dish.


This season could actually be pretty damn good. This off season could hypothetically get pretty crazy, and I don't know if Melvin is up for it, but it could kinda get nuts. We have all sorts of people available for trade. J.J. Hardy is one of the more prized SS available and should net something decent. Matt Gamel is a top notch prospect that could now be expendable. Bush is somebody that could go. Hypothetically one of our catching prospects could go. We need two starters and a center fielder... get crazy, have some fun with it. Giants need a 1B and a SS... maybe we could pry away one of those fine starters they have...

That's it for now. Happy Birthday to me. Brew Up.