Mat Gamel’s days in Milwaukee could be over. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

If there’s a baseball player with worse luck than Mat Gamel, I have yet to find him.

The Brewers first baseman is set to miss the 2013 season after tearing his surgically repaired anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee for the second consecutive year, which brings up a thought-provoking question: Are his days in Milwaukee coming to an end?

Gamel, 27, has yet to reach his full potential as a major league ballplayer and is on the verge of following the dangerous path of Matt LaPorta – another former top Brewers prospect who failed to transfer his minor-league game to the next level. Gamel owns a career .304 batting average with 105 home runs and 503 RBI’s across seven minor league seasons. However, his major league stats tell a different story. In 106 games, he has produced an inexcusable .229 batting average and has 27 fewer hits than strikeouts.

To be fair, Gamel was never given a chance to be an everyday player until the departure of Prince Fielder in 2012. But when his opportunity arose, an unforseen ACL tear squashed it after only 21 games. The same goes for 2013 – another shot to prove his capabilities, another knee letdown.

Milwaukee will have a difficult decision on their hands, a decision that will be made easier if they re-sign free agent-to-be Corey Hart. If Hart returns in 2014, Gamel would either be waived or placed on the bench, occasionally filling in at first base and in the outfield. Hunter Morris would then become his main competition, which would make Gamel the underdog. The young first base prospect has the tools to be what Gamel and LaPorta never were; successful. Another scenario the Brewers may attempt is to dangle him as trade bait and see if any teams bite. There has to be at least one general manager who still has faith in him.

Gamel will have to start from square one after re-tearing his ACL. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

Gamel, who is making somewhere around $500,000 this season, will be arbitration eligible at the end of the year, but don’t be surprised if the Brewers refuse to offer him a contract. Although he will come at a very low cost, Doug Melvin may still not be willing to pay him anymore than they already have, since they have yet to get the bang for their buck (not to mention Morris will be even cheaper).

Mat Gamel’s career as a Milwaukee Brewer may be coming to an end, due to lack of production and a whole bunch of bad luck. His potential is still there, but I for one, am sick of waiting for it to show up. Hopefully with Hart stationed at first and Morris in the wings, I won’t have to bide my time much longer.

Would you like to see Mat Gamel back with the Brewers in 2014? Leave comments and questions below! Follow Justin and @ReviewngTheBrew on Twitter. Be sure to like us on Facebook, too.

So bad, in fact, that Gamel will not be playing baseball in 2013.

So much for that steep hill. In the meantime, however, the Milwaukee Brewers are going to have to find a replacement for Spring Training and for the first month or so (depending on how quick Corey Hart believes he can get back) of the regular season.

We’ll start off by seeing what Milwaukee can do by wading in the free agency market.

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Everyone involved with the team who could voice an opinion on the subject has said it is nothing to be concerned about at this point, but one has to wonder just what the long-range impact of this could do – for the team, the depth of the roster, and for Mat Gamel himself.

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If the Brewers do end up landing Overbay, then not only does Mat Gamel feel a ripple from the potential signing, but his ability to define where he is as a player is now on display. Can Gamel live up to the expectations with Corey Hart out?  (more…)

On Sunday, they got two steps to full strength as utility player Mat Gamel and pitcher Chris Narveson were cleared to return to baseball activities at the beginning of the Milwaukee Brewers Spring Training schedule.

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Chances are, you are not like me.

Luckily, we are here to recap the day that was in the Winter Meetings – a day, it turned out, that was awful quiet for Milwaukee.

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The Milwaukee Brewers recently announced their Arizona Fall League roster, and one of the spots designated to Milwaukee prospects was left “TBA.”

According to McCalvy, the team is waiting to hear how Gamel’s rehabilitation process is going as he tries to get back to playing shape after tearing his ACL early in the season.

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Some people like his bat, some people like his versatility, and a lot of people like the fact that he’s willing to do what he can for the team. This can make dealing with the business side of baseball hard.

In the case of many professional ballplayers, fans young and old look up to them for their work ethic and ability to sacrifice themselves for the betterment of the team. This isn’t necessarily a fallacy, but it is overstating the point. The real fact of the matter is that these people want to stay employed. The way to keep a job is to keep doing it right, or at least make your self bow to the will of your corporate overlords in hopes of earning their good graces.

Does this mean that Corey Hart’s good-faith offer as posted by Adam McCalvy this week is just a simple ruse to keep a job? Does this mean that Corey Hart is not a good guy? Of course not. It just means that he’s really smart about toeing the company line.

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Then Corey Hart got real comfortable in the position. So comfortable, in fact, that nobody has any plans to move him any time soon.

So what does this mean for one Mr. Mat Gamel – the man who was supposed to take over that position?

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