Continuous Winning with a Youth Movement

[Playing Catch]

 

Nothing to add to CheezWiz's dynamite opening post.

 

21 hours ago, dlk9s said:

What I have found fascinating about this season is that the Brewers have called up two position players to either be full-time starters (Pratt) or frequent starters (Lara) and just keep winning. It's usually the teams whose seasons are shot that bring up guys to see what they have.

I'm sure we agree that (A) They've looked awesome, and (B) They've just started enjoying the first sips of their cup-o-coffee.

Experience has trained me to believe that good defensive prospects will struggle for a year or two (e.g. Turang), or forever (Orlando Arcia), but it's easy to dismiss that Baseball America, and other "experts" in prospecting, launched Lara well into their top 100s this season after what scouts saw down in Nashville. He is a lottery ticket kind of prospect, and they started reading the numbers when the season started. We'll see if they hit on his Power-ball. And kinda the same thing with Pratt, in a way. He started smacking some opposite field liners in Nashville, that I think set up his current hitting profile. And he's already went over 400' pull-side.

The Brewers just may have what they hoped they drafted/acquired in Pratt and Lara (Gunnar Henderson/Tim Raines?)*. And as stated originally --- it's very very early.

*edit to add:  I don't mean to compare the kid to a HOFer, I just thought the profile looked similar

[CheezWizHed]

5 hours ago, Jopal78 said:

That’s the difference between us working folk, and performers with generational wealth. The DFA is a temporary ego bruise, but the obscene amounts of money that still roll in is a powerful balm.  
 

Take McCullers for example, you think he’s with a box cleaning out his locker in the Brewers clubhouse with the other players looking on? He probably took a call at the Pfister or  Black Wolf Run, letting him know he was being designated for an assignment, then booked a first class flight home. The team packs up and ships his gear wherever he wants it sent. 
 

Of course, there may be some players in denial, but veteran players who have been in the game long enough to sign a  multi year guaranteed contract, are certainly aware what magnitude of struggles a team will tolerate and what degree of poor performance gets you released. 

There is a difference between DFAing a McCullers (who you just traded for and was struggling massively) and Yelich who was a major part of your team for many, many years.  You do handle the end of careers for long-time franchise players a little differently than others (or at least try to). 

[Jopal78]

2 hours ago, CheezWizHed said:

There is a difference between DFAing a McCullers (who you just traded for and was struggling massively) and Yelich who was a major part of your team for many, many years.  You do handle the end of careers for long-time franchise players a little differently than others (or at least try to). 

I don’t disagree. That’s my whole point, the chance of Yelich ever being DFA’d before his contract expires is about 5% and  maybe less 

i pushed back on  the notion being DFA’d is some sort of humiliation for a pro baseball player. To the contrary there might be a brief ego sting, but they get paid anyways and have  a chance to for a fresh start somewhere else.