TooLiveBrew

Bianchi is a former 2d round pick who's hit roughly .320 between AA & AAA this season. So... I care. This has been a lost season for weeks now, probably more like months imo. So it was a perfect time to let Bianchi just play. Izturis & Ransom have MLB careers that tell you they aren't solutions -- at least find out if Bianchi isn't.

Nice to see that Bianchi really got a shot! But that's ok, really had to have Izturis in there being terrible. This was a playoff race until recently, ya know!

He's just holding it how Scott Boras told him to. http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcScvweD2qTMbKpIZKT3WgeF2neUSJaFB65N4B-XmPKmcZKuJFskZw&t=1 This also lol'd me. Nice.

Thank you for making this point; it really is an important one. However, I'll nitpick with you in that Lucroy is not a great defensive catcher. I would actually rate him out much closer to reversing your adjectives, although I wouldn't call his bat "great", even for a catcher. I think of him as being a good offensive catcher, and an above-avg. defender. His lack of arm strength really cuts into his defensive value for me, even though he does compensate for it well with good footwork. And then he basically does nothing else wrong on D, but I value a catcher's arm very highly. And actually, the fact that Maldonado might even be better on D beyond just his throwing arm is really impressive, since obviously I think highly of Lucroy. Aside: I'd also like to start typing out his name "lUcROY" every time I see "LuCroy" (I didn't see that in this thread, just thought of it while typing out his name)

Well, in short, I don't know. But it sucks to see you be so dismissive of the Southern League -- that's good baseball, and by no means should anyone who posts a sub-2 ERA be questioned due to age imo. This isn't a MLB vet who's gone down to try & rejuvenate his career, this is a young man who's obviously made massive strides in his development... and that's what the MiLB system is all about. I don't think anyone should expect him to be better than Marcum, but do you expect Fiers to be better than Marcum? Probably not, but there's no reason not to be excited about having Fiers in the fold for the next six seasons or so. And likewise, I'm glad someone's banging the pessimism drum. Seriously. It's important to remember that -- like you say -- when you need to 'grow your own', no farm system can possibly be talented enough or deep enough. You should always be questing after more top-tier talent. I guess my larger point on the system is that sometimes that top-tier talent comes from guys you weren't expecting it from. Maybe Hunter Morris is one of those guys... maybe Kh Davis will be a legit late bloomer and go on to provide a few seasons of good value like Nelson Cruz has for TEX. Obviously you never know, but I believe that there's enough talent currently in the system to provide multiple good players in the near future. So for Bruce Seid & Co., keep on doing the grunt work & hope your scouting pays off with the draft & in Latin America.

Yeah, I'm doing my best not to get excited about Kentrail, but he's making that difficult.

Man, catcher is just a brutal position. Cam Garfield lost most of his '11 at Wisconsin to injury, and now Roberts with a major injury the very next season.

That's dismissive of Profar to the point of it being a fault. The world isn't "littered" with 19 year olds who are able to do what he's done at AA, and find me a single scouting report on him that doesn't gush about him. You know who was 19 once & awesome at baseball? Every great player who's ever played. I understand it's easier to just dismiss "prospects", but the reality is that they're all just baseball players. And Profar is a damn good one.

I actually went and looked this up.FA 3B in 2013 David Wright Kevin Youkliss Mark Reynolds Placido Polanco Scott Rolen Ty Wiggington Brandon Inge It is a short list, fwiw. Wright will take huge $$$. Youk is towards the backend of his career, but id take him if the price was right. He'd mash at miller park. Reynolds can hit 40HR's if you don't mind dealing with his 220 strike outs and his 220avg the rest are meh Wiggington can play all infield positions sans SS and has pop. I think he'd come cheap as well. I'd take him. Wright will not be a FA, the Mets have a club option for '13. BAL has an $11M club option on Reynolds, but I have no idea if they plan on exercising it or not. Youkilis also has a club option for next season, & Polanco has a mutual option.

That seems like a ridiculously long layoff between starts. Was he 'recharging his batteries', or was there some soreness or tightness on his pitching-side?

Yeah, I was very happy to see that he asked BAL about Machado in the Heyman piece markedman linked. EDIT: Also, Jon Heyman -- this is not how you hold a baseball bat... http://i.imgur.com/W7Tqu.jpg

Huntsville 6, @Pensacola 2 Huntsville Box Hunter Morris stayed hot, socking a pair of HRs to lead the way on offense for the Stars. Starter Johnnie Lowe was solid -- 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R/ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 3:4 GO:AO, 74 TP -- and three Huntsville relievers combined to shut out the Blue Wahoos the rest of the way. Morris finished 2-3 with a BB, and was the only Stars player with a multi-hit game -- but all eight Stars positional starters had hits. Kentrail Davis's only hit was a HR in the 4th to go back-to-back with Morris; Kentrail now has a modest 6-game hitting streak going. Khris Davis extended his own hitting streak to 9 games, clubbing Huntsville's other HR, a solo shot, in the 5th. "Kh." had posted multi-hit games in his previous 4 contests, and in his last 5 games is batting .571 (12-21); over his current 9-game streak, his AVG is .421. Josh Prince singled and stole a base, his 37th on the season (still good for the organizational lead). Anderson De La Rosa's hit was a 2B. Scooter Gennett, T.J. Mittelstaedt, & Tommy Manzella each singled once; Manzella also drew a BB. Johnnie Lowe made the most of his PAs, drawing two BBs. Dan Meadows posted scoreless frames in the 6th & 7th, Darren Byrd handled the 8th, and Brandon Kintzler took the 9th. Byrd had a very clean inning, but Kintzler had a little bit of drama in his inning of work (I'll get to that in the PbP section). Pensacola SS Billy Hamilton did steal a base tonight, pushing his universe-leading season total to a staggering 113 (113/138, 82% success rate). Huntsville PbP After Billy Hamilton walked, stole 2B, & came in to score the game's first run on a single in the 1st, Hunter Morris answered back... and the Stars missed a chance to tack on with more: Huntsville Top of the 2nd -Hunter Morris homers (17) on a fly ball to right field. -Kentrail Davis flies out to center fielder Ryan LaMarre. -Anderson De La Rosa doubles (7) on a line drive to center fielder Ryan LaMarre. -T. J. Mittelstaedt called out on strikes. -Johnnie Lowe walks. -With Josh Prince batting, wild pitch by Kyle Lotzkar, Anderson De La Rosa to 3rd. -Josh Prince strikes out swinging. The score remained tied at 1-1 heading into the 4th, but back-to-back blasts to lead off the inning took care of that: Huntsville Top of the 4th -Hunter Morris homers (18) on a line drive to left center field. -Kentrail Davis homers (5) on a line drive to left field. -Anderson De La Rosa grounds out, third baseman David Vidal to first baseman Beau Mills. -T. J. Mittelstaedt lines out softly to center fielder Ryan LaMarre. -Johnnie Lowe walks. -Josh Prince singles on a soft fly ball to right fielder Bryson Smith. Johnnie Lowe to 3rd. -With Tommy Manzella batting, Josh Prince steals (37) 2nd base, Johnnie Lowe scores. Throwing error by catcher Mark Fleury. -Tommy Manzella strikes out swinging, catcher Mark Fleury to first baseman Beau Mills. And I noted above that Kintzler had a bit of an adventure in the 9th, but fortunately the game was well in hand... and the Stars' bullpen isn't the Brewers' bullpen: Pensacola Bottom of the 9th -Pitching Change: Brandon Kintzler replaces Darren Byrd, batting 9th. -Ryan LaMarre hit by pitch. -Beau Mills lines into a double play, third baseman T. J. Mittelstaedt to first baseman Hunter Morris. Ryan LaMarre doubled off 1st. -Offensive Substitution: Pinch-hitter Andrew Means replaces Chris Manno. -Andrew Means singles on a bunt ground ball to pitcher Brandon Kintzler. Andrew Means advances to 2nd, on a throwing error by pitcher Brandon Kintzler. -Donald Lutz lines out softly to left fielder Khris Davis. Huntsville Gameday

And Burgos is having a fine season, but again, he turns 25 in a few days and he's pitching in AA. Is he just older than his competitors? And his great outing was against the team with the fewest runs scored in the league. I guess you can just toss out his sub-2 ERA on the season then, too... ? He doesn't project to be a top of the rotation guy, but I think you're being overly harsh on him, as well as your overall analysis. I'm not completely dismissive of the farm system. Maldanado is a complete surprise and could play for a long time. Fiers has been remarkable. But with what looks like a huge turnover in roster spots from this year to next, I just can't see this system being able to adequately fill those holes with players capable of being contributors on a playoff team. The thing is, though, Maldonado isn't a complete surprise -- he just didn't come with the Top Prospect™ label. And Fiers is a perfect example of why not to be down on Burgos's breakout season. I don't disagree that the system lacks All-Star caliber talent, but it's not as dire a situation as you make it out to be. That will especially be true if Melvin is able to hit on a Greinke trade.

I'd agree with you 100%, but Nelson hasn't pitched since June 30th. I haven't seen any kind of update on his health status, but I sure haven't seen him in a box score.

Even last year, K-Rod was often getting by on smoke & mirrors. His command is just gone at this point. I get running him out there (since this season is lost) in the hopes he can put together a string of success before the trade deadline, but man. Not looking too likely at this point.

Wow, I get why Utley threw home, but he had probably the easiest double play ever if he took the out at 1B. Braun was waaaaay dead.

I would love to see the Brewers rebuild themselves into a development-first organization & operate from year-to-year around the $80M mark. That way, if/when it comes time to make a deadline (or other kind of) acquisition, you can stretch the payroll beyond $80M & still be in comfortable territory. But, like turborickey alluded to, that all may just be a pipe dream with Attanasio & Melvin at the helm. Well fortunately (like Zach pointed out), the Brewers will still have good offensive talent even without Ramirez.

So if we trade him, just to trade him and lose the contract, where exactly will that money go? Some over the hill vet? I would appropriate that kind of money for future signings in the draft & international FA market.

Has there been any word on Jimmy Nelson? He hasn't pitched since June 30th, & I guess I'm concerned at this point.

I respect that your info has come from good sources, and I certainly don't disagree that the Brewers don't have one of the better systems in MLB. However, the system has come a long way in just a season or two, and frankly I'd be surprised if the Brewers would still grade out so lowly at this point in the season (obv. all the rankings you cite were pre-season). Also, Keith Law sucks. Just look at the Huntsville offense if you want a reason to feel better -- Morris (.908 OPS, probably the top contender for SL MVP at this point), Khris Davis (1.013 OPS... no, that's not a typo), Kentrail Davis (.920 second half OPS so far), Gennett... Hiram Burgos has had a great season on the mound (1.94 ERA) so far, including a 1 ER CG performance last night. Thornburg & Fiers have graduated to MLB. Wily Peralta seems to have turned his season around (3.58 ERA over his past 10 starts). Mark Rogers also looks to have found something -- 4.58 ERA last 10 starts, but drops to 3.19 if you throw out a 10 ER implosion on June 10th. His last three starts have amounted to 19 IP, 9 H, 5 BB, 20 K, 0.95 ERA. That's only scratching the surface of the farm system, and obviously there are guys who've been disappointing, too. But I'd be willing to bet that pre-2013, the Brewers will rank significantly higher in those system ranking pieces.

So... maybe make the thread title a tick better than useless?

It's not about being trade happy, it's about having a long-term plan. I agree that Ramirez has been exactly what he should've been expected to be so far this season, and it's been nice to have him as a Brewer. But he's only getting older, and his trade value will never be higher than it is right now. You don't worry about something like 'Well, who'll play 3B next season?' when you're trying to build for long-term success. And fwiw, yeah, I'd be fine with just letting Green play at 3B next season. I don't think he's a MLB-caliber starter, but he'd be fine as a stopgap.

The system is actually in pretty decent shape overall. Yes, it lacks the top tier talent, but it's full of guys who are legit candidates to be solid (if not spectacular) starters. This is where a Greinke trade comes in -- you go get yourself the best single prospect you can find, forget quantity or MLB-readiness. If you can get more than one piece, great. But you get that freaking top piece. Anything less than that isn't worth the effort of dealing ZG.

He got his top 10 prospect status due to his minor league numbers before this year. He got that status by having an electric arm with two plus pitches already... but also from his success at the lower levels of the minors. The arm is the important thing here, though.

Exactly what the Brewers should be looking for -- a RP prospect