LouisEly

Agreed. He will be 21 for all of next baseball season. He obviously has the plate discipline (maybe to a fault). He had 37SB/5CS last year. Those are pretty good attributes to start out with for a top of the order hitter. I believe he'll make a Monte Harrison-type jump in the next two years. The average and slugging will come with time/maturation. Along with what the organization did with Harrison, I think Clark should start next year in A+. With the logjam in the OF, there is no need to advance him to AA right now. Let him figure things out, and if he does, promote him to AA post all-star break. Pretty much agree with this. I've been critical, but I have more hope for him than Ray because he's been very young for his league. (For me, "young" for a league means >2 years less than league average; one year does not constitute "young" for me.) Strongly agree with the discipline to a fault - the high strikeouts along with high walks tells the story. Needs to get more aggressive. Even if he's an average CF defensively, he should hit well enough to make it. If he has to move to corner... he has a ways to go to get to average.

My Helena Brewers Tropical Tuesday David Welch #73 jersey (see avatar). To say that it gets attention is an understatement; when I wore it to Boston their fans were literally pulling me aside and calling their friends over to see it. Welch threw a 7-inning no-hitter in AA, but never made it to the majors. That, and it's the only Brewers jersey I own.

1 Woodruff B 2 Brinson L 3 Burnes C 4 Phillips B 5 Peralta F 6 Hiura K 7 Ortiz L 8 Harrison M 9 Diaz I 10 Erceg L 11 Williams T 12 Houser A 13 Ponce C 14 Bickford P 15 Lutz T 16 Clark T 17 Dubon M 18 Ray C 19 Gatewood J 20 Yamamoto J 21 Stokes T 22 Feliciano M 23 Medeiros K 24 Diplan M 25 Pennington J 26 Supak T 27 Brown Z 28 Ramirez N 29 Nottingham J 30 Derby B 31 Harrison KJ 32 Perrin J 33 Kirby N 34 Barrios Y 35 Herrera C 36 Clark Z 37 Ernesto L 38 Lemons K 39 Webb B 40 Wang W-C 41 QT-C 42 Lopez J 43 Henry P 44 Owenby D 45 Coulter C 46 Garcia G 47 Carmona J 48 Vassalotti M 49 Neuhaus T 50 Hummel C I actually went to 100, but I don't think anybody cares.

Bucky got hurt in 1999 - I think he blew out his knee, and thus had to move permanently to 1B - and then got hurt again in late 2004. He either blew out his knee again or hurt his back and essentially couldn't play again. Bucky was a good friend of my friend Jak when they were teammates in Beloit. I hung out with him a few times after games, and one night he rode shotgun in my car when I gave him a ride home from the bar (for some reason he lived in Janesville). Really, really nice guy.

Just went back and read the comments in the draft forum immediately after the pick. Very interesting to say the least. Some of my favorites: "5 years from now we will look back on passing on Puk/Groome. Hopefully glad we did passed on them." Didn't even take that long. "Oddibe McDowell comp... um... wow?" "You know how this will go. Jason Groome and AJ Puk will get to greet Corey Ray in 2019 with Golden Sombreros"

Yeah, I'm starting to think that if there's a star defensive player on the other team, all you need to do is duck when he tries to tackle you and he'll get called for targeting and thrown out of the game. As for Leonhard, he's the DC at his alma mater in the state he grew up in where he is a legend and an icon. He played in the NFL for 10 years, so he's financially set. Why leave that to go be a HC somewhere where you are just another HC under four years of pressure and media scrutiny to do something? Unless the Packers come calling... I can't see a whole lot of situations that would be better for him. I'd be more concerned about jumping to the NFL than a HC at another college program.

I didn't like the Ray pick, I've been critical, but I'm more at the "disappointing" part of the spectrum and hoping he turns it around. My criticism has been relative to where he was picked and who was picked next. It is starting to look like that is a below-average draft class, but I can't help but look at the next pick (Puk) and think how good a lefty starter with 13 K/9 and 3.7 K/BB would look in this system. If the Brewers had Puk instead of Ray would they have been willing to trade one of Woodruff/Hader/Ortiz/Burnes for a starter with multiple years of control? Would people have cared if the Brewers had traded one of those pitchers if they had Puk? What concerns me is that Ray is in the same league as last season and has showed zero improvement. His K rate actually increased significantly over last year - from 21.5% to 31%. I get that he was hurt at the beginning of the year, but I don't see how a bad knee causes you to strike out more. I can see a bad knee robbing you of power and hitting into more outs, but not affecting your strike zone judgment and ability to make contact.

The offensive line now is McCray, Patrick, Linsley, Evans, John. Rodgers would probably have been hurt by the end of the game anyway.

In his first full minor league season at the age of 19 in 2000 he threw 128 innings, walked 134 and struck out 174 (he also only gave up 2 HRs in those 128 innings). No wonder he burned out.

Joey Meyer is on my list too. Not even given a full season to prove himself. 516 career plate appearances, but he struck out too much... you know, 124 times in those 516 plate appearances, a 24% clip. Not sure if that would even be among the 10 highest on any of the last two teams.

What I think of are guys who weren't given an opportunity. Steve Stanicek was the 11th overall pick of the 1982 draft by the Giants and acquired by the Brewers in 1986. That year he put up a 1.031 OPS in El Paso; that park inflated hitting stats, but Stanicek walked (88) more than he struck out (70) that year. The following year he put up a 1.012 OPS in Denver, was called up in September, and got seven plate appearances. Didn't make the team in 1988 - you know, because those big free agents Greg Brock and Jeffrey Leonard were the keys to getting into the playoffs - and didn't get called up and was subsequently released after the 1988 season. Side note: also on that 1987 team, but not brought back, was Brad Komminsk. Komminsk was the #4 overall pick of the 1979 draft, and look at the stats he put up as a 19, 20, 21, and 22 year old in the minors - if they ranked prospects he would have been a top 5 overall prospect if not #1. LaVel Freeman was the Brewers first round pick in the 1983 draft (#26 overall) and had a career minor league slash line of .305/.378/.440, but in 1987 in El Paso put up a .395/.467/.624 slash line. In 1988 the power cooled off, but he still hit .318/.385/.461 in Denver and got called up and given all of three plate appearances. Didn't make the team in 1990 - you know, because Dave Parker, Mike Felder, and Daryl Hamilton were the keys to making the playoffs - and was traded for Scott May. Yes, these guys played in hitter-friendly parks but they also had the OBP to back them and were first round picks - they were thought of highly. But they were stuck behind overrated veterans and never given a chance.

.785 OPS this year, .810 OPS last year in a pitcher-friendly park. Those aren't good numbers?

The Mets are supposedly leaning towards picking up his option. If not, he's a guy I'd go after to fill the 2B hole - switch hitter with a good bat who has put up good numbers in a pitcher friendly park the last two years. I've been a fan of his for a long time. At 32 next year, he should still have a couple of good years left. He's no longer a starting SS and is best at 2B. If the Mets do pick up his option, would they do a swap for Villar? Cabrera did ask the Mets to trade him earlier this year, but he retracted that a couple of days later. Reyes has said he wants to come back, SS prospect Amed Rosario broke into the lineup last year, David Wright has "resumed baseball activities", they have soon-to-be 26-year-old Wilmer Flores, and if TJ Rivera can avoid TJ surgery they may see Cabrera as expendable.

No one is saying that Ray is awful. They are saying that Ray is severely underperforming for a #5 overall pick. It's relative production compared to his referent others - Collins, Benintendi, Happ, Schwarber, Conforto, etc. If Ray had been a 4th round pick, or if he were 20 years old like Trent Clark, there would be far, far less concern, if any.

LeMahieu had a very reasonable .753 road OPS and .352 road OBP. I have a feeling that someone will overpay though. Fun fact - he was drafted by the Cubs and traded for Casey Weathers (who never made the majors) and Ian Stewart, who had a 0.0 bWAR in the one season he played for the Cubs. If for no other reason, I'd want the Brewers to sign him just to remind the Cubs of that 18 times a year.

Exactly. I was referring to the latter.

Instead of firing his assistants, he bit the bullet. I'd think he'd be pretty high on their Christmas card list. One of his staffers said, "Most unique man in college football." Another said, "Couldn't be prouder to be his guy but heartbroken that we failed him. Walking away from the money because he is in the business for the kids."

Could have been a lot of clauses attached to that $12M that would have taken a long legal battle to win. If he does that, no one will ever hire him as a coach again. Reduces the perceived financial risk of hiring him. Maybe he loves being a coach and wants to coach again somewhere. If there is something that violates rules, Oregon State is obliged to report it or faces penalties. There were never any rumors of personal conduct issues, unlike Bielema.

Baseball-reference.com has an up-to-date 40-man roster, as does the Brewers official site. Most likely to be removed: Berry, Garza, Walker (he said he will test FA), Sogard (said he wants to come back but is a FA), Swarzak (same as Sogard), Torres, Webb, Wang. That's eight, and they only need space for four. Plenty of guys to remove to add Peralta, Dubon, Diplan, Nottingham, perhaps Orf if Sogard isn't back or Villar is traded. The bigger question is who will need to be added next year? That's when the HS players from 2014 (Harrison, Gatewood, Medeiros, Stokes, Yamamoto) and the college players from 2015 (Kirby, Ponce, Perrin, QTC, Owenby) are eligible. That's when the roster crunch starts. Don't be surprised if the Brewers package a few of these guys this offseason in a deal to acquire a starter.

How is he supposed to be any good defensively if they keep yanking him from position to position? Give him time to learn one.

Hitting a professionally pitched baseball is a skill, not an athletic feat. Doesn't matter how athletic a person is, it will never help him hit the ball. That's job #1 of a position player. While Ray and Diaz should fall off the list, an argument could be made that Phillips, Harrison, and Peralta should/could be on the list, so the number of Brewers on the list should be about right.

Over the last two years, Joe Panik has been a 2.4 bWAR player and Broxton has been a 2.5 bWAR player. Panik isn't anything special, but he has a career OBP just below .350 and hits LH. Solves the Brewers 2B situation. Giants should be in full rebuild and while Miguel Gomez struggled with the jump from AA he'll be knocking on the door soon. Panik hits arby this offseason. Giants would probably want to deal Panik for a prospect, but Broxton isn't arby eligible until 2020. Seems like a pretty fair deal for both sides. I'd ask about Matt Krook, but I don't know that the Giants would make that trade.

All 64 plate appearances they gave him? Kind of hard to make an impact (and accumulate WAR) when you're stuck behind Carlos Santana.

Braun has 10/5 rights now, so he can negate any trade. Unless it's to the Dodgers or Angels, Braun isn't going anywhere. As for reluctance to trade Brinson, Melvin always said it's better to trade position players in the off-season and pitchers in-season. Because they refused to trade Brinson in-season doesn't mean they won't trade him off-season; they may very well be able to get more value for Brinson in the off-season.

This is what I'm most concerned about, particularly with the Brewers glut of OFs in the minors. It was pretty easy to acquire Santana, Phillips, and Brinson in trades, and two of those are not corner OFs. I think it's beyond corner OFs, and just OFs in general. Teams trying to fast-track impact bats to the majors don't take time to develop those players at IF positions and just stick them in the OF, creating a glut. Supply and demand - if supply increases and demand stays the same, price decreases.