Harold Hutchison

I was just thinking about this but in terms of what happens if Shaw starts raking in his minor league rehab stint. He could easily fill in at 1st and steal ABs from Thames, play 2B against the occasional righty, and give Moose a day off here or there. Plus someone is bound to get injured at some point. But if Hiura is hitting then I think Shaw's days as an everyday starter are probably over. Too pessimistic re: Shaw. More likely: Once Shaw is healthy, Thames is moved. Cleveland could use him, some other AL teams might be willing to take a flyer (maybe Minnesota, he's be an improvement over Cron, Rosario, or Kepler, especially on the OBP side of things). The problem is who to ask for in return. Probably UT Chris Williams and a couple of DSL lottery tickets from Minnesota. Cleveland's got Miednick and Gallagher who I'd go for as a lower-ceiling/higher-floor version of the Lind-for-Peralta trade.

Yep, nope. No idea who those other two players are, but Nolan Jones is a 55 OFP prospect, meaning he has about $42 million in excess value. The most realistic optimistic case I can make for Thames would that he'd be worth 4 WAR between now and then end of 2020, assuming his option is picked up. That would give him about $28 million of excess value, still far short of Jones. I think, however, there are a)very few people in baseball who would assume Thames is worth that much and b)if he was, you keep him anyway. More likely, Thames would be valued at 1 WAR for the remainder of 2019 only, which gives him under $5 million of excess value. The Brewers would have to "kick in" something along the lines of Aaron Ashby, Trey Supak, and Jake Gatewood (at least) to make it work. If you take out McDowell and Jones from the trade proposal, that might work. Thames for Gallagher and Miednick would be a return I could live with... I think there is a much better chance of seeing both emerge as major league contributors. A lower-ceiling, higher-floor version of the Lind-for-Peralta trade.

C'mon....Roegner got a vote over Keston Hiura? I could see Turang given what his draft status was, or even if you like upside, but a low upside, soft tossing lefty? Yah, that is Clancy for you. His ballot usually just ends up pretty irrelevant though (when it comes to effecting rankings). It was kind of annoying when the system wasn't very good and he could pull some random guy into the Top 25 with his #1 vote that is almost never anyone of relevance. Or spike them up 5 spots from like #25 to #20. Because we have had years when those guys in the 20s had real low point totals and injecting 30+ points into them created big shifts. He likes guys who produce, most of the time. Which often times includes low level guys who are college pitchers...who predictably dominate 18 year olds. Roegner fits that bill...had a stellar ERA as a 25 year old at A+. Which I don't really have a problem with. He can make his list the way he wants it. At least he provides an explanation for why he picks who he does. I would say at least half the people doing ballots typically take a quick peek at various internet rankings and then stats. Not like we are a super serious bunch scouting video for days before putting a list together. Well, I do look at how they produce... because how many of the "toolsy" prospects flame out? Clint Coulter, Victor Roache, Jed Bradley, Frederickson... some of the teams' first-round picks were wins not because of what they did for Milwaukee but for who they brought to Milwaukee. At some point, you have to see whether they do the job, whether it's getting people out, or getting on base, or knocking runs in. A dominating performance here... maybe a super-good walk rate there. Maybe this pitcher doesn't walk many batters. That one keeps the ball in the park. Sometimes, you find a Brent Suter. There's a Weston Wilson who can supplement Hernan Perez. Then again, I have my misses... Ronnie Gideon is/was a big one, I thought he'd be a big bopper like Prince after his first pro season. So were Dallas Carroll and Taylor Green, who I thought were a couple of Cirillos in the making. But when I look at the numbers, and make my picks... these are the guys who have shown enough results that maybe others will take a closer look.

With Hiura forcing his way up, it's now time for the Crew to put Eric Thames on the trading block. Which team might be a good match for the Crew, and what sort of return might they get? I'm thinking Cleveland makes for a good match, they have holes at DH and the corner outfield spots: Indians get: OF/1B/DH Eric Thames C Max McDowell Brewers get: 3B Nolan Jones RHP Nick Gallagher LHP Jake Miednick

DFA Barnes, put Chase in the rotation, Peralta in the pen. When Nelson comes up... now it gets interesting. I'd either DFA Albers, and put Nelson in the pen, or see what I can get for Chacin, and have Nelson in the rotation to replace him. Probably leaning towards the DFA of Albers, and doing with Nelson what the Braves did with Smoltz: Make him into a key bullpen part after coming off an arm injury.

That is pretty unbelievable. Hard to believe they've been as competitive as they've been with that many misses. Here's the list for anyone interested: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Milwaukee_Brewers_first-round_draft_picks Folks like LaPorta, LAwrie, Odorizzi, Bradley, Haniger, and Medeiros, who got traded and brought back some value aren't misses in my book. The misses are more like Arnett, Frederickson, Kentrail Davis, and Heckathorn. Covey is technically not a miss, but picking Bradley instead of him was. As for the latest crop - Grisham/Ray to the present... I think the jury is still out.

If this is a struggling Brewers team... wait till they fire on all cylinders.

I've always thought Andrews could be the next Hader... But Andrews, along with some other recent picks, makes me wonder if the Brewers have decided to look outside the box of "Big power pitchers" to "just find the guys who get outs." Suter was the first, but there's Zavolas, Andrews, Lazar, Sunitsch... a host of non-conventional pitchers who could be very valuable, and who slip into later rounds of the draft.

Stokes a surprising DNP... He's done well when he's played (.939 OPS), but he's been out a lot.

Stokes with a jack himself... Now, if Cam Roegner can get back into action...

Glad Stokes is back in action!

Is there a reason that McDowell is still around? Hiss bat's pretty awful, and it might be good to figure out which of Henry, Feliciano, or Fry would fare better in Biloxi.

After the Crew took down Thor and DeGrom, I figured they could take Strasburg and MadMax. It's another successful series, IMO, and a good omen for facing teams in the playoffs.

Clancy, you know that mutual options are very, very rarely ever exercised. It's simply a way for cost-conscious teams to defer money to the next year's payroll. Moose is in essence on a one-year deal. I know they are rarely exercised, but in the case of Moose... I think it could be. Ideally, the Crew moves Thames this year, and has a Moustakas-Arcia-Hiura-Shaw/Aguilar infield by the end of the year. In 2020, it becomes a Shaw-Arcia-Hiura-Moustakas/Aguilar infield, with the option of moving either Moose or Shaw to make room for Erceg.

At this point, I could see the Crew selling one of Thames/Shaw/Aguilar to make room for Hiura this year. My hope would be that it is Thames who gets moved, but it could easily be Aguilar or Shaw, maybe for a return akin to Adam Lind's (Shaw and Aguilar would have more control than Lind). EDIT: Moustakas would stick around, with an $11 million mutual option, with Erceg as his replacement. Moustakas, though, might end up a viable bench option later in the 2020 season.

Fiers and Gomez brought back Santana, Phillips, Houser and Hader. As we know now, Santana brought back Gamel and Zavolas. Phillips was part of the package for Moustakas. So Gamel, Zavolas (doing well in Carolina), a half season of Moose (who probably wouldn't be here this year without that trade), and Houser showing the talent to be a big league pitcher. The Brewers did really well in that deal, even if you take Hader out. Man, got the big trades confused... One was with the Rangers, the other with the Astros...

With the talent this team has assembled offensively, getaway lineups are a thing of the past. They really don't lose much of anything starting Gamel, Perez or Thames. The only real offensive downgrade is when Grandal gets a breather for Pina, and even Pina has proven in the past that he can be a decent offensive catcher. Damn! Isn't that nice...

Maybe time to think about moving Feliciano to make room for Fry. A big bat who could stay behind the plate? Might be worth risking moving Feliciano, who is not a bad catcher... just that Henry and Fry are better, IMO.

That was a very poor piece of decision-making by Corey Ray. Who'd he get that advice from, Brian Urlacher (who once famously said he'd hide a concussion from team docs and coaches). EDIT: Here's one of the media stories about Urlacher saying he'd conceal a concussion. http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/8636147/brian-urlacher-chicago-bears-confirmed-lie-cover-concussion

As I recall, Fiers and Gomez brought back Brinson, Cordell, Houser, and Hader. Brinson then was THE key part of the package for Yelich. Cordell brought a reliever - Swarczak (I probably misspelled the name). Yelich/Hader/Houser is worth Fiers and Gomez... but when Fiers was avaiolable as a free agent he was someone I'd have brought in.

C'mon, Shaw... salami would be nice now...

He ended up on third... why did they call it a double??? He advanced to 3rd on the throw home. So... how do they decide if it's a double and an advance on the throw, or a triple? Is this like the time Doug Davis got called for a balk when he had Lance Berkman cold back in 2004, and it's just in the eye of the beholder?

He ended up on third... why did they call it a double???

Aguilar is fine. Kurt Suzuki is hurt. Sucks to see anyone hurt. What doesn't suck: LoCain with a three-run triple.

Crap. Tell me Aguilar didn't get hurt...