Harold Hutchison

I'm still waiting a player who's NOT aging. Like a Clayton Kershaw type who just stays 27 years old his entire career until his arm falls off. Seriously though, all those things are true. What's also true. 5 million for a back of the rotation pitcher isn't very expensive. Especially when you're only committed to one single year. Only way they come cheaper is if you've developed them or traded for them while they are in the minors... Which kinda describes Davies, Suter, Woodruff... y'know, three-fifths of the current Brewers rotation.

Walker, if nothing else, provides an IF bat, keeps Hernan Perez as a 4th OF. Villar/Sogard can split time. Or maybe Arcia gets time off to keep hot hands in...

I really like the situation going forward. We make the playoffs this year, fine. But think of it like this: To fill holes in the rotation behind Anderson/Nelson as out aces, there are internal candidates. Suter, Woodruff, Davies, Angel Ventura, Jungmann for the spots behind them... we're not blowing $10-15 million per year on a Lohse, Suppan, Garza, or Wolf. That is huge in and of itself. There's talent coming up as well, and some are real sleepers. Troy Stokes, I think, will force his way to Milwaukee in 2018. He's for real.

Yeah, Stokes was weird. He was ignored by a lot of people, but pretty high on others. He's kind of flown under the radar up to now - but that will change. As for people not being on ballots -- that happens. Sometimes it's a mistake. Sometimes it's just a person being weird. In the end, you just have to shrug and move on. At the start of the season, I had Stokes at 16, noting, "Quietly showing OBP skills, speed, and gap power." This year, he was #3, behind the dominating Burnes and Hader, whose floor is as a dominating closer. I think he has probably the most complete offensive skill set of any outfielder in the Brewers system. I fully expect he'll start at Colorado Springs. As for why some folks aren't on my ballot: It's either injuries or suspensions in some cases. In others, I think there are other players whose numbers warrant it. Cooper Hummel's quietly flashed superb OBP skills and some power at Carolina in limited PAs. Plus, he's a switch-hitter. Hummel may be no more than a #2 catcher, but a .757 OPS is not bad when its SLG baseline is a .239 batting average.

Cordell was special, IMO, due to the fact he played all three OF positions and SS, 3B, and 2B in 2015-2016. That sort of versatility makes him a very useful bench asset at a minimum. He's also got good power. It made him an excellent supplement/replacement for Hernan Perez.

That is the big problem. You can't win if you don't score runs. There has to be a hard look at the offense - figure out who can and who can't produce.

Hader's floor is as a relief ace/closer. Yet the depth the Brewers have is probably going to keep him at his floor through 2018. He will need to be stretched out as a starter, though, because he has much more value there if he succeeds. But in 2018, a combo of Jeffress/Hader/Knebel at the back end looks very good to me. Figure Wang and Guerra will also paly parts in the pen.

Why not put Ventura on the 40-man? He's having the same "not killed at Colorado Springs" Suter showed. Maybe a closer look at the numbers is warranted, but right now... he's a prospect.

How about Troy Stokes? Superb OBP skills, found a power stroke, decent speed (87 SB over four seasons). I think he's probably a slightly better OF prospect than Clark, mostly because he has that power.

I'd bet heavily on this. I'd also bet heavily that he will be a consensus top 3 Brewer prospect at this time next year. Troy Stokes as well. I don't think his production can be ignored much longer. He had the OBP skills and speed, now he's adding legit power. I mean LEGIT - 15 HR this year after not hitting more than 5 in a previous pro season. He's doing this at 21 in the Carolina and Southern Leagues. Mostly he's been in left field, but he's had some experience here and there in center...

And the control goes well beyond walk rate. He's been living on all 4 edges. Up down in out, with pitch movement and his tempo. Add that to lefty and he's a very odd duck. When judge just stays in the box... when batters are actively thinking about stepping out to slow him down. He bothers them. It's all very different. That being said... his pitches were not as pristinely located vs STL. He was a bit fat more than he had been in the first starts. Jeffress did him no favors as well. Despite that 5... 2.5 era since stepping in for Woodruff. That's hard to ignore. Woodruff Garza Suter will likely decide this by the time Anderson gets back... but if Woodruff builds off this start... and looks like inning 3-6.1 more than 1-2... it's going to be a hard choice. With Suter it comes down to one thing in my opinion. Can he hit edges like he did prior to STL or is STL the actual norm. I also wonder if he's using batter analytics and targeting their bad average regions for his out pitches. Wouldn't surprise me if Havard wanted all the analytics on his side he could possibly use. Haven't noticed this... or it hasn't jumped out at me. Just crossed my mind. I think the Harvard thing plays into it. Suter, I think can make adjustments. As hitters try to adjust to him, he adjusts to them. He learns how to fool them, and what doesn't work. If Woodruff and Suter pitch real well, deal Garza. That $5 million option will bring back prospects. Heck, maybe get a lot of international bonus money for the next few years.

Even if he is a #3 starter... would you rather have this home-grown option (who can be extended relatively cheaply), or do you pay a Jeff Suppan/Randy Wolf/Kyle Lohse/Matt Garza $10-15 million a year? That said, he is also valuable because he is a very different type of pitcher than Jimmy Nelson. Nelson's stuff makes Suter a very different look, and vice versa. That gives each of them an edge - batters go in one night getting a guy throwing 95+, then they have a tough time adjusting to Suter. Then the next day, another guy throwing faster. A variety of "types" in the rotation isn't a bad thing. I think Suter allows for the use of one of Garza, Anderson, or Davies as a trade chip in the off-season. But Suter's not alone - there's Jungmann, Woodruff, Hader, and Wang all at CO Springs this year, all showing signs they can be contributors. Then there's the next tier of Burnes, Ortiz, Angel Ventura - not to mention Perrin, Freddy Peralta, and Ponce. The only thing about that depth that stinks is figuring out who will be dealt because there's no room.

Agreed. What may also help is he's worked with someof the younger pitchers coming up, too. That sort of rapport can't be bought on the free-agent market.

Corbin Burnes says high. I kid. I do like a bunch of the arms they drafted this past draft. Murphy, Bullock and Morales come immediately to mind. Burnes, Woodruff and Suter are the kind of draft hits that Milwaukee needs. The Brewers can't afford to spend $12-15 million a year to add a Kyle Lohse, Randy Wolf, Jeff Suppan, or the 2015-2016 versions of Matt Garza. Maybe these guys don't become TOR guys, but they can fill out the rotation cheap. And Burnes/Suter/Woodruff have all flashed streaks of dominance. I like Frances and Rose this draft to join Burnes/Woodruff/Suter as "surprise" prospects as starting pitchers.

True. The rookie league samples can get you excited. See Ronnie Gideon, who is resurging a bit after an awful April/May. I may just put that down to adjusting to a full season. Meanwhile, Trent Clark had two doubles, two walks. Maybe a 2.5TO player, but a lot to like, given the speed and OBP skills.

I can understand this: The Brewers got a combined total of five runs against the Cubs over the weekend. Only the fact Brent Suter tossed a gem kept it from being a sweep for the Cubs. That will not cut it if we have to face `em for the division title down the road. It didn't cut it in a series the Brewers had to sweep and instead lost one full game of ground. If Gatewood can play a passable shortstop and hit 25-30 homers while Arcia can't get an OPS above .725, I'm inclined to go for him, and deal Arcia so some other team can violate Al's dictum of not paying a good-field, no-hit shortstop and give us prospects or some missing piece for a pennant run for that "privilege." If Arcia's bat comes around, then I'm happy to deal with the "problem" of figuring out where to play Jake Gatewood. But if it doesn't, I want an in-house offensive upgrade available.

Ronnie Gideon seems to be rebounding from a poor April/May. That will be good. Might take him a bit, but if he develops, he'd be an asset.

I shot Gatewood up to #6 as his average and OBP seemed to be improving. I think that dealing with the vision issue probably helped in that regard. I do wonder if it's not time to try him at shortstop or third some more. Granted Erceg is at third, but his defensive numbers didn't seem to be awful at either position. I say this as someone who was looking at the earlier offensive struggles, and dismissed him. Not doing so now. Just stop please stop this gets old. Just because a player played a position in HS or college does not mean they should play that position in the majors or the minors. Braun never should have been put at 3B he should have been put in the OF to start his career. Gatewood is not a SS and nor is he a 3B there is a reason why he is at 1B. He is just not good at SS or 3B he is about as bad as Braun was defensively at 3B and even worse at SS. He has no range at SS if you like Yuniesky Betancourt types then sure he can be a SS but otherwise no he is a horrible SS. Gatewood has posted a .944 fielding percentage at shortstop, playing 147 games there. Arcia's fielding percentage at all levels in .968. His 2017 OPS is .713, per baseball-reference. So, we're talking 24 points on the fielding percentage, and Arcia's bat is... well... Gantner-esque. Web gems are nice, but if Gatewood has put his offense together, if he is the dynamic bat, and he can play shortstop well (and a .944 fielding percentage there is NOT bad), then why not move Gatewood back to short? If nothing else, he can be moved back to first (or to second) or the outfield. But if Gatewood is a stud bat, the 30-homer a year player that he was projected to be when he was drafted three years ago, and an average fielder... then what is there to lose by putting him at short, at least in the minors? If Arcia can get his OPS close to .800, Gatewood can play second, third, first, left, right, wherever. If Arcia can't, then you have the option to deal Arcia and plug in a plus bat there.

I shot Gatewood up to #6 as his average and OBP seemed to be improving. I think that dealing with the vision issue probably helped in that regard. I do wonder if it's not time to try him at shortstop or third some more. Granted Erceg is at third, but his defensive numbers didn't seem to be awful at either position. I say this as someone who was looking at the earlier offensive struggles, and dismissed him. Not doing so now.

This is for anyone to discuss their list.

Per And That's request in the ballot thread, I'll open this topic for discussion of the ballots. The numbers this season have forced me to reconsider things from the pre-season. Trent Clark, Troy Stokes Jr., and Isan Diaz got the three top offensive slots in my ballot. All are similar in that their batting averages are low, but all have drawn a lot of walks, they have speed, and they are flashing power. Some of my highest risers: Jake Gatewood and Monte Harrison both jumped up 20 spots from their spots on my last ballot. Their production's there, and hopefully, they have put it all together. Clark had a 14-point jump, Stokes a 12-spot jump, Gabriel Garcia jumped up 15 spots, while Corbin Burnes, Nate Griep, and Payton Henry didn't register on my screen in the preseason ballot. My top ten saw Erceg drop 8 spots, and Diaz drop 2 (albeit more due to the emergence of Clark and Stokes). Big drops for Ronnie Gideon, Marcos Diplan, Clint Coulter, and Mitch Ghelfi.

That could very well explain it. At his point ,the Brewers got ground to make up. Lots of ground. The Cubs got some upgrades, and taking two of three in Miller Park will give them a boost. At this point, try to get the offense on track enough to get a starter through six, then have Hader/Jeffress/Knebel shut things down. Maybe some others can rebound or prove solid (Wang/Webb/Hughes), but right now... the offense has to get on track.

My ballot has shuffled a lot since the pre-season. Burnes has come up huge - the stats point to a TOR guy who could be in Milwaukee by 2018. Stokes and Clark are two of the best offensive prospects in the system. They have power, they have OBP skills, and they have speed. Despite a sub-.240 batting average, Isan Diaz has posted some very good power and OBP numbers. Some folks climbed out of nowhere, some faded. Ronnie Gideon has disappointed, but his June production and his better OBP leave some hope he'll rebound. And I'm sure Josh Nottingham at 27, behind three other catchers will generate some heat...

1. RHP Corbin Burnes – The statistical dominance is greater than that shown by Brent Suter in 2015/2016. 2. LHP Josh Hader – His floor is as Milwaukee’s closer of the future. 3. OF Troy Stokes Jr. – Probably the best all-around offensive outfielder in the system 4. OF Trent Clark – He has extra-base power, and arguably the best OBP skills in the system 5. 2B Isan Diaz – Don’t dismiss him due to the .230 batting average – he’s drawn 57 BB in 414 plate appearances, and is slugging .381 6. SS/3B/1B Jake Gatewood – Maybe move him back to short next year, and really reap the benefits of his bat. 7. RHP Nate Griep – Dominating as a closer 8. C/IF Gabriel Garcia – Love the bat, and the versatility, but if he can catch, keep him there. 9. C Payton Henry – Possible 3TO bat behind the plate 10. 3B Lucas Erceg – Jump up to A+ Carolina may have been too aggressive. 11. OF Monte Harrison – Finally putting it all together 12. OF Michael Reed – 35 BB in 205 plate appearances, plus 7 homers – perhaps the only player who has better OBP skills than Trent Clark 13. OF/2B Keston Hiura – Hitting like we expected, but is he just a DH? 14. OF Lewis Brinson – Finally turning up in Milwaukee. 15. RHP Jon Perrin – Vanished for a lot of the season, but pitching well when he has pitched. 16. RHP Freddy Peralta – Still striking them out. 17. RHP Cody Ponce – Putting up solid numbers. 18. RHP Brandon Woodruff – Missed time with injury, but should be ready for 2018. 19. RHP Luis Ortiz – Looks like an inning-eater at worst. 20. IF/OF Weston Wilson – Still versatile, and the bat looks solid. 21. C Cooper Hummel – .757 OPS despite batting only .239 – good power, good OBP skills. 22. OF Brett Phillips – Not a bad prospect, but Clark, Stokes, Harrison, and Brinson are all more exciting. 23. LHP Wei-Chung Wang – Shifted to bullpen and dominated. 24. LHP Nick Ramirez – Older than typical prospects, but offers a new “Toolsheld” for the bullpen. 25. 3B Dallas Carroll – Average, and walks. The next Cirillo? 26. RHP Angel Ventura – Just misses, but not getting killed in CO Springs, and solid performance. A sleeper? 27. C Josh Nottingham – Looks okay, but probably the fourth-best catching prospect in the system. 28. 1B Ronnie Gideon – A hot June and better OBP skills can’t prevent a drop when he’s slumped most of the season. 29. OF Corey Ray – Should have done better repeating A+. 30. RHP Marcos Diplan – Clearly regressed from 2016. 31. SS Maurico Dubron – He’s got speed, but is he just a backup IF? 32. RHP Bubba Derby – Solid bullpen option. 33. OF/C Clint Coulter – Get him back behind the plate. The bat is acceptable there. 34. C Mitch Ghelfi – Lost the season on the DL. Note: Stats are from Baseball-Reference as of the time of this post. EDIT: Flipped Stokes and Trent Clark

Looks like Brent Suter will be in the rotation for a while.