Never Outhustled

Thanks, I've been trying to figure out who Lawrie reminded me of physically. Its Surhoff. Strong thighs, cut upper body, strong forearms, runs well. Similar gate. Pretty sililar players, except that Lawrie has more raw power. Some scouts gave him a 70 rating on the power scale. Surhoff played a little SS, and I think could have played 2B as a young player, but the Brewers didn't need him there. I'd still put Lawrie at 2B. He'll hit in the bigs in 3 years, but he wouldn't be ready defensively as a catcher for 5 years. Is that because your hoping for a quick impact? Fielder debuted in the majors 3 years after he was drafted, Hardy 3 1/2 years, despite a major injury. I don't see a college player available at #16 who'll be significantly quicker to the bigs.

Based on history, thats not realistic. There are no starting pitchers from the draft held 1 year ago, drafted #16 or later who signed for slot value, starting in AAA yet. There are no starting pitchers from the draft held 2 year ago, drafted #16 or later who signed for slot value, starting in the majors. Why would this years crop be any different? The draft 3 years ago is the best draft in recent baseball history. There are 3 starting pitchers from the draft held 3 year ago, drafted #16 or later who signed for slot value, who are starting and have ERAs under 5. They are Micah Owings, Garret Olsen, who only has a 6 game sample, and Matt Garza, who the Rays aquired this past offseason for a position player. There are no quick fixes drafting pitchers, just alot of wasted picks.

Drafting pitcxhes won't give the Brewers any pitching help for 3-5 years. The best way for the Brewers to get pitching help now is through trade. Use these upper level minor leagues bats as trade fodder, or as replacementss for traded big leaguers. The Brewers have almost no bats in A and A+, so they should continue to draft the best players available. Why roll the dice on pitching when other teams are willing to do that, and then trade their pitching to fill holes in there lineup. Wouldn't it have been great to trade for Garza this past offseason. Too bad our extra bats weren't quite ready.

Lawrie just hit 5 homers in a double header against the Mariners EST team in the Dominican Republic. He's easily the 2nd best HS bat in the draft. He's athletic, and he also has good speed, which is rarely mentioned. To me he doesn't seem to have that big of frame, so I don't know if he'll get that much bigger. I'd start him out at 2B. Nobody scouts Canada harder than the Brewers, and they always draft the bat. Lawrie is a perfect fit to Milwaukee, hopefully he's available at 16.

My sudden dislike for Fielder has nothing to do absolutly nothing to do with how he's hitting or what he said. Its because he's eroded from a terrible defender to an intollerable defender. That only happens with laziness. I'm guessing thats a big reason why others have turned on Fielder also. As for Laporta, great to see him get the recognition he deserves, what an inspired draft pick by Jack Z. Awesome that the Brewers got him at #7, while the Cubs, picking #3 grabbed the player I thought was most overrated in the draft, Josh Vitters, who hit 214 in A ball this year and got sent back to EST. Another division rival picking in front of us, the Pirates, again grabbed college pitching, and Danial Moskos has struggled to a 5.60 ERA and just 31 Ks in 45 innings in A+.How many people right now wished the Brewers had picked for perceived need instead of drafting LaPorta?

Anthony Gose hasn't pitched in over a month because of rotator cuff tendonitis. He has stated he has no interest in ever pitching again. He won't be selected by the Brewers as a pitcher. Paramore hasn't hit well. 327 with 6 homers and 9 doubles as a junior with marginal bat speed doesn't project as a future big league hitter. He might be a Jesse Levis type with his ability to draw walks, but I sure hope we don't pass on the next Gallardo or Hardy to pick a backup catcher. I'm suprised so many are projecting the Brewers to reach for a catcher when the Brewers are extremely deep at catcher. With Lucroy and Salome, the Brewers have as much catching depth in the minors as any team in baseball. Shawn Zarraga will make his debut this summer also, he has very good tools, and the Brewers paid him 3-4 round money to sign. Hunter hasn't pitched in months, so it will be about 6 weeks before he makes his pro debut once he signs. He likely won't see A+ this year, even if he is healthy. St. Clair hasn't seen his velocity come back yet, and he was pounded in a few early season starts. He is pitching at 87-89, topping out at 91, as a reliever. His velocity would take another hit as a starter. I saw Guitierrez pitch a week ago, nice power sinker, but nothing else. He seems like a future middle reliever to me. Any pitcher selected by the Brewers now would be plugged into A ball at best if used as a starter. The Brewers stregnth at A and A+ is there arms. If the Brewers would draft for need, based on that, then they'd go position players. Jack Z has it right when he said there true need is talent. Quality young pitching with MLB experience was available in trade this past offseason, but the Brewers couldn't make a move for it, because we didn't have the talent to trade.

Gamel looks more like a 3B everyday, which would be great. Even if he isn't, Hardy isn't moving to 3B. He isn't even a good hitting SS. If Gamel plays 3B, you'd have to consider playing Hall at SS.

Good stats Crewcrazy. It shows what we're ripping him for is true, yet only part of it. As The Crew states, his biggest problem is scoping throws, which is made even more problematic by the small target he offers as a 5"11" man. The other 1Bs with poor range offer huge targets. Sexson couldn't move, but you couldn't get a throw past him.

This deal could gain momentum if Conor Jackson was flipped for a closer type. The Brewers have no need for him whatsoever, with the Matts killing it at a 1.000 + OPS at AA. Jackson is finally hitting the way he was projected, with aan 884 OPS, and he's cheap. His value should be a little higher than Overbay's was.

Thers absolutly no logic to it at all. Why burn shouse out down 4. let him get out of the inning, then pull him so he's available today. Dillard easily could have went 2 innings. Its misusing the bullpen and wasting Hart all at once. Its simply another example of why Yost has been a massive loser his entire managing career, at both the minor and major league levels.

I agree Southpaw. Dealing Fielder isn't like when we dealt Lee or Sexson, and we had no in house replacements. Its more like when we dealt Overbay, but we're dealing a much more valuable player. We dealing from a position of strength. Prince will be replaced by 1 of the Matts, and both are outstanding hitters. Defensively, we could replace Prince if we just stuck a beer mug at 1st for the infielders to try to throw to. I think I could make a decent argument that the team would have more wins if 1 of the Matts had played 1B all season so far. They'd put up an OPS pretty close to the 797 Fielder has struggled to, and obviously anyone would be a massive upgrade defensively. Fielders slump has no impact on his trade value, teams no what he is capable of. The Brewers will get topflight pitching in return. I just hope Melvin trades for quality instead of quantity this time. He needs to deal for players that will be part of our core, something he hasn't done in the past.

While it sounds like I've really bagged on Brantley, I should add he's extremely young, and playing in a League that supresses slugging, so there is still room for improvement. However, as Tuesdayswithrillo stated, a backup type may be a better profile for Brantley's future than the Brewers future CF.

The Brewers played Brantley in LF until this year for a reason. BA reported in his profile that he consistently got poor jump in the OF, kind of suprising for such an instinctive hitter, I'm surprised it doesn't carry over to his defense. Its very possible he defense could develop though, or at least i'm hopeful. I'm going to comment on a few statements from the Link Report, so we don't clutter that up with Brantley talk. Research strongly suggests OBA in the low minors has no correlation to the ability to have a high OBA in the majors. It may simply suggest a hitter is closer to reaching his ceiling. Brantley is now in the middle minors, so that helps, but its not the majors either. Sometimes power comes later, but many players don't develop power ever. Brantley is already swinging at the right pitches, so that part isn't going to develop more, and you can't increase bat speed. He'll have to make massive gains in the strength department (without losing speed so he can remain in CF). And That makes an excellent point. Now that Brantley is facing more advanced pitching, the pitchers are adjusting to him. The scouting report is pretty clear he has no power, so pitchers are likely pitching him just like they do Juan Pierre. Pound the strike zone with high fastballs for strikes, and let him try to get on top of it, for guys with little power, that leads to a ton of flyball outs. Thats why Pierre and Gwynn Jr. can't draw walks like others do, even though they both know the strikezone well. Good pitchers simply won't let them walk.

Narron has great feel and pitchability, but he is the softest of the soft tossers. Unless somethings changed from a few years ago, he sits in the mid-80s, which is kind of unheard of. Dave Welch has OK velocity, good for a lefty, and remains an intriging late bloomer.

This JSOnline blog post states Melvin is heading to Nashville today. I'm guessing he'd keep his schedule open if he was about to make the biggest move of his tenure. Firing the manager on the road is a rather odd occurrence, though it does explain why Attanosio was in attendance for a east coast game. As much as I wish this was true, I don't think today is the day.

Brett Mooneyham has been added to the Boras list. Any other updates?

I don't think I've ever heard of a pitcher getting a stress fracture in the shoulder. Has anyone else?. Could it be a precursor to bigger problems, or become a chronic problem? If not, Scheppers could be a real steal if he slides a little. No one has him in there recent 1st round mocks, so he could be a nice get at 32 or 35. He seems to have the upside the Brewers prefer, though he was rode really hard before the injury, which scares off the Brewers, and rightfully so.

Yet we were fine with the way Turnbow finished the year? I highly doubted beaning 1 batter would ruin wise's career. That would be a little far fetched.

BA didn't have Weeks in the top 30, and the Brewers pick again at 32 and 35, so it looks like they have a very good chance of landing Weeks. A number of other really intriguing players are still available, such as Sonny Gray, Brett Hunter , Tanner Scheppers and David Cooper.

I agree with the majority here that Fielder could be trade-able for 2 reasons: the fact that he likely won't (and shouldn't be) signed to a long term contract, and because of the presence of awesome hitting prospects Matt Laporta and Matt Gamel. Dan Haren showed us the trade value of a bigtime player who isn't eligible for free agency anytimme soon this past offseason. He was dealt for Arizona's #1,3,7,8, & 13 prospects, plus Dana Eveland. I think the offers being promoted here are in line with that. Fielder is likely worth slightly more than Haren simply because of his age and marketability. Teams that don't see him play everyday might not be truly aware of how atrocious defensively he still is. I propose a 3 way deal: Brewers get: Chad Billingsly Joakin Soria Jonathon Meloan Kansas City get: James Loney LA Dodgers get: Prince Fielder I really love Billingsly. I think he has Ace potential, and is still 4 years from FA. The Dodgers have a number of starting pitchers under multi-year contracts, and have Kershaw on the way. Soria is an outstanding closer, and is also 4 years from FA. However, closers are a luxory for rebuilding teams, and the Royals are horrid at 1B. Ross Gload is struggling badly, and Ryan Shealy is even worse at AAA. Meloan should make a high quality middle reliever. All players invloled are roughly fielders age. Laporta can take over at 1B, and Gamel can start preparing for his inevitable move to RF. Or vice versa. Either guy in either spot works for me. Unlike many of the Brewers present hitters, Laporta hits RHP well.

An absolutly fantastic signing. To sign a dominant player to a deal that could be dramatically below market for his entire prime is just amazing. Players of his ilk could be making this much money in 1 year by 2015. Did the Cubs fan mistake Braun for Fielder? Thats the only way that statement would make sense.

While I agree, it wasn't Wise's fault Yost had such a moronic bullpen setup in the past. Now that Yost has finally figured out middle relievers don't need roles and should just be used in a rotation, theres rarely a need to use a middle reliever in back to back games, and they all get consistent work. Wise would have fit this pen perfectly, and Turnbow could have been dealt for value, while the Brewers saved money.

Its a great sign that he's going to Brevard County. While I was kind of expecting that, he didn't throw alot of innings at West Virginia last year. He obviously looked good in extended spring training. Also, props to the Brewers, who have a player assistance program to help players like Jeffress with off the field issues that not all teams have. Jeffress definately has huge upside, and could move fast if his command is in order.

I predicted when the Brewers let Wise walk that he would, as usual, have a better year than Turnbow. We'll see what happens, but the bar hasn't been set too high.

Difilice added a cut fastball at the beginning of last year, and its his main pitch now. It has completely changed his career. He likely would have gotten a call up last September, but an injury ruined that.