JohnBriggs12

Very sad to see Prince's press conference. Not being able to play anymore at age 32 will be very tough on him emotionally. I'm sure they'll be nights where he's dreaming about standing in there against any number of pitchers and he'll wake up only to realize it was all a dream. Hoping he's able to resume a normal life and be there as a father to his boys. Who knows, maybe another Fielder will come along and he'll hit 319 too.

Are you guys kidding? People rave about Addison Russell and he's posted a major league OPS of .712. Certainly Arcia is capable of that the next year and a half. Arcia compares very favorably with Russell in my opinion. Russell has a more mature build at this point but Arcia will fill out.

If they took Perez off the 40 man last October, it's hard to see justifying keeping Flores who's had a much worse season than Perez did last year. Cecchini's a corner IF who's hit 4 HR in over 400 AB's and has posted a .707 OPS? He's not worthy either. Neither are Wilkins, Elmore, Middlebrooks, Nieuwenhuis, and Gofourth. At least 8-10 spots will be available when all is said and done. Will be interesting to see if any guys who still have options like Reed and Rivera but who haven't set the world of fire will maintain their spots as well. There's a risk they'd be claimed by somebody but it wouldn't be earth shattering to lose either with the talent recently acquired.

When 2 of Hader, Santana, Phillips or Houser are producing in the major leagues, then you can definitively say Brewers won that trade. So far none of those guys has. It's likely at least 2 will, but until they prove it, the trade's not a clear win. Fiers with a 10-6 record and a 4.07 ERA in an Astro uniform has performed pretty much as advertised for a full season of work and he's controllable for 3 more years. ERA is slightly higher in Houston but he's not facing pitchers most of the time.

Schaumburg Bombers of the Frontier League reportedly have offered him contract already, and why not? Bombers have a nice facility that I'm guessing is far from filled every night. Heck I'm 10 minutes away and haven't been to a game there since 09 or 10 when Schaumburg had 44 or 45 year old Felix Jose DH'ing. I might go take a look at Tebow if that's where he ends up.

It will be hard for Brewers to retain their best minor league FA. Not that this list is all that impressive. But when the organization is ranked at or near the top there's not a lot of opportunity for a minor league FA to break through. Of course, most of these guys will be happy just to have a job anywhere. For pitchers, the Colorado Springs issue is another factor. For guys like Brooks Hall and Austin Ross who've had some success in their careers, will likely look elsewhere for a place that will give them a AAA opportunity that's not at altitude.

Barnes was a 22 year old 2011 14th rounder in low A ball in 2012. One wouldn't expect to be much higher than 60th in that situation and you would hope that there are always going to be guys that rise from the obscure into bona fide major leaguers. Barnes was that guy for the Brewers. Even though he's no longer a Brewer, the same could be said for Brandon Kintzler, who's now a successful major league closer.

I don't know about that. You have one possible impact player (Arcia), a few ok players (Segura, Nelson), a couple still possible, and some BP guys. The cupboard wasn't bare, but it had a lot of ramen noodles... Hello???? Khris Davis???? He might not meet the definition of impact player, but he's hit one HR every 16.3 AB which is a better career rate than either Fielder or Braun and he was 13 on that list and he's developed into one of the premier power bats in all of baseball. Scooter Gennett's been essentially an everyday major league player since arriving in the big leagues and is cumulative 5.3 WAR player and he was 12th on the list. Thornburg's turned into not just any BP guy but a back end stud. Had they kept him starting, I'm pretty certain he'd be a decent starter too. If you look back at the Brewers prospect list 4 years from now, I guaranty you that many that are highly rated now will never pan out. For a team that at the time didn't have much respect as an organization, it was not a bad list at all.

I'm going to go with the boring option and he is the guy picked because he has already burned an option and on the 40man roster. Only other real option was Suter, but he is not on the 40 man roster. Sjnce Guerra isn't said to be out for long(yet putting Suter on the 40 man and wasting an option would be wasteful. Aaron Wilkerson is 27 and was carrying a 2.44 ERA at sea level for Boston when he as acquired for Hill. Suter turns 27 in 3 weeks. Each would have options until they are 30. How is burning an option even an issue? Peralta's opportunity as a major league starter came and went. I'm all for bringing him up and using him out of the pen to see if there's value there. He can't be worse than Blazek.

Perhaps. But considering he's due arbitration this winter, I thought that his time had passed. Nothing he's done at AAA indicates he'll turn back into the 17 game winner any time soon and with 3 other options at AAA, Suter, Wilkerson, and Hader, it seems like a waste. How many starts does he get? One, three, the rest of the year? While we're at it, Nelson needs to be demoted. He seems like a wreck. His fastball which used to sit at 95-96, is now a below average 92, with command that comes and goes. Worse, he's turned into Garza with inability to throw the ball to the bases. Without a doubt, Nelson's collapse since the first of June has been nothing more than amazing and is the biggest disappointment of the season and the pitching coach seems helpless to get him back on track.

Dallas Keuchel may be a "dream" comparison as he struck out even less hitters in the minors, but unfortunately Suter doesn't quite have the same extreme ground ball profile. He must be doing something to limit hard contact to have that HR rate in Colorado Springs though. The key stat is K/BB ratio and for Suter it's a fine 3.1/1. Kyle Hendricks is 2nd in the NL right now in ERA, and he's striking out a relatively modest 7.6 per 9 innings. His minor league rates nearly mirror Suter's too. Suter obviously keeps hitters off balance, and that's the most important thing to pitching successfully. With all the hard throwers out there in the game right now, the dart throwers and changeup artists are starting to flourish as they aren't all that common.

Guzman got bumped up to AAA a couple days after the trade. I'm still thinking he's the guy the Brewers have in mind and may have asked Texas to promote him for scouting purposes. Stearns mentioned how the return from Texas differed from the Cleveland package in that the prospects coming were closer to major leagues. Guzman falls into that category as well.

He'll be facing the braves, so yeah I think it will be a decent start for him. Braves scored 19 runs the last 2 days against Cardinals. I wouldn't bet on it being a decent start.

One lottery ticket is about his value if that. His 10 HR in 247 ABs should have teams looking for veteran bench bat interested though.

"if Santana can stay healthy, we could have a decent group of OF" You really think Santana who's proven nothing at the major league level other than he strikes out a lot and is injury prone and will have missed almost all of 2016, is going to supplant Perez at the beginning of 2017, barring a 2 month collapse by Perez or a trade of Villar opening up 3B for Perez? I'm guessing Santana starts 2017 in AAA.

Flores likely will lose his spot after the season along with Wilkins and Elmore. Middlebrooks is almost certain to as well as he has nowhere to play now that Arcia is up. I would expect Nieuwenhuis to be dealt this month too. That's 4-5 spots right there. Rivera, Cecchini, and Reed might not be worth keeping on the roster either. Remember Perez was taken off the 40 man last year and he had a much better year in 2015 than a guy like Flores did this past year. Who knows about Broxton?. While he's shown flashes recently, he'll be 27 next year with a load of CF talent just behind him. I'm sure they'd like to build some trade value for him. That's just the non-pitchers. What we will see less and less are guys who are eligible to become FA rather than accept minor league assignments opting to stay in the loaded Brewer system. Better opportunities will be elsewhere.

Sure looks fine, but really is Miller Park a venue where you sacrifice power to have athletic OF in all 3 positions? I never though MP placed a premium on gap closing OF. Not that there is not power potential in that group, but I don't see a stud power guy in that group. It makes sense in Pittsburgh and maybe St. Louis but Miller Park was built for the power game. Will be interesting to see what kind of value in any they can get for the likes of Broxton, Flores etc. Can't see them staying around blocking.

Guzman would be my choice. Big young lefty hitting 1B who's major league ETA is 2018. Where's that guy in the Brewer system? Has shown good power that should develop further as he gets stronger. Is not a strikeout machine either so not your typical boom or bust.

Now that they've reached the pinnacle, one would hope future deals can focus on both future and current team needs and not just prospects in return. The building of the farm system is phase one.

At first this trade looked like highway robbery for the Brewers, but the more I read about Bickford the more I understand why the Giants were willing to deal him away. Sounds like his mechanics are all over the place, and if the minor league coaches/instructors felt he'd never iron out those issues he's an easy sell high trade chip. Obviously a super-talented guy, drafted in the top 20 twice, so I love to have him in the organization. But it is pretty easy to see him becoming a big tease like Wily Peralta if he never learns to repeat his delivery and put the ball where he wants it most of the time. On the flip side, really like Susac more and more with additional reading up on him. He was in Baseball America's top 100 before the 2015 season. Probably not a superstar talent, but looks like he could be MLB above average in just about every department. Hasn't gotten on base consistently as a MLB'er but did at every level before that. Has 15 home run potential. Good receiver. Plus arm. At worst this player should stick with the big league club as one of the better backup catchers in MLB. Pretty good chance to be a solid everyday player. I'm kind of surprised the Brewer's didn't put Susac on the active roster right away. Manny Pina needs to impress over the next few weeks. Bickford has his detractors and his supporters. Heard Jack Z on MLB network sing the praises of him. Also read that he wasn't impressive in the futures game. Hard to argue with the numbers he's posted in the minor leagues though, a 1.00 WHIP and under 3 era for a guy who just turned 21 in the California League? No doubt the Brewer scouts have issued reports. Watching Smith leave hangers over the middle of the plate and his fastball sit at 92 the last couple weeks, I'm surprised they got anything close to this return.

I think Stearns use of Aaron Hill shows how they will approach Garza---there just isnt a reason to dump him completely until after august 31st 2017, so i imagine the Brewers will continue to try and get something out of him. Who knows, maybe he'll move to the pen and be lights out and be worth an actual prospect at the deadline next year. That is worth a try before dumping him for sunk cost. I don't get your logic nor the comparison to Hill. Hill had rebound written all over him. He'd done in twice before and wasn't all that old. Besides if just a veteran bench bat he had uses if enough of his contract was swallowed. Garza on the other hand has been arguably the worst starting pitcher of those that have essentially been continuously part of a rotation since start of 2015. His last two less than awful starts should earn him 2-3 more, but that should be his window, not the end of August 2017. Eventually they need to make room for pitchers who deserve a shot in the rotation. They don't have to go out and pay for his replacement, but it would benefit them greatly to see guys at the major league level in 2017 that could be and Garza is taking a spot. Even if he rebounded enough that another team would take a chance on him and offer you a small piece, that doesn't offset the lost opportunity to see younger arms. Maybe he'll have enough decent starts yet in 2016 that you could package him in a deal but he's going to have negative trade value so if you package him with a desired player, the return for that player will be less.

Carlos Torres still has 2 more years of control even though he's 33. The guy is in amazing shape, not unlike Latroy Hawkins who was a valuable reliever into his 40s. It's not a slam dunk that he gets traded. With Smith and Jeffress gone, Torres is going to get late inning high leverage work that could increase his value for next year. There might be a market for Boyer, but the return would be negligible. I believe they'll try and find a taker for Nieuwenhuis which is why he's going to continue to see regular playing time against RHP.

True, you should get greater value for Villar than Scooter. That being said, why do you want to hold onto the lesser talent/ player with lesser value?? Gennett is the greater talent. Villar's career OPS is .717. Gennett's is .743. Villar strikes out a ton for a guy with minimal power. Scooter has more power and has hit for a higher average over a longer sample. Even Villar's strength, stealing bases, is completely offset by the times he gets thrown out on the bases. I don't get the knock on Scooter's defense either. He is solid defensively. Villar on the other hand is not a good defensive SS despite all the boosting by Schroeder. He was on pace for 25-30 errors at shortstop and had a pedestrian .964 FP. That's a lot of errors in this era when so many outs come via the strikeout.

I wanted the Brewers to draft Zach Collins, the lefty hitting catcher out of the U. It's too early to draw conclusions but Collins has an OPS over .900 at the same level as Ray.

Perez will be playing somewhere, either in the OF or IF, maybe even 1B. If he continues to grow as a hitter, he becomes a core player for the next 3-4 years.