JohnBriggs12

You have to wonder why Supak is not being promoted more aggressively. He's made 34 AA starts. Is it his low K rate? Is he the guy they are using as bait to get an established arm? He's allowed a mere 10 HR in 196 AA innings. You'd think that's a huge plus and that he'd be able to be useful in the big leagues keeping the ball in the park.

I don't see 1B as a hole. Aguilar sure looks like he's back on track, and Thames while not great has been more than adequate. I think they need to split time to take advantage of a hot Aguilar, and give Thames more time in OF replacing Braun. There's no getting around this fact. Cain and Braun have been huge disappointments, particularly Cain. A lot on here are all over Arcia, Really? Compare Arcia's numbers to Braun's. There's not much difference, and Braun is batting in the 3 hole most of the time. Watch his AB's. He's got to cheat to get to a fastball, and often looks foolish waving and missing at breaking pitches he couldn't reach with a broom. Cain too looks like he can't get to good fastballs anymore either. Gamel's cooled off considerably too. Has he gotten exposed? They could use an outfield bat. A hot Aguilar allowing more time for Thames in the OF might help. Under the radar move suggestion? Daniel Palka from the White Sox. He hit 27 bombs last year then got off to 1 for 45 start before getting sent down where he's hit 16 HR.

Prospect lists is a horrible way of evaluating value. After the top 50 you basically have the same player with the same warts it is basically just a guessing game after 50. You could even argue that anyone beyond the top 25 are basically the same player. Players beyond the top 50 are players who scouts like because of athleticism or some other non arbitrary reason. Anyone can see who the athletes are. Brinson was supposed to be this super prospect 2 years ago. Who's making a bigger impact in the majors right now? Garrett Cooper who had a hard time cracking the Brewer top 25 but could always hit a baseball. Never underestimate guys that hit at every level.

Arcia's been a problem at the plate for a large portion of his MLB career. His K rate is like 2.5% lower than Braun's too this year and he's 11yrs younger. It sounds like you think Braun and Arcia are comparable hitters, which they most certainly are not. Arcia hasn't matured over his time. He's like Perez; they go about their business and never take that next step. He's a slightly better version of Alcides Escobar but with more power, less speed. He absolutely has been a hole in this lineup most of the time offering no consistency. Low BA, low OBP but his power came back (which was obviously going to happen as well). Dubon is a high BA, high contact/low K bat who brings consistency to any lineup. He's been that way his entire career. Arcia had what used to be called a sophomore slump for most of 2018. Other than the 5 months of 2018, he's been a productive major league hitter. His career K rate is actually below major league average. His BABIP rate would indicate he's hit in bad luck particularly this year. His OPS is 125 points higher with BABIP rate down 40 points? That's not easy to do. His walk rate could be better, but as the 8th hitter, I'd rather he be swinging with 2 outs and runners on. When he bats 9th, he gets better pitches to hit and he's slugging .487 in that spot compared to .410 with the pitcher batting behind him. Let's see what Dubon does against major league pitching. Most guys K rates go up pretty significantly with the jump to the majors. I think he's ready to be a decent major league hitter, but I don't expect much more than something like .270/.320/.400. Useful sure. A future star? Doubtful.

I agree with all of this ... BA is not a true Brewers fan ... I am convinced of that. Matt Lepay is more enjoyable to listen to in the booth with Rock. Matt Lepay doesn't seem to be in a rush -- and is honestly rooting for the Brewers with Rock. Good local announcers are able to convince fans that they are that team's #1 fan. That shouldn't be hard to do when that team is the one paying you. Watch how easily guys suddenly handle switching from one team to another. Lepay grew up a Reds fan. Deep down he probably still is to an extent. But you can't tell on his work because he's a professional. Anderson gets excited when Brewers do well, but he doesn't make it sound like every Brewer player is somehow "special" in the sickening way Pat Hughes talks about Cub players. You listen to Hughes enough and you'd swear Bryant, Rizzo, and Baez are not just fine players but that they cured cancer too.

I don't think Arcia's been the real problem on offense this year. After all he's got the same amount of HR and almost as many RBI as Braun batting either 8th or 9th while striking out less. But this organization seems to have an offensive depth issue and it would be great to see Dubon be able to hold his own against major league pitching. This exposure to major league pitching comes at a time when it should help his development.

In the last 28 days covering 43 PA, Aguilar is hitting .278/.395/.444. There's hope he's back to his career level of production.

Deolis Guerra has had more success at the major league level than any arm in AAA. He was quite useful for the Angels in 2016 (3.21 ERA, 1.106 WHIP, 5 to 1 K/BB ratio). He had 21 K's and 2 BB in June. This should not be a surprise.

The Cubs are paying Kimbrel to come in and blow hitters away, not give up soft contact. Even in his one save, he allowed a two out ringing double and a walk, before getting Freddie Freeman on a hard hit ground ball.

I love Dubon and want him to be our starting MLB SS immediately. Ray is injured so he's difficult to gauage right now after his big AA season but he's close enough to knocking on the MLB door and has that talent. That said, there's no way Boyd is bringing back an elite prospect. The Hiura's and Kyle Tucker's of the world are guys that head trades for 2-3yrs of control for guys like Thor and deGrom. Boyd is nowhere near that talent level nor has he performed at that level at any point over his career. Even if it's 1 prospect for Boyd I just don't see anybody giving that up for 3yrs of him given his past preformance. I like Boyd and think he should be a target but not at the price the Tigers are asking, which they're entitled to. I think it might take a Peralta as the key piece or a Houser and a Supak.

Saladino has a much more extensive record in the big leagues than his time with the Brewers. He played in 249 games with the White Sox. He's got a .614 OPS in over 1,000 career plate appearances and just 17 career HR. Perez' career OPS is .671. He's got 42 career HR in 1,700 career PA. It's confounding that Brewers thought replacing Perez with Saladino would boost their offense. My guess is Perez will perform to the level Saladino was in AAA.

Nate Griep's having an even better year at Biloxi and they aren't in any hurry to promote him with guys like Barnes, Taylor Williams and Jackson for the most part doing the job at SA, after failing miserably in Milwaukee this year.

Sano hasn't been nearly as bad as Shaw. In fact, in some respects he's been quite good. He's slugging .556. Shaw's slugging .290. The strikeouts for Sano are alarmingly high, but he's slugging .628 against LHP. If you could get him straight up for Shaw, you do that in a heartbeat. Sano hit two home runs on the 28th and another on the 29th. When I made the post, Sano's slash line was .195/.278/.483/.761. Sano has an OBP of .287 since the beginning of 2018. Sano entered this season with 3.066 years of service time and to this point has been a 5.9 bWAR and 6.4 fWAR player. Shaw entered this season with 3.088 years of service time and to this point has been a 10.7 bWAR and 9.0 fWAR player. Maybe Shaw has lost it and will not longer be an effective MLB player, but the poor on-base skills and bad defense don't make me real optimistic about Sano either. He's about 3 years younger, that's about the only real positive thing I can say about him. Shaw is such a base clogger that his on base skills were greatly diminished in value.

My first thought that it perhaps was a brain aneurysm or a heart issue. It's pretty rare that young people just drop dead like that, though it happens. We all remember Daryl Kile too.

Meanwhile, Saladino is now 0 for 12 with 6 K's. Am I off base in thinking the Giants have asked for Arcia as the return for Will Smith and the Brewers are looking at their alternatives at SS? Brandon Crawford is 32 and having an awful year for them.

Stearns has made a habit of adding White Sox relievers. Colome would be a nice addition. Cubs have interest in Will Smith too. Brewers can't let a team like the Cubs grab him ahead of them.

ddv has to be the key guy in the Bucks plans. I personally think his ability and game might fit better on this roster than Brogdon's. Of course he has to stay healthy. Wilson is another guy who needs to see his minutes way up. I think his inaction in the playoffs was a mistake.

Sano hasn't been nearly as bad as Shaw. In fact, in some respects he's been quite good. He's slugging .556. Shaw's slugging .290. The strikeouts for Sano are alarmingly high, but he's slugging .628 against LHP. If you could get him straight up for Shaw, you do that in a heartbeat.

Counsell's now saying defense at SS played into the decision to let go Perez and bring up Saladino? Well on the surface that seems more plausible. Saladino's not exactly an upgrade offensively or defensively over Perez. Sure he's had a good year but if Perez was playing everyday in AAA, I'm sure his numbers would look good too. But when did Saladino become a defensive whiz? He's adequate. So is Hernan.

What did Jay Jackson get? 3 appearences? I know he struggled but everybody else gets multiple chances. Now they have a 40 man spot too. Why keep bringing back Burnes? Take the pressure off him and let him start.

He spent parts of 5 seasons with one team. That's both tough when leaving and a tribute to his value especially considering most of that time he was out of options. I think as someone pointed out they seem to have some depth in the middle infield. I'll pull for him to do well but now he needs an opportunity and he doesn't have the luxury of just being okay. He needs to take an opportunity for playing time somewhere and post 6 or more solid weeks, of hitting in the .280 range with some pop. I still think that's in there and he's so fundamentally solid that a team in need of that is going to value him.

I don't think anyone was as big of a supporter of Hernan Perez than I have been. But I really think his performance suffered because he too easily embraced the team first utility role. He'd have been better off believing in himself that he's an everyday player and played with a little more of a chip on his shoulder. He gave up himself. It cost him when the team started to underachieve. He became vulnerable. This team needed a shakeup. Unfortunately a good guy lost his job. That happens.

Give me Wheeler. He looked great against the Cubs over the weekend and I think he's got potential for a great stretch. Brewers and Cubs are ensuring Reds are in the race at least through end of July so Roark isn't an option.

I want to see Freitas be given a shot too, but the problem is how? Piña doesn't have options remaining, and with it being a real possibility that Grandal is gone after the season I'm not sure you'd want to lose Piña as well. The way to do it would be if Aguilar was sent packing, with Freitas and Grandal seeing time at 1st but they don't seem to want to make that move with Aguilar yet. And if you make that move, Hiura should still be the higher priority. I think Freitas gets a shot in case of injuries, but other than that I think they made the move with next year in mind. Or rather they made the move because they saw a player they presumably liked available for next to nothing and took advantage despite the timing not being ideal. Pina's arby eligible next year. If he ends up hitting sub .175, do you really think they'll tender him or that he's a viable candidate to be a starting catcher again? I'll think they'll try hard to re-sign Grandal and if not, then either trade for an established catcher or sign one of the many aging FA out there. Why not find out what they have in Freitas? This is the second straight year he's posted a AAA OPS over .950.

Somebody needs to ask Counsell and Stearns why David Freitas is still in the minors too. Correct me if I'm wrong but did Pina ever post a .971 OPS in the minors? Aguilar has his first multi hit game since April and then sits the following night to be replaced in the order by a guy hitting .149? That's worse than what cost Jett Bandy a job last year.