biedergb

I love it. Can’t wait Jospeh and Spencer. And no need to worry about time limits 😂 I’ll listen for 4 hours! I may come up with some questions- here is a start Draft ‘25 - which of the HS arms has the best upside, and scouting reports on the late HS arms Route, Bentley and Holden particularly since no one thought Holden or Bentley would sign. ACL/DSL - the ‘25 draft is less impressive than the historically good ‘24 IFA group. Which players are likely to come stateside of the DSL group? And then how do we view some of the ACL standouts like Anderson, Encarnacion, Montero, Fielder? And any hope for Ereu? Low A -that HS pitching group was impressive in Meccage, Dorchies, Dubanewicz and Renz. Did I miss someone? How much patience should I have with Bitonti and DiTuri or should I jump off the bandwagon already as they keep teasing with potential but never consistent and seem to struggle in the second halves. High A - will Peña return? How do the pitchers here stack up - will the Dorchies/Renz/etc group start here? Or will we see returns of some pitchers ie Rodriguez and rehabbing Knoth wind up here? Double A - that IF could be fun with Made, Fischer maybe Burke and O’Rae? And Dinges at C? Triple A - who is there? Wichrowski, Crow, C. Rodriguez, Hardin, Hunt and Kuener are the likely candidates I presume. Thoughts on the AAA rotation- all prospects or will there be a bet (Zimmerman or someone like that?)

I think he can definitely be the back up catcher. The bigger question is can he be a full time catcher in the bigs and take over for Contreras after next season (he has 2 more arby years right)? And what is the best way to make that happen - spend time as a back up this year, or get more playing time in AAA. I suspect the Brewers will find a Haase-type who can be AAA/MLB catcher to fill in wherever Quero is not. AAA will need catchers - probably matt Wood is one, but maybe someone with better defensive prowess than Damien Miller.

Yes he was. Dang. Chambers looks like he could be one that got away. Although he was coming back from arm surgery when we drafted him, right? Oh well. We got about a good season for Hudson not bad for a 20th round pick.

So Eduardo Garcia is still a Brewers farmhand. They have kept some catching depth, good to see Rodriguez back and hopefully healthy. Miller - I mean good to see catching depth but not sure the plan and I had figured he would see a better path to being a regular player elsewhere. With Contreras, Quero ahead of him, and I would argue Wood passed him and Dinges will pass him, he’s 5th option for catching depth in the organization, and 1B/DH is not much easier for him,. Plus his skill is walks and HBP and Luke Adams is the leader for that lol. Still good to see Miller but surprised he opted to stay..

Maybe I can hop back on the O’Rae bandwagon again. I remember the 2023 Arizona Complex league team when it officially ran through the end of August and O’Rae and Baez were joined by Boeve and Wilken. It was like video game numbers - and his speed and contact abilities are great. If he can hold down 2B/CF, stay healthy and add a little pop (doubles power) he can be a MLB - probably a utility/bench type who can be a MLB starter at times. I had forgotten about him this season since he missed it all due to the injury.

I didn't guess it and then was mad at myself for not guessingit. But. Interesting that the last time the team really went after HS pitchers were those draft first referenced in 2017/2018. Before that a few picks here and there in the top 20 but not much. 2019-2021 were pretty much college picks all around and JuCo mixed in. They dabbled a little in 2022 with HS picks in the 3rd day but didn't sign most and then the 2023-2025 flipped switch to a lot of HS pitchers. There are some 2-3 year trends that the Brewers seem to have so it does make me wonder if this year will hold true, or whether they now pivot to like all college bats this year because y'know.

Is Eduardo Garcia still part of the organization- I guess technically yes, but can be a milb free agent correct?

They did highlight Ethan Dorchies in that mlb.com article- so didn’t ignore all of them. He was mentioned as a possible break out prospect.

It could be that we have more information and therefore more familiarity with a lot of these arms due to better access to the lower levels of minor league baseball - or at least that is just me as I don't know that I knew the DSL or low rookie club players as well like 4-6 years ago. And the system wide cap on players probably has been a factor too - harder to keep a few players around to see if they can rehab or get past whatever issues are holding them back when that is preventing another player from coming stateside. But yeah it seem that the players released are more known to me now, and more of them.

Agree. I still think a AAAA type of catcher will be added both for mlb depth like a Haase, as well as someone to cover in AAA. Who do we have as possible catcher there - I mean Wood maybe, but can’t expect Miller whose defense had been underwhelming at high A and AA so far. I do wonder if Murph will start to “force” guys to sit more especially early and the last month given how the fatigue of a full season was part of the narrative on how the brewers offense disappeared in the playoffs outside game 1/2 in the NLDS.

I think this is the key. By having several controllable major league quality starters, with potentially 2 front of the rotation arms at least, the organization can both 1) focus on improving the roster as a hole and not have to chase pitching (this is like a nfl team having a qb, they don’t waste time/resources/money on looking for their guy), and 2) allows them to develop the pitching at their pace no needs to rush them. i agree that there are likely some high end pitchers in our system, and the developmental program can hopefully work on a few of these molds of clay. I do think the organization is in an enviable position with the depth at every level, and who knows who the next Woodruff (average “prospect” who exceeds all evaluators predictions)

This shows what the organization has done in terms of prospects - the depth. I know we all have the sentiment that we will be flush with high end pitching, but the reality is most of these kids won't pan out for various reasons, but the best way to counteract that is depth. If Melvin Hernandez stalls out at high A for some reason, I will be sad to see it, but there will be Jayden Dubanewicz, Ethan Dorchies, among a dozen of pitchers who could fill that void of next years A ball ace pitcher in Wilson or Wisconsin. Now teams like the PIrates and several other have better pitching prospects than the Brewers with a few high end elite prospects, but as far as depth of solid pitchers who have the ability to become more than that, I can't imagine another organization has that. You think big picture of controllable pitching (assuming current CBA rules into the future), and the Brewers have from Priester, Henderson, Miz, Patick through Cairone, Thompson, Morrison, Bentley, Holden, Roupe, Vucinovich, Flores, Episcope, its dozens of talented arms who can fill out a roster for a decade and a half. Only hopeful for continued improvement and health of these young kids. As the injury bug seemed to sap some of the excitement of this year (hitters and pitchers), but that is the risk with pitchers and why the adage is "there is no such thing as a pitching prospect". Which is mostly true, but if you have the depth you hedge your bets and set yourself for a higher chance of success.

Re: 40 man protection. I would do so for Coleman Crow, and +/- on Yeager as he has shown well but is advanced age for a prospect and guys like him are what the FO has excelled and finding. So with that said, they will likely protect Miller and Yeager and we watch Crow pitch elsewhere 🙄 Mitchell - definitely not someone to expect as a full time starter, but he has value as a bench guy, defensive player. His trade value is super low for all those reasons, so he is best to keep here, unless some team overvalues him and offers something, but otherwise keep him, but do not just DFA him. Like last year - a bat a preferably one that can play in the infield (3B, SS or 2B) is the primary need. We have to also temper enthusiasm on Durbin, as Ortiz when he came over looked like more O and OK D, and he has flipped that script this past season. He had some offensive pedigree, and Durbin could also maintain or regress. So still need someone to slot in with Turang, and then a Durbin/Ortiz combo of bench/starter "platoon" can help while awaiting the progress on several IF prospects over the next 1-3 years (Pratt, Wilken, Adams, Fischer, Made, Pena)

For Connor Thomas that is salt in the wound as the rule V pick up never amounted to anything, and there was opportunity cost (I won't revisit who we lost last year.....) but to now lose him as a free agent. Yikes. Nick DeCarlo that is a bummer, didn't get to see him much. But that is the business sadly.

Thanks for these up-dates Joseph. I am still following but taking a more mini-break from the minors after the end of the season results (both the minors with little success in the playoffs, and the big club) hope to see these bats get some reps and maybe parlay this into a big year next year.

Thanks @sveumrules i knew parts of that but appreciate the explanation to help me understand it all better

Ok. So I’m still confused- this old man brain can’t do this so well anymore- it’s a mutual option. The brewers are on the hook for $10M at least right? What if Woodruff declined his option first? And if they both decline it we can offer a QO and he either accepts it or if he signs with a team we get a draft pick? What if Brewers pick it up first- I mean it’s $10M extra which is a low additional cost for a vet who can reasonably provide a solid half year of front end starting pitching. But if they do and he declines can they still offer a QO? Anyway - I’m torn on running it back with Freddy and Woody and seeing what a full year of Priester, Patrick and Miz can do with Gasser, Henderson in the wings. Or let Woody go (maybe with a QO) and trade Freddy (albeit with either a less than exciting return), and see what Miz, Priester, Patrick, Henderson, Gasser can do gaining experience in a transition year before the possible shutdown in 2027 season.

Brewers will not lose anything, as teh Dodgers have not won a single thing. The Dodgers may be in the process of buying a title, but let's be honest no one on that team WON a game, the ownership is BUYING this. The Brewers have earned every ounce of every victory, so that's a moral victory to me

In reality the Dodgers are a well run team, who also has deep deep pockets, they have made good trades, good IFA signing and drafted/developed well, but also have a LOT of wiggle room and ability to have a deep line up when you can hand out blank checks to any baseball players, and also generate half of Japan's GDP. If the Brewers leadership had to ability/willingness (some of both?) to spend up to $150-200 million per year then you have another bat and another arm that could be a difference (imagine Adames and another SP on the current squad and the line ups don't look as bad). But yeah that payroll is way too much. And then Mets, Padres, Red Sox, Yankees leading the charge as teams who can just bloat the payroll when they want to. And glad you mentioned the bad teams not spending as another big problem too. Those owners just have a cash cow that they can ignore and still profit.

The Brewers are still among the best run organizations, with 5 division crowns and 7 playoff appearances in the last 8 years, with 2 NLCS appearances, and doing so with pretty much a bottom half to bottom third payroll all of those year (maybe 2018 was higher since a lot of the big spenders were not doing it that much). And the team has a good chance to still be playoff bound and even Division crown worthy for most of the decade with so many younger players and a bevvy of prospects (knowing that even only a handful will make it to the bigs). This is the year a big bat would have been helpful to keep the line up solid 1-9 as opposed to a few holes. And this is the first time since 2019 the starting pitching is not in the upper tiers (especially with Woody's injury), although last year the pitching was statistically good even if the stuff wasn't as good. So optimism is there. Also optimistic that a salary structure (maybe a soft cap with a very punitive salary tax like the NBA) can help bring some balance back to the MLB structure.

Good question And also - why the option to ACL as opposed to Nashville? Is there a distinction or does that affect the roster in some way??

Ok. So we may have some pitchers that could be ready for playoffs. If the team can hit there’s a chance of winning a series, but the offense has not been so good lately like most of the Month. I have ptsd from that 2021 offensive implosion and dread a repeat.

The offense is brutal right now. Can’t expect the pitching to throw shutouts every game. This offense has morphed into a 2021ish offense in the past month. From the line up will beat you down and score runs by submission to one where yeah if get that big inning it’s ok, otherwise we wait for a pitcher to give up 0-1 runs. Not how playoff wins happen. Phillies with their struggles a little bit are still scoring runs. And the Cubs have found more ways to score the past 2 weeks. Ugh.

Thanks again for sharing Agree Bonet sounds interesting, and not sure what to take from Garcia, as his numbers implied some contact, but we will see if he can continue to hit as he moves up. Gotta keep that catching depth going, and with Quero, Dinges, and maybe Wood, would love to see Garcia or Corobo step up as the next prospect to follow.

Offense far and away. The team's OPS is back to April/May territory. And a guy like Chourio is ice cold right now. And Contreras (is it both hands that are injured??). Turang and Frelick are back to their norms which is fine, but not quite back to their July/August splits. If there is a key moment in a game, I'm not sure who I want up to bat, maybe Yeli. The starters without Woody can be OK but not elite, and the bullpen is dependent on Megill's health (to have a set 4-some of Megill, Uribe, Koenig, Ashby at the back end) and possibly the return of a pitcher like Hall and/or Miz's role to give you some solid middle inning relief. So unless the team starts hitting, I can't worry about the pitchers right now.