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OH great. I missed it in that thread. Thanks Mass Good news for the Brew Crew.

Yeah, any inside glimpse would be wonderful. From what I know - these relationships with players start at an early age, and some signings are dictated by 1) who they train with as the trainers/academies have relationships with certain teams 2) the relationships the scouts of the team build with local trainers or scouts 3) the ability of those scouts to see certain traits or skill sets that their organization may value including the mental and physical traits 4) finally how much money your organization has to offer. The Brewers have been bigger spenders of top ranked players (signing 2-4 of the top 30ish ranked players), so the money for IFA they spend is a key factor. But their scouts have found gems (think AFL star Baez who was a $10k signing presumably due to his size and lack of elite speed or defense). But the relationships they have developed (presumable due to key hiring and investment in resources to do so) is a likely factor. The Venezuelan scouting - not sure when that started - but it sounds like the classic Stearnsian "zig when other zag" approach of going to a volatile country and make inroads that maybe the Boston/LA/Chicago/NY teams were not as willing to do since they can get Asian stars and can sign the highest rated DR players. My personal hope is that this is due to some structural system in place, as opposed to being just due to one or a few individuals. (For example, how our pitching staff has typically been getting above average results for years even when we lost DJ as the pitching coach and then adding Hook; or how we have made some nice trades and FA pick ups with Arnold even after Stearns left; or how Murph was also able to find the right players and buttons after Counsell left). Other teams will see the Brewers recent success (2021 - current IFA signings) and will steal the individuals. As one of the key International Player Evaluation Director Luis Perez is no longer with the organization and likely stolen by another organization: As BA.com's Ben Badler wrote in his Top Prospect chat "They’re pretty fortunate that Luis Perez and Fernando Veracierto haven’t gotten plucked away from another org for an international director job given the success the Brewers have had internationally." Ugh, Thanks, Ben, way to jinx us 😉

The competitive balance pick, the QO picks for Adames, and the pick for not signing Meccage - plus the normal first and second rounders - is that how we get 5 of top 68? And essentially 6 of top 110ish.

Brenton is such an interesting guy. I watched his interview with JustBaseball (I think it was with Aram, correct me if I was wrong) last year, and reading this article I can still hear the crackle in his voice as he talks about these guys, and the positive vibe he has. Just listening to / reading his interview gets me so excited. I love the "you be you" approach he talked about last year and this year, and I love the line "we're data informed, but we're not data-driven". All sports are still so hands on and mental, that you can't just learn from a laptop, but incorporate those laptops into the batting cages or the one-on-one sessions. OK I am now officially pumped for next years minor league season, and the International FA signing day hasn't even arrived yet.🤩

I think that speaks to both the limited time he had to play in the minors after being drafted and the solid development of multiple hitters throughout the organization (Pratt, Made, Areinamo, Adams, Pena, Boeve) which is great to see, so there are many players who may take a backseat. I mean guys like Yophery Rodriguez would be in the running for #1 prospect if this was the organization depth of let's say 10 years ago, and guys like Payne and Wilken would automatically be top 5 based upon their draft status. But they get less attention than they could. Burke is a little behind the scenes for now. That's OK. IF he can hit well next year he will make a name for himself like some of those I just listed did the year and/or last.

I know it is a small sample size and the level of competition is variable, but seeing Hedbert have an OPS that is the same as a current MLB utility player (Monasterio) is encouraging to see if his prospect profile can have some comeback. If he can hit in A ball and move up to AA he can be in the mix as a future OF prospect that could profile as a 4th OF. Again a lot of ifs.

The other thing to keep in mind, is that the organization seems to value depth, both at position and with regard to skill sets. You don't find Jackson Chourio players every day, and the team won't compete with 9 Turang/Frelicks. You want to have bat to ball players, speed players, power potential hitter, as well as defensive flexibility. Having guys with one or more of the skill sets is key, as well as different players having different skills or combinations of skills to complement each other The other part of it is that competition will sort these players out, and some will become trade assets for more immediate needs. But in short I think Burke has a great chance to be the 1B of the future, but if he can't take that spot, we have Black, Boeve, Martinez as well as Wilken/Adams/Bitonti who all are in that mix as the Brewers future 1B.

I misread you quote - I overlooked the "If", and thought it was a statement and that you knew more. My bad - agree this would be a loss.

There is a need for a AAA catcher regardless right? Quero is coming back from injury, and then there is who, Darrien Miller whose defense is not up to par. With several pitching prospects in the upper ranks, we may need/want a vet or a AAAA type of catcher regardless of if he can be a MLB call up.

Do you know where he went? Released, or was he hired elsewhere?

Three pitchers with Brewers ties listed as ones to watch for the Rule 5 Draft in Baseball America. I will not list much details and will paraphrase to respect their premium content: Shane Smith, RHP - UDFA signing - highlighting his repertoire and that he profiles as reliever more. (I worry he will be with another organization this upcoming year sadly) Evan Reifert - former UDFA signing as well who was traded to Tampa for Brosseau. His stuff isn't as good, and he had a bad 2023 and bounceback 2024. Yujanyer Herrera - IFA for the Brewers and traded to Colorado as part of the Mears deal - reported that he had TJ surgery recently per their report. So while he was viewed by some (like me) as a big loss as a pitching prospect, this injury and his rule V status would have made it hard for him in the org. The TJ surgery was also confirmed separately on X:

Depth is pretty good as far as prospects, where there are multiple players who can be the future at that position, and competition is good, plus defensive homes are in flux. But in general I see 1B/DH - Black, Boeve, EMJ, Burke 3B/1B - Wilken, Adams, Bitonti SS/3B - Pratt, Made, Pena, Quintana, Guilarte, and Baez (3B/UT) 2B/SS - Areinamo, EBJ, DiTuri, Adamczewski OF - Y. Rodriguez, Lara, Payne, Anderson, ORae Catcher has Quero and a lot of question marks (Corobo, Ordonez are young; Miller is not great defensively, Rodriguez and Garcia are older for their levels) RHP - Miz, Henderson, Rodriguez, Knoth, Hunt, Meccage, Wichrowski, Letson, plus others LHP - Gasser, Kuener, I feel I am missing someone here RP- Yoho, S. Smith

Unless anyone has a suggestion, if you are already a subscriber it doesn't allow you to renew with this code (my renewal is due in January 2025), so it seems to be for new subscribers or those renewing about now. The digital subscriptions allows to read/access everything on the BA.com website, without access/delivery of any printed materials. It is good read for those who like the Draft, and follow prospects closesly

Did I miss it somewhere - is there a decision on Carlos D. Rodriguez? He would be slated as a minor league FA now that the season is over, correct? If so, did he re-up? Would he have to be 40-man designation?

I think Black is solid most of the time, so maybe an 80/20 proposition, so agree technically that he is not a 50/50. But some of the plays, I don't know if they are counted as errors, and with the crazy MiLB scoring systems maybe not, but he doesn't help his fielders out, and a few errors I witnessed are the types you cannot have a MLB player allow. And he may not make enough plays that offset it, so in that I side with Joseph that Black as a fulltime IF is a risky proposition, But his athleticism is definitely good in the OF. A back up 1B is reasonable, but his time as a MLB 2b or 3b is a ship that I think sailed away late '23

For a guy who was a good hitter, and likely to stick at SS, but it was also debated during the pre-draft reports I read (a lot of Gunnar Henderson comps, but also a lot of hedging that if he gets bigger he can't handle SS), this is a nice sign. He may still have to move off the 6 position, but at this time point he looks firmly entrenched as a future SS to go along with Turang, Ortiz, and a guy like EBJ as a future bench defense/pinch running like of UT.

Agree that selling most of this cohort will be selling low. Outside of Quintana, who like any DSL player would be labelled as a "lottery ticket" in a trade. Wilken - last year looked like a pillar of the infield for a decade, now he had a season that will make him look like EBJ bust territory. The truth is somewhere in-between for him, and unless it is part of a big trade where he needs to be included, I'm not sure how a trade value would fit, as he would likely be valued less than the former 1st rounder by most execs I would think. DiTurri will not move any needle, but is a great player to develop. He has some hitting skills, plays good defense, and is still so young. ORae - hard to peg, because he is so so young (20) and was at AA in the worst hitting environment (Southern League). Impressive to move up so quickly at that age, but also without a true defensive position. Most likley to move- Black, or even Lara who is so young and is holding his own, but may not have a future with on OF of Chourio, Frelick, Mitchell and having to compete with Payne and Yophery.

I mean yes, but if you look at the hitters, 6 of their 10 most common hitters (by AB) are teenagers, compared to Surprise and Glendale leaders where there is only one teenage (Z. Hope). So there is some excuse there. Now as far as pitching - all around pitching ERA for the league is 6.12, and giving up 6.5 runs per game, and Peoria is sitting all alone with an ERA of 8.75 wow! No excuses there. Very few quality performances here. Heck our RHP R. Birchard is the youngest pitcher (20 yo) on the team and is 5th in ERA and 8th in WHIP with some awful stats.

I trust you @Joseph Zarr I think you saw more of the Mudcats. The games I watched his footwork, throws and mental side were less than ideal, but watching a lot of Shuckers and T-Rats I did have a high bar with Areinamo, EBJ and even Pratt. Adams and Wilken have some defensive prowess in them for big guys. probably selection/recall bias as I remember Baez’s blunders the games I watched where he played.

Ok. Fair enough. I guess when he swings his contact makes him look better. When Yophery guesses he can look bad. But he did improve immensely. But as a hitter Baez has looked good, and is still incredibly young. His running and defense have a lot of improvement to go - a lot. But if he can maintain his contact ability and learn as he goes up the chain he can be a valuable hitter.

The thing I keep going back to is that Baez is only 6 months older than Yophery. Yophery has such an exciting tool set including defense, and played one less year of affiliated ball in the minors (2023 signing vs Baez as a 2022 signing), but really very close in age, and Baez at the plate appears way more comfortable and mature with swing decisions. The fact that he even has a nice sample size and is participating in the AFL at that age is certainly not common I would imagine. ‘His defense and his base running …. Yeah let’s skip over that

Encouraging to see that Coleman Crow is pitching in competitive ball, and hopes that he can become in the mix for upper level pitching prospects next season now that he seems fully healthy.

HM shout out for Russell Smith and former UDFA Nick Merkel who were so key to keeping Biloxi going most of the year. The pitching was all they had (save a few weeks where the offense really lit things up). While they may not have had the most eye popping numbers, those two were keys from getting from the SP to Yoho/Yeager closers.

Do we have good spot to get the arsenal on our pitchers. I know the top 20-30 prospect list will usually have these things, and I watched a lot of games, but guys like Shane Smith, Tate Kuener for example, I don't recall their arsenal, or the max FB velocity. I can go through the minor league reports, but wanted to see if that was something we can create as a pinned link in the forums, or a resource on the website. Or a link to a site that has data for these players - particularly AA or below. Statcast has the AAA data I believe.

Incredible season. The Brewers completely outpaced any projections, and exceeded even my own expectations by a lot (85 wins to 93 wins and another title). We saw Chourio step up, Contreras establish himself, and in a smallish sample size see Mitchell and Frelick make impacts. Ortiz and Turang look great on the D and have upside on the O. Bullpen still a solid part of the team, but probably overused. The playoffs... man the playoffs... We are talking about playoffs?? This team has lacked something for a while now. That 2018 team was magical. Braun, Moose and the bullpen that just was truly lights out. The last 3 nights were a gut punch, an amazing high, and a gut punch that will takes months to recover from. This is what the team has been looking for - winning games in October. The defense let them down Tuesday night. And the ace of the bullpen let them down last night. But for a team that was expected to maybe be .500 and maybe finish in the top 3 of the division, I'll take the positives. Let's go Brewers. Looking forward to an amazing 2025!!!