Eye Black

It was announced today that the Carolina Mudcats will host the 2018 Carolina League All Star Game (Link). As a side note, I am very thankful the Brewers ended up in the Carolina League as opposed to Lancaster (Cal League) as was rumored last August. I had a chance to take in a Mudcats game in Zebulon, NC a couple of weeks ago and overall it seems like a pretty good place to develop young prospects. I know the Braves left town for the Florida State League, but short of having a Spring Training facility there I would gladly take the Carolina League over the FSL.

Unless it is a starter that they are going to be able to pencil in their rotation for 3+ years, I really hope they don't give up much in terms of young talent for a starting pitcher. I would also be content with the Brewers not making any moves for a starting pitcher this year. Regarding in-house options I think stretching out Hader or Woodruff coming off rehab is more likely to fill a starter role this year than Burnes. Below are a handful of starters in the final year of their contract that may cost very little in terms of talent by picking up portions of the remaining salary owed. I realize these guys aren't exactly awe-inspiring options, but the Brewers could potentially plug a gap by eating salary instead of giving up prospect capital. Jeremy Hellickson, Phillies, 2017 salary is $17.2 million Derek Holland, White Sox, 2017 salary is $6.0 million Marco Estrada, Blue Jays, 2017 salary is $14.5 million Francisco Liriano, Blue Jays, 2017 salary is $13.7 million Some other possible half season rentals that would likely require a more significant return due to either low salary and/or strong performances in 2017 include: Lance Lynn, Jason Vargas, Clayton Richard, Alex Cobb

Didn't notice this one reported previously, the Brewers appear to have signed another undrafted free agent in Mayville State RHP Kody Rock via Tweet #1 and Tweet #2.

Another undrafted free agent signing, UT-Arlington RHP Kadon Simmons.

So 32nd round pick Miller Hogan is pitching on the Cape apparently (Link). Can anyone remember cases of past draft signees pitching on the Cape prior to signing with an MLB team?

Reminder that other organizations view the Brewers as potential buyers...

It's never too early to start thinking about the 2018 MLB Draft, so I am starting up the official discussion thread. I will also take this opportunity to point out that as of today (June 16th) the Brewers are slotted into the 22nd draft position and the St. Louis Cardinals are knocking on the door of drafting inside the top ten. As far as 2018, it looks like there are a number of highly touted prep prospects that are candidates to flood the upper half of the first round including a Wisconsin high school senior to be that is in the running to be a top five selection. Below is a list of some of the current top college and high school prospects, a couple of way too early mock drafts, and a list of where to catch some of the top 2018 talent this summer. Let the 2018 MLB Draft speculation begin! Top High School Prospects Brice Turang, SS, Santiago HS (CA) Kumar Rocker, RHP, North Oconee HS (GA) Jarred Kelenic, OF, Waukesha West HS (WI) Joe Gray Jr., OF, Hattiesburg HS (MS) Triston Casas, 3B, American Heritage HS (FL) Ethan Hankins, RHP, Forsyth Central HS (GA) Kendall Simmons, SS, Tattnall Square Academy (GA) Will Banfield, C, Brookwood HS (GA) Luke Bartnicki, LHP, Walton HS (GA) Nolan Gorman, SS, Sandra Day O`Connor HS (AZ) Austin Becker, RHP, Big Walnut HS (OH) Elijah Cabell, OF, TNXL Academy (FL) Top College Prospects Brady Singer, RHP, Florida Seth Beer, OF, Clemson Jackson Kowar, RHP, Florida Konnor Pilkington, LHP, Mississippi State Cal Raleigh, C, Florida State Nick Madrigal, 2B, Oregon State Luken Baker, 1B, TCU Colton Eastman, RHP, Cal State Fullerton Chandler Day, RHP, Vanderbilt Casey Mize, RHP, Auburn Shane McClanahan, LHP, South Florida Tristan Beck, RHP, Stanford Early Mock Drafts MLB.com: Early 2018 mock: Another SoCal SS at No. 1? Bleacher Report: 2018 MLB Mock Draft: Early Predictions for Top 1st-Round Baseball Prospects Prospect Appearances/Events Under Armour All-America Game: Saturday, July 29 (Chicago, IL) Perfect Game All-American Classic: Sunday, August 13 (San Diego, CA) - Televised on MLB Network Perfect Game National Showcase: June 16-21 (Fort Myers, FL) Area Code Games: August 6-10 (Long Beach, CA) USA Baseball Collegiate National Team: June 22 - July 17 (Cary, NC and various other locations) USA Baseball 18U National Team: June 27 - Sept. 5 (Cary, NC and various other locations)

More from Perfect Game on 25th round selection Karlos Morales... 356. Karlos Morales, lhp, South Hills HS L-L, 6-3/170, La Puente, Calif. College Commitment: Long Beach State As opposed to Danny Zimmerman above, Morales has spent much of his high school career as a primary outfielder, although scouts have always been intrigued by his loose and very athletic build and potential on the mound. But Morales only threw two innings during his junior season, so there wasn't much track record to go by. That changed this spring as Morales got stronger and worked hard on improving his pitching during the off season and started the year reportedly topping out at 93 mph from a long and loose 3/4's arm action. He went 6-2, 1.50 in 42 innings during the spring, although he relied heavily on his fastball and still needs plenty of work on his secondary pitches.

Trevor Koenig scouting report from Perfect Game... Trevor Koenig is a 2017 LHP/1B with a 6-10 185 lb. frame from St Cloud, MN who attends St Cloud Technical HS. Has a very tall, lean build, and tons of room to fill out physically as he begins to grow into his body and put on additional muscle. Works from a slower paced delivery, high leg raise, with good balance throughout. Arm has medium action through the back, stays tall and directional through release. Fastball flashes arm side run, curveball creates good hard spin down in the zone. Works ahead in counts, interesting tools that could even further develop. At the plate, right-handed hitter that starts with an upright narrow stance and high hand set. Extended swing with natural leverage. Good student.

Article Link: 33rd Round draftee Kyle Jacobsen announced this afternoon via Twitter that he intends to honor his commitment to attend South Carolina. Perfect Game scouting report on Jacobsen... 65. Kyle Jacobsen, of, Allatoona HS R-L, 6-0/185, Acworth, Ga. College Commitment: South Carolina A 2016 Perfect Game All-American, Jacobsen has been on the prospect radar for quite some time, dating back to his underclass days. A true burner of a runner with consistent 70-grade speed, Jacobsen projects to stay in center field long term and has added some more power to his game this spring, jumping him up draft boards even higher than he already was following the All-American Classic last summer. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- More from his Perfect Game player page: Kyle Jacobsen is a 2017 OF/LHP with a 6-0 185 lb. frame from Acworth, GA who attends Allatoona HS. Medium athletic build, some present strength with room for more. Left handed hitter, has very good hitting rhythm and sound, consistent swing mechanics, well timed use of his lower half to generate bat speed, has quick hands, very easy tension free swing, creates excellent bat speed, sees the ball well, highest level hitting tools and approach. 6.49 runner, gets good jumps and runs good routes in the outfield, has a chance to stay in centerfield, good throwing mechanics and makes accurate throws. Bat makes him stand out. Good student, verbal commitment to South Carolina. Selected for the Perfect Game All-American Classic.

Corey Hart was 11th round and Scooter was 16th round.

According to MLB.com they can offer up to $125,000 to players taken after the 10th round without it counting against the bonus pool. Anything beyond $125K will go against the overall bonus pool as you mentioned.

Last year they drafted 6 high school players in rounds 11-40, and signed 4 of them.

Last year the Brewers drafted 9 high school players in their entire draft. Not even half way through this year's draft and they have taken 12 high schoolers including 8 in a row. I know Tod Johnson mentioned having a strategy this year that he thought would give them an advantage, curious if we are seeing that play out here with all of the prep selections.

Wow, Brewers take five high schoolers right out of the gate today including some young ones.

Just catching up on some of the draft commentary and posts from earlier and this caught my attention. Honest question here, how bad does a second baseman have to be to lose 2.0 WAR in value based on defensive deficiencies? The worst regular second baseman in MLB last season by most defensive measures appears to be Roughend Odor, and in 150 games last season he finished with a -0.5 dWAR which coupled with position value appears to have pulled his overall WAR down by 0.9. Looked back at a few more examples of second baseman that put up poor defensive season. Daniel Murphy's 2013 season seems to be something fairly close to the example you are describing. Still with most other examples I could find even the worst defensive second baseman appear to drag their WAR down between 0.5-1.0 WAR much more often than anything approaching 2.0. I am not an expert on defensive WAR's impact on overall WAR so I would be interested to see additional commentary or examples. I couldn't find many parallels among current second baseman, but maybe I didn't look at the right players. One thought, is it possible that we are a little skewed by watching post-2011 Rickie Weeks put up some of the worst statistical defensive seasons for a second baseman in recent history? Despite also being a poor defender prior to the ankle injury Weeks never had a season where his defense drug his value down by >2 WAR until post-injury in 2012 when he moved like a lamp post with a glove. Obviously Braun also had a terrible defensive WAR season in his rookie year at 3B, but overall those type of seasons look to be the exception among major league position players. I know the defense for Hiura is a big question right now, but I will be a little surprised if he ends up being a significant defensive liability. For what it is worth it also sounds like he was still participating in fielding drills at second base in practice and warm-ups in front of scouts, just without throwing the ball.

He was the 76th rated player (MLB.com's ratings) picked at #84. So that doesn't seem like a need pick (i.e. reach) Baseball America had him at #68 Perfect Game had him ranked at #164, so a little lower than the others.

A mildly interesting observation, the Brewers have now taken the hitter that led the USA Baseball collegiate team in OPS each of the past two summers in Ray (.971) and Hiura (.910). Admittedly very small sample sizes. There are some interesting comments on Hiura from Eric Longenhagen at the 22:00 minute mark of this podcast from June 12 (yesterday): The Ringer MLB Show: Setting the Scene for the Amateur Draft

For the record I don't think I was getting carried away or being overly negative about the pick (or at least I certainly wasn't trying to give that impression). I am well aware of the oceans of information every one of these front offices have that we don't. I also don't hate the pick by any means. My original point regarding Lemons was that he appears to be (in my opinion on admittedly only video looks) a little earlier on the development curve than some of other pitchers being drafted around him. No question about the ceiling, but also no question that there is a long ways to go. I absolutely hope the Brewers develop him into a quality major league pitcher.

I forgot about Enlow as well. I know the Scout guys are also pretty high on sophomore Arkansas RHP Blaine Knight who rose up draft boards this spring. To your point it seems likely that some solid pitching options should be available early on tomorrow.

Which ones were you considering? Are any still left on the board. It seems Lemons has considerable upside. Non of us knows what he becomes but he certainly has the upside. Granted I don't know about the signability so this is just a list in a vacuum, but here are pitchers I would have liked a little better... Sam Carlson, Tristan Beck (college guy), Alex Scherff, Corbin Martin (college guy), Jacob Heatherly, Hagen Danner (RHP, but also a catcher), and Hans Crouse Most of those guys appear to have a better feel for pitching, but I am also not a scout so take it for what it's worth... basically nothing

I like that they went pitcher with the 3rd selection and I can certainly appreciate cathedral ceilings, but it seems like the Brewers have a significant long-term development project on their hands with Lemons, which isn't something the organization has excelled at. Just thought there were high school (and college) hurlers still available with high enough ceilings and a better probability to fulfill their potential. I will be happy to be wrong when Lemons turns into a front of the rotation stud.

Gavin Sheets went to the White Sox. I like Sheets, I think there is a decent chance he ends up being the best major league power hitter among ACC first baseman taken in this draft (over Smith and McKay).

I'm thinking you have to go after some more outfield depth here at #46, right?

Lou Palmisano...err, Luis Campusano to the Padres.