Eye Black

I am intrigued with the possibility of the Rangers as a trade partner for Lucroy. Even after the Hamels trade they have some very good prospects. Lets assume the Rangers said that Joey Gallo and Nomar Mazara were off the table. If they offered the option to pick one player from each of the pools listed below, are there any combinations that you would be interested in for Lucroy? Pool #1: Jurickson Profar, Lewis Brinson, Luis Ortiz, Dillon Tate Pool #2: Luke Jackson, Ryan Cordell, Michael Matuella, Yohander Mendez I would have a hard time deciding among Pool #1, it would probably come down to Profar or Ortiz for me. In Pool #2, I don't know who I would pick. I would be curious in Cordell depending on his likelihood to be able to transition to 3B full-time (early indications weren't great). While trading for a player recovering from Tommy John isn't overly appealing, Matuella could have the highest upside of any player in the pool.

To be fair, another industry expert had a different take on Josh Hader... John Sickels: "Posted 3.03 ERA with 119/35 K/BB in 104 innings in Double-A, 87 hits. I must be the high guy on him but he looks like one of the top LHP in the game to me, track record backs it up and he is not a soft-tosser, hitting mid-90s. Command can still wobble but secondary pitches seem to be developing well. Another mid-rotation candidate or at worst a power reliever."

Unfortunately life got in the way and I was unable to participate in the voting for the post-season Brewerfan.net community top 25 prospects list. Figured I would add to the thread in a little different way by creating an org depth chart based on the voting results. The notes included with the below image should cover how exactly the chart was organized. If you think I made an error or missed anyone please don't hesitate to point it out. One disclamer, I don't know much about the image uploading site I used here so if the link goes sour or someone has a more reliable image uploading site I will swap it out.

I really like Zimmermann and he has certainly been a very good pitcher, but even if they were closer to contending I would not want the Brewers to make a free agent signing like this. The Nationals paid $32.5 million for over 1,000 innings of the pitcher Zimmermann has been. Now for $110 million the Tigers are getting what will most likely be a declining pitcher over the life of the contract who is six years removed from Tommy John surgery. Taking on this risk at a high price tag seems like bad business. It also reaffirms why the focus on developing a base of homegrown cost controlled talent is so important for the Brewers.

Some more from Sickels with a list of his top 37 Brewers prospects, but merely listed in alphabetical order at this point. Milwaukee Brewers preliminary prospect list EDIT: Make sure to check out the comments section as Sickels made some adjustments to his original list (now at 35) and gives a preview by including his ranking (A-) and commentary of Orlando Arcia.

Brewers: Minor league lefty Kodi Medeiros living up to first-round status By Dennis Punzel, Madison.com http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/host.madison.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/e/d4/ed46a188-c8ce-54bc-8e95-25325ada9499/55c2a5e3ac526.image.jpg?resize=699%2C1049 GRAND CHUTE — Bruce Lee or Madison Bumgarner? As a youngster growing up in Hawaii, it was no contest for Kodi Medeiros. “My brother and I were heavily into judo then,” Medeiros said. “We were all about martial arts while growing up.” But the Medeiros brothers’ athletic fortunes took a turn when Kodi was about 10 years old. His brother Korin, two years older, made a deal with a buddy that he would play baseball with him for a year and brought his little brother along. “I really didn’t want to play,” Kodi recalled. “But I started playing catch and stuff and I fell in love with the sport.” And the sport has loved him back. Medeiros blossomed into one of the top pitching prospects in the nation and was selected by the Milwaukee Brewers in the first round (12th overall) of the 2014 First-Year Player Draft. After a brief introduction to pro baseball last summer with the Brewers’ Rookie team in Arizona, Medeiros has taken a big step forward this year with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers of the Class A Midwest League. Medeiros, who turned 19 in May, has held his own against mostly older, more experienced competition, compiling a 4-2 record and 4.09 ERA with 80 strikeouts in 811/3 innings. Along the way the 6-foot-2, 205-pound left-hander has shown flashes of why he has drawn comparisons to major league aces Bumgarner of the San Francisco Giants and Chris Sale of the Chicago White Sox. While he’s shorter and more compact than either of them, he has the same low three-quarters arm slot that helps give the movement on his fastball and sharp-breaking slider. Previously, pitchers like that were typecast as relief specialists, but the success of Bumgarner and Sale has altered that notion. “A lot of guys ask me where do I see him, as a starter or a situational guy,” Timber Rattlers manager Matt Erickson said. “I really see him as a starter. With that sinker and that big breaking ball and developing a changeup, you have the stuff there to go through a lineup a number of times.” Medeiros, whose brother now is an infielder at Hawaii-Hilo, said the low arm slot just evolved naturally. “When I first started playing I think my slot was a little higher,” he said. “As I started throwing harder, I didn’t try to change anything, but my slot just naturally fell into where I’ve been throwing the last five or six years. I get good deception and I’m able to maintain my velocity from that low arm slot. “Chris Sale, he’s a lot funkier than I am. He’s got those long arms, long legs. I like to compare my game to Bumgarner. Having him be successful it’s pretty big for a guy like me having pretty much the same slot and similar throwing motion. “I love modeling my game after them. Every time they’re on TV and I have the opportunity to watch them, I’m definitely there watching it, especially Bumgarner. I watch how he sets up hitters, what he throws in certain counts and just watch his mechanics.” Timber Rattlers pitching coach Gary Lucas said Medeiros reminds him of Kenny Rogers, who started out as a reliever with the Texas Rangers but went on to become an All-Star as a starter and won 219 games over 20 seasons. “Kenny Rogers threw the ball low and he had movement and velocity, could change speeds,” said Lucas, who pitched in the majors for eight seasons. “I don’t know if Kodi will turn out to be that, but he brings all that at a young age.” One of Medeiros’ biggest adjustments has been facing more experienced hitters. In Hawaii he overmatched just about everybody as he compiled a 7-1 record with an 0.97 ERA as a senior at Waiakea High School, allowing just 14 hits in 431/3 innings while striking out 83. “In high school I wouldn’t have to set up batters,” he said. “Whatever I threw around the zone guys would chase. Up here you have to worry about moving fastballs in and out. Last year I just tried to blow it past guys and once I got two strikes, I’d try to put him away with my slider. Now in pro ball I have to learn to set up hitters and move my fastball inside and out and be consistent.” Lucas said Medeiros already has become more efficient with his pitches, getting outs early in the count with his fastball. “He doesn’t get squared up a lot by hitters,” Lucas said. “There’s not a lot of hard contact off him right now when he’s in the zone. There’s a lot of ground balls, a lot of off-balance swings against the slider.” One of the highlights of the season for Medeiros came on June 19 when he pitched one-hit ball for 51/3 innings in a victory over the Beloit Snappers at Miller Park. “It was amazing to get to pitch there,” he said. “It was awesome getting treated like a big leaguer. It’s all stuff to look forward to in the future. It kind of gave me that extra drive, just as a reminder that this is what it would be like to play in the big leagues. It was just an awesome experience. I’d love to get to do it again.” Both Erickson and Lucas lauded Medeiros’ work ethic and suggest it will serve him well as he moves up through the system over the next few years. “He’s got the whole package,” Lucas said. “He has everything you want as a coach. He’s got the stuff and he absorbs information. I’m very enthused about his chances and his ceiling.”

Regarding Hader's velocity I am going to share something I had originally posted in the thread about the prospects acquired from the Astros... After some deductive reasoning from details in the article I was able to determine the "recent" outing noted was actually on May 5. Hader was also the pre-game interview guest on the Biloxi radio pre-game show, and it is certainly worth a listen. Chris Harris will have it posted on the Shuck Dynasty blog at some point later this evening.

73 total pitches, 55 for strikes.

2015 East Coast Pro Day Day One Recap July 28, 2015 by Hudson Belinsky 2015 East Coast Pro Day Day Two Recap July 29, 2015 by Hudson Belinsky The day two recap includes details and video of Jason Groome's outing. After attending the IMG Academy in Florida this past year, Groome is returning to New Jersey for his senior year of high school.

Despite the shutout, probably not Jorge Lopez best start for much of the game last night. As Chris Harris noted during the game broadcast he was having trouble getting his curveball to catch the corner for a strike and according to Chris relied on it much less than normal. Still he very much looked the part to me. His clean over the top delivery is so smooth and aside from maybe short arming some breaking pitches, it seemed relatively well repeated throughout the night. Have to mention the defensive display by Biloxi was exceptional last night. Beyond Phillips running to the warning track for an over the shoulder catch as linked above, there were several nice plays throughout the night. Great job by Orlando Arcia on a first inning rundown using pump fakes to tie up a runner he was able to tag out himself. Arcia also threw some absolute BB's to first as well. One great play "that wasn't" due to what I think may have been a bad call was Jorge Lopez bare handing a ball chopped to the 3B side of the mound and throwing a one hopper to 1B in what appeared to beat the runner who was called safe. The best of the night, and the one I was really disappointed MiLB didn't post, was second baseman Nate Orf's incredible play in the 9th ranging to the left side of second base and stabbing a ball that looked clearly beyond his reach, then making a perfect Jeter-esqe jump throw to 1B for the out. Lastly, while Brett Phillips had a forgettable debut at the plate, his bat speed is notable even on the pitches he was swinging through. He swung and missed a fare amount last night, but it appeared like he was ahead of most of the pitches from a timing standpoint. Very much looking forward to following his development over the next month, unfortunately it is tough timing in that the Shuckers won't be on MiLB.TV this upcoming series beginning today.

Baseball America released their Ranking of All the Prospects Traded at the Deadline written by J.J. Cooper. It literally lists every prospect traded leading up to the deadline, so it gives a thorough recap of the talent changing systems. MLB.com published Ranking the Best Prospects Who Were Traded written by Jim Callis. It ranks the top 20 prospects changing systems. Spoiler Alert: Brett Phillips was rated #3 prospect traded by Baseball America and the #2 prospect traded by MLB.com.

LINK REPORT THROWBACK MOMENT ***July 6, 2014*** Soon enough we will be enjoying Brett Phillips much anticipated Link Report debut as a member of the Brewers organization. While it may be the first time he captures the attention of Link Report readers far and wide, it won't be the first time Phillips has left his mark on these very pages. File this under "what a difference a year makes" and turn back the clock to July 6, 2014... VIDEO of the walkoff grand slam VIDEO of the shaving cream covered Phillips' post-game interview following the big moment

Via Fangraphs -- Projecting the Prospects in the Gomez Trade Article

Pedro Martinez would like a word. The guy I first thought of was Mike Boddicker. Not certain how good of a comparison that is, and maybe it's more the Orioles connection. I was a kid when he was pitching, but I remember him as a smaller guy with good control who used deceptive pitch speeds to get hitters out.

You have that backwards, Santana is headed to AAA, and Phillips to AA.

Baseball Prospectus Trade Analysis ARTICLE (subscriber piece) mentions in a recent outing Josh Hader sat 92-94 MPH with his fastball, but touched 97 MPH in the first inning and 95 MPH in the fourth inning.

MLB.com's updated Brewers Top 30 Prospects #2 Brett Phillips #4 Domingo Santana #14 Josh Hader #27 Adrian Houser

John Sickels Top 75 MLB Prospects: Mid-season update

These first year Biloxi fans are getting spoiled this year! The ups and downs of this trade deadline have been so extreme. While there is nothing I would like to see the Brewers add more than top of the rotation arms, I will admit that overall I like this trade better than what transpired last night. I am really happy this is the direction the organization is heading right now. Lots of years of control of some good young players, including one that could become a fearsome left handed bat in the lineup for many years.

One more: @jhader17

See reports the Cardinals traded LHP Rob Kaminsky to the the Indians for Brandon Moss. There have been a lot of promising arms traded this deadline, unfortunately none of them to the Brewers yet.

Have enjoyed trying to keep up with this thread, certainly a divisive topic on this board. While it may just end up becoming merely a footnote in team history, it seems to at least have the potential of either turning out to be a huge break for the Brewers or proving to be a signifcant missed opportunity for the team. I would tend to lean towards predicting the latter, but remain hopeful that another good package is out their in return for Gomez. If the team does hold onto Gomez at the deadline or especially into next season I will be disappointed. I think Gomez is beginning his career decline phase and the extra win or two value he might provide the Brewers has marginal impact on a team that will likely be competeing for 4th place in the NL Central again next season. Would like to see the team turn Gomez into 1-2 young impact players by tomorrow's 3:00pm deadline. Hopefully this deal falling through turns out to be remembered as a silverlining in Brewers history, or at the very least barely remembered at all.

I'm not privy to the scouting report on Anderson, but he fell short of 7 Ks/9 in the minors. He just got shelled, so maybe he's over the "book not out on him" stage in the majors. I'm not that interested, though again, maybe he is an incredible sinker guy or something that I don't know. Here is Kiley McDaniel's preseason report on Anderson... Honestly, he is more the type of pitcher I have been expecting the Brewers to get back, which is why I was pleasantly surprised to see Melvin go after such a high upside arm like Wheeler tonight (albeit an injured one). I really hope they can find another impact arm in one of their deadline trades, but I am guessing at this point it would have to be someone further away from the majors which makes me worry that the Brewers would indeed settle for a lower ceiling, major league ready arm. EDIT: I realize Anderson (or a pitcher similar to him) wouldn't be the primary piece in a trade for Gomez, my point is more that I would rather not get a pitcher at all in the trade than including a lower ceiling close to the majors pitcher that was likely to be a back of the rotation or possible reliever type.

Really curious now to see which guy, Gomez or Wheeler, is the first to be traded elsewhere.