Eye Black

Cubs receive 1B Bryce Ball in return, the Braves #12 prospect according to MLB Pipeline. The Cubs fire sale appears to have commenced.

Trevor Tietz is originally from Watertown, WI and performed well in this year’s inaugural MLB Draft League. This tweet shares some video of him from that experience, Tweet Link.

We will use this thread to track the Brewers undrafted free agent signings. This first post will keep an updated list of the Brewers free agent signings among players that were draft eligible this year. Please use this thread to discuss those player signings including sharing any features or other information on the players. Another good resource is Baseball America's 2021 MLB Undrafted Free Agent Tracker Brewers Undrafted Free Agent Signings Tracker [pre]Name Pos. School Height Weight Trevor Tietz RHP Jefferson CC 6'3 205 Jakob Brustoski LHP Texas Tech 6'2 240 Seth Smith RHP Wake Forest 6'4 235[/pre]

Davis Daniel was an interesting case in that the Brewers drafted him without seemingly having any discussion with the family or advisor prior to the pick. Here’s his dad’s quote from the day following that draft: “We were surprised that the Brewers decided to spend an 11th round draft pick on Davis but we weren’t surprised it was the Brewers because they had paid attention to him coming out of high school,” Daniel’s father Rusty said Wednesday evening. Given Riggio’s experience playing for the Brewers scout team I’ll be sort of shocked if they didn’t work the handshake financials out ahead of time before making that pick. The pre-selection discussions between teams and advisers/family for players taken in the 11th round are the more typical operating procedure.

Under no circumstances whatsoever would the Braves trade the final two months of control of Freddie Freeman, right?

This is completely spot on. If he doesn’t sign at this point then something likely went horribly wrong. McClanahan doesn’t get a lot of mention because his career hasn’t taken off so far, but he received the second highest Brewers bonus payout in the 2016 draft behind only Corey Ray. He got more than Lucas Erceg, and significantly more than other earlier round selections such as Mario Feliciano, Braden Webb, Corbin Burnes, Zack Brown, etc. Even the next year, 2017, they signed two players (Max Lazar and Je’Von Ward) from the the 11th and 12th round for $475k each. Other notable post 10th round signing bonuses include 12th rounder Kory Howell ($210k) and 13th rounder Reese Olson ($440k) from the 2018 draft.

Another Brewers related draft recap at FanGraphs today… The Brewers took a mono-college approach for the second straight year, mixing in two JUCO prospects among four-year guys. It’s possible selecting senior lefty Russell Smith (second round) out of TCU helped facilitate the selection of physical SoCal hitter Roc Riggio (11th) on Day Three. Smith creates really tough angle on his pitches (a Brewer pattern of acquisition), will show you 95, and he executes his changeup with remarkable consistency for a 40-grade athlete. I thought Lousiville 3B/1B Alex Binelas was great value in the third round. He’s reworked his body and added more raw power since his stellar freshman year, but his hit tool regressed. He has a good shot to be a corner platoon bat at least. Duke SS Ethan Murray (fifth) and Minnesota 2B Zack Raabe (eighth) are two well-rounded potential utility types. South Carolina C/DH Wes Clarke (10th) was among the NCAA home run leaders. Fourth round JUCO arm Logan Henderson has a plus changeup, while sixth round JUCO arm Carlos Rodriguez is a plus on-mound athlete with big time arm speed. He’s wild, but has more upside than Henderson.

This Perfect Game article from October of 2020 includes lots of good information and quotes from Rico Riggio who played for the Brewers Scout Team including in front of Craig Counsell: Brewers Scout Team Out to Enjoy the Ride It’s a very long article so I embedded it in a spoiler window below.

The Angels used all 20 draft picks on pitchers, 19 of which were college pitchers. That seems incredible.

Reminder that today’s day three (rounds 11-20) draft picks will be discussed in this thread: Link

From Baseball America on Alex Binelas… Binelas entered the 2021 season as one of the better in-game power hitters of the 2021 class, with a chance to go in the top half of the first round. He has slid down draft boards after getting off to an extremely slow start with the bat and moving across the diamond from third base to first. He went 2-for-31 during the first eight games of the season and around the halfway point was hitting just .212/.317/.424. He did have a stronger finish and hit .256/.348/.968 with 19 home runs, but teams have struggled to look past how lost he looked at the plate early, in addition to a 22% strikeout rate. Binelas does have massive raw power out of a strong, 6-foot-3, 225-pound frame and he distributed his homers from the left-center gap to the right-center gap, with some scouts assessing his raw power as 70-grade. While his career average won’t look great, Binelas’ power output and walk rates are impressive and scouts who like him appreciate his plate discipline and all-fields approach. Teams entered the year hoping he would prove his ability at third base—where he’d shown stiff actions and fringy glovework—but now he’s a likely first baseman. Some scouts think he might be athletic enough to handle left field. Binelas did have a massive, three-homer game against Clemson in the ACC Tournament, which could have swayed evaluators back to his preseason hype, but it seems safe to say Binelas raised more questions than he answered this spring.

They drafted Alex Binelas, can we all just be happy now?

Here is a lot more from Perfect Game on Smith from a scouting report on him after they got an in-person look: Lanky lefthander Russell Smith got the start for the Horned Frogs in the first game of the second day of the event and was superb during his time on the bump. The southpaw went a little over five innings with six strikeouts and only allowed one run, a home run in his final inning of work. He finished with just the one run allowed and a ton of weak contact as he filled the zone up and was in command from the first pitch of the game. Smith is a massive lefthander, listed at 6-foot-9 and 235-pounds, and he has excellent physicality and repeats his mechanics very well for someone his size. There is some funk and deception to the delivery with exaggerated side steps, rhythm, and dipping of shoulders but it's all synced up remarkably well. He strides well with his lower half and the arm stroke comes through relatively compact and from a three-quarters slot. The lefthander filled it up from the first pitch of the game as the first inning was a nice microcosm of what was to come. He threw about ten pitches and got two weak ground ball outs on changeup followed by a three-pitch strikeout to end the frame. The fastball sat 90-93 mph and he held his velocity well throughout. There's plus angle on the fastball given the extreme crossfire lower half landing that Smith employs and it allowed for some poor swings by lefthanded hitters. Both the changeup and the slider were solid pitches for Smith who went to the slider often. The changeup shows good sinking life and arm side fade, though he did have the tendency to drop slot at times on the pitch, and was a neutralizing agent against righthanded hitters. The slider played to hitters of either handedness and got a good amount of chases running away from lefties. There's a strong arsenal as well as a track record of success and the strikes to give him a good shot at starting at the next level. There are a lot of options for the Horned Frogs on an experienced pitching staff and Smith turned in an excellent performance. He should undoubtedly be a key cog in the rotation for the foreseeable future and gives the Horned Frogs another talented veteran to rely upon as the season gets underway.

Aaron Ashby was an over slot 4th round signing (by around $85,000) in the 2018 draft.

Reminder that Brandon Woodruff was ranked #200 by Baseball America prior to the 2014 draft and this was his draft day scouting report… An unsigned fifth-round pick of out of high school in 2011, Woodruff had an uneven three years at Mississippi State. He had a stress fracture in his elbow last year and was expected to become a rotation stalwart this season, but moved to the bullpen after six starts. In the rotation he pitched at 88-92 mph, touching 94. He was at 91-95 mph out of the bullpen, touching 97 at his best. Woodruff primarily uses two-seamers and gets downhill plane and plus fastball life with hard sink and armside run. His best secondary offering is a changeup that shows plus potential. His slider shows average potential but has been inconsistent. He will likely be a reliever in pro ball, but he has the fastball, plus secondary pitch and body (6-foot-2, 231 pounds) for the rotation. He has walked 5.0 per nine for his career and 5.7 this season, with a 1.2 strikeout-walk ratio.

From Perfect Game… 85. Russell Smith, LHP, TCU (4Y) L-L, 6-9/235, Midlothian, Texas Previously Drafted: Cubs (’17) 38 Smith really broke out in terms of his strikeout potential during the season, proving to be one of the more consistent starters for the Horned Frogs. He’s a huge left-hander with a low-90s fastball and a plus changeup along with a quality slider for a third pitch. It’s a starter profile with a strong strike-throwing history along with the experience and performance.

Yep, the Brewers heard the complaints and now the average size of this draft class is perfectly in the middle.

From Baseball America… Name: Russell Smith Born: in Midlothian, TX High School: Midlothian (Texas) HS College: Texas Christian Ht.: 6'9" / Wt.: 235 lbs Bats: L / Throws: L A 38th-round pick of the Cubs out of high school in 2017, Russell Smith is not what you might think. Watch a massive (6-foot-9, 235 pounds) long-levered lefty and you would expect big stuff and little idea of where it’s going. With such a massive frame it would understandably take quite a while for Smith to grow into his delivery. But that’s not him. Smith doesn’t have big stuff—he can touch 94-95 mph but he will generally pitch at 90-92. But he has a very smooth, repeatable delivery with solid body control. And Smith’s fastball plays well up in the strike zone with good vertical movement. It sets up his above-average 82-85 mph changeup which he commands extremely well. Smith throws his changeup almost always down and away to righthanded hitters and he rarely misses his spot. It’s a quality creator of ground balls, but it’s good enough to get some swings and misses as well. His average slider is somewhat sweepy, but he will bury it with two strikes. Smith missed the 2019 season recovering from Tommy John surgery, but he’s otherwise been reasonably durable. Smith seems more likely to be a relatively low-ceiling draft pick, but one who also has a very good chance to be a big leaguer. Whether that role is as a big lefty middle reliever or a back-of-the-rotation starter, his ability to consistently throw three pitches for strikes and attack four quadrants of the strike zone make him a valuable pro prospect.

Peyton Stovall just announced he’s withdrawing from the MLB Draft (Link).

FanGraphs Day 1 Draft Recap article had the following about the Brewers draft… KG: Milwaukee was generally expected to be in on the college arms, but it’s fair to say that they didn’t expect Frelick to be there at 15, either. This is a great value pick that also fits well with the way they draft. Black is another big college performer who was rumored to be in their mix in the first-round, so taking him in the comp round was a no-brainer. EL: Milwaukee is doing exactly what they did last year: taking good value college bats. We had Black with the Brewers at this pick in an iteration of our final mock but were told he’d likely go before that, so this was a steal of sorts. Frelick should at least become a viable piece but may not have everyday player power.

Take it for what it’s worth, but Frelick was the best hitter two years in a row in the wood bat summer league he played in. Looks like he also hit 10 home runs in 265 plate appearances (229 at bats) in that league.

I wonder if peak Adam Eaton isn’t a terrible comp for what you hope Sal Frelick becomes? I think with the addition of Frelick and Black the Brewers have some exciting hitters in their early 20s that are going to put a lot of pressure/stressful at bats on opposing pitchers as they work their way through the minors.

So did Keston Hiura his senior year. I’d take college strikeouts versus walks with a very small grain of salt. Well sure, always take college stats with a grain of salt. That being said, Sal Frelick and Tyler Black both had identical 10.4% strikeout rates for their college careers. Keston Hiura had a 16% career strikeout rate in college and since appears to have altered his swing to hit for more power. Ironically MrTPlush, Frelick sort of reminds me a little bit of Nyjer Morgan, although it appears Frelick should have more power to drive it to the gaps for doubles.

A couple of observations… 1) Going back to last year the Brewers have now used 7 straight draft picks on college position players. 2) Frelick and Black are going to put the ball in play. High contact oriented approaches are something the big league team has lacked in the past few years, so it’s good to see players with that profile being added to the system.

Reminder that we are posting information and scouting reports for each player the Brewers draft in the Draft Pick Selection/Signing Thread