Playing Catch

"He has better range than Ortiz, and perhaps a stronger arm." I find this very difficult to believe.

Focusing on the target, instead of the hypothetical return, Jeremy Pena would be a really good target, IMO. He's a plug & play, everyday shortstop on an arby 1 contract. He would instantly stabilize the entire lineup for at least the next calendar year --- which very well could be how long it takes to properly develop the young infielders. He wouldn't be cheap, but you could flip him again in the offseason, if one wanted.

I have no data to back up my personal hypothesis... The Brewers lineup is usually pretty "deep" in the sense that even most of the poor hitters take professional ABs (Perkins, Collins from last season, etc.). They are pros enough to make the pitchers execute in multiple ways, which is hard to do consistently. Ortiz isn't one of these guys, for whatever reason. So, when opposing pitchers fail to execute, or even choose to pitch around a guy like Perkins, they can relax and just pitch to K, which most pitchers are comfortable trying to do. Or even pitch to contact with 2 down, because compared to the #8 hitter, Ortiz just isn't much of a threat. Against Ortiz, pitchers can just use their best one or two pitches over-and-over because Ortiz is EASY to execute against. He is always a battery's plan B, which they are pretty comfortable using. So basically, my hypothesis is that the Brewers' #8 hitters just take really professional ABs. edit to p.s. - So basically, Ortiz is the least hitter in the lineup. Brilliant analysis.

I mentioned it in one of the ML threads, but to my untrained eye, Lara has a little juice from the left-side this season. Can anyone here confirm/deny? I don't know where to find AAA statcast data, and I'm scouting merely as a long-time fan, never as a coach/scout, so I don't trust my observations. His swing from that side just looks really natural. If true, it certainly puts him into the conversation for one of the Perkins/Lockridge spots. If not, then I think it's probably for the best to let him have the full season in AAA to build on his profile.

Bat Speed - Elite Bat Control - Elite Batting Eye - Elite It's really something. I never dreamed they could produce prospect-Chourio+. Unrelated, but I can't remember the last time Nashville did a cross-promotion with Milwaukee. I've always felt like Nashville can't believe they are playing 2nd fiddle to Milwaukee in the org chart.

Anyone find a nice link to a list of guys? Here's the Spotrac List. I think it's hard to predict at this point because we really don't know what they're going to need, or what the team will look like near the deadline. I don't love hammys, hamates or thoracic outlet syndromes. In addition, it looks like a lot of those expiring contract guys are on teams that hope to compete this season. There aren't a ton of obvious options from 2nd division teams. There are a number of pitchers, there, but not very many hitters that I think would be so demonstrably better than their internal options. I guess Yandy Diaz would be a good target(?)

How long until the Front Office pulls the plug? I think Ortiz has until about May 15th to demonstrate he's the best candidate. I think his developmental door has basically closed, so I feel like May 15th is about the time when one can be confident that it's not just a slow start for an improved Ortiz (if indeed he has improved, which would be a dubious claim). I've felt that the team has been patient enough. He has such a gifted defensive skillset, you really want to give him as long of a leash as possible, which they've now done, IMO. His transition to the bench has already started, what with Hamilton getting as many innings at short as he has. So far, Hambone has looked passable there, to me. But in more of a David Eckstein kind of way (sheesh. Eckstein is 51. I feel old).

A beautiful box... Milwaukee Brewers vs Toronto Blue Jays Box Score: August 28, 1992 | Baseball-Reference.com

Lara's stroke from the left-side is certainly smoother, and more loft-oriented than from the right. If he can consistently get barrels like that, then he very well could offer something different than Perkins.

I'm not a big hard-salary cap guy, but I would like to see something like a 3-year window that caps Free Agent Spending over that span. Most of those Dodger guys could've received similar deals from other teams, so it's not like you're restricting total salary, but rather trying to more evenly distribute the top talent.

This is basically my thought as well, except that I'd keep Patrick in the rotation, and put the kids in the 'pen. Push Ashby/Hall up the pecking order, and let the kids piggy-back with Harrison/Sproat/Miz.

I'm not arguing, because I don't have any authority on the topic, but I really liked his defense in the 2 or 3 games of his I watched. I thought his range looked good, both laterally, and in/out. I really liked his hands and arm-actions from various angles. I thought he looked like a future average, or better shortstop, defensively. I'm considering that he's not only 19 as a hitter, but as a fielder, too, of course. I also think, due to Oneil Cruz's recent foibles in the outfield, that any comparisons to him defensively, will come with a negative connotation attached regardless of their similar prospect-y profiles. It doesn't help us out as evaluators, either, when our direct, real-world comparisons defensively, are with Ortiz, Turang, and the thread's namesake, Pratt.

The way the Brewers have countered this has been with an abundance of positive-WAR contributors (i.e. quality depth). But so far, those backups have largely struggled. 2 of 3 outfielders and 2 of 4 infielders have been dreadful so far. and ALL 4 of the newly acquired Sproat, Drohan, Zerpa, and Woodford have been bad or at least underperformed. Taken another way, if a team needs established guys to step up during times of injury, Frelick, Perkins, and Ortiz, have NOT stepped up. And if a team needs new guys to perform like the old guys, Matos and Rengifo haven't performed either. Add it all up, and you have an 8-7 team. Which, now that I've typed all that, doesn't seem too bad considering the circumstances. But the injuries have both demonstrated the need for depth, as well as how fragile depth can be. None of us like to accept the impact of injuries, but really, if even just one of Chourio, Vaughn, or Priester had started the season healthy, they could have switched a couple losses into wins.

Sure. The Nats may still suck. Or maybe Skenes held them to one run over 6. The Nats scored 4 on the bullpen after his departure*. But results --- good or bad ---- and most stats at this point in the season are still pretty unreliable as an indication of how good/bad the teams are, particularly with pitching, as one bad start or one blown save can really mess with the numbers. So, if I'm using my own limited eye-test, I'm mostly concerned about two things. The health/depth of the 'pen, and the focus of the position-player group, who I think have let an inexperienced staff down at times with inconsistency. Contreras and Sanchez have certainly done their part at the plate and behind the plate, fulfilling their roles with aplomb. But I've been disappointed with some of the details with the rest of the group. Sometimes they make incredible plays, and take really impressive ABs, and then other times they've been sleepwalking or pressing. * (probably not the thread to go on and on about other teams), but based on my subjective, and I'm sure flawed eye-test, the Nats position-player group is much improved from a year ago. You could see hustle and effort and team-focused approaches. Maybe Butera is special?? I don't think I would have hired a 33-year old, sheesh. And on a related note, I thought all of the opposition, to date, have played pretty good baseball. Clean baseball. Hustle baseball. it's probably the worst time of the year to play young teams with no playoff expectations in the White Sox, Rays, and Nationals.

Me too. I'm worried that the league has made up a lot of ground on whatever the Brewers magic was. Or maybe just more comprehensive scouting on how the Brewers win games and how to counter it. It's also very possible that the Nats are just that much better than they were a year ago, and the Brewers got sucker-punched while they were already feeling weak. Last season started really slow, too.