Playing Catch

I've been saying it for years, and we see it all over the sports landscape... Bad ownership = Bad teams Good ownership = Good teams Attanasio is a good owner because the proof is in the pudding. We hear it in his interviews. He wants to win. He values the fan experience. He spends time talking about hiring "good" people. Valuing "good" people, at every level of the organization, from front office staff to the players and their families. He values their contributions outside of their impact on the field. Now I'm sure there are stories behind the scenes where some individuals have felt differently, but from my vantage-point, he is not a stereotypical greedy multi-millionaire, he's a guy who values people and communities who happens to be a multi-millionaire. Those people DO exist.

I know it was a late Friday night game, but I'd recommend fans go back and watch Priester's performance at Dodger Stadium. It was one of the best pitching performances from a Brewers pitcher this season. I don't think there's anything controversial about saying that. It was really, really fun to watch. His sinker was unhittable. He was dotting all four quadrants. 10Ks in 77 pitches of shutout ball through six innings. 4+ pitches (I think he threw a changeup a couple of times). Seeing how excited he was talking to Hook and Henderson in the dugout after being pulled was fun to see, too. Judging body language is dumb, particularly after the adrenaline-rush brought on by dominating the greatest team ever assembled, but he looked like a player that saw what his big-league future COULD be. If one were to only have watched that game, they would come away feeling like Priester is an ace, and one of the best pitchers in the game. He should be brimming with confidence and belief that he can become just that.

Joey O finishes it.

Great job by the bottom of the order to put pressure on the Dodgers. Just beautiful design, and strong execution. Brilliant managing by Murphy, too. Durbo and JoeyO leading the way.

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They are shutting out the Dodgers and we can't just let Murphy breathe? My gosh, this crowd!

Just dominant. Movement and location.

Fischer is a better prospect, but I don't think the gap between him and Burke is as great as people think. Fischer clearly has a little more defensive flexibility and well-rounded toolkit, but Burke's hit tool and overall athleticism is better than people give him credit for. If he looked like Fischer, I think Burke would have more support in the scouting reports.

Mods feel free to delete/merge/rename this thread. I wasn't sure where to post general thoughts on the draft... Firstly, BF's motley crew of baseball nerds and draftniks deserve a ton of credit. I've never seen such a positive first impression of a draft class in BF's history, and I think that it is in no small part to the efforts of that group, (along with the Brewers' FO's run of success, of course). Thank you so much for your insights, as they are not only informative, but I believe they help to mitigate the hottakeism that can take hold of the boards at different points in the season. It seems clear that the Brewers once again, have decided on a draft strategy of saving a little draft budget on some of the big picks in order to be able to spread the wealth to over-slot guys drafted later on. This makes sense, based on their recent run of success. In addition, the "Brewers' Type(s)," of prospects are continuing to be defined, making it -- perhaps, easier to spot prospects of those types in the draft pool. Fischer is certainly similar to the Wilken and Burke draft decisions, as is Cairone, if compared to Knoth, or Meccage, as a draft pick. And like a cold Ginger Ale on a hot summer day by the Jersey Shore, there are clearly other tasty identifiers sprinkled throughout the draft as well. I HAVE to think that the Brewers reputation for developing and promoting players to the big leagues is a fundamental consideration for players, agents and families when thinking about signing an under-slot deal, otherwise the Brewers wouldn't be able to pull it off with regularity. I also wonder if drafting "unsignable" guys gives the Brewers leverage in negotiations as they have fallback options. I'm excited to follow another draft class as they play their way to minor and major-league success!

When you put it like that...

Are you suggesting that merely standing still on 1st base isn't the ultimate goal of winning baseball games?

I can hear the boardroom-style conversations over there in recent days... "Holy crap, did you see Misiorowski's two starts?! Where is he on our list? WHERE?? Have we just ignored the Brewers or something, who else is too low??" "Quick! Get an update out there so we don't look stupid!" I'm not actually that cynical. I'm sure they are looking at performance and simply changing their numbers on the scouting scale. But I do harbor a lot of cynicism for the lists themselves, and their creating false equivalencies in our minds (i.e. the 50th ranked prospect looks 50% better than the 100th ranked prospect, and 50% worse than the #1). I realize that most of us here know better than to look at rankings that way, but most of us resort to such mental shortcuts from time-to-time. The bottom line is that the Brewers have a dozen guys that could be on someone's "Top 100". Also, I thought it was interesting that BA's list only differs from BF's by switching the places of Made and The Miz.

? I disagree with both points. One, that defense-first is a recipe that won't work, and your implication that the Brewers only draft those guys. Clearly, the Brewers are in the business of winning on run prevention, so drafting with defense in mind is probably an effective organizational strategy. And Wilken, Boeve, Adams, Bitonti, Burke, Dinges, and Adamczewski (among others) don't scream "defense-first."

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I haven't dedicated any time to looking at the draft yet. Is there still hope this could happen? I saw his interview on MLB Network with DeRo, and I am convinced he's gunna be a star.

I was going to PM @Brock Beauchamp, but then thought maybe other subscribers had the same question... Do our subscriber benefits extend to the sister sites, or are there other crossover perks?

In season's past I would worry about this as well, but these days, it just seems like the Brewers are able to "replace" that lost roster value with other players of the same ilk... a' la Ike Collins, Caleb Durbin, Eric Haase, Blake Perkins, Monasterio, Daz Cameron, Quinn Priester, Chad Patrick, Tobias Myers, Megill, Koenig, Mears, Anderson, Zastryzny, Andrew Vaughn, Anthony Seigler... I mean the list goes on and on with the Brewers success at getting great value out of "40th men". I'm not disputing that the Crew messed up with Smith, but my gosh, they've earned a heckuva lot of runway with their decision-making on the roster's periphery.

Durbin had two nibblers toward 3rd this weekend which really highlighted the Brewers playing small-ball to perfection. The best way to beat the big teams? Take away their FIP by putting the ball in play, and forcing their sub-par defenders to make play, after play, after play.

Someone likes soccer... edit to add: apparently not a soccer-term, per se.

Great point.

As the OP seems to be near the Twin Cities, and the topic (kinda) is great beer stands, The left-field corner at the St. Paul Saints modern minor league park is great. It's also just a great park, overall. The Twin Cities, and Duluth combine to offer a lot of excellent regional beers, so the Saints' beer garden is awesome. I live nearby, so perhaps I'm partial, but I would choose a Saints game over a Twins game 80% of the time.

Anyone else notice all of the Cubs fans in Busch Stadium this week?

Certainly a legitimate take. I appreciate your conviction.

It's a really, really annoying injury. I'm glad, though, that it doesn't require surgery. Maybe he'll return to the Fall League this season and rake, putting him in line to compete for a starting role in 2026?

I wasn't sure my question was worth its own thread topic, but is anyone else a little concerned about the International FA 2025 class? We've been spoiled, I know. But I'm also really greedy when it comes to stacking prospects. I realize some of the pitching has been interesting, but the organization pulls pitchers out of the ether.