Playing Catch

He's got charisma, a "good face," in scouting parlance, a recognizable name, a gold glove. He's "controllable". There are a lot of selling points to convince a fanbase that you got a real player in the deal.

I mean, the scouts could also have been there watching... Manuel Rodriguez Dylan O'Rae Matthew Wood Josiah Ragsdale Mike Boeve etc. If my team acquired one of those guys in some trade for a reliver or something, I'd be stoked.

I tend to agree that typically the Frelicks of the world end up as platoon/4th OF guys, but he also seems to demonstrate so many of those intangible soft-skills (hustle/attitude/blahblah) that are really nice to have on a roster, as well as those "soft" baseball skills, like being left-handed, a good thrower, a good baserunner, takes long ABs and works pitchers (at the detriment to the rest of his offensive game, but still). Even though I don't think he could headline a trade for Soriano, he probably has more value than we Brewer fans realize, as we take for granted all of those baseball-y skills.

Batters have challenged strikes that were two-balls inside the zone. I guess that means they could just as easily see what the ump saw, and miss a ball that 6 inches out of the zone. The situational awareness, I think, will improve across baseball, and will improve for most players the more and more times they get burned by their decisions.

I think you all are worried about nothing. He's not hurt. He's not reporting pain. He wasn't on the IL. He's NOT HURT. There's been a few times where he's reported being "fatigued". There will be plenty of time to worry about the implications of an injured Miz... when it happens. And guess what? When he gets hurt, he will be irreplaceable. There is nothing the team can do to mitigate his risk of injury when playing baseball aside from him not playing baseball... which is exactly what he was NOT doing in the 5th inning yesterday. When I watched Murph live last night and he used the word, "concerned," I interpreted it as a live-time description of how the manager is watching the game. Murph was doing a play-by-play of where his mind was at during the game. He was "concerned," the way he'd be "concerned," if Asby's mechanics were out-of-whack. Sure, he's concerned about the physical risks associated with throwing out-of-whack, but he's also "concerned," the way a manager is concerned that his starter is about to get lit up.

One aspect of acquiring Skubal that I don't think we've really touched on, is his contract. It's not that teams can't or won't acquire him, just that it will be a significant factor in what a trade may look like. The Tigers are a good operation. I'm guessing they would eat money in exchange for quality of return.

Perhaps the "vulture" role should enter the lexicon.

Let's be serious for a sec. The league could run a 29-team draft of the Brewers system, and Strosnider very possibly wouldn't be picked.

Your recollection makes me wonder if a lot of the old school, unwritten rules about baseball developed out of a culture where players had to police themselves --- just like on the playground. Whereas for over a generation, now, kids learn to play in highly structured environments where childhood rivalry, and the emotional responses they can evoke/provoke, aren't emotions that need to be as developed while playing baseball. They learn the sport through increasingly structured, safe environments, where those behaviors can be discussed openly with adults and contextualized through the adult lens of competition. Additionally, however, the younger generation of players grew up in less "safe," environments, or perhaps, less structured spaces, like the classroom/hallways/cafeteria/neighborhood/home, and of course with their online interactions. Online interactions that often include being the target of observation. I assume that this impacts the generation's willingness to push boundaries/step out of line, both due to the polarizing response demanded by their social networks, but also with an eye toward future royalties earned with having a top-notch K-score*. The whole generation can "respect" chasing eyeballs with celebrations, while acknowledging that there are still "rules" (e.g. acts of celebration involving teammates are okay, gesturing toward the opposing dugout, not okay). Rules that have been established through learning from the youth levels on. *Unless you are like Bryson DeChambeau, and your K-score is directly related to challenging convention.

This is purely anecdotal from my following the Brewers and the league generally, but also through fantasy, but it seems to me that more and more teams are avoiding doing back-to-back outings with younger, less established, prospect-y arms, and using releasable guys to pick up the slack, day-to-day, series-to-series.

Both are very high picks. If they played in the Angels system, there's zero doubt in my mind they are both "top 100".

What phrase would the parrot learn first?

Who's on first.

I think saying "Made or Pena types, etc." is disingenuous, as if Made and Pena represented the same tier of prospect. I will predict that Ryan gets traded this window for a prospect package that features a lesser prospect than Jesus Made. Pena? Sure.

- I think Burke is more likely to play for 10 years in the Show. I think Fischer is more likely to become an All-Star. - If a healthy Skenes for Made were on the table, both teams should take the trade, and neither would.

It seems to me the opposite-field approach, with power, is becoming increasingly common across the system (I noticed Bitonti and Dinges both doubling opposite field yesterday), and across MLB. It would be easy to prove/disprove with some kind of organizational spray chart. My pet theory is that ABS has narrowed the zone, allowing guys to get to their oppo-power with more regularity, and MAYBE even allowing teams to mess around with what guys can get away with as hitters. In my hypothesis, guys like Garrett Mitchell and Andrew Fischer are somehow able to sustain 30%+ K-rates because of this. Fewer popups to the corners, more plate coverage (with power) on both heaters and offspeed. If they are only striking out on in-zone pitches, the K-rate isn't as much of a problem, because they would be avoiding K's and tappers out-of-the-zone. But I'm just a fan making observations.

Slippery slope? It's one man making a decision. He can say, "sure," today, change his mind, and say, "no" tomorrow. There isn't any dangerous precedent being set. My goodness. I mean...

I think Joe Ryan would be an excellent target to trade a good prospect for, as you would have him under team control next season as well.

MLB has to change the rules again, cause it looks awful for the sport, that apparently, there is such a shortage of pitching talent in the world, that there's just no arms left. It's really, really dumb. Just add two, tree pitching taxi spots on the roster. Daily activation can switch out fresh arms for tired arms, or have dedicated legacy pitchers on the roster. Recent retirees or something... Or at least make position players throw real pitches. It has to change.

It's true. They will be needing as many dollars as possible to keep the next core around during their pricier arbitration years.

Who is going to take over the Yelich contract in 2030? What about Woody's next season? That's what a lot of Brewers should be asking themselves, considering the upcoming CBA could help the Brewers hang onto a respected veteran star. I think they are probably too old to consider for a THAT big of a deal, but it seems like either Turang or Contreras would fit the bill. (And it would be hilarious if the Crew signed Freddy this offseason). I agree with Jopal's whole take. They won't trade Wild Bill now. They might trade him this offseason, but I doubt it. The upcoming CBA will determine a lot of things with how things go. That may mean a rather static trade deadline, or a wild one, who knows.

Thanks for sharing this. I think it makes great sense, and makes it easier to understand those numbers.

I agree that it's pretty unlikely, for all of the well-discussed ideas above. I don't, however, agree with those that think it would be impossible that neither one could be a better offensive option in September than any player Fisher or Made could be traded for. Their ceilings make them difficult for a small-budget team to trade, for that reason. They're really legit prospects. It would be aggressive to promote them, of course, but those kinds of moves have been happening more often across the league with prospects of their caliber.

I love it. One could make a decent argument that those numbers tell a more significant story about the Brewers organization than anything individual prospects accomplish.