Playing Catch

I actually wonder from time to time if they "help each other out". It would make some sense, actually. Even if it's a little collusion-y.

With the trade-deadline approaching, I'm checking in on the longer-term plans for the division. The Cardinals rotation can't ALL be healthy the WHOLE season, can they? That rotation was put together to contend THIS season, not next. I have to think they're looking for rentals and perhaps try to sign a couple free agents this off-season. They're in pretty good shape, salary-wise. Other than Arenado, Contreras, and Gray, no one else is committed long-term, but they are currently merely $1M shy of last season's record high opening day payroll. The Cubs are in a weird spot, both now and in the off-season. I understand that they are committed to a number of players for the foreseeable future, but should they be? If I'm Hoyer, and I'm punting on 2024, I think I would consider a more significant re-build. Not because they need more prospects or young players as much as they just need different players. Their lineup is filled with decent or better starting major league players, but obviously, the combination of players isn't working. Replacing Wisdom, Morel, one of their outfielders. They need a catcher badly. I just don't see a bunch of winners there. Both Taillon and Hendricks are signed through 2026. At $214M, they are currently sporting their record-high opening day payroll. The Reds need more pitching and to get healthy. I have to think they'll be better next season no matter what. They are $36M under their record high opening day payroll in 2019. The Pirates rotation is scary good at the top, but any sort of injury issue there, and what else can they lean on to scratch out wins? A good bullpen, I guess. They are $14M shy of their record-high opening day payroll in 2016. The Brewers have been beat-up with a below-average starting rotation all season, and their bullpen hasn't been lights-out, but their lineup has been collectively strong. It is hard for me to imagine that the Brewers won't be better in 2025. William Contreras and Megill are the only significant pay increases next season as they will be in their first arbitration season. They are currently $28M under their record high opening day payroll from 2022.

I like that approach, and agree that is the typical tack for developing hitters. But I would presume that for 17 year-old hitters, the development team would be a bit more hands-on. If the coaching staff is literally not providing any criticism or feedback for a 17-year-old hitter, I would argue they aren't doing a very good job coaching.

I generally agree that major overhauls are often a fool's errand, but for a 17-year-old, kid's just starting his journey. a tweak here or there for the next 4 or 5 seasons, and voila! a major overhaul. Also (*non-scout caveat*), I didn't think Payne's swing was so odd that it would require major changes. Just seems a little flat, and that he's been coached to get out of the box as soon as possible.

I agree with that spot being a lefty, but I kind of like having different styles of hitters throughout a lineup. I don't like having 3 consecutive strikeout-prone hitters in a row, for example. It doesn't need to be Frelick, but I do like a guy there that's gunna lean on the pitcher, go into deep counts, foul pitches off, and put the ball in play.

Oooohh, this is an excellent question. Essentially promising guys "perks" for signing. Not unlike old-school college football recruiting. I have to think that teams have done this before, and that MLB has controlled for it in some way. It could even be accomplished by some kind of internal memo from the Commissioner's Office, "Hey guys, we see what you're doing and you've got to knock it off, or we'll need to add it to the next CBA, which is annoying for all of us."

I respectfully disagree. Certainly he's getting a lot of guys out by strikeout, but he's walking a TON of guys, and giving up barreled balls really, really often. p.s. for the stat-nerds --- is the percentile rank simply based on a ranking of players? Or is it controlled for statistically? What I mean is while Kopech is in the 88th %ile for Whiff %, does that mean he's in the 88th percentile of pitchers, or the 88th %ile of Whiff %? As in, beyond one standard deviation from an average Whiff %? (Forgive me for my lack of education. I never took a statistics class, and I think I'm missing out on things, probably asking a stupid question).

I totally agree with this. I do not understand why some posters are so enamored with him. He had nearly negative 1 WAR last season, and if he wasn't just throwing BP innings, he'd be pushing that number again this season.

Following the AZ and DSL games is getting... boring? It's so predictable. Every day it's the same thing. Jose Anderson this, and Jesus Made that and whatnot. Throw in another couple of SBs from Pena. It's like clockwork.

Wow... Pratt is 19 going on 29. Very mature in the interview. Seems grounded, but with big goals.

I mentioned it in the other thread, but the drop-off between #17 and #25 was more than $1M. (A) That's a lot of bonus money to play with, and (B), in a draft that's tiered at #15-60, it's silly not do go underslot at #17. Also, we don't know if some players insisted on being signed at "slot value". That would possibly eliminate many of the guys that we were looking at. I dunno. The vagaries of the draft slot value system are myriad. There's not much sense in trying to make sense of it all.

If accurate (not questioning you), that's late first-round money. I didn't realize that the slot values dropped so precipitously. In some ways, depending on the team's draft "board," it would be silly not to try and sign guys underslot at #17. This all depends on the specifics of the draft, but many outlets said that the drop-off between 15-60 was negligible. And if you were a team drafting at say, #22, that's a whole 'nother HS pitcher's worth of value.

My buddy had an extra HR Derby ticket in the Target Field luxury boxes behind home plate the year Minnesota hosted. It was a novelty, and fun. But the night will burn in my memory forever because of a social foible. Walking into the park that night, I saw Frank Thomas doing some kind of "pregame" spot on TV for the derby. Later, after having a couple drinks in the box, I went to the restroom and walked right into Bud Selig and Frank Robinson, and I say, "Nice to meet you Mr. Thomas." He looked at me kinda funny and kept walking when I realized my mistake. I felt so stupid.

Considering the thread, perhaps he thinks each pick was daft and overly optimistic.

Being that announcers engage in Homerism, do you think Edmonds's criticism then, supports the "Cardinals Way? Is he reflecting the values of his team and his fanbase with his criticism, or is he merely expressing a personal opinion? Do you believe those values are shared by the Brewers and their fans? Do you not agree that Edmonds is a tool?

You're correct. There is nothing wrong with expressing annoyance at celebrations. However, he does represent the Cardinals in the booth, and as such, he is a conduit for highlighting the "Cardinal Way," which is generally characterized by criticizing players from other teams for expressing joy for on-field exploits (as contrived as that can be these days), which is exactly what he did. My question is, do you believe that the "Brewers Way," if you will, would NOT be annoyed at such contrivances? Or rather, do you believe future Brewers announcers would be allowed the same leeway to express their annoyance at opposing players for expressing themselves? Also... Jim Edmonds is a tool.

So what you're saying is tomorrow all of us will still be refreshing our browsers seeking out the next Bishop Letson? I'm okay with that.

If there is a pattern that I'm seeing so far is that the pitchers they are drafting all look identical. They are of average height, they have athletic builds, and have beautiful deliveries --- not sure if that's Molina or not. As for Dinges, I have to think that they have intel on his ability to catch. FSU had a senior Buster Posey Award Watch List starting catcher, so perhaps Dinges has real catching ability... but of course, perhaps not.

This phenomenon happens all of the time, and in all sorts of ways throughout society. Now certainly, the debate can be the fun part (e.g. LeBron is better than Jordan, or Turang should be in the AS game instead of Arraez). However too often this debate based on rankings twist their way into our collective consciousnesses enough that people begin to argue that things are objectively true. That Player A ranked at #20 MUST be better than Player B who is ranked at #60. It's like ranking your favorite songs of all time... Like really, you want me to decide between "Rainy Days and Mondays," by the Carpenters and "The Joker," by Steve Miller Band? Can't they both just be "good songs"? For those of you that get upset with this stuff, you should take a look at Fangraphs, "The Board". You may be surprised that not all scouts see Travis Bazzana as being destined to have a 65 grade hit tool, like MLB Pipeline.

Edmonds played 70-some games for Milwaukee late in his career... Do you think him saying something like that would "fly" if he was in booth with Jeff Levering in say, 2027, or do you think the Brewers would boot him? Obviously the "Cardinal Way," gets under the skin of many fun-loving Brewer fans, but do you think the Organization feels the same?

Who knows how it will work out, but let's say he signed for $2M under (roughly the equivalent of the 35th pick)... Then, let's say they sign 4 players for 2.5 million each? (roughly the equivalent of having four comp-round picks). Would that be better? Perhaps. That might be where the value is at... but I have no idea. Like others have said... after last year's draft (and international scouting), this organization has earned some BF-bucks.

Very chalky so far.

You guys are all talking me into Brecht. Both in terms of whom I may be interested in, as well as whom I think the Brewers could draft at #17. I think my opinion is changing because (1), the Brewers top paid draftee two years ago was Misiorowski, which demonstrates that the Brewers like (and draft), big arms with big stuff, and (2), that Misiorowski's control has improved a lot lately, giving me, and perhaps the Brewers' brass, more confidence that they can improve Brecht similarly. I think any other guy they pick will be at a discount (~$100,000).

Nice write-up... Knoth is 18 until August. Bitoni is 18 until November (!)

I disagreed with Murphy's decisions, or lack thereof today. Pinch run Capra for Bauers, pinch hit Hoskins for Monasterio, pinch hit Chourio for Frelick. I didn't mind Perkins batting. Very disappointed. I think the Monasterio bunt decision was excusable, even if I didn't like it. Once he decided that he wasn't gunna pinch hit, he was going to try to stay out of the DP. Okay fine. But I don't think Frelick batting in a one-run game is excusable. It's a mistake, period.