Jump to content
Brewer Fanatic

Playing Catch

Verified Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    2,047

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    12

 Content Type 

Profiles

Forums

Blogs

Events

News

2026 Milwaukee Brewers Top Prospects Ranking

Milwaukee Brewers Videos

2022 Milwaukee Brewers Draft Picks

Milwaukee Brewers Free Agent & Trade Rumors, Notes, & Tidbits

Guides & Resources

2023 Milwaukee Brewers Draft Picks

2024 Milwaukee Brewers Draft Picks

The Milwaukee Brewers Players Project

2025 Milwaukee Brewers Draft Pick Tracker

Store

Downloads

Gallery

Everything posted by Playing Catch

  1. Playing Catch
    I agree. I hadn't realized that the CF/2B stuff was completely non-existent this season. I have to think the Brewers believe that he's their 3-bagger of the future.
  2. Playing Catch
    Is Eric Hosmer a healthy free agent? He's only 33.
  3. Playing Catch
    Oh, certainly they are built to win with pitching and defense. But in terms of the lineup and, dare I suspect, clubhouse chemistry, I feel like there is too much pressure on Adames and Yelich to be the dudes. If those two switched personalities, then I think the team would be in good shape, but no one on this team is saying, "jump on, I'm driving this bus". Burnes has got that taken care of for the pitching staff, but even some washed up guy like Eric Hosmer, or Nelson Cruz could let the other hitters exhale a little bit.
  4. Playing Catch
    I have a completely unsubstantiated theory that the Brewers have become a destination club for players. A good reputation throughout the scouting/agent world. If true, Player X may decide to take a small discount to play for the Brewers instead of a club that has a lousy reputation. Presumably the Brewers wouldn't be the ONLY such club. Obviously, the Yankees, Dodgers, Astros, etc. also have excellent reputations, but those teams, too, would be more likely to stash you in the minors as long as possible.
  5. Playing Catch
    Nothing groundbreaking here in a Rosenthal piece for the Athletic. Paywalled. But clearly topical... Rosenthal: A year after the Josh Hader trade.
  6. Playing Catch
    This seems like a better spot than the optimism thread... Bring up Misiorowski? Best stuff in the minors? Check. Never enough pitching in bigs? Check. Have him in long-relief like Burnes/Woodruff/Peralta? Check. Monitor workload? Check. Master the changeup? Check. John Smoltz once said that pitching out of the bullpen allows guys to tinker with stuff and practice new pitches. The Brewers pen might be the perfect spot for Jake the Snake to cut his teeth. This would give the Brewers important info going into this offseason, too. Allows them to get a sense of Misiorowski's timetable to the bigs when considering trading Burnes/Woodruff. Also, the Brewers pen would have to be on a shortlist of nastiest bullpens in MLB history, even though they may be a little wild.
  7. Playing Catch
    Per the concerns for Adams, Fangraphs nailed it with part of their assessment. Paraphrasing, they state that he's a stiff lower-body athlete with an unconventional swing, but a good "sleeper bat". That's dead-on. I'd make him do yoga all off-season and start smoothing out the swing.
  8. Playing Catch
    If he got called up, it would be a tough call. I guess they could move Wiemer, but Joey is probably the superior CFer. Frelick in left, Yelich to DH? Taylor/Tapia platoon in right?
  9. Playing Catch
    Pretty fun run of boxscores lately! To my untrained eye, Frelick looks just a tad more upright than in the past. I suspect the Brewers have been doing their thing with him, in terms of trying to coach power (I guess LaBoeuf suggests that a little in the article). Also, Luke Adams is on a track to be #18 in all of baseball, not just on BF. I'm exaggerating, but not by much.
  10. Playing Catch
    150k is a significant increase from 50k. Probably enough to entice a number of high schoolers who don't relish the idea of going to college, OR entice those that want to pay for college.
  11. Playing Catch
    Haha, I just posted I'd be interested in Blackmon and Moustakas in the other thread.
  12. Playing Catch
    Weirdly, two guys I don't want would fit the bill pretty well... McCutcheon and Justin Turner. Carlos Santana? Pham? Rendon? Moustakas? Charlie Blackmon?
  13. Playing Catch
    I'm not sure what will happen, but SOMETHING will happen. I just can't imagine a scenario where Oinker is on this team after the deadline. With this said, I can't help but feel (baseball is decidedly superstitious) that whenever he's gone, this team is going to go on a run. There is so much addition by subtraction with these upcoming decisions. Toss the Jonahs overboard, get healthy, and add some positive vibes, and they could go on a run. Which hitter, regardless of current statistical output, would bring a big, positive presence to the heart of the order/clubhouse? This team is lacking an identity.
  14. Playing Catch
    I absolutely think they knew he was their best defensive option, but I think they only intended him to be a stopgap before optioning him a month into the season (perhaps for Frelick). I was just stating his defensive curiosities to express that he's still very much scratching the surface of his ability, and that it's fair to expect his overall game to get better, while also acknowledging that his hitting has been a concern for those of us (like myself), that see a future all-star player in there somewhere. It's certainly possible, and perhaps even probable, that this is what he is... an uber-athletic player that never hits enough to be a starter, and never takes instruction seriously enough to get better. I was a little concerned that when asked who he looks up to he said Hunter Pence, because Pence also did things, "his way". Of course, maybe Brewers instructors have been coaching him to "be himself," and "allow [his] athleticism to play," I dunno. I guess my overall point to that post was that while on first blush, it's crazy to think trading him would be "selling high," perhaps our Brewers-colored glasses have us more optimistic about his growth than we should be. But whatever, I love having him on my team so much. I'm convinced that he's gunna do something special every time he comes up to the plate, and every time a flyball heads in his direction.
  15. Playing Catch
    It's probably worth its own thread, but I've been thinking about this a lot lately. It seems like in recent seasons, baseball is paradoxically a pitching-dominant game, but that there's never enough pitching. Teams are trying to combat 3TO with unhittable pitches in the zone (most relievers), OR by having elite command to pick the corners (mid-rotation starters). Teams like the Brewers stock up on any guys that have 1.5 plus pitches and options, and stash them on the 40-man. THOSE types of pitchers flood AAA. They represent a lot of swingman starters and backend relievers with control issues. AAAA hitters feast on these guys, but can't hit in MLB. I still think triple-A has "better" competition for young hitters. Double-A may have more "talented" pitchers, but usually they have control issues. Hitters that rely on taking walks tend to struggle a lot more at the higher levels if they are unable to do damage in the zone on a consistent basis. (Sorry to derail the thread, and these are just mullings, I haven't yet formulated any strong opinion on this).
  16. Playing Catch
    Jackson ChourioSal FrelickJeferson QueroJacob MisiorowskiRobert GasserCarlos F RodriguezAbner UribeTyler BlackEric Brown JrLuke AdamsLuis LaraLogan HendersonMatthew WoodHendry MendezBrock WilkenCooper PrattDaniel GuilarteRobert MooreJustin JarvisJosh Knoth I maintain that I prefer tiers to rankings. There just isn't that much difference between the 20th ranked prospect in baseball and the 120th. Same can be said for the Brewers prospects. I also have a strong preference for performance, and players closer to MLB, rather than scouting reports and projection because when one looks at established MLBers' minor's performance, they very rarely have poor minor league numbers for full seasons. Tier 1 - Chourio Tier 2 - Frelick, Quero, Misiorowski (only because Frelick and Quero have already had success in AA, Misiorowski will pass them soon and join Chourio in Tier 1). Tier 3 - Gasser, Rodriguez, Uribe, Black, Brown Jr., Adams, Lara - I'm not as high on Black as others are, but if he finishes the season strong, I'll be a believer. I LOVE Adams, and while many questioned EBJr. as a draft pick, I'm high on him as well. I think Lara has seperated himself from many of the other youngsters. Tier 4 - Everyone else, including prospects 21-40, many of whom are simply too young/inexperienced for anyone to properly rank them. But I'm very excited about several of them!
  17. Playing Catch
    I'm the opposite. I like EBJ more than Wilken. I think EBJ's first round skillset is about OBP, barrels and the ability to stay at SS. But talk me into it; I WANT to believe! Who are some recent vintage NCAA power bats that have made it to MLB?
  18. Playing Catch
    While I agree they wouldn't be WS favorites, it would significantly improve the team. If the Brewers suddenly traded for 2022 Aaron Judge and 2008 Sabathia, I think the rest of their roster, especially the pitching and defense, would be plenty to expect a big run in the playoffs. The thing about Ohtani is that if there has ever been a "sure" thing to give your team a shot at a World Championship, Ohtani is it. Prospects come and go. Babe Ruth is forever.
  19. Playing Catch
    I suspect the Brewers are having these internal discussions about Black. Some of the arguments against bringing him up... 1 - Disruptive to his development. They look at him as a long-term piece 2 - Starts service clock earlier than ideal 3 - No guarantee of success. If he fails miserably, does that set him back? 4 - He needs to play (in the field) every day and they can't do that at MLB-level 5 - 40-man roster crunch/who to remove from 40? I will acknowledge that while I'm hopeful and optimistic that Black will be a good player for the big club in the next couple of years, I'm not as bullish on him as the rest of the board. I think I'd just prefer to use our platoon utility bats that are already on the 40-man in the 1B/DH role... Tapia/Jones/Urias/Miller/Perkins. I just don't see Black outperforming them in that role this season.
  20. Playing Catch
    Dansby Swanson didn't have a wRC+ over 100 until his age 26 season, and that was Covid-2020. Javier Baez didn't have a wRC+ over 100 until his age 25 season. Nico Horner (a good Turang comp) not until his 3rd season, age 24. Looking through stats for elite defensive CFers, though, (A) there's not many of them, actually, and (B) most of them hit better than Wiemer in their first year or two, so perhaps a hypothetical trade WOULD be selling high, but I don't think so. The eye-test shows one quite clearly, that he's still learning, and has a long ways to go to smooth out the rough edges of his game. He makes up for all of his shortcomings with sheer athleticism. He takes banana routes to fly balls, he throws from his heels instead of on the hop, his set-up and swing need a ton of refinement. Had it not been for injuries to Mitchell, Taylor and Frelick, Wiemer may never have even been in a position to be an elite defensive CFer, and he would have been able to smooth out his offensive game in AAA this year. I believe that Wiemer and Turang will both improve offensively, and be elite defensively for a long time. However, time will tell if they ever realize their potential to have a couple of all-star nods or gold gloves.
  21. Playing Catch
    Now, more than ever, if someone retrospectively looks at top 100 picks in former drafts, they need to consider the entire draft, not just individual selections. Case in point: if in a year or two, some poster decides that our front office never should have drafted Eric Brown Jr., or a number of others because they flame out and picks for other teams succeed, said poster should remember that Misiorowski had the biggest bonus of the draft. The same very well could be said about this draft. I don't want to come back here in a few years and have to defend the Wilken pick because he ends up not making it to MLB, when Chase Davis is raking in the Cards system, if at the same time, Bitoni and Pratt are having success. Individual picks cannot be criticized in a vacuum.
  22. Playing Catch
    My suspicion is that if they decide to trade him, the Angels will get at least 2 prospects the caliber of Chourio, Misirowski, and Quero, kind of like the Scherzer/Turner trade. If I'm the Angels' GM, I just don't think you can trade him for guys that *might* pan out. They gotta get sure things.
  23. Playing Catch
    This is all correct and astute. Coming into the season, many of us probably felt that Wiemer's floor was lower than that of Mitchell and Frelick, but his ceiling is probably higher than both of them... If his now-established floor is "competent MLB starting CFer," well, he's got nowhere to go but up.
  24. Playing Catch
    I hadn't considered Luis Urias as a trade candidate, but he would certainly look valuable to the right team. Hiura, too, of course. Toro, Perkins. Those players have all proven to be MLBers, just probably on non-playoff teams.
  25. Playing Catch
    Burnes is nothing if not transparent. I also think that anyone that has questioned his dedication and professionalism in light of his comments about the arbitration hearing were misjudging his comments. I think he's one competitive SOB. If I'm correct, he probably rubs people the wrong way from time to time, but he wants to win.
×
×
  • Create New...