The stache

This post is just full of fail. First of all, I did not forget Lorenzo Cain. He was never a Top 100 Prospect, and I have not included prospects that failed to reach the Top 100. Otherwise, I would be stuck in this topic forever. We traded 3 prospects that were ranked in the Top 100, or soon would be: Jeremy Jeffress (#100 prospect, 2009), Jake Odorizzi (#69 prospect, 2011), and Alcides Escobar (#12 prospect, 2010). So, again, you're wrong. Again, see my last post. You seem to have this fixation that MLB players (and by that, you mean MLB players on the 25 man roster) and prospects are mutually exclusive. Until a player exceeds the threshold for rookie status, a player can still be both a Major League player on a 25 man roster, and a prospect.

Sigh. You are 100% WRONG. When everybody else is telling you that you are wrong, maybe you should consider that you do not know what you are talking about ?! A player being on a Major League Team's 25 man roster does not in any way preclude them from being listed as a prospect. From MLB.com's Top 100 Prospect page: To summarize: A player can be considered a prospect when they have rookie eligibility. A player has rookie eligibility when they have not exceeded 130 at bats, 50 innings pitched, or 45 days on the active roster of a Major League team (or teams) during the 25-player limit period. Ergo, a player can be on a Major League team's 25 man roster, and still be considered both a rookie and a prospect. Capiche? Did Escobar exceed the referenced 45 day limit? The 40 man roster for the 2009 season began on September 1st. Alcides Escobar was on the 25 man roster, first being brought up on August 12th. From August 12th to August 31st is 20 days. He did not exceed 45 days during the 25-player limit period. Answer? No. What about the 130 at bat maximum. Did he exceed that? Escobar had 4 at bats in 2008. He had another 125 at bats in 2009, for a total of 129 at bats. Answer? No. So... -He hadn't exceeded the number of days (45) on the 25-player limit period. AND -He hadn't accumulated more than 130 at bats. Therefore (gasp), he was still considered a rookie prospect prior to the 2010 season! Now... Organizational rankings are done by Baseball America prior to the start of the season, in very late March or early April. They do not do them again until the following spring. So, when scouts discuss a team's farm system, it is based on start of the year talent. It would be impossible for scouts to adjust their farm system-talent assessment with every player trade, every promotion to the Majors, and every injury. So, let's now examine your assessment that "the Brewers had a bad farm system" immediately before acquiring Shaun Marcum and Zack Greinke, shall we? First of all, let's review the Milwaukee Brewer prospects that appeared in Baseball America's Top 100 for the 2010 season: Alcides Escobar #12 Brett Lawrie #59 Mat Gamel #89 And just where did Baseball America have the Milwaukee Brewers farm system ranked out of 30 teams? http://imageshack.com/a/img841/9167/g81k.png Thirteenth, a year after being ranked 10th. Want to look for yourself? Here's the link: http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/2010-organization-talent-rankings-9739/ You'd have to log in to see it, so you need to be a member. I don't know what analysts you were talking to, but we had 3 excellent prospects with others that would make it into the top 100 the next season. Escobar was one of the elite prospects in baseball, and Gamel soon would be, as would Lawrie. Stop this untenable argument, and just admit you are wrong. Because, well, you are. The Brewers farm system was held in high regard prior to the parent club's acquisitions of Greinke and Marcum.

He got lucky. I had Teheran going, too. And just for good measure, I had Alex Wood in one of my pitcher slots, so I got a double whammy. My starting rotation looks good: Felix Hernandez Shelby Miller Wily Peralta Julio Teheran Yu Darvish John Lackey But thus far, they haven't been performing as well as I thought they would. At least, they're not getting a lot of wins. Poor offensive support.

No, we aren't. Not even close. You're dreaming. Which franchises have better Major League talent than Milwaukee? Off the top of my head? Washington. Los Angeles. Detroit. Boston. Baltimore. Texas. St. Louis. Atlanta. I'd take the Major League talent those franchises have over Milwaukee any day of the week. If we're talking organizational talent, that list grows quickly. Braun, Gomez, Peralta, and Lucroy are stars, or are stars in the making. Segura and Davis have potential. Segura showed it in the first half last year, as did Davis. They're struggling in their second go round. Time will tell if they can figure it out. Ramirez and Gallardo are nice players, but both are on the decline. Ramirez can't stay healthy anymore. Gallardo is having a nice start to the season, but his velocity is down. Who else do we have that is so talented? We have nobody at first or third anywhere else in the organization that one can point to and say "they're coming". Jimmy Nelson could be good. Tyler Thornburg has shown flashes. Tyrone Taylor and Orlando Arcia are the two guys in the minors I really want to see in two years. But compare those guys against a team like the Marlins. Even Miami compares favorably to our team. Giancarlo Stanton is the best power hitter in the game. Jose Fernandez is the best young pitcher in the game, and will be when he comes back from Tommy John. Christian Yelich is a stud, and he's going to win batting titles. And they are loaded with young talent-Marcel Ozuna, Jake Marisnick, Andrew Heaney, Justin Nicolino and Colin Moran. No, we did not have a bad farm system. Keep reading, and be enlightened. Hiandtight mentioned the following players: Wily Peralta Brett Lawrie Jeremy Jeffress Mat Gamel Jake Odorizzi Alcides Escobar Here is where they have been ranked in the Top 100 Prospects in baseball, per Baseball America (bold designates ranking with another organization): Wily Peralta 69 (2011), 56 (2012) Brett Lawrie 81 (2009), 59 (2010), 40 (2011) Jeremy Jeffress 100 (2009) Mat Gamel 34 (2009), 89 (2010) Jake Odorizzi 69 (2011), 68 (2012), 92 (2013), 67 (2014) Alcides Escobar 19 (2009), 12 (2010) Also: Matt LaPorta 23 (2008), 27 (2009) Manny Parra 72 (2008) So, again, I bring this quote back into play: Between 2008 and 2009, the two years before our trades for Greinke and Marcum, we had six players that ranked in the top 100 prospects in baseball. Your contention that we had a bad farm system is patently false. In fact, we had 4 elite (top 50) prospects in Matt LaPorta, Alcides Escobar, Mat Gamel and Brett Lawrie.

Is Herrera our new Yuni Betancourt? The guy is in his third season, and he has a career -0.1 WAR. How is it every year we manage to find playing time for one scrub that shouldn't be on any Major League roster? He can't field. He can't hit. He has no power. What does he bring to the Brewers?

Can we at least hit a ball out of the infield in the ninth?

Can we get Braun up with a few guys on base, and Grilli on the mound...please?

I didn't catch the first part of the game. Is this a typo? Khris Davis walked?

Now Roenicke comes out. Thanks for making an appearance, Ron. We were getting worried about ya. I'm not going to be hard on Rodriguez tonight, because he's been pretty much perfect through 1/4 of the season. But let's hope we can chalk it up to one of those nights.

HA, HA Stache, I had both Wily and Liriano going for my teams. QSs yes. A W? Nope. Really needed Wily's W more than Liriano's though. I had Peralta and Braun going tonight. Nice to have a power bat back in my lineup. Braun and Bruce have both been out. Stanton has been carrying my offense. Good God, how is Herrera a Major Leaguer? Can't hit, can't field. He had no idea where that ball was.

What a complete waste of a gem by Peralta.

Of course, Peralta throws a gem, I start him, and get no decision. Thanks, Brewer offense!

Jeff Bianchi is in the lineup, so that isn't true. You're right. I stand corrected. They have 75 at bats between them this year, and not a single extra base hit. How is that possible?

Really, Herrara leading off? The worst hitter on our team, and he's atop the lineup.

What is it with professional sports teams in Wisconsin (not including the Bucks, who are hardly professional)? The Brewers and Packers get injured more than any two teams I've ever seen. Ingrown fingernail, x player is out two weeks.

I was shocked to see how well Bradley's done this year. I agree he needs to be moved up to AA.

Ya, Juan Francisco's bat would look pretty good, at least coming off the bench, if not starting at first. Another genius move by the Brewers front office.

I realize that we've hit a bump in the road lately. Braun goes on the DL, our offense disappears. Coincidence? Maybe. But Brauny should be back this week. Hopefully, too, our mojo will return. Let's all send positive thoughts to Miller Park. Let's send some good mojo in the direction of Aramis Ramirez. Hopefully he remembers how to hit. Let's all send positive thoughts to Khris Davis, who is pressing right now. Hopefully he remembers that sometimes a walk is a good thing. Ok, a lot of the time, a walk is a good thing. Let's allsend positive thoughts to Ron Roenicke. Hopefully he figures out that you do not need to use nearly the entire bullpen when you have a five run inning. We will turn this latest cold stretch around. We didn't have the best record in baseball 30 + games into the season by luck. There's talent on this team. But with so much of the game being momentum, this team just needs to get a little good momentum back. I believe they will. Now, excuse me. I'm going to turn on ESPN, and watch some more of the Johnny Manziel love fest.

Do we know any mad scientists that can combine these two guys into one? Never mind, with the way our luck has been going as of late, we'd end up with a punch and judy hitter than can't get on base.

It isn't indisputable, because we don't have the best record any longer. Brewers 22-13 .629 Tigers 19-9 .679 We have the most wins, but not the best record.

Ouch, 2-6 in our last eight. I'm really trying to find something positive. Have you guys got anything positive I can look to on our day off?

Pretty sad. This lineup absolutely blows without Braun.

Crush one, Mark. Please.

Gomez was hitting .520 on first pitches. But he was also hitting .211 in high leverage situations. I just think he'd be better off making the pitcher work a little. See if the home crowd screaming doesn't get into the pitcher's head a little bit.

Unbelievable. Hey, Carlos. You don't have to swing at EVERY first pitch. Good God.