Austin Tatious

I'd give Jungmann a look. Last time I looked, I think he has under a 3.00 era at CS, which is saying something.

This is not a knee jerk reaction but something I've warmed up to for a few years now. The NL should switch to the DH. Sure, it's not "pure" I suppose. But, pitchers are a different type of athlete. They aren't really set up to hit or run the bases. If we accept that, we can accept them not hitting at all. There is a loss of a bit of strategy. That's unfortunate but outweighed by other factors, including the makeup of pitchers as athletes and the quality of play.

Broxton is one of the most bizarre hitters I can remember. He can't handle straight pitches down the middle. Bizarre.

This ump has been all over the place all night. Inconsistent as can be.

I'm glad Garza was kicked out of the rotation. It's completely the right decision. I was hoping for it. And, no, I wouldn't pick up the $5 million for 2018, even to trade him, unless we have a deal in mind pre-camp (and, frankly, why would we). He's a progress stopper for younger arms at a minimum. I am pleased the organization made this decision. Next step, hopefully we don't sign someone of his ilk again.

I haven't checked on his velocity, but Barnes looks like he has lost movement. I wouldn't use him in a leverage situation unless I absolutely had to. The Brewers are probably a reliever away unless they want to use someone from the system.

Honestly, after Burnes, this may be the next guy.

I like the Walker move. I'd be inclined to see if we can get him to extend for two years.

I think the Brinson injury concerns are fair. I've thought the same thing but still am high on him as a prospect. Having Phillips helps as he can step in. I agree with the sentiment that you have Braun, Brinson, and Santana with Phillips getting a lot of AB's in all three spots. Perez is the Swiss Army knife as another guy. Longer term, don't be shocked if Lutz and Harrison are out there. Love those type of draft picks. Very high upside high schoolers taken in the top 50. You miss some prospects going for those guys because of risk. But, when they pop, watch out, you can get an impact player. There is a lot of nice upside potential overall in the system among these guys and hopefully some others. As for Broxton, I think he may have some value. I'd have to look around MLB to figure out needs, but some teams may covet his skill set and hope that, as a developing player, he tames his valleys, even a little bit. I wouldn't say "he is what he is" yet.

I wonder if Taylor can be in Milwaukee from the jump next year. I've been really high on him and hope he can fulfill his promise.

There is some promise when you look at the lower levels, like a Mario Feliciano, Peyton Henry, and maybe even KJ Harrison. Feliciano got off to a hot start and leveled off, but I think he is only 18 years old in class A. He's young and may have gotten worn out. If he builds up, he has a shot. Peyton Henry was a kid out of Utah preps that I was excited we drafted in 2016. He has nice tools. KJ Harrison is interesting. He has been highly touted even coming out of high school. He does nothing but hit. But in college, he did not catch as much as some of the initial rankings anticipated. The question is whether he can do the job defensively. If he works hard and puts the time in, you never know. I'd agree that I would love to see a premium draft pick and/or high value international signing here. Catcher is a tough spot to fill and having a two-way catcher is a huge plus.

I like Dubon as a prospect, but more as a backup if Arcia or our 2b (Diaz, Hiura, Walker) go on the DL. It's nice to have a quality guy who can fill in. Now, he only has 17 extra base hits. He has a nice frame and I think he will fill out so I expect these numbers to improve.

Good post, TJ. I enjoyed your analysis and found it interesting.

Gatewood up to Biloxi and playing 3b. Huge vote of confidence for him on both fronts.

Braun is up to .295 and a .919 ops. That was a blur. Not long ago he was around .257 or whatever.

Wow, time flies. Hard to believe it's been eleven years since Koskie was here. A fun (and tough for me) game is match whether two guys were teammates. Like were Looper and Koskie teammates? I honestly didn't remember and had to look it up. They were not.

In the dictionary under AAAA player, there's a picture of Andy Susac. Kudos to the Giants for correctly evaluating their own talent. I still have hope for Bickford. He needs to lay off the wacky tabacky or find a sub to provide his samples. I've got a buddy who played B1G football and that's very typical at that level.

Great job, guys. Been busy and overlooked it, so I missed the chance to participate (my first miss in awhile). Anyway, the list looks rational. Of course, any one of us would disagree at spots but that's the point of putting down the collective wisdom, which is quite instructive IMO.

I'd say Ray is way too much to give up for Verlander's contract. I also would have a guy like Monte Harrison as a no touch. You could work something else out.

I missed the first couple of innings. Maybe he was nervous at the beginning. But, from where I saw, I thought he had very nice movement. This is why you don't trade these guys. In other news, that TB stadium is an eyesore. The crowd was an embarrassment. I hear there are factors like it's location but you have to wonder if keeping a team there is sustainable. I'd be looking at Montreal or Charlotte or a couple of other spots. What we saw last night is not major league worthy in any way.

Love BA. Listen to other out of town announcers. We have one of the best. The Cubs' TV team are buffoons, as an example. Lepay is like a substitute teacher and is a huge let down when he's there.

I didn't listen to him, but I'd be curious about that. Swarzak does look like he's a nice pickup in a mission critical spot.

Jimmy is getting tremendous movement and his command is really good. I couldn't be happier with him. He's who we thought he could be. I could be wrong but I don't see him falling off a cliff. I think he's a guy you write down in ink now with the expectation of being a solid starter. I know people like to dub him a three or four starter. I think he's more like a two.

Well, we will all find out. JJ has a great chance to be the poster boy for showing a guy who ends up playing better in environs where he is more comfortable. Speaking only for myself, I'm a big believer in situational performance. In the NFL, for instance, you can get numbers on QB's and how they perform on 3rd down, in the fourth quarter, on final drives, etc. Some guys thrive and some don't. In baseball, it can be things like batting average with runners in scoring position, hitting performance after the seventh inning, hitting with two outs, etc. Not all stats are equal. Sure, you can try to run numbers to compensate for conditions such as ball parks or the theoretical idea of taking luck out of the equation and factoring in seeing eye singles. Maybe it's not just luck. Wasn't it Wee Willie Keeler who said "hit 'em where they ain't?" Just like numbers under pressure mean something, so can the comfortability factor. It's no given with JJ, but I like the risk/reward factor that our coaches may be able to tweak him because they've been successful with him as recently as last year, and/or because he's comfortable here and able to perform.

I have no idea what was on the table, but I'm glad we didn't overpay for anybody. I'm in the stay the course camp. I'd be pleasantly shocked if we win big this year. Meanwhile, we have Hader, Woodruff, Ortiz, Peralta, and Burnes coming by 2019, with a number of other prospects like Medeiros, Ponce, Diplan, Taylor Williams, Devin Williams et al. Not all of them will end up being studs but there's enough there to see you'll have some starters and relievers on the near horizon. I can't recall a period in Brewer history with that amount of young pitching talent, in numbers, even if there doesn't appear to be a Sheets or Higuera in the mix. On offense, I think you'll see Hiura on a fast track and be up here by 2019, and he will hit. Arcia is looking legit. Santana has been all we could ask for. Brinson and Phillips look really interesting. These guys will all have growing pains, but if you combine the numbers in pitching we have with possible position players, we can be quite balanced. The early 2000s group coming up had more high level position player talent bubbling up but lacked the pitching depth. As for the Cubs, I don't remotely believe they are invincible for the next five years. I think a number of their position players, while good, are overhyped. And they will need to spend beaucoup bucks to keep them all. I like where we are. I don't think there is any precedent in our past that should make is concerned. If anything, history tells us we are in a better position. I agree with the fear of losing Stearns. I hope Mark A is proactive and spends to keep him here. He's a New Yorker and I fear the Mets or somebody trying to nab him. Extend him.