Austin Tatious

Gilbert Lara all the way up to .250. He's got really nice momentum headed into next season. Maybe he's ready for Appleton next season.

Agree with everyone else. I liked Cordell a year or two ago when I thought he had a shot at 3rd. But since he cannot play third, he's essentially a Meh. We don't know if he's any better than a Nieuwy except Cordell isn't really a cf and is already physically advanced. If he becomes a quality 4th OF, that might be a victory. If Brinson becomes a stud cF and Ortiz becomes a solud number 2 or number 3 starter, then Cordell as a fourth OF would still end up being a useful piece if he can get there.

I had this sense that Perez is a competitive kid with a mental toughness about him. Sure enough, he is above .300 with RISP. You can win games with this guy, and he's only 25.

Having aggressive assignments does not answer the development question at BC by a long shot. You have guys like Coulter who were a mess there and figured it out, ironically, at a higher level. A pitcher like Ponce has not been good and that's not an aggressive assignment for him. Rijo is below the Mendoza line. We can make excuses until we are blue in the face. Some of Medeiros' peers (high school arms taken in the first round in 2014) like Sheffield and Kopech are far surpassing Medeiros at the same level. Diplan and Peralta may have moved up young, but they arguably did what they needed to get up to high A. You can look case by case and find excuses, but it's a fair question to analyze the group as a whole. No one here is trying to fire anyone, but you can look at a particular coach and see how they got through to a body of players. If they all foundered, despite having some high picks to work with, then you have your answer to that particular coach/instructor. There is very little media on these issues (other than a guy like Charlie Greene being commended), so it's tough for us to analyze it, but I am sure that Stearns and Flanagan are studying it. The analysis should not be limited to BC by a long shot. I grant you that. The pitchers at AAA have a tough draw but many of them went bananas to the downside. There is a way to attack it there as even Jacob Barnes pointed out, and it has not been handled well there at all. Nottingham and Phillips lost momentum at AA. Some of the Wisconsin and Helena guys have been slow learners.

Player development needs a long look, obviously. All you have to do is look at each coach and instructor and see who they were responsible for, and assess improvements for those players, keeping in mind the player's profile and how they did before and after. I'd start with BC. The typical hitter is at like .180 there, and the pitchers are beyond foundering. It's unacceptable. I am not saying Helena, or Appleton are fine. Just that BC is striking.

http://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/columnists/tom-haudricourt/2016/08/06/haudricourt-did-brewers-get-enough-texas-trade/88318510/

He issued an apology yesterday. I thought it was a step in the right direction. Even if his representation wrote it for him, he must have endorsed the content and point. He's upper 20's now, and not some young kid out of high school. Hopefully he's going to "get it" now.

9-20 since Lucroy was traded. The trend is we are headed for the third pick.

One player who is pretty unsung is Troy Stokes. He's acquitting himself nicely.

Medeiros was pitted against Justus Sheffield today. Kodi was taken twelfth overall and Sheffield was taken 31st overall, both lefties in the 2014 draft. Michael Kopech is another out of high school who went in the thirties that year. Whether it's scouting, draft decision making, and/or player development, that is a major face palm at this point. The difference in the numbers between Sheffield and Medeiros is astounding. Kodi has a live arm, so all we can do is hope he ever can develop command and then come close to, or even surpass his draft peers. He's got time.

Cravy crushed that lol. I think it was the first pitch. His eyes were huge, he just jumped all over it and got it perfectly.

Yah it's dissapointing as it seemed he had changed and was a great story. Unfortunately it appears not a single thing has changed. I am sure he was drove drunk many times before just never got caught. I am not sure what made me sick more...the fact he nearly hit another car multiple times or the fact he literally handed over his Rangers ID thinking he was entitled to something. At this point very glad he is gone and someone else's problem. Like always though I hope he can change his ways. I never wish bad things on people who make mistakes, but I sure won't be sorry for him every time he does something stupid. +1. This is disappointing. We are human and people make mistakes. But, there is no excuse or defending this when you can hurt innocent third parties. He urinated all over himself for crying out loud. He must have been really trashed. Anyone knows better. Throw the book at him and wish him to get better. Handing over his Rangers card is offensive. Big deal, you can throw a baseball. You're not better than anyone else or allowed to put people's lives in danger because you're selfish and decide to drive wasted. No excuse.

I'd be interested in looking at Pina and Susac at catcher next year. Nottingham with his double digit errors and double digit passed balls can get another crack at Biloxi. He's still young. Martin does seem to have a leadership charisma about him. I don't just mean because he will cold cock someone in a fight. He's got a toughness and presence about him that looks obvious (without me being in the clubhouse). Sometimes, these traits can be significant even if not quantifiable. It's not the same thing at all, but as analogy, the Bucks allowed Dudley and Pachulia go, and their record fell off a cliff. Pachulia does not have Monroe's stats, but he defends and does the little things that lead to wins. It's different because Martin can't hit a lick, but we may miss some of the chemistry issues. Having said all that, I would like to see Susac up here and Pina can hit.

I like Hernan a lot. Like everyone else, I wish he walked more, but he's a tough minded competitor. I was thinking the same thing about Villar at second and Perez at third. It may seem natural that way, but it occurs to me that the situation could be flipped, with Perez at second and Villar at third. I'm just not ruling it out that way. Perez can play second. I'd trust the staff to figure out which one goes where. Perez played some first the other day. I wasn't watching but if I heard correctly, Rock and BA were saying Perez did really well at first. The guy has really made himself into a nice piece, and there is still some potential upside to go. Scooter to me has some good qualities but I just don't see him as a winning type of ballplayer. When we are hoping to compete, he's not the guy.

The Brewers have an out of whack propensity to pull games out at home. But there are a ton of road games the rest of the way. Teams are still bunched and I think we can get into the Top 5. Let's hope.

You are right, the bickering is not good and I apologize for my role in it. Whether I liked the pick or not, Ray is part of the Brewers future and we all hope he becomes a stud. I did say some positive things about Ray above. We are all here rooting for Ray to be a major success, that's the important thing.

When your critique is invalid and your expectations are unrealistic, don't be surprised when folks come back at you. But sure, we can agree to disagree on Corey Ray. You obviously did not read my two posts carefully. I suggest you re-read it next time, before you respond.

I wasn't directing anything at you Adam, but the people who pretend to be obtuse. My two posts above are self-explanatory and I have no inclination to further expand on something that is already clear. In general, the posters that create straw men, feign misunderstandings, or add meanings that were never said is what I'm responding to. Beyond that, I am fine with agreeing to disagree. There's no reason to get emotional about what others say if it's the slightest bit critical or setting expectations.

It's not really that complicated, as you guys are purposefully making it. But keep pounding your head against the wall. It's entertaining.

I think Ray is a great kid, based on testimonials and seeing him in interviews. He is a gym rat and loves the game. His intangibles are outstanding. He's up to .230 now after a slow start. His typical teammate is at .180. He's on an upswing so I could see him closing out at .245 or so. He can't show power at BC. But, all things considered, including questionable at best coaching, that's a fine start all things considered. Then he can spend an off season making adjustments and start next year at High A but get promoted to Biloxi by say June 15. He will then likely hit at Biloxi, and maybe solve the extra base hit issue. He closes next year at Biloxi and then by June 2018, he's ready. While this seems to offend some of you, I doubt there is much in my assessment that Tom Flanagn would disagree with.

Making excuses for your top 5 advanced college bat is unbecoming. His comps are raking. Thars what he should be able to do. Own your pick. You think you got the right guy, let him prove it, which he should do. Lowering expectations and making excuses before he even fails is a negative mentality. When you earn a top five pick for inept suckitude, the fan base wants a payoff with a high end prospect. Drafting a guy and then immediately making excuses for why he may have a slow improvement slope, when all the top college bats the last couple of years have ascended, shows a complete lack of confidence in your guy. The odds of Ray being a slow developer and then trickling up to the majors at age 26 and then being a standout are slim to none. If he's a slow developer, you're looking at a mediocre player. That's not what we drafted at fifth overall. We want our Andrew Benintendi. Unless you want to keep watching the Red Sox compete every year, while we look for our next Kodi Medieros.

It's not going to take Ray in particular three years to make it. That's a description of an average ball player. We aren't looking for Ray to be average. He has the expectations associated with being taken fifth overall. He's going to have the expectation to bounce more than one level in a year as the top prospects do. Ray will be expected to start at A plus and move up to double A next year and rake there. Once you're successful at double A, then you're on your way rapidly. The same could happen for Clark although, as a high school bat, you'd be on a longer schedule. He's already up to .250 at A ball. Once it clicks in, he will move too. Fellow top 5 pick Nick Senzel put it well: http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2016/08/nl-central-notes-bell-peraza-senzel-capuano-nolin.html?fv-home=0&post-id=71006

Good news on Santana. I hope he's done with the relapses and we get a good look at him the last 4-5 weeks of the season. It'd be nice to see him in the middle of the order and see if he can be a run producer. I want to see more hustle out of him too and less of the low energy.

Interesting list. Notable to see Tristan Beck way up there. He pulled out of the 2015 draft but then the Brewers took him in the 34th round. He'd already told teams he was going to Stanford but could have potentially gone late first round. Sounds like it worked out for him. He's likely going to go high in the draft and he's getting a Stanford education. JJ Schwarz at 8 is big time. If you google him, there's a ton of publicity on him, including comparisons to Buster Posey, another catcher who went high. There are mixed reports out there on whether his arm is strong enough to catch. But he's an impact middle of the order bat at a premium position which is right on point. I'd give him a hard look before I'd ever take a mid rotation starter. Jeran Kendall and Schwarz are both going to be studs.

He looked safe. I wonder what the rationale was? I'd like to see an explanation. Maybe his hand skimmed over the plate but never touched it. The replay folks in New York see what we see so they obviously had some reason.