Austin Tatious

Man, I hope Braun didn't tear anything or have structural damage.

What are Wilkerson's and Suter's status relative to the 40 man? More particularly, do they needed to be added in the Fall to avoid being subject to Rule 5 designation? I'd like to get them a look because those are two guys I would like to see in Milwaukee next year.

1. Nice to see Wang performing well. 2. The BC box scores are hideous to look at. That's an example of a spot where the instruction and coaching needs heavy scrutiny. With the big league payroll down sharply for a couple of years at least, spending some money on player development and international signings would be wise.

Great job by Reilly organizing, shepherding, and calculating the results. Many thanks. It is not my list but I like the concept of collective wisdom. I'd consider this collective list favorably over any media lists out there.

Very sad situation. Princie and Braunie together in their primes together was a sight to behold.

Thanks for posting the rules. So, we get (1) six players, and (2) only one below double A as of August 1. I didn't pay attention to the date Coulter moved up. Anyone know if it was after Aug 1? It'd be interesting to see if they focus on guys on an upswing (e.g., Woodruff) and/or guys who need a boost (Phillips, Nottingham). Hader went last year, and Woodruff is kind of this year's Hader, so he would not surprise me unless there is a concern about his load. Below AA, I'd imagine that there would be a concern about guys being overmatched and not messing with their confidence. You could consider Ray but he's had a ton of pressure this year and may just need to re-charge. Maybe Ponce if he is healthy, since he missed time earlier (unless they think rest is important). I could see Isan Diaz because he's on an upswing and the challenge may be interesting to watch. Unlike Ray, Erceg could probably use more work as he has not had nearly the burdens Ray has. I can't see the likes of Medeiros, Devin Williams, Gatewood or Monte. Overmatched. Shot in the dark, but I am going to guess Woodruff, Ponce, Phillips, and some relievers.

Wheeler AND Conforto (let alone only one of them) would not be as good as Ortiz and Brinson, based on age and years of control alone. Plus, our guys may have better upside but we will have to see. I realize we also had Jeffress in the Texas deal, but that could have been manipulated with the Mets. It will be interesting to see how Chang, Meija, Allen, Conforto, and Wheeler will end up doing as compared with Ortiz, Brinson and our third piece. I suspect we will be happy with how it turns out. We still need a top flight catcher, though. If we had traded Lucroy for Mejia, Chang and Allen, we do not know whether we could have then traded Jeffress for Ortiz (hypothetical). I liked the focus on getting top flight prospects rather than quantity of lessers.

My ideal first baseman is a left handed run producer. You can get that type of bat in the outfield too, and occasionally on the other side of the IF but 1B is ideal to get that production. The rest of the infield has guys that throw right handed. Some guys, like Scooter, throw right but bat left and that's fine. But, typically, you want the run producing type at 1b, and give yourselves a left handed stick. After that, you want a guy with length who can (a) be a big target for the infielders, and (b) can stretch out to try to beat some runners on some flash finishes to the bag. Guzman fits much of what you'd like to see at 1b. The real question is whether he is the guy who hit in a hitter's paradise in the TX league and is ranked fifth in the Rangers system after being a bonus baby, or is he the guy that scuffled for a few years in between at lower levels and was ranked 20+ in the Rangers system.

Count me in the group that wants to see Peralta in the pen. If his mindset is to get through an inning or two at the most, he may approach things differently. Some guys don't do as well as they pace for a starter's outing and have a niche functioning in shorter bursts. His Brewer career is on life support.

I'm curious, why the excitement on Gabe Garcia?

Toral is exciting. So are the catchers, Schwarz and Harrison. Mark Vientios is an interesting prep SS. Keep an eye on prep arm, Hunter Greene. It'd be interesting to see if Ray Montgomery takes the challenge of drafting an elite prep pitcher or stays in his comfort zone. As Stearns, Matt Arnold and Attanasio found out, teams aren't trading away the elite pitching arms like Triston McKenzie. You gotta go get them home grown. They could direct Ray accordingly after what they just saw the hard way. Greene is very, very interesting. At some point, the Brewers will need to have courage in the draft. The question is, will you get another shot at a premium pitcher like this or will he be long gone? What Milwaukee doesn't need is a third starter like some of the college arms projected up high. You want a difference maker pitcher. Otherwise, you might as well get the top flight catcher, Toral, Vientos, or a Kendall. @BenBadler Hunter Greene just turned 17 yesterday. This is a special arm. Hunter Greene up to 98 mph in the first. Here's a K on 97 and a K on an 82 mph slider. #ACGames16 #mlbdraft

There were some astute posters who expressed worry about Guerra's arm holding up with the split finger use. They are looking prescient now. Let's hope it's not serious.

It's striking how much Texas absolutely destroys the international market. I'd try to replicate their approach. I'd be tempted to woo some of their surrogates who do their dirty work. For example, offer doubling or more salaries for the connected "scouts" or handlers who divert talent to the Rangers. It could be moot if we can finally get an international draft.

Is Suter the one who went to Harvard? If so, that's cool. Either way, let's get him up here. He's got enough mental toughness not to have his approach destroyed being in Colorado. We've had other guys shrivel up and go into the fetal position in Colorado. Suter took it head on. That says something interesting.

Villar has consistently hit around .300 all season with an OBP of .380. The standard deviation from these numbers is practically nil. He has stayed near those numbers all season. He's a superior athlete too. This is what the desired lead off hitters are made of.

I think the concerns about Guzman are fair. I believe he just got moved up to Triple A at age 21. So, Milwaukee can get a look at him at another level not in the Texas League. I do recall what a hitter's league that is, so I agree with that point. The age relative to development curve point is interesting. I don't know if Stearns looks at it that way. Guzman is still only 21 in Triple A. Everyone develops somewhere, whether in a rookie league, high school, or college. You could argue professional development gives you a gauge on where you really stand and if it has taken you forever to develop even with professional coaching, there is less upside than a guy who may have more coaching to go to get better. Good point. I think I would consider that as a factor in acquisitions. But it may be superseded by other factors. I would be concerned about forcing fitting a guy just to fill a need too as yet another concern. But I trust Stearns on this. If it is Guzman, the scouts will have endorsed him and considered all these concerns. He was ranked something like 23rd in their system and has soared to about 5th. It may just be that the light switch flipped on and he's coming on. He sure would fill a need. A 6'5 left handed run producer at first. He may not be Fielder but he may be effective. It will be fun finding out one way or another.

With his 5-5 performance, he's up to .215. After his start where he was completely lost, that's actually an achievement. Maybe he's figuring some things out and will raise the average more. Flores is a disappointment but I guess Sardinas is under .200 anyway so that trade was probably even.

Great news from Rosenthal. Tavares, Guzman, and Mendez would be my favorites.

Coulter hitting 1.0, 100%. Lol. He was 2-2 or batting a thousand as they say.

Looks to me like Arcia has good quickness in his bat. He gets those wrists cranking.

The Santana discussion is interesting here. His injury this year was very unfortunate because he continues to remain a major mystery. He's got obvious talent but we just don't know what we have. Honestly, from what I have seen, he's not hustling all the time. He's strutting around but he's no Charlie Hustle, and he plays like he just took Dramamine and is drowsy. That needs fixed. I'm not the only one saying this. The broadcasters have pointed this out in real time and they bend over backwards being positive so that's saying something. He may turn into something or he may not. Perez is hitting. I wouldn't call him a natural outfielder but he's a competitor. He has a knack for big hits. We are seeing results. It may not be at right field, but he's developing a track record. If you extrapolate to 500 plus at bats, his numbers would be really good. Will Santana produce? We have hope. He's young and well put together. But with Ray, Brinson, Phillips and Clark coming up, and others who may develop like Orimoleye or Harrison, Santana is no slam dunk to be here long. Who knows, with his height, maybe he can be a first baseman. But we have no idea what Santana becomes. It may not be at right field but it's not crazy to project Perez as the better overall player or the better winner.

Garrett Cole is a great example of a high pick on a pitcher that had a good result. I'd love to follow that pattern at some point soon. That doesn't mean you force it where it's not available. It was available in 2016 but it may not be in 2017. It's early, but there are some strong position players in the 2017 draft that may be enticing. You don't take a mid-rotation starter over a monster position player talent.

Austin, I can't tell you how disappointed I'll be if I ever find out the Brewers paint with such broad strokes. I get your point, some guys do that, but for instance, John Olerud never spent a day in the minor leagues - does that mean, since that's, "doable", the next lefty-swinging, high contact rate college 1B should be placed directly in the major leagues? Paul Molitor spent 1/2 season in the minor leagues out of college, Robin Yount did the same out of high school, Ryan Braun was up in under two calendar years out of college, Rickie Weeks was up three years after college. Players are individuals, and they simply must be treated as such. I was very surprised when I heard Ray was going straight to Brevard, I thought it was over-aggressive, and I still do. I would have put him in Appleton - if he had torn it up for two weeks, ok, send him up if you think he's ready. Ray is an important, expensive, valuable asset - I couldn't care less what any other player in the history of baseball has done, I care about Corey Ray as Corey Ray. I think the organization took a chance here, and I don't like it. You're an outstanding poster and I respect your views. I'm quite aware of the development time of the other guys you mentioned, and there is variability. But we can agree to disagree as far as premise. I stand by my expectation of a $4 million bonus baby who absorbed a tremendous opportunity cost of not getting an elite pitcher. I think Corey will be fine and will be hitting in Biloxi by next year. He has obvious tools that will translate to one degree or another. But, to look at Swanson, Benintendi, Happ, Schwarber, Bregman, i.e., the other high pick college bats, is fair IMO. In the end, you're right it will be about what the player ultimately becomes. But with a fifth overall pick, you can measure his progress with expectation. He's not a sixth round pick with a $500 k bonus. When you're really good, there's nothing to over-complicate. We aren't looking for a project who may develop over a number of years into a contributor or role player. He needs to be a core piece and I think he will. We aren't looking for excuses and straining to justify every step Ray makes. He needs to be good and not a project that slowly churns in the minors. Expectations rightfully should be high because you had the opportunity to draft an impact guy, and this was the guy we targeted. I'm not saying you do this, but I don't get why some posters take concerns raised so personally and emotionally. There's no reason to be offended by concerns raised by any move by a team we all love. It is not a personal attack. I mean there are some concerns that should not even be controversial in view of actual results, and people nevertheless defend the organization regardless of reality. Nothing is personal here. We are having discussions and there are a number of tremendous posters who articulate themselves well and have frankly influenced my own thinking, which is a great compliment. Again, this is not directed to you but it was just on my mind, and so I put this thought in here.

Bickford as a closer is a definite possibility, and he may thrive there. But he could still develop as a mid rotation starter. He's said to have good movement on his fastball. But he needs a nice third pitch. He's still very young and has been a number one pick twice, so he's seen as talented. If he's a good #3 starter, that would be phenomenal.

Is Kissimee a more palatable situation as far as ball park, conditions, etc., so we can assess hitters on a more even level. Triple A is an obvious problem and I hope we are being creative behind the scenes to get a top flight solution, not chasing leftovers in a game of musical chairs. Maybe get aggressive and insert ourselves in any situation where there is an option. The way Nashville went down, maybe we can be ruthless in another move in the way we got burned but flipping it on someone else. With our low payroll, we can have financial flexibility in other areas. This could be one.