Austin Tatious

I'd be reluctant to trade Lucroy without having another catcher prospect in place. Not only do we not have a good MLB catcher ready, our catching prospects leave a lot to be desired. I have coveted Pentecost from Toronto or the kid from Baltimore, Cisco. At 1b, I'd love to make a play for Kepler. I don't think this is how Stearns sees it.

Stearns is a bright guy when you hear him in interviews. He promises that everything is on the table with trades, meaning he is not purely an analytics guy. So, I hope you are right. I am a bit nervous with him. He is 30 years old, and smart. He knows he is smart. But there is also experience, which can trump pure intellect. I am a bit worried. This Lind deal seems to be based on analytics. I am not confident in Stearns trading major pieces like Will Smith, Peralta or Lucroy. Those are three guys I can sit around daydreaming about bringing back nice combined hauls that could help what this team looks like in 2017 or 2018. I am basing this on what we got for Gomie, and what Shelby Miller got and some other transactions. But I think Stearns is on a different path and it is freaking me out.

What on earth does this have to do with our discussion about the next person to be traded? We said nothing about who they were being traded for...just who would be traded. I'm answering the point by saying that I'd like Stearns to re-set everything and calm down on the trades and not do it at all if he's following the Lind philosophy of trades. If he did that package for Lind as a one time-thing, fine. But, if he starts doing that with real assets like Will Smith, who someone mentioned above, that would be an awful move. So, I think I am on point. I'd argue Lucroy is more valuable than Gomez and Fiers put together, or more valuable than Shelby Miller. We need a GM that goes down those paths of trades. It is do-able based on recent other trades. If Stearns is going to over-rate metrics and going to look for diamonds in the rough buried in someone's system over real projectable physical attributes and talent, then I'd rather he sit tight and not move consequence. I am not comfortable right now with the 30 year old kid holding real assets in his hand.

Last night or early this morning I saw a tweet from, I believe, Jon Heyman, mentioning the catcher Mike Zunino being mentioned. I wonder if that was something we were asking for or what was going on there. That was interesting. Zunino is a former 3rd overall pick who hasn't produced at the MLB level.

We know Stearns is an analytics guy. It's striking based on the data that's been provided how all three guys have high SO/BB ratios. The ERA was nothing to write home about, but all three had killer SO/BB ratio. From an analytics standpoint, that jumps off the page.

Freeze. We've got some really good assets. Will Smith is a stud. We can't trade him for the mentality we just did for Lind. Lind was traded for "organizational depth." That's a polite way of saying you have no confident bet and you're hoping one out of three makes the majors some day. We are trying to win IN the majors. Not get guys trying to just get to the majors. Strearns looks like he is using metrics as he seems to be enamored by SO/BB ratio and/or WHIP on three teenagers for an actual, proven professional MLB hitter. Basically, he's hoping one of these three guys optimizes and turns into what, a mediocre major leaguer? None of these guys are electric. There's also a chance none optimize and you just handed said "hitter's hitter" for three guys who never become even a sub par major leaguer, all based on some metrics. If I am the Mariners, I am laughing hysterically. I got a proven major leaguer for three guys I couldn't care less about. I am helping now, for an immediate need, for a guy who could hit .285, drive in runs, hit 20 dingers. That's real stuff. Not some academic theory of baseball. After what the DBacks and other teams have had to give up in a sellers market, there is probably a rush on the Brewers to see what they can sucker the Brewers into for their 50th best prospect. Hey Stearns, we will give you our 44th and 47th prospect for Will Smith. FREEZE.

Wow, getting even for Scherzer.

Let me see if I get it. Lopez Jungmann Davies Peralta Nelson Will Smith Jeffress Lucroy Braun Khris Davis Phillips Arcia Devin Williams Coulter Santana Thankfully not available anyway: Lara, Medeiros, Gatewood, Harrison, Clark, Ponce, Kirby, Orimoloye, Available. Lots of guys, some that make you cringe. Ty Taylor, Hader, Houser, Gennett, Segura, Villar, Reed, Garza, Flores The nice thing is after you lose one guy, you can protect another three. Say, someone took Hader. I'd protect Reed, Taylor, Villar. We might then lose Gennett.

Love these threads. Thanks for organizing them. I think the collective wisdom lead to pretty good results. If you keep a tracker of the results and see how the collective results change over time, they probably provide a pretty good measurement of the farm system. You've got pretty astute observers (die hards) voting. 1. Orlando Arcia - possible all star shortstop. Darn near untouchable. 2. Brett Phillips - love that he's lefthanded. Lots of tools. Excited about him. 3. Jorge Lopez - looks like he's putting it together. Multiple pitches. 4. Trent Clark - "professional hitter". I think he will move fast and be a young major leaguer. 5. Gilbert Lara - we will see, but, based on how crazy young he is and his tools, we are optimistic. Long way to go. 6. Cody Ponce - this guy may fly thru the system. Honestly reminds me of some of the Mets studs at the top of their rotation. I think he could be a high end guy. Cross your fingers. 7. Zach Davies - not ranked high on ceiling, but based on how close he is and that he looks reliable. 8. Devin Williams - as he fills out, I think he can be a nice starter, probably mid to back end of the rotation realistically. 9. Demi Orimoloye - a bit high of a ranking but his tools are phenomenal and he can be a stud. Size, power, speed, and arm skill sets are all off the charts. Got to harness him with player development, which Stearns is all over. He exemplifies why I'm high on what Ray Monthomery did and I hope we keep Ray. 10. Adrian Houser - soared on my list because he seemed to surprisingly put it together after the trade. I believe he was drafted pretty high (2nd round off top of my head). Has size and good stuff 11 Monte Harrison - still young and has major tools. Was awful in Appleton but great in Helena. Lot of potential. 12 Josh Hader - another good arm with potential. I like Houser's raw potential maybe more, but Hader could end up being more consistent and reliable. Like that he's a southpaw. We will see. 13 Kodi Medeiros - young guy. May have been over drafted when he went 12th overall. Could be a reliever or loogy specialist. Good stuff. On the plus side, doesn't give up homers. But he's got the arm slot that's unusual and may just be a situational reliever. 14. Jake Gatewood - still super young. This is a kid that can put it together. This could go either way. If he puts it together, he could be a major star. Lot of talent. Long swing needs refinement. Was a disaster in Appleton but fine in Helena playing in a more age appropriate level for him. The next year may tell us a lot. 15. Michael Reed - always been an unsung guy, but he came out of high school and he really does have solid potential. 16. Clint Coulter - this kid is a total enigma. Even taking into account that he was in a pitcher friendly league, his bat is just not special enough as an OF. He moved off of catcher, but if I were him, I'd try to make my bones behind the dish. He's more special and unique as a catcher. As a right fielder, he's just a guy. 17. Marcos Diplan - very talented young guy. If the Gallardo trade ends up a plus, this is the kid that needs to come thru. But he's awfully young and has a long way to go. 18. Nate Kirby - supremely talented kid. I'd rank him higher but the TJ surgery gives me pause. Hopefully he comes back better than ever and soars up this chart. Won't be back until 2017 so he's got a long road to go. 19. Ty Taylor - another enigma. He's basically a .260 hitter without power. The only reason to rank him even this high is because of potential and he's a great athlete. He's likely going to repeat Biloxi. Hopefully he puts it together. Lots of talent here. 20. Victor Roache - Coulter, Roache, Taylor. : some high draftee bats have not progressed as nicely as we want yet. Roache has shown some promise. He hit a lot of homers at multiple stops last year but he's an all or nothing guy and that's not good enough frankly. 21. Yhonathan Barrios - love his arm. He looked great in Milwaukee after the call up. May have been a pretty darn good return for Aramis Ramirez at that stage. He has potential to be a mainstay in the bullpen. 22. Tyler Wagner - great minor league stats but can't translate it to majors yet. His stuff isn't dominant. 23. Damien Magnifico - a bit like Barrios. Power arm. Like his potential to be a good reliever soon. 24. Troy Stokes - recent 4th round pick with speed. If he can develop good OBP skills he has potential. Long way to go but there is a ceiling here so I put him on the list. 25. Taylor Williams - same deal as Nathan Kirby. This kid could be a dominant closer. Love his arm. I kept him on the list even though he is shut down for all of 2016 as I understand it. He could skyrocket on this list if he returns better than ever. 25. Carlos Leal (tie) - had to mention him because I like his story as a catcher turned pitcher reverted back to catcher. Hit pretty well. 25. Wei Chung Wang (tie) seemed to turn a corner the back half of last year. This system needs multiple quality catchers. High end catchers. Badly.

Going anywhere near any of the Cardinals people right now would seem to be too poisonous. The stench of that scandal could be on anyone. You don't want to bring that contamination into your organization.

Article on Doug Harris of the Nats. Looks like he has media contacts or an agent raising his profile. It's a nice puff piece. It claims he understands analytics but that's not his point of emphasis. He honestly sounds redundant of Ray Montgomery. I'm not sure why his crossing paths with Melvin in Texas would matter either as this is Mark's call. My best guess is Mark is looking for somebody else. https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nationals/personal-relationships-drive-nationals-assistant-gm-doug-harris/2015/08/16/ef2a76f2-4451-11e5-8ab4-c73967a143d3_story.html

So to have trade value we must ignore MLB production and worry about how he was rated as a prospect? I have never heard, after 1,000 MLB plate appearances, a players trade value be effected by his prospect ranking. Unless of course you are a big time prospect that still has potential to grow. But to have your prospect ranking negatively effect you well into your MLB career? That just seems unreal. This is a great pet peeve. I am a partner in an international law firm based out of Chicago. We may hire from the top schools but some of these guys are under the severe misunderstanding that their "prospect status" matters after they get in the door. We've got guys from the likes of Northwestern and University of Chicago in their 3rd and 4th year who need a complete kick in the ass and lack ability and need significant improvement. They are in make or break mode but seem to think they made it based on their schooling, which is obviously completely false. As an example, we had a high end Harvard kid who left right before he was going to be fired. Doing well in school only means you did well the first third or quarter of your life. Now, it's the second quarter, guys. It's like prospects. You can be Matt Dominguez and be the number 12 prospect in all of baseball and think that somehow matters in your life and never actually amount to anything. Or Mat Gamel. Or The Olt kid. We can do this all day. The road side is littered with prospects that didn't amount to a hill of beans. It's about production.

Braun is nowhere near average. It was difficult to continue reading after that. Check your facts. TT is injury prone. He plays a physically demanding position and is paid a ton for a spot where it's questionable that he can be durable to stay there. The Dodgers could use right handed power, and other teams could be involved. Beyond that, comparing Braun to the likes of Van Slyke is high comedy. Braun is producing without a ton of high average guys on base in front of him and pitchers being careful with him. I have mlb package and watch other team's broadcasts to get a sense of what other team's local broadcasters say about our players. They overwhelmingly highly respect Braun and routinely say " you have to be careful with Braun here" even with Lind next. Put him in a better lineup, and his good numbers are better, especially rbi. No, he's not average. That's a statement that discards credibility.

An injury prone Tulowitzki was just traded with a whopping multi year deal at $22 million per year contract for Jeff Hoffman, an elite pitching prospect, along with another young hard thrower with a live arm. Colorado had to take back another contract in Reyes. Milwaukee is not playing for now and is jettisoning contracts, so there will be room in the budget for maneuvering, easily. Thus, Milwaukee will be in position to take back a contract for the privilege to get nice prospects, just like Colorado did. Look around. Teams that are contending can't score runs. Braun is hitting .270 with 19 homers. He made the all star team. At the end of the year, he may be looking at .270, 30 and 100, or close to it, with a 2015 all star game appearance where he tripled. Let's root for that stat line at the end of the year to materialize.

My hunch is the Brewers moved some pieces this year, and will move a second wave next year. The reason is that some guys will be more moveable next year. Some teams may not have wanted to pay all the K Rod money but next year on a rental it may be more palatable. So, let's hope his performance is still solid and we can hopefully get an ok return for him next year. This year, money was more of an obstacle. Relievers can be harder to move anyway as Chapman and Kimbrel didn't move either. Maybe a guy like Lind can be moved in the winter during the hot stove. A couple of my Cardinals buddies claim their side of the story is the Brewers wanted more than Kaminsky for Lind. They are upset they didn't get Lind instead of Moss. Then, at some point, maybe Braun can be moved in a similar manner as Tulowitzki. Let's hope he gets somewhere near 30 and 100 to go with his all star appearance. Sure, he's got a huge contract. But, if you look around, teams are really struggling to score runs. It's a battle. This is a run producer. The Brewers don't have large contracts on the books. Look at all the money they have jettisoned. One way to play it is to absorb money to buy prospects. The Rockies did it with TT. Some of the Braun theories with the Dodgers may have legs. Garza may be hopeless. Who knows, he's only 31. Maybe in the offseason he can develop a pitching plan and resurrect himself. Look at how Scott Kazmir turned himself around after being on the scrap heap with the Angels. Adjust your pitching style, formulate a better plan, things of that nature. If he can, and as less years remain, who knows. Right now, I wouldn't hold my breath. The Brewers and Melvin have had this flaw with free agents, especially pitchers. To get them to Milwaukee they will add add that painful extra year taking players past a comfortable age that other teams won't put on, or pay extra, etc. Guys in their 30s, the veterans. Then, the players bite and come to Milwaukee. Melvin really trusts those veteran starters. Braden Looper. Suppan. Wolfie. Lohse. The extra year of Ramirez at $15 mil.

I'm very excited about Phillips. I have liked AJ Reed for a few years too so when I heard 'stros I hoped he was included. I liked Reed since I heard about him as a two way high schooler but the Astros people treat him like he's untouchable now. But getting Phillips is fantastic. Love the five tools in center. Phillips and Arcia as elite athletes is a great start to the next gen. I would have liked a front line pitcher. I think that's what we do at the top of the 2016 draft.

One or more GM is whining in the media trying to embarrass Melvin because he doesn't like Melvin's ask for certain guys. We heard it on Gomez yesterday and we heard it today on Parra. This is analogous to a basketball coach lobbying in the press for calls the next game from the refs. The Brewers are run by a high end businessman in Attanasio. They aren't here for the pleasure of other ball clubs. The Brewers will make a trade when they get value. I will be royally pissed off if the Brewers don't get value in a trade. Getting multiple lower ceiling guys does nothing for me. That's what the Brewers did from 1993-2005.

Norris has command issues. Hoffman was the crown jewel.

Blown opportunity? What if it was never possible? What if nothing we have is worthy of Hoffman to them? They obviously traded him, just like they traded Syndergaard. You have to get in there and get aggressive and make it happen. A kid like Syndergaard or Hoffman isn't going to shake free every day. Most organizations won't trade those guys. Toronto is one that will. Astute guys on this site saw that they could have moved Hoffman and then they ended up doing so, but sadly, not to Milwaukee. Quality wins over quantity. We don't need to make a deal for a bunch of bodies. Make a package and get high end talent. I'm worried Melvin is going to make moves for space fillers. This could be 1993-2005 again if the Brewers aren't careful. Quantity doesn't win. Quality does. That was a top of the rotation guy that walked out the door, while Milwaukee sat on their hands. Once you're bad, you don't have assets to turn around. It's like turning around the Titantic while stuck on an Iceberg.

Toronto gives up Hoffman after previously giving up Syndergaard in the past. They have a history of this. It's disappointing that Melvin couldn't work out a package where Hoffman was included. Blown opportunity. Big time.

Peterson could be in the mix. According to this link, he can play center. http://www.brewcrewball.com/2015/6/3/8721389/brewers-shane-peterson-called-up-tyler-cravy

1. Orlando Arcia 2. Gilbert Lara 3. Taylor Jungmann (shouldn't be eligible) 4. Trenton Clark 5. Jorge Lopez 6. Nathan Kirby 7. Michael Reed 8. Marcos Diplan 9. Clint Coulter 10. Jake Gatewood 11. Kodi Medeiros 12. Demi Orimoloye 13. Tyrone Taylor 14 Cody Ponce 15 Devin Williams 16. Monte Harrison 17 Corey Knebel 18 Tyler Wagner 19 Victor Roache 20. Tyler Cravy 21. Carlos Leal 22. Cy Sneed 23. Yadiel Rivera 24 Wei-Chung Wang 25 Troy Stokes

I'm really excited about this draft and reading up about it. It's supposed to be a superb draft. I hope we don't repeat 2013 where we ended up with the 12 th pick. I want one of these elite picks. We need a payoff for the misery we've endured.

Let's face it, Braun being an all star helps his prestige and in turn helps his asset valuation. That helps the Brewers. Put him out there and let him face the boos post PED's. It will dampen over time. It's all a good thing to keep it moving along for the organization.

Do you guys know if 2016 is more of the Brewers year to make a big splash in the international market? It seems like a few teams overloaded in 2015 and may be overspent in 2016. Is that an opportunity for the Brewers in 2016? We've signed a few guys now the past few years but I'd like to see a higher volume, right?