BallFour

As I am desperate to find 3B options in the draft I came across Trey Sweeney out of Eastern Illinois. Plays shortstop for them but is 6'3". Obviously it is the Ohio Valley but he is showing good power and BB/K ratio and only has 3 errors at shortstop this season. He is probably going to have serious helium if he keeps it up, even though he plays in a small conference.

All three of those guys were considerably better than Knebel the last two years, that is the reality of the situation. I think you just proved that Knebel was not worth $5 Million for any team that has finite resources, which is what the vast vast majority of the MLB during this pandemic ridden offseason? Credit the Dodgers who have infinite resources for taking advantage of the situation. I again argue you would not see this type of almost non-tender in any other off-season besides this one.

As much as I love Knebel and was disappointed he was essentially traded for nothing I have to say 5 Million at that time was a big deal. My speculation is the Brewers probably were very reluctant to pay that because they couldn't even budget what their revenue would be like in 2021. Notice how all their moves started in February. Also notice how it was reported they were in on Trevor Rosenthal before they signed Jackie Bradley. I really think they would have kept Knebel in a normal offseason just the timing could not have been worse.

I know it is Spring Training but Hiura is really starting to concern me at the plate.

It is really going to break Cubs fans brains when they realize Jason Heyward has basically been Jackie Bradley Jr. since they signed him to a 8 year deal for 184 Million

I know we all want a 3B prospect. One to watch for me is Zack Gelof from Virginia. Maybe a possibility with the Comp A pick, really like his power profile.

To piggyback off of that athletic article. Freddy says he is trying to figure out a changeup. I know it is "pitcher adding to their arsenal szn" still thought it was piece of information worth mentioning.

Good article, thanks for sharing. It’s hard to take the claim fully at face value when the MLB spokesman clarifies, “the figures include non-cash expenses like depreciation and amortization.” Why would a non-cash expense make you not take the claim at face value? "Non-cash" expense still means cash flow out at one point and time. I get not taking the claim at face value for other reasons but non cash expense isn't it for me.

This guy is pretty messed up in the head. I always wonder how ignorant people like this become in power in a field we all would die to work in. He is a minority owner as well? Not good.

Parentheses my prior list ranking which was midseason 2019...I know we are still at the bottom of the rankings for farm systems but I feel like a year from now we could spring ourselves out of the abyss. 01. SS-Brice Turang (01) USA 02. OF-Garrett Mitchell USA 03. LHP-Ethan Small (04) USA 04. C-Mario Feliciano (05) Puerto Rico 05. LHP-Aaron Ashby (03) USA 06. LHP-Antoine Kelly (11) USA 07. OF-Hedbert Perez Venezuela 08. RHP-Max Lazar (06) USA 09. SS-Eduardo Garcia (10) Venezuela 10. C-Jeferson Quero Venezuela 11. C-Zavier Warren USA 12. OF-Tristen Lutz (07) USA 13. 3B-Jesus Parra (21) Venezuela 14. OF-Micah Bello (19) USA 15. RHP-Alec Bettinger (22) USA 16. SS-Freddy Zamora USA/Nicaragua 17. RHP-Dylan File USA 18. C-Payton Henry (13) USA 19. RHP-Lun Zhao (14) China 20. RHP-Noah Zavolas (15) USA 21. OF-Corey Ray (09) USA 22. RHP-Zack Brown (20) USA 23. LHP-Clayton Andrews USA 24. 2B-Felix Valerio (24) Dominican Republic 25. OF-Carlos Rodriguez (23) Venezuela 26. RHP-Victor Castaneda Mexico 17-USA 05-Venezuela 01-Puerto Rico 01-China 01-Dominican Republic Graduated/Traded OF-Trent Grisham (02) RHP-Drew Rasmussen (12) RHP-Devin Williams (17) C-Andres Melendez (25) Dropped Off RHP-Trey Supak (08) RHP-Miguel Sanchez (18) OF-Luis Medina (16)

Maybe not this year, but Aaron Ashby is a name to jot down. I know he is on all the prospect lists but I would not be surprised if he gets called up the second half of the season if all goes well. His hammer breaking ball is pretty devastating, almost like a knuckle curve. It was a year and a half ago since I watched him last but his changeup was pretty good to.

Looks like I am not alone with being a YTTV subscriber. There is no way I am going back to cable or satellite for a myriad of reasons. Guess I will just have to watch whoever else is on MLB.TV when I need a baseball fix and listen to the Brewers game. Good luck to MLB with the blackout rule. Would love to see the data on how it helps their business instead of hurts it.

And interestingly enough the comparable to Wilmer is us signing Gyorko, the only one really to work out offensively for us. Bizarre note both Wilmer and Jedd have the same exact ops+ splits vs. lefties 119 and righties 92.

Huge difference between a kid who was undiagnosed for almost a year and one who has had it a part of his life since he was a little kid. In fact I have read articles with Covey saying if he didn't get that physical done it was a matter of weeks till he would have been in a coma from going undiagnosed for almost a year.

Interesting since Williams did have an option left, which is like a prerequisite to be in the Brewers bullpen as a depth piece.

Interesting since Williams did have an option left, which is like a prerequisite to be in the Brewers bullpen as a depth piece.

Feel like they would have just signed Grandal if they really wanted to commit to player for 4 years like Donaldson.

Feel like they would have just signed Grandal if they really wanted to commit to player for 4 years like Donaldson.

That is a theoretical number until Attanasio decides to cash out and sell the team. The actual value of the team mean very little when it comes to cash flow. Taking a yearly loss is still taking a yearly loss. Oh thanks for explaining the theoretical number to me.....name a sports franchise that has gone down in value. Please do. As far as cash flow, no but you do know what does help cash flow, deferred revenue, financing capital improvements, deferred player contracts, etc. Oh i don't know maybe a sale of Bamtech where each MLB team got $50 Million. We don't know what kind of yearly loss it is, so its impossible to speculate unless we take a look at their books which we never will be able to. Am I supposed to think he is some kind of hero for going in the red for a couple years? Because I don't, I just think its a savvy finance person doing what they were taught to do. The man can do whatever he wants, we can choose to support or not support his business.

It is all about the National TV money, MLB will never be the NFL or NBA with revenue sharing. Mine as well get over it. I will say going in the red for a couple years isn't a huge deal on an asset that has quadrupled itself in 15 years. And just because he is in the red doesn't mean he isn't cash flow positive. It is why a lot of normal people buy rental properties. They may have a taxable loss but will be cash flow positive on the year, which is what really matters. Or if they do turn a profit they are't subject to FICA taxes like people with wages. All while theoretically your asset appreciates over time.

This front office picked up Stephen Vogt 2 years ago who had similar issues. What is funny is ever after he became a Brewer and up until now his pitch framing has improved....idk I find that interesting

I know we have a full offseason to discuss the immediate future of the Brewers but in my opinion the front office will be in a really hard position and it warrants talking about now. I am a firm believer that a foundation of a true nl central contender is still here. But why I think they are in such a tough spot is they will have to roll the dice a little bit to fill out the pitching staff. We probably don't have the type of farm to trade for a controllable starter in the offseason IMO. This offseason imo will show if we can contend on Yelich's existing deal or not because I have to think there will be at least one if not two significant multi year commitments to the pitching staff. These commitments need to be nailed otherwise we will be right back here again a year from now and we will be discussing how we are basically the 2012-2014 Brewers all over again with Yelich substituted for Braun. Would you non-tender Travis Shaw? Would you pickup Thames option? Anyway we can bring back Grandal and/or Moose? Note on Grandal-The catching free agent market is awful, bringing back Grandal will be a multi year/premium commitment IMO and will take away dollars from filling out the pitching staff. Are we going to upgrade shortstop or just bring somebody to push Arcia? How do we fill out the rotation besides these three... Woodruff Anderson Davies Btw bring in Dillard to start opening day....the opening day starting pitcher curse is real for the Brewers Decline the Jeffress option?

1. SS-Brice Turang 19.7 A+ 2. OF-Trent Grisham 22.8 MLB 3. LHP-Aaron Ashby 21.2 A+ 3 Pitch mix, basically 4 if you count the two breaking ball variations. 4. LHP-Ethan Small 22.5 A Those SEC #'s are insane, hope he can add a couple ticks while keeping his deception 5. C-Mario Feliciano 20.7 A+ My personal favorite prospect, I think he can stick behind the plate, wish he had better plate discipline. If he did would be battling for the top spot. 6. RHP-Max Lazar 20.2 A The most important first steps for a pitcher is fastball command and deception 7. OF-Tristen Lutz 20.9 A+ 8. RHP-Trey Supak 23.2 AAA 9. OF-Corey Ray 24.9 AAA 10. SS-Eduardo Garcia 17.1 R- (DSL) 11. LHP-Antoine Kelly 19.7 R (AZL) 12. RHP-Drew Rasmussen 24.0 AA Wish they would just let him loose out of the bullpen, he is a pure two pitch pitcher. I think that is his best path to the majors. 13. C-Payton Henry 22.1 A+ 14. RHP-Lun Zhao 17.9 R+ (PIO) 15. RHP-Noah Zavolas 23.2 A+ 16. OF-Luis Medina 16.4 N/A 17. RHP-Devin Williams 24.9 AAA 18. RHP-Miguel Sanchez 25.6 AAA 19. OF-Micah Bello 19.0 R+ (PIO) 20. RHP-Zack Brown 24.6 AAA I will probably have him lower than others, just watching him pitch this year he really only has two pitches. I really don't think he can be a starter but I also don't think his curveball is good enough to make up for his lack of fastball velocity and command 21. 2B/3B-Jesus Parra 16.9 R- (DSL) 22. RHP-Alec Bettinger 24.1 AA 23. OF-Carlos Rodriguez 18.7 R+ (PIO) 24. 2B-Felix Valerio 18.6 R (AZL) 25. C-Andres Melendez 18.2 R (AZL) 26. OF-Eduarqui Fernandez 17.7 R- (DSL) This became a real chore after the top 15. I don't remember having so many young guys on the list.

What was so impressive about Ashby was he really showed a full starters repertoire of 4 pitches that he could throw in any count. It looks like he throws a knuckle curve like Knebel, and he throws another breaking ball that has a sharper but smaller break. Then you add in the fact that as the game went on he threw his changeup a lot and Winston Salem really couldn't do anything with it. I counted 3 or 4 pop ups on his changeups in the late innings and of course got a couple strikeouts on it throughout the start. It is one start and will be fun to monitor if he really is harnessing his command that he showed improvement on in May at Wisconsin. 6.2 BB/per 9 in April at Wisconsin vs. 2.7 BB/per 9 in May at Wisconsin

The distinct difference for me is Grisham is adding to his slugging while cutting his K Rate by a couple percentage points so far this year. So it is not like he is selling out for power. It also isn't just the result of a BABIP spike, neither was Ray's FWIW. Will be fun to monitor and would be big for the organization.