A Swing and A Drive

And none of the 3 prospects we gave for Linebrink, our 2, 11 or 25 ranked, ever amounted to a hill of beans.

No. Links? Preseason Link http://m.mlb.com/news/article/217383778/top-10-farm-systems-by-mlb-pipeline/ Midseason Link http://m.mlb.com/news/article/244152682/yoan-moncada-tops-2017-midseason-prospect-list/

Not sure every Brewer fan shooting down potential trade rumors that involve ANY prospect in the pre-season Brewers Top 10 prospects is informed at how much and quickly some of their stock has even fallen. This thread points that out with factual statistics. Simply put the Brewers Minor League System as a whole is not having a good season. Many pre-season "TOP PROSPECTS" are struggling in the minor leagues. The Brewers entered the year as a consensus Top 5 farm system and now some rankings don't even have us listed in the Top Half of all farm systems in baseball. Maybe Brewer fans wouldn't be so against the Brewers trading some of their prospect depth to improve the MLB club if they were aware of the possibility that the Top of the Brewers farm system could be littered with a handful of "Clint Coulters" and few if any "Ryan Brauns". Someone said they considered prospect value to be the same as stocks. Pre-season Top 10 1. Lewis Brinson, of- Hit well in Colorado Springs, terrible in MLB trail- STOCK SAME 2. Josh Hader, lhp- 5.37 ERA in Colorado Springs, protected in MLB bullpen- STOCK SAME 3. Luis Ortiz, rhp- 3.79 ERA in AA, STOCK SAME 4. Corey Ray, of- .672 OPS at A+, K issues- STOCK DOWN 5. Isan Diaz, ss/2b- .719 OPS at A+, K issues- STOCK DOWN 6. Trent Clark, of- .771 OPS at A+, power not developing- STOCK DOWN 7. Brandon Woodruff, rhp- 4.78 ERA in Colorado Sprins, on cusp of MAJORS- STOCK SAME 8. Phil Bickford, rhp- Suspended and Injured- STOCK DOWN 9. Lucas Erceg, 3b- .653 OPS at A+, HR rate down- STOCK DOWN 10. Marcos Diplan, rhp- 5.70 ERA at A+. 2nd season at level- STOCK DOWN Outside the Top 10 Hopefuls: OF Brett Phillips- Hit well at AAA after down season but it was in thin air- STOCK UP RHP Corbin Burnes- 1.38 ERA between A+, AA- STOCK WAY UP 1B Jake Gatewood- .803 OPS at A+, vision corrected- STOCK UP OF Monte Harrison- .827 OPS at A+, 16/17 HR/SB- STOCK UP Lewis Brinson is the only player I would have confidence the is a certain MLB regular in our entire system at this point in time, with 2017 1st rounder Keston Hiura a close 2nd. It won't help matters that the Brewer won't pick at the top of next Junes draft either.

The point is that the stats of these players are NOT bell-weathers to future MLB success. Our GM would be smart to include them in a trade to improve the current ball club while their perceived "prospect" value is still high, as all 4 players are considered Top 10 Brewers prospects. 2017 Baseball America Top 10 Brewers prospects 1. Lewis Brinson, of 2. Josh Hader, lhp 3. Luis Ortiz, rhp 4. Corey Ray, of 5. Isan Diaz, ss/2b 6. Trent Clark, of 7. Brandon Woodruff, rhp 8. Phil Bickford, rhp 9. Lucas Erceg, 3b 10. Marcos Diplan, rhp

I sure hope Mr. Stearns doesn't trade any of these future superstars: 2017 Stats at High A OF Corey Ray .233 AVG .672 OPS 305 ab 4 HR 18 SB 110K DRAFTED #5 overall 2016 OF Trent Clark .237 AVG .771 OPS 316 ab 8 HR 25 SB 103K DRAFTED #15 overall 2015 3B Lucas Erceg .236 AVG .653 OPS 373 ab 9 HR 2 SB 69K DRAFTED 2nd round 2016 2B Isan Diaz .231 AVG .719 OPS 333 ab 11 HR 8 SB 103 K HEADLINER OF JEAN SEGURA TRADE All 4 players are hitting in the .230s this season past the halfway point of the season. 3 of the 4 players have an alarming strikeout rate. (Ray, Clark, Diaz) Ray, Clark, Erceg were all high round draftees and are NOT young for the minor league level they are playing at. Trading a single one of these "Top Prospects" could ruin the Milwaukee Brewers rebuilding process. Any of these guys could be a solid bench player on the 2022 Brewers World Series team. No need to upset any apple carts Mr. Stearns.

Brewers will go 4-2 this week and Cubs will go 2-5. Brewers will also make a head-turning, bold yet smart deadline deal. This week will make a short memory of last week.

Gray is not a rental. He would be acquired NOT just to help the team that happens to be in contention this year, but for the next two years as well. If you read the first page of this thread, it outlines a plan for the Brewers to use their prospect depth to acquire Gray for the next calendar year or two and then trade him for a high-end pitching prospect. Since prospect for prospect trades simply don't happen, it's a workaround to turn our prospect OF depth into future pitching prospects, while "renting" Sonny Gray as a bonus for up to 2 years.

That is an awfully big assumption. Anderson and Nelson both are pitching significantly better than they ever have. Assuming that that is who they are now is a big big assumption. Not making a move based on that would be a mistake. I'm sorry but I'd argue that if we acquired Gray he'd be our best starting pitcher. People who argue that he is a 3 at best are not doing him justice in my opinion. I think he's a solid 2 when he's at his best and maybes borderline 2-3 in general. That's better than almost all of our starters in general. Nice post. 100% agree with this. Gray finished 3rd in the AL CY YOUNG Award voting in 2015 and he was just still yet to reach his ceiling IMO prior to his 2016 injury. Still believe he he has the potential to become a true ACE very soon.

How does that famous baseball phrase go again? "You can never have enough outfielders?" Oh wait...

Domingo Santana does not need to be a platoon player, IMHO. Neither should Lewis Brinson. It's also much, much easier to find 4th and 5th veteran Free Agent OFers who can be signed on one-year cheap deals then it is to sign young, front end of the rotation type starting pitchers (they often require long-tern, expensive, risky deals i.e. Jordan Zimmermann).

So the Brewers tanking for a week has emboldened you as a David Stearns fan? I simply can't find one proposal in this thread that included all of Brinson, Hader and Burnes. With that being said, I still think Sonny Gray (or an equivelant controllable starter) is a Brewer by this time next week. I think Stearns realizes this is the perfect time to trade some of his prospect OF depth and turn them into a good, controllable starter before... A. Some of them lose preceived value (before they turn into Coulter/Roache-esque pumpkins) B. More are ready for the Majors then there is room on 25 or even 40 man roster (example: no room on Brewers 2018 opening day outfield for Brinson, Phillips AND Santana as Braun is not going anywhere)

This makes more sense than the Verlander/Kinsler type proposals. However, I still don't think the A's will trade Manaea at this time. This same proposal makes some sense but with Sonny in place of Sean. Also, I think if it's for Sonny instead, the Brewers could keep Brinson and trade either Ray or Phillips instead. Also, either Manaea or Gray would be our #1 starter over Jimmy Nelson. I'm sorry but 2 months of great starts in 4+ seasons doesn't make Nelson a #1 starter IMO. Hope I'm wrong and he truly turned a corner, but I still don't think he's that talented. If Jimmy is an ACE then Brent Suter is a dominant #2 starter! lol

Absolutely 100% the right call to bunt the runner to third in that situation. After the bullpen fiasco, the Brewers desperately needed to regain the lead. Getting a runner to 3rd wth less than 2 outs late in a tie game is HUGE! There is a multitude of ways a runner can score from third in that situation (sac fly, infield out up the middle, sac fly, Wild pitch, passed ball, error, ANY hit, etc)

How about Verlander with no money included for Clint Coulter, Victor Roache and Kyle Heckathorn? I'm not sure if I'd want to part with so many high draft pick prospects for a washed up starter though.

This is actually the most realistic trade proposal of the entire thread so far.

I'm sure the Tigers are falling over themselves to get ahold of our underperforming assets. Heck, let's throw in Taylor Jungmann too. You're welcome Tiger fans! Honestly, the Kinsler and Verlander trade rumor threads have also been very entertaining to read through as almost every trade proposal for the Tigers best players have been straight up comical.

Happy 34th Birthday Tim Dillard!!!!!! 34 is the new 24! Dillard is happy to share his birthday with National Hot Dog Day! Enjoy. http://mlb.mlb.com/assets/images/4/6/2/202918462/cuts/Dillard_wsrt2tpk_4rzvqmjn.jpg

Scouts go far a final checking/eye test on players. He could get shelled today, but if a scout liked his velocity and the consistency on the break in his curveball, it could actually seal the deal on a trade. His overall value will not fluctuate much however like it would for some owner in your fantasy baseball league. lol

Yes and to build this "foundation" the Brewers need to acquire, controllable front line starters. If Hader doesn't have good enough control to be a starting pitcher, than we currently have none. (with apologies to Corbin Burnes)

Honestly, I don't even think it was a very good movie. Some great lines, a few great scenes, but in general not very good. I'm probably all alone on this one, I get that. I'll give you that it's not a critically acclaimed piece of art... With that said, I doubt you'll find many people on a Milwaukee Baseball forum that agree with your assessment of the most "FUN" movie about baseball ever made! (with Milwaukee ties to boot). lol

http://archive.jsonline.com/greensheet/book-on-making-of-major-league-recounts-milwaukees-starring-role-b99540087z1-317381811.html Can't believe next July will be 30 years since the original Major League movie was shot in Milwaukee. Wow.

Career stats Marcus Stroman 480 IP 7.36 K/9 2.25 BB/9 3.49 FIP 3.71 ERA Sonny Gray 692 IP 7.69 K/9 2.87 BB/9 3.59 FIP 3.46 ERA In what universe is Marcus Stroman a frontline starter but Sonny Gray is NOT? And Gray's numbers would be much better if not for his injury plagued 2016 season.

WOW! Tigers got absolutely fleeced on this one. J.D. Martinez was the most valuable rental hitter on the market. Dude absolutely rakes when healthy. Moving to Chase Field will only help.

Brett Phillips is a goofy future 4th outfielder. There I said it. Brewers should sell high on him ASAP.

That proposal is actually an underpay for what Gray will actually cost. You guys are drinking too much prospect kool-aid. This proposal only has the Crew parting with one Top 100 prospect for Gray. (Woodruff #43 or Ortiz #67) Y'all not just nuts...YOU CRAZY!!!!