MKE81

I would rate Scooter's bat better than his defense far better than his defense actually. Not that it is great or anything but he is better offensively than he is defensively. Yes I know what the advanced stats say about his offense and his defense but he is far worse defensively than his advanced stats say he is. I still think the Angels were the best shot and I thought a Cowart for Gennett deal would be fair for both the Brewers and the Angels but it looks like they are valuing defense here at 2B. He's about average defensively. Turns the double play fine other than a couple instances where he took foot off too quick. Decent range and accurate arm. Much, much better than Weeks. How quickly you forget all the times Weeks' bad throws cost them easy double plays. Almost never happens with Scooter. Scooter this year defensively was what you saw from Weeks during his normal years (.975 FP). Scooter is slightly better at fielding the ball but Weeks has greater range and a stronger arm. Scooter is slightly more accurate. And no, Scooter doesn't turn DPs just fine. His footwork is terrible and he has a below average arm. If felt like 3x per week there should have been an easy DP turned but it wasn't. Arcia/Villar will turn everything unless a burner is running with the ball not hit directly at someone. Scooter's bat and defense are relatively the same - below averave to average. Some might view his bat slightly better and I can somewhat see that argument. But he's not much, much better than Weeks defensively. People have a certain disdain for Weeks and it clouds their judgement when comparing to other players. They each do things better than the other but overall their pretty similar on defense.

I'm all for keeping Braun his career but that doesn't make sense given the current direction of the org. I agree the Brewers will need some vets mixed in with the young guys but that could be what 1b, bench, 1-2 SP spots and pen are for. Clearing Braun's salary via trading McCarthy/Puig would allow us to use that to sign some solid vet contributors to mix in with all the young guys by 2019/2020. Braun's value won't get any higher than it is now. There's no way Stearns is going to trade him without getting what he sees as value now and in the future for the return. Sure there's always going to be a few other teams that make sense for Braun but I think he still ends up in LA given it was 95% completed so the talks shouldn't take much to finalize unless we get 1 elite prospect in return instead of 2 legitimate one's then the structure could change a bit.

This is encouraging. Another 4 Ks for Phillips today.... What is going on. He needs to drop his pull power approach and just go back to driving ball all over field, going with ball, hitting for average, and getting on base. I can deal with less power if he's hitting .290 & getting on base .400 again. Spot on. He was still hitting around 12-15HR when spraying it - there's nothing wrong with that when hitting 320

Mayo even said regarding Phillips during the game broadcasted over past couple weeks that people shouldn't pay attention to Phillips stats as he's working on some mechanical adjustments and that his stats don't indicate how well he's actually been playing. Nottingham is killing it in the 9 games he has 1+ hits in but he also has 4-5 games where he's hitless. Needs to be more consistent obviously. Diaz has an OBP around 100pts higher than BA but people are impressed with his strike zone knowledge, plate discipline, approach, power and overall talent. The game broadcasted showed Nottingham hitting an absolute bullet at the 3b that a nice play was made on so he's out. Phillips also hit a bullet up the middle and the pitcher got a glove on it like 2' behind him and it happened to drop right near him for the put out. These show up 0-1 in the box score but clearly they were great AB's you'd take every time.

Brinson, Hader, Phillips, Cordell take it up to 38. Goforth and another 1-2 might come off

He's literally the only FA that makes sense. I'd kick the tires to see if the years/money made sense (no reason to overpay for anyone) while also discussing trades for young, blocked 3b's. I'd be ok with this signing as 2 of the past 3yrs he's been good enough vs RHP. But I'd prefer to trade for a young 3b as if he becomes even an average regular then he'll have better trade value.

Why can't 90% of all lefties bat more like Diaz!! Such a smooth, sweet swing. Phillips still has some good looks to his swing just needs to be more consistent with couple tweaks

I feel like there's plenty of young, blocked options for 3b. Just a matter of the Brewers targeting some of them and figuring out who they'd be comfortable parting with to land them. Sneed brought Villar. Rogers brought Broxton. Between a SP, Scooter and/or Top 25 or so prospect(s) Stearns should easily bring back a pretty decent 3b to take over for 2-3yrs.

Along with Ponce, T.Williams, Kirby I'd add Kodi to that mix.

Clancy, Suter's ceiling is a borderline 2/3 in rotation? He's not even close to being as good as Davies and he's not even a #2-3. If that's the case then we have 10 aces between A+ and AAA right now. Suter is nothing more than a 5-6th inning reliever. He will never be in a rotation nor at the back-end of the pen. Doug Jones and Jamie Moyer? What was the average fastball 25yrs ago vs present day? Name one current competitive team that has a late inning reliever throwing under 94 (let alone 83-85)? Wang isn't even ready for MLB yet. He still needs 15+ starts in AAA. And if you trade Garza, Guerra, Chase that leaves 2 spots open joining Nelson, Peralta, Davies. Those 2 spots are going to Hader and most likely Lopez/Jungmann. So you trading those 3 guys doesn't even open the door for Suter, Wang, Cravy anyway.

Anthony Rizzo was a Top 50 prospect while Andrew Cashner was only once in his entire career ranked a Top 100 prospect. He barely squeezed in Pre-2010 at #95 with BA. Then again this makes sense to you because you think Brinson is around #75 while everyone else on the planet agrees he is in the Top 20. So I guess the only person who is going to agree with you on trading Brinson for a #75 area 3B prospect is you. Everyone else is going to think, "Wow that sounds a whole lot like when the Padres downgraded to fill a position of need and it backfired on them massively." He linked Brinson to Monte Harrison and now he's linking him to Andrew Cashner. As you noted, that was a lopsided trade when it was made and it has grown into a massively lopsided trade. Brison has never been a Top 3 over prospect like Delmon and Buxton. Delmon was never a CF either. CF have more value than corners. Brinson is, by all accounts, a great/true CF and will be 23 next year. Buxton is 23yrs old next year and he was rushed. He had a great 2013 then terrible AFL. 2014 he wasn't good anywhere including AFL but was injured (funny thing how injuries affect performance, right?). 2015 bounced back with strong AA/AAA and was up in MLB. This year split between AAA (great numbers) and MLB. This year in MLB had 298 AB - if he was given a full 500 AB he was on pace for 32 doubles, 10 triples, 17HR, 17SB. AS A 22YR OLD. He's going to improve without question. So do I hope Brinson is, or becomes that, YES. Neither are going to be 230/295/750 players. Brinson also has displayed much more power than him at every level. But good to know you're already throwing in the towel on Buxton. I was clearly referring to "context" as in age per level and injury. But I wouldn't expect you to comprehend that. You toss around one stat (BABIP) as if that is the holy grail of analysis then say it "may" suggest he's overrated. My goodness. Just say you don't like Brinson and we can all move on. Correct, you do trade from positions of strength/depth. BUT, you do so only IF you are able to. Brinson isn't the only CF in the system but he's also head and shoulders better than every CF prospect we have in the system. You don't trade away your BEST position prospect, who plays a premium defensive position, for a position of need, given the current status of the org. That's the key point. If we are already playoff competitive with an established, young CF with other corner OF being highly thought of then you're in a position to trade Brinson. But the Brewers aren't in that position so it makes zero sense to trade him. And we don't NEED a great 3b right now. Which is why you trade one of our Top 25-35 prospects for a 3b that's young and blocked and give that player a chance at the MLB level to hold over until Erceg rolls through.

I'm not opposed to Morton being signed but it doesn't make sense to me right now given what's on the current roster. Garza, Nelson, Guerra, Chase, Peralta, Davies are 6 guys in contention and half of them will probably be dealt by season's end. Hader will take a spot. Maybe Lopez takes a spot. Jungmann, Suter, Cravy, etc aren't taking rotation spots in 2017 or beyond. Wang, Wilkerson, Woodruff, Burgos aren't in contention for rotation spots to start the year. Bickford, Perrin, Ortega, Ventura won't be up by season's end (Ortiz maybe but even then i don't see it unless it's a few starts at the end). Morton could be a fit BUT people have to be moved and some of those people need to continue to pitch well in the first half OR the entire season otherwise we're just cutting them and eating salary. If it was easy to trade Garza, Peralta, etc before the season and get what they think they should be able to get for them then this discussion isn't an issue. But, that's not the case right now. Chase was great the final couple months, Garza bounced back when he was healthy at the end and pitched to how he has his entire career. IF he's healthy he'll still be a 3.7-3.8 pitcher. Peralta bounced back and his velocity was up after called back up. These guys can all improve their value in the first half.

Of course he has 30/30 potential. The question is, what is the probability of reaching that potential, and what do his other numbers besides home runs and stolen bases project to be? I remember 2.5 years ago when everyone was really excited when the Brewers drafted and signed Monte Harrison. He has 30/30 potential. What are the odds of him reaching that potential? Pretty low. I never said Brinson is not a great prospect. I just happen to think that he's more of a top-75-ish prospect than a top 25-ish, and here is why. Brinson has never put up great numbers anywhere that weren't: 1) a small sample B) in a hitter-friendly league (Cal, PCL) 2014 - .985 OPS over 43 games/186 PAs in low-A - small sample (.413 BABIP) 2015 - 1.044 OPS over 64 games/298 PAs in High A at High Desert - hitter friendly league/ballpark (.402 BABIP) 2016 - 1.005 OPS over 23 games/93 PAs in AAA at Colorado Springs - hitter friendly league/ballpark and a small sample (.455 BABIP) Look at his BABIP in those leagues/seasons - that simply is not sustainable. (For reference, Tony Gwynn's career BABIP in the majors was .341.) Add in the low walk rate... and there is significant evidence to believe that he is not a top-25 prospect and that his composite AA numbers with the Rangers (.251/.293/.461, .754 OPS) might be closer to reality than what he did at AAA for the Brewers this year. You can continue to cherry pick to fit your narrative all day (ie he hasn't product outside hitter friendly without mentioning he was almost 3yrs young for age level at those other places). And NO, everyone wasn't excited about Monte Harrison. I have never been a fan of his, or Gatewood for that matter. It's absurd to compare Harrison, who hasn't accomplished anything, to someone (Brinson) who is a Top 15-20 overall that has actually produced in the minors and showed he has the potential to be a 30/30. Even if he's a 20/20 it doesn't matter because there were only TWO of those guys in MLB this year (under qualified stats). He will absolutely be a 20/20 and I think 25/25 is very realistic. 30/30 will take a great season and those don't happen too often anyway, but his potential is real to hit that unlike Harrison (who was projected for that before he even played pro ball - what's that projection right now?) 264/344/813 in 611 AB in A ball with 31HR, 31SB at age 19/20 299/372/885 in 411 AB in A+ with 16HR, 18SB at age 20/21 (see below for AA) 300/408/983 AFL 395/431/1036 in 119 AB in AAA with 5HR, 7SB at age 21/22 (guess it doesn't count because it's PCL - not like elite prospects should be putting up outrageous numbers or anything, right?) You can cite his overall AA numbers with TX at 251/293/754 in 414 AB to prove your point but I prefer to provide context. 2015 AA at age 21 had 110 AB 291/328/873 (8 doubles, 6HR, 23rbi in 28 games) combined with his AA this year where he was clearly injured. By all accounts his injury played a role in his performance. The injury and his 2015 are relevant. Nobody is saying he's going to be a 330/410/950 player. But the struggles he's had (injury excluded) are more likely due to him being almost 3yrs younger for age level rather than the park he's playing in. You thinking him putting up 1000+ OPS in hitter friendly parks will result in a realistic 251/293/754 is beyond me. That OPS is a massive drop. And last I checked Miller Park is rather hitter friendly. Also, yet again on this board, no mention of his defense being great including having a strong arm. Nobody ever said that you didn't think Brinson was a great prospect. What people said was you don't trade an top 5 tool prospect at a premium defensive position for a position of need (3b) that can be filled some other way.

1) Delly and Snell are going to be starting, so they aren't coming off the bench. 2) Beasley's team was 10 points WORSE with him on the court last year in Houston. He might score a lot but he literally does nothing else well, especially not anything on the defensive end 3) Rookies cannot be counted on to perform in the NBA. They very, very rarely do. 4) Terry is done, he can't guard anyone, and can't get by anyone with the ball anymore. He's a spot up 3-point shooter, not much different than Novak. 5) Monroe will get killed on defense, same as last year, because the defensive scheme asks him to do things he simply cannot do. Bench has been weak, right? Ranked 2nd best behind SA. Brogdon says hi.

Arcia is the best IF no doubt. Villar at 2b is an upgrade from Scooter across the board - athleticism, range, arm, footwork around the bag/turning DP's, makes smarter decisions. I'd call them the same on routine grounders hit right at them. 3b I'd assume is an upgrade from Villar, Hill was pretty solid given his age, Perez is solid in general there. IF will be better especially if they get a 3b who is pretty decent in the field. I personally wouldn't sign Morton but I understand why other's would. I'd be intrigued with him in the pen though. The Brewers have already said Nelson, Guerra, Peralta, Davies, Garza, Anderson are the 6 guys in contention for rotation spots - clearly that can change but Hader still needs a spot and nobody should block him. Lopez could be an option otherwise the pen. Jungmann needs to be traded. Suter is NOT a rotation option. Wang I'd protect but he's nowhere near the same class as Hader, Woodruff, Ortiz, Bickford and I think Davies will always be better than him as well. But, he could still be a decent piece at the back of a rotation.

By healthy you mean 1yr? He was great in 2015 and April 2016 - he's been awful since and I know he was injured this past year but he still pitched and got rocked. I'm not opposed to keeping Blazek and seeing if he bounces back but if they feel they need a spot for someone they like then I can see them removing him, which is why I predicted he would be removed. Combined with the pen still in good shape as is assuming resignings - Thornburg, Barnes, Torres, Knebel, Marinez, Suter + possibly Magnifico, Lopez (if not given rotation shot) + I'm sure they'll sign a couple guys to compete for final spots. Marinez might even be removed from the 40 man. It's not a blow if both those guys are gone.

Interesting question. If the new team wants that player to continue to play in the AFL and their team doesn't have an opening does it hurt to let them continue to play on their original team? Not sure it's possible to begin with but it's not as if a single organization is making the decisions on their play that could ultimately affect performance and/or lead to injury.

1 - I'm not a millennial 2 - Nottingham is 21 and an AFL all-star this year and you're already calling it a failure 3 - As stated above, you only focus on HR/RBI and never factor in Santana/Braun in the corners leaving no place for Davis 4 - Runners started to become more aggressive the 2nd half last year taking the extra base on Davis (going to both 2b and 3b). He NEVER has a chance to throw out a runner at home either 5 - His HR/AB this year was very similar to what it was his career with us outside of one season. He hit 42 because he had an increased number of AB's. So not sure how his numbers this year bring back a much better return than Nottingham, a highly regard catching prospect at the time 6 - You can say you hope Nottingham becomes a decent MLB player but reality is you've never once stated that until right now and most likely only because everyone is jumping on you again for obvious reasons

Agree. Plus our pen is pretty solid as is.

Do not forget Brent Suter and Wei-Chung Wang - both lefties are in the rotation mix as well. Then there is Jon Perrin, who looks very good (the big worry aside from injury is acceptance to Harvard Law School). Hader, Ortiz, Suter, Woodruff, Bickford, Perrin, and Wang are all, I think, potential rotation contributors. If Jorge Ortega and Jorge Lopez can bounce back, that would be even better. Really, my hope for the offseason isn't for the Brewers to trade Braun. I'd rather see the Brewers move two or three of Guerra, Peralta, Nelson, Garza, and Anderson to open spots to see what some of these young pitchers can do. No six-man rotation stuff, or "spend a lot of time in the bullpen and maybe get a spot start" thing... just see if some of these young pitchers can do the rotation every five days. Actually, we will forget Suter for the rotation because he has no chance of being in any MLB rotation. He pitches well in CO because he's a fastball/changeup pitcher and the changeup isn't affected in CO. But MLB hitters will destroy him while in the rotation. He can be effective out of the pen though, especially if you're following hard throwers. Wang can be an end of the rotation MLB starter but not sure he's going to have that chance with us. Perrin I like as well but I'm hesitant to put him in the mix given he's pitched very well at age level. I'd like to see what he does in AA against better competition. Harvard isn't going anywhere and the longer he plays pro ball the more money he has to pay for law school. Ortega I'm not sold on. I do agree with you that I'd also rather see the Brewers trade some SPs. I'd like to see Garza gone for sure before the season and ideally Peralta. However, if Peralta has a first half like he finished this year he can be good trade bait at the deadline along with Guerra. By then there would be 3 SPs gone leaving us with Hader, Davies, Nelson, Anderson + 1 (Lopez?). It's easier to give these guys a first half shot to rebound than trade in the off-season for little value. But I could see a Peralta or Nelson traded for a 3b that's young and blocked needing a chance.

From BA's PCL chat: 2015 AA: 24.0 K% 9.1 BB% 2016 AA: 24.4 K% 8.3 BB% Granted it was in the third of the innings but it hopefully its an indication that not much has regressed from a skill perspective. I wouldn't bother with AAA again, but if his K:BB are similar in mid-May at AA, Id be fine with giving him a MLB shot. I agree with Ingram and others who like Lopez. I do like him and I say the same about him as Phillips/Nottingham. Just because you have a poor season doesn't mean your talent is lost. Worst case Lopez is a very good pen arm - that's still good for the team. He should be given a shot to start in the rotation in spring (unless they feel they want him in the pen). But he's a MLB talent. Now, Jungmann is someone I'd prefer to move on from altogether.

I really don't understand why some people are down on Brinson or dislike him as a prospect. He has all the tools you could ask for. Good power, average, OBP, speed, and an elite glove. Nothing not to like. I think he'll have the kind of quality defense in CF that we hope to have at SS with Arcia, only with a better bat. No shame in Brinson as your top organizational prospect. I think it's the mediocre numbers at AA last season that worry some. And it's not just the .237 batting average. It's the weak walk rate (5.0% at AA last year - even worse - 2.2% at AAA) and high K rate (about 20% last year, and higher for his career). His numbers are sort of all over the place in the minors - brilliant one year, mediocre the next. Personally, I love the guy. It looks like a lot of his struggles related to some injuries that nagged him last year - but I love his talent. My biggest worries are all the injuries he's had. He just never seems to stay 100% healthy. I agree that people will point to his 2016 AA and be down on him/question him because that's what too many on here seem to do (ie Phillips, Nottingham and even Ray when he started). I don't think you can just look at his overall numbers annually because it doesn't paint an accurate picture. 19 in A ball and was 20/20 with 749 OPS (BA/OBP not impressive). Then he struggled when he's been 2.5-3yrs younger than age level but when he's been 1.5yrs young he's absolutely destroyed them (980+ OPS) including a 300/408/983 AFL last year. AA this year was the only exception for 1.5yr young but he was injured to start the year then missed plenty of time during the first half too.

I really don't understand why some people are down on Brinson or dislike him as a prospect. He has all the tools you could ask for. Good power, average, OBP, speed, and an elite glove. Nothing not to like. I think he'll have the kind of quality defense in CF that we hope to have at SS with Arcia, only with a better bat. No shame in Brinson as your top organizational prospect. Trading away an elite defensive CF who almost everyone reports to have 30/30 potential for a lefty 3b Top 75 prospect is extremely illogical. He's a true 5 tool player. Especially when we have a lefty 3b in our system right now who everyone seems to be speaking very highly of. He's 2-3yrs away but that doesn't matter. There are options at 3b without giving up your top prospect just to fill a positional need. I also think people put too much emphasis on the offensive side. If Brinson is even an above average offensive player he's still going to be 20/20 AND play great defense with a strong arm. How many CF's like this exist in today's game? By all accounts his injuries last year affected his play. He caught fire and hit 350 last 9 games in AA then performed extremely well in AAA the final month. You can plug 3b with joe schmo until Erceg is ready. Or, as I've said before on here along with some others, trade for a 3b who is in a similar position as Villar and Broxton. The original post mentioned Candelario. There's no way I'm trading Thornburg for him or even including him in any package. Thornburg, assuming the reliever market is just as hot as this past deadline, will bring back better returns than Jeffress/Smith. But, Candelario could be a player to target. Joining him as other potential prospects who are blocked or might be available for trade are Hunter Dozier (KC), Yandy Diaz (CLE), Colin Moran (HOU), Renato Nunez (OAK), Matt Chapman (OAK - will probably start in AAA though). We gave up Rogers for Broxton and Sneed for Villar - so Diaz, Moran, Nunez we should be giving up similar or less to acquire. Candelario, Chapman 94-96 overall and Dozier is 2x ex-mid 90s so it'll take more to acquire these guys. Some will need work defensively but they can be hold overs until Erceg comes through and develop some value to trade later. http://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.cgi?id=diaz--000yan http://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.cgi?id=moran-000col http://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.cgi?id=nunez-002ren http://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.cgi?id=dozier000hun http://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.cgi?id=chapma000mat

Yah not a big fan of his scouting report and it does seem very contradicting at times. I don't necessarily disagree with his "realistic role" being a back-up catcher...except for the fact he grades his offense as notably below average and his future defense as average. Who is going to get a back-up catcher job with no offense and questionable defense? Honestly I think his ceiling is higher than a 40 overall. I think his ceiling would be more like an average MLB catcher if his bat came around. He is a boom or bust guy. Either he becomes an decent catcher or never does anything at the MLB level. Not sure he could make it as a back-up catcher. I agree. Average defense and no offense makes you a career minor leaguer. I think Nottingham has the potential to be an average starting catcher. I don't think his defense is as bad as what's reported based on the potential I see when I watch him during games. I think his arm plays just fine. He had a great 2015 equally splitting A/A+ at 20yrs old then took a sizeable step backwards this year. I think his age had a lot to do with it and we'll see an improved Nottingham in AA again this year. He's played 12 games in AFL and has hits in 8 of them. In those 8 games he's slashing 364/364/909. As he ages his bat will come around to the level he's playing at. Too many people write young players off after relatively poor seasons. There were 30 MLB catchers with 250+ AB last year. 9 of them hit above 265. 11 had an OBP above 330. 15 had an OPS above 720 (11 of the remaining 15 were below 700). Just looking at the stats of catchers in today's game hurts my head!! This is part of the reason I think he'll be an average MLB catcher.

I was soon regretting my post when I realized it would wake up the Davis monster in Briggs. i laughed at this I can't believe Stearns gave up on a LF who allows runners to walk from 1st to 3b on routine singles hit directly at him not to mention allowing 99.9999% of runners on 2b to score on any ball hit at him. Then got a Top 100 (BP) catching prospect in return to boot? Fire Stearns now!! 28yr old Davis - 247/307/831 with 42HR DH 36% of the time so if the A's were in the NL he would have lost all that PT (just like he did with Brewers) resulting in 237/304/815 with 27HR 23yr old Santana - 256/345/792 but 2nd half slashed 280/344/852 26yr old Broxton - 242/354/784 but 2nd half slashed 294/399/937 (16 SB too) Not like we want younger players who play on both sides of the ball with strong arms while getting on base at a much higher clip or anything. But carry on... Additionally, this Dave guy is terrible. To the point nobody should take his scouting reports seriously. He said Tebow could easily handle low level minor league pitching right now and would make initial comparison to Evan Gattis or Scott Schebler at the major league level. 2 guys who have had great success at every level in the minors and who are now in MLB. He's the same guy who said Diaz's HR power will turn into gap power when everyone else raves about his bat speed/power. He's the same guy who said Phillips CEILING is a 5th OF THEN compared him to Victorino (2x AS, 4x GG). Says Nottingham's CEILING is a 40 (backup) then assigns his highest ratings for his defense (50) and arm(55) when his defense is the main part of his game everyone knocks. This guy's scouting reports make little to no sense.