MadThinker88

You know, IF expansion took place, it would be a great excuse to limit the various level leagues to a 8 team max... 4 leagues of 8 teams = the 32 MLB franchises. It could also help in getting leagues more regionally aligned with the parent club, especially at higher levels..

Another viewpoint on the draft results of each team .... https://prospects365.com/2020/06/13/ranking-all-30-draft-classes/ Enjoy. Brewers ranked as 3rd best draft class..

Disappointinly Fangraphs has joined a chorus of other sources ranking the Brewers as the worst farm system in baseball. Only 3 more orgs still need to be published (LA Angels, Oakland, ChiCubs) and according to Fangraphs each has more total value in 3 (or 5) prospects than the Brewers have in 35 prospects. It really would be nice for some of these Brewer prospects to prove the various evaluators wrong.. EDIT: With a FV of 40 (assuming no value change from the trade to CLE) Andres Melendez would have fallen somewhere between #11 & #28 on the Brewer list..

Grand Rapids? I had to go look up West Michigan again to realize that was who you meant... Lansing (Lugnuts, Toronto affiliate) has a capacity of 7.5k plus room for another 2K more with lawn/ patio & standing room. Peoria, IL (current home for A level St. Louis) has a capacity of 7.5K.. So many different ways to go with this.. I believe that if Geographical proximity is truly a goal of the realignment, baseball will try to have teams (where possible) about the same distance away. So of the 3 possibles you listed Kane County would go with Minnesota. Id surmise Lansing goes with Detroit, Grand Rapids to MKE (hey, use the ferry to cross Lake Michigan) and Fort Wayne with the Cubs..

My copy of the Prospect Digest Handbook arrived today. Here are the names for the Brewers (1 thru 20).. Again the top 10 names & detailed reports were provided free on the website. # Name Pos 1 Brice Turang 2b/SS 2 Drew Rasmussen RHP 3 Bowden Francis RHP 4 Ethan Small LHP 5 Aaron Ashby LHP 6 Carlos Rodriguez OF 7 Tristen Lutz OF 8 Mario Feliciano C 9 Antoine Kelly LHP 10 Reese Olson RHP 11 Devin Williams RHP 12 Clayton Andrews LHP/CF 13 Dylan File RHP 14 Alec Bettinger RHP 15 Zack Brown RHP 16 Eduardo Garcia SS 17 Trey Supak RHP 18 Braden Webb RHP 19 Cooper Hummel LF/ RF 20 Max Lazar RHP As an added bonus, the book projects the top 25 breakout players this season. Drew Rasmussen was #3 on that list

From some of the reports out there have Erie (Detroit), Binghamton (NYMets), Jackson (Arizona) are AA clubs on the chopping block along with Chattanooga (Cinci). I did see a report where Brooklyn is making the jump up from Short-season to replace Binghamton as AA for the Mets but have not seen other replacements being suggested. This is a massive realignment project. Not only geographically but level/ facility wise. I have been to Dayton to see a game (along with Appleton, Lake County & Beloit). It appears Dayton has the seating capacity (& draws fans) to be on the AA level (park seats over 7,200) but I don't know if it has the other necessary player facilities for being at the AA level. If Fox Cities Stadium in Appleton added 2000 seats would it have the necessary pieces to be on the AA level? That I do not know. Looking at the stadiums for Kane County (almost 11k capacity) & West Michigan (almost 9k capacity) they might be possible AAA replacement sites. If teams like San Diego (A- Fort Wayne, almost 6.6k capacity) and LA Dodgers (A- Great Lakes/ Midland MI, 5.5k capacity), and Seattle (A- West Virginia, 4.5k capacity) can get A level locations geographically closer to them, their current affiliates would make for some good geographical backfill pairings

Finally got my copy of the BA Prospect Handbook this weekend. Something BA started last year & continued with this Handbook was a ranking of the top players by position. I went thru this thread and didn't see any reference to it so I have decided to highlight items here. C: Top 10 players listed; No Brewers on the list; No players on list from division rival 1B: Top 10 players listed; No Brewers on the list; 1 Pirates prospect (#10) 2B: Top 10 players listed; No Brewers on the list; 1 Cubs prospect (#8) 3B: Top 10 players listed; No Brewers on the list; 3 divisional prospects listed (Cards #2, Pirates #4, Reds #6) SS: Top 20 players listed; B Turang is #17, no other Brewers the list; 2 divisional prospects listed (Cubs #9, Pirates #10) CF: Top 20 players listed; No Brewers on the list; 1 Cards prospect (#19) Corner OF: Top 10 players listed; No Brewers on the list; 1 Cards prospect (#3) RHP: Top 40 players listed; No Brewers on the list; 3 divisional prospects listed (Pirates #12, Reds #20, Cards #32) LHP: Top 15 players listed; No Brewers on the list; 2 divisional prospects listed (Cubs #8, Reds #12) Its a sobering viewpoint from an outside prospective, especially compared to other teams in the division. This not only has an impact for the Brewer future but also determining trade assets if the Brewers need to add a piece (or 3) as it contends for a post-season berth..

We wont know where an outsider would ranking inside a particular FV range, but we will see who is also in the that range (along with those in ranges above & below).. I will be curious if/ where Mark Mathias appears on the MKE list.. TBH I was pleasantly surprised to see Andres on the CLE listing as he had not appeared on any other CLE listing this off-season...

Fangraphs has continued to post it various prospect listing for each organization. Milwaukee has not had its list published yet but Cleveland had its list posted today. Normally there is not a tie in for the Brewers but that changed this time around since the Indians & Brewers made a deal in Nov 2019. Mark Mathias was acquired by MKE. Andres Melendez was sent to CLE & Andres made the Tribe list - at #38 (Future Value grade 40 on 20-80 scale). It might be interesting to see where Andres would have slotted for MKE (once Fangraphs release its MKE list).. Here is the free report on Andres: 38. Andres Melendez, C Signed: July 2nd Period, 2017 from Venezuela (MIL) Age 19.0 Height 5′ 10″ Weight 170 Bat / Thr R / R FV 40 Tool Grades (Present/Future) Hit Raw Power Game Power Run Fielding Throw 25/50 45/50 20/35 45/40 45/55 55/55 Melendez was acquired during the offseason from Milwaukee for second baseman Mark Mathias. He is a very twitchy, athletic catcher with great defensive mobility. He also has advanced feel for contact and his relatively mature strength lets him hit for gap power. He’s not very projectable so it’s unlikely much power will be part of his profile at peak, but Melendez has a pretty realistic backup catcher outcome, and he has a puncher’s chance to be a low-end regular if he makes a ton of contact, which appears to be in play.

There are 2 ways to approach the DH role. 1) Have a person be the regular DH (ie he is the DH 6 or 7 days a week). Generally this is a defensively challenged player or someone that seems to be injury prone anytime they play in the field. It can also be a older hitter that has lost a step or two in the field but still very good at the plate. Classic examples of this DH role: David Ortiz, Edgar Martinez, Travis Hafner, Frank Thomas, Jim Thome (later in his career), Edwin Encarnacion. 2) Rotating/ Flexible DH (ie spot floats between a group of players). In this manner the same players are in the lineup but depending on the day one of them might be the DH instead of out in the field. In this manner it helps to keep a core group of players in the lineup but still afford the players a "day-off" from the field. Some managers use this so their better players continue to play but are able to get some down time (by not playing in the field for the 2nd game of a double header or day game after a night game). Its hard to give a great example of this as players are rotating a majority of the time. One thing to remember: the DH role takes some getting used to. Some players adapt to it better than others as players may struggle to find a routine waiting at-bat to at-bat when not going into the field regularly. Looking at the Brewers I think the DH could be a god send to try to keep Braun healthier (by not going into the field as often) & a way to occasionally give a break to Yelich/ Cain while keeping those bats in the lineup.. Its hard to say a team has an advantage of the DH being available but it does help all teams. You noted the Cardinals but their 'best' DH might have been Jose Martinez & he was dealt in the off season to Tampa.

The Brewers would have had another pick (Competitive Balance Round B) but the Crew dealt the pick as part of the package to get Omar Narvaez.. Good thing Omar isn't eligible for free agency until after the 2022 season...

Interesting. It sounds similar to the message sent out by the Indians to their fans via email this afternoon. From another poster on a different board: "Indians sent an email in regards to March/April games. Can either call for a refund or you can use your credits towards future 2020/2021 games and get a 10% bonus credit. Also have for STH that of renew for 2021, price is locked at 2020 prices, get additional 10% bonus credit and another $2LV per seat

With the 2020 NFL draft now over, I went thru the NFL.com draft tracker to breakdown the draftees by school. Here are the results for the Big10 schools & I was surprised by a few results. 51 total draftees, 30 from the East & 21 from the West EAST OSU - 10 Michigan - 10 Penn State - 5 MSU - 2 Maryland - 2 Indiana - 1 Rutgers - 0 WEST Iowa - 5 Minnesota - 5 Nebraska - 5 Wisconsin - 4 Purdue - 2 Illinois - 0 Northwestern - 0

Vernon Scott listed among 'best of rest' DB. 6-1 204 lbs 4.66 #61 of 110 listed for DBs.

info from Dane Brugler draft guide (The Athletic) Pick 208: Jake Hanson C Oregon (#10 Center) SUMMARY: A three-star recruit out of high school, Jacob “Jake” Hanson was a two-way player at Eureka, lining up at left tackle on offense and collecting 29 tackles as a senior defensive lineman. He signed with Oregon over several other Pac-12 programs, initially at tackle before moving to center during his redshirt year. He missed two games as a senior, but otherwise played in every other game the last four seasons, starting 49 games at center and earning All-Pac 12 honors each season. Hanson plays with an efficient punch to pepper and slide, using his eyes and aggression on tandem to give defenders his best shot. However, he often relies on guard help, lacking ideal anchor strength in pass pro and upper body power as a run blocker. Overall, Hanson put together an impressive resume due to his well-schooled technique and nasty attitude, but he will struggle vs. the power of NFL interior linemen with questionable position flex, projecting as a possible NFL back-up. GRADE: 7th Round-Priority Free Agent Pick 209: Simon Stepaniak G Indiana (#21 Guard) SUMMARY: A three-star recruit out of high school, Simon Stepaniak (Step-uh-nack) was a three-year starter at Ross High, earning all-state honors as a senior left tackle. He was rated as the No. 47 recruit in the state of Ohio and committed to Indiana over Louisville. He became the starting right guard as a sophomore and earned all-conference honors as a senior, but suffered a torn ACL (December 2019) during bowl practice, sidelining him for the pre-draft process. Stepaniak is built like a vending machine with proportionate body thickness, boasting the upper body torque and flexibility to steer and control defenders once locked on. He is a mean-spirited competitor, although there is a fine line between aggressive and undisciplined, leading to balance issues. Overall, Stepaniak delivers thump at contact and loves doing the dirty work, but he defaults to his strength too often and lacks ideal pass pro quickness, projecting as a possible reserve if his knee is healthy. GRADE: Priority Free Agent

Info from Dane Brugler: SUMMARY: A two-year starter at Michigan, Runyan lined up at left tackle in offensive coordinator Josh Gattis’ spread, pro-style scheme. As the son of a 14-year pro who was once the highest-paid lineman in the NFL, he was groomed in the sport and became a student of the game. Runyan rarely wastes time searching due to his understanding of protections and pass rush angles, recognizing moves to escort rushers wide of the pocket. However, he can be stressed by high-level speed and he is more of a pusher than drive blocker in the run game. Overall, Runyan was a model of consistency as the Wolverines’ left tackle, but his average feet, length and play strength will be tougher to disguise in the NFL, projecting best at guard. GRADE: 6th-7th Round

DJP to the Browns. Would have preferred KJ Hill in that case..

Cephus to the Lions

Tyler Biadasz goes to Dallas at end of round 4

Anyone else catch that nugget on ESPN?? For those that missed: GB is only 1 of 3 teams without an LSU player on its roster...

I wonder what type of scouting report Jon Harbaurgh got from Jimmy Harbaugh regarding Dobbins.. Perhaps: 'Get him the hell away from me'

Let me ask this: IF the Lions ended up with Chase Young (very unlikely but possible), would the Packers alter their draft strategy at all?? IMHO keeping Rodgers upright & healthy is paramount to the Packers making a playoff run. No Rodgers = no post-season.

I've been getting the Prospect Digest Handbook for the past few years. I really like the work done by Joseph Werner & I would recommend the book to anyone interested. The book typically goes top 15 or 20 per organization. The website give the top 10 names & reports per organization for free. That said, the book also provides a ranking of the farm systems. He sees the NL Central like this: Pitts: 5 St. Louis: 14 Cinci: 18 ChiCubs: 28 Milwaukee: 29

Anyone else notice that the 2020 game with Minnesota has been moved into the middle of the season (10/10/2020)?? Badgers end the season with Nebraska at Camp Randall on 11/21/20 & at Iowa on 11/28/20.

I recalled this quoted post from Homer when I noticed the attached item... Kudos to Chris Haering placing 3rd on the list of top 8 asst coaches for recruiting.