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balsamlaker

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Everything posted by balsamlaker

  1. balsamlaker
    If the independent league teams don't enter affiliated ball, I would actually think it could increase the Brewers chances of connecting with Wichita at the AAA level. Jacksonville up to the AAA level as Miami's affiliate still makes sense. Maybe the Nationals then move to San Antonio at the AAA level? The Nationals are one of the few teams that many believe have a worse farm system currently than the Brewers.
  2. balsamlaker
    The team has actually gone through a restructure since Stearns arrived. If you read a few of the threads in the draft forum, you will see some of the data since Jack Z. including the very thin Seid-led years (6 years). The last two years have been very college heavy, which may or may not display an increased emphasis on analytics.
  3. balsamlaker
    Unless, Appleton made some major improvements/additions to the point of getting a AAA team, I would think it would be Appleton OR Beloit for the Brewers. If the team goes for best facilities, it wouldn't be surprising to see Wichita, Biloxi, and Beloit join the team-owned Mudcats. This could mean Rochester reconnects with Baltimore at the AAA level possibly moving a couple of the Orioles affiliates down a level.
  4. balsamlaker
    MadThinker...correct the Rochester is in NY and has supported a AAA team for I think over a century at this point. On a totally different thought, any chance the Brewers choose Beloit and their new stadium over continuing with Appleton?
  5. balsamlaker
    BA recently had an article that explained soon MILB would be returning to the table. It will be interesting how quickly things "come together". Many leagues historically have released schedules previously during the summer months, but that is really difficult to do without knowing which teams will be at which levels. I don't think it will concern the Brewers, but there is talk New Orleans will want to get back in MILB, likely at the AA level. If I was a "betting man", I would put Milwaukee's AAA in Rochester, as I think they deserve to keep a AAA team and I don't see a match for them if the Twins and St. Paul match up. If Rochester happens, it would be interesting to see if the Brewers try to get a AA affiliate somewhere between Carolina and Rochester. Who knows, maybe they would try to make something happen with someone not on the initial "list" like Erie or Chattanooga or even with the independent league Barnstormers in Lancaster, PA. It would not be a surprise to see Stearns get involved in what was being referred to as the "Wild West" a couple of months ago.
  6. balsamlaker
    The only negative about Nashville reconnecting with Milwaukee is the possibility that Nashville gets a major league team in the near future and the Brewers are again looking like they were in the early nineties when the Rockies began their franchise and the Zephyrs moved from Denver to New Orleans. My prediction is San Antonio becomes the AA affiliate of the Diamondbacks. I agree with LincolnDD that Richmond is worthy of a AAA affiliate and I would put Hartford and Birmingham also in that category. Rochester and Round Rock are a couple of cities to watch and are both worthy of AAA franchises going forward.
  7. balsamlaker
    LincolnDD...unless the Rangers want to keep their Spokane affiliate, which likely becomes a part of a six-team Northwest League in low-A. If this happens, they could be motivated sellers. Texas could attempt to get completely out of Carolina and go with a Fresno/Spokane combination in A+/A. There is a good chance Fresno replaces Lancaster in the California League.
  8. balsamlaker
    If I had to make a guess today, I would actually guess that Brooklyn and a couple of other NY/Penn teams move into low-A kicking 2-3 SAL teams into the Southern League, including Columbia for the Mets. This is how I could see the Brewers having an interest in a team like Hickory that they could kick from the SAL to the Carolina League and then moving Carolina into the Southern League. Like I said in a previous post, there are a lot of dominoes considering there are likely only about fourteen teams joining affiliate ball between low-A through AAA.
  9. balsamlaker
    It would be interesting to hear what conversations are going on behind closed doors. Could the Brewers try to "move" the Mudcats back up to AA, where they spent a couple of decades, and attempt to "buy low" a Carolina League replacement for them like Hickory or Pulaski? The Rangers may want to keep Spokane (likely moving to low-A) as an affiliate and the Yankees would likely keep their high-A affiliate in Tampa.
  10. balsamlaker
    I would expect the teams owned by major league teams would stay with them unless the "shifting" results in two affiliates landing at the same level (could happen with the Yankees). An interesting AAA stat - only five major league teams have their AAA affiliate farther than 800 miles away - Brewers, Dodgers, Marlins, Twins, and Nationals. This could decrease to one next year if St. Paul becomes the Twins' affiliate, Jacksonville moves back to AAA to become the Marlins' affiliate, and the Brewers and Nationals fight over Nashville and Rochester. In AAA, the biggest domino may be whether or not the Rangers stay in Nashville.
  11. balsamlaker
    If St. Paul and The Woodlands join affiliated ball (AAA) it could come down to Washington and Milwaukee competing for Nashville and Rochester. If this occurs, nate82's top four would be very realistic and make sense for the Brewers. Two years ago the Rangers chose Nashville over San Antonio. I don't think they would choose Nashville over Round Rock?
  12. balsamlaker
    If this is truly the way MLB is planning to do it, you could see a large game of dominoes. It would make sense for the Marlins to request Jacksonville. Independent-league additions could add dominoes. If the Twins request St. Paul, maybe Rochester goes to the Mets and Syracuse becomes their AA? If Sugar Land joins, do they join at AAA or AA? If you are the Brewers, who would you choose at AAA that won't be chosen by their current parent club - San Antonio, Wichita, Richmond, Rochester, Hartford?
  13. balsamlaker
    If the Midwest League is going from 16 to 12, it could be as simple as Burlington, Quad Cities, and Clinton being contracted and Bowling Green moving to the SAL. If this is the case, it wouldn't be shocking if the Brewers top four affiliates stay exactly the same.
  14. balsamlaker
    As it stands, there will be likely 600 or so less baseball players signed this year including probably 75 or so players that could have been drafted in the top ten rounds heading back to college. It will be interesting to look back in 2030 or so and see what people are saying about the 2020, 2021, and 2023 drafts. Hopefully Brewer fans will be able to look back and say some of the six college bats (including Drew Smith) made an impact.
  15. balsamlaker
    I don't think Beloit would jump up to AAA as the new stadium's maximum capacity is under 4K, I believe. Rumor has it the PCL would go down to ten teams, so if the Brewers' AAA team would be in say Appleton or Kane County they would likely be in a division that includes Omaha, Iowa, St. Paul, etc.
  16. balsamlaker
    If MLB truly doesn't care about the occupancy of stadiums for different levels anymore and if they want proximity to the parent club, would it be possible, with the new stadium in Beloit, for the T-Rats to move all the way up to AAA and Beloit to become the Brewers low-A affiliate? The T-Rats would never be the most attended AAA games, but they typically bring in more than the current Braves AAA ball club. As I have mentioned in a previous post, Kane County would seem to make a lot of sense also as a "proximity" candidate to move up to AAA, also. The have a strong minor league attendance two hours from Milwaukee with I think Arizona as the parent club.
  17. balsamlaker
    Brewers may be running out of draftable college hitters...will they "have to" go with a pitcher. Interesting that Mace and Lonsway are still on the board.
  18. balsamlaker
    Very analytical draft so far...college hitter, college hitter, college hitter. Zavier is very intriguing. If they stick to the numbers, you keep going college hitters or high school pitchers in rounds four and five. Maybe they target pitching with "undrafted" players.
  19. balsamlaker
    Wilcox is likely to stay on the board as a redshirt sophomore unless a team that potentially saved some money (Red Sox, Orioles, etc.) take him. I like the Zamora pick in round two. Round three, maybe Mederos (HS RHP).
  20. balsamlaker
    I like the Mitchell pick and hopefully he comes in near slot value, so they don't have to save money later. In the second round, I will stick with my Workman pick although college hitters seem to be going off the board quick. The early 50s could be a sweet spot for college pitching (Henry, Mace, Swiney, Nicolas, L. Allen, Carraway, Roa).
  21. balsamlaker
    My night before prediction - the Brewers will revisit the 2017 draft in both of the first two rounds going Crochet and Workman back-to-back.
  22. balsamlaker
    It will definitely be interesting to see what happens at AAA and AA. It is very similar to a draft watching how one change forces the "dominoes" to fall. What if Dayton moves all the way up to AAA, does that make a return to Louisville possible? What if what is left of the Southern League that isn't in Florida joins the SAL and moves to low-A? Biloxi may not even be a AA option.
  23. balsamlaker
    Lincoln DD, I think you are correct and I think MLB is going to try to make an effort to push geographical connections. At AA, if the Brewers like Biloxi I don't know if anyone will take them from them. They have a nice stadium, but not great attendance or population base. AAA - who knows? It wouldn't shock me if Vancouver joined AAA (not for the Brewers) and Jacksonville would make a lot of sense for the Marlins. It wouldn't be shocking to see Fresno, Syracuse, San Antonio, or Wichita drop down to AA or for the last two to even be the Brewers AAA affiliate since there is nothing really geographical for the Brewers unless you want to stretch it and move Kane County up. I could see Kane County maybe taking over as the CWS AA affiliate and/or a few others moving up such as Brooklyn to Mets AA, W. Michigan to Tigers AA, and Dayton to Reds AA. All just guesses, though. It will be interesting to see how much MLB wants to shake it up if they take total control.
  24. balsamlaker
    If MLB takes over the minor league affiliates, it sounds like they would have the say over who affiliates with who and may choose to make some decisions geographically. If Omaha stays with KC, Wichita could be a AAA option if it stays at AAA. Geographically it would be a decent location if Biloxi stays at AA for the Crew.
  25. balsamlaker
    It will be interesting to see how teams, including the Brewers, handle the financial end of a five-round draft. Do you try to simply take your BPA that will take your slot value or do you try to maneuver around financially? If you do the former at #20, you probably don't take a college hitter as there appears to be a gap after the top six. If you do the latter maybe you do look to take a college hitter, like a Wells, for $2.5M or so and try to save some money for potentially more difficult signs on the second day.
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