Humans Need Water

If he isn't, then why do we care what he's saying? It sounds more like he got fired than it does that he knows anything... Or he's referencing his past experience as a journalist - where there's a story you dig into it and report it regardless of it being good or bad for an organization. It's rather straight forward what he was saying

I understand what you're trying to say but that comparison doesn't make sense. Brinson has 4 unquestionable tools - only risk is his bat (ie will he be a 250-260 hitter or a 290-300 hitter or somewhere in between). His ranking was earned based on performance and potential - he's posted Top 20 prospect numbers at every level he's been at in the minors while being young for age. Sheffield, on the other hand, has not. His numbers with CLE were good for his age but not great. Certainly not Top 40 worthy. He didn't skyrocket in the rankings until after he was traded to the Yankees (and I'll add with no performance improvement either). If he was traded here instead he'd be ranked by Woodruff. He's always been listed as a #3 *if* he reaches his potential - the bullpen talk comes solely due to his size. He's always been dogged by inconsistent control too, and that hasn't changed, so he very well could end up a backend starter. It helps he's a lefty but that only goes so far. The Paxton trade is something like Peralta/Woodruff + Ponce + Stokes. Ponce and Stokes you can live without but I'll keep Peralta and Woodruff for 6yrs over 2yrs of Paxton. The Yankees can afford to make that trade as 10 of their top 12 prospects are pitchers and Sheffield doesn't have the upside of a Whitley. I just can't see Stearns trading Peralta or Woodruff (or Burnes for that matter) unless he's getting 4-5yrs of control from a proven MLB rotation arm a la Brinson/Yelich deal.

Our 2b position just slashed 227/290/668. Hiura immediately, and significantly, improves that. Our C position just slashed 237/294/657. Signing 1 of Suzuki/Grandal/Ramos immediately, and significantly, improves that. Pina is a top half catcher in MLB - it's the backup spot that kills us, even though Kratz/Vogt/Bandy have had their moments they're just not good. I'd personally go with Suzuki because he's very cheap compared to the other two and can be had for either 1 or 2yrs. Plus, I believe in Nottingham being a starting catcher and signing someone like Suzuki allows for a Marwin signing as well whereas not sure we can land both Grandal and Marwin while adding others. 1 - I'd trade Thames (Lind style) and decline Schoop 2 - Sign Marwin to 4/44 and Suzuki to 1/5 or 2/8 3 - Sign Granderson to 1/3 4 - Sign Pomeranz to 1/6 (going off MLBTR) or to a Chacin type deal 5 - Trade Davies/Santana/Supak for Paxton/prospect (I don't think Seattle is tearing it down as their top prospects are all 2-3yrs away and they can push for the WC still - they were a 500 team in 2nd half and had a negative run differential but didn't have Cano in 2nd half and Seager had down season. Cano back at 2b, Seager bounces back, Santana at DH, Mallex Smith in CF, Vogelbach is a year younger than Healy and will outproduce him right away even if only marginally, Gordon to LF and filling in IF with Gamel in OF too, find a catcher and they're improved offensively as a whole. If they were mailing it in not sure why they'd trade 2 MLB players for 4yrs of an exciting young MLB CF. Replacing 2yrs of 3.3 bWAR Paxton with 3yrs of 2.5 bWAR Davies (and much cheaper) while adding Santana at DH for 3yrs (much cheaper than Cruz and huge upgrade to current DH Vogelbach) helps solidify their MLB team giving their prospects more time to develop while also gaining a good young pitching prospect who could split AA/AAA and he doesn't turn 23 until almost midseason and slides into Top 8 in their system right away. We upgrade our rotation over last year). Pina/Suzuki, Aguilar, Marwin, Arcia, Shaw, Braun, Cain, Yelich to start with bench of Perez, Granderson, Dubon (and whichever catcher isn't starting). Rotation of Paxton, Chacin, Pomeranz, Chase, Burnes and pen of Hader, Knebel, Jeffress, Cedeno, Jennings, Barnes, Nelson, Woodruff. Peralta/Guerra in AAA. Hiura up by June - at that point I either put Dubon back in AAA playing full time or, if Dubon is performing, I'd look at trading Perez. If I added this up correctly it's around 120M for 2019. There's several trade candidates moving forward on this roster too that can clear some money (Chase, Perez) and both of them are easily replaced by Dubon and Peralta (or Woodruff). *all that said I'd actually be shocked if Peralta or Woodruff isn't moved this offseason

1 - Hiura 2 - Turang 3 - Brown 4 - Ray 5 - Lutz 6 - Dubon 7 - Erceg 8 - Nottingham 9 - Supak 10 - Houser 11 - Gray 12 - Kirby 13 - Grisham 14 - Diplan 15 - Bickford 16 - Webb 17 - Ashby 18 - Ponce 19 - Rodriguez 20 - Stokes 21 - Gatewood 22 - Henry 23 - Feliciano 24 - Fry 25 - Andrews

2b isn't a position of need. People speak as if Hiura is 2yrs away and we need to fill a gaping hole until then. This dude is an elite prospect with an elite bat who's on the same path as Braun/Yelich (also Top 20 bat-first prospects). Hiura will be up in May/June, assuming they want to keep the extra control. He can realistically post 275/325/765 in 2019. That's not that far off from the player Whit is. Even guys like Mayo are saying during the AZFL AS game that Hiura's bat trails only Vlad Jr in the minors. And yesterday some AL scout said Hiura's pure power is trailing only Vlad Jr in the AZFL and that he's a special, special kid. Add to that the Brewers themselves said Hiura's bat was MLB ready back in March during ST where he hit 419 as a late game sub vs AA/AAA/MLB caliber players - and at that time he never saw a pitch above A ball. Hiura had a brutal final month in AA but was hitting 299 heading into that final month. Now he's ripping up the AZFL. Whit's BABIP this year was 45-50pts higher than usual. His statcast numbers over his career don't do him any favors either. Hard hit rate of 30% (7-20% below Shaw, Aguilar, Braun, Cain, Yelich, etc). Barrel rate of 4.5-5 (Moose 8.8 and everyone else except Cain is double digits). Average exit velocity of 86.5-87mph (2-5mph below Shaw, Aguilar, Braun, Cain, Yelich, etc). He ranks like 240-250th in MLB in these categories - in the greater ballpark of Schoop, Arcia, Pina. There's no way he keeps up these slash lines in 3-4yrs when his speed starts going. Let someone either overpay for him or wait until the price falls into your lap (ie he's a very good depth piece for us moving forward so treat the return as such).

In other words, a middle-relief role - a bridge to the back end of Jeffress/Knebel? Yes, I think he's absolutely a middle reliever. He's a guy who can give you 3 innings too if there's an injury to a starter early in the game or if someone is getting rocked in the 3rd-4th innings and needs to come out. I don't think he's ever going to be a great middle reliever but I definitely think he can be a contributor in that role.

A leg kick is solely a timing mechanism. Has nothing *directly* to do with generating power. That's your opinion, but plenty of players attribute their leg kick and stride as a direct correlation to their power generation. To say that it's solely a timing mechanism is inaccurate. No, it's not my opinion. It's fact. I also stated it has nothing *directly* to do with generating power. Meaning, it *indirectly* could play a role in helping someone get to their launch position, however, one doesn't need a leg kick to reach launch position. Hence, it's solely a timing mechanism.

Taylor offers contact, speed, defensive versatility in the OF and some pop in the bat. That said, his bat still has work to do to be a reliable 4th OF. He has the tools though. For me, my question would be if I'm having Dubon as a backup covering the middle IF then do I want another player that doesn't have much pop off the bench too? He's like another Perez but solely in the OF and with a higher OBP.

A leg kick is solely a timing mechanism. Has nothing *directly* to do with generating power.

Why would you need clarification on anything when you already told everyone, and factually so according to you, that he has *2* fastballs and *both* with *crazy movement*. So what would it matter what Brooks says then...unless it turns out you *weren't* factually correct, right? I'm seeking clarification on the way the stat is compiled. I already know it's giving a misleading result. I apologize if that was too much to keep up with. I'll take blame for not being clear enough. Holding the ball with the same exact grip but over different parts of the ball *doesn't* equate to two different fastballs. A fourseamer, twoseamer, cutter, sinker all have different *grips* and that's what makes them *different pitches*. Look at the pics of Peralta in that Fangraphs link by KeithStone - it's the exact same grip. It's why everyone solely uses *fourseam* for his fastball because that's what his grip indicates. Moving the ball in your hand but using the same grip allows one to change the movement of the pitch. It's no different than me holding a traditional fourseamer while changing my arm slot from straight over the top to submarine. Did I just throw two different fastballs? No. I threw two fourseamers but the movement was different. Woodruff threw 61% fastball, 24.7% slider, 11.4% change, 2.9% sinker. Peralta threw 77.7% fastball, 19.5% curve, 2.7% change. The information is listed above to counter another factual (cough) point of yours. You stated Peralta has 2 fastballs, which then means his 3rd pitch (curve) is thrown more than Woodruff's 3rd (change) - as in Peralta actually has a 3rd pitch whereas Woodruff doesn't. But how would you factually prove that when you never provided everyone with the percent Peralta throws each of those fastballs? For example, if he throws one of those fastballs 85% of the time and the other 15% of the time then that means his final stats would be 66% 1st fastball, 19% curve, 11.6% 2nd fastball, 3% change. *Which would mean his 3rd pitch (2nd fastball) is thrown exactly the same amount as Woodruff's 3rd pitch* proving your initial statement wrong at that point. There's no information (to my knowledge) that breaks down the percent he used those fastballs, therefore, you literally fabricated information to drive home your point that Peralta has 2 different fastball pitches (proven false) with crazy movement on both (proven false as one had little horizontal movement) while Woodruff's fastball is dead straight (proven false) and he doesn't have a third pitch (proven false solely by comparing to Kershaw's 3rd pitch being 13%, which is the same percent Davies throws his curve as well). And Woodruff (and Burnes) will no doubt use his 3rd pitch more in a traditional starting role. Back to the original question. I'm starting Peralta in AAA because he needs to control his fastball and secondary pitches better and with AAA now in SA I think it's a great opportunity to do so. His curve and change both have the movement to be very good. He'd then be the 6th starting pitcher and next in line due to injury, ineffectiveness, etc. I agree that Burnes should have a spot locked up. Woodruff I think deserves the opportunity in spring to earn a spot. His whiff rate for his slider is higher than Peralta's curve and his change is slightly higher than Peralta's change as well. Woodruff's GB rate was 22% higher than Peralta and his FB was 14% lower and LD was 3% lower. Woodruff also has better control and command of his pitches. I think the pen experience will greatly help his mentality and him pitching like a bulldog attacking people. Worst case he's in the pen being used exactly how he was this year being extremely effective. Peralta has a higher ceiling than Woodruff but needs more refinement. He's super young so let him work on his control in AAA to start the year and go from there. He'll clearly pitch plenty of innings in 2019 for the Brewers. While Burnes and Woodruff both have growing to do at the MLB level they're essentially finished products and can start right away.

Why would you need clarification on anything when you already told everyone, and factually so according to you, that he has *2* fastballs and *both* with *crazy movement*. So what would it matter what Brooks says then...unless it turns out you *weren't* factually correct, right?

Seems like a fringe guy. Given the lack of regard many here have for Zach Davies (who's stuff is better), I don't see this guy with his stuff being a prospect most would embrace. Regardless of this report in November, his fastball is typically 88-91 as a starter but in a strict pen role he'll sit 93 consistently with some movement. His change is above average and seems to be his second best offering followed by his curve, which seems to be decent and usable as a 3rd pitch. He's always had really good control and can pitch multiple innings. Whether it's here or elsewhere he's a MLB pen arm

DRS says Pina is head and shoulders better than Realmuto defensively with Pina at 14 and 6 the past 2yrs and Realmuto at -13, -5 and -7 the past 3yrs. Pina has thrown out 38% and Realmuto 35% over that span. I don't know how DRS is for catchers as it seems difficult to put a number on this position given all aspects involved but take it for what it's worth as every other catcher I looked up (Posey, Molina, etc) all would be what you expect over their careers. Offensively, Pina has been a 265/320/725 hitter the past 2yrs so he's a middle of the road hitting catcher in MLB, which should put him around a Top 12 overall catcher. I don't think the focus should be improving over Pina. It should be improving over Kratz/Vogt/Bandy. Someone like Kurt Suzuki is a perfect fit right now. He's cheap, will only require a 1-2yr contract and has the 3rd highest wRC+ for catchers over the past 2yrs (tied with Realmuto) while in his platoon role. It also keeps Nottingham in AAA continuing to develop after his second half injuries while being outside of CS as well - there's no rush. Plus he'll be the 3rd catcher in the system so will see MLB time in 2019 regardless. I think these proposals that start with Hiura then include 1 of Burnes/Peralta/Woodruff as a second piece are crazy. Hiura has more value than Brinson did at the time of his trade because his bat is plus-plus (70) and nobody questions it whereas Brinson was plus everything with a risky hit tool (50). Now that Hiura put the question marks surrounding his defense to rest he'll be where Brinson was in the rankings, or higher, but his hit tool is why he's more valuable as he still plays up the middle defensively. The bat always plays - nobody's an AS because they play great defense but can't hit well. It's why Hiura's already Top 5 in BP rankings and why Mayo just said his bat ranks directly behind Vlad Jr and that he wouldn't be shocked if he made a run for the starting job in spring. Burnes I think has slightly more value than Hiura given his performance in MLB and the postseason this year, which means he has more value than Brinson at the time of his trade. Peralta/Woodruff, along with Burnes and for the same reasons just listed, are all *significantly* more valuable secondary pieces than Harrison and Diaz. Those dudes never played above A+ either at the time of the trade. Burnes/Peralta/Woodruff also aren't prospects anymore whereas everyone in the Yelich trade was still a prospect. There's no way that Realmuto's return should mirror Yelich nor come very close to it. Yelich had 3yrs more control, has consistently outperformed him offensively and won a GG in LF and also played CF the full season before traded. I think it makes sense to have conversations with the Marlins about him but I'd start with Peralta or Woodruff then add other solid pieces. If they get outbid then so be it.

"Positioning" is a very broad term whereas shifting is more focused. Shaw is between a good and great 3b. He has instincts, covers ground, can pick a bunt, is accurate with his throws and has a solid arm - *all* of this, combined with how they *shift* at 2b, is why he was able to function as a 2b. Saying Shaw was *solely* able to function due to positioning is not only false but a slap in the face to his abilities as a fielder/thrower. You mentioned Machado earlier. I have no idea why DRS rated him so poorly with the Os in the first half but he was 3 last year in what amounts to 42 full games and was positive in LA as well. Maybe it's because he was dogging it knowing his team sucks and he'll be traded anyway so didn't get to balls he should otherwise have? Fits his personality... Positioning and shifting is *not* the most important factor in defensive performance. If it is then you're literally saying that *anybody* can be a successful defender as long as the coaching staff positions them correctly. That their skill set is irrelevant. False. Positioning and shifting is applied to increase your chances of getting a batter out, which has nothing to do with defensive performance itself. Defensive performance itself is the product of having the opportunity to make a play followed by actually making that play, regardless of where one is positioned. There's *zero* evidence to back up your *belief* that DRS is heavily skewed to favor a player whose team positions them correctly. Also, how exactly is an individual's DRS *more* team measured than individual? DRS, while flawed, as they all are, is the best defensive metric there is but Statcast will soon enough be the best. Finally, what are you talking about when it comes to Asdrubal Cabrera? Starting in 2009, and every year since, he's been a negative DRS at both 2b and SS. He hasn't been a plus defender since 2007/2008...anywhere. He's a good bat up the middle but isn't good in the field.

Plenty of people care about and follow UWM baseball. Other than family/friends it's difficult to watch a game - and not because of April. MLB and minor leagues play outdoors in April and the Brewers did so for decades as well. Their biggest challenge in drawing fans is that weekday games are usually 2-3pm start times. Then on Sunday they're competing with the Brewers, who are televised so one doesn't have to leave the couch. It's D1 baseball and a pretty decent conference. It's free. Players in the conference, and at UWM, get drafted. The playing field used to be great in the mid-to-late 90s but now it sucks. The new stadium won't increase regular attendance. But it's an additional recruiting tool and they can now host conference tourneys there, like they did a few years ago at Concordia's field. College games are fun to watch; I try to catch an ASU game every year during spring training. And I agree with the other poster regarding the video for the Milkmen. Just brutal. But it makes sense knowing Zimmerman is running the show as that dude can barely run a simple amateur league at the rock. If people have zero interest in UWM Baseball then it's beyond me how an argument can be made to watch, and pay for, Indy League ball. It's washed up ex-average at best minor leaguers and dudes not good enough to get drafted/signed, outside of the *rare* exception.

1 - Yelich has an average arm, just like Cain. Average is significantly better than whatever you want to call Davis' arm. Yelich recently, on a competitive throw, hit 88mph according to Statcast. 2yrs ago Statcast had Davis ranked last in MLB at 78mph. That's a *significant* difference. 2 - WAR/UZR are flawed and anybody who's researched how they're calculated knows this. Davis has played what amounts to 9.5 full games in LF this year and has a -4 DRS. And your defense for him is, well, he hasn't committed an error so he can't be that bad, right? My 10.5 month old daughter could sit in LF picking grass and not commit an error in 9.5 games - that tells you next to nothing about the quality of defender they are or how valuable they are to the team. Davis is -20 total DRS the previous 3yrs while averaging 97 full games per year so if he actually played an entire season it would be minimum -30 total. Thames is 2 DRS in RF this year. Him in RF also allows Yelich to shift to LF, his best position, making the unit much better. We can't do that with Davis. 3 - Thames clearly has a better arm but he's also faster than Davis as well. Statcast has Davis at 26.2 ft/sec sprint speed - making him slower than every Brewer except Moose, Pina, Kratz, Aguilar, Bandy. He's *slower* than Shaw - let that sink in. Thames is faster than Braun, Granderson, Arcia, Santana. Additionally, Thames' running and throwing aren't fluid because he's a monster. No, he doesn't side step to get balls in the gap because that doesn't even make sense to begin with. He side steps when there's a routine fly ball within several strides of him because that's just how he moves 10' when he has all day to get under the ball. But he gets the job done and that's all that matters. You're right on one point though, Davis was pretty decent at jumps and routes. Except that doesn't matter when your sprint speed is slower than Shaw's. It doesn't matter when you throw 78mph. He's not a full time DH because he gets good jumps and takes good routes. He's a DH because he's significant liability. https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/khris-davis-has-four-assists/ *side note: the author starting his final paragraph saying it doesn't matter very much, regarding his arm strength, is a comically brutal take and literally undermines his *entire* piece as he did nothing but prove it actually does matter as runs were guaranteed to score (and pay attention to the players he didn't come close to throwing out). 4 - Stats 250/315/809 with Brewers 247/323/828 final year with Brewers *if given 560AB like he's had with As he'd have hit 45, 25, 39HR with the Brewers 248/324/855 with As hitting 42-43HR (directly between his first/last years with Brewers) He's drawn a few more walks and hit a few more HR - he's basically the same player. Stearns wasn't hoping his last season with us was a fluke thus trying to sell high on him. Stearns traded him because he was a massive defensive liability (arm included) that absolutely couldn't be used in shifts, we don't have the DH, he provides zero impact on the bases and we had other players that needed an opportunity. 5 - At the time of the trade we got a Top 100 catching prospect who split A/A+ and a recent 6th rd pitching prospect in A ball. Both were in AAA this year and one made his MLB debut showing that if he continues to improve he's an every day player. Both will be on MLB rosters at some point next year. Not exactly *light* for a DH with a career 190 BA when not hitting HRs.

Statcast says otherwise.... https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/team/158 Thames 2nd half - 147/183/507, 4.2 BB%, 49.3 K% (just under 35% on the season), 24 wrc+ Braun 2nd half - 291/336/822, 5.4 BB%, 11.6 K%, 118 wrc+ Braun 4 DRS in LF (Yelich is 0 and Thames -1). Yelich 3 DRS in RF (Thames 2). So the defense as a unit is significantly better with Braun there instead of Thames. I can't believe these numbers would even need to be stated when it's blatantly obvious with the eye test. Now factor in BABIP with exit velocity/hard hit/etc and compare to their previous years as well. *All* the info pointed to Braun having a lot of bad luck in the first half. His 2nd half numbers could easily be his season numbers based on how he swung the bat. The eye test also confirmed it. Thames had a very productive first half both in terms of how he swung the bat and his statistical performance. But has not swung the bat well in the 2nd half - he's not even hitting the ball hard and the eye test confirms this. I like Thames. He's talented and is an offensive threat he's just been struggling hard since the break, which means there's no way he should be chosen over Braun *right now*. Even if you take Thames first half vs Braun's second half you still go with Braun more times than not due to all aspects of the game. Also, I have no idea why anybody would reference ISO unless it's packaged with a dozen other metrics to paint an entire picture - that stat solely proves ones power, which has nothing to do with how good a player actually is (ie Cain's ISO is 127). Granderson was acquired because Thames isn't getting the job done. Not Braun...but Thames. It's another depth piece and we gave up Demi, who won't be a MLB player. If they make the playoffs I see us going with a bench of Thames, Granderson, Perez, Schoop, Kratz and rolling with 12 pitchers.

Whichever way the wind blows sums up this board to a tee. Guy was great last year and great this year until his injury. Now he's a pile of deuce, has zero talent and it was a horrific signing? Whine-bag city

PM me if you have specific questions about the park or area - I was just in Des Moines and have a ton of family there and some have season tix to Iowa Cubs even though they're Brewers fans

I doubt it. I think you might want to review the linked item from Fangraphs.. https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/ranking-the-prospects-traded-at-the-deadline-2/ Not much love for the departed Brewers prospects... LouisEly, no, you're not overvaluing them. And nobody needs to review what Fangraphs says. Their analysis of any player is based on some flawed model they created combined with nonsense. BP and mlb.com both reported heading into this season that Ortiz has been aggressive in his conditioning and came to camp in much better shape while also increasing his flexibility and stamina yet Fangraphs still pumps out the opposite 4 months into the season while saying he has "average big league ability". They're literally the only one's saying that. Everyone else has him pegged as a #2-3 (mostly at #3) but their flawed models pegs him at a 45 FV. Phillips is a starting MLB CF/RF and when he *starts* he's productive. And that hasn't changed in the few games he's played in KC already. He was terrible as a pinch hitter this year with the Brewers and that's why his numbers look brutal (his 2 starts he hit 300). Ortiz is a great talent and he's still young, like Kodi. 91% of the innings he's thrown this year he's posted a 1.03 whip, 2.17 bb9, 9.1 k9, 2.45 era....he's had 2 bad outings spanning 5 innings that have ballooned his numbers and one was his first start back from missing a month due to injury. I hope the O's let him throw more than 70-75 pitches, unlike the Brewers, as he would have easily thrown 110 innings last year even with his injuries and same goes for this year. I get the nagging injuries with him and it's a concern moving forward but dude is a legitimate talent who's never allowed to throw 95 pitches like everyone else in our org. I believe he makes his MLB debut before the end of 2019. The reality is Phillips is MLB ready, already on the 40 and blocked by the Yelich/Cain acquisitions and Braun still here through 2020 while Ortiz has like 7 controllable rotation arms in front of him and Brown next to him combined with being Rule 5 eligible. Phillips/Ortiz were virtual locks to be traded for those very reasons. Carmona is 18 and already has hit tool issues plus he'll be blocked at SS (Turang); he's a lottery ticket here and elsewhere. While Kodi's performed well in the rotation this year and made strides he's not going to stick there nor is he a better rotation arm prospect than Burnes/Peralta/Woodruff/Ortiz/Brown and he's also Rule 5 eligible. No reason to have Kodi take up a 40 man spot next year when Suter's spot is already open due to TJ and most likely missing all of 2019 then when he's back in 2020 he becomes the strong multi-inning lefty pen arm and 6th man in the rotation with 4yrs cheap control still. I really like Phillips and Ortiz, and Kodi as a pen arm, but it made a lot of sense to trade them and in doing so we improved our MLB team while keeping our top 3 rotation prospect arms (and Brown who they're very high on) and Hiura, Ray, Dubon, Nottingham, Houser who can all help next year at the MLB level at some point during the season (and we kept Lutz/Erceg too). And yes, it was a fun end to the deadline.

1 - Keston Hiura 2 - Corbin Burnes 3 - Corey Ray 4 - Brice Turang 5 - Zack Brown 6 - Mauricio Dubon 7 - Tristen Lutz 8 - Lucas Erceg 9 - Jacob Nottingham 10 - Joe Gray 11 - Marcos Diplan 12 - Adrian Houser 13 - Nathan Kirby 14 - Phil Bickford 15 - Trey Supak 16 - Trent Grisham 17 - Caden Lemons 18 - Jake Gatewood 19 - Troy Stokes 20 - Cody Ponce 21 - Payton Henry 22 - Micah Bello 23 - Aaron Ashby 24 - David Fry 25 - Mario Feliciano *if for some reason someone gets bumped off then Clayton Andrews is next

The point was he was being blocked from playing CF/RF when he actually wasn't. His arm is garbage and there's only so much one can do to improve upon that. He has LF written all over him. If Stokes and Grisham were on the same level defensively then it would make sense the Brewers would flip flop them so both can get experience playing both corner spots. There's a reason that's not happening.

His defense is *significantly* worse than Harrison, Ray, Grisham and his arm is even worse. He's not blocked from playing CF/RF. Stokes is nothing more than a 4th OF and I think he could reach that. Don't think it's happening with us though.

Braun is 1st or 2nd on the team in avg exit velocity, barrel %, etc (he's #36 in MLB in avg exist velocity) this year while having a career low BABIP (25-30pts lower than last year) and 70-100pts lower than Yelich/Cain/Aguilar. You'd know he's hit into a lot more than *some* bad luck this year if you'd objectively watch a game since you've said as much this year that you don't like him at all. He has a 7% BB rate and 21% K rate - while you're correct they're near lows/highs in career lets not pretend that they're bad (the reason you didn't actually cite the numbers is because they're not bad nor alarming). I'm sure your dislike for Braun has always factored into anything you say about him because it's rare if anything positive comes out of your mouth about him. When he was getting 550+ PA (2015/2016) you and most others on here were still calling him a glass house so it really doesn't matter how many PAs he gets or how many games he plays because that drum will always have a beat. We've learned the last 2yrs that Braun isn't productive? Have we? I just mentioned above about how well he's actually swung the bat this year regardless of what his slash line says. And last year he had a 110 wrc+ with a 823 OPS with a career low (at that point) BABIP and statcast evidence he was unlucky as well but definitely not as unlucky as this year. In the meantime, last year, your golden boy Yelich had a 115 wrc+ with a 808 OPS and 45pt higher BABIP. Keep on keepin on though...

Why does everyone assume Hiura is guaranteed success in the MLB? He is only in AA and has struggled recently. Yes, he was injured but he still needs time to hone his craft. He is the best bat we have had since Braun but he is only one year removed from college. Even Braun spent the first two years in the minors. I see Hiura in AAA to finish the year and possibly take a hold of the position next year, but to insert him into the MLB lineup right now would be detrimental to his development. Renting a Dozier works out perfectly...if the Twins are selling. I almost forgot I wrote that 3wks ago; not like things have changed in between now and then (Hiura injuring hand missing a week then immediately going 2-26 as a result). To answer your first question - his hit tool. They said it was MLB ready before the season started and there have been no setbacks with his arm or fielding. Clearly they don't want to start his clock so they're going toward Dozier at this point in time