Ron Robinsons Beard

Wow, that lineup makes me want to party like its 2017 (except for Yelich in Santana's spot)!

This is the silly stuff that causes fights. Yeah, everyone gets it. The Brewers are playing great baseball. Stearns has done one heck of a job (along with Melvin) on creating winning baseball with this organization. That doesn’t take away discussion on what could possibly make them better. It’s a discussion board. There can be people on both sides of this. I think winning actually increases the scrutiny, as a lot of people are starting to see the team as a near-contender, if not already at that level. It's a fun position to be in. I guarantee that fan message boards for perennial title contenders like the Astros, Yankees, Cardinals and Dodgers have the same sort of arguments and drama. Just because you have a winning team, it doesn't mean that the work is done, and that every player move (or non-move) is flowers and glitter.

The Brewers really need to start hyping their top lower level minor leaguers more. Any time the Brewers are mentioned in a prospective trade, they are giving up players who are on the cusp of the Major League Roster, or are already on it. Other teams trade off prospects that are in A+ or below all the time for MLB pieces, though. I have to think that, even though other MLB teams know what the Brewers have at the lower levels, a little hype on those guys may help increase their value, especially to the fanbase of a team that just traded off a star player. I just don’t know how the Brewers would do this as it seems like something controlled more by the media than anything. We definitely do get the shaft on some of that coverage. I do question how much other GMs pay attention to that stuff though. All I know is I would rather trade away let’s say a Zach Davies right now than a Freddy Peralta. And I know that doesn’t get your deGrom or whoever else but maybe it’s the start of a package of players? Or maybe we target someone other than someone who has established themselves as a TOR guy? I don’t know. Just know we are in a good position (finally) with our own talent. It would be nice if some of our prospects at positions where we have more depth would start tearing the cover off the ball. Guys like Ray, Grisham, Tyrone Taylor, Stokes, Phillips, Lutz and Gatewood would be ideal trade candidates, as we have a lot of OF depth, and decent 1B depth throughout the system. That isn't the case at 2B, where it is Hiura, an injured Dubon, then a bunch of limited organizational soldier types. Same thing and 3B, where its Erceg, McClanahan I guess, then a bunch of warm bodies. At least we are starting to see some solid starting pitching depth with Burnes, Woodruff, Ortiz, Peralta, Diplan, Houser, Ponce, Derby, Supak, Brown, Roegner, Medeiros, and Lemons and Murphy a bit further down the line. We are probably to the point where we could make some calculated moves where we trade some of that pitching depth without taking a huge system hit.

The Brewers really need to start hyping their top lower level minor leaguers more. Any time the Brewers are mentioned in a prospective trade, they are giving up players who are on the cusp of the Major League Roster, or are already on it. Other teams trade off prospects that are in A+ or below all the time for MLB pieces, though. I have to think that, even though other MLB teams know what the Brewers have at the lower levels, a little hype on those guys may help increase their value, especially to the fanbase of a team that just traded off a star player.

With how this team is cycling through infielders, I have to think Dylan Moore and Jake Hager may get shots at some point this year. Especially Moore, as he's been hitting well this year.

Hopefully it will be a wake-up call for him. He's young and still has time, but it is starting to dwindle.

Every team has "Organizational Soldier" types to fill out their minor league rosters. That's exactly what Orf and Wren are ... and really what Sogard is too. I'm sure the Brewers would love to have MLB prospects at every position at AAA and AA, but things just don't seem to work that way.

Excited to see Keon get the call. He brings a lot of energy. Hopefully we see Good Keon and not Bad Keon.

That is the Brewers' odd DL philosophy summed up in one Tweet. I guess it's fun to play short-handed.

We have no idea who the Brewers deem as their top 3 prospects. All we know is what Baseball America tells us to believe.

Thames Braun Yelich Aguilar Miller Perez Villar Pina Peralta Braun in the #2 hole is interesting. Cain missing a game after a day off is concerning. Shaw missing another is also concerning. Miller at SS will be interesting.

I guess I read that as any player who is traded is going to be one deemed expendable by Stearns. Of course, we have no idea who he deems expendable. While many of us are prospect hugging Keston Hiura, who knows if Stearns sees him as part of the team's longterm future, or as a high-end trade chip? If the David Stearns regime has taught me anything, it's that no prospect trade is going to really mortgage the future, as the scouting staff is much improved on what they had a decade ago, and even high-end prospects are replaceable.

He hit .261 in Brevard County in 2014. I would qualify that as OK. Other than that, his minor league numbers before last year were pretty nondescript. Obviously the talent was always there, though. I really liked Harrison and was sad to see him go. But that's not the point. Harrison isn't a Brewer anymore. Joe Gray is. And Joe Gray, at least to me, is a uber-athletic quick-twitch player with the same kind of traits that got me excited about Harrison. Those are also the types that other teams salivate over in potential deals down the road. You got the batting average right but nothing else. Monte has never played for Brevard Co. He played in the Arizona League in 2014. Had a .400+ OBP and 30+ steals. He was excellent. Then he was good again the next year in Helena before getting injured upon promotion. What are you looking at? My bad ... I got the teams mixed up. He was fine in Arizona Rookie League. Showed promise. Then spent several years with injuries and flailing before living up to that promise again last year, which excited the Marlins enough to make him a big piece of the deal for Yelich. Also, you have it reversed. Harrison was aggressively bumped to the Wisconsin Single A team at the outset of the season in 2015, where he scuffled big time before being sent to Helena to play short season Rookie ball. But ... this isn't about Harrison. It's about Gray. And in my opinion, Gray's skillset compares favorably to Harrison's. It wouldn't surprise me to see him take a similar career path, which will come with highs and lows before hopefully a breakout as a top prospect a couple years from now.

Et tu Brute (i.e. Kratz)? You were the President and charter member of the Kratz fan club last week. Also, I think Santana needs to, you know, actually play at Colorado Springs to get himself righted. He earned his demotion. Make him earn a call-up.

He hit .261 in Brevard County in 2014. I would qualify that as OK. Other than that, his minor league numbers before last year were pretty nondescript. Obviously the talent was always there, though. I really liked Harrison and was sad to see him go. But that's not the point. Harrison isn't a Brewer anymore. Joe Gray is. And Joe Gray, at least to me, is a uber-athletic quick-twitch player with the same kind of traits that got me excited about Harrison. Those are also the types that other teams salivate over in potential deals down the road.

That is concerning. You'd think the guy would want to play and get himself righted. He's got no one to blame but himself for the situation he's currently in.

I don't see Hiura as a guy the Brewers will move. He's arguably the best system bat since Ryan Braun came along and you just don't let those guys go. If we can get de Grom or Syndegaard for a Hiura centered package, it's on the table. Yep. If those guys are in play, I imagine anyone not on the MLB roster (and likely a majority of the guys who are) for the Brewers would be in play. If the Mets want a package centered around Hiura, see ya Keston. I don't understand those people who argue that making moves like this would gut the system and set the team back. Yes, they would take a tumble in the farm system rankings for awhile, but how about having some faith in Stearns and the scouting staff to keep replenishing the system? He's proven so far that he and his scouting staff are terrific talent evaluators, and these prospects traded off can and will be replaced by new high-end talent. A World Series is the goal ... not having the top ranked farm system.

Gray gives me a Monte Harrison vibe. Really smooth athlete, if a little raw. Harrison really scuffled for a couple years before breaking out last year, and I wouldn't be surprised if Gray started out pretty slowly as well. He'll be an interesting name to watch for the next several years.

Thank god How is his guy THaT much better than what we have? Glad he's coming back, I guess, but isn't he a combo of players we have? By your posts, you act like there is a large gulf in difference between Sogard and Saladino, rather than a small stream. Sogard? Get rid of him. Saladino? So glad he is coming back on the team. I don't understand your affinity for Sogard. He is not good. He had a little lightning in a bottle last year, but other than that, he has been a poor MLB player his whole career.

Cervelli is old, injured and expensive. Mercer is a pure rental, and not much of an upgrade on Villar or Saladino/Miller, if at all. Dickerson is having a decent season, and is controllable through next year, so there is some value there. But his skillset is pretty redundant at this point. Nottingham, Gatewood and Ponce are all Top 20 prospects for the Brewers, and Derby is a young potential pen piece. I think that would be a huge overpay for the Brewers. So they say no.

There, in the spirit of the optimism thread, this quote has been adjusted accordingly.

Well, then it's a good thing it's still June, and 2018 season performances haven't been written in stone yet. You are right ... both are underperforming, but both of those guys also have the offensive skill to pick things up very quickly, Santana especially. Three months of season is still a long time to right the ship.

I think he's either called up during the stretch this year, or used as the centerpiece in a deal for a young starter with several years of control remaining. He is certainly doing a great job of increasing his value in a trade situation. Would be nice to get him up to Colorado Springs to increase those offensive numbers even more.

Wow. I mean I get that we all have players that we personally like and dislike. But this is like bonus level hatred. There is absolutely no fathomable baseball reason for any MLB team to start Sogard over Villar. None. Even when slumping, Villar is providing better defense and more upside offensively than Sogard this year. Heck, you could stick Suter out at 2nd base and likely get similar defense and offensive production to Sogard.

It was inevitable that this would happen. I'm actually surprised Santana wasn't sent down sooner. He just provides no value if he isn't hitting for power. I'll admit that his defense has been better than expected this year, but I didn't expect his offense to regress has much as it has. Hopefully he goes down to Colorado Springs and rakes for a month or so, and can come back up in the heat of the pennant race and help the club. I hope that Arcia joins him in Colorado as soon as Saladino is healthy enough to play.