Joseph Zarr

Well, the other component of this entire conversation is they have likely a Top 5 (if and when healthy) catching prospect in Jeferson Quero. They have another very underrated catching prospect in Ramon Rodriguez likely starting in Double-A (on Sounds roster today likely due to ML Rule 5 protection shenanigans - I should add they also clearly like David Garcia both MiLB FA pick-ups in the 2023 off-season) and they have another defensive savant coming stateside in 2025, who has shown a surprising bit of pop at his young age, in Luis Corobo. Given the nature of the Brewers budget year-to-year, given the nature of how they acquired Contreras, and given the nature of how the Brewers are accumulating and developing talent in the lower levels it's just a prudent decision to exploit the current MLB structures as they are to punt these decisions a bit more down the road. Leave all options open and on the table and let the process reveal itself over time. If Contreras wants an extravagant contract, well, unfortunately, we all know he's most likely not going to get that in Milwaukee. Anywho, I pretty much simply see it as it is what it is. And, I also see the Brewers as a very well run business organization given their constraints.

OK, I'm getting to this a tad later so I'm going to try to zig where others have zagged. I think it's quite obvious who some of the candidates 'should' be in some of these categories. I'm going to intentionally go beyond the front-runners to add a little more depth to the concensus. Without further ado, let's give this a proverbial whirl: 1) Fast Risers: I too, absolutely love what I saw from RHP Jason Woodward in 2024. Quite frankly, it was a distinct highlight of my season of viewing and it was a real real bummer he got injured before the playoffs. He quite easily had some of the most electric stuff I saw all year at any level. Jesus Made and Eric Bitonti, like others here and for good reason, are my low-hanging solid bets here given what we know coming into the year. Young 1st Rd, apparent phenom, OF Braylon Payne would be another obvious choice here given what we saw in our brief sample and given he'll now take that incredible work ethic and can do attitude into his first professional off-season. However, I'm going to 'zig' here and bring back a name who has quieted in hype since his early power output in the DSL. I'm going with OF Jose Anderson. Granted, I haven't seen him play (none of us have) and he didn't get the DSL hype Pena and Made did and he tapered off at the end of his season. But, I believe he has several things working in his favor: he obviously has a penchant for hitting for power; he will likely start in the ACL so the promotion route is there; the Brewers have a dearth of high-end OF prospects stateside - ergo Payne's route to fast rising; and I think some of his drop-off may have been related to (unsubstantiated) playing through nagging injury as he sat out the last week or so in a playoff chase. The runway is there should he find success early that he makes it to High-A Wisconsin by season's end. This being said, this is likely aggressive. He likely finishes the season in Carolina. 2) Out of Nowhere: Well, Hunt was a UDFA and Yoho was a draft pick. To that end: <Insert (as of today) unknown UDFA, draft pick or Indy Ball signings here>. And, well, that's not all that exciting. So, let's go elsewhere to a player I continue to just really like every time I see footage of him. He appears to have the size (despite originally being listed at 5'10" he looks more like an athletic stout 6'0" to me), the athleticism, the smoothness, and the early stateside consistency to really come on the scene in 2025: INF Tyler Rodriguez. I, for one, can't wait to watch Rodriguez and Adamczewski start the year together in Low-A Carolina. 3) Rise into a Consensus Top 100 Prospect: I see how hard it is for unknown pitchers with lesser pedigrees to garner Top 100 attention - heck, just consider how long it took for RHP KC Hunt, who I was pointing every Brewer fan to in his first week of relief work in Carolina, to get his due respect. I really want to dream into RHP Jason Woodward here. His stuff is absolutely that good. But, he's not even really firmly on the national consensus map. This is likely his 'Breaks onto the Scene' year if he can stay healhty. BUT, I'm going to join the herd and go for the lower hanging fruit here. I just think OF Braylon Payne has such an incredible work ethic and the right attitude to take an even bigger step in his first professional off-season. He has all the make-up for a fast riser and has the tools to be a legit Top 100 guy. 4) Comeback Year: There's quite a number of hopeful storylines here. Obviously, it's no secret I found RHP Cameron Wagoner's 2023 second half turnaround one of the better stories of 2023. C Jeferson Quero is an obvious choice given his status and his unfortunate early injury in 2024. LHP Brandon Knarr hasn't pitched in over a season after just getting his feet wet at Double-A Biloxi. On and on. For me, however, all roads lead to one of my favorite 'still under-the-radar' guys in RHP Tanner Shears. I sincerely can not wait to watch him toss that knuckling splitter again. It is absolutely one of my favorite pitches in the system. Seeing him come off TJ and back to the bump is definitively one of the things I look most forward to in 2025. 4b) Bounceback Year: I refuse to believe the quagmire that was EBJ's swing and set-up consummates the total player EBJ can be. I see it as a player lost in the fields of his own searching. I believe he soul searches in the off-season and he comes back with a vengeance looking to reclaim prospect status in 2025. We already know the defense is elite. He simply needs to find some semblance of consistent offense. I invest in: 2024 was a 'toss it in the trash' anomaly. 5) Disappointments: Capital SKIP. It's too early and I'm never going to project a Brewers player disappointing me before they are given an opportunity to prove the merits of their off-season growth. Baseball is hard enough as it is. This is my time to invest in dreaming players overcome their obstacles and they find new grooves and new means of being their best selves. 6) Individual/Team Predictions: I think we see very similar lower level results in 2025 - with the addendum it is likely going to be very hard to replicate the really solid outcomes we saw across two squads in the DSL in 2024. Is it possible? Absolutely. Was 2024 an anomaly? Surely could be given the nature of that international FA class. I think the ACL remains a lotto pick prognostication given the immense youth; the change of the season schedule (ie the draft is much later than the season start now); and the first stateside exposure for so many a young player. Regardless, the Brewers appear to really have something in terms of prepping any and all players for that Low-A transition - just look at the incredible pitching performances we saw when young men left the ACL. It was uncanny. To that end, I think both the Muddies, in their last season as catfish, and the T-Rats continue to challenge for Titles. The one change I do see this year is the Shuckers are starting to get legit boosts in talent from those lower level clubs. With Pratt starting in Double-A, a bounceback year from EBJ, Luke Adams and Ramon Rodriguez bringing their skills and savvy, Areinamo making his mark etc. I just see a team primed to surprise in the Southern League. I think 2025 may be the year where the lower level talent takes another step and starts solidifying the upper levels.

Why must we bring sound reasoning with broad industry evidence, when it's simply easier and (apparently) more satisfying to recycle the 'Attanasio is Cheap!' trope?! Alas. Fine little piece here.

It is going to be quite interesting to follow the careers of RHP's TJ Shook and Shane Smith. That's all I'm going to say about this.

Arson clearly happening. Looters following. Agreed. It's repulsive beyond measure and just a sad state of affairs.

I'm not going to lie...I was near certain you were going to say 18-year-old German Paul Hoff who really brings the kraut every trip to the bump! Alas, perhaps that is my own mind playing tricks on me.

Awesome. This is the way. I have two go bags and a fire proof Gun Safe. It is essential where I live. Then I spend like 50% of my time on my lands doing fire mitigation work. AND, it never feels like enough regardless and I can't control the weather and I can't control how land is managed surrounding my 65-70 acres. Hence, two go bags. Survival in the 'wild' modern West comes with risk. It just is what it is. And we must reckon with the ramifications of inhabiting historical fire ecologies. These lands are fire lands.

It's apocalyptic. The Palisades is essentially completely wiped out. With other fires starting in the hills (likely from ember carry and wind driven downed lines before they turned off blocks of power) and zero containment West LA is very very much not in the clear whatsoever. It is devastating for that larger community. I've been in wildfire mindset since 2020 so I know these scenes entirely too well and, yet, it never ceases to amaze what the perfect conditions seem to do annually.

Politicizing Fires. It bothers me. We don't know how these start. Culturally, it seems, every wildfire in a fire alley is pawned off on a political failure. I get it: LA and much of Southern California has a massive homelessness context and this is oft-rife with mental illness. Many a wildfire are started in a sketchy manner by a person living in a camp or on the streets. There may be poor leadership at the governmental level (shocker) and a greater context of unease or problems. BUT, in the time of need and the time of trauma we need to band together and help each other. We don't need to play a blame game. People need compassion and sympathy and HELP. I have friends I in Santa Monica. I spent almost the entire evening helping craft their evacuation route and teaching them what a 'Go Bag' is. It was an apocalyptic hellscape in the Palisades and West Los Angeles. This is going to be, potentially, the most economically devastating wildfire in United States history and it is bringing up a lot of festering wounds within our greater culture about failed management and leadership. Now is the time to help people find safety. Help animals find paths out of the blazes. It is a time to rally and support each other. We can pick up the pieces and get to all the finger pointing etc. after the fires are put out. My prayers go out to each and every one impacted. I pray the communities find the means to come together for a rebuild with a fire plan.

INF Eddy Alvarez has apparently signed a Minor League pact with the Atlanta Braves as covered in the MLB Trade Rumors article HERE. I always thoroughly enjoyed Alvarez's dependability and underrated production in his short stint with the Brewers and Sounds two seasons ago. Good luck, Eddy!

Hey, having a 1B/DH Nashville platoon of Ernesto Martinez; Wes Clarke; and Jake Bauers is pretty dang awesome. I am one happy camper!

I'm fairly certain velo wasn't the concern for RHP Isaiah Jackson's stint with the Brewers in the ACL (UDFA summer of 2023 - released late August 2024), but, none the less, it's nice to see him continue to put the work in:

Hey now! Welcome to the Wild fan club, my friend. I've been a peripheral fan of the Wild since their debut season. I lived in the Twin Cities for twelve years and owned a house across the bluff from the Xcel Energy Center. Went to many a game back in the day. I'm grateful for their current season - I think it's fair to say not many expected this! They're dealing with some nagging but significant injuries right now. The emergence of Rossi this season as a legitimate threat is a huge deal. Having Ek back is a major boost. Middleton's return right around the corner. The one tragic thing of being a Wild fan is they essentially always come up short. I have learned to never get my hopes up. I treat each season accordingly - yes, even in 2025. Despite their fantastic record they aren't dominant and they have one of lower goal differentials of the top teams.

My hope in this trade is the Crew go back to some of his funkier delivery sets in 2023. He kind of 'dumbed' it down last year and the results didn't really follow. I also hope he marries back to his tighter higher velo slider rather than his slower horizontally dominant sweeper of 2024. I became a pretty big Anderson fan when I stumbled upon him when tuning in to watch LHP Antoine Kelly pitch within the Rangers org back in 2023. Who could forget that historic 7 K (of 9 batters faced) in his debut vs the Tigers. That was an awesome moment. Anywho, Anderson has some really fun tools and I'm quite excited he gets a chance to work in the vaunted Lab. I see this as a pseudo right-handed Hoby role but I also see this as insurance for the loss of Bukowski in 2024 and his unknown return to form.

What a fun early January side road of Brewer fandom! Thanks for putting in the work in to do this, Jim.

LOL. No problem, I'll answer them here. I have typically finished hours of farm animal chores and chainsaw and mulching work by the time I come back into do the podcast. I am both exhausted but refreshed from a shower. As to the libations: Sometimes it is just my electrolyte lemon water with a side of an adult beverage (I have a kegerator on farm with local hard cider). This past podcast, I had my remaining coffee from the day, my electrolyte water, and a hard cider. LOL. It's funny you bring it up. Early in the pod I realized I had three different vassals going. I laughed to myself internally. It doesn't surprise me in the least you noticed!😅 And, no, I don't day drink so this is the first 'rewards' off of a day of burly farm work. 😆

I shore do wish RHP Robert Stock's arsenal moved like this when with 2023 Nashville (Hint: it emphatically did not). He's been working and tweaking!

We'll have to tack this on at the beginning of the Nashville episode - we recorded earlier this evening. We do address this vicariously, however, throughout the episode. Just missed today's cut🥲

Never too many questions. Love it. We will look through and answer accordingly. Let's be honest: any and all help is appreciated for a Shuckers deep dive😂. We were joking 'behind the scenes' we could discover a late technical issue and record the first half of the pod (video) from well behind and above us. Anyone who endured the Shuckers season alongside me knows what I'm referring to here.

Ask away nag dabbit! Freely and with moxy. Your questions are very welcome, doctor.

Black's best defensive performances in the Minor Leagues have come on the OF grass where his innate athletic gifts really take over. He's made some realllly nice ranging catches out in CF and LF. I personally don't trust a single bit of his infield defensive output - it just rarely ever looks or feels clean. This isn't to say he can't make plays on the infield. He can and he has. But, it just isn't consistently reliable in any fashion. At 1B, in particular, his scoops and stabs on liners or throws to 1B across the infield were very suspect in addition to not understanding positional responsibilities on grounders to the 2B side. How the Brewers end up using him is a hard nut to crack.

There are absolutely undeniably few better things in NFL football than beating the Queens in Minnesota on their turf. Hands down. Shutting down the 'Skol' chants is a bucket list feat for any Green Bay Packer. Man, when I lived in the Twin Cities I went to a significant amount of Packer vs Queens tilts at the then Metrodome. It was a grueling experience every single time. I may have added several a gray hair to muh beard in those experiences alone.

Your memory is speculatively accurate in that he was 'promoted' ahead of Barrios and Guilarte. He was 2-for-23 with 1 2B. It was a super small teaser sample size. At the time, if you recall, they were working with a suddenly small rotation of Murray, Black, and Warren as really the only everyday guys in the left side of the infield after Antonio Pinero got injured. They needed an adequate 'stop gap' before they traded with the Rangers for INF Jose Acosta (who has moved on this off-season as a FA). Acosta was acquired to essentially take Pinero's spot after they placed him on the 7-Day in early June. The ACL season began. Jadher spent the entire season there and then finished in Low-A Carolina through August and September.

I just found out today when my Sis called with the 'news'.😅