Joseph Zarr

$5Mil dead next year feels steep? Maybe I'm just old. Sigh. 😅

Preston traded to da Steelers for a 7th Rd pick. Steelers assume all contractual obligations. I believe the Packers will have a nominal dead cap hit next season (I'm not entirely sure). So, in essence, recouping a 7th it would generally appear one could consider this as a QB Malik Willis for OLB Preson Smith 1-for-1 swap when all is said and done.

I really like Tyler Black. He's a likable Canuck with a huge wealth of talent. However...the only positions Black has ever played where you came away thinking: "Ok, this could work." are on the OF grass. I've watched the vast majority of his Minor League games so I'm not spitballing here. He didn't have a good year at the dish last season despite what any numbers might suggest - his first such struggle in the Minor Leagues. Despite the down season by his standards, he absolutely still remains an extremely advanced bat. He had an off year. But, the Brewers are also juggling him around the defensive side of the ball like <insert bad or even inappropriate juggling analogy here>. I personally think he does much better on the OF grass because the decision-making process is slightly delayed and there is a broader range to cover and less compression. He has a second to allow his innate athleticism to take over. He doesn't have to react instantly and rely on extremely unsteady hand-eye coordination (OK, he likely just has really bad hands) or positioning or worrying about what ground it is he is actually expected to cover. He can simply turn and sprint and let that innate athleticism take over. He has really good range in both LF and CF. I haven't seen him botch a single play on the OF grass in his limited opportunities but I certainly have seen him make several ranging catches. On the infield? It is very much literally a 50/50 proposition on any given play. Full stop. That is not playable on an MLB diamond. To me, he is strictly a platoon OF/DH guy or a trade candidate to a team who could afford to live and die with him on the OF grass as an everyday player on a very very much low expectations team. For instance, there is absolutely zero way I could validate playing him at 1B over Ernesto Martinez Jr. - who outside his incredible stature and agility and what that means for the entire infield also hits the living heck out of the ball - or even Wes Clarke. I can't trust him to take innings at 3B. If I remain unconvinced Andruw Monasterio plays an acceptable level of MLB-caliber infield defense...I absolutely don't think Tyler Black can. This is just how I see it. I absolutely hope I'm dead wrong.

Indeed. Also, on the road. At KC. Have to go for 2 at the end there. Why are you even flirting with giving Mahomes another opportunity with the ball? You can't leave that up to a coin flip. Live and die with the consequence of being bold and going for the win. Bowles played way too conservative there, imho.

I gotta say, in all my years...in all my random iterations...this the first 'douche nozzle' I've witnessed. This is the kind of cutting edge witticism we need.

Hey the Javelinas won last night! Feels like a Harvest Moon! 3-2 over the (also not all that good early) Scottsdale Scorpions. RHP Ryan Birchard did ongoing AFL Birchard things - strikeout and walk at a near 1:1 clip while keeping damage at a bare minimum. 3.0 IP, 1 H, 4 BB, 4 K, 1 WP, 0 R. ERA is down to 3.75. However, it is absolutely worth sharing: the results are acceptable but the in-game process remains unsound. 1.83 WHIP on the season. Leads the AFL in walks. Has 16 BB to 15 K in just 12.0 IP. His saving grace at present is despite those peripherals his raw stuff is evolving. He is holding hitters to a 0.162 BAA. Ingredients absolutely there. Still very much a raw ball of clay at this stage of his development path. RF Luis Lara grabbed another OF assist (he has several) in an 0-for-3 day at the plate. Despite the lack of eye-popping results of any kind at the plate he is still managing a 12:10 K:BB ratio. He is staying relevant, if unimpressive, while adding very very good defense as per usual. 3B Brock Wilken continues to get #3 and #4 chances in the batters box. He continues to struggle producing anything of consistent substance. 0-for-3, 1 BB, 2 K. His AFL output is now a 0.138 BA with a paltry 0.493 OPS. He leads all 3B in the AFL in strikeouts (26). He is second last (of 11 players consistently manning the hot corner) in BA and OPS. He continues to be given each and every opportunity despite a three month long super slump. Sigh. 2B Juan Baez continues to shine brightest for the Brewers in the desert. He essentially is nipping at the heels of the Cardinals' highly-touted Thomas Saggese in nearly every important offensive category for 2B in Arizona. He went 1-for-4 with 1 2B (his 3rd overall) and 1 RBI (his 13th overall). The Javelinas 'improve' to 6-16 on the season. They will face the 15-7 Surprise Saguaros today.

Because these transactions were also technically processed on the Minor League side: RHP Bryse Wilson was sent outright to the Nashville Sounds where he elected Free Agency 1B/OF Jake Bauers was sent outright to the Nashville Sounds where he elected Free Agency

Chourio...Quero...and now one SS Cooper Pratt. Well deserved! The future is bright!

AND on the Minor League side we have one SS Cooper Pratt bringing home the golden hardware.

That pitching play-by-play from Jim absolutely encapsulates the 2024 AFL Javelinas experience. A literal pitching staff roller coaster. You don't have to look far - just check those pitching staff peripherals. Lottttttta elevated everythings. But, I'm choosing to give the benefit of the doubt many of these young men are devoutly working on distinct aspects of their skillsets - a cumulative up and down affair. It's the journey not the destination here. I do believe Manfredi's last two outings have had a balk apiece? Not a good trend.

Which brings me to: I was left wanting much more of the young and intriguing Adamczewski who flashed consistently before season ending injuries. I imagine, however, as he ages and progresses he is going to need to develop a modicum of positional flexibility. He didn't appear to have the lateral agility and range to handle a spot SS assignment at this level but I certainly could be wrong. We didn't get a chance to see it in Carolina which probably tells us where he is in that greater organizational SS depth chart. Can he handle a 3B assignment? Is he going to get any reps in the corner OF spots? The bat absolutely looked advanced which is a massive plus. Serious potential in that lumber. And, boy, it was hard to leave the season feeling confident about Di Turi. Nearly everything he was doing at Carolina felt a step too slow. His second season will be crucial for his standing in the organization.

Yes and he was always hired on as an easy walk-over. From Day 1 from my POV. I mean that original hire was such a literal quagmire. As bad as he has been in key areas, I think it is very very safe to say he is a consummate 'Yes man'. It is said, for instance, he was very clearly a Nick Nurse and then a Kenny Atkinson guy but he was easily overrode in the final decision-making process. First by Giannis and then by ownership. For me, the entire draft complex and decision-making around those picks and the general disregard of picks (especially considering their ridiculous salary cap situation) is where he and his staff have repeatedly dropped the ball. I just don't know how much final say influence he really has anywhere else. But, yeah, to your point I just don't think he does anything especially well other than play the point man for others' decisions. And, where he does have more agency I don't think he is very good at all.

The reverse jinx worked with aplomb: A two out grand salami ties the game at 6 apiece. There is now a bases empty rain delay with 3B Brock Wilken scheduled to bat next.

I am now officially on "Will the Peoria Javelinas win another game in the 2024 AFL season watch?". They trail 6-2 in the eighth frame to Surprise. They are on the verge of falling to 5-17. It's a beautiful ugly in the desert. Here's our moment of Zen: It's reasonable to say 3B Brock Wilken has had decent outcomes in three of his past four games. He is 1-for-2 with 1 RBI, 2 BB, and 1 K tonight. We have to start somewhere. I'll gladly find a needle in a haystack.

It very much is. And, it very much spell checked me to 'Cameron'. Incredible. Thanks for the heads up - I'll go ahead and re-edit that post. As you can see given me several posts above, I very clearly know what his name is - I've been watching him pitch throughout his AFL stint. 😅

The RHP Chad Patrick era begins... I have to think, at this point (especially given the Rea news), it's a near certainty he is added to the 40-Man. Otherwise they near certainly lose their best 'ready now' end of rotation starter. I don't think the Brewers would overlook how absolutely dominant Patrick was in his last month of work for Nashville after an already fantastic season. 39 K over 25 IP in his last six starts. 5 ER allowed over that span. This includes an abbreviated 3.0 IP, 4 BB snafu vs Gwinnett. His second to last start at Home vs Memphis was a 12 K masterpiece. The cutter was filthy. It reminded me of that last week of bullpen work we saw from RHP Tobias Myers to close the 2023 season - a guy who had really pitched admirably all year somehow found an entirely different level.

Having watched some or all of each of RHP Coleman Crow's last three outings I've seen a bit of everything early in what are essentially his rehab innings. He has a massive and classic 12-6 curve. It has a seriously large arc with quite a bit of vertical break. And, it has me wondering if he can't reduce some of that movement and develop a gyro slider or death ball type set of movements in his arsenal. I mean he sits low 90's and his heat has some ability for late movement. Is he going to strictly be that traditional swooping curve guy and target that larger velo discrepancy? Or can he sacrifice some of that vertical movement for a higher velo version that can get more strikes? My early Friday AFL ponderings. To that end, and for any of you pitching nerds...this is a really fun 6 minutes of your time. ** For those of you who haven't seen Crow pitch, he has a roughly 3/4 arm slot approach and I would gather - albeit it in extremely limited viewings, obviously - he has a distinct pronation bias in his tool kit **

My personal opinion on the jam-packed treasure trove of talent inherent in Madé's complete package of a game is we will collectively look back at this next season and ponder how he wasn't the unanimous number one prospect on this list. Yes, he appears to absolutely be that good. You just do not see the type of peripherals and industry-wide sentiments and write-ups on players like this all that often. By every stretch of the imagination, he is a Unicorn. And, it turns out, and I can't believe I'm typing this, he may be an even better player than OF Jackson Chourio was at this stage of his career. I had heard some of the early rumblings from down in the Dominican before the season started. Hence, it is why I got out at the very onset of the summer with this presumptive headline in our Minor League daily Game Thread back on June 8th...it's also why I bought each and every one of his Dominican League rookie cards and grabbed several autographed cards. Dream Big, I say! 😅

Between this and the repeated clips of Bobby absolutely blowing his defensive rotation assignments...these Bucks are just really really bad in their current form. And, now, they have two upcoming versus the red hot and young and talented Cavs. Who, it turns out, are coached by none other than Kenny Atkinson - who plays a movement heavy diverse array of offensive sets. Another qualified coach turned away in the Bucks interview process. I find it absolutely amazing the Bucks fired Bud to hire Adrian Griffin. To fire Griffin. To pay double digit annual Million dollar contracts to one Doc Rivers. The ongoing level of incompetence within the Bucks organization is reverting to a sort of B-Side to the Kohl years. They have money to spend and, boy, are they spending it. Yet, the incompetence is so rich they can't help but get in their own collective ways. In a vaccum, trading Jrue and moving on from Bud can certainly be rationalized. Maybe they had reached the peak of that iteration. BUT, the consequent decisions have been nothing short of devastating for the organization. And, as others are pointing to above, the collective failures in the draft process (not to mention the glaring disrespect of draft picks in general when trading away nearly every one) play major major parts as well. This is an organization in shambles. It really is. Can they turn it around? Maybe? But, I think this type of reversion was always in the cards when you consider the overwhelming history of personnel decisions; coaching decisions; and organizational mistakes. It looked rosy after game one. They looked motivated and organized. They look absolutely nothing close to that resemblance since. They look old. Slow. Uninspired. Lazy. And disorganized. It's a total mess.

Absolutely devastating. All the best to his family and friends. Prayers his legacy, tho entirely too short, can live on with lasting impact. Thank you for sharing.

Boy that Bucks championship window closed FAST. 😅 Looking back, preventing the Pistons from interviewing Horst is mildly comical. On the other hand, I do believe Griffin's Buckaroos lost by 50 to Memphis just last season? Down 29 after three might be 'progress'.

Definitely not meant to be condescending. Very accurate in that respect. I apologize if it comes across that way. Sincerely. I also, very much self-admittedly, have my own ongoing battles with Top 20, top anything rankings really 😅. And, well, that is entirely my very own set of issues. And, perhaps indicative of my own shortcomings as a man, I let those issues wheeze out in the public forum where I may come across like a whiny petulant teen. Sigh. Every individual is most definitely entitled to their votes and for their very own reasons. And, I also think the discourse at large is generally fun and the disagreements very healthy. The baseball discourse here is absolutely top notch. At the end of the day, all any of us truly want (I hope) is for these players to achieve the very best versions of themselves - in baseball and in life.

X just won the NFC Defensive Player of the Month award. The last Packer safety to do that? S Atari Bigby. My goodness. That stings a little. Like, really?!? Man, the Savage years were lean in that defensive center field.

This is where I struggle with the HBP storyline. Those were the three consecutive months (ending in July, his very best month) immediately after returning from the HBP. Is there some sort of strange delayed PTSD? I personally see a player in a very prolonged slump who is swinging at pitches out of the zone and not barreling enough hittable balls. Unlike EBJ, I can't point to a glaringly discombobulated pre-swing set up - who, btw, by season's end had ended up in a traditional stance for the very very brief period to end his season. A fairly stunning and welcome development. In current form Wilken, I see a player fighting himself and possibly forcing the issue. He had the HBP to the face and he had his firstborn child this year. Those are monumental events. The thing is, in professional sports the majority of the athletes are dealing with injury and challenges. I don't see Wilken's context inside and outside of the diamond all that remarkable. Is it unique? Yes, unique to Brock Wilken's life and I certainly have compassion for him. I certainly want to see him succeed. But, it's also OK to say he hasn't been playing at a top 10 level for quite awhile.