Joseph Zarr

I mean, holy heck this throw...I might have watched this absolute excellence 10 x since the final whistle blew?

Oh fear not, Finn, we gave you flowers right at the top. First 10 minutes.

Folks we tried so hard to keep it sub 2 hours. We failed. Alas, Spencer and I are Brewers Minor League Gossip Lords. 2 hours 8 minutes. We improved. BUT, we must get back to the drawing board; regroup; fine tune our flaws. @wiguy94: You were right. Again. Sighs.

I was hinting at this Bull Breakout many many moons ago. Well, we are very much obviously in the Bull cycle. Here's the thing: It's very very early. This thing is only just getting started. Compare where we currently are to the last cycle's break of BTC at $20K... Anywho, all this is to say the Crypto Bulls are unlike many other markets: Here are our Ledger Live One Month 'Losers' - 3 Stable Coins hovering in their 1% scheduled windows: Here our our One Month 'Gainers': Needless to say, I am quite happy with my HBar and XRP slow accumulations over the past four years. Best of luck to all of you playing in this realm. It could be a very very good run if we play our cards right.

For those of you who made it all the way through our episode One Opus (3 Hours?!? Sheeeesh, who hired these guys?!?) I can avow: We will not record a full-season episode longer than an hour and a half. I think we can get these in at 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes. And, as I prepare more fully for this episode I am so so fondly looking back on the past two seasons of Mudcats baseball. A true testament to the depth of talent throughout the youngest ages of Brewers prospects.

Yanni also turns 30 on Friday. Who's the child now, J Brown?!? WHO'S THE CHILD NOW?!?

Just a friendly reminder that Khash is indeed still Khing:

It truly is a beautiful thing. Goodness, I love Giannis. What an athlete. What a human.

Quezada continues to intrigue me. I just like the way he pitches in the bevy of clips and game tapes I've seen. I mentioned it in the pod - he has a Carlos F. Rodriguez thing going on in his delivery. Does he have that level of stuff? Who knows but I think the pre-pitch set-up similarities are quite apparent. Perhaps he was kept within the Dominican Academy because he changed orgs and they wanted that particular pitching staff and coaching staff to work with him as a ground-level approach. I think you can see small discernible changes in his stuff and in his approach this past season than what I saw in the Yankees film. I'm really glad you brought up Mercado and Corniel comparison. I had been thinking the exact same thing this off-season. Corniel was actually really really good at Carolina. Despite what the numbers might say - a lot of those eventual inflated numbers came via one really bad blow-up inning when he stayed in the game after a come backer off his pitching arm. He proceeded to give up like a 7 or 8 spot in his final 2/3 innings in the middle of the game? I believe it was @ Fredericksburg but I'm going strictly off of memory here. It was a wild high-scoring affair at the end of the regular season. Corniel also had a weird thing early in the year where he was struggling for some reason in the third frame. As the season progressed, he squashed that - it was anomalous. He doesn't have Rodriguez's fine-tuned control and consistency at this stage but he has really good off-speed stuff for his age and experience. I looked through Mercado's season and thought the same thing you propose here.

Yes. Like that. You love to see it. Let's hope we continue seeing plays like that to start next season at Wisconsin. And, I think it's very fair to say those are plays he needs to make (while staying healthy) semi-regularly to get back into the serious prospect conversation, imho. Obviously, a player isn't going to track down every gapper. But, he has to track down some. When you are working with a smaller stature, like Perez is, you have to maximize your range and make those plays in the gap and make the routine plays routinely. We saw numerous mental lapses bobbling and dropping routine balls that led to several runs during the playoff push - plays where a basic gather and toss to the relay kept a runner at 2nd or 3rd instead of advancing and scoring. And, we saw some truly poor angles and effort on more than one occasion. It was baffling. Now, he was coming back from injury, as we all know, so that plays a part and we should keep that at the forefront. There is rust there. But the lapses were just very very head scratching. AND, I should add I have been one of the bigger proponents of resurfacing his name as someone to not forget about simply due to our collective prospect fatigue or the fact he missed significant time due to injury. His lefty bat is a really intriguing offering - some power and line drive pop in there and a really smooth and fluid swing path overall. He was making really good swing choices early in his brief return - another plus given his historical penchant for the swing and miss which is something he'll need to address as he continues to mature. As mentioned above, the arm is more than solid too. At this stage, we know he isn't going to be a Luis Lara/Yophery Rodriguez/Jackson Chourio level defensive outfielder. Not many are. But, imho, he has to make the plays he can make and he has to make them consistently. To that end, he could look more toward the consistency we saw from Carlos D. Rodriguez. Perez has a better arm by a good margin there, but Rodriguez was and is currently the more consistent defender in this regard: making the plays he should make. And, obviously, it goes without saying Rodriguez certainly had a better penchant for consistent contact. This upcoming season is a massive season for Perez. He'll be turning 22 years old at the start. He'll be in High-A. He's coming off an injury-mired 1 1/2 seasons. I really really hope he can stay healthy and start working on his game. As Spencer and I discussed in our first podcast: there is ample opportunity in the outfield within the greater Minor League depth chart. It's open season to stake a claim.

Hard to disagree on the final point. Patty Ice definitely appears as tho a move to his real estate office might do all some good. I took it as a real plus he didn't even see garbage minutes last night (maybe I'm reading something into absolutely nothing). Hard to not just be very disappointed with Delon Wright's game at this juncture. This is a guy I wanted in a Bucks jersey for years. We finally get him. And, well, he appears well into the twilight of his career. I continue to believe Bobby is the only real Trade Deadline asset the Buckaroo possess. And, for the right deal, I move him and don't even blink. He continues to be a massive defensive liability and I just don't think his double doubles can overcome where his value is weakest - defensively and moving the ball. Will the Bucks deal him? I have absolutely zero idea. But, for the right wing/guard/big I think they have to seriously seriously consider it. I continue to have faith Chris Livingston is ultimately a solid rotation guy. I don't know when that happens but I just think he does a lot of little things actively and well with an improving mid-range and short game. Anywho, the outlook is much much brighter and that is a very good thing. Man, it was bleak those first 10-12 games. Bleak.

Indeed. Let me just say: He absolutely can not play the type of defense we saw late in the season at Wisconsin. It was really bad. The bat is a real thing. The arm is a real thing. Has to improve the focus, effort and urgency on the outfield grass. There were some truly ugly moments to end his season.

I just read out the last 1 minute 25 seconds. Yeeeesh. That's an All-Time NCAA classic right der. Woooof.

Yup. AND, he passed Derozan tonight and now leads the League in mid-range FG% at over 50%. I don't even know what to make of this trend but the fact it is happening in real time before the age of 30 has me all sorts of fuzzies.

(Suspected 25 Int'l signings also included within)

Stepping back, I also realize we currently have 22 pitchers rostered at Carolina. Y'all are likely on to something with the T-Rats promotional thinking.

I like your boldness. Of your list here: Rund, Bryant, Cornielle are my only likely locks. Hence my 2-3. I'd say all the other pitchers have quite a bit to prove. I hope I'm wrong! I think very fair arguments can be made for Rudy (who really improved in the second half and was absolutely fantastic in the Championships); Cruz, and Fitzy. Aquino needs more seasoning after last year's shuffling - is he bullpen now? Was it a hiccup (his struggles) or does he need another level beyond the slider? Amd, tho I love Figueroa and felt quite validated by his success after his promotion (finally!) I personally find it hard to think the Brewers promote him again in such short order with so few outings at High-A. Could be my own limited thinking.

For me, as a very very early card carrying and banner waving board member of the Luke Adams hype club (as you know, we're talking dreaming on his initial ACL numbers), it's as simple as: Clarke and EMJ are starting in Nashville Burke is the older player/higher draft pick to start at 1B in Biloxi. Does Wilken's 2024 merit a pre-emptive promotion to Nashville? I don't think so. Then again, I thought Wilken should have been withheld from the AFL 😁 Zavi being the consummate utility soldier he is plays the back up with hopefully a healthy and improved Ethan Murray. AND, all this being said I would be entirely unsurprised if they promoted him to start the campaign. More off-season beard scratching Rodin's hand ruminating than any bold declaration.

Yeah I think it's safe to say Pratt starts in Biloxi. He went up in the post-season because of injury within the Shuckers infield personnel but he also earned it and certainly showed well. Furthermore, given the immense traffic jam being caused via stateside promotions (good problem to have!) I'm personally anticipating Pratt and Areinamo starting in Biloxi. I think we'll see Guilarte and Baez start at High-A Wisconsin. And so on and so forth. I personally would be unsurprised if Luke Adams stays at Wisconsin in the early part of the season with the mandate of: swing more and show some more aggression.

That helps. Thanks. Even given that addendum, I still purport that's speculatively bullish. I mean, are you all seriously contemplating 9 early-season or off-season promotions from Wisconsin?!? OR are you considering, say, a realistic 2-3 with more FA adds? I don't think you can realistically look at the T-Rats current staff and commit to any more than that. Anyhow, I'm going to remind myself from this point on: this is the transactions thread. Let's move any more conversation about this over HERE. Thanks!

I've heard this sentiment more than once now so I think it's important to add some accuracy to the claims: Even if you add Deivi Garcia, Thomas Pannone and Jon Duplantier - obvious Sounds arms - there are only 27 pitchers between the Shuckers and Sounds (they haven't officially been added to their roster page). 15 of those arms currently are on the Shuckers staff. The Brewers clearly have a plan they are trying to execute with in-season pick-up RHP Sam McWilliams who they've kept on the Sounds staff.

Ohhhhh man. Don't get me even daydreaming about Duplantier. That's not really fair. 😅 Like this is exactly the type of fringe add the Brewers are so adept at executing. Duplantier was lights out in Independent ball. Struggled with the Mets @ Syracuse. Was released. Picked up by the Dodgers for the final month plus and really had some success when called up to the PCL. Perhaps, they've found something here as he's removed further from injury and is entering his 30's. I'm unreasonably interested in this move! Oliva had a really nice year for the Mariners' Double-A affiliate (Arkansas Travelers) last season. Brewers continue to replace with recent losses. Oliva can also very much fill in on the CF grass (spent Double-A in the Texas League last season but very much has Triple-A experience). Did this in game 1 of the Texas League Championship series: The travelers went on to win that series and Oliva bat clean-up throughout with a 0.330ish BA and 0.990 OPS. He did everything you'd want from a guy that age (approaching 30) at Double-A. I imagine (?) the Crew will place him @ Nashville as an everyday starter off the bat.