Joseph Zarr

It is official: - RHP Coleman Crow (12/20 Houser and Taylor to Mets trade) and LHP Rob Zastryzny have both been assigned to the Nashville Sounds

Interesting. Obviously, the Crew valued Crow but weren't willing to roster him off TJ on the 40-Man via Rule 5. They'll have a year to assess, now, before rostering becomes a necessary decision. For anyone interested, here's a Baseball America nugget on Crow: Perhaps even more interestingly, the Brewers are amassing an eclectic array of serious entry candidates for the obscure 'Possibly the Best Off-Speed Pitch in the Entire Minor Leagues' category of MiLB.tv serial viewers. 1) Misiorowski slider 2) Knoth breaking balls 3) Crow curve 4) Shears splitter Will be quite interesting to see what happens from here. This is an obvious good faith upside lotto ticket with roster and financial flexibility attached.

Color me surprised and content. I honestly, hilariously, didn't know Haase was a FA. Am I the only FA noob who was taken by surprise at his availability?! 😂 This could be quite a solid bounce back signing. And, I fully expect the pitch framing gurus in-org to do their thing. He's actually come across quite springy and athletic in the select number of times I've seem him play. Let's hope he still has that.

This is an opening day roster. And, I understand your proposition here but I disagree with your take wholeheartedly.😅

Absolutely. It's important to remember the difference of transitioning from Minor League infields to Major League infields. There is a huge difference in quality of playing surfaces. Monasterio reminded us of this most recently. If a player has the athleticism and enough tools, more than likely he'll have a serious likelihood to be more than serviceable. As a habitual viewer of these Minor League games, I look for movement; form; tendencies; arm; reads etc. Botched grounders? I may care 'in-game' or the immediate aftermath, but overall I don't really care as it pertains to a player's overall skillset(s). I just can't vouch for the playing surface(s) and time and again we see this matters. I personally have zero 'concerns' or qualms today about a top three of EBJ, Murray, and Zamora. That is an extremely talented and toolsy group of young middle infielders. Areinamo might be my favorite defender in the group. He does so many ridiculously heady and skillful things in a game-by-game basis. A true artist with the glove. Will his bat continue to ascend as it has in Low-A? Guilarte is absurdly smooth and is an OB machine but, early in his career, he's had prolonged injury episodes. As far as the bat is concerned, of the names listed above, I personally have the most question marks (bat related) with Barrios and Garcia. Garcia being the more range-y and toolsy SS but a player who consistently demonstrates he struggles to identify pitches let alone know what 'his pitch' is AB to AB. It's unfortunate - Garcia is a very very good defender.

He was much better in 2023 than 2022 pre-injury. He played his best defense of the calendar year (2023) when his team needed him most for the playoff push. I came away quite a bit more convinced he was ready to take another step. Essentially, he gave us an error of some sort once every 5th game on Double-A infields. Given the fantastic defensiive output I saw over the last month and a half, I'll take that and run to the optimism bank. I think there's room for growth, for sure, but I moved my baseline heading into 2024.

EBJ Ethan Murray Freddy Zamora Jadher Areinamo Daniel Guilarte Gregory Barrios Eduardo Garcia Each and every one of these young men, defensively speaking, is and would be prioritized at SS over Baez. Each of these young men played SS over Baez in 2023. Guilarte, Areinamo, and Guilarte - specifically - all were played over Baez in his stint with Low-A. He was essentially strictly a 3B in 2023 when called up to Carolina and he was overtly prioritized at the hot corner over Luke Adams - that showcased and said all I needed to know. DSL side, Ereu; Alastre; Gutierrez; Di Turi; and Flores are likely names we should be keeping an eye on in 2024 at the SS position. When a young man is given 180.0 innings at the SS position in the ACL and fields to an 0.830 FP% and then is given zero innings at SS at Low-A (52 innings at hot corner; 1 fill-in game at 2B) during the Carolina playoff push and brief post-season while showing clear improvement at 3B...a pattern is emerging.

Tell me you've never seen Juan Baez play without telling me you've never seen Juan Baez play. Good grief. Never ever ceases to amaze.

Get back to the training cages, Mr. Gardner! You're suddenly really slacking on the hill!

I am entirely amenable to line-up shenanigans at this juncture toying with either Brock Wilken at 3B and Black at 1B or Black at 3B and Wes Clarke at 1B. In no scenario am I in any way shape or form committed to a Bauer in the opening day starting line-up (it could happen, sure, and I'll hope for the best if it does) or a Jones on the bench as a reserve OF'er.

This all being said, LT thinking and eyes on the prize. As I see it: Packers currently have the 11th, 37th, and 43rd picks in the Top 50 after the morning games? Toss in 2 3rd's and likely 2 4th's (Lazard salary and signing). That's a massive chest of assets. After the success of this most recent draft I feel reluctantly very hopeful.

I agree with you on both there. AND when this is on tape repeatedly and obvious to us, I don't know, maybe change the approach? Bring some pressure? Get the QB (these woeful NfL QB's tearing up this D) off his mark? "Walker covering receivers...", for example...kind of, I don't know hints at an issue. How about Preston off coverage on Davante Adams? I don't know. Also, on multiple crucial 3rd downs when the game was still within reach, the defensive backfield once again looked confused - off the top of my head a crucial 3rd down at midfield when Rudy Ford had his hands in the air as if he didn't know the call. This can't happen at this juncture of the season and his tenure. Last week, CB Carrington Valentine doesn't get the call on a crucial down and distance in the Giants game-winning drive (we all know what I'm talking about here). Those just can not happen. That is on the D-Coordinator. There's just too much incompetence on film and teams know it. They know how to attack it all.

I mean, the Joe Barry thing from Day 1 is a commentary on LaFleur. This is his guy. Embarrassing all around and certainly doesn't inspire an ounce of confidence moving forward - regardless of what he chooses to do when he chooses to do it. AND, this being said: how bad were Quay Walker and Campbell today? Lauded as coverage capable guys they were absolutely atrocious. But, it always comes back to the scheme. The off coverage. The ease by which teams exploit the middle and the flats is laughable. The 200 + yard rushing allowances. The inability to get off the field in 3rd down. Giving up multiple first downs in very long yardage situations. All of this a testament to the current D-Coordinator. He's just so ill-equipped to lead a department in 2023. He'a literally never led a defense in his entire career with a DVOA above 20. Ever. The ol' Boys club is fierce with this One.

Correct

This right here:

Thanks for getting this out there. Fun exercise. For the umpteenth time on this here website we all love: C Brian Navarreto has more than earned an opportunity to get a crack at an MLB back-up position. Defense, above and beyond, is a major strong suit. Great pop. Plus arm. Throws out runners at an International League leading clip regularly. Despite pedestrian numbers at the plate, he is actually extremely clutch in crucial scenarios. There is zero need, and I mean zero, to speed rush Quero. He's dealt with injuries in each season so far. Let him build more confidence and consistency at the dish. Let him test Triple-A waters. If it isn't Navs for whatever reason, sign another Vet back-up. Also, I know this is a thought exercise, but no Tyler Black in this rendition is pretty laughable. Just no. 7 days a week.

The absolute worst. I joke with some of my friends to hodl their Eth bags and ride it into the $20's...but be sure they stash a 30% Gas Fee Tax clip in their arsenal. Man, i still remember $88 Eth in 2020! Whewwwww.

Obviously, you are entitled to feel this way. I grant you that. And, while I absolutely agree with you on the '...work on the court that is necessary to win another championship.', I pretty much just flat disagree with you on the rest 😂. Giannis did more than plenty of work on the court that night (as he has done for nearly the entire season). What I am hearing here is the optics of the entire ordeal are giving people pause. That's fine. But, also, I. continue to be amazed how the Pacers antics are pretty much just overlooked. That part is just wild. From my vantage point, GA has been disrespected by the American players (other than the truly elite of the elite) since he's been in the League. This episode is no different. Just go look at the Knicks post-game antics last night after Brunson scored 50. That is actually, in my humble opinion, childish. You can disagree about going into the opponents' hallway. It certainly isn't a recipe for a good look and will result in conflict as it did. Then again, you can see the Pacers were pretty much feeding lines of BS because they were irritated he both went for the record and built on that (because the end of the Bucks bench was woeful) and took the ball by what certainly appeared to be spite. I mean, the young man they purported to take the game ball for...those weren't even his first NBA points. I found the entire post-game follow-up to the ordeal amazingly farcical and akin to an Onion video clip. "Our GM was elbowed in the ribs!" Oh geeee, I sure hope he's alright. We haven't heard a peep since. He could be seriously injured! Come on, now. That's all just blabber. Giannis truly cares. Everything fans have come to question about highly paid professional athletes. He is proving to fans that he leaves it all out there and will storm into a hallway to prove it. He's extremely competitive. He's extremely loyal. He had an incredibly historic night. And, as I alluded to above, he was looking to get the game ball originally for Dame who has now entered hallowed ground. Give him the friggin' ball on his Home court, I say! Or he shall stomp forth with vengeance! And as @LouisEly is speaking to above: all the distraction caused by this event takes away from what was an utterly historic, incredible and dominant performance. Only 3 other players in NBA history sniffed at that type of performance. Diva? No. Dominant. Yes. You want to talk about a Diva? Look at a certain Big in Philly who literally falls over when whispered upon to get his FT's. Whereas, as evidenced in the game we are speaking about, Indiana proved you literally need to gang tackle Giannis and whip him to the ground to send him to the FT line. These are fairly distinct differences in play and method. Anyhow, moving on, I certainly hope the entire affair simply ends up being the unifying and catalyzing event it seems to have been.

Well, he mentioned in the post-game he never received the game ball from Game 6 of the NBA Finals. He was already sensitive to that, me thinks. Then, you couple the fact he broke Redd's record when he is on video record talking with Redd in 2021 about breaking that record. Then you notice he originally offered and intended to give the game ball to Lillard for passing Korver and entering the Top 5 3PM in NBA history. AND, then you couple the fact that he isn't taking kindly to the Pacers' bourgeoning braggadocio. A rivalry is born. Personally, I love the passion. Plus, what he is doing this season is once again utterly historic. He is putting up 32, 10.5, 5.0 on 66% TS. He is nearing 70% at the FT line. He leads the League by a landslide in Restricted Area PPG. He was 20 of 24 in the restricted area vs the Pacers who continue to have no answer for him despite having an elite rim protector in Myles Turner. AND, the League pundits and talking heads continue to disrespect him by sending him down ranking ladders while also bad-mouthing the Bucks. As he said back in, what was it, April? Early summer? He's tired of the disrespect. He's coming. And how!

Thank you for writing such a thorough, thoughtful and well-written piece here Jim. This is a major announcement for the system. Very exciting. Very bittersweet. My thoughts go out to the Zebulon community. From a strictly baseball perspective, however, this is just awesome for the lower levels and the DSL/ACL players promoted to Milwaukee's Low-A affiliate. I'm going to miss that massive CF wall at Five County. Hopefully, they pay their due respects and go bigger 😂. Really glad there is finality for the Mudcats future vision awaiting the ballclub.

Well, in fairness, he did get two hits. Maybe you can expect a couple? OR, positive regression: a crowd!

I will also say, in regards to this trade: With the 'loss' of Devanney, this tells me a few things about some other players still in the system: The Brewers really like INF Ethan Murray (and so do I - very underrated player in all facets) The Brewers likely believe in the bounce back season they saw from INF Freddy Zamora (played his best ball when it mattered most - especially, defensively) The Brewers really like what they've seen from a healthy Eric Brown Jr. in the AFL The Brewers really believe in their lower levels infield depth (so do I) Let's not forget about one of my perennial favorites, INF Patrick Dorrian They gain an upside reliever to throw in the Lab. They again trade from their depth.

Go get 'em Mr. Robinson. You got this. Shine bright in the Big Apple!