Joseph Zarr

Typically the most voluminous position at this stage - the orgs don't know what they really have until they start getting that DSL or stateside lower levels work. They essentially don't list '2B' and there are so few pure 3B prospects at these ages (only two or three listed in this class) so keep that in mind. Anywho, 23 SS listed in the top 50

- RHP Sam Carlson and RHP Easton McGee have officially been assigned to the Nashville Sounds ** Previous Carlson transaction mentions HERE and HERE ** Previous McGee transaction mention HERE

I was going to point out some Brewers items but @Smichaelis9 did some of the heavy lifting:

A completely unheralded part of this deal is we have a Hernan Perez look back in the clubhouse: Glorious.

Perdomo's 4-seamer averaged 95.3 mph last season and often touched 98 mph. So, they may have similar impact (at least, at the Triple-A level so far it is quite comparable) but I would gather they pitch in very different ways.

Interesting moves on the fringes. I'll be very curious to see how this pans out over time. I'll toss in the the obligatory deep cut cliché: "Time will tell." In a vacuum, this move makes quite a bit of sense from the perspective of building up cheap, controllable, possible upside LHP arms in the Triple-A/AAAA/MLB bullpen level. They can't have enough lefties in that genre because, well, they don't have enough lefties in that genre of bullpen arm (especially if we consider Ashby may never recover - it's far from a certainty). Then, if we consider the Chambers TJ, and the manner in which the Brewers have been stacking the farm over the past few years on a consistent basis, this move makes quite a bit of sense to me.

- RHP Aaron Rund has officially been assigned to the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Previously detailed Rund Notes HERE)

MLB Pipeline certainly pumped up the Brewers system back in August. They once again laud the system as The riser of 2023. Here's their Six Most Improved Farms of 2023 Specifically Brewers:

RHP Cody Ponce (2015 Brewers 2nd Rd draft pick) will once again play in the NPB. After spending 2022 and 2023 with the Nippon Ham Fighters (heck of a name!), he signed with the Rakuten Golden Eagles for 2024. More information HERE

BUMP: RHP Jake Polancic was officially assigned to the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (retroactive to 12/19)

Cool. I personally still go off the strict movement and characteristics. I love the detailed nuance, personally, much like discussing a sweeper, slider, curve, and slurve. Perhaps it's just stupid nerdery 😂. There was a great Fangraphs article I'll pull up from my Bookmarks from like 5 years ago that discussed this very thing (2-Seamer/Sinker). I personally think it was atrophy that led to MLB changing the classifications and not wanting to turn away the common fan - I can't blame them. Here's the article - I think you'll appreciate it 😁

He also carries a 2-seamer in his arsenal. He is a two-type fast ball pitcher. And, quite interestingly, the 2-seamer also carries high-end traits despite its low average velo (in 2023). Obviously a small sample size, but I remember encountering (in a few places after he dominanced the Shuckers) a very very similar high-end iVB and arm side run set of characteristics with his two-seamer tho it appeared at face value (when I watched him) the four-seamer was the strikeout pitch. I wouldn't imagine he grabbed a lot of K's with the 2-seamer but I do imagine, given his characteristics, it would induce a lot of weak contact. ** Perhaps you're referring to his 2-seamer when you are discussing a possible sinker? I didn't see a sinker in his 6 inning outing in Rocket City. I could be wrong. I know the 2-seamer often gets clumped but the characteristics I saw were vertical and horizontal run as opposed to below the barrel. I saw a runner not a sinker 😂 ** Very fun pitcher to have in the arsenal. This just in: the Brewers kind of know what they're looking for in the pitching thing.

This is awesome. Thanks for sharing, Jim. You have to love Zerjav's story and his acknowledgment of the number of proverbial dominoes that have fallen in place over his 27 years (!!) with the club.

In a 2023 season extremely abbreviated by injury (12 outings, 1 GS all August/September), Castaneda still managed to face both the Shuckers and Sounds twice. Unlike, for example, Evan McKendry's rough first outing facing his former club in Durham (Rays) after the Alex Jackson swap, Castaneda acquitted himself extremely well versus his former ball club: 7 IP, 4 H, 3 BB, 1 HB, 1 ER, 10 K If he can stay healthy, Castaneda will always be knocking on that MLB call-up door. Best of luck, young man!

Also, for those interested, here's Crow dominancing Chourio and Black at Rocket City early this past season. He was ridunkulous in this outing. I recall being very frustrated with the Shuckers bats😄. Campbell poked a two-run jack early (on a great read of a belt high inside curve). The Shuckers did squeak across 3 runs but Crow completed 6 with the 12 punch outs. Here's more of the early Black (2 K)/Chourio punch outs: I wrote a rare Thursday recap of the game HERE, fwiw.

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.