Joseph Zarr

Closing this loop (for now): Sparks was officially assigned to the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers to start his affiliated season.

Another hard-throwing reliever into the mix with a Minor League deal (as noted by @Ron Robinsons Beard HERE - for greater conversation please visit that thread): Brazilian born Thyago Vieira signed ** Updated to Add: Vieira has officially been assigned to the Nashville Sounds to start his 2023 affiliated season.

Closing the loop from RHP Trevor Kelley's outright assignment to Nashville: - Kelly cleared waivers and rejected the assignment and has opted to test the Minor League free agency waters. More in depth coverage of Kelley's ongoing efforts to find success at the MLB level HERE

This is a very cool development for current and former Milkmen players. A realistic ability to turn an eye toward the coaching ranks.

Following up here: VanMeter was officially assigned to the Nashville Sounds. I would also like to quickly add, when your team acquires a player nicknamed 'Meat Sauce', regardless of results, it is cause for celebration.

More importantly, perhaps, my good friends: Hernandez impressed pretty much everyone in 2022. He won the California League 'Pitcher of the Year' honors. This is a heck of a lottery ticket if they can harness more command: Full Write-Up Here **NOTE: There is a clip of above-mentioned deadly slider as a strikeout pitch. One word: nasty.** Hernandez Blurb:

Let's go 2023! <Coughs...auditorium is quiet> RHP Joseph Hernandez (acquired in RHP Justin Topa to Seattle trade) was assigned to the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. * Hernandez had a heck of a year in Low-A Modesto for the Mariners org in 2023: 116 2/3 IP / 21 HB / 54 BB / 143 K / .193 BAA / 1.14 WHIP / 3.39 ERA w 9-5 overall...that's enough to be excited about what might be jumping into the T-Rats staff

I love the smell of prospect discourse in the morning, it smells of Victory. I'm going to simply play the game of 'Seven Prospects with Something to Prove' - knowing full well, my personal opinion is: every prospect has things to prove - to themselves and their organizations - every season. Love being along for their rides! (1) Freddy Zamora: What exactly was that performance pre-injury? What was 2021 in relation to 2022's extremely rough pre-injury performance? Lots to look forward to in 2023. (2) Felix Valerio: Can he convert his contact rate into more productivity? Given his defensive limitations, he really 'needs' to develop and maximize that very capable bat. And, man, when he is on point he really can rake. (3) Carlos Rodriguez (OF): Man, he was crushing it in High-A. He really seemed to turn a corner of consistency and then, boom, just like that the injury. Can he find that form again and keep growing? (4) Wes Clarke: I realllllly loved Clarke's season as a whole. His bat really evolved. His family support is awesome. He will take over the Thomas Dillard role in Biloxi now that Dillard was released (sigh). He plays a competent 1B/DH/spot fill C. Can he take another step? (5) TJ Shook: A dominant start to his High-A season led to a deserving promotion to the Southern League where he saw mixed results. Can he start this year like he began 2022? I would say his season as a whole was open-ended. Can he continue to develop the movement of his pitches? He has the size, the frame, and all the ability. I am hoping for big things. (6) Nick Bennett: Was there a pitcher in the system who teased signs of dominance more than Bennett in the Southern League muggy air? He has an interesting delivery and truly dominates in spells. Can we get more Big League consistency? (7) Joe Gray Jr.: Beloved in the clubhouse. An awesome personality and persona. Incredibly athletic but down-to-Earth. Can he move beyond the weird purported eye issues and fine-tune his approach at the plate? We know he can thrive in the OF. We have yet to see a consistent means of production and true threat at the plate. Honorable Mentions: Je'Von Ward, Ernesto Martinez, Max Lazar, Israel Puello, Ryne Moore, Darrien Miller

Welcome New Year! Hope rings eternal in my heart: New prospects, new rosters, off-seasons spent improving crafts, New momentums and obstacles, some improbable wins, surely some inevitable or unfortunate losses. As I've grown older with a much grayer beard, I have come to recognize: it is truly ALL about the journey. The season never really ends. It just changes. Thanks for making this website so awesome. It's a pleasure to share in the experience.

Former Milwaukee Brewer and Nashville Sound, C Mario Feliciano, will take his services to the Tigers organization. Surely, they will advantageously use his final option year to gauge his fit. Here's a more in-depth write-up from Curt published on MLB Trade Rumors.

Back to the pitching topic: I'll also be keeping a close eye on Lefty Leoni de la Cruz in the early going of 2023. He was stride-for-stride with Middendorf for significant parts of the ACL season. He was promoted a tad later (if I recall accurately) and remained in Carolina to end his season. He certainly wasn't as dominant as Middendorf but managed to really maintain a continued low BAA, solid WHIP, and workable K:BB peripherals (tho, not eye-popping). Can he add some more muscle mass on his frame? Can he get a little uptick in Velo? Will he start the season in Carolina or Wisconsin? This is probably a player we'll know more about in two seasons but he is one I'll be keeping an eye on.

Couple that with his range and overall athleticism (he is given spot starts in CF for crying out loud - obviously not as comfortable but he certainly doesn't hurt you there in the limited exposure I had to those games), it was kind of why I took Chourio's Golden Glove with a grain of salt. By my geezer eyes, it certainly appeared Chourio has nowhere near the overall explosiveness, agility, or ability to gun runners down. I saw a game in Biloxi where Wiemer scaled the wall 3x (!!) to bring HR balls back. He's a crazy athlete. Anywho, this is a pitching article but I am always good for a Wiemer fanboy fun fest. Carry on.?

Man, does Wiemer have an absolute cannon eh? He has to hit 100-102 on the regular with some of those darts to 2B.

It's a real thing in the org and it's fun to watch each season in the lower ranks. Quinton Low was a constant topic of casual convo between @damuelle, @CheeseheadInQC and I during the ACL season. He pitched what seemed like every 5-7 days - shortened bullpen stints - but the Box Scores were always piquing our interests. We are all pondering if they'll let him continue two-way work on Carolina. I sure hope so as it will be another reason to tune into their early start times on the daily on MiLB.tv. Edit to Add: Great points @Smichaelis9

Other than Erceg (who is still quite early in his transition to a late inning flame thrower - tho early results are quite favorable), I would opine the next closest 'under the radar' arm is RHP Ryan Middendorf. After an incredibly productive regular season run saw him go from Indy Ball -> ACL - > Low-A -> High-A -> Double-A in the span of 3 months, he was given the nod as the bullpen Starter for Glendale in the AFL Championship game and absolutely smoked through a very talented Surprise Saguaros squad. So much so, he was recognized as a standout in the game: (Full article HERE) His stuff plays because it is unorthodox - in arm slot and leg action - with serious movement and spin and he can still touch 95-96mph from time-to-time. By season's end his slider had become a serious weapon and I was seeing quite a bit more movement on his heater(s). 2023 is a very big year for Middendorf. I personally think he is one of the better relief arms in the system and he was a real find by the personnel staff.

Also, I feel like I've been warming up a slow-moving 'I Think I Can!' train in the Prospect Station the past month (having watched his impeccable BP work in Zebulon most of 2022). Now that Reetz re-upped with the Royals and Devanney is back in the prospect stables (whewwww, there was a rustlin' heavy winds through my mountain valley - locals might call it a 'sigh of relief'), I'm going to bat: LHP Pablo Garabitos is our next Brent Suter There. I said it.

I wish I could have said what you wrote here as well as you did. Instead, I gave you a 'Heart' click. I hope it brought you warm fuzzy deep dive DSL/ACL XMas cheer.?

Just a friendly reminder: Knarr wasn't drafted because he was a part of the much abbreviated 5-Round COVID draft. Only 160 players were chosen. Wagoner and Lazar are both indeed experiencing quite a bit of success and positive momentum pitching for Brisbane in the Australian Winter League. The Brewers even placed Lazar on Nashville's roster (on paper, at least) before the Rule 5 Draft earlier this December.

Worth sharing: It would appear, the Brewers were not the only one's scouting Varland. The bullpen shift must have showed something the Brewers liked quite a bit.

He was a super steady OF presence in Nashville, for sure. But, once the youth moment took hold he saw the writing on the wall. He's a steady presence and a fluid athlete. He got going offensively after a slow start. Solid defensive presence. A good depth piece. He could probably fill in rotationally - or even carve out a role - in thinner outfield groups. I wish him well. He's a good pro.

And, former corner Sounds OF'er (2022) David Dahl finds his new organization in San Diego:

We have a 2023 Twins Minor League FA double whammy of 2022 Brewers Minor League stalwarts: Best of luck to both!

Do the Brewers need to trade Christian Yelich? No Would it be wise to trade Christian Yelich? Absolutely Can they trade Christian Yelich? I believe this answer is complicated

Purely depth would be my best guess. I don't have any contacts in the Brewers personnel dept or FO. BUT, from a strictly roster building perspective, I would opine it makes some sense. I obviously would have rather the 40-Man spot been used to protect Cam Devanney from the Rule 5 - I continue to find him vastly underrated and my personal opinion is he is already a really good baseball player with underestimated upside. BUT, the Brewers may view the bevy of OF talent, especially with a Jackson Chourio in the wings, as a place to trade from as they make more roster decisions down the line. Having a switch-hitting, improving and possibly ascending (emphasis on possibly) former high round talent is understandable. It could also strictly be they valued him as a priority Minor League FA for that AAAA depth as other 2021/22 ML FA's depart for other clubs. Hard to tell and I don't imagine they'll speak much to this acquisition and we won't know what transpires until if and when Perkins makes it into the ML season with the Brewers organization. Using the 40-man spot as a bit of enhancement to get the signing, however, should tell you they value the signing more so than other ML FA pick-ups - at least at this juncture.