Joseph Zarr

Yeoman's work completing all these write-ups! Well done! If we are talking left fielders in Wisconsin, we have to include Carlos Rodriguez in that mix. He was playing the best baseball of his career as the starting left fielder before his ACL tear. If and when he is healthy again, every player listed is highly likely his back-up. Additionally, Eduarqui Fernandez more than made a name for himself late last year in Zebulon. I anticipate he'll continue to see split duties between CF and LF amongst a very talented crop of OF'ers. I personally don't see a way Perez starts his season anywhere other than Carolina's outfield grass given he's still 19 and struggled to find any consistency in 2022. Then again, if I pay attention to Minor League ST lineups, I might be entirely off base. Regardless, the greater group of Castillo, Avina, Fernandez, Perez, and Mendez is an extremely exciting and entertaining group. It's simply a hard proposition to imagine these talented but very young players heading North with the Lamar Sparks signing and Je'Von Ward's return. The organization also seems to covet Reidy Mercado in a manner similar to Terence Doston. It's going to be fun seeing how the rosters take shape to begin 2023!

AND, adding to this Loop: As per MiLB transactions, 1B/DH Luke Voit was officially released by the Nashville Sounds but it would appear there is more to what's going on: Stay tuned... Update: (3/19) The released transaction has been removed as from the transaction ledger as of today. It would appear the Brewers are trying to find a way to get Voit on their roster in the coming week.

Young. Very fast. Can play Safety or CB(ish). Seems like a classic Packers pick-up.

The general consensus among draft pundits and draft talking heads is the 2024 draft is quite a bit more talented than the upcoming 2023 draft. To that end, it would seem a focus on 2024 compensation with a 13-to-15 swap would possibly even be ideal?

Oh my word I am looking forward to more and more of these abominations. This is truly a match made in heaven:

The Rays have officially selected the contract of RHP Trevor Kelley. As the article notes, he has an option remaining so he won't be exposed to waivers. This is good news for the long-time highly successful Minor League reliever. Hopefully, he can make it work at the MLB level in 2023. Wishing him all the best!

This is exactly what we as fans 'should' recognize and embrace. No need to hurry this unless the Packers get what they want. Worst case scenario is it falls apart and A-Rod retires. The Jets suffer widespread humiliation. Packers suffer a loss of some possible draft assets. We have the leverage.

The Packers absolutely could and should play that hardball. This is a business. IF they don't give you your desired compensation now...why the heck would you not hold firm until after June 1st? They already signed Alan Lazard. Worst happens is you lose out on some compensation but you already have to pay. I personally think they should hold firm. If it falls apart, it's way worse for the New York media market. Packers can take the hit.

Exactly. I think all he is literally saying is: Tell the player exactly how you feel before you move on. Put a human quality to the business decision.

Please no. Good gracious. 🤣 In all seriousness, I imagine the Jets want to cling to that: A Rod is Wilson's hero maybe he can actually develop with a HOF mentor?

It's the J Love era. LET'S GO!!!!!!

Well, A Rod did talk to the Universe laughing...this would again be an example. 😂

Agreed. He's just being honest. The Packers still struggle with direct communication. He's also shared: he shares no animosity. There's no agenda here. He's being honest. Just look at how Mark Murphy handled this. It isn't a stretch. At all.

Man, A Rod is so classy in this. Really. Excited to watch him play for the Jets in 2023/24

Once again: Everything Trey Wingo treated about a Rodgers situation was entirely 100% accurate. And, it is apparent, the Packers still suffer from Upper Midwest passive aggressive communication (or, let's be honest: no direct communication) when releasing or moving on from their vets. A Rod is being completely honest and candid but cordial. It's all about compensation at this point. Again, as Wingo alluded to. The man is in the know.

3/15/2023: Optioned to the Nashville Sounds RHP Janson Junk RHP Cam Robinson LHP Ethan Small 3/15/2023: Optioned to the Biloxi Shuckers RHP Abner Uribe

I really hope Love has a solid first season at the helm. Given how he's handled his role within the organization and the roster, it's hard not to root for the young man. He's been the epitome of professional. He's obviously worked extremely hard at his craft. I am really rooting for a surprise performance that puts to rest all the doubters. After all the heartaches with Rodgers at the helm, as a fan, I am simply ready for a fresh slate. Come hell or high water.

Well, the Packers in general don't like to trade draft picks - this was a freebie pick from the Toney trade. The Packers also tried, and failed, to acquire Waller in the Davante Adams trade. My guess is that ship had sailed and, honestly, Waller hasn't been healthy in any capacity in at least two seasons? He isn't getting younger. When he's healthy, he is obviously quite a talent but he's going to be on the wrong side of 30 when he turns 31 this September. A likable and sensible acquisition given how the Giants got him. For the Packers, I guess we could always just say: they can't draft in the 3rd round? Anywho, we can probably anticipate the Pack targeting the wealth of quality TE's in this draft class. TE's typically develop slower than other positions but the Packers are in a rebuild mode anyhow. Edited to add: AND, sometimes a team simply doesn't want to do the deal

Nixon back on a 1-year deal. Today is a fantastic day. Love watching him compete.

God bless Statcast - what an incredible tool. Great write-up @Matthew Trueblood. That was a fun read.

I'm going to keep touting Singleton. If he gets a shot in 2023 with the Brewers, I predict he is going to surprise quite a few fans. He's just a very very good baseball player. Even if he hits .200-.230, he'll impact the game in many more ways. Underrated in so many ways largely based on a timeline that is not really relevant to who he is overall at this present time, imho.

Welcome back! Today's write-up will conclude my brief series looking at some of my favorite overlooked Minor Leaguers as I round out the 16-to-20. Obviously, I can't cover all the players in the the system, though I'd love to recognize them all. I hope some of these names caught your attention. Better yet, I hope we see bigger and better things in their 2023 seasons and beyond. Image courtesy of Brewer Fanatic I won't lie: rounding out this list is not easy. The most important part of an exercise like this, for me individually, is the realization the Brewers system is in better hands heading into the 2023 season than it was in the past couple of years and the realization I continue to see an abundance of positive qualities in a large pool of Brewers prospects. This is a win. It is cause for celebration. Off the top of my head, I could easily swap 15-20 different names and recreate this list entirely. For me, it gets back to: when all is said and done; the ranking is meaningless to any player's career's overall trajectory or story. These minor league players all have talent and can achieve great things. That said, I will close this out with more Brewers prospects. 16) INF Zavier Warren - Warren is a switch-hitting player baseball managers must love in their clubhouse. This player has a fluid and natural way about him in everything he does on the diamond. He moves effortlessly with good agility, and his swing is consistent. With very little wasted motion and a solid base on both sides of the plate, he can skillfully cover both corners of the baseball diamond, and he rarely makes a defensive mistake. Interestingly, I really began to notice Warren early in the 2022 season when coveted young Shuckers infielder, Felix Valerio, shared he leaned on Warren to help him fine-tune his swing. It would appear there is coaching in Warren's future as well. Despite the early season struggles, despite his ongoing need to cut back on strikeouts, it was and is clear the talent is too pure to ignore. Sure enough, Warren started catching fire. He was promoted to Biloxi after a nine-game hit streak in early August, where he ripped off a 1.075 OPS in 50 ABs. His solid output for the Shuckers led to more work in the AFL, where he continued to acquit himself more than adequately. Warren will start 2023 in the Shuckers infield (and probably, fill in as a DH occasionally) where. He'll look to keep building off a fantastic finish to his 2022 season. 17) LHP Nick Bennett - I think it's fair to consider Bennett's 2022 season, as a whole, a minor disappointment. The consistency wasn't there, and sadly, he got rocked in his lone call-up to Nashville. However, I will focus on what I love about Bennett's pitching arsenal: when he's on and was definitely on from time to time in 2022, he is really good. At 6'4", 215 lbs, this player with a long lefty frame relies on a deceptive and violent delivery that often brings him off the mound and into the grass. He uses a two-seamer (he mixes in a cutter), with a wipeout curveball in any count and a change-up with impact to both righties and lefties. His future calling card might be a bullpen arm, but he's shown enough intrigue to continue getting opportunities as a starting arm. I like to point out that he had three 7 K outings, three 8 K outings, one 9 K outing, and an 11 K outing to end his 24-game season. The innate ability to punch batters out is clearly in his bag of tricks - we just haven't seen that consistent output to get him into more serious conversations. 18) C/1B/DH Wes Clarke - Graced with one of the better mustaches in the entire system (Zavier Warren politely asks me to sit down), Clarke is a player who grew on me as the 2022 Timber Rattlers season progressed and then grew on me some more when he was promoted to Biloxi. When Joe Ayrault and his staff were facing an unfortunate run of injuries leaving their infield and batting order paper thin, Clarke was a steadying force at first base and in the middle of the batting order - he took the early season slump and tossed it to the curb. I took notice. He most likely isn't going to wow anyone with his athletic prowess, but that's mostly irrelevant, given where he plays in the line-up. The steadiness of Clarke's play; his day-in-day-out reliability; his versatility; and his presence on the diamond and in the clubhouse draws me in. In 2023, I will see if he can carve out more consistency in the batter's box while maintaining his innate ability to drive the ball. I imagine we will see a healthy dose of Clarke throughout Mike Guerrero's line-up cards. 19) C/DH/? Darrien Miller - Miller is a mildly polarizing prospect within our Brewer Fanatic community. Given recent rule changes further favoring base runners, it is likely a reasonable question to ask: given Miller's struggles throwing out runners on the base paths, is it time to consider moving his talents to other parts of the diamond on a part-time basis? Given his young age (he turned 22 on March 10th), it's also entirely sensible to propose he has time to improve his work behind the plate. Regardless, Miller is an exciting prospect and, I would propose, a fairly underrated athlete. With Tyler Black out with injury, Tristan Peters traded to the Giants organization, and Joe Gray Jr. and Eduardo Garcia struggling to step into the lead-off role, Miller drew the assignment against the Cubs on August 10th. He drew three walks, scored two runs, and brought in a runner. In the following game, also against the Cubs, Miller doubled; scored another run; and drew another walk. Do you see what I'm getting at here? He can adjust his approach and delivers when his team needs it most. This is a teammate who instills trust and belief. He ended his season with a 6-for-7 SB line to boot. Given his athletic traits, I would propose that Miller could be a prospect on the heels of a legitimate breakout season in the next few years if he can find a more level swing plane on a more consistent basis. Let's hope it's sooner than later. 20) C Brian Navarreto - Hey, it's another 2021 Minor League free-agent signing who's back in 2023! I love Navarretto's baseball everything. Another player the casual fan typically casts aside as a one-time highly touted prospect who is simply a journeyman - I was likely in this crowd before 2022. If you watch Navarreto consistently, he fills you with love for baseball. He is a defensive dynamo behind the dish. He has a nice size, surprising agility, great pop, and a rifle of an arm. His personality is beyond affable - his smile could light an entire stadium with a fantastic sense of humor. Payton Henry will likely be the Sounds starter, but Navarreto will see meaningful playing time, and I anticipate more great things. There's a distinct reason Sounds manager Rick Sweet opted to go with Navarreto over any other catcher in the Vegas Championships: he's extremely reliable, and he's very talented. What was pretty surprising last season, and what I am even more curious about as the 2023 season approaches, is the timely hits with RISP and a considerably improved season at the plate overall. At age 28 (December birthday), it's fairly apparent that we aren't going to see a miraculous power renaissance. Given the already advanced defensive toolkit, the conversation would start to change if we could continue to see timely and impactful contact. I'm excited to see this young man play in 2023. Very Honorable Mentions RHP Robbie Baker, C Brent Diaz, RHP TJ Shook, RHP Tyler Herb, RHP Matt Hardy, 1B/DH Jesus Chirinos, RHP Kent Hasler, INF/OF Noah Campbell, RHP Max Lazar, RHP Edwin Jimenez, C Jose Sibrian, and LHP Jakob Brustoski As I mentioned above, there are just too many players worthy of mention. Thankfully, our 2023 season is right around the corner, and all these lists can be re-born anew. Feel free to chime in with your comments and thoughts: Who are the undervalued or overlooked players you love? Who did I leave out? It's almost April. Let's enjoy the season ahead. View full article

Yeah, I simply toss that out especially given what I saw from his last year. He started impeccably in the field - this is what caught my eye in that inaugural series at Pensacola. Ashton McGee was actually the starting 3B Game 1 - then the immediate injury and the season-long slump and now he's out of affiliated baseball (for now). You could tell, early, Devanney was finding his stuff in the batters box. It was a real treat to watch him truly come into his own as he was given more AB's. He validated his first season and then some - especially if we consider what his time in Nashville might mean. From his first meaningful playing time for the Sounds, he demonstrated he was more than ready for the jump. The power continued (and, frankly, it even improved) and we had the same stellar glove and rifle shot arm. I am extremely hopeful for his 2023 season.