Joseph Zarr

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

That was as big a road win in preparation for the Playoffs as you are going to see. Hell of a win (@ Sacto). We don't have an NBA thread outside the Bucks so I'm just going to put this here. I love Dame in so many ways. This interview is an absolute must watch for anyone who follows the NBA at large or professional sports. He's a treasure. My only sadness is he and Giannis were never a pairing on the same squad: (the full 8 minute or so interview segment is directly below in first comments)

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.

Welcome back, yet again, as I delve into the 11-to-20 spots in my Overlooked Brewers Minor Leaguers. Today, I present you players 11 through 15 who aren't getting the praise they deserve. Image courtesy of Brewer Fanatic If you missed my first two installments in this series, here's a quick link to both Part 1 and Part 2. This is a celebration of the bigger picture within the bevy of prospects who make watching the games throughout each Brewers minor-league season fruitful and enjoyable. I wish I could tell you about all the qualities I see in every one of the young men I watch. Unfortunately, that just isn't possible. I can provide a glimpse, though. Without further ado, here is my 11-to-15. 11) 1B/DH Jon Singleton - It was fairly surprising when the Brewers protected Singleton from the Rule 5 draft. After all, he's in his early 30s, and he has been relegated to afterthought status by most baseball fans. However, having watched the vast majority of Sounds games in 2022, I can say quite confidently: this man still has plenty of game and is still an improving player. It's easy to talk about the power, the walks (in 2022, he broke the Sounds' walk record, previously held by Otis Nixon since the 1980s), and the strikeouts, but the things I want to highlight regarding Singleton are his athleticism, defense, and hands. I feel as though he has been inappropriately pigeonholed as a big, brawny slugger, with massive swing-and-miss habits. When you see him play on a regular basis, it is clear Singleton brings quite a bit more to the table. He has really soft, dependable hands at first base, extremely underrated reflexes and overall coordination, and a dependable glove. Singleton came to play last season in incredible physical condition--owning a gym in California has paid clear dividends--and I see a player who could see time in the Brewers clubhouse in 2023. It's important to remember: he chose to come back to the Brewers and the Sounds after the Rule 5 draft when he lost protection and became a minor-league free agent. He has stated in interviews that he appreciates the city of Nashville as a professional athlete, and it would certainly appear that he's comfortable in the Brewers organization. I think he would surprise quite a few fans with his performance, if he should get the call up to the parent club. I'd share a walk-off home run highlight, or Jon breaking the walks record in 2022, but there's so much more to this well-traveled man that makes him one of my favorite Brewers players. Check out this extremely insightful two minute interview in the Spring Training clubhouse: 12) RHP Lucas Erceg - It's the 2024 season. And, Lucas Erceg is playing third base...for the Dodgers?!? The creators of Playstation's 'MLB The Show 22' must have really missed the memo. Since he switched to the mound in the 2021 season, where he started 13 of his 22 games (often in a modified, shortened version of the role), Erceg has moved to a strictly late-inning bullpen job. It's important to remember that Erceg has truly only pitched 1 2/3 seasons in the upper minors, and last year was his first opportunity to engage a full offseason of preparation for a defined pitching role. The young hurler is still learning situational pitching and how to best mix his arsenal--one that includes a scorching combination of two-seam and four-seam heaters occasionally touching 100 mph while routinely sitting in the 97-to-99 mph range. As the 2022 season progressed, and even as Erceg experienced the inconsistencies all young pitchers face when trying to find their identity and properly use their tools, he made discernible improvements. As an example, after the promotion to the Triple-A Nashville bullpen, his fading changeup really became a reliable strikeout pitch versus lefties. There was definitively a plan in place, and it was working: he pitched his best and most consistent stretch of baseball at the highest affiliated level in a tight playoff race. If you scratch his rough July with the Sounds (and, let's be honest, 'rough' is almost a euphemism; batters hit .400 against him that month), Erceg was the definition of a shutdown reliever for Rick Sweet's staff: 30 2/3 IP, 18 H, 13 BB, 30 K, 5 ER, sub-.200 opponent batting average. If he can continue to add an improving but developing slider to an already-improved changeup, we are legitimately looking at a late-blooming MLB bullpen arm with a four-pitch mix. There are many miles to go, but given what this young athlete has already overcome personally it's hard to fathom a Lucas Erceg baseball future without hard-earned, if somewhat improbable, MLB success. I'm really rooting for another big step forward in 2023. 13) RHP Alexander Cornielle - I will start with the following: Cornielle struck out 145 batters in 2022...in 119 IP between Low-A Carolina and High-A Wisconsin. That is 1.22 batters mowed down per inning. I simply ask you, Brewers fans: Where is the love? I've watched this young hurler sling it on more than one occasion, and there is quite a bit to like here. Now that he is finding consistent control, it's time to start including him with names like Stiven Cruz and Carlos F. Rodríguez. This young pitcher (turns 22 in late August) is just too good and has too much upside to ignore. Cornielle features a high-spin heater (a pitch he routinely uses high in the zone to get bats chasing) with an effective blend of off-speed stuff to keep batters guessing. He has struggled, from time to time, with control problems, but as 2022 progressed, he really reined that in and became a weapon when he took the mound. I'll look for more consistency from the get-go to start the 2023 season in Wisconsin. But, make no mistake about it, this is a young pitcher who could very easily become an ace in Joe Ayrault's starting pitching staff. 14) OF/DH Tristen Lutz - Lutz's calling cards are three plus tools: his bat, his power, and his arm. Unfortunately, as he's gotten older and gotten stronger, his agility and routes to the ball have really never improved (by my eye) from where they were when he was first drafted by the Brewers. This isn't necessarily a bad thing; all players are different and bring different qualities to a roster. What I want to celebrate about Lutz's game is his bat-to-ball skills. This is a young player who can absolutely crush a baseball. There is always a role, on any baseball team, for players who can mash. I don't know if I saw balls hit as hard, as routinely (when healthy), as Lutz hit baseballs in 2022. It was a rope festival when he took the plate. The sound of his contact and the sight of his graceful line drives finding the outfield grass were enough to raise the hair on the back of a fan's neck. Nothing is cheap off Lutz's bat, and it is worth the price of admission to see if he can continue to fine-tune his immense gifts at the plate. 15) INF Andruw Monasterio - Monasterio was another successful minor-league free agent picked up by the Brewers after the 2021 season and, thankfully, he's back in the fold in 2023. He consistently hit all year in Triple-A and Double-A, carried that over for Caribes de Anzoategui this Winter, and is really coming into his own in the batters box. With the departure of Pablo Reyes (one of my absolute favorite former Brewers minor leaguers) this offseason, I see a player in Monasterio who has a chance to fill those super-utility shoes, as long as he continues to improve his defensive tools. Whereas Reyes might edge Monasterio in a foot race, overall I see a younger, more agile and athletic player, with a bigger build, who might be even more well-served by further diversifying his positional flexibility. Listed as a third baseman, Monasterio also plays both middle-infield spots, but I'd like to see what he can do with an occasional opportunity in the left- or right-field grass. Granted, this might be a stretch, as his entire minor-league career has been spent on the infield dirt, but it could be beneficial to his chances of someday getting a call-up. Regardless, Monasterio didn't skip a beat when he was shuttled down to Biloxi mid-season, and he showed enough intrigue in 2022 that I'll be paying close attention to see how he starts 2023. Do you recognize any of these new names? Do you see any surprises? Are there other Brewers minor leaguers you feel I've overlooked? Who are your favorite prospects further down the rankings? Please comment and share - all the players in the lower levels are deserving of celebration. And, please stay tuned as I follow this up with my final five shortly. View full article

As we wait, I thought I'd share this tweet. Fairly interesting:

How exciting you have another 10! This is great. I always love hearing how your numbers crunching and stat assemblages bring forth names to consider - they've alerted me to several names I started paying closer attention to in the past. For me, I always love including the more veteran Minor League guys - some might call journeymen - who truly make my viewings so much better given their overall savvy and well tested approaches. A guy like Tyler Herb comes to mind here - great interview and personality, super grounded and knows who he is, humble, and yet can easily give you a shutdown outing.

Welcome back! Let's talk some more about the players in the Brewers' farm system who aren't getting the attention or the praise they deserve. Image courtesy of Brewer Fanatic If you missed yesterday's post with the first five of my list of underrated Brewers prospects, go back now and catch up. These might not be the stars of tomorrow's Brewers, but they make the daily experience of following the minor leagues more enjoyable and more compelling. 6) 1B/DH/RHP Quinton Low - It would be easy to covet the Brewers' only current two-way player because, well, it's just a fun and unorthodox thing to follow at any level. However, with Low, it's much more than a novelty. He has the size and the frame at age 20 to attract your attention: 6'6", 215 pounds. He was certainly playing first base far more often than he was pitching (30 games to 10), but there's no reason to think this was anything other than the difficulty of juggling relief innings with a steady diet in the batters box and at first base. In his 11 innings, Low gave up virtually nothing, with an opponent batting average of .081 and a 0.73 WHIP. He also sported a 3:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio with 16 punchouts to 5 free passes. He did all this while putting up decent (if unspectacular) numbers at the plate as a lefty batter. I am very curious to watch his output at Carolina, presumably. It's not often we can watch athletes of this caliber in any sport and at any level. His speed out of the box may not be track-and-field worthy, but that lefty stroke is quite pure. I see a bit more power waiting to be unleashed in those already fluid hips. 7) LHP Pablo Garabitos - Let's tip one out to the skilled and savvy lefties with low velo! Garabitos was an impactful arm out of the bullpen in 2022. He can give a manager emergency relief: five clean innings to salvage a starter, or high-leverage outs in dangerous situations. One word applies: gamer. Hilariously, I only really started to take notice of this young southpaw in 2022 after an extremely brief outing with the Nashville Sounds in early June. It's hard not to notice when an arm is promoted from Low-A to Triple-A for a single outing. The organization obviously knew what it was doing: Garabitos was as good a reliever as there was in the entire system from that outing until the season's end. After that brief showing with the Sounds, Garabitos ended his season with the following: 41 IP, 5 ER, 43 K, 8 BB, 28 H. That is stellar output. If there's another Brent Suter in the current Brewers system, it is Garabitos. Last year was a really big leap for the young lefty and, let's remember, even though this is Garabitos's fifth season with the Brewers, he was a high-school draft pick. He will turn just 23 in July. Like many other players in this list, he showed quite a bit to be excited about in 2022, and if the cards fall in the right way, we could see even more dominance in 2023. I'm hoping he gets a chance to shine out of the Timber Rattlers bullpen and really starts getting his rightful recognition. 8) 1B/RF Yeison Perez - If you visited our DSL game threads or read the DSL write-ups in our minor-league reports throughout the summer of 2022, you noticed Yeison Perez quickly become the darling of our DSL summer. The DSL is a tricky cover. You aren't going off live game viewings, but are perusing and analyzing box scores and game logs every day. It's simply a tough task to interpret much of anything, but you start to notice when someone is consistently mashing and standing out among the crowd. Perez was a key player for the DSL Brewers 2. That couldn't have been more obvious than when he was shelved with injury in the DSL second half, and the Brewers Dos began losing with regularity. The extra-base hits are obviously very intriguing (albeit, with the caveat this is still the DSL), but I would also offer he just turned 19; he has the prototypical slugger's build; and he's a lefty in every sense--batting and throwing. I keep hearing chatter about the potential breakout of Luis Lara, and, that's fine and dandy: he is an exciting young player who had a very hot start playing a premium position. However, Perez is the bat and the field player in the lowest levels I am personally most curious about in the summer of 2023. 9) RHP Kevin Briceno - It's not often we see a DSL player, at any position, promoted stateside in the same season. When Briceno was promoted mid-summer, it gave me pause: this was a young arm I really needed to track and follow. Briceno will pitch this entire season at 20 years old. He has already demonstrated, at a very young age, that he can effectively mix in his heater and changeup, while also sprinkling in a deceptive breaking ball. Is there even more diversity and development in this tank? I hope so, because the early returns are extremely promising. I imagine he'll begin the year in the ACL, with an eye toward a rapid promotion up to Victor Estevez and the Mudcats' staff--after pitching 48 total innings in 2022 between the DSL and ACL. 10) LHP Brandon Knarr - I honestly feel as though fans and pundits don't take Knarr's excellent 2022 season seriously. I don't know why this is, given that he dominated at High A and acquitted himself admirably after a promotion to Biloxi. The jump from Wisconsin to the Southern League is a tough one. This has been demonstrated time and again, as it just isn't an easy League to pitch in. But, Knarr more than held his own and, in my humble opinion, gave me reason to think 2023 could be better. Our own @Seth Stohsput together a really nice Spotlight piece early in the off-season - Part 1 , Part 2, and Part 3 - and it is definitely worth a read to remind us all what a fine season it was for the young lefty. This is a young man who studies the game, religiously works on his craft, and has the mentality to pave a path for himself into the highest levels of professional baseball. I'm hoping for bigger and better showings in 2023 and, hopefully, more recognition. Do you recognize any of these names? Do you see any surprises? Who are your top 10 most undervalued Brewers Minor Leaguers? Please comment and share - all the players in the lower levels are deserving of celebration. And, please stay tuned as I follow this up with my 11-to-20 in the days ahead. View full article

Hopefully, Mark Mathias can stick with the Big Club in Pittsburgh. He was traded today after being designated for assignment:

This is my overarching sentiment: We already have a problem there and this is before the new rule changes that absolutely do not help him in this department. He can improve his jump, of course, but (and I don't like saying this) the arm is just not very good. I think he's a wonderful baseball player and I truly enjoy watching him play but given his age I think it's a mistake to not give him more reps in other places.

I also have a continually evolving take on Darrien Miller: I love everything about his game except playing catcher. I had grown sour on his game in 2022 (you'll hear about it in my 11-15 underrateds), until I saw him perform so well in lead-off. He brings so much to the table as a player and as a teammate but, gents, the defense...the arm. I really (and I mean REALLY) want to see them start working him at 1B and DH. He has the frame to add more power if he can cut down his tendency to lose a level plane in his swing. He can already take walks and fill-in at lead-off. I know he's young but I'd personally like to see them give him the 1B treatment like they did with Black in CF and Turang all over the Infield.

I will not let the Brent Diaz and Brian Navarretto omissions slide (reads article again. Calm yourself, Joseph, Navarretto is mentioned as a likely back-up. I'm going to stay with it!😂). OH NO, fine Sirs, I will not. Both ballers are two of my favorite catchers to watch in the entire system. Navarretto, in particular, was the starting mitt in the Championship semi-final - over the maligned (by that time) Mario Feliciano. He's as solid as they come and I love watching him play. His positive attitude and smile in the clubhouse is more contagious than the common cold.