BrewerFan

What Stearns did in overhauling(or really creating) the Latin American development has changed this entire franchise. Our top pick since our system went from bottom ~5 to top 3 has been...Sal Frelick. 15th overall? Not exactly Dylan Crews and a lock to be a MLB contributor. They seemed to have the pitching development and the ability to turn offensive minded catchers into defensive savants(little hyperbole, but not much) was already well established, but I think in another year or two, we're going to find that Stearns was able to accomplish the same thing with these young bats(we already kinda know, but until they're actually on the field making an impact, there are people who will dismiss prospects). It seems like the only place they could really do better at this point in time, or maybe where the Rays are doing better, is they stay on some of the guys they scouted like Caminero, a prospect just below Chourio...who it not appears is very possibly their SS of the future. A guy they traded...Tobias Meyers for. 60 hit, 60 power, and can play SS/.3B and then Curtis Mead...another guy they got out of rookie ball for a pitcher who's no longer a prospect. This is why I hate the idea of trading a Yophery Rodriquez or Baez type prospect. The upside is so big, but a player in rookie league seldom has the trade value for it to make sense. And hey, despite the Rays front office being pillaged and them losing Friedman, they've got the infrastructure in place, so what Stearns put in place should remain, even if he does poach some of our scouts or whoever. Great time to be a Brewers fan.

I just think they're doing a REALLY good job of hitting on players. I don't think this is necessarily a conscious choice or taking advantage of shorter players being undervalued. They've also added quite a few guys who are 6'4 or bigger who should be top ~15 prospects in Misiorowski, Bitonti, Pratt, Wilken, Adams, Letson... But there may be something to smaller players like...O'Rae and an organizational shift that started a few years ago where they prioritized contact and athleticism(which is timing up perfectly with the limited shift). You may be right though. It's entirely possible if Chourio was 6'3, he'd have gotten a signing bonus 2X the size as it's obvious easier to project power coming from a frame like that. Knoth is almost certainly going higher if he's 6'4 rather than ~6'. I just think the Brewers have been doing it better than everyone else save for Tampa. Obviously the LAD do an outstanding job building their system. They also have obvious advantages built in when it comes to signing LA prospects vs the Brewers just based on name recognition.

I really think this was a product of styles. Wolf or Gutekunst as the GM most of his career and I think they'd have been much more aggressive...but Thompson just wasn't interested in FA much. Allen Robinson...who at the time was on par with Davante Adams, he turned down a deal that was reportedly 3/42 but with slightly less GTD money to sign with the Bears during the Packers big spending spree Gutey's first year as the GM. Anyway, just noticed that Clowney signed with the Ravens for 2.5M(up to 6M in ULTBE incentives). That's an outstanding deal at this time of the year. I'd have been on board with that type of signing and playing him more as a DE. He's quietly have a VERY good career despite being viewed as a bit of a bust given the ridiculous expectations, but he's rock solid vs the run year after year.

??? That's in quotes...I missed that the first time through.

Ok, if that's all your getting for Adames, I think it'd make a lot more sense to keep him rather than selling low on him. And I do not think Williams would have more value. Sewald got a significantly worse return than Hader. They got a guy who's ~30 years old and a...4th OFer at best. A two guys in the 14-15 range for Seattle, not a particularly good system. That's not all that close to Gasser...plus getting back another closer and Ruiz who had quite a bit of helium. Hader has had one of the greatest starts to his MLB career for a reliever EVER. `285IP, 2.26 ERA, 15.4 K/9 He was even better in the playoffs with ~20IP, a 1.37 ERA, 1.22 FIP Devin Williams has been...GREAT. He hasn't pitched in the playoffs(injured both times) and I think we saw last year, that extra half year isn't that big of a deal. But I don't think you're getting a top 100 pitcher, a AA MIFer and then Church is a...Uribe type prospect for me. A level below, but I love that addition. I'm just struggling to see a top 100+2 more guys in AA and AAA for 2 years of Williams when we got Gasser(who is below Porter value wise). Foscue, a guy probably just outside the top 100 and then Church. I'd be thrilled though. The cost to Miller Park/Am Fam, whatever...those are gonna rise by another 200M after I start pounding on the door beating it down if they trade Quero! If you're trading a Catcher like Quero, I'm gonna want Caminero back instead. Mead is a 2B with his poor throwing arm. Maybe you throw in Lara or something, but that's who I'd wnt back. Developing catchers is 2nd only to starting pitchers and maybe more difficult. We've got a good one. I think a future AS. I don't want Mead...impressive though he may be. I don't think TB is moving off Caminero...especially with so much questions around Franco...which it SEEMS like this was from years ago, but...I don't know. I don't know how they keep developing guys like that. But assuming this WAS from when Franco was 18 and she's 19 now and her 2 year old isn't Franco's(early days, started with a Reddit post, so IDK)...but then myaybe they trade him. That'd answer 3B and then Black plays 2B and your lineup is set. Frelick/Chourio/Yelich/Caminero/Contreras/Black/Wiemer/Turang then Monastario at 2B., Black at 1B or Yelich at 1B and leave DH open or get a JD Martinez. Maybe Tellez, Hiura...IDK, but that's 8 spots set in stone for a long time...and I don't think we get Caminero back, but I'm stubborn on Quero. And I can see how much value Contreras could have in a year or two. He may be our ticket to getting a big pitcher. I'm more worried about filling in around our top prospects than trading a C for a 2B for a better fit unless you get a truly elite prospect.

What do you think Willy goes for then? Coming off the season he's having? And what do you do with Woody? QO? Extend him if he's willing to sign for ~23-26AAV?

Well...a small distinction, the Woody deal would be kicking in next year, so he's 30.5. So you sign him now, you're signing him to the 5 year deal and you get him through 36. I feel like he's gonna be able to maintain his stuff. He's a workhorse. He's been as steady as can be minus the shoulder this year(which would be a big reason he'd take the deal). I take your point though I think he'll continue to be a very good starter. He's never really been worked real hard. He's thrown 180IP one year and then ~155. That cuts both ways though. Now...as for the Brewers not having to trade either, no, they don't. But are a couple of late picks really worth it? I guess it depends. You give me one of the Phillies top 3 pitching prospects plus a couple lower end, then do the same with Woodruff(but not as much back)...and that window with Chourio and company...it opens up MUCH wider. But maybe it all comes together next year like the Marlins with a 20 year old RHed savant or the Nats with a left handed stud? It COULD be our best chance for a WS. I don't want to trade any of them(Yelich included even though I'm the one who'd like to see an unlikely trade to clear his salary). But I'm trying to think what gives us the best chance at a Royals type run(or even a Giants type run). As for Williams, I think it depends on how we move him. By himself? I think he has less value than Hader. Not by much, but a little bit. So that's a nice deal, but there's no guarantee of a Contreras trade coming after. Gasser is great, but we need higher ceilings IMO. So that's why I'm packaging him. It's so much easier to sell a team(in theory) on a game 1 starter and a closer. That can be 8 innings of your pitching. Either way, I'm gonna be there for it.

Right...this would be the only reason I'd do it. Yeah, they could, but I don't think Payamps has anywhere near the value and he's not going to cost anywhere near as much as Williams moving forward. So I don't think the return or the savings would make that work. And again, it was more because I think teams that'll be in on Burnes like the Phils, Rangers...maybe the Dodgers, they'd be more inclined to trade an elite pitching prospect who's in AA if they're getting back 2 years of a closer on top of 1 year of Burnes. Painter+2/3 other younger arms or Porter or...whoever. This would be not punting on '24, but it's be approaching it more like the O's did to '22. Let the young guys play, get their feet wet and then hopefully the following year you're really hitting. Though for all the fans who think Mark A is cheap, the O's owner is worth 5X Attanasio, they generate more revenue and they're still not spending money.

I was 100% with ya until the "Looks like Loretta, only BETTER." C'mon. He's been an extremely valuable player. A nice utility player who can hit for a decent average...I don't think he's a career .295/.360 hitter and finished with almost 1800 hits. It's a lot to expect that or more from this kid. Hopefully he can continue to contribute and hopefully he's a utility guy for the next 5-6 years we've got him under team control. I'm not expecting him to be a regular who hits near .300 for 15 years.

I'm not hanging it on Kraft, it was Clifford. But there was a play earlier in the game, Heath ran a comeback route. Came out of the break, the DB was about a yard behind him and on his back hip. The ball was inside a bit. If he sits and waits, looks to me like it's going to get broken up or it's a tough contested catch. It was with exactly 1:00 left in the 1st Q. Health works back to the ball. He used his body to shield the ball, came back to the QB about a yard inside and a yard back to the QB. I'm not saying that's a play I expect rookies to make, but when they do, it stands out. The pick was on Clifford...but the really good TEs and WRers make the game easier for the QB. Kraft DIDN'T use his body to shield the DB and didn't come back for it and Tycen Andeson took the ball away. It's not that it's Kraft's fault, it's just the type of things I'm looking for to see where Kraft's development is. It would have just been a really impressive play if Kraft could have worked back and used his body more...but again, I wouldn't put it at as a negative play for Kraft, just the potential to be a really positive play.

I saw him as 4-star as well with 'Bama, UGA, FSU, Miami, Michigan and about 10 real blue bloods having offered him. I definitely think there's an immediate boost to a recruits status if they declare for Alabama or Georgia. I've seen people actually provide evidence of players getting boosts. Maybe those players just happened to get a boost over the previous period of time for whatever reason, but it feels a lot like the Yankees and prospects. How much did we hear about Jasson Dominguez being the next Bo or whoever? As for the coaches, Fickel might have to win one to equal what Barry did. Barry took the program from bottom of the B1G to a top ~15 program in the Nation when Fickell took over. The Metz era hurt them(and cost Chryst) but we were still probably one of the 15-20 most reliably good programs in the Country. I'll take a lot to top Barry, but I'm shocked at how UW has grown into this cool destination SO quickly. I really feel like we can be similar to what Oklahoma has been the last 10 years.

Yup. Agreed on all of that. I said in the other thread, I think Heath may have made the team on that run blocking play in the 3rd Quarter IIRC where he drove the guy out of bounds. That is the type of thing to make the Packers coaches fall in love with him. Jean-Charles, we've head about him for 2 camps, but this was the first time I saw it. I think we're really set at CB. 6-7 deep there. That might be the toughest spot to get a guy through waivers. Carlson was just so pure on those FGs and then the PATs looked much different. Like a QB or IFer short-arming the ball. Aiming almost. I think that's fixable. I feel better with him after seeing him, but you can't miss multiple PATs. I think Brenton Cox Jr may have also put the final nail in Jackson Carman's coffin. He made him look bad. Again, this is how a young team that plays quite a few starters should look, but there were still some outstanding individual performances and...I think you hit them all. Musgraves was also just burning guys in the passing games, but each QB missed him. Kraft looked solid...though I'd like to see him fight harder for that pass that turned into a pick.

About as fun of a Pre-season game as I've seen in a long time. It reflected the youth and excitement around the team. QB-Both Love and Clifford looked good. Love was sharp. Very clean. One mistake came trying to force the ball to Watson vs Cover2. That's just a play that comes with experience. I would assume he was supposed to try and look the safety off and if the Safety doesn't bit, come back to Reed who was running a deep crosser and was wide open for what would have been a 20-30 yard gain depending on where he put it. Also missed Musgrave on a throw he HAS to make(that guy really needs to stay healthy as he looks like such a difference maker). Clifford looked like everything you want from a backup QB. He's not a threat to Love unless Love is bad, but he's an athlete, he's got decent size(6'2 222 4.62 40) and he looked decisive. Just lacks the arm strength to throw those longer routes from the opposite hash. But that's why he was a 5th Rd pick. After ONE Pre-season game, he seems to have justified one of the more controversial picks of the Packers draft. No surprises. I think the 2 expected to make the roster make it. RB-Jones caught a nice little ball from Love, got tackled and MLF got him the hell outta there. A pretty disappointing performance from this group as a whole. Goodson, a guy I was high on last year(I think just about every Packers fan was) again just goes down with a stiff breeze. He's a scat back. I'm not sure he runs with more authority than Tyler Ervin. Patrick Taylor is fine. A STer. Emanuel Wilson though...even without that 80 yard TD run, he looked like a dude. 5'11 229 and he showed great vision and balance. Then on the big run after bouncing off a couple guys, their safety has the angle coming downhill and Wilson just outruns the angle. I'd predict we go with 2 RBs again and then call up Taylor, Goodson again, but Wilson may force our hand. Especially with Dillon as FA. WRer-Malik Heath just played outstanding in every facet. The Packers HAVE to love the run blocking as much as snagging a couple of tough balls in the middle of the field knowing the safety was closing on him. But when he ran the CB into the kicking net, then backed off and drew the penalty? That is the type of thing that helps you make a team. Toure-The guy the Packers coaches and FO bring up unsolicited on a regular basis had a ugly play on a KR, but outside of that, he also played about as well as you could ask. Reed went up and showed how tenacious he is in 50/50 situations. Wicks, Heath and Toure look like they've gotta be the obvious favorites behind Watson, Doubs and Reed to make the team. TE-Musgrave only finished with 1 catch on 8 yards, but Love missed him on one, Clifford missed him on another. But he was constantly getting open. Austin Allen- at 6'8 260 was WIDE open with room to run and pick up 20-25 yards on that Packer boot off the outsize zone action and Clifford just missed him. Despite the size, he's not a great inline blocker. I think Big Dawg would be inking a contract to return to Green Bay had Tyler Davis injured himself a week earlier. OL-Really interesting to me that JRJ and Tom both took snaps at Center. Caleb Jones looked good when he was in. Didn't see the injury, so hopefully it's minor...but again, a 6'9 370LB OT gets an ankle injury, is it ever minor? Luke Tenuta who looks like HE could be a nice project who starts paying dividends this year, he went down with what looked like a much more significant injury SOLELY from the look on his face. Rasheed Walker was really lazy on a couple of outsize zones going away from him. He HAS to close down...and while it's tough to beat the 3 tech to the spot, you're blocking down. You have to take him and just move him. That's the WHOLE point of the play. TO OPEN THE CUTBACK LANES. One one big loss the Bengals 97 crossed his face, the Packers got no movement on the right side and IIRC, it was Taylor, he had to cut back and it was a 5-6 yards loss because Walker gave up on the play. There was too much mixing and matching to really tell how Schnieder did or any other individuals for the most part. JRJ looked capable at Center. I think that's a really interesting development. It's clear the Packers are not happy with Myers. Oh, we DID have some Sean Rhyan sightings and he looked good. I believe he and Newman were in the game on the Wilson runs. Offense-Looked about as clean as you could have hoped for week 1 of the Pre-season. Emanuel Wilson, Malik Heath and Sean Clifford did the most IMO to cement or improve their chances to make the team. DEFENSE-- Well, they were flying around. Valentine looks like a dude, Cox Jr looked good. The young DL looked good, particularly Wooden IMO. Enagbare looked good. Slaton showed a lot more burst last night. Ford also looked much better getting into the backfield. Tariq Carpenter was up and down, but in there for 3 quarters. Clearly the Packers wanted to get a long look at him. Secondary-CB looks like it's a deep group. Nixon, Valentin and Ballentine played aggressive vs the run. Some breakdowns, but Joe Barry seemed like he might, could be following through on promises to be more aggressive. Put together more aggressive schemes than we've seen from a Packers defensive unit in a long time for a Pre-season game. The defense is far more set than the offense, so it was more about how the fringe players played and I think those guys did as well as you could have reasonably expected. Safety is a problem, but with the depth we have at CB, I'm still hoping we see Douglas playing some safety. Nixon also looks like the nickel at this point. Especially with Stokes fighting back from a pretty significant lower leg injury. Overall, this was what you hope you see from such a young team with so many guys fighting for playing time, for roster spots. Doesn't really tell me much about what this team will look like during a 17 game schedule, but they played fast, they bounced back from mistakes and Love showed about as much as you could have hoped.

Smith isn't a FA for 3 more years. He's just one year into the 4 year extension he signed last year and then restructured that earlier this year converting his...~8.5 base into a signing bonus. So his dead cap is close to 20M. Probably just a little bit under. Spotract doesn't have the numbers right. They have the restructured money excluded, but he's pretty much a lock as a result. Even next year you're not saving much by cutting him as he has a ~13M dead cap hit...but you could trade him(basically give him away or he could restructure and lower his base...though there's really no incentive for him to do so other than to keep playing). So I think it's 4 locks and Cox Jr looked...just outstanding last night. He's undisciplined at times as most young players are...I just don't know exactly what the kids issues were for UGA and UFA to kick him off their Football teams. They'd pretty much roster OJ post acquittal if he had eligibility left. I keep seeing fights. I'm HOPING he was just an immature kid and has grown up. I thought we looked deep here though. Keshawn Banks played really well late, Hollins showed...his same speed rush with a bit more power. Pretty distinct drop offs though. Gary to Smith to Van Ness/Enagbare at this point, then Cox, then Hollins/Banks and high effort potential STers. What, 5 days later for Lewis? I thought of all the players, the vets, he was the ONE who it made a lot of sense to bring back. He's such as massive security blanket for a young QB. Not in the traditional sense, but just as 6 OL. And he was cheap. But you're still losing ~340 special teams snaps and Lewis may replace those on the kicking unit, but I don't see him covering kicks or blocking in the kick return game. Danny Glove's line from Die Hard comes to mind here when thinking of the Packers to get him to run up and down the field covering punts!

It's just gonna be fun to see who is going to pop from this group. Baez, Pratt, Bitonti, Guiarte or at 3B will it be Boeve, Wilken, Adams. There are so many guys from every position group, guys with speed, power... The one area this farm system is lacking is in projectable young arms and that's really relative to the rest of the system. Misiorowski, Gasser, Knoth and hopefully Leston or one of the prep arms from this year develops. Gasser, Rodriguez are middle to back of the rotation types at the moment, but...maybe they tick up. Key is getting a good package back for Burnes, but I could easily see this farm system being a top 3-5 system mid-season next year.

@Mass Haas has explained and I'll just cut and paste it since...it doesn't make a ton of sense to me, but I trust the source; So basically, if they keep him in the minors, they get another year of hm and they get him for half the price. I don't know if that is actually impacting their decision or not, but it certainly seems like something outside of Baseball reasons are having an impact.

Alright...I'm gonna really try to make this the last time I mention this because it's not gonna happen, but I don't think we would have to take a contract back. If he were a FA, you don't think he'd get 5/136.5 in free agency? I think he'd get at least that. And if you wait until he's closer to 35, then you will have to take back a bad contract...most likely for him. But if he's a 4 WAR player for the next couple years, It'd be great. But you're counting on his back and for him to physically hold up and I don't see enough evidence that he can. He's obviously feeling a whole lot better this year as he's moving well. The EV has remained steady, but, sprint speed, his arm from the OF. As for the non-diehards, if you win they'll come. Yelich was pubic enemy #1 for Brewers fans...which is kinda typical. The "he got paid and doesn't care," or the "he can't hit now that they're not giving him the pitch," nonsense that came from the Darvish situation(because a minor glance to see where the 2B is in the shift is proof of something). I suppose that just tells you how fickle a lot of fans are, but I think they'd be happy with the young group they've got. I don't know that it'd be moot. It might be...but he might also accept a trade to a team like the Angels IF they bring Ohtani back. Again, slots in so well from their perspective. Yelly/Trout/Ohtani...and I guess you hope Rendon comes back, but it'd be up to him. Now....we do all agree it's not gonna happen, especially when he's back. We may wish we did in a few years, or we may be celebrating a Brewers great who had a late career resurgence. We'll find out. He's a really easy guy to root for, so this has nothing to do with wanting to see him gone or thinking THIS version of him isn't worth every penny he's making....just to be extra clear.

I get giving Winker a long leash, but it got a little ridiculous given how much his production dropped off last year and then he went and had two pretty significant injuries. Removing him from the 40 isn't the issue. It's not adding him back at SOME point. There were games when he was healthy in June where Tellez, Winker, Tapia and Urias were all starting. This was in the midst or Tellez putting up a ~350 OPS over the previous month. I'll understand all of this if the Brewers retain him on a 1.1M salary next year and he ends up not being a MiLB FA. Outside of that(which seems to be reliable)...I just can't see a justification...and this is getting extremely old at this point.

Yeah, I don't know what happened there. They seemed to like him...and he doesn't grade out as badly as he looked and "only" gave up 3 sacks, but I think that was Rodgers. He's pretty similar to Elgton in terms of size, athletic ability...even both Miss. boys(at least for school). But he was a disaster at RT and he's not someone who inspires much faith, even as the 4th G or 4th or 5th OT. But unless Walker or Rhyan or someone moves ahead of him at Guard, he might make the team again. I'm not sure if Walker has even been getting reps at guard. Jake Hanson is still on the roster too, so... That IOL just doesn't look great past Jenkins, JRJ and maybe Tom, Myers Bakh, Jenkins, Tom, Myers, Runyan Jr, Nijman, Walker, Jones, Tenuta...and I think Newman will make the roster again this year. Maybe they add a Guard or maybe he just gets better this year like TJ Lang. Remember how bad he looked rotating between RT and G first two years?

Some really good tape from Family Night breaking down Wyatt. You see the potential. Also take note that Van Ness gets a bull rush where he catches Tom off balance and on his heels and Tom recovers and while LVN may have made Love reset, Tom's recovery is reminiscent of Bakhtiari. If they don't move Tom to Center, I really see both the physical similarities and the technical similarities between he and Bakh. Now, on this first play, we all know Newman isn't a world beater...but that's still impressive how Wyatt basically throws him. ALSO love how they lined up with Two edges heads up over the OT in a 7 tech, the two DL at 4I or 3 Techniques and then had Quay and the other MLBer both in the A gaps while playing press. Just PLEASE find more ways to get Quay attacking in space, but I think we see this look vs the Bears but with Quay spying Fields. But onto the whole point;

1-"King of the Clubhouse?" That comes off as snide...and I doubt you meant it as any sort of compliment, but Willy Adames is pretty much universally respected in the clubhouse, he's the energy behind the team and the players and coaches all seem to love him. Adames, again, has been at the heart of nearly every Hiura post you've made...and I don't get it. What's the relation? It really seems strange. Like it's personal. He's struggled this year. Got it. He's also got a BB/K rate that's on par with past production(if not better) and he has a .232 BABIP. So he should probably be hitting ~.240/.330 with power. But dropping him down 2 spots in the lineup...it feels like you want this to be punitive. To put him in his place? Who should be hitting where? How big of a difference are we talking about for the amount of energy you've put into making Hiura about Adames? 2-HE'S PLAYED 31 INNINGS. 20 ABs. It's ridiculous... 3-Ok, so the Brewers got Adames and Tellez and they got them to both VASTLY improve off their production at that time, but it's the organizations fault they're struggling this year but NOT to their credit when they improve? Same with Yelich. No credit for him exploding into an MVP caliber player, ONLY blame for him not performing well in '20 and '21...but then again, still not responsible for him bouncing back last year and much Moreso this year. Yeah, that's pretty much the definition of cherry picking.

So what? Adames plays every day. Why WOULDN'T he expect to play? I don't understand your point. And he's not an .800 OPS guy anymore? Meaning...those days are gone or are you simply looking at his stat line and reading it off to me? I fully expect him to return to an ~800 OPS. But moving him down in the lineup? That's why you've singled in on Adames in nearly every post about Hiura? Seems like you're expending an awful lot of energy wanting Adames to hit...6th rather than 4th. He's had a bad year. He's also had a .232 BABIP, so he's hit into bad luck. But this is just a weird detour from the actual topic.

Ok...literally NONE of that was "so confidence of Hiura's skills." I don't agree with most of what he's arguing, but can we PLEASE stop with this intellectually dishonest posts...or posts where we just make up what the last person said? Lets try what was ACTUALLY said; And you read THAT to suggest he's; SOOO confident in his hitting ability, lets see if he can come close to Ryan Braun in career hits? That is NOT what he was saying. HE'S SAYING HE'S AN UPGRADE OVER WHAT WE'VE HAD AT DH. That he should have gotten a chance earlier when Winker was putting up a sub .600 OPS, when Tellez went two months with an OPS of ~.450. When we couldn't get ANY real production from 1B/DH and yet he's changed his stance in AAA, done everything that's been asked of him, has drawn the praise of the Brewers coaches and yet hasn't gotten a chance. Bottom line, this is just getting silly. People are bending themselves into pretzels trying to do the "so what you're actually saying is," argument when what has been said re; Hiura has been very plain spoken. Now the caveat that us fans may simply not understand save for Moose is that they plan to keep him as a MiLB Free Agent at 1.1M and then they'll have him on the roster next year cheaper and hopefully have a chance to reset his career in Milwaukee. But that's new information. The "Well Urias, Tellez, Adames, etc.... hit X last year so just because he hit well last year doesn't mean HIura will," is as silly an argument as how the words were twisted in this post. Nobody has said he WILL hit better. They're simply pointing out 1-Brewers production at the positions he plays. 2-Hiura did hit well last year...despite OFTEN NOT being given the opportunity to come back and play the day following a walk off of a multi-hit day...while also not being allowed to hit vs RHPers and asked to hit LHPer when he has reverse splits. 3-He did what the Brewers have asked of him. He changed his stance, he's cleaned up his mechanics JUST like Yelich did and he's performed well in AAA. It's all the more frustrating when you see the ABs they've given Voight, Brosseau, Tapia, Singleton, WINKER, Daniel Robertson(an equally terrible 2B), Billy McKinney, Sogard, Smoak, Saladino, Shaw, Schoop, Sogard again, ALL players who got multiple opportunities despite the majority having less success than Hiura. I really like the FO. I think they're building the Brewers, particularly long term in the right way, but the rationalization sometimes jus gets to be a bit too often the top.

1-I don't know what your deal with "offending" Adames is, but he's a SS who's got a history of being a power hitter. They sat him the day before you posted this and they sat him the day after. 2-Torro, this one is really strange. He has two good games with about 2 months between each other and you're talking about a tiny sample size. How do you send down a GG caliber CFer who's crushing lefties or really any OFer for him? It's REALLY not worthy of nothing over 20 ABs, the last of which coming in a blowout vs a journeyman pitcher who only throws in blowouts, hasn't thrown since and was literally given away for future considerations. Toro hasn't been a good hitter over the course of his career and his K's are up, BBs are down, his Exit Velocity is down to a career worst. Again...I don't find any of those particularly important or relevant, but if you're going to use a 2 hit game in May and then a 3 hit game in June(which account for the majority of his hits this year...I guess it is relevant). 3-I really don't know how to respond to the cherry picking of players X have gotten noticeably worse. Adames got DRAMATICALLY better coming to Milwaukee. He's struggling this year. Tellez was a part time player who's OPS jumped 200 points when he came to Milwaukee. Urias was considered a bust, came to Milwaukee and had back to back 3+ WAR seasons(6.5 total) and this year he got hurt and couldn't move and they still flipped him for a starting pitcher. Yelich-20-21? Ok, so did they suddenly figure something out this year? Hiura gives you confidence, but it was their fault he struggled the previous two years? Last year we had the 6th best OPS in the NL. Our hitting was fine. Tyrone Taylor? This is where this feels really intellectually dishonest...he hit fine the last couple years...well even...for a 4th or 5th OFer. This year he's dealt with a relatively serious elbow injury he's playing through in addition to sporatic playing time and you think this is evidence they CAN'T develop hitters? I'm sorry, this sounds ridiculous and I'M-AGREENG with you that we should see Hiura(though the argument that we get to retain him and he's not a MiLB FA and they can bring him back after this season certainly makes his lack of opportunities make a lot more sense. The Brewers have guys who have struggled with injuries this year or just struggled. What about Monastario? He's been an exceptional bat off the bench. Frelick? Turang has been improving quite a bit since he got here. Contreras has handled the everyday catching duties and performed well. Yelich, again, can't blame the Brewers for his down years and then they don't get credit for a huge bounce back season. Do you not see how contradictory that is? Same with Hiura(which...I think it's silly to say he's proven anything other than he deserves a chance). I'm realizing this really doesn't have anything to do with Hiura(namely because you mention Adames far more than Hiura). I'm curious what they SHOULD be doing with Adames? It's really hard to keep track of your grievances beyond Hiura.

I don't think Trout is going anywhere(and I really doubt the Angels would pay for the privilege). He's still the best player in the game outside of Anaheim IMO. 6.3 WAR last year despite the injury. I think the Angels will want him there for his chase for 500, 600 HRs, maybe if he can stay healthy, 3,000 hits(that's a bit of a reach, but could easily have a Molly like resurgence. It's still well within reason. He IS injury prone, but still 96th percentile in the league in sprint speed and I think the same in barrel rate. So...hell, if we could get him, I'd be giddy. I'd have him in LF and DH about 50/50. As for Yelich, I'd just trade him to hopefully get a couple of nice, younger prospects, bust mostly to get out from the deal(as I said, deferred money and all). I'd definitely take Alek Manoah back in return. 25 year old #2/3 starter? I know it's never going to happen. Yelich is gonna be a Brewer until he's 37 and they'll pay him ~2.4M for about 10 years after that. And that's probably a good thing. If you get one or two more years like this, then just a good OBP or '21 Yelly, you are getting your money's worth. But my thinking wasn't to get MLB ready talent back. We've got that either here or arriving shortly. It was just that I'd rather have an OF of Frelick/Wiemer/Mitchell/Chourio with Perkins, maybe Carlos Rodriguez in a year or so and then a clean payroll. It's more about imagining what the 2026 Brewers could look like. Misiorowski, Peralta, Ashby, Gasser, Rodriguez...Uribe, Payamps, Peguero... Guys like Pratt, Bitonti, Yophery, Lara, Guilarte(who knows who else) on the verge, Frelick(CF), Quero(C), Chourio(LF), Wilken(3B), Wiemer(RF), Black(2B), Boeve(1B) Turang(SS). And at that time...the Brewers would(will) owe Yelich almost exactly what they paid Cain over the next 3 season. Nobody wants to give up a player like Yelly when they're rolling, but that's the only time you can make a clean break. And hell, maybe the Angels are willing to trade Nolan Schanuel and that prep arm they went way over slot to get Barrett Kent. If they're desperate? But I wouldn't do it for a player of comparable value or for Springer in return because...well, I like him and that'd defeat the purpose. What makes it less likely is that he's got a No-Trade Clause(Full I believe). But for Alek Manoah? Definitely. The Angels would be more likely. Imagine Yelich/Trout/Ohatni 1-3 in the lineup? The Angels are the perfect short term thinking type team. So are the Padres. I guess I'll let the likelihood of it happening go, but I'll still defend the position...and wait for a year or three when everyone says, "too bad we didn't sell high on Yelich!"