BrewerFan

Just to be VERY clear, I am loving what Yelly has done for us this year. His bounce back has made him the backbone of our offense and he seems to just continue ascending. That said, at the start of the season, people were talking about if we traded Burnes, could we include Yelich into that deal. That was mostly shot down by talking about all his negative value. That said, what would we feel if a team(it'd likely have to be a west coast team given his no-trade) came along and offered a couple of lower level prospects with some upside, but no top 100 prospects...who here would be willing to trade him? I know it's ALWAYS harder to trade a guy when he's coming off a monster season, and if he proceeds like he did in '18(and he's not far off the pace) then that'd change the equation. But in the last 4 years, he's struggled relative to his contract pretty badly in 3 of them. He was a servicable leadoff hitter last year, but not the player we were hoping when he signed that. The BIG thing that would make it far more palpable is what we have coming on the way. We have our future OF pretty much set with Chourio, Wiemer, Frelick, Mitchell, then Carlos Rodriguez and a host of other young OFers in the system that are ticketed for Milwaukee by late '24 or '25. That money saved from Yelich could go to a Woodruff extension if they wanted to, or even a big contract extension right out of the gate for guys like Chourio, Quero and maybe even Frelick, Wiemer and Turang(to varying degrees). In a poor FA class for OFers, Yelich would probably be the best available. He has 5/130 remaining on his deal(including the deferred money)+ a mutual option for 6.5M. He'll be 32 years old and coming off a ~5+ WAR season. The only OFer who may be on his level if Kevin Kiermaier who derives far more of his value as a CFer. I know it seems like a ridiculous question at this point in time given what he's done for the Brewers, but we have to be proactive, right? Even if we get another big season or tree from Yelich, you're still looking at what will almost certainly be a couple really bad years at this point(as is always the expectations when you sign long term deals). Again, I know this is the worst possible time to ask this question...and it's NOT an anti-Yelich question, I love having the guy. It's just a pragmatic one for me. Our money would be better served going to the young franchise changing OFer named Chourio, and I don't want to hear the countdown starting as soon as he plays for the Brewers. Our window is open for X number of years, or the "what can we get for Chourio," in a few years as we've done with Burnes the last few years.

That was my guy originally as well, but when I saw the Morton comp, the spin rates, the 97 velo...and the Brewers thought there were similarities to Burnes. But when it comes to this stuff, I'm more like a 15 year old in HS. My eyes go right for those nice, dancing...spin rates and those big, beautiful...fastball. I take solace in knowing that the people who know what they're doing are looking a bit deeper than I would have! This was a late revelation, but Leston is younger, he's throwing 94(both are upper Midwest, so little difference there). A couple years from now and Leston could be in AA and our next rising pitcher and Morton could be a 2nd/3rd round pick.

Nit pick away...I always slip up on Greene and Moore. That last line is why I am SO incredibly excited about this team. I really believe one of these years things are going to come together. A healthy year from Misiorowski, Ashby steps up and becomes a #2, Peralta, Gasser and I mean...who knows who else it could be...and Uribe looks like a future Clase type reliever, offense coming up in droves. I wonder when the Brewers start to consider a long term deal for a guy like Chourio? You'd think of all the prospects we've had, he'd be like Braun. One you look to sign immediately. Or hell, more like Longoria/Franco. That's just so premature, but he's the type of guy you need to keep around. He's a franchise building block.

Ah...thought he was a June Birthday. That was stuck in my head for some reason. Anyway, kid looks brilliant...even at the ripe old age of 18 by December! We've just gone sooo long where we'd have all our eggs in one basket so to speak. I remember, you NEEDED Mark Rogers to or Jones, or Jungman or Bradley or whoever it may be and now there's less pressure on them and it's just one group at each level with a couple guys who have big time talent.

Yes...to ALL of this. I obviously don't know exactly how the Brewers go about things, but I VERY much hope that not only do they have a very good..."apprentice," type program. I fear a brain drain with Stearns. Not all the top dogs(though perhaps some). But those scouts and Johnson, the pitching lab, Charlie Moore...so many guys behind the scenes that we hear or see VERY little about who churn out good relievers by unlocking a different sinker in the case of Peguero or they turn an awful defensive catcher into a guy ranked in the top 6 in throwing, blocking and framing as they did with Contreras. But the to build the type of system we have now, it requires not just a big investment from ownership in the department(Which we've gotten) but as you said, those guys who go everywhere to uncover those arms, who develop relationships with the players, who gauge their demands so we can sign 18 guys in a draft class MOST of us would have been THRILLED getting ~14 players signed in. So I hope we keep Johnson obviously, but it runs so much deeper than that. From top to bottom, we've never been run this well IMO(Stearns is also largely to thank for this) in the scouting department at all levels and we've never had a farm system that has Jackson Chourio and we're already looking at a 17 year old with a .300/450/550 slash line in the DSL who could VERY possibly become a top 100 himself next year and will likely/possibly start in full season ball next year before his 18th Birthday due to his advanced approach. VERY exciting time to be a Brewers fan at all levels...though, think about how good we'd look if we could afford a 4th OFer or a middle reliever for ~8-10M a year and get rid of our Latin American department all together!

The Cards came to him and asked, "Do you think Baseball should be fun," and when he said yes, they pulled the offer. They can't have kids playing a sport as adults thinking it's "fun and games." How are they gonna explain a player smiling to the kids that go to the games? How can Carpenter and Wainwright and future manager Molina continue to with their righteous indignation if they throw out one of those kids showing up pitchers by smiling? Just wasn't a risk they could take! (I don't like the blue font, hard to read against the background...so consider this my blue font).

I thought Hollan , Holton and Riggio were all in one class, but wasn't positive. But Riggio is 21 so...draft eligible as a Soph.

That's not what I was trying to say, I was more just speculating that there have probably been a few times they WOULD have gone over if one of the prep picks would have agreed to it. You were right...they hadn't gone over. I think everyone on the board and everyone who follows the draft was wrong when they were predicting how many people we'd sign. To come 29$ away is incredible! Just ANOTHER thing that makes this system so incredibly exciting. It's not just Chourio, Quero or the big names, it's the depth they've got coming up behind those guys. It feels like we're going to have just wave after wave. Yophery Rodriguez, Wilken, Knoth....Pratt, Bitonti, Guillarte. Just depth all over the place staggered almost perfectly. This is how you build a system like the Rays, Dodgers or Padres(except they just turn and trade 'em all away after finding one gem after another).

Once you go to a 4 year school, you're not draft eligible under after your Jr season or if you'll turn 21 years old by I THINK the end of the MiLB season, but not positive. I know there are draft eligible Soph's but they're rare. In fact, I think there was at least one that we drafted. Hollan from '21 perhaps? Maybe it was Riggio?

Damn...just getting caught up. Morton had Corbin Burnes comps. That's really the only way I could be more excited, but that's incredibly greedy after hearing the initial questions about our picks in rds 11-20 and the inference that very few would sign. Watts if going to a 4 year after this year, right? If I'm mistaken and he's going back to a Juco, then they could still sign him up until next year, but...just an awesome draft. I am curious what it would have taken to get Morton or Gholston signed just out of curiosity, but man, what a draft.

Yes, you've said, but isn't it likely that was because they just couldn't get a guy to sign? I believe they tried to get Riggio signed(for instance). I'm sure there was a player or two from this class who they were close to not signing or may not have signed. I just doubt that's some organizational philosophy when you're talking about a really small, insignificant amount of money relative to ALL the other money they spend on player development.

Absolutely. They've done a great job assembling talent and...hopefully a couple of these guys can go on and have big careers, but the philosophy behind it...in a VERY deep class to add so many top ~200 prospects was incredible IMO. Especially given the upside. I'd LOVE to see Isaac Morton sign. HS pitcher from Minnesota. Huge spin rates, touches 97, average. 6'3 185 and projectable. This draft has exceeded ALL expectations, but if they can get just one more high upside arm...that'd be incredible.

I hate that this is a legitimate response for Willy. Hopefully a huge finish answers some of these questions.

When I'm talking about his numbers, I'm not really considering RBIs as that's more of a result of those around him, or the number of times he gets caught stealing, I'm talking about his slash line. I think that's closer to where he ends up. I'm not sure that'd make him an All-Star in today's game with...all the talent there is out there at SS, that's a bit of a reach. But I think he'll figure it out. Wathing him at Nashville, he was constantly grinding and getting better and I don't think that stops at 23 in his first taste of MLB. This is off topic, but I also think Monasterio is going to be an outstanding utility player. I don't expect him to maintain anything close to ~290/.380, but he could drop 40 points and be VERY valuable. A natural SS who draws walks, good speed, very good defense. Hopefully he can maintain his level of play. Saw an old scouting report that said his floor was a good utility player and if he could hit for average, he could be an everyday SS(and we know that he can also play 2B).

So rather than comparing them at the same age...you're cherry picking and using Jim Gantner when he was 39...because that...just obviously makes more sense? It's tiring always chasing these goalposts. You already have a comp. His production at the same age for Gantner. For SOME reason Gantner So which is it? He was a good hitter as a young man(23, 24 and 25 putting up the same OPS+ as Turang) or those years don't count because he was in and out of the lineup, up and down to from the Big Leagues to the Minor Leagues? I'll just compare the young Gantner to the young Turang rather than arbitrarily picking what Gantner did the last year of his career when retirement was on the horizon. Yes. I would assume the Brewers would 'like' to get something from their bonus money. I'm sure that's far less of a priority than just getting production from 2B, but that's pretty obvious statement. I think they'd "like" to get something in the way of production from every player they draft and develop. And yes. His rookie numbers won't be good enough long term. But for some reason it's like people forget all of baseball and assume a 23 year old rookie isn't going to improve.

There are definitely people already writing him off. Then again, some were writing Chourio off a few weeks ago(and at least one still is).

Or his first three seasons(age 23-25) where he put together a 67 OPS+ Turang is 23 and has always taken a while to adjust. Not sure why you'd use Gantner's last year to compare when...his early years are much more comparable. Turang will be fine...and he SHOULD be surrounded by elite hitters moving forward. Yelich, Chourio, Wiemer, Black, Frelick, Contreras...I expect his MLB numbers to match his AAA numbers from last year in the next couple years as he gets more comfortable.

I don't know if that's true, but I kinda hope it's not. I feel like a full year in AA is perfect for him. I mean, the kid is 19 and looks like he'll be in Milwaukee next year...and then the "Chourio extension" threads will kick off! I really only ever saw just a couple people really questioning him...and generally people who were already dug into an argument(like they'd prefer a FA reliever each year over the Latin American signings and development).

The schedule is just...so weak(at least it looks like it now). I know this sounds stupid, but I don't even care all that much about the record or the playoffs. This is about the next 10-15 years, see if Love can be the guy. The bolded part is why I'm not particularly worried about the record. I think Love's accuracy is really good when he's just lose and letting it rip. And he did that last year, both pre-season and post. I think the WRers probably won't be a great group, but they're talented, deep and diverse. So there's a ton of room for growth there. I'm sure we'll see drops and mistakes. Love in a weird way may be better with this group than Rodgers. Just getting to grow with them. The TEs you could be right. It's hard to know how two rookies are going to play. Musgraves looks like a big time threat down the seam though. We did get 2 of the top TEs in a very deep TE class. End of the year...11-6 and we lose in the playoffs or 6-11 and we're eliminated by week 12, if we go into next year knowing we have our QB of the future and we can use our two 1st round picks on building around Love, this season will be a massive success. That's it. The only barometer.

No...anyone who's watched Caleb Williams can understand this. You just outlined pretty much the worst case scenario. Not that he has just an OK season. He can have an OK season and show flashes and improve. I have a feeling this is gonna be a 'we know it when we see it,' type of thing. The physical tools are elite. I think he's got a bigger and better arm than Dak...but so much pressure on his shoulders.

There were 2 people who'd come forward and the Baseball coach yelled at his players and he got fired when I said this.

Right...forgot about that. That shouldn't change the total significantly. May add a bit, but 4 college arms, a couple guys who are relievers headed into pro-ball. In any event, we're in a MUCH better position than I'd have thought after Pratt and Bitonti signed. That's a million more than I think most people would have guess yesterday.

I don't think that offer would be nearly good enough and I don't like the idea of giving up almost 7 years of an elite catcher and OFer for a rental. I'd get over it and enjoy the hell outta it...but I am fine with the fact that our farm system will continue to grow and we'll take our chances with the staff we have and hopefully a couple bats who can just be solid hitters at 1B/DH, maybe as a platoon player in the OF...

Pratt in particular. It really did seem like 2M was going to be pretty close to his asking price. Leston, Adamczewski maybe? I'm curious what Gholston's price was. He already said he's not signing, but until the deadline passes, that option is still on the table. I don't think anyone would have imagined we'd have ~1.43M to use on picks 11-20.

There has to be some merit to the idea I'd think. At the very least, they're not a team like...the Rockies who are just utterly clueless. You'd have to have a pretty mature kid who was thinking big picture like that. I'd think athletes at this level would have a whole lot of confidence. The Rays, LAD, NYY, Cleveland, Houston vs the Rox, Angels, Pirates...etc...