And That

I have no idea how Brown's delivery holds up as a starter, but his fastball movement is disgusting. I agree with NolanBrett currently that he's a reliever due to the delivery, but I am open to Brown being able to continue with his weird, head-whacking way of dealing as a starter. Nothing he throws is straight. Even the four seamer has some giddyap at the end. I mean, via BrewerProspects, my word. My word.

VIDEO TWEET: Watch Rubick in action from Thursday night in Maryvale That's outstanding.

Benoit has always had some pretty fascinating peripherals. Intrigued to see him pitch.

AZL White Sox 5, AZL Brewers 3 AZL Brewers Boxscore Not much happening on offense as the Brewers fall back to .500 in the second half. Pat McInerney hit his league-leading 8th HR of the seasom to kick off the scoring in the 1st, but the Brewers managed only 4 singles and a HBP the rest of the way. Jesus Lujano had two of those singles, and is hitting .318 in the second half. Austin Rubick, Chase Williams, and Max Lazar all had ok outings. AZL Brewers Game Log The Brewers struck out two times in a row on wild pitches: AZL Brewers Top of the 8th Leugim Castillo strikes out swinging. Julio Mendez strikes out swinging, catcher Adam McGinnis to first baseman Michael Hickman. Yeison Coca strikes out swinging, catcher Adam McGinnis to first baseman Michael Hickman.

IIRC, the waiver fee in 2014 was $20,000. Later that year, Mills was claimed on waivers by the Blue Jays from the A's.

If a team thinks that a player on outright waivers with no options remaining is a major league quality asset to their club right now, $50,000 is not an obstacle to acquiring that player. If that player plays at even the tiniest margin above replacement level, it is in itself a value-producing transaction. I have no idea what Brad Mills has to do with this.

AZL Brewers 10, AZL Indians 8 (11 innings) AZL Brewers Boxscore There were 34 hits in this game between the two clubs. 30 of them were singles. Yeison Coca and Brent Diaz each had 4 singles for the Baby Brewers, while Jesus Lujano and Julian Jarrard each had 3. The rare extra base hits went to Je'Von Ward (a double) and LG Castillo (a triple). Adrian Houser made his fourth rehab start and for the first time, he threw two full innings. Really good innings, too, with 5 strikeouts and only one baserunner allowed, via walk. AZL Brewers Game Log 11th inning rally: AZL Brewers Top of the 11th Defensive Substitution: Angel Lopez replaces Tyler Freeman, batting 6th, playing catcher. Pitching Change: Luis Araujo replaces Tommy DeJuneas. Je'Von Ward starts inning at 2nd base. Tyler Lawrence out on a sacrifice bunt, third baseman Henry Pujols to second baseman Wilbis Santiago. Je'Von Ward to 3rd. Leugim Castillo reaches on a fielder's choice, fielded by shortstop Jose Fermin. Je'Von Ward scores. Julio Mendez singles on a ground ball to left fielder Tre Gantt. Leugim Castillo to 3rd. Yeison Coca out on a sacrifice fly to right fielder Ronny Dominguez. Leugim Castillo scores. Jesus Lujano reaches on a fielder's choice, fielded by shortstop Jose Fermin. Julio Mendez to 2nd. Pat McInerney singles on a ground ball to left fielder Tre Gantt. Julio Mendez scores. Jesus Lujano to 3rd. Julian Jarrard strikes out swinging.

waiver claims cost the acquiring club $50,000. In the scale of major league economics, and netting out players lost on waivers, essentially free.

Blazek pitched fine for 6 1/3 innings. And then really, really, really badly for 2 1/3. You can't wipe away the 2 1/3. Suter has pitched fine for the better part of 54 1/3 innings this year. There is a reason that Scahill has been outrighted 3 times this year, and Blazek once. Between the two of them, 116 teams have passed them over when given the chance to claim them on waivers for free.

The guys with good to great numbers at Colorado Springs, Blazek, Wang, Scahill and Espino are back in AAA. The guys that had worse numbers at AAA like Suter and Hader are still in Majors. My point is it doesn't matter what the numbers are in AAA. With the exception of Wang who really wasn't given a chance, Blazek, Scahill, and Espino have shown a pretty strong proficiency for not being able to pitch well in MLB. Suter and Hader have for the most part pitched well. And Hader is far and away the best pitcher of the group, so he should be playing wherever the Brewers think it is best for him to be playing.

Few brief thoughts on the Mudcats: -Cooper Hummel does not have a particularly strong throwing arm, but he usually makes throws on point down to second. The ball rarely seems to sail on him. He also moves around well behind the dish. -Trent Clark fastidiously refuses to expand the strike zone. He's made some good contact against McKenzie today and drew a walk on a couple of balls I don't think anyone else on the team takes. -On the other side of the coin, Corey Ray has been late on everything in his two ABs against McKenzie. -Cody Ponce has spiked a few curveballs and allowed a run on a wild pitch when he missed his spot with a fastball by more than the width of the plate. Hummel just couldn't reach that far across his body in time to catch it. And the general theme of Ponce being wild within the zone continues.

I dunno, Villi and Swarzy are pretty weak too. And Brett Phillips' special jersey is literally his name.

Also, someone needs to buy a d'Arnaud jersey and a Wily Peralta jersey.

I MUST HAVE THE PAN BLANCO JERSEY

Thank you as always for putting this together! Bold prediction: Carlos Rodriguez will be in the top 20 by this time next season.

Can always hope Florida hasn't figured this out yet.

Besides buying a AAA team and moving it, one of the biggest hangups in having a AAA team use the facility during the season is that day games are basically untenable there, which would create scheduling issues with the rest of the league. There's also the matter of the extended spring training/AZL league guys needing to use the facilities in season. And frankly, how many people could the Brewers hope to attract to a AAA baseball team's games whose parent club is a marginally popular team a couple thousand miles away? I don't know about any exclusivity or TV rights the Dbacks might have, though. There are plenty of minor league teams in the markets of major league teams. Plus as I mentioned, I don't think a Brewers AAA team would pose any real attendance or viewership threat to the Diamondbacks.

AZL Brewers 6, AZL Indians 5 AZL Brewers Boxscore The offense strung together a bunch of hits in the third, added one more in the fourth, and the pitching held on to win. Julian Jarrard cracked his league-leading 15th double of the year. League-leading is even more amazing considering he has under 90 PAs. Julio Mendez, Yeison Coca, and Pat McInerney added doubles as well. Jesus Lujano remains tied for the league lead in stolen bases, as he stole his 20th. Phil Bickford made his second rehab start and exited around the 40 pitch mark again. Three walks and a hit in 1 2/3 innings, but no runs allowed. AZL Brewers Game Log Big third: AZL Brewers Bottom of the 3rd Leugim Castillo grounds out, third baseman Henry Pujols to first baseman Michael Cooper. Defensive Substitution: Angel Lopez replaces catcher Felix Fernandez, batting 7th, playing catcher. Julio Mendez doubles (7) on a fly ball to center fielder Tre Gantt. Yeison Coca walks. Jesus Lujano grounds into a force out, first baseman Michael Cooper to shortstop Tyler Freeman. Julio Mendez to 3rd. Yeison Coca out at 2nd. Jesus Lujano to 1st. Robert Henry singles on a line drive to center fielder Tre Gantt. Julio Mendez scores. Jesus Lujano to 3rd. With Pat McInerney batting, Jesus Lujano steals (20) home. Robert Henry steals (11) 2nd base. Pat McInerney hit by pitch. Julian Jarrard doubles (15) on a line drive to right fielder Johnathan Rodriguez. Robert Henry scores. Pat McInerney scores. With Je'Von Ward batting, wild pitch by Juan Mota, Julian Jarrard to 3rd. With Je'Von Ward batting, wild pitch by Juan Mota, Julian Jarrard scores. Je'Von Ward walks. With Moises Perez batting, Je'Von Ward caught stealing 2nd base, catcher Angel Lopez to second baseman Jose Fermin.

What? No Sean Nolin? Sean Nolin was #106! Everyone forgets about Sean Nolin.

The Brewers lost 100% of DSL games today.

Stokes has really quick hands but his barrel control has been questioned. He's a big time fly ball hitter, which I think is great (elevate to celebrate!), but he sacrifices some contact with that approach. The barrel control piece combined with the fly ball piece can lead to some awkward looking swings, but he is pretty good about identifying offspeed pitches. So the awkward swings are not usually a result of chasing crap well out of the zone. And he'll take his walks. Given his stature, he's a kind of guy that historically is told to hit the ball on the ground and run. He is not that guy. From what I have observed, he has good but not great speed on the basepaths. He is, however, a very intelligent base runner. I believe that with enough reps he could play CF, but he hasn't been given the reps. He is adequate defensively. Routes still need some work. Arm is ok. I've been championing Troy for a few years now, so it's great to see him break out. I firmly believe he has the skills to push for a corner outfield position at the highest level.

Surprised Roegner didn’t place somewhere on your top 100. He was one of the last few cuts from my top 30. Big lefty with decent stuff and keeps getting better as the season goes on. Just a case of being 24 at A ball? I give him some pass on that being a Tommy John and warm weather pitcher. I know you watch the T-Rats regularly so thought I’d ask. Back of the envelope, he's probably a top 100 guy for me (though in the lower half to third), but yes, being 24 in A ball doesn't help. I have mostly 35 OFP grades on him, and his injury history bumps his risk factor a little. From what I've seen, he gets pretty good plane on his fastball due to his size, but seems to miss the plate glove side with some regularity. His changeup is the better of his two offspeed pitches, but offhand I don't recall being wowed by either. With the angles he's able to create, he should be getting more ground balls than he is. He has a GB+ of 91 for the Midwest League - I would think it should be closer to 110 or so. That might suggest he's missing up in the zone as well, though I haven't noticed that. The lack of ground balls also could be a result of the Brewers having him work on things that might change how he pitches normally. With the changeup being his primary offspeed pitch, the odds drop a bit of Roegner being developed as a LOOGY, so he's going to have to continue showing he can get batters on both sides of the plate out.

AZL Cubs 8, AZL Brewers 7 AZL Brewers Boxscore Five late runs off of reliever Kadon Simmons sunk the Brewers, and it hurts just that much more losing to a Cubs' affiliate. The other noteworthy pitching thing was that Wilfred Salaman did *not* pick anyone off. Jesus Lujano and Je'Von Ward each had 2 hits, and Lujano added 3 stolen bases to his total, which ties him for the league lead. (Incidentally, the league leader is Tyler James of the Royals, and he is a perfect 19 for 19 in stolen base attempts - not bad.) AZL Brewers Game Log Good: AZL Brewers Top of the 3rd Yeison Coca singles on a ground ball to center fielder Jose Gutierrez. Jesus Lujano singles on a ground ball to left fielder Kwang-Min Kwon. Yeison Coca to 2nd. With Robert Henry batting, Yeison Coca steals (3) 3rd base. With Robert Henry batting, Jesus Lujano steals (19) 2nd base. Robert Henry strikes out swinging. Pat McInerney reaches on a fielding error by third baseman Cam Balego. Yeison Coca scores. Jesus Lujano to 3rd. Julian Jarrard strikes out swinging. Robie Rojas reaches on a throwing error by third baseman Cam Balego. Jesus Lujano scores. Pat McInerney to 2nd. With Je'Von Ward batting, Pat McInerney advances to 3rd on a balk. Robie Rojas advances to 2nd on a balk. Je'Von Ward singles on a ground ball to left fielder Kwang-Min Kwon. Pat McInerney scores. Robie Rojas scores. Je'Von Ward to 2nd on the throw. Pitching Change: Nathan Sweeney replaces Brailyn Marquez. Moises Perez grounds out, third baseman Cam Balego to first baseman Marcus Mastrobuoni. Bad: AZL Cubs Bottom of the 8th Pitching Change: Kadon Simmons replaces Tyler Thorne. Nelson Velazquez homers (3) on a fly ball to left field. Kevin Zamudio singles on a line drive to left fielder Jesus Lujano. Kwang-Min Kwon grounds into a force out, second baseman Francisco Thomas to shortstop Yeison Coca. Kevin Zamudio out at 2nd. Kwang-Min Kwon to 1st. Cam Balego walks. Kwang-Min Kwon to 2nd. Delvin Zinn singles on a ground ball to center fielder Robert Henry. Kwang-Min Kwon scores. Cam Balego to 2nd. Jose Gutierrez singles on a ground ball to right fielder Je'Von Ward. Cam Balego scores. Delvin Zinn to 3rd. Pitching Change: Landon Holifield replaces Kadon Simmons. With Luis Vazquez batting, Jose Gutierrez steals (3) 2nd base. Luis Vazquez grounds out, shortstop Yeison Coca to first baseman Moises Perez. Delvin Zinn scores. Jose Gutierrez to 3rd. Jonathan Sierra doubles (5) on a line drive to center fielder Robert Henry. Jose Gutierrez scores. Marcus Mastrobuoni grounds out, third baseman Julian Jarrard to first baseman Moises Perez.

Well, I have a list out to 200, but that seemed like overkill to post it all. LG Castillo was #101. Julian Jarrard was #200. Regarding Isan Diaz and my list in general, my list is composed by taking OFP grades from a variety of sources (public and otherwise), averaging them out, and then adjusting them for current year and 3-year performance, age relative to league, and a risk factor. Isan Diaz happened to come out at 3 from that cold workbook calculation - I didn't consciously try to put him any place in particular. So as for defending his position at #3, what put him high on most prospect lists coming into the season is still there - he still has elite hand speed and exudes a professional approach at the plate. It's easy to point at his .227 batting average and start wringing hands, but he has hit into his fair share of bad luck in an already depressed offensive environment. And despite hitting .227, he still has a 105 wRC+, meaning he has literally been more productive than the league average. His BB% has also crept up this year, from an-already good 12.3% to an even better 13.8%. K% is up as well, but not as much, so his BB/K has improved. If I were just back of the enveloping a top 10 list, I don't think I'd have Diaz at 3, but that's what the cold logic of my workbook spits out, so there it is. I'd also probably have Ortiz higher. Ortiz slips a bit due to having a relatively mediocre season up to his past few starts, as well as continuing DL appearances, lack of dominant stuff the times I've seen him pitch, conditioning, and his relative distance away from MLB due to his lack of minor league innings. My opinion on him really hasn't slipped that much since the trade a year ago, it's just that he's kind of gone sideways while others have not. I have no doubt he'll be back in my top 10 again soon.

[pre]1. Lewis Brinson 2. Brett Phillips 3. Isan Diaz 4. Brandon Woodruff 5. Trent Clark 6. Josh Hader 7. Corey Ray 8. Keston Hiura 9. Corbin Burnes 10. Tristen Lutz 11. Lucas Erceg 12. Luis Ortiz 13. Mauricio Dubon 14. Troy Stokes 15. Monte Harrison 16. Phil Bickford 17. Freddy Peralta 18. Jorge Lopez 19. Marcos Diplan 20. Jon Perrin 21. Cody Ponce 22. Bubba Derby 23. Jacob Nottingham 24. Nate Orf 25. Jordan Yamamoto 26. Wei-Chung Wang 27. Tristan Archer 28. Tyrone Taylor 29. Tom Jankins 30. Zack Brown 31. Jake Gatewood 32. Taylor Williams 33. Demi Orimoloye 34. Quintin Torres-Costa 35. Josh Pennington 36. Carlos Rodriguez 37. Kyle Wren 38. Brendan Murphy 39. Mario Feliciano 40. Devin Williams 41. Michael Reed 42. Braden Webb 43. Zach Clark 44. KJ Harrison 45. Caden Lemons 46. Trey Supak 47. Carlos Herrera 48. Blake Allemand 49. Jose Sibrian 50. Eric Hanhold 51. Gabriel Garcia 52. Kodi Medeiros 53. Nathan Kirby 54. Clint Coulter 55. Joaquin De La Cruz 56. Jayson Rose 57. Yeison Coca 58. Cooper Hummel 59. Wes Wilson 60. Nick Egnatuk 61. Devin Hairston 62. Jesus Lujano 63. Wendell Rijo 64. Javier Betancourt 65. Adrian Houser 66. Bowden Francis 67. Yhonathan Barrios 68. Drake Owenby 69. Tyler Webb 70. Larry Ernesto 71. Nash Walters 72. Dallas Carroll 73. Jean Carmona 74. Yadiel Rivera 75. Max McDowell 76. Wuilder Rodriguez 77. Angel Ventura 78. Chad McClanahan 79. Dustin Houle 80. Wilfred Salaman 81. Antonio Pinero 82. Max Lazar 83. Ernesto Martinez 84. Jon Olczak 85. Dustin DeMuth 86. Ronnie Gideon 87. Nate Griep 88. Payton Henry 89. Daniel Brown 90. Blake Lillis 91. Dylan File 92. Pablo Abreu 93. Jorge Ortega 94. Aaron Wilkerson 95. Nathan Rodriguez 96. Franly Mallen 97. Gilbert Lara 98. Brad Kuntz 99. Edwin Sano 100. Justin Bullock[/pre]