Matt Breen

Final: Mobile 3, Biloxi 2 Series Opener Goes To BayBears 3-2 Pitching Staff Allows Just One Earned Run in Loss By Spencer Siegel / Biloxi Shuckers (Michael Krebs) Biloxi Box Score Lots of bad things for Biloxi on Wednesday. 14 strikeouts, only one walk. Three errors. 0-11 with runners in scoring position. This all lead to a 3-2 lose to Mobile. On the positive side, the Shucker pitching staff did well. Cody Ponce led the way, giving up one earned run in 5.2 innings of work. Although he took the lose, Ponce gave up only five hits, didn't walk anyone and struck out four. Unfortunately, a Lucas Erceg error led to a pair of unearned runs. Wuilder Rodriguez and Jon Olczak kept the BayBears off the board in relief. At the plate, Troy Stokes Jr. highlighted a lackluster attack, getting a pair of hits. Batting Troy Stokes Jr.: 2-4, 2B Clint Coulter: 1-2, 2B Pitching Cody Ponce: 5.2 IP, 5 hits, 1 ER, 0BB, 4K, lose Wuilder Rodriguez: 1.1 IP, 1 hit, 0 ER, 0BB, 1K Jon Olczak: 1.0 IP, 1 hit, 0 ER, 1BB, 2K Notes Corey Ray stole a base on Wednesday, making him 10 for 10 for the season. Biloxi Game Log Biloxi got two runs in the 7th, but it wasn't enough. Biloxi Top of the 7th Lucas Erceg grounds out to first baseman Jared Walsh. Blake Allemand singles on a ground ball to shortstop Luis Rengifo. Trent Grisham strikes out swinging. Offensive Substitution: Pinch-hitter Clint Coulter replaces Darren Seferina. Clint Coulter doubles (5) on a line drive to left fielder Zach Gibbons. Blake Allemand scores. Dustin Houle reaches on a fielding error by first baseman Jared Walsh. Clint Coulter scores. Corey Ray strikes out swinging.

I don't doubt the Brewers keep tabs on shortstops who are on the market, but I think they will give Arcia a very long leash due to the fact that he has a good glove, and his hitting last year was much better (meaning they feel he can do better than he currently is). And unless they see a really big upgrade available (such as Machado), they will wait and see how Arcia progresses. Also, there are other potential areas to upgrade (2B, C, maybe starting pitching) that the club might rather spend their resources on rather than SS. I'm not saying they won't make a move for SS, but unless Arcia really craters - or someone really good is made available at a reasonable price - I don't foresee SS being an area we address this year.

While lineups are not out yet, we do know that Lorenzo Cain will have the day off. It is not due to injury or anything - just giving him some normal rest. http://www.rotoworld.com/headlines/mlb/572930/lorenzo-cain-getting-the-day-off-wednesday?ls=roto:MLW:topheadlines

[pre]Diamondbacks Lineup Brewers Lineup 1. David Peralta (L) LF 1. Hernán Pérez ® LF 2. Nick Ahmed ® SS 2. Christian Yelich (L) CF 3. Chris Owings ® CF 3. Jesús Aguilar ® 1B 4. Paul Goldschmidt ® 1B 4. Travis Shaw (L) 3B 5. Ketel Marte (S) 2B 5. Domingo Santana ® RF 6. John Ryan Murphy ® C 6. Jonathan Villar (S) 2B 7. Socrates Brito (L) RF 7. Tyler Saladino ® SS 8. Deven Marrero ® 3B 8. Jett Bandy ® C 9. Zack Godley ® P 9. Brent Suter (L) P[/pre]

The main flaw of the Cubs is the they have the word 'Chicago' in their name. At least we've avoided that horrendous issue.

I think Tyler is just thrilled to be in the big leagues - especially after posting a .484 OPS last year. Let's hope he continues his success.

Nicely organized and explained. I appreciate it.

I've read that this year's draft is pretty deep. Not sure if that changes anything.

Tyler Saladino says hello... Why does Tyler Saladino say hello? If we've come to the conclusion that he's our 2B or SS answer based on 17 ABs, we are screwed.

I think that would be awful. I don't think Odor is very good, and Andrus had a major injury a month or so ago. And both are due a lot of money. Odor hit .204 last year. He's hitting .174 this year. And he's due $45M or so through 2022. Does the guy hit home runs? Yes. But he doesn't walk - he had a 3.0% walk rate during his best year - 2016 - and is generally around 5%. And he strikes out around 27-30% of the time. Andrus broke his elbow - due back in about a month. But who knows how well he will play after that. He's due $60M through 2022, but can opt out of his contract this year or next. That's two very questionable players who make a lot of money. Odor had a very nice 2016, but was not very good last year - despite the 30 HRs. I would argue that he has negative value going forward - especially with the contract. I wouldn't give up much - if anything - for those two guys. To give up Arcia, a top 100 prospect pitcher, and a couple of other good prospects would be a disaster in my book.

So you just don't want her asking anyone any questions?

What do you think it would take for Milwaukee to trade into the top 5 in the draft? This club needs someone with high upside - and they aren't going to get it at #17. They'll get another project or - at best - a solid role player. I see the draft with a top tier of four guys: Luka Doncic, DeAndre Ayton, Marvin Bagley and Jaren Jackson Jr. Any of these guys could all really help Milwaukee now. After these four, it gets a bit more murky, but mock drafts tend to have a second tier of guys going next: Mohamed Bamba, Trae Young, Michael Porter and Wendell Carter. My argument is that if you can move up to #5 (or higher), you position yourself to grab any of the top four guys if they fall - or get the pick of the next tier. A playmaker and scorer like Trae Young might make a huge difference for a team like Milwaukee. Or maybe the defense of Bamba. And again, if someone sneaks into the top 5 - lets say someone falls in love with Bamba - well you only end up with a better selection. The idea is to try and get a young (and cheap) impact player to fit into the lineup from day one - and hopefully get us from being good to very good - or great. With the salary cap limitations, I just don't see us doing much in free agency. Ultimately, what would it take to move into the top 5? Obviously, you have the #17 pick. But what else could we offer up? I think Parker is gone - so the team could match any deal he is given, or if he signs the one-year tender. But is that really that big of a deal? Do you deal Brogdan if you can get a guy like Trae Young? Is moving up even possible? I'm not that knowledgeable about the NBA to feel like I can make accurate guesses - so I was curious how others felt about the idea.

All the valuations aside, I would dislike this deal immensely. I'd love Realmuto, but not at this price.

I think, at a minimum, Realmuto should bring at least 60 million in prospect surplus value, and IMO the value of 3/4/5/6/26 right now would only be around 55 million, so that is short. I also regret bringing up Prado's name because I don't think he's a possibility as a salary dump on Milwaukee considering the impending arbitration situation. I may have been the first one to bring up Ortiz but that was over a month ago and before he ended up with an extended time on the DL. Take him out of the equation now unless it's as the third or fourth piece in a deal. Biggest issue the Brewers have as buyers right now is the valuation of Hiura. As a #26-#50 hitter, the surplus value figure on him should be somwhere around 43 million. But I would guess that most other teams would not put that number on him right now. He may be in playing in the field everyday, but my guess is that teams would be hesitant to build a major deal around him considering the elbow problems. If the Brewers get low-balled on Hiura's number, then they keep him and if he's not in a deal it becomes very difficult to add up enough surplus dollars to swing a deal for a player like Realmuto. As a mock Marlin's representative, today my ask for Realmuto would be: -Keston Hiura -Corbin Burnes -Brandon Woodruff or Freddy Peralta (Brewers pick) -Corey Ray -Jacob Nottingham The 4 non-Hiura prospects add up to approximately 47.3 million in surplus value, so using the 60 million baseline (which is the mimium), it would only value Hiura at 12.7 million which is basically "top 10 organizational prospect" status and would be too low IMO. But 60 million is the minimum for Realmuto, 70 million might be a better representation of what he'll actually bring. That would put the Hiura's value at 22.7 million which is just below the range of a #76-#100 hitter. It's not crazy to think the majority opinion among MLB GMs would have Hiura in that group considering some of the issues (elbow, defense, slow start against RHP this season). So even though at first glance that ask might seem crazy, it wouldn't be out of line for the Marlin's to request something like that. What are you using to assign value to prospects? How do you come up with the 4 'non-Hiura prospects' being worth $47.3M? Just wondering.

Final: Biloxi 12, Chattanooga 7 Gatewood's Four Hits Help Shuckers To Series Victory 11 Walks Key To Biloxi's Third Straight Win Over Chattanooga By Spencer Siegel / Biloxi Shuckers Jake Gatewood doubles in Jake Hager to score the Shucker first run of the game. Gatewood recorded his fourth four-hit night of his career on 5/21/18 at MGM Park, including three doubles. (Michael Krebs) Biloxi Box Score This is one of the weirdest games to show up in a box score. The Chattanooga pitchers gave up nine hits and 11 walks - and struck out only one batter. The Lookout even had three errors to add in some more baserunners. The result was a 12-7 Biloxi win as the Shuckers put a few truckloads of men on base. For the Shuckers, the big star was Jake Gatewood, who had four hits, including three doubles and three RBI. He also walked once. Corey Ray added a triple, two walks and a stolen base, while Dustin Houle pitched in with a hit and two walks. On the mound, Kodi Medeiros gave up five earned runs (eight hits, one walk) in five innings of work. Batting Corey Ray: 1-3, 3B, 2BB, SB Jake Gatewood: 4-4, 3 2B, BB, 3 RBI Dustin Houle: 1-3, BB Pitching Kodi Medeiros: 5.0 IP, 8 hits, 5 ER, 1BB, 6K, Win Miguel Sanchez: 1.0 IP, 1 hit, 1 ER, 1BB, 1K Quintin Torres-Costa: 2.0 IP, 1 hit, 0 ER, 0BB, 2K Nate Griep: 1.0 IP, 2 hits, 0 ER, 0BB, 1K Notes Gatewood's big night pushed his batting average up to .241. He is now tied for fourth in the Southern League with 26 RBI. Former Brewer farmhand Zack Jones pitches for Chattanooga. This year he has a 2.76 ERA despite walking 17 batters in 16.1 innings. He has struck out 26 and allowed only five hits. Biloxi Game Log Five walks, four singles, a wild pitch and an error led to seven Biloxi runs. Yay us! Biloxi Bottom of the 4th Jake Gatewood walks. Blake Allemand singles on a soft line drive to center fielder Tanner English. Jake Gatewood to 2nd. Lucas Erceg walks. Jake Gatewood to 3rd. Blake Allemand to 2nd. Clint Coulter walks. Jake Gatewood scores. Blake Allemand to 3rd. Lucas Erceg to 2nd. Wendell Rijo pops out to first baseman Brent Rooker on the infield fly rule. Dustin Houle singles on a ground ball to left fielder Zander Wiel. Blake Allemand scores. Lucas Erceg to 3rd. Clint Coulter to 2nd. Corey Ray grounds into a force out, second baseman Alex Perez to shortstop Nick Gordon. Lucas Erceg scores. Clint Coulter to 3rd. Dustin Houle out at 2nd. Corey Ray to 1st. With Troy Stokes Jr. batting, Corey Ray steals (9) 2nd base. Troy Stokes Jr. walks. Pitching Change: Casey Crosby replaces Anthony Marzi. Jake Hager singles on a fly ball to right fielder Edgar Corcino. Clint Coulter scores. Corey Ray scores. Troy Stokes Jr. to 3rd. Jake Gatewood singles on a ground ball to center fielder Tanner English. Troy Stokes Jr. scores. Jake Hager to 3rd. With Blake Allemand batting, throwing error by Casey Crosby on the pickoff attempt, Jake Hager scores. Jake Gatewood to 2nd. With Blake Allemand batting, wild pitch by Casey Crosby, Jake Gatewood to 3rd. Blake Allemand walks. Lucas Erceg pops out to shortstop Nick Gordon.

I'm not sure what to make of Hamels. The ERA and K rate is good, but he's got his worst ever walk rate - and he's giving up HRs at a really high rate. The latter can just be a fluky thing - but who knows. Often times you need to see him pitch (which I haven't) and really get a better feel for his skill level. Ultimately, his no-trade clause would be a serious issue. He might request his $20M option be vested to accept the deal. That's not insignificant - but maybe the team would be happy to have him for a year and a half. Adding him may preclude the team from making any major moves in the offseason (which might not be a big deal). I wouldn't give up much for Hamels as his salary is already really high.

In support, I would also argue that if we are going to be a really good team, we are going to need to keep producing cheap, young talent - in particular pitching. That means Ortiz, Peralta, Woodruff, Burnes, etc. need to come up and fill rotation slots. With luck, one or two blossom into something more than just back of the rotation types (not that there's anything wrong with a back of the rotation guy. It's just that we need guys to rise above that at some point. But if we trade away too many of our decent looking arms, we are saddled with chasing marginal (or even bad) free agents to fill out the rotation. Depleting the farm system has some serious consequences. I'm not saying we don't try and trade for Machado or Realmuto or whomever - only that we have to be careful we don't sap us of too much young talent - which we will need going forward.

[pre]Diamondbacks Lineup Brewers Lineup 1. David Peralta ® CF 1. Lorenzo Cain ® CF 2. Chris Owings ® RF 2. C. Yelich (L) LF 3. Jake Lamb (L) 3B 3. Jesús Aguilar ® 1B 4. P. Goldschmidt ® 1B 4. Travis Shaw (L) 3B 5. Ketel Marte ® 2B 5. Domingo Santana ® RF 6. Jarrod Dyson (L) CF 6. Jonathan Villar (S) 2B 7. Nick Ahmed ® SS 7. Manny Piña (R C 8. Jeff Mathis ® C 8. Orlando Arcia ® SS 9. Zack Greinke ® P 9. Chase Anderson ® P[/pre]

Pennington made it to #26 on our last Top 25 poll. Just missed being immortalized. Good luck to him in his future endeavors.

Final: Biloxi 3, Chattanooga 2 3-2 Déjà Vu for Shuckers Second Consecutive Walk-Off Sets up Monday Rubber Match By Spencer Siegel / Biloxi Shuckers Mitch Ghelfi bats during a Sunday afternoon game at MGM Park. The Shuckers catcher drove in the winning run in the 10th. (Michael Krebs) Biloxi Box Score For the second night in a row, Biloxi defeated Chattanooga 3-2 in extra innings. On Sunday, the Shuckers scored the winner on a Mitch Ghelf single. Shucker pitchers had a great game, including Adrian Houser, Angel Ventura, Brad Kuntz and Nick Ramirez. Ramirez struck out four batters over two innings to get the win. Biloxi managed the win despite three errors on the day, and only four hits. Batting Corey Ray: 1-3, 3B, BB, SB Jake Hager: 1-3 Pitching Adrian Houser: 4.0 IP, 3 hits, 1 ER, 1BB, 4K Angel Ventura: 2.0 IP, 2 hits, 0 ER, 1BB, 2K Brad Kuntz: 2.0 IP, 1 hit, 0 ER, 0BB, 1K Nick Ramirez: 2.0 IP, 1 hit, 0 ER, 0BB, 4K, Win Notes Lucas Erceg's batting average has fallen to .214 for the season. Ray has not been caught stealing on any of his eight attempts this year. Biloxi Game Log Biloxi Bottom of the 10th Defensive switch from center field to left field for James Ramsey. Tanner English remains in the game as the center fielder. Defensive switch from left field to third base for Ryan Walker. Clint Coulter starts inning at 2nd base. Trent Grisham out on a sacrifice bunt, third baseman Ryan Walker to second baseman Alex Perez. Clint Coulter to 3rd. Mitch Ghelfi singles on a ground ball to right fielder Edgar Corcino. Clint Coulter scores.

Curious what others think Machado will sign for this off-season? My guess would be something like 9 or 10 years in the $275-$300 million range. This is what I'm thinking. But in reality, that means it will probably go higher. Especially if he keeps playing like he is - which is awesome. 26 year old guy's like him don't hit the market often.

Personally, I think a Yelich-type return is really, really high - and would never pay it. Yelich got a top 20, a top 50 and a borderline 100 guy. That's a heck of a haul. And I don't think anyone will pay that for half a season of Machado - but you never know since Machado is putting up MVP-type numbers at a key defensive position, so he is a unique. But you're getting him for only a half a season. Hitters have - traditionally - fetched less at the deadline than pitchers (such as Chapman and Miller). JD Martinez - certainly a lesser player than Machado - but still a 1.000+ OPS guy - was had for some middling prospects last year. A lot just comes down to who needs him for 2018 only, who has something to offer Baltimore that they want, and who can - financially - add Machado to their roster. Some team, like SF and LA, are tight up against the luxury tax and are reluctant to go over it. I just don't see a ton of teams in on such a move - and thus the price tag not be so outrageous. A lot of people mention Chicago, which I think makes sense. But I think St. Louis could make such a move as well. For Milwaukee, I think Machado would be awesome. But I'd make my assessment on a fair deal, make the offer, and move on. No point in dragging anything out, or bidding against yourself, or worrying about what other teams will do. Just worry about what you can control - and move on if nothing happens.

Final: Biloxi 3, Chattanooga 2 Walk-Off Winner Resumes Shuckers Winning Ways Pitching Holds Down the Fort, Hitters Shut the Door By Spencer Siegel / Biloxi Shuckers RHP Zack Brown Tossed another quality start at MGM Park on May 19, allowing just one run in 6.2 innings. (Michael Krebs) Biloxi Box Score Biloxi scored two runs in the bottom of the 10th to garner a 3-2 victory over the Chattanooga Looksouts. The win snapped a four game losing streak. The Shuckers and Lookouts could only manage a run each before going to extra innings. Biloxi won on a Lucas Erceg bunt single - followed by an error. Zack Brown had a nice outing, giving up only a single run over 6.2 innings. Erceg and Jake Gatewood each has a pair of hits for Biloxi. Batting Jake Gatewood: 2-4 Lucas Erceg: 2-4 Pitching Zack Brown: 6.2 IP, 8 hits, 1 ER, 1BB, 2K Jon Olczak: 2.2 IP, 2 hits, 0 ER, 0BB, 3K Nick Ramirez: 0.2 IP, 0 hits, 0 ER, 1BB, 1K, Win Notes Nick Ramirez has a 0.95 ERA for the year. Brown has dropped his ERA to 2.70. Biloxi Game Log Two runs in the 10th - and the win! Biloxi Bottom of the 10th Pitching Change: Tyler Jay replaces Cody Stashak. Corey Ray starts inning at 2nd base. Jake Gatewood singles on a ground ball to third baseman T. White, deflected by pitcher Tyler Jay. Corey Ray to 3rd. Jake Hager singles on a line drive to right fielder James Ramsey. Corey Ray scores. Jake Gatewood to 2nd. Lucas Erceg singles on a bunt ground ball to catcher Brian Navarreto. Jake Gatewood scores. Jake Hager to 2nd. Throwing error by catcher Brian Navarreto.

Yeah, that was ugly.

Another thing -- if the Cubs are really interested in Machado long term, getting him to Chicago and experiencing the culture, winning, etc., may give them an extra shot at signing him this off season. While money will talk, if all things are equal - and Machado enjoyed his time in Chicago and likes their chances going forward - it might help them sign him. Of course, that only matters if the Cubs are interested in Machado longterm.