Matt Breen

Aren't you a Brewers fan? Can't be the first time. This would be a good spot for that picture of Yuni that occasionally gets inserted into BF.net threads :-) Did I hear my name??? http://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/mlb/players/full/6218.png&w=350&h=254

This is simply not true. They have won because they spent a lot of resources - both money and prospects - in acquiring and retaining talent, and because they got lucky in a couple of acquisitions and lucky in that those players they invested heavily in stayed healthy. Look at the star players. Only two were drafted - Molina and Matt Carpenter. The rest were acquired via trades or free agents. Molina - 4th round draft pick (Brewers drafted Lucroy in the 3rd round), paid him $81M career to date and owe him an additional $74M, combined $155M committed to him Matt. Carpenter - 13th round draft pick Carlos Martinez - originally signed by Boston as an amateur free agent but contract was voided, should never have been a Cardinal to begin with Matt Holliday - acquired for two first round draft picks and a second round draft pick, given $130+M in salary Wainwright - acquired for J.D. Drew, who was a Cardinal only because he refused to sign with Philadelphia who drafted him the year before, should never have been a Cardinal to begin with; given $130+M in salary Fowler - given $82M in free agency Leake - given $75M in free agency Jh. Peralta - given $53M in free agency Moss - traded former 1st round pick for him Grichuk - acquired via trade Jason Heyward - acquired for former 1st round pick (23-year-old #2-type starter) Lackey - acquired via trade (and took on $15m/year in salary) Yes, they've made a few draft picks that have had a couple of good seasons (S. Miller, Lynn, Garcia, Rosenthal, Piscotty, Wacha; four of them regressed significantly last year and one of them missed the season with injury), but they are hardly the stars of the team. STL has given three players >$130M in contracts and two more players >$75M in contracts. They've traded no less than four former first round draft picks for established major league talent. Essentially they have done the exact opposite of what the people criticizing the original poster of this thread think/want the Brewers to do. Not saying Briggs is right at all. Just saying that the narrative that the Cardinals have built their success on draft picks and development is not true. I guess it's all about luck and throwing money at players.

Yep. It will be brutal at times.

Thank you, Greenleaf1, for starting the voting. Appreciate it.

That's because they have drafted well and developed their team in an efficient and effective manner. For teams that haven't done that - like Milwaukee - the most effective way to get back to being a consistently competitive team is sweep away the decaying infrastructure and start over. If St. Louis lost 90+ games a couple of years in a row, they'd be unloading players and 'rebuilding' just like others teams have done. They'd show Molina to the door as quick as possible. That they are extending him is a testimony to the fact that they have developed their team well, and have a bright future, and feel he'll bring value to the club over the next few years.

I wear a Cardinals hat when I take a crap.

The merits of Cravy making the team aside, I really don't care how upset he was about the decision. To me, it shows a lack of class and in a lot of ways, simple decency. To infer that other people have treated him as less than human is a serious charge. To say that another person - in this case his boss - lacks integrity - is an immensely serious accusation. That's not just an attack on the organization - but an attack on another human being. You have a problem with a person - your boss in this case - have the guts to go into his office and say those things to his face. Don't do it through other sources. Don't do it so that you might be misconstrued. Don't do it so you embarrass and hurt another human being so it makes you feel better. And certainly don't do it front of others - because what he said isn't an innocent moment where he didn't realize who was next to him. He knew who was standing around him. He knew it would get reported. Walk away if you're so upset. Grab a bat and hit some water coolers. Next, don't wuss out by blaming it on being the "ULTIMATE COMPETITOR." (His quotes). That's an excuse? I want to win so I'm allowed to be a jerk to other people because of it? That's crap. And this was a pseudo apology - apologizing for offending people - not for actually what he did. Have the guts to actually apologize. Name the names of the people you attacked - apologize to them. This BS apology bothers me more than what he actually said the first time. Because people do make mistakes. People do lash out. People do say things in the heat of the moment. Just have the courage to admit what you did was classless. I should be clear I understand Cravy venting his frustration in public - especially if his accusations about Stearns and organization have merit. As I said earlier, people say things in the heat of the moment. They are not robots who always can control their emotions. And if Stearns or Counsel or whomever lied to him - that's wrong. If the organization deceived him - that's wrong. But there's better ways to address your grievances than shouting like a spoiled teenager about how horrible the world has been to him. You're accusing another human being of lacking integrity. That's a big deal. Integrity is something critical to that person's job - and let's face it - on a personal level, who wants to have that leveled at them. It's got to sting. And understand that I don't let Stearns or the organization off the hook. Are your communication skills so crappy that a player talks like this about you in public? Did you lie to a player? If that's the case, then you better clean things up or that kind of stuff can poison an organization. It creates resentment and divisiveness. Not exactly the clubhouse culture you want to nurture. In the end, I don't really know the story. Maybe Stearns was a major league jerk. Maybe Cravy was overreacting. Maybe not. So many times it's poor communication. Perhaps Stearns thought he clearly told Cravy why they were doing what they were doing. Maybe Cravy wasn't listening at that point. Or maybe Stearns was vague and dismissive. Maybe Cravy DID say all the same things he said in public to Stearns. Only those guys know what was said. I only know what Cravy has said in public, and I found it less than admirable. Especially his follow up non-apology - which is just crap in my book. As I read what I write, I feel like I'm being hard on Cravy. But I think the reason is because he was the one who brought this forward. He chose to make a personal attack on others - and that's crossing a dangerous line in my book. He could have made it about so many other things (such as the fact he deserved to be on the opening day roster), but he chose not to.

Brewers Record: 80-82 Playoffs: No Brewers MVP: Braun Brewers CY Young: Davies Brewers ROY: Brinson First player traded: Feliz Surprise player: Davies Disappointing player: Pina World Series: LA Dodgers over Seattle Mariners Since I usually suck at this, I let my random dice generator on my phone make all my selections. Let's see how the dice gods work for me.

One thing about depth is that you don't necessarily have to have it in your system. You can trade for it - or buy it. It's why having financial flexibility is important. Milwaukee has lacked depth over the years often times because they couldn't afford it when they needed it. We've talked about this before - but having players like Yuni, Izturis, Gonzalez, Overbay, etc. is a killer. They are washed up veterans had on the cheap. We've had too many sub-replacement level players get game time over the years. I'm not saying we have to splurge for an Andrew Miller type player, but being willing to take on some salary during the year, or trade a 2nd tier prospect to fill a glaring hole - those are the kinds of things that will help us tremendously. And that's what a low payroll and deep system give you. Yes, you try and have players ready in the minors (or have the major league backups be able to step in regularly), but that's not always possible. But having the versatility and flexibility to fill positions in different ways will be a big asset going forward.

In the 2015 draft, I really was hoping the Bucks could get Devin Booker. We picked 17th - and it was unlikely he'd fall to that spot. Ultimately, he went 13th to Phoenix, and we picked Vaughn at 17. It would have been fascinating if we had been able to get Booker (either by trading up or him dropping to us). A young scorer like that would have made for an interesting team.

I'm a 53 year old who loves craft beers (not an IPA guy - more dark beer and malty stuff). That said, I haven't bought a beer at the ball park in probably a decade because of the price. If I want a beer, I have one in the parking lot or stop at a bar before (or after) the game. Much cheaper. I will pay for food - but I don't go crazy - a brat and fries or something like that.

As long as we just look at the Wily and not touch it, we're okay.

Thank you. I forgot about that move. Appreciate the heads up.

Knebel's got 13 strikeouts in 7.1 innings this spring - and only one walk. Yes, he has a 4.91 ERA - but again, we're talking 7.1 innings. Gotta like the high strikeout/low walk output thus far (all said with the small sample size caveat).

To me what's exciting is that the young players we've been acquiring the last 2-3 years are starting to emerge with the big league club. That's our future. Arcia is up and we'll see what he can do. And Broxton will be fascinating to watch. Hader, Brinson, Cordell, Woodruff - good chance they all will be in Milwaukee in 2017. That's going to be fun and exciting. Not to mention the next wave of guys - Erceg, Ray, Ortiz, Diaz, etc. It should be fun to watch how they all progress. I think we have a lot of talent. Just a matter of having some things break our way and the future looks like a lot of fun.

We would like to invite everyone to prepare for the 2017 Pre-Season BF.net Fan Community Top 25 Prospects voting. W would like to invite everyone to take time and submit on this thread your top 25 Brewer prospects. Feel free to list any resources or news that you feel might help people with their voting. Voting will conclude on Tuesday, April 11, which will give everyone about a week to vote. You can change your votes at anytime through the 11th, so I recommend getting your picks in early. You can always go back and tweak your list. RULES 1. Submit your Top 25 prospects, in order, by end of day on Tuesday, April 11. Put the player's full name to avoid any confusion (such as Devin Williams and Taylor Williams). 2. You MUST submit 25 prospects. If there are only 10 or 15 or whatever, your list will not be included. 3. You are encouraged to go beyond pick #25 - adding a few more is totally fine. That way if someone in your top 25 is traded or released, or if you mistakenly miss a number, or list a guy twice, or whatever, I can just bump up your next player(s) into the Top 25. 4. Rankings are determined by total points. The top prospect gets 25 points, second prospect gets 24 points, etc. 4. As noted above, if you submit your list and want to change something, just add the change to the thread. I'll accept changes up to the deadline. 5. Within a week after the deadline, we'll publish the new BF.net Community Top 25. Eligibility guidelines: Rookie eligibility is determined by 50 IP or 130+ ABs at the major league level. - Ineligible players: Orlando Arcia, Jhan Marinez, Keon Broxton, Andrew Susac, Tyler Cravy - Eligible players with ML experience: Wei-Chung Wang, David Goforth, Jorge Lopez, Michael Reed, Yadiel Rivera, Yhonathan Barrios, Adrian Houser, Jacob Barnes, Manny Pina, Brent Suter, Damien Magnifico Player notes: - Devin Williams will miss all of 2017 after Tommy John surgery - 1B/OF David Densen has retired - Some players released this spring include LHP Steve Peterson, RHP David Lucroy, LHP Clint Terry, OF Malik Collymore, 2B Chris McFarland, OF Nick Cain, 1B Cody Decker, LHP Mitch Lambson, LHP Cesar Jimenez, 1B Tyrone Perry, RHP Kaleb Earls, and RHP Alex Farina - Miguel Diaz, who was selected by San Diego in the Rule 5 draft, has made the Padres team, and thus is not part of the Brewer organization New players to consider: - C Tyler Heineman (acquired from the Astros on March 26) - SS Mauricio Dubon (Thornburg trade) - RHP Josh Pennington (Thornburg trade) Prospect Rankings: MLB Pipeline mid-season Top 30 Brewers (updates as players graduate off lists): http://m.mlb.com/prospects/2017?list=mil MLB Pipeline mid-season Top 100 players (updates as players graduate off lists): http://m.mlb.com/prospects/2017?list=prospects Baseball America Top 100: http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/2017-top-100-prospects/ Baseball America Top 10 Brewers: http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/2017-milwaukee-brewers-top-10-prospects/#KMAj8EpMOiZTIA3u.97 Baseball Prospectus Top 101: http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=31160 Baseball Prospectus Top 10 Brewers: http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=30902 Miller Park Prospects Top 40 Brewers: http://www.millerparkprospects.net/prospect-rankings/ Minor League Ball Top 200: http://www.minorleagueball.com/2017/3/27/15073602/top-200-mlb-prospects-for-2017-revised Minor League Ball Top 30 Brewers: http://www.minorleagueball.com/2017/1/17/14297686/milwaukee-brewers-top-20-prospects-for-2017 Fangraphs Top 100: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/2017-top-100-prospects/ Fangraphs Top 25 Brewers: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/top-25-prospects-milwaukee-brewers/ Previous Polls: BF.net 2016 Post-Season Top 25 - viewtopic.php?f=64&t=34747 BF.net 2016 Mid-Season Top 25 - viewtopic.php?f=64&t=34472 BF.net 2016 Pre-Season Top 25 - viewtopic.php?f=64&t=33867 BF.net 2015 Post-Season Top 25 - viewtopic.php?f=64&t=33436 BF.net 2015 Mid-Season Top 25 - viewtopic.php?f=64&t=33032 BF.net 2015 Pre-Season Top 25 - viewtopic.php?f=64&t=32447 BF.net August 2014 Top 25 - viewtopic.php?f=64&t=31859 BF.net May 2014 Top 20 - viewtopic.php?f=64&t=31355 Please note that we reserve the right to throw out ballots if we feel that the voting was done without following the rules or spirit of the exercise. Thanks for participating!

The merits of keeping Aguilar aside, it's nice that versatility of this team allows them to keep a more one dimensional guy like Aguilar when needed. Shaw, Villar, Perez - those guys ability to move around the diamond just lets us keep someone like Aguilar. To me, the big issue is can you keep a player like Aguilar and a player like Scooter - both one dimensional players. I just don't see it.

There were some off field issues that caused the Brewers - and many other teams - to pass on Groome. And not just 'a kid being a kid' type stuff.

The thing I liked about Pina was that he looked solid when he came up last year. Sure it was only 33 games, so I'm not going to get too caught up in small samples, but he hit okay, took his walks, and looked decent behind the dish. That's not a bad thing from a back up catcher. I certainly don't think he's going to suddenly be an all-star, and at his age, he really isn't going to change a whole lot. But catcher's often mature later in their careers - so I'm all for giving the guy a shot.

I wouldn't be surprised if Gennett is gone. There just isn't going to be a lot of playing time for him. Just cutting him saves the club around $2M - not that the money is a huge deal. But $2 million bucks is still a decent chunk of change. But I'm betting someone will trade for Scooter - even if it's just a throwaway prospect.

I'm not a big fan of spring training stats, but with Susac striking out 15 times in 26 ABs, you probably have to believe he's struggling. I haven't watched any games thus far, so maybe that's a bad assumption. 26 ABs is a classic small sample size - but again, sometimes you can catch a trend even in small numbers.

One nice thing is seeing the spread of players throughout the system - A ball all the way to AAA. That kind of steady line of prospects is what we need to thrive.

If we are 50-40 at the all-star break, I think the big thing is not to 'go for it' but be thrilled that the process set up is working - and recognize that the team is really damned good. 50-40 is a 55.6% winning percentage. That translates into 90 wins. That probably doesn't win you a division unless the Cubs go in the tank, but it gets you in the playoffs. You win 90 games with a young roster, good minor league depth, and plenty of financial flexibility, and you are set up to contend for quite a few years. Unloading a boatload of highly rated prospects at that juncture is just immensely short-sighted. It doesn't mean you don't do moves - but you do them on your terms and make them smart moves.

Filling the bullpen with Crack and Snow? Those are some serious drugs.

If you could fill any position on the Bucks with a very good player what position would you fill? Very important - assume that all players are of equal quality, and they cost the exact same. Feel free to be as general (such as 'a shooting guard') to as specific (such as 'a defensive-minded center') as you want. Also, feel free to provide examples of the type of guy you would add.