Matt Breen

Folks, I want to be clear, I wasn't asking for your top 10 picks. I want to do this like a real draft. We only pick for the Phillies at #1 to start. The player with the most votes is who is slotted in for Philly. We then move on to the #2 pick - and only that pick, slotting in the selection as we go. It's not an attempt by each person to see who can make the most accurate top 10 prediction - but a collective decision by members of this board. So on the 25th, come and make your pick for Philly. The next day will be the number two pick, and so on. If people want to post their top 10 guys, that's fine. But it's not part of what this will ultimately be. Please let me know if there are any questions. Thanks.

The main hope that I have that they will stop calling the low strike is that the umpires adjusted to the automated ball/strike system that we have today (I think it's called Pitchf/x). Umpires are graded against the Pitchf/x system. When this began, they started to see where their mistakes were (according to the computer). And thus they gradually began adjusting to what the computer said was the correct way to call the balls/strikes. This will likely happen again - I think. No ump wants to have their job threatened by poor scores.

Brewers on pace to win 68 games. I'd say not to far off from a lot of our predictions - many of which ran in the upper 60s to low 70s. We are tied for the 5th worst record in the league - 18-25. Lots left to play, however.

Denson starting to come around - .821 OPS this year. League OPS is really low - .649.

Alan Young, who starred as Wilbur Post in the talking horse sitcom "Mr. Ed" died on May 19 at age 96. http://www.trbimg.com/img-573fab87/turbine/la-1463790591-snap-photo/700/700x394

The new strike zone at the bottom of the plate would actually be more in line with how pitches were called a decade ago. However, the strike zone today has squeezed a little compared to a decade ago. Perhaps not as dramatically as how much lower the strike zone is today - but it is narrower. I'm sure if people did a search they could find some studies showing these things.

I think the idea is that hitters are going to see more pitches that they like - and thus will swing at them more often. Right now, pitchers pound that bottom of the zone, and guys try and lay off because hitting that pitch is difficult (producing lots of swings and misses as well as weak grounders). That's the general idea - doesn't mean it will work that way, but that's how (I think) it will make for more balls in play.

The really nice thing about Hader is that he has pretty much duplicated his peripheral stats from last year with Biloxi. 2015 - 38.2 IP, 11BB, 50K, 2.79 ERA, 0.983 WHIP, 3 HR allowed 2016 - 40.2 IP, 13BB, 54K, 0.89 ERA, 1.008 WHIP, 0 HR allowed The ERA is the main difference - I'm guessing there's some luck involved there as well as not allowing an HR thus far. But it's great to see the consistency - something he was criticized for before coming to Milwaukee. I don't know if something just clicked after the trade, or if he got some bit of advice from the coaches - but whatever it is, let's hope he stays in that zone.

In some ways, Orf seems like he could be what the team wants Colin Walsh to be - 3B/2B/OF. Doesn't switch hit, doesn't walk like Walsh (but he's no slouch), but he seems like he'd be a better fielder and a more accomplished hitter (at least at this point).

When .364 .429 .576 1.004 says hello from the bench or disabled list it doesn't do anything for a team. It's not about Ryan's production - it's about his health - as well as the money that he makes. Braun makes a lot of money (roughly $15M a year, plus $4M deferred each year) - not outrageous amounts - but not insignificant. Some teams can take that, some can't. But as noted - back surgery, thumb, core and wrist issues. Teams will be wary of a guy they can't count on to be in their lineup. Especially a guy who does cost a lot of money. Doesn't mean a deal with Braun can't be worked out - it's just going to be difficult considering the circumstances.

The Competition Committee has agreed on a motion to raise the lower part of the strike zone to the top of the hitter's knees. The current rule says the bottom part of the zone goes to the hollow beneath the kneecap. They also agreed to a new intentional walk rule, which basically says a team just verbally issues the intentional walk and the batter takes first base without the four 'balls' being thrown. The two changes have to be approved by baseball's playing rules committee to go into effect - so this is not a done deal. http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/15633876/mlb-competition-committee-agrees-changes-strike-zone-intentional-walks The big thing is the raising of the strike zone. Studies have shown that the strike zone has lowered over the past few years - specifically with the introduction of the automated ball/strike tracking system. ESPN's Jayson Stark notes: "The adjustment in the strike zone is designed to produce more balls in play, more baserunners and more action at a time when nearly 30 percent of hitters in the average game either walk or strike out, the highest rate of "non-action" in history."

I went to a few games at the Rangers park back in the early 2000s. I thought it was really nice. Seems crazy it needs to be replaced already. I did go during April and May, so we didn't have to deal with the heat.

At this point I'm hoping for Pint or Groome to fall to us. I'm good with either guy. After that, I'm probably leaning toward Lewis. Rutherford, Moniak and Perez sort of group together for me next. I like Senzel, but I don't know how big of an upside is there. Puk is really interesting, but he scares me probably more than anyone due to his control issues and inconsistency. I guess if the team feels they can help him get on track, he could have as much upside as anyone. Honestly, we're going to get a really interesting player with some solid upside. I'd love an arm, but I'm good with any of the guys I listed above.

Could be Braun as well. They could put him on there retroactively. He's already missed 4-5 games. But yes, I agree that Santana doesn't seem right.

So how did Zach Grienke(6th selection 48.4WAR) the Ace and I know Jacob Turner(9th selection -.5WAR) has sporadic playing time....Omitted? Boo boo on my part. I remember typing in Turner's name. I must have accidently cut it at some point - probably when I went in and inserted the (HS) next to all the high school players' names. It's the curse of longer lists. Cut and copy and paste so fast - you end up messing something up.

Just a note: Domingo was listed by MLB Pipeline as the #71 prospect in baseball prior to 2015. BA or BP didn't have him in the Top 100. So, not a great prospect, but he was on some peoples radar.

Khris Davis was a decent player on a bad team. His age and skills simply didn't align great with Milwaukee's 'future' - which I think the club projects around 2019. By that time, other players will likely surpass his value. It just comes down to 'why hold onto a player during a rebuilding phase.' It's the same argument with Lucroy, Braun, etc. I hope he does great for Oakland. He seems like a good guy. I also hope Nottingham and Derby end up part of our next playoff team.

Big Positives so far in 2016: - Luc looks healthy and is pounding the ball. - At least until recently, Braun was looking great. - Villar has emerged as a solid, everyday infielder. - Nelson looks like he's stepping up his game.

If he keeps pitching well, Nelson could fetch a heck of a lot this summer. I'm not looking to deal Jimmy, but if the right deal comes along, so be it.

As Milwaukee really could use pitching, and many want us to get a pitcher, and we are discussing our lack of success in drafting pitching, I wanted to see how successful Top 10 draft picks (pitchers only) have fared. I looked at a decade of picks (2000-2009) to do this. I figured we are, mostly, going to know if these guys have been successful or not. I listed the year, the pick’s name, draft spot, if the were picked from high school (HS), and then the bWAR they have accumulated thus far in their career. If they have no number next to them, then they never reached the majors or have a negative WAR. 2000 #2 - Adam Johnson #4 - Mike Stodolka (HS) #7 - Matt Harrington (HS) #8 - Matt Wheatland (HS) #9 - Mark Phillips (HS) #10 - Joe Torres (HS) 2001 #2 - Mark Prior - 16.5 #3 - Dewon Brazelton #4 - Gavin Floyd (HS) - 16.4 #6 - Josh Karp #7 - Chris Smith #8 - John Van Benschoten #9 - Colt Griffin (HS) 2002 #1 - Bryan Bullington #3 - Chris Gruler (HS) #4 - Adam Loewen (HS) - 0.3 #5 - Clint Everts (HS) #6 - Zack Greinke (HS) #9 - Jeff Francis - 9.3 2003 #3 - Kyle Sleeth #4 - Tim Stauffer - 3.5 #8 - Paul Malholm - 12.1 #9 - John Danks (HS) - 20.9 2004 #2 - Justin Verlandet - 44.1 #3 - Phillip Humber - 0.9 #4 - Jeff Niemann - 4.1 #5 - Mark Rogers (HS) - 1.1 #6 - Jeremy Sowers - 1.6 #7 - Homer Bailey (HS) - 7.3 #8 - Wade Townsend #10 - Thomas Diamond 2005 #6 - Ricky Romero - 9.7 #8 - Wade Townsend (2nd time selected in 1st round) #9 - Mike Palfrey - 5.6 2006 #1 - Luke Hochevar - 3.1 #2 - Greg Reynolds #4 - Brad Lincoln - 0.5 #5 - Brandon Morrow - 8.1 #6 - Andrew Miller - 2.3 #7 - Clayton Kershaw (HS) - 51.5 #10 - Tim Lincecum - 22.7 2007 #1 - David Price - 28.8 #4 - Daniel Moskos - 0.2 #6 - Ross Detwiler - 0.6 #8 - Casey Weathers #9 - Jarrod Parker (HS) - 6.1 #10 - Madison Bumgarner (HS) - 24.5 2008 #4 - Brian Matusz - 3.0 #9 - Aaron Crow - 2.4 2009 #1 - Stephen Strasburg - 16.1 #5 - Matt Hobgood (HS) #6 - Zack Wheeler (HS) - 1.8 #7 - Mike Minor - 3.9 #8 - Mike Leake - 12.1 #9 - Jacob Turner (HS) #10 - Drew Storen - 5.1 Some Results - Total # of players - 54 (I only counted Wade Townsend once) - High School picks - 20 - College picks - 34 - Guys never made the majors (or had a negative bWAR) - 22 (41% completely failed, 59% had positive WAR) - Guys who had a WAR of less than 5.0 - 36 (67.7% failure rate) - Guys who produced 10+ WAR - 11 (20.3%) - Guys who produced 20+ WAR - 6 - (11.1%) - HS guys who produced 5.0+ WAR - 6 (30.0%) - College guys who produced 5.0 WAR - 13 (33.3%) I realize that some guys are going to improve - Strasburg, Price, Bumgarner, etc. are all still good pitchers. And some of the guys with lesser numbers - guys like Storen (a reliever) and Wheeler (who has been injured but has shown promise) will improve as well. Also, the slotting of the draft picks probably makes things less volatile than they were during the time frame I am looking at. People are making picks based on money as much as they used to. Still, it's an interesting list. The odds of getting a really, really good player aren't great - maybe 10%. The odds of getting a flop are pretty high - roughly 2/3.

Brewers seem afraid to swing at times. I love guys being selective, but we seem too passive at times. Maybe I'm wrong, just an observation.

wow.

Wow, that was sad.

You'll never censor me!

Rondon looks pretty awesome. Just looks dominating.