Matt Breen

Hader a #2? That's news to me. Who has ever tapped him with that potential.

Cespedes brings far more defensive value than Davis. Cespedes has 20+ HR every year (I'm counting 2015 since he's at 19 now) of his career - four years in a row. I think he's a far better player than Davis. Fangraphs pegs his value at about 3.5 WAR on average over his career. In roughly two seasons of play, Davis has a value of 1.7 WAR per season. The value of the years is the big question - 4 years of Davis vs .5 of Cespedes. If you think Davis can produce 2.0 WAR a year for four years, that's solid value. Certainly more than a half season of Cespedes. And probably worth a decent prospect. I guess the question comes down to what teams see Davis' value is. His inconsistent play is concerning. I've said this before - I wouldn't be surprised if Davis hit .270 with 25 HR. I also wouldn't be surprised to see him hit .220. The Mets bought a known quantity in Cespedes - good fielder, good power. They value that certainty in a playoff run. I think the uncertainty of Davis gives teams pause to pay a lot for him. There are some obvious flaws in his game (arm), and anyone wanting him would be banking on his potential to emerge.

One thing about rankings is that often a position at 80 really isn't that different than a guy at 120. I think Kiley McDaniel at Fangraphs pretty much said that with his rankings. The higher you go in the rankings, the harder it is. It's easy to pick the top 20, even the top 50, but after that, things get murkier. I believe John Sickels said something like as well - sort of like don't freak out if your guy is at 110 on his list instead of 90 or whatever. The guy is still a nice prospect at 110. No matter where Lopez lands, he's a nice prospect.

In the Southern League, Lopez is 1st in Wins and WHIP, 2nd place in ERA and Strikeouts, 5th place in IP. Not a bad year. I said from the start it was all about Jorge putting it all together for an entire season. He's a nice example of a projectable guy who has taken steps each year, then seems to have put it all together this season. I can definitely see him getting into the top 100, but I think it's too early to start labeling him as a top-of-the-rotation type player. You're lucky to have a handful of those kind of prospects every year. I just hope he keeps developing, maintaining his consistency, etc.

The Royals this year are interesting as they have used mediocre starters to go with an awesome defense and bullpen.

Nice article by Dave Cameron about Melvin's ultimate downfall: http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/just-a-bit-outside/story/doug-melvin-milwaukee-brewers-gm-president-greinke-fielder-braun-weeks-hardy-sabathia-081215 Comes down to: - Poor drafting - Nine 1st round picks between 2009-12 - only one (Jungmann has reached the majors). Nothing shocking here. We all know this history. - Greinke trade not working out in the long run - Cain, Escobar and Odorizzi have combined for about 30 WAR since the trade. We netted 3.2 WAR from Segura so far (plus what Greinke did for us - which isn't mentioned). He acknowledges that the team knew the risk (and it helped us make the playoffs), but it stings to see how much we have missed out on. - Trotting out too many terrible players - 18% of our ABs from 2012-15 have gone to sub-replacement level players - that's basically every day for the past four years 2 of our 8 position guys were worse than replacement level. That's brutal. The last item is something that always has bothered me - the lack of depth. We ride things so precariously that if things go wrong, our back up plan is often junk. It's probably cost us a couple of chances to get into the post season.

Some reports over the past couple of years about Taylor's batting style questioned if he'd be able to drive the ball with authority. I'm not sure if that's what's going on - perhaps people who watch the games more can provide some better insight. I hold out hope for Taylor. He's a young, premium athlete who, I wonder, just needs to learn and adjust his game. That's just a guess.

The thing with Coulter is the FSL is really hard on power hitters. I'm not saying he's been good, but it really comes with a caveat. For a long time he was still in the tops of the league in slugging and HRs and so forth, but he's just been a funk for a while now. I hope he gets brought up to Biloxi next year.

"Kyle, thanks for everything, we are moving on from you as a pitcher. However, we really value what you brought to the organization. If you want to stay as a pitching coach, there's a position for you." I don't get why that's insulting.

Where did you read this? I haven't seen any links to any stories yet, so I'm just curious. Adam McCalvy ‏@AdamMcCalvy #Brewers have hired executive search firm Korn Ferry to organize GM search. Will target younger candidates with knowledge of analytics. Attanasio expressed an interest in having the Brewers join the wave of teams that have turned to young GMs with a focus on analytics, but said he was open to a wide range of potential candidates. From McCalvy's article on brewers.com - http://m.brewers.mlb.com/news/article/142459798/brewers-gm-doug-melvin-to-be-advisor

Santana = Willy Mo Pena? If he can actually learn to hit, you have an all star. If not - Wily Mo Pena.

Cardinals have 11 pitchers who have ERAs of under 3.00 (minimum of 20 IP). They have four other guys between 3.10 and 3.91 ERAs. They have one guy with a 5.02 ERA. Carlos Villanueva has an era of 1.51. That's pretty amazing.

Here's my latest thought process on the 2016 lineup: C - Lucroy/Maldonado 1B - Braun 2B - Scooter > maybe Segura/Sardinas/Rivera SS - Segura > Arcia in 2nd half 3B - Dominguez/New guy? LF - Davis > ? if needed CF - Peterson/Schafer > Phillips, Taylor, Reed RF - Santana > ? if needed Trade Lind this off season and move Braun to 1B. Luc and Maldonado catch. Scooter is our 2B and Segura is our SS until mid-season. At this point you bring Arcia and he becomes SS. You then make the call on 2B - Segura, Scooter, Sardinas and Rivera all are options. 3B probably goes to Dominguez unless you can make a deal for a young 3B this off season. But there is no rush if we don't have a guy ready. OF - Let Davis and Santana play out in their spots through mid-season. Then you start looking at Phillips, Taylor and Reed as alternatives to any of the OF spots. You can deal a guy like Davis if you want, or keep him in the spot, depending on how he does. But you have five guys that could be starters by season's end. You just have to see who's ready and who performs. We are going to have a pretty groundball oriented staff in the coming years, meaning defense will be even more important. That could mean a guy like Scooter might be bumped in favor of a better glove. A lot of stuff will have to play out, but let's spend the rest of 2015 and most of 2016 figuring out who's the man in 2017. Let younger vets like Segura, Scooter and Davis show their value. Then start incorporating the minor leaguers as they are ready (and as certain players don't prove up to the task at hand, or are dealt). It all sets us up for having pieces in place for 2017. The other big thing is 3B. The club has to figure out that situation. It doesn't have to happen now or in the off season, but by 2017 you probably want to have a little clarity. I guess I'm not so much worried about next year as 2017 - which is when we might be relevant again. Next year is about having guys step up and put claim to spots. I don't expect a lot next year, but I want to feel like we are planning for the future. The worst will be if we waste spots of aging vets who won't be around in 2017 (hence why we should trade Lind).

Tom H. has tweeted that Taylor Williams will have Tommy John surgery on Tuesday. Williams will miss most or all of next year.

Well, sure, except the other two aren't castoffs. No, you're right. They're much better. Moran is starting to heat up. If the Astros were to give them up, it would be a high price. Very high. Moran was brought up on the BA hot sheet the other day: "Does Moran have the power to be an everyday third baseman? That’s one of the main questions for the 2013 first-rounder, who missed nearly a month in May with a fractured jaw and 10 days in June with a right ankle injury. After failing to homer once in 32 games in the first half of the season, Moran has popped five home runs in 38 games since then, batting .347/.418/.540 since the Texas League all-star break" I don't think he'd be that big of a cost to obtain - his defense is okay, and his power is still questionable. I think he's a fringy Top 100 guy prospect wise - if that helps give you an idea of his value. If he can continue his power surge through the rest of the year, he'll jump up in a pretty big way. That's the thing people have been waiting to emerge to make him a legit prospect.

They might have tried to claim him. I think waivers goes by league - so Valencia gets offered to AL teams first (since he was on an AL team), and then the NL clubs. All in reverse order of record. I think Oakland had the worst record in the AL at the time, thus got first crack at him. Maybe I'm wrong about the waiver wire process - but I don't think we had a chance at him.

I don't know anything about Davis, but Moran is interesting. i think he can hit foe average, but the power just hasn't materialized. He is hitting lots of doubles - 22 in 266 ABs - so it still could emerge. You have to think if Milwaukee really wanted him, they could have done something in the Gomez deal. I heard his defense is okay. Still, if I had the chance I'd nab him.

Speculation that the KBO will post SS/3B Jae-gyun Hwang after the season. With the success of Kang in Pittsburgh, teams will likely be more open to Korean players. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2015/08/international-notes-hwang-diaz-sierra-arozarena-rodriguez.html Hwang's stats: http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=hwang-001jae Just turned 28, has 22 HR and a .302 BA so far. Those are good - not great - numbers for the KBO. Just an idea.

Peterson looks like a 4th OF to me. Does nothing really well, but does a lot of stuff solid. There's nothing wrong with what Peterson does. If he back up all the OF spots, back up 1B, pinch hit well - that's a good lefthanded bench bat - often harder to find than you think. I give him credit for producing with the chances he has had. I certainly expect his numbers to drop due to the high BABIP, but if he can keep his BA above .250ish, he's not a bad guy to have. If Milwaukee moves Braun to 1B, Peterson is a nice fill in - lefty who only needs to get 10-15 starts at the position. The team doesn't burn a position guy just to cover the slot.

As with most everyone, it all depends on what you can get for him. I don't think he has a ton of value at this time, so I'd just let him ride the rest of the season and start 2016 in LF. If he plays well, he could actually bring something decent in trade - or he becomes a key part of the lineup. I just don't think he's going to bring much at this point. By mid-2016, you look at Davis' performance, look at potential outfield replacements (Santana, Reed, Phillips, Taylor, Peterson) and make moves accordingly. For now, I'd just let him play.

Dave Dombrowski is out as GM in Detroit. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2015/08/dave-dombrowski-out-as-tigers-gm-al-avila-named-replacement.html He's only 59, but seems like he's been around forever.

I'm surprised no one got Cotts at the deadline. He's a serviceable arm, and he's likely to be claimed when we waive him, letting only negotiate with that one team. Odd we couldn't find a taker last week.

Santana reminds me of Wily Mo Pena and Juan Francisco. But now is the time to give the guy a try. We aren't going to be in the playoff race for the next couple of years. It's the perfect time to let a guy like Santana show us if he's part of the long term future.

Jordan Zimmerman had TJ surgery in 2010. I believe recent studies have shown that these surgeries often need to be repeated in 7-8 years. I'd avoid him on anything more than 2-3 years. He's a good player, but it's something to consider (not just for him, but any pitcher).

I think Luc's future should be flexible. We shouldn't say 'we are trading him' or 'we won't ever trade him' - the club needs to assess the situation as it progresses. If someone blows us away with a trade offer, then great, make the move. If not, the team is going to hang on to him - at least for now. Personally, I think the team should be looking to deal guys if the right offer comes along - Luc, Peralta, Lind, Segura, Cotts - guys with three or less years of control aren't going to be part of our next good team (in my opinion), so move them when the right offer is put on the table. With Luc, it's tough because you have to have a team that really needs him as well as a team that has what we want in return (young talent). So the Brewers just need to be flexible, bide their time, and wait for the right offer. The off season might be the best opportunity as clubs aren't just looking to fill a hole in the roster like they are at mid-season. They're looking at their roster holistically, which makes Luc a viable option for more teams. Also, you can craft multi-team trades more easily during this time period. Milwaukee's recent trades have revealed they want to 'contend' sooner than later. It's something that worries me - and something I hate. It's the 'major league ready' crap that hamstrings a club's thinking process. The Zach Davies trade is a perfect example - a back of the rotation guy at AAA instead of a guy with higher upside at A ball or wherever. The team wants guys to contribute now - but that limits your upside. With this in mind, it makes me think they'll hang on to Lucroy as long as possible (as well as Lind). I just find this frustrating because a #5 starter in 2016 isn't going to make us a playoff team, but a #3 starter in 2018 might. But that's just me.