Matt Breen

Should that be "bigger balls of knowledge..." - especially if a kick in the groin is involved.

Just a note regarding Kirby. Feel free to rank him how you would expect. If for some reason he doesn't sign, just include a 26th player on your list. I'll just ignore Kirby if he doesn't sign. Or just go and edit your list later if he doesn't sign. Whatever works.

This is absolutely correct. But I went with the easy route and ignored the 45 days on the active roster. It's just easier to look at a player, see his ABs or IP, and say if they are eligible or not.

What about Logan Schafer I understand this is in Blue, but for this year I would be fine with Schaefer. We can always get some trash heap guys for next year and see what we get, otherwise the kids should start coming in later next year or 2017. Get the best players and don't worry about who to replace them with at this point. I don't have a lot of faith in Schafer anymore, but I would give him one last shot. He's always produced in the minors. His major league play has been sporadic at best. So, just give him CF and say 'you got 1/2 a season to show us you belong.' Just let the guy go out and play everyday. If he fails, he's gone. If he plays competently, great. He can keep the seat warm until we get someone to replace him.

I'd still like Gomez/K-Rod for Norris and Pentecost (assuming the latter appears healthy). I love Norris - lefthander, #2 potential, he's kind of a wacky guy too. I like quirky people. He would step right into the rotation. I loved Pentecost coming out of college. Really athletic catcher. Won't hit a ton of HRs, but he could be a Lucroy type hitter - .280, 12-15 HR. He's supposed to be returning to action soon after having off season surgery. You'd have to be confident he could rebound because if he can't catch, I'm not sure where he would move to - and if he'd hit enough for a spot such as 1B. I like Jeff Hoffman as well, but he's more of a project. But that might appeal to Toronto. They might see Norris as a key guy next year, while Hoffman is a few years away. I will add that this is the time to strike with Toronto. They are built to win in the next couple of years, so now is when you get their young talent. The tough part is that starting pitching is their greatest need, and if the team goes out and gets a top notch starter, they might not be willing to make a second big deal (and really deplete their farm system).

The walk rates are just insane. Every year has been great, but this year is awesome. Just 6 walks in 85 innings. He's always been hittable, but the low walk rates mitigate that. And his control lets him go deep into games, which is a valuable ability. If he can keep it up, he'd really be an interesting guy for a team with a good defense.

Article on ESPN about the epic defensive play of the Royals. http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/13173708/the-kansas-city-royals-defense-just-good-historically-elite It's a team built around great defense, below average starting pitching, awesome relief pitching, and solid hitting. They are 15th in runs scored, with guys hitting for average (3rd in the majors) vs power (27th). Pitching-wise they are 7th in ERA overall. But their starters are 27th in ERA and their relievers are best in the majors. It is an extreme example, as the relievers and D are both historically great. But it's an interesting combination. They have managed to use great defense and a great bullpen to overcome the weak starter pitchers. But one thing I like is that KC has not been overwhelmed by a desire to employ a weak player just because the club lacks something. They aren't trotting out an OF who can hit 25 HR, but sucks at defense, just so they improve their power numbers. They are taking the talent they have and letting it play, irregardless of the

I heard guy who wants to part of a winning organization. Milwaukee has struggled doing that, and he's not sure if they will be that kind of org in the future. It was honest and straight forward - in some ways I wish had been even more blunt. I also think he knows that him being traded might be part of the solution. Nothing wrong about that. My best hope is that management listens and understands there have to be big decisions made about this club and organization's future. I hope they see that players like Luc won't stay around if this team doesn't have a clear understanding of how it's going to build a consistent winner.

I'm surprised at the lack of love for Jorge Ortega who is at Brevard County. 85 IP, 2.33 ERA, only 6 BB (yes, only six walks), 0.940 WHIP. 4 complete games in 12 starts. He doesn't strike out many (only 42), and he is in the FSL - a notorious pitcher's league. But the walk rate is insanely awesome, and his ability to go deep in games is a nice asset.

Getting into the top 10 or 50 or even 100 prospects while a player is in the lower minors (I define that as below AA) is pretty tough. To do so, you need to put up some great numbers, and/or have an impressive pedigree. Arcia had neither of those things. His hitting was solid, but not great. He had signed, if I'm correct, for less than 100k. There was a lot to like - especially his defense - but lots of questions as well. For lots of scouts and baseball writers the real test is when a player reaches AA. And Arcia has met that challenge with flying colors. If he had hit .280 people would be liking him a lot. But .300+, elite defense (at a premium position), growing power - those are the things you hope for in a player - and they all are emerging together for Orlando. It's sweet to see a Brewer come up like this. I think the last true blue-chip type player was Escobar. Alcides was never a Top 100 prospect until he broke out as a 21-year old at AA in 2008. He hit .328 with a .797 OPS. After that, he went all the way to #19 on BA's prospect list. I'm betting the club moves Arcia to AAA later this year or to start 2016, and by mid-season next year, he's in Milwaukee.

I forgot about Magnifico. He's really looked at home with the move to relieving this year.

At this point, I'm not sure how I'd deal with any newcomers. Perhaps it won't be an issue, but if we make a big trade, we might have to do something. I guess ogre now we wait and see if it's necessary.

I would like to encourage people to not exclude eligible players just because they will graduate off the list in the near future. We need to set up a criteria for prospect cutoff. It might not be the best criteria, but it's what I've been working with. It would be nice if everyone would work with that same criteria as well. Just my opinion. In the future it can be changed, but since we already started submitting lists, I hate to change something mid stream. I certainly can't stop anyone from voting one way because they don't like a criteria, but I just hope everyone will participate with the same rules in mind.

Done and done... gracias, my friend.

You know what I'm optimistic about? The Brewer bullpen beyond this season. Smith, Knebel, Jeffress, Blazek - young, cheap players who throw hard and are having success at the major league level. K-Rod, if he isn't dealt, is having a fine year, and if we keep him for another year or two, he's not that expensive. Plus having him - a cost certain player - get all our saves, it keeps down the prices of our young arms as they move into arbitration. Goforth (just called back up), Michael Strong (AA), Jaye Chapman (AAA), Austin Ross (just promoted to AAA) and a few other fringier arms (Ariel Pena, for instance) offer a collection of potentially solid bullpen arms in the next year. Plus, you're going to have some guys not make it as a starter who may turn into a good reliever (Brooks Hall, Hobbs Johnson, Tyler Thornburg, etc.). It makes for nice collection of power relievers who are under control for a long time, and at decent rates.

Yes, he is. Wang is an interesting case in that he's technically not a rookie in the eyes of MLB. But he's only thrown 17 innings. In BF.net eyes, that's makes him still eligible. Thanks for noting it - I added it to the eligibility area above.

If anyone notices anything wrong, or if I'm missing something, in my intro post to this topic, please let me know and I'll update. If a mod could pin the topic that would be great. A post and redirect from the major league forum would be great as well. We have done that in the past and I think it gets people who might not visit the minor league thread much a chance to participate. Thanks.

Ask and ye shall receive. I was going to post in a day or two, but figured I'd get things going after a couple of requests.

We would like to invite everyone to participate in our 2015 Mid-Season BF.net Fan Community Top 25 Prospects voting. Lots of exciting things going on. Please take time and submit on this thread your top 25 brewer prospects. Please feel free to list any resources or news that you feel might affect voting. Also, please take the time to share your insights on players, especially newcomers and guys coming up in the lower ranks. It helps people who don't follow the minors that well with making their selections. RULES 1. Submit your Top 25 prospects, in order, by end of day on July 20. 2. You MUST submit 25 prospects. If there are only 10 or 15 or whatever, your list will not be included. 3. Rankings are determined by total points. The top prospect gets 25 points, second prospect gets 24 points, etc. 4. If you submit your list and want to change something, just add the change to the thread. I'll accept changes up to the July 20 deadline. 5. Within a few days after the deadline, we'll publish the new BF.net Community Top 25. Eligibility questions: Rookie eligibility is determined by 50 IP or 130+ ABs at the major league level. - Michael Blazek, Luis Sardinas, Hernan Perez, Hector Gomex and Elian Herrera are not eligible. - Corey Knebel (12), Tyler Jungmann (7), Tyler Cravy (16), Jason Rogers (18) and David Goforth (25), and Shane Peterson are all in the majors (as of this posting), but still rookie eligible. Jungmann is especially close to graduating from eligibility (almost 40 IP), but he's not there yet - so you can vote for him. - Wei-Chung Wang is eligible (even though he technically at up his rookie eligibility in the eyes of baseball, he's thrown less than 20 innings at the big league level). - Competitive Balance pick Nathan Kirby hasn't signed, but we'll make him eligible for our list on the assumption he'll eventually ink a contract. Player Movement Notes: - Jed Bradley (19) has moved from Colorado Springs to Biloxi. - Yadiel Rivera (21) and Kyle Wren (22) moved from Biloxi to Colorado Springs. - Victor Roache (23) has moved from Brevard County to Biloxi. - Monte Harrison (4), Jake Gatewood (13) and David Densen moved from Wisconsin to Helena. - Taylor Williams (8) and Miguel Diaz (26) have been injured all season. Important notes: - Please note that we have two Diazs in this organization. If voting for Brandon or Miguel Diaz, please be clear who you are voting for. - We also have multiple Williams - Devin and Taylor (there might even be another one!). Just make sure you note who you are voting for. - There are also two Ortegas - Wisconsin pitcher Luis Ortega and Brevard County pitcher Jorge Ortega. - Please comment if you know other conflicts! Newcomers to consider: - 1st Round pick OF Trent Clark - Competitive Balance pick SP Nathan Kirby (hasn't signed yet) - 2nd Round pick SP Cody Ponce - 3rd Round pick SP Nash Walters - 4th Round pick OF Demi Orimoloye - 5th Round pick Blake Allemand Prospect Rankings: Please note most of the industry prospect rankings were done in the pre-season, so rankings aren't that up-to-date. MLB: http://m.mlb.com/prospects/2015?list=mil Baseball America: http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/2015-milwaukee-brewers-top-10-prospects/ Baseball Prospectus: http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=25052 Bleacher Report: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2329308-milwaukee-brewers-top-10-prospects-for-2015 Miller Park Prospects: https://millerparkprospects.wordpress.com/2015/02/05/milwaukee-brewers-top-40-prospect-rankings-2/ Minor League Ball (John Sickels): http://www.minorleagueball.com/2015/1/2/7482797/milwaukee-brewers-top-20-prospects-for-2015 BF.net 2015 Preseason Top 25 list - viewtopic.php?f=64&t=32447 BF.net August 2014 Top 25 list - viewtopic.php?f=64&t=31859 BF.net May 2014 Top 20 list: viewtopic.php?f=64&t=31355 Stats: Minor league organization hitting and pitching stats (has all Brewer minor league stats on one page): http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/affiliate.cgi?id=MIL&year=2015 If you want to see each of our minor league teams individually, go here and click on the affiliate you want to view: http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/affiliate.cgi?id=MIL Thanks for participating!

Baseball America has listed Orlando Arcia as the #8 prospect in baseball in their new mid-season top 50 rankings: "He’s the best player in the Southern League as a 20-year-old" http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/midseason-top-50-prospects2015/ I believe they only consider players in the minors, so recent call ups, like Buxton, are not on the list.

Yep. I was going to post something in the next day or two. I think we'll see a lot of movement in the next edition.

Cotts won't get anything big. Perhaps a bullpen arm at A or AA ball. Or perhaps he can be a sweetener in a different deal. I give Cotts a lot of credit. He started out horrible, but has really has been effective for a while now. I railed on the guy, but he's shown good resilience and just kept getting better. If Milwaukee was in the pennant race, I'd see him as a quality part of the pen.

Defense is interesting in that it is often hard to quantify - which means it's often (but not always) undervalued and easier to find. This inability to quantify defense has, at times, made it harder for teams to feel comfortable electing to employ more defensive oriented players. Teams - and fans - can see and relate to easily accessible numbers - batting average, HRs, etc. What's better - a 3B who hits .260, 10 HR, .750 OPS and good defense, or a guy who hits .280, 20 HR and .800 OPS, but with below average defense? Most people will pick the latter, but depending on the (always tricky) defensive value the player brings, it might not be true. As a small market, we have to take advantage of every opportunity. If that means taking a more measured look defensive value - it should happen. It's foolish for it to NOT happen. An undervalued skill is a market opportunity for a team like Milwaukee. They should exploit it if possible. But this is a team that let Betancourt play 140-50 games at SS, so I'm not optimistic. I see an interesting case in the near future with a guy like Michael Reed. If he projects as a high OBP, above average RF, but only gets 8-10 HRs, will the club give him the chance to start? Or will his lack of power limit him to a back up role? Obviously, there are other factors involved in a team's make up - money, upside (or downside) of the player, the composition of the roster, etc. But I think many teams, Milwaukee included, do undervalue defense, and thus there is the potential to exploit the market by adding players that we value more than other teams - and at a lower cost. But the team needs to have the stones to make those decisions - we'll see.

This makes sense. Garza is still reasonably young, so for him to suddenly pitch so badly made me wonder if something was amiss. I just hope there's nothing more than a little tendinitis. For Garza, the goal should be to get him totally healthy, then come back when ready. If that's in two weeks, great. If it's in 10 weeks, that's fine as well. He's unlikely to be traded this year due to the injury, so it would be to our interest for him to just come back next year at full strength, and put up some good numbers. If the team is doing well, he's a key part of that. If not, he can be a good trade chip.

Lots of clubs interested in Parra. He's kind of a perfect trade player - he doesn't make too much, shouldn't cost that much to acquire, plays multiple positions, has wily veteran appeal, is playing really well. Perfect time to strike on a deal. He's playing great, Davis is coming back. Let's see if we can net something decent for him while there are multiple suitors. I honestly don't expect a ton for him, but he should fetch something of value.