Matt Breen

I see that Wei-Chung Wang was optioned to Brevard County. That was the logical choice, but after a nice off season, I was wondering if the club would be aggressive and put him at AA. Do we usually put together a thread listing where players get assigned? Just curious.

One more week to vote! Keep them coming. This is great. Thanks everyone who has submitted their ballot.

Done! Thanks for the suggestion.

Perhaps someone can pin this to the top of the forum, and maybe do something on the major league forum to prompt people to come vote who might not visit the minor league forum that often.

One guy not mentioned as a potential replacement is Matt Davidson. A former 1st round pick, Davidson turns 24 this month. He was dealt last off season for Addison Reed. At the time, he was ranked in the #75-95 area by Baseball America and other publications. Most people assumed he'd become the White Sox's starting 3B. He showed good power in the minors, hitting 18, 20, 23 and 17 HRs as he moved up the minor league chain Arizona. He averaged between .260-.290 - nothing great, but consistent. Struck out a lot as well -averaging around 130K a season. Most scouts saw him as a .250-.260 BA guy, 20 HR. Average glove. Not great, but solid. Then came the trade to Chicago last offseason. And and absolutely horrible 2014. He was bad in camp and sent to AAA, where he hit 20 HR, but he only hit .199 and had a 30%+ K rate. Just a bad year. And I don't think he was hurt. That all said, he could be the kind of guy you go after with the hope he rebounds. I haven't really seen him play, so I don't know that much about his struggles last season. Maybe someone has some other info on the guy. I'm not saying he's a lock to do well, just that he's an interesting option. I like going after players who may have struggled and are still young enough to rebound. The White Sox are probably smart to not give up on him just yet - not after trading a valuable asset to get him. But you never know.

Davis has potential to hit 25+ HR. If he can regain some of the patience he showed in the minors, he could be an .800+ OPS player. Davis has not shown large splits in the majors: .839 OPS vs lefties and .782 OPS vs righties. The primary thing has been he's shown more power vs lefties (.533 SLG vs .470 SLG). His BA and OBP show almost no splits. In the minors, he has shown the ability to hit lefties and righties. Look at his numbers: 2010 vs lefties: .890 OPS vs righties: .899 2011 vs lefties: .837 vs righties: .855 2012 vs lefties: 1.201 vs righties: .987 2013 (includes AAA and ML) vs lefties: .884 vs righties: .860 I like Parra, but you don't sit the potential that Davis has in his bat. He's shown the ability to hit lefties and righties. At 27, he's entering his prime. He just has so much more potential as a hitter than Parra. The club needs that bat if it's going to contend. And going forward (beyond 2015), you want Davis to continue to develop. Sitting him against righties as he enters his prime years doesn't do that. Parra is expensive insurance at this point. He's insurance in case Braun's hand flare up, or if Davis doesn't make the next step in his development as a ball player. If there are no major injuries, I see him him starting 20 games in LF, 20 in RF, maybe 10-15 in CF as well (that might depend on if the club keeps Schafer). Plus, when the DH is available he could potentially play the field and let Braun or Davis DH. He pinch hits and is a defensive replacement. As I said, I like Parra. He's going to probably his .270-.280, hit 8-10 HR, play quality defense. Nothing wrong with that. But I like Davis' potential better: .270-.280 BA, 25+ HRs. The Brewers need that production from Davis if they want to win. This team is good - not great. I think it has to take some chances with potential to make us contenders. It's up to Davis to step up his game. Showing more patience will be a huge step. If he can do that, he'll see more pitches (and better pitches), and increase his BA and OBP to go with his power.

We would like to invite everyone to participate in our 2015 Pre-Season BF.net Fan Community Top 25 Prospects voting. 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. Here are the rules: 1. Submit your Top 25 prospects, in order, by end of day on Tuesday, March 17. 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 March 17 deadline. 5. Within a few days after the deadline, we'll publish the new BF.net Community Top 25. Eligibility questions: - Wei-Chung Wang is eligible. - Luis Jiménez is not eligible. - Luis Sardinas is not eligible. Important notes: - Clint Coulter has shifted from catcher to outfield (specifically the Brewers are talking RF) - Shawn Zarraga (#29) has been traded. - Nick Delmonico (#33) has been released. - 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. Newcomers to consider: - Corey Knebel (RP) - acquired from Texas in Gallardo trade - Marcos Diplan (SP) - acquired from Texas in Gallardo trade - Kyle Wren (OF) - acquired from Atlanta in off season - Matt Clark (1B) - acquired midseason in 2014 - Manny Barreda (RP) - signed as a minor league FA during the off season - Shane Peterson (OF) - acquired on waivers in the off season - Jarret Martin (RP) - acquired from the Dodgers in the Shawn Zarraga deal (Martin is out until the all-star break after having surgery to clean up fraying in the labrum of his pitching arm) Prospect Rankings: 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 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=2014 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!

Kubitza was dealt to the Angels this past off season. I read a little about the deal a while back, and the Angels seem to like him. Of course, that's team talk. I thought he was an interesting option. He was brought up in the third baseman discussion last fall.

What I liked about Jungmann was that after a poor 2013, he rebounded well, pitching nicely at AA. Then, after being promoted, he struggled at AAA for a bit, but finished strongly. He avoided HRs, improved his K rate, lowered his walk rate - all nice signs. I don't expect Taylor to be an all star, but I think he can fill the back of the rotation competently - and at a reasonable price. I like him at AAA this year, let him pick up where he left off. Then bring him up when needed. We'll likely need him for sure in 2016 with Lohse a free agent.

Roenicke is talking about Braun and A-Ram in the 3 and 4 slot. "We'll see how he's (Ramirez) doing and how he's feeling," said Roenicke. "With a guy that can drive in runs like he can, when he's healthy he can still bat cleanup." But nothing is in stone right now: "Nothing is set," he said. "I have an idea where I think I want guys to be. We'll see what it looks like and talk to guys, and see how healthy guys are. Then we'll put the lineup together and put it out there and see how it looks. http://www.jsonline.com/sports/brewers/ron-roenicke-has-options-with-brewers-lineup-b99450595z1-293775621.html

4.33 and a 4.27 ERA the last two years. A FIP over 5.00 both years. WAR of -0.9 and -0.8. He's given up 17 HR in 100 IP the last two years. Last year he walked 25 batters in 46 innings. In my opinion, he has not been good the last couple of years.

Because he's a veteran who's 'been there'. That means a lot of Melvin. Personally, I agree with you. The guy has never been that good. And he's been bad the last couple of years. Why sign a guy who has been bad the last couple of years other than his reputation. I don't care if he had 25 saves in 2013 - he was not a good pitcher. If Perez had the same stats as he does now - but without the saves - he'd be getting a $1 million tops (assuming he even made the team). I'd rather have a guy like Zack Duke - a guy who you are converting from starter to reliever. There's some potential there. Perez has been bad two years in a row. Unless you have some secret reason to think he'll be better, why expect more from him.

Cecchini's defense is considered average at best. Regarding Cecchini's 2014 performance - prior to the year his biggest criticism was he lacked power. He supposedly tried to address that last year, and the results were not good. I look at 2013 and see a guy who, between A+ and AA, had 94 walks, a .322 BA, and a .443 OB%. That's pretty awesome, even if he only hit 7 HR in 454 ABs. Last year his walk rate was almost 1/2 of 2013. And he struck out at a higher rate. The luster definitely went off the guy. And with average defense, the Sox reportedly weren't convinced he's a long term solution (hence the signing of Sandoval). Boston supposedly is going to work him some at 2B and OF, to increase his versatility. Cecchini is a big guy - 6'3" and 220 lbs. So I think people think he should be hitting for more power. He may have sold out his approach to increase the slugging, and it screwed up his entire hitting approach. Honestly, I don't know if 2013 was an aberration and he's just an average - at best - player. But I like the idea of picking up a guy on the cheap who has some upside. I'd get him and just say be the hitter you know you are - don't try and be something you're not. A guy hitting hitting 10 HR and getting on base 35%+ of the time has some tremendous value (especially when he's cheap).

This is awesome. It's the kind of forward thinking a club should have. Instill pride in the organization, help kids through the tough transition into pro ball, healthy food, etc. Such as smart thing to be doing.

The club said it isn't necessarily to start (although that could be where he's headed). Instead the club said he could be set up to be more of a long reliever as opposed to a one inning guy. http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/293456231.html And it all depends on Thornburg's health. If they think he'll benefit from only throwing one inning at a time, they'll probably limit him to that.

Beachy gets $2.75MM this year, and the Dodgers will get a club option for 2016 that can be worth between $3MM and $6MM depending on how much Beachy pitches in 2015. Doesn't seem too outrageous. Nice pickup for LA.

Braun is key. His return to all-star form is really needed. A-Ram and Segura are keys too. Both can be above average players - commodities we need badly. Our offense was 6th in the NL last year - we need to improve that since our pitching will likely fall in the 'average' zone again this year.

Yankees would be crazy not to get the guy. They have the cash. No one can outbid them. They lack big upside younger players. They can't sign any major guys in the next international cycle. It's an attractive market. It makes too much sense not to happen.

Baseball America released its Top 100. Tyrone Taylor comes in at #93 and Orlando Arcia at #94. http://www.baseballamerica.com/2015-top-100-prospects/ 215 players got votes. Brewers in that group included Lara, Kodi, Harrison and Coulter. Interestingly, Luis Sardinas was also on this list. Probably one of the writers thought he was still rookie eligible. Also, BA had a list of 10 or so players who they say cold easily shoot up the rankings. Lara and Medeiros were both on that list. Wouldn't be surprised to see the Crew have 4 or more guys next year.

"would have gotten" implies he's signed elsewhere. Brewers don't need to shed $65 million in payroll to get one guy. That's ludicrous. They shed Gallardo and probably should have let A-Ram walk. There's $20 million just in one year. Lohse and Broxton are off the books next year (another $20 million or so). Gomez comes off the following year. Allowing those to happen isn't a complete rebuild. "Stinking up the joint for several years" for a franchise that relies on gate receipts as heavily as the Brewer's do is suicidal. That works for the Cubs. White Sox have shown this year that there are other ways. No one says we 'need' to shed $65 million to sign one guy. The point was that the most likely way we would have landed Moncada was if the team had elected to go into rebuild mode this past offseason, clearing a lot of salary that would have allowed us a chance at Moncada (and even other high end prospects such as Alvarez). But we didn't do that. We spent our money in other ways (A-Ram, Lind, Cotts, etc.) with the hope of contending this year. The merits of that decision are an entirely different matter. Yet nothing says we can't still sign Moncada. However, between the actual signing bonus and the equal amount of penalties, it would send payroll far higher than it's ever been before. To me, that's a sign that Milwaukee getting Moncada is unlikely. Not impossible, just unlikely. As for your statement that it would be suicidal for Milwaukee to go into a full rebuild, that's a legitimate opinion, but again, I was presenting, what I felt, was the most likely scenario where we could have gotten Moncada. Again, the merits of that scenario (a complete rebuild) have been discussed in other threads devoted to that sort of thing.

Interesting article by Dave Cameron about the perceived over valuation teams put on young prospects. Using Baseball America, he finds that 70% of all the prospects essentially become busts. However, the article then goes into the fact that 'proven' veterans can also go bust (usually because of injuries). Example: Roy Halladay went from 21.4 WAR from 2009-11 to 1.6 WAR for the rest of his career. He took the top 100 players from 2009-11 and found that 25 went flopped. Also, 34 of the top 100 guys became nothing more than league average. That means 60% of the top 100 players either bust or just become average. I don't think it's anything earth shattering, but what it really brings out is the value of depth. Guys will fail - prospects and veterans. And the team needs to be prepared for those inevitable failures. They need quality and quantity to thrive. http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/just-a-bit-outside/story/cole-hamels-philadelphia-phillies-trade-prospects-veterans-risk-value-021815 Here's how players were defined as 'busts' or 'average' and so forth: http://www.royalsreview.com/2011/2/14/1992424/success-and-failure-rates-of-top-mlb-prospects

In all honesty, the only likely way this club would have ever gotten Moncada would have been if they had went into rebuild mode this past off season and shed a ton of payroll. Traded Lohse, Parra, Gomez, Broxton. Let A-Ram walk. Released Estrada (meaning no Lind). No free agents (Cotts, Perez). Went with guys like Clark, Rogers and Schafer (or some other AAA type guys). We would have sucked, but even keeping Braun and Garza (who may be tradable - I'm not sure if he is), we could have gotten payroll down to $45 million. We would have had plenty of money to go after Moncada. Perhaps we could have even made a run at Yadier Alvarez, the stud 18-year old Cuban pitcher. Add Moncada, Alvarez, plus a couple of top 100 type guys from a Gomez deal, and your minor league system is looking a whole lot different. And don't forget a couple of top draft picks after the team sticks up the joint for a couple of years. That would have been fun. Of course, we would have had to stink for a few years, but that's life.

It's fun to imagine a 2017 line up of the following: C - Lucroy 1B - Braun 2B - Scooter or Segura or Sardinas SS - Arcia 3B - Moncada LF - Davis CF - Taylor RF - Coulter

The 58 players that rank 143-200 are just bunched into one 'honorable mention' group. As people have noted, that includes Lara, Harrison, Taylor, Coulter and Knebel. That gives us 7 players in the top 200.

Have a kegger at 2B and force players to slam a beer to keep going.