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Blog Entries posted by ClosetBrewerFan

  1. ClosetBrewerFan
    This is the fourth and last post of my review of the Brewers past 20 drafts.  Check out my previous post for years 2021 - 2016, years 2008 - 2015, and for years 2002 - 2007. 
    What was the best draft of the last 20 years?  That is not easy to judge since some of those players are still playing and could continue to improve and put up impressive stats.  I’m using career WAR as one way to evaluate the players.  Is a draft successful if only one or two stars make it?  The team still has to fill out a roster and the Brewers more than most teams need to rely on the draft to keep their payroll low.  So is quantity better than quality?  Below is a summary of these past 20 drafts:
    Summary 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 Totals ML All Star 1 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 16 ML Regular 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 2 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 2 0 0 0 13 ML Role Player 2 3 0 1 1 3 3 0 2 2 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 21 ML Callup 1 2 2 3 1 3 1 4 1 4 2 1 4 2 2 2 0 1 0 0 36 Total ML Players 6 6 4 6 3 7 6 8 5 7 6 4 5 3 4 3 2 1 0 0 86 Still in Minors 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 4 6 11 12 16 5 16 72                                             Career WAR 32.3 17.5 58.6 80.9 8.5 18.3 30.5 33.4 8.3 -0.6 20 7.3 11.6 6.5 9.7 0.7 1.9 -0.2 0 0 345.2                                             Draft Order 7 2 5 5 16 14 16 26 14 12 27 No 1st (17) 12 15 5 9 21 26 20 15 - Supplemental picks 0 0 0 -1 0 -1 4 3 0 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 15 Total Picks 42 50 50 49 50 46 54 53 50 51 42 40 41 41 41 41 41 39 5 21 847 % made it to bigs 14.3% 12.0% 8.0% 12.2% 6.0% 15.2% 11.1% 15.1% 10.0% 13.7% 14.3% 10.0% 12.2% 7.3% 9.8% 7.3% 4.9% 2.6% 0.0% 0.0% 10.2%  
    If you like quantity, it's hard to beat 2009.  Mike Fiers, Kris Davis, Scooter Gennett, and Caleb Thielbar round out selections who made regular contributions in the majors.  Four other players made the majors as well.
    The 2004 draft was also excellent.  Gallardo and Cain headlined this draft that had a total career WAR of 58.6.  There was little behind these two picks though.
    However, I am going to go with the 2005 draft.  In terms of career WAR its hard to beat with Braun and Brantley making up the brunt of the 80+ career WAR.  Four other players made the majors with Braddock at least filling a role for a couple of years.  This is a good combination of MLB success as well as quantity of major leaguers.
    Can another draft beat out the 2005 draft?  Two All stars and four other major leaguers is a tall order.  As for pure success, the 2014 draft had Woodruff and 2016 had Burnes.  These two should be raking in WAR for years to come, but it does not look like any other player from those drafts could be all stars.  I think the 2018 draft has some potential.  Rasmussen and Ashby are both good pitchers on the rise.  It would not surprise me at all if they became all stars at some point.  Turang, Reese Olson, Jarvis, K. Howell, and Joe Gray all have talent to potentially make the majors some day.  Only time will tell.
    As for the opposite end of the spectrum, only 3 out of the 50 picks in 2006 made the majors and they had a career WAR of 8.5.  The worst career WAR (not including recent drafts) was 2011 in which 7 players made the majors but had a combined career WAR of -0.6.  Maybe Jorge Lopez and Nick Ramirez can continue to put up good numbers to get it to a positive number someday.
    Other interesting things I found during this study.  There was almost always one all star out of each draft.  From 2016 - 2002, only two drafts had no all stars.  Three drafts produced two all stars each.  That’s way more than I would have guessed.  Granted an "all star" is somewhat dubious way of measuring talent, but its still noteworthy.  Each draft produced at least 3 and as many as 8 major leaguers.  There were a lot more players drafted back then, though very few players beyond the 20th round made it (8 to be exact).  Mike Fiers and Brent Suter were the only ones of note.  It explains why MLB has decided to trim the draft down to 20 rounds now.
    In the past 20 years, 847 players were drafted and 86 made the majors (10%).  I'll admit this is a misleading number since this includes players who were not signed (I did not track how many), but I still consider those as lost opportunities by the Brewers.  It also includes a lot of late round picks (20-50) and the MLB has already trimmed that down to 20.  So going forward, the odds should look better, but still will be difficult.  There are 72 more players in the minors, so that number could go up yet.  Regardless, those are long odds for a newly drafted player to deal with.  We all have big hopes for the Brewers draft class but in reality, its tough for them to even get to the majors, let alone succeed there. 
    Thanks for taking the time to read through my blog ramblings.  Leave a comment if you found this interesting or have feedback for me.
     
  2. ClosetBrewerFan
    I compiled data on each of the last 20 drafts to see how many players reached the majors and how they fared.  It was interesting to see how few players made it.  In this blog, I will evaluate each draft by career WAR of the players and by a somewhat subjective evaluation of talent as described below. 
    All Star - Player made the MLB All star team Regular - Player was a starter for at least two years Role Player - Part time player Callup - Player had limited playing time each year he was called up This will be a multi-post article due to the amount of content I have.  Let’s start with 2002 and a very memorable first round selection.  
    Note: In parentheses are their career WAR as calculated by Baseball Reference.
    2002, draft order - 7th, 42 players selected
    All Star - Prince Fielder (23.8) Regular - Tom Wilhelmson (4.8), Craig Breslow (6.3) Role - Dana Eveland (-1.5), Tim Dillard (-0.6) Callup - Callix Crabbe (-0.5) The 2002 draft was the start of the Brewers revival in my mind.  Initially a controversial pick due to his physique, Fielder was a mainstay in the Brewers lineup starting in 2006, playing nearly every game each season. A couple of pitchers were able to become regulars in the majors with other organizations.  Dim Tillard had middling results in the majors but made his mark more with his off-field videos and now on the broadcast team.

    2003, draft order - 2nd, 50 players selected
    All Star - Rickie Weeks (11.5) Role - Tony Gwynn Jr. (5.1), Mitch Stetter (0.6), Carlos Corporan (0.4) Callup - Ty Taubenheim (0), Drew Anderson (-0.1) The Brewers had the second overall pick in the 2003 draft and used that on Rickie Weeks. Though he had his flaws, in hindsight, that probably was the right choice.  Delmon Young, who was picked 1st overall, had a career WAR of 3.2.  The 3rd, 5th, and 6th picks were busts and did not make the majors.  The best player of the 1st round was Nick Markakis (6th, 33.6 WAR), though can't blame the Brewers as Young and Weeks were the clear top favorites.  Five other Brewer picks made the majors, with limited success.  Tony Gwynn Jr was an OK backup OF, but only had a career 619 OPS.  Capt. Lou Palmisano (AKA WOAH SOLVDD) was drafted in the 2nd round but never lived up to the hype and the most memorable Brewerfan post of all time.
    2004, draft order - 5th, 50 players selected
    All Star - Yovani Gallardo (19.2), Lorenzo Cain (38.4) Callup - Mark Rogers (1), Angel Salome (0) Only four Brewers picks made the majors but they made the most of them.  Gallardo was the Ace of the staff for many years, and Cain (draft and follow pick) ended up partially netting us Zack Greinke.  Lorenzo came back to the Brewers later on and provided 11.6 WAR in his 5 years along with great defense and team leadership.  Fifth overall pick Mark Rogers got nine starts over two seasons but injuries ruined his career.

    2005, draft order - 5th, 49 players selected, no 2nd round pick
    All Star - Ryan Braun (47.1), Michael Brantley (34.1) Role - Zach Braddock (0.2) Callup - Matt Gamel (-0.2), Steve Garrison (0), Taylor Green (-0.3) A dominant draft in 2005 resulted in two stars in Braun and Brantley.  Aside from Braun’s suspension, he was the face of the franchise for over 10 years.  He also made an immediate and significant impact within 2 years of being drafted.  He goes down as one of our best and most controversial Brewers.  Brantley ended up being a throw-in to the Sabathia trade and he still continues to perform with other organizations.  Five All-stars selections and he is still going strong.  His career WAR could still go up (or down).  There was so much promise with Braddock, Gamel, and Green though they never were able to truly succeed in the majors.  They lost their second round pick due to the Damien Miller offseason signing.  The 2005 draft was loaded with a ton of stars drafted in the top 10 picks (Upton, Gordon, Zimmerman, Tulowitzki), but Braun has the highest career WAR.  McCutchen (picked 11th overall) has the second highest career WAR of 46.3 and will likely pass him up (hopefully this year as a Brewer).
    2006, draft order - 16th, 50 players selected
    All Star  - Jeremy Jeffress (8.8) Role - Cole Gillespie (-0.6) Callup - Mike McClendon (0.3) The on-field success in the majors in 2005 resulted in the first non-losing season in 13 seasons, and also a lower draft pick.  Even though they still drafted 16th, the Brewers got little out of the draft.  There were a few stars from the 2006 draft, with Scherzer, Kershaw, and Longoria all picked before us.  Ian Kennedy (21st pick, 18.5 WAR) may have been a better first round choice than Jeffress, but only slightly.  Jeffress was an all star but only after returning to the Brewers as a free agent.  He was a big part of the Greinke trade and later went to Texas for Brinson and Ortiz.  Most of his success was with his three separate tours with the Brewers.  
    With only 3 total players making the majors, 2006 was a very disappointing draft.  The rest of the players picked are a list of names you probably never heard of. 
    2007, draft order - 14th, 46 players selected, no 2nd round choice
    All Star - Jonathan Lucroy (17.7) Role - Matt LaPorta (-1), Eric Fryer (0.8), Donovan Hand (0.9) Callup - Eric Farris (-0.1), Caleb Gindle (0), Zealous Wheeler (0) The 2007 draft resulted in seven major leaguers though few had success save for All star Lucroy.  First round selection LaPorta had little success in the majors but helped net Sabathia. We could have chosen Madison Bumgartner who went three picks later and signed for the same bonus ($2M).  The Brewers lost their second round selection due to the disastrous Jeff Suppan signing, though the Cardinals got nothing from that compensation pick.  The Brewers 3rd and 4th picks (Farris and Gindle) made the majors but only for a cup of coffee.
    These six drafts were significant in the Brewers becoming competitive again in the late 2000’s after such a long dry spell.  They also fed so much Brewerfan discussion including making the Power 50 feature easier to fill out and far more interesting.
    Stay tuned for more blog entries that will cover the drafts from 2008 through the 2020's.  I will finish it with a final summary and analysis of all 20 drafts as well as an answer to which was the best draft.
  3. ClosetBrewerFan
    This is the third part of my review of the Brewers past 20 drafts.  Check out my previous post for years 2008 - 2015 and from years 2002 - 2007.  Quite a few poor drafts and trades at the major league level left the minors in rough shape.  By 2014, Baseball America ranked the Brewers minors 29th overall.  As you can see from my last post, not a whole lot of help came from these last few years.  Let’s pickup where I left off and discuss the 2015 season, where Ray Montgomery made his first selections as scouting director.
    Note: In parentheses are their career WAR as calculated by Baseball Reference.
    2015, draft order 15th, 41 players selected, competitive balance B pick
    Regular - Trent Grisham (7.4) Callup - Cody Ponce (-0.6), Eric Hanhold (-0.3) Notable minor leaguers - Nate Kirby (AAA Pittsburgh), Nash Walters (AA Brewers) First rounder Trent Grisham is the best of this draft.  He broke into the majors with a bang, but has struggled this year.  Nate Kirby was selected in the second round and has pitched well at AAA and is due for a callup, but at age 28 is running out of time.  Third rounder Cody Ponce is out of the majors after a brief callup.  Nash Walters has a 4+ ERA at AA, but has pitched better of late.  He is a minor league free agent at the end of the year and at age 25 still has a chance.
    2016, draft order 5th, 41 players selected, competitive balance A pick
    All star - Corbin Burnes (9.9) Role - Cooper Hummel (-0.2) Callup - Corey Ray (0), Peyton Henry (0) Notable minor leaguers - Lucas Erceg (AAA Milwaukee), Mario Feliciano (AAA Brewers) First rounder Corey Ray is running out of chances.  He made the majors briefly, but was taken off the 40 man roster even though the Brewers biggest hole is CF.  Erceg converted from a failed 3b to a left-handed fireball reliever.  He still has a chance if he can learn to control his pitches.  Comp B pick Feliciano has hit well in AAA and is likely to top out as a backup catcher at best in the majors.  The big pick was 4th rounder Corbin Burnes, who will be racking up his WAR numbers for years to come (as well as Cy Young awards). Hummel and Henry are the only other players of note and they are currently backups in the majors which is likely where they will top out at.
    2017, draft order 9th, 41 players selected, competitive balance A pick
    Regular - Keston Hiura (1.3) Callup - Bowden Francis (0), Alec Bettinger (-0.6) Notable minor leaguers - Tristan Lutz (AA Milwaukee), Caden Lemons (IL Milwaukee), Cam Robinson (AA Milwaukee) Tod Johnson took over as scouting director and selected Keston Hiura in the first round.  Keston made an immediate impact though his career has had plenty of bumps in the road. Going forward, he looks to be a DH that strikes out too much, but he has plenty of talent to succeed.  Comp Pick Tristen Lutz is playing well at AA after some struggles.  Though at best, he looks like a weak-side RF platoon in the majors with some pop.  Second rounder Caden Lemons has a long list of injuries and inconsistent play but he is only 23 so still has a chance. Bowden Francis got a brief callup in 2022, but has struggled mightily in AAA.  Cam Robinson (23rd round) is finally having success this year and recently was called up to AA.  He has a chance to be a late inning reliever in the majors and is only 22 years old.  There are eight more players from this draft still in the minors, including quite a few pitchers (File, Lazar, Hitt), but time is running out and they are long shots to succeed in the majors.
    2018, draft order 21st, 41 players selected, competitive balance B pick
    Regular - Aaron Ashby (-0.5), Drew Rasmussen (2.4) Notable minor leaguers - Brice Turang (AAA Milwaukee), Joe Gray (A+ Milwaukee), Micah Bello (A+ Milwaukee), Justin Jarvis (A+ Milwaukee), David Fry (AAA Cleveland), Korry Howell (AA San Diego), Reese Olson (AA Detroit) The top three picks have not made the majors yet, though first rounder Turang is on the cusp and is a top 10 prospect.  Joe Gray and Micah Bello (comp pick) are oft injured outfielders who are in high A ball, but still have a chance.  Fourth rounder Ashby has already made an impact in the majors and the Brewers have enough confidence in him to give him a five year extension.  Rasmussen was part of the Adames trade and has been terrific for the Rays.  He will be competing with Ashby for the best player picked by the Brewers in this draft.  A number of other players are still working in the minors but they are likely to be at best backend starters (Jarvis, Olson) or bench players (Fry, Howell).
    2019, draft order 26th, 39 players selected
    Callup - Ethan Small (-0.1) Notable minor leaguers - Antoine Kelly (A+ Milwaukee), David Hamilton (AA Boston), Darien Miller (A+ Milwaukee), Paxton Schultz (AA Toronto), Cam Devanney (AA Milwaukee)  The Brewers selected left handed pitchers with their first two picks.  Ethan Small who has seen time in the majors this year and Antoine Kelly are among the Brewers top prospects.  Both look to have a future in the majors.  The Brewers traded their competitive balance pick for Alex Claudio and lost their 3rd rounder when they signed Yasmani Grandal so they were without a couple of their higher picks in this draft.  Hamilton, Miller, and Devanney have a chance at being major league regulars but are more likely to be backups at best.  Schultz has a ceiling as a 4th or 5th starter.  There are 11 other players still in the minors, but none look to be major league players at this point.
    2020, draft order 20th, 5 players selected
    Notable minor leaguers - Garrett Mitchell (AA Brewers), Freddy Zamora (AA Brewers), Zavier Warren (A+ Brewers), Joey Wiemer (AA Brewers), Hayden Cantrelle (AA San Francisco) 2020 was an odd year and the draft was no different.  There were only 5 rounds and the Brewers selected all college hitters.  Outfielders Mitchell and Wiemer have all kinds of talent and I expect both to at least make the majors if not excel at it.  Zamora is a boom or bust type of player but still has plenty of time to develop.  Warren and Cantrelle are both struggling this year and are at best role players.  You could make the case that since the draft was so short, UDFA’s Evan Reifert, TJ Shook and Brandon Knarr should be included here.  These are interesting pitching prospects who have a chance to catch on though probably not as stars.
    2021, draft order 15th, 21 players selected, competitive balance A pick
    Notable minor leaguers - Sal Frelick (AA Brewers), Ty Black (A+ Brewers), Russell Smith (A+ Brewers), Alex Binelas (AA Boston), Carlos Rodriguez (A Brewers), Tristan Peters (A+ Brewers), Jace Avina (Rookie Brewers) Sal Frelick is a fast riser in the Brewers organization and looks like a good bet to make the majors and excel.  Ty Black was a comp pick and is a professional hitter that should contribute in some way in the majors.  It's hard to judge the rest of the players as many are too far away from the majors.  Overall, this looks like a pretty good draft with a chance for a number of players to make the majors.  All 16 players who signed are still playing in the minors.
    During the 2015 to 2021 drafts there were a few players who stood out.  Corbin Burnes looks to be one of the better Brewer Pitchers ever.  Rasmussen, Ashby, Small, and Kelly look to be solid starting pitchers.  On the offensive side, Hiura, Mitchell, Wiemer, and Frelick all have the potential to be stars at the major leagues.  It's just going to take a few more years until we find out.
    Stay tuned for my next blog that would summarize these past 20 drafts to identify which year was the best draft.  Add your comments below on what you think was the best draft.
  4. ClosetBrewerFan
    This is the second part of my review of the Brewers past 20 drafts.  Check out my previous post for years 2002 - 2007.  Let’s continue with the 2008 draft, the last of scouting director Jack Zduriencik with the Brewers.
    Note: In parentheses are their career WAR as calculated by Baseball Reference.
    2008, draft order 16th, 54 players selected, 4 comp picks
    All Star - Jake Odorizzi (13.9) Regular - Brett Lawrie (15.6) Role - Logan Schafer (0), Rob Wooten (-0.3), Lucas Luetge (1.7) Callup - Erik Komatsu (-0.4) The Brewers had a huge number of selections in 2008, with 4 comp picks.  Brett Lawrie was our first round selection and had a respectable career.  Brewers received two extra first rounders and two second rounders for losing Francisco Cordero and Scott Linebrink.  This netted us Odorizzi and Evan Fredrickson (topped out in A+) in the first round.  Odorizzi technically was an all star in 2019 but he is probably considered a solid regular starter and not a star.  The two comp picks in the 2nd round were Seth Lintz (topped out in A ball) and Cutter Dykstra (topped out at AAA).  Cutter was traded to get Nyjer Morgan who had some memorable moments for the Brewers.  The Brewers original 2nd round pick was Cody Adams who flamed out in A-ball one year later.  Schafer and Wooten played minor roles for the Brewers.  Luetge found success with other teams after he was lost in the Rule V draft and is still pitching well in the majors.
    Considering how many picks the Brewers had, this was a disappointing draft.  Especially the comp picks with only one of the four making the majors.  Some of those guys struggled mightily and flamed out quickly.
    2009, draft order 26th, 53 players selected, 3 comp picks
    All Star - Scooter Gennett (7.1) Regular - Khris Davis (10.8), Caleb Thielbar (3.6), Mike Fiers (13.2)  Callup - Josh Prince (-0.1), Hiram Burgos (-0.8), Sean Halton (-0.4), Tyler Cravy (0) Another huge draft selection in 2009 resulted in a disappointing group of top picks.  Their best players came in the 7th (Davis), 16th (Gennett), and 22nd (Fiers).  They had two extra 1st round picks and 1 extra second round pick for losing Sabathia and Brian Shouse.  All of these picks, including the original 1st and second rounders were busts.  Eric Arnett (topped out at A+), Kentrail Davis (AAA), Kyle Heckathorn (AAA), Max Walla (low A), Cameron Garfield (A+).  This could have been a huge draft considering how well we did with the later picks.  Gennett was an all star in 2018 playing in the bandbox in Cincinnati, but was generally average prior to that.  Davis put up some huge HR numbers playing for Oakland (133 over a 3-year period) but his defense relegated him to DH.  Fiers was a solid starter for most of his 11-year career.  Thielbar is still pitching in the majors.
    The Brewers picked 26th in the draft, the lowest slot in many years, so the talent level is going to be less.  However, with so many extra high picks, you would expect to hit on at least one of those.  Still, hard to argue about selecting four solid players.
    2010, draft order 14th, 50 players selected
    Regular - Jimmy Nelson (5.6), Tyler Thornburg (3.9) Role - Yadiel Rivera (-1.2), Jason Rogers (0.2) Callup - Kevin Shackelford (-0.2) The Brewers selected Dylan Covey in the first round but he did not pass his physical and was not signed.  They made the most of the next two picks (Nelson and Thornburg).  Both were very talented pitchers who could have been stars if not for freak injuries.  Shea Vucinich, selected in the 20th round, did not get above AA, but goes down in Brewerfan history as his interview was on the front page for a record number of days.
    Jason Rogers was selected in the 32nd round.  He had one very good season for the Brewers and they traded him for Keon Broxton and Trey Supak.  Broxton had some OK seasons but the Brewers then used him to obtain Felix Valerio (and Adam Hill, Bobby Wahl).  
    2011, draft order 12th, 51 players selected, 1 comp pick
    All Star - Jorge Lopez (0.4) Role - Taylor Jungman (0.9), Nick Ramirez (0.7), Jacob Barnes (-0.6) Callup - Jed Bradley (0), Drew Gagnon (-1.5), Michael Reed (-0.1), David Goforth (-0.4) Seven players made it to the majors from the Brewers 2011 draft, though none of them are standouts.  Jorge Lopez, drafted in the second, is probably the best.  He had a promising minor league career but could never find success as a starter in the majors.  He became an All star as a reliever this year and may have revitalized his career.  The Brewers had two picks in the top 15 overall due to not signing Dylan Covey the previous year.  Jungman (12th overall) and Bradley (15th overall) both made the majors but did not make much of a mark. Nick Ramirez failed as a 1B, but reached the majors as a LH reliever for a few years.  Jacob Barnes parlayed his high 90s fastball into seven years of opportunities, but only a few years of success.
    2012, draft order 27th, 42 players selected, 2 supplemental picks
    All Star - Mitch Haniger (14.2) Regular - Brent Suter (3.9) Role - Tyrone Taylor (2.5), Anthony Banda (-0.7) Callup - Tyler Wagner (0.1), Damien Magnifico (0) The Brewers had one compensation first round pick (for losing Prince Fielder) and a competitive balance pick after the first round.  Clint Coulter and Victor Roache were picked in the first round and neither made the majors.  The competitive balance pick was Mitch Haniger who rose to fame with the Mariners.  He was traded away with Banda for Geraldo Parra.  Tyrone Taylor has been an useful backup outfielder with the potential for more still.  Brent Suter has filled in as a swing man being a decent 5th starter and long reliever over 7 seasons.  He was a steal in the 31st round.
    2013, draft order 17, 40 players selected, No first round pick, but one supplemental pick
    All Star - Devin Williams (4.4), Garrett Cooper (4.3) Role - Taylor Williams (-1.3) Callup - Barrett Astin (-0.1) The Brewers lost their first round selection when they signed Kyle Lohse in the previous offseason (Ughh).  They made up for it by selecting Devin Williams in the second round who has become a shutdown reliever.  Their competitive balance B pick after the second round was Tucker Neuhaus who never made it above high A ball.  Garrett Cooper has been a useful role player after being traded away for Ty Webb.  He was selected to the all star game after a good start to the 2022 season.  He has had more productive seasons in the past but this is the first time he has been healthy.  Taylor Williams had a lot of promise but never put it together in the majors.   The rest of the players selected are all out of baseball now.
    2014, draft order 12, 41 players selected, competitive balance A pick
    All Star - Brandon Woodruff (12.2) Callup - Monte Harrison (0.1), Cy Sneed (-0.4), Troy Stokes (0), Jordan Yamamoto (-0.3) Brewers selected Kodi Medeiros and Jake Gatewood in the first round, neither of which made the majors and appear to have topped out at AAA.  Monte Harrison signed over-slot in the second round and was a key player in the Yelich trade.  He has struggled in the majors and at age 26 is running out of chances. He caught on recently with the Angels and has been successful in a handful at bats so there is still a chance.  Brandon Woodruff was a steal in the 11th round.  He looks to be a perennial all star and a mainstay in the rotation.  The remaining players are either retired or are toiling in the minors.  This was Bruce Seid’s last draft as he unfortunately passed in September of 2014.
    Many of the stars selected during this period are still playing and are in their prime so their career WAR will continue to grow.  However, its unlikely they will reach the level of Braun (47.1), Cain (38.4), Brantley (34.1), and Fielder (23.8).  It was also a period of lower draft picks due to major league success the Brewers were having.  Compensation and competitive balance picks gave the Brewers more opportunities, but out of those 11 extra choices only Odorizzi and Haniger succeeded.
    Stay tuned for my next post which will cover the remaining drafts.  Since these players have had less time to establish themselves in the majors, there are fewer stars, but I’ll highlight those that still have a chance to succeed at the highest level.
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