ClosetBrewerFan

Yeah, I don't see any way Walsh makes the team if hill is not the starting 3b. We need a bss and neither hill or Walsh should be playing ss. Just not enough spots to have two b2b/3b on the roster. So I'm ok with hill at 3b at least early on.

My guess is that there will be plenty of opportunities between veterans and young guys. I would not sweat it.

I have to believe this ensures Domingo will be at AAA next year, barring a trade of Davis/Braun. Probably the same for Broxton. Hard to keep guys with options on the ML roster over the out of options guys. Great job stockpiling these high reward players on the cheap. Should make spring training more interesting.

Not sure you understand me. These pickups have no bearing on future plans. When we pick up a real 1b, we can just drop Wilkins. It's just good roster management. Why keep 40 man spots open. May as well add some filler until someone else better comes along. Wilkins actually does not look too bad. May be worth a chance, but I doubt he will be our 1b come spring. Just too early to start worrying about how bad this team will be. Long time between now and opening day. Way things are going, roster may be very different.

I don't understand the complaints. These waiver claims don't mean anything. If someone better comes along, they can be dropped immediately. No loss. The time to find FA on 1 yearcontracts is not now, it will be closer to spring. In the meantime these guys are just insurance.

Somewhere Yuni is waiting by the phone

A 2nd and 3rd rounder for Rogers. Nice. Seems like a better return than Lind. Who would have thought.

Yes. I meant waiver claim. In reviewing the transactions it does not appear many players were waived by teams opening up roster spots. Still odd that they have two roster spots open. Maybe they will select two rule 5 players in next month's draft.

I'm very surprised the Brewers did not claim anyone yesterday or at least protect Wang/Roache. With Fields, Flores, and Peterson all on the 40 man roster, you would think at least one of those would be expendable. They are all high OBP, LH hitting OFs with limited power

It was reported earlier that GM Avila said this trade is complicated and there is a chance the Tigers could also get a PTBNL back. If true, then this doesn't make sense: If the Brewers have selected a player and he is on the 40 already, then I don't see how the Tigers "may" get a PTBNL back. The only two options I can see is: 1. The player is exposed to the Rule 5 and if selected by someone, the brewers have a list of alternates. I suppose that list could include players on or off the 40 man roster. That would explain why the Tigers could get a PTBNL back if the Brewers get a 40 man roster player with more value 2. The Brewers and Tigers could not agree on a player at the time of the trade and will work it out later. As speculated by this article: http://www.blessyouboys.com/2015/11/18/9755760/francisco-rodriguez-detroit-tigers-trade-javier-betancourt, there are two lists of players, one of which would net a return player to the tigers. It could include players on or off the 40 man and still could be impacted by the Rule 5 draft. It's fun to speculate on this. I'm hoping we get Labourt. Maybe it will be Marte to fill the 3b spot.

Wang has a higher ceiling than Ortega imho. I'd protect him over roache as well. Be nice to keep them all. They still have players they could drop from the 40 (Hererra, fields, Peterson)

Does this spell the end for Herrera?

1. Arcia 2. J.Lopez 3. B. Phillips 4. T.Clark 5. Hader 6. K.Medeiros 7. Z.Davies 8. M.Reed 9. T.Wagner 10. Coulter 11. D.Williams 12. T.Taylor 13. M.Diplan 14. J.Gatewood 15. Lara 16. Roache 17. Cravy 18. D.Orimoloye 19. M.Harrison 20. Goforth 21. Houser 22. Wang 23. C.Ponce 24. T.Williams 25. C.Leal 26. Sneed 27. Stokes 28. A.Pena 29. J.Ortega 30. B.Diaz

Green has been very bad all year. Not sure this should be that surprising considering he is old for AA, has not been hitting, not a great fielder , and is not fast. I presume he will not be back next year. Too bad. We had great hope for him.

The video is worth listening to since he isn't just raging at the cameras. The words still bother me though. Garza is right. I don't ever remember a situation like his... Normally teams demote you to the bullpen or release you. I don't recall a team giving you the option to take the rest of the year off. I think he should appreciate how the team is treating him. Edwin jackson is a good comparison. Demoted to bullpen late last year then released this year. We don't know how the conversation went so I will hold off on making long term judgements on him. Hes obviously is upset and is stupid to make public remarks when angry. He has the offseason to think it over. If he comes back apologetic and ready for a fresh start I can accept that.

Less Lohse

Jorge is having a fantastic season at Bevard this year, but he has not received much attention in the prospect rankings. In addition to his 2.33 ERA, he has 4 CG this year. I did some searching to learn more about him, but there is very little out there. If anyone knows what types of pitches he throws and speed on his fastball, I'd love to hear it. Since I have not actually seen him pitch, all I could go on is his stats (From Baseball-Reference.com): [pre]Year League ERA IP WHIP H9 HR9 BB9 K9 K/BB BA OBP SLG OPS BAbip 2015 A+ 2.33 85 0.941 7.8 0.6 0.6 4.4 7.00 0.228 0.244 0.358 0.602 0.248 2014 RK+ 4.23 83 1.181 9.8 1.4 0.9 5.0 5.75 0.274 0.296 0.495 0.791 0.281 2013 RK- 4.15 56.1 1.260 9.7 0.8 1.6 6.6 4.10 0.266 0.299 0.472 0.771 0.301 2012 DSL 2.54 78 1.205 9.8 0.0 1.5 6.1 4.08 0.270 0.298 0.323 0.621 0.321 2011 DSL 3.16 74 1.095 7.8 0.5 1.5 5.5 3.75 0.252 0.296 0.369 0.665 0.283[/pre] The low strikeout rates are concerning, but those walk rates are excellent. His BAbip is very low this year compared to past seasons which will means he should regress to the mean in the second half. Note that he also seems to minimize the HR (last year as an exception). Digging into this further, let's see what kind of pitcher he is. Considering the low HRs, you would think he is a GB pitcher. Think again... [pre]Year League GB/FB GB% FB% LD% IFFB% HR/FB 2015 A+ 0.54 29% 54% 17% 13% 3% 2014 RK+ 0.73 36% 49% 15% 12% 8% 2013 RK- 0.66 35% 52% 13% 17% 4% 2012 DSL 0.88 41% 47% 12% 20% 0% 2011 DSL 0.77 39% 50% 11% 21% 4%[/pre] Typical averages per Fan Graphs are GB/FB ~ 1.3, GB% ~ 44%, FB% ~ 35%, LD% ~ 21%, IFFB% ~ 11%, HR/FB ~ 10% He is an extreme Fly Ball pitcher as his FB% (Fly balls / Balls in play) has consistently been around 50%. Clearly the pitcher friendly FSL is helping him this year. However, it appears batters do not make good contact off him. Over his career, his Line Drive percent is lower than average and Infield Fly Ball Percentage (Popups) is well above average. Now take a look at his Home Runs per Fly Ball ratio. Even in 2014, when he gave up 1.4 HR per 9 innings, he still had a low HR/FB due to the number of fly balls he gave up. It is unusual to have a pitcher consistently keep his HR/FB rate below 10% over his career. In 2012 he did not allow a single HR in 78 innings, which is remarkable for the Dominican Summer League. Conclusion: Not sure we can make one yet. Being a fly ball pitcher his stats are skewed in the Florida State League. Next year at AA will be the true test for him. I am intrigued by his control and seemingly ability to induce weak contact (deceptive delivery?) although the results could be due to the inexperienced competition. He is still young yet at age 22 in high A ball. But based purely on stats and not knowing what he throws, I would rank him somewhere in the 25-30 range of the Brewers prospects until he performs like this at higher levels. What are your thoughts?

I like Lopez a lot, but you could make the case that 2-10 could be shuffled in any order. Big gap between Arcia and the others. 1. Arcia 2. J.Lopez 3. Coulter 4. Kodi Medeiros 5. T.Taylor 6. Jake Gatewood 7. Lara 8. T.Wagner 9. D.Williams 10. M.Harrison 11. Knebel 12. M.Reed 13. T.Clark 14. Cravy 15. Diplan 16. Leal 17. Goforth 18. Roache 19. J. Rogers 20. T.Williams 21. Wang 22. N.Kirby 23. C.Ponce 24. N.Walters 25. Wren Orimoloye, Rivera, B.Hall, B.Diaz just miss.

Mass, That is a good list. I'm not sure Yadiel is 100% lock but is highly likely as someone could stash him away as utility IF. He hit much better at AA. A dark horse candidate is Manny Barreda. Power pitcher just needs to work on his control.

Do we know why the Yankees let him go? His numbers were good for them this year and if its true he throwing 98, it does not make sense.

An 800 OPS is essentially the production of Votto, Laroche, Pujols, Adrian G., or Matt Adams this year. A guy who was looking for a job just 2 months ago is projected to have the same production as these guys? Don't get me wrong, I'm on the bandwagon. I'd be happy with a 700 OPS out of him at his salary next year. That's more production than our current 1b. I just think we should temper our expectations

12 ML qualifying 1B have a lower OPS than that right now. I would love it if its true but I don't think that is a reasonable projection.

How about Brooks Hall? Is he ready to pitch again?

The article was actually quite interesting. Gomez states he asked Roenicke in mid 2012 to allow him to be a free swinger. Previously in Minnesota and with the Brewers his coaches forced him to take pitches and hit the ball on the ground. He credits his free swinging ways to his recent success. Also a great line that Braun relays about Gomez and kiwis. A must read. And yes, si stills makes a print edition. I get it only because I received a free subscription.

I'm hoping he makes the roster so we can continue to have threads like this. So funny.