colbyjack

Final: Brevard County 3, @Bradenton (Pirates) 6 Brevard County box scoreErik Komatsu has been rock solid for the 'Tees squad this season, going 2-for-4 in this game with his fourth home run of the year, a solo shot off of Pirates prospect Tim Alderson. Shawn Zarraga was the only other Manatee with an extra base hit (a double, his 11th), and Brock Kjeldgaard was the only other hitter with a multi-hit game. Matt Cline swiped a pair of bags off of his former teammate Eric Fryer. Starter R.J. Seidel gave up 3 ER in 3.2 innings, striking out and walking 4. Trey Watten pitched the best of BC's three pitchers (3.1 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 K) but took the loss. Brevard County play-by-playNothing really stands out in this one -- Seidel gave up two consecutive base hits at a bad time in the fourth inning, pitching fairly well prior to that, Ruben Flores gave up a big two-run double to Robbie Grossman in the eighth that somewhat put the game out of reach heading into the final inning, and aside from Komatsu's solo shot and taking advantage of a couple of scoring opportunities in the middle innings, the Manatees couldn't muster much offense.

Always fun when real-time (last night) interest in the thread is high -- there's always a spike when the big league boys are off (as they will be again Thursday night), regardless of the level of success / disappointment in the parent club. And I'm pretty sure tonight's T-Rats game is on TW Sports 32 with Arnett on the mound. Hopefully he doesn't add to the parent club's disappointment http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif.

I would think they'll let him throw up to 140 innings to build up his arm to a point where he could contribute at the major league level next year if called upon. That may be a bit progressive though. I mentioned yesterday that Rogers is already up significantly from the 65 or so innings he threw last year, so 140 would more than double his '09 innings. While I'd like to see his arm built up to help sooner rather than later, the team has to continue to be aware of the pitch progression. I think roughly 120 would be rather progressive, as most seem to believe that an annual increase of 30 or so innings is appropriate.

For Odorizzi, a lot of it has to do with the progression of his workload. He already has thrown 50 more innings this year than last, although I'm sure he logged more if you count EST time. Still, he's close to being maxed out, and a reason he's had a start or two skipped already (I think). I agree with the BC/HUN Gallardo-esque progression for him next year. I would like to see Rivas at AAA. He has more than proven himself each of the last few seasons, and even if he isn't bumped up to Nashville, I hope he gets the chance to log some innings with the Brewers in September, hopefully pushing him close to 150 or so innings total (although he's a candidate to go the AFL). I'm a little more hesitant with Rogers, who tossed about 65 innings last year (after missing 2007-08) and is up to 92 this year. Also, I'd like to see him string together a few starts where he's not walking a batter an inning. I know he supposedly has been allowed to throw his entire repertoire, but I'm not convinced that is why he's walking so many guys. I'd like to see Scarpetta join Peralta at AA. He's on the 40-man and would be nice to see him log a few starts at Huntsville to possibly set him up a for mid-season promotion to Nashville next year. Kentrail Davis should be at BC, but that was kind of a weird situation to begin with. It seems as though the Brewers may be intent on moving that entire WI team together given how much talent is all at the same level. This is Gennett's first taste of pro ball, I say leave him where he's at and consider having him play a half season at BC next year before getting bumped to AA. As noted, Lawrie's having a solid season, but he's not forcing the issue. I agree that Green should be at AAA, especially now that Gamel is going to be playing 1B and RF more. Cain should already be in Milwaukee.

Keep in mind that Gord Ash said that Gamel would still receive starts at third base, as well as those in RF and at 1B. I'm happy to hear about the team looking in to where both he and Lawrie fit in best moving forward. I agree that it's a couple of months late with Gamel, but he once again is proving that his bat is legit, and hopefully that continues the next time he gets his chance in Milwaukee. Few prospects have had consistently good since beginning their professional careers.

Any guesses as to how the T-Rats rotation shakes out over the weekend? If Arnett goes today, will Odorizzi be piggy-backing with him, or is it likely that Jake throws tomorrow, or gets skipped again? I know it would mostly be a guess at this point, but I would like to try and get to tomorrow's game depending on the starter. It's hard to predict their 6-man rotation when Odorizzi, Arnett, Bucci and Burgos could all be in line to take the mound.

Pretty crazy that only 12 of 32 first-rounders have signed, and only two of those were selected before Covey. We're going to see a very active signing deadline. As for former first-round picks going on to improve their draft status...that's tough because most first-rounders end up signing. In fact, most players taken in the top 2-3 rounds end up signing because the money is just too good and it's too risky to give that opportunity up. Matt Purke may very well improve his draft standing next year after being selected 14th overall in '09, although I would argue he should have been taken much higher than that (and therefore gotten more money) to begin with.

So, I'd imagine that Pierce won't sign until after the World championships are done. But any word on whether he will sign or not? Also, any updates on: Rafael Neda, Michael White Chris Bates Andrew Morris Rowan Wick signing? Apologies if I'm just looking in the wrong spot. Just haven't heard much about them lately. Mass of course has already touched on Pierce and Wick (speaking of which, awesome job!). Keep in mind, that unless you are directly connected to the negotiations, it's almost impossible to know who will and won't sign from year-to-year. The Brewers have a pretty good track record signing their early picks, particularly those that are expected to be difficult signs (like Gennett and Howell last year). It's not like there are any news releases to report that negotiations aren't progressing with a 15th-round draft pick. I do know that Rafael Neda is playing for the San Luis Obispo Blues in the California Collegiate League this summer, and recently (a week or so ago) played in the league's all-star game. The game was on TV, and I believe there are a few re-broadcasts available, at least if you get Fox College Sports Pacific. He went 0-2 in the game, but overall is hitting pretty well this summer: http://www.calsummerball.com/slob.htm#team.mlb

Was just reading on MLB Trade Rumors that a deal with the White Sox won't happen unless Gordan Beckham is included. I'm sure Gordan will be a good player, but we need pitching. Trading Fielder for Beckham would do nothing to address the weaknesses of the team. I hope the Brewers aren't so narrow-minded with their need for pitching to disregard other potential upgrades on the team. If Fielder is dealt, the Brewers are suddenly going to be without one huge bat in their lineup, and they're going to have to find some kind of replacement in productivity from other positions. I would take the best players I could get, with an obvious preference towards pitching. And I do think Beckham or some other high potential player needs to be included (I like Morel, but I question his overall potential). I agree with some that Hudson doesn't scream top of the order starter, and would seem to settle down more as a #3. Even if you believe he's a #2 starter, getting a potential, with an emphasis on potential, #2 starter for one of the best sluggers in the game as the centerpiece of any deal is a deal I would quickly pass on, unless the other pieces are intriguing enough to pull the trigger. I think some people are anxious to see a trade just for the sake of it. If a good package of talent can't be had now, don't trade him.

The T-Rats came back to win today's game, down 3-1 entering the bottom of the 9th, 4-3. Kentrail Davis with a big 2-out, 2-run double to tie the game, and Khris Davis brought him home with a single. Kentrail had 3 hits (2 doubles) today, all to the opposite field, showing a nice swinging going with the pitch the other way.

Arnett should be around 25 at best. Again, this is a prospect list, not a hot list. The start to Arnett's professional career may be disappointing, but he still remains one of the most talented players in the system. He's a 6-foot-6 or so athletic righty that can sit in the low-90s, touch the mid-90s, and has one of the best breaking balls in the system. Bucci, Lasker, Butler and Khris Davis don't have the upside of Arnett, even if they are performing much better at the same (or higher) level.

Arnett looked pretty good today. His slider was as good as ever, and once he got past some early jitters in the first, he settled down nicely and found some rhythm. His mechanics still need work, as it looked as though he struggled to repeat his release point consistently, but he looked a lot better than his previous stint with the T-Rats. He was throwing both a 4 and 2-seam fastball, elevating his 4-seamer early on before he found his groove after the first inning. His power slider is a nasty pitch thrown with the same arm angle and speed as his fastball, and he was also able to take some off on the pitch, making it look more like a curve, to drop it in for strikes on the outside corner against LH hitters. He threw 2-3 changeups, two of which hung and one that he did a good job pulling the string on. Certainly this is a pitch he's still working on. The only hit he gave up in 6 innings of work was a solo shot to open the 4th to Angelo Songco, one of the Loons' better hitters. Overall, the contact made against him, and I think he only struck out 3 batters, was pretty weak. Scooter Gennett and Kentrail Davis continue to show why they are two of the organization's better pure hitters. The T-Rats wasted a great scoring opportunity in the sixth (I think), unable to bring a pair of runners (Davis and Morris IIRC) in from 2nd and 3rd with no outs. Morris' double in this inning with a line drive that kept carrying, a nice tribute to his natural power and size, as the ball cleared the right fielders head although you never would have guessed it watching it off the bat. Stockfish is pretty terrible throwing out baserunners. I know TheCrew07 and/or battlekow have chronicled the T-Rats problems throwing out baserunners before, but his release was slow, his accuracy was on the third base side of second and his arm didn't look particularly strong.

What I meant is, if Scooter had been taken where his talent placed him, not his signability, say in the 4th round, he'd be ranked far higher. It's my opinion age is frequently overlooked in the P50, and for him to be doing what he is as a 20 year-old, just drafted last June, in Appleton, is worthy of a far higher ranking. I disagree. All four of us are well aware that Scooter should have been taken a lot higher on talent alone in last year's draft, and as I even noted above, he was one of my favorite draft-eligible talents even before the draft took place. I can buy the argument weighed on age vs. production vs. level.

I can certainly see the argument for Gennett, and in the defense of my P50 contributors, I had him ranked the lowest on my own list. And keep in mind that I raved about this guy before the Brewers even draft and signed him, and was thrilled that they did so. When compiling my list I wanted to get both he and Cody Scarpetta higher than where I had them, but Gennett has been slowly but surely creeping up, and will continue to do so. There are some good players ahead of him right now that I have a hard time drastically moving up and down just to make a spot for these two. I always remind people that the P50 is a prospect list, not a hot list. Also, it wasn't that Gennett was asking for a lot of money, but he was an Aflac All-American the summer before he was drafted, so his expectations were pretty high about where and what he would get to turn pro. Plus, a commitment to FSU is nothing to scoff at. He had a poor spring being known as one of the better, pure bats available and didn't look as good at the plate. Couple that with his less than ideal body type and you had a player with a high potential for dropping further than he should have. I agree that it's time to start paying more attention to Dykstra. The organization needs to find a better position for him though, even if it means finding out a way separating him from Gennett so they both can play 2B. As for Odorizzi, he's another player I really like when we drafted him, but I always try to temper my enthusiasm with any young arm. He very well may be the #1 or 2 prospect in the system, but right now, given the way Braddock, Axford and even Lucroy are all contributing at the big-league level, I have a hard time putting anyone ahead of them. Lawrie of course has started to show what he's capable of doing at the plate, and I haven't given up on Gamel, and I doubt the Brewers have either. I remember slowly but surely dropping Josh Butler out of the P50 a couple of years ago when he suffered a poor season, only to have him storm back and prove that he did indeed belong. You could even make a similar comparison to Corey Hart, whom most people wanted to see gone last offseason despite the fact that he still had considerable promise.

I wouldn't put much stock in that report.

If I told you Jimmy Nelson relieved and gave up more runs would you be surprised? I really don't know what to make of him and his uninspiring college career (pitching stats halfway down page).... was he just a 1 year wonder, is he a player on the rise? Nelson had talent coming to Alabama, it just took him a while to put it together. He opened his sophomore season (2009) as the team's closer, but struggled initially and settled into a non-closing bullpen role. His slider has always been legit, but he had struggled with command prior to this past season. I had him tabbed as one of my college sleeper prospects coming into the 2010 college season, and he made me look good by responding with a very solid spring. He's a sinker-slider guy whose fastball sits 88-91 and can reach 92-94 on occasion. Similar to Arnett last year, who also exploded during his junior year, it wouldn't surprise me to hear that the Brewers are having Nelson lay off of his slider this summer given his heavy workload, especially relative to how much his innings jumped this past year as compared to his freshman and sophomore years. So, I'd like to think Nelson is a player on the rise, or at least one that finally put things together, but of course we all felt the same way about Arnett a year ago.

Yeah. I get the whole supply and demand thing. I should have been more clear, but I was referring to hart's value being oversold and Fielder's perhaps being undersold in the context of the pulse of this message board. I think some are overreacting to the high "Demand" (expressed in trade rumors, tweets, etc.) for Hart relative to Fielder and incorrectly assuming that this will make his trade value, or "Price" greater than fielder's. Obviously this is not the case because there are different markets for 1B and RF and the players are largely not interchangeable. Additionally, the demand for Hart could be greater due to the knowledge that his price would be significantly lower. I agree with this. Hart is likely to have more suitors because he is somewhat attainable. Less teams are going to be interested in Prince for the exact reason why the Brewers may be looking to move him at this point in time. That doesn't mean he has less value. I heard Keith Law on the radio this morning who compared (again) Prince's situation to that of Teixeira's when the Rangers traded him to the Braves. He noted that Prince may not get that kind of package because he wasn't having his best season, but that is the type of package the Brewers should target/expect in return. I think the Red Sox, Angels and White Sox make a ton of sense. Kenny Williams is known for making some incredibly aggressive deals, and he certainly hasn't been shy about moving his top prospects for premium talent in recent years (I heard Gordon Beckham/Dan Hudson tossed out as an idea this morning). Both the Angels and the Red Sox have very deep resources to work from in regards to both prospects and finances. It also helps the Brewers that the Padres are leading the NL West, as Adrian Gonzalez isn't on the market like many thought he would be.

I may be wrong, but I assume that his NFL contract makes him ineligible in all NCAA sports, which would mean that the Brewers have until a week before next year's draft to sign him, rather the mid-August deadline for players with remaining eligibility. You could be right, but I think it's sports specific in the NCAA. Guys like Jeff Samarzdija and Drew Henson signed professional baseball deals yet they continued their NCAA football careers. I know Javon Walker began his baseball career (and Josh Booty too?) only to go back to NCAA football after their baseball careers failed, something Brent Brewer was rumored to do last offseason. I'm not sure if the NFL contract is different from MLB's that would prevent Jones from doing the reverse of this. I know the "no-agent" rule comes into play with this as well.

I watched the recent T-Rats game that was on TV, and Odorizzi certainly looked sharper than the last time he was on TV. The first time he was on I thought his fastball command and velocity looked pretty good, but he had a hard time snapping off an effective breaking ball. That wasn't a big issue on Saturday, and at times he didn't even need his curveball given how well he was throwing his fastball. His fastball has great natural movement, throwing both a 2 and 4 seamer. Jim Gantner was providing the color commentary, and noted that he thought Odorizzi was topping out in the 94-95 range. Regardless of the velocity, he spotted the pitch extremely well, and blew away several hitters with heat down the pipe, a few looking and a few swinging. He snapped off 3-5 really good curveballs and a hanful of other good ones, but this is a pitch he will need to continue to tighten up (and given how it varied from one start to the other, I'm guessing this is something he's currently working on). His arm action is the same for each pitch. It doesn't slow down or alter, and he commands the strike zone very well. I'm very impressed with this young man, as the stats are very telling of his promise. I know I likened Odorizzi to Gallardo when he was drafted, and that comp still holds given the command, the strong fastball and the athleticism. I could see Odorizzi splitting next year between BC and Huntsville like Gallardo did after spending a full year at low-A. Sidenote: The stadium gun had Odorizzi at 99 for a few pitches in this game. They did a shot of the radar gun during the telecast and I have no idea what they're using to record pitch speeds. It looks like a security camera from the 1970s, which speaks to how reliable that thing is. I really like Scooter Gennett. He's one heck of a player with a very good swing. He manages the strike zone very well, and is an aggressive hitter that doesn't seem to miss very often. He goes with pitches and has decent wheels on the basepaths. There is some pop in his swing, but he's going to be more of a doubles hitter than a home run hitter. I just love his presence on the field. Morris is an impressive athlete physically. Not that he was ever out of shape, but he appears to be in the best shape of his life right now. He really has done a good job with conditioning over the last year, as he was a little softer when I saw him his sophomore year at Auburn. Kentrail Davis appears to be hitting a little more upright than he was last year at Tennessee. I noticed this with Morris too, as I wonder if the Brewers tinkered with he and Morris, who also had a slightly more crouched stance, or if it's just coincidence. Davis' bat speed is unreal, as it rivals anyone in the system, and while he's patient and selective at the plate, it seems as though his bat can be too fast at times, somewhat similar to Rickie Weeks' progression as a hitter. The T-Rats of course are loaded with the all of the new additions, and I wonder if the Brewers intend to advance this group together similar to how they did with the Hart/Hardy/Fielder/Weeks wave a few years back. I could see Hawn joining this group sooner rather than later, as I think he's a better, more natural all-around hitter than Morris is, even if there isn't a spot for him currently.

Since the Brewers have the rights to him for the moment, is there anyway they can sign him to a nominal contract for the purpose of retain the rights to him? Possibly with some sort of bonus if he decides to choose baseball and is medically cleared. Yes, if they sign him to any deal, he's under their control just like any other newly signed player. The Angels did this with Jake Locker a year ago, signing him for something like $600,000 to retain his baseball rights. Of course, Locker has made it clear he intends to play in the NFL, but Jones' situation is proof that anything can and will happen. At this point in time who knows what Jones will take to sign. If his injury truly does threaten his NFL career, the Brewers if nothing else retain his rights until mid-August, and after that Jones would have to wait until next year's draft to be eligible to be selected again. There was talk of him being a second round pick if he had any intent of playing baseball, so his bonus could be in a similar range as Locker's.

I agree with the sentiment that I hope Jones is ok after that accident, but I also agree that it makes you wonder if his NFL career may be over before it even started. I hate associating the word "luck" in an instance like this, but the Brewers could land a tremendously gifted athlete if his football days are over. As jwill noted, he is also a very talented pitcher and throws in the low-90s with a pretty good breaking pitch if he isn't able to patrol the outfield as a positional prospect.

2009 26th rounder, lefty Lex Rutledge, is off to a good start on the Cape this summer, coming off of a very strong freshman campaign serving as Samford's closer, and is part of the Team USA trials set for early July. http://samfordsports.cstv.../spec-rel/061610aaa.html

I won't be at the CWS, but I hope to be at Rosenblatt in mid-July when Team USA take on Team Japan. Unfortunately my current day job doesn't allow for me to travel to Omaha for this event, probably at the top of my bucket list (if I were making one http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif). CWSOmaha, is Rosenblatt getting demolished once the new stadium is ready for baseball? Where's a good part of town to stay in Omaha if I'm flying in just to catch this game?

There was interest in Bivens, who did receive regular playing time this season. He attended the Perfect Game National Pre-Draft Showcase in mid-May, and teams were definitely showing interest in him. Dishon was more under the radar, and as I noted in another thread, the Brewers did a good job gauging his signability. I'm guessing most teams somewhat forgot about him and assumed he would return to LSU to receive more regular playing time to improve his draft standing.

I have read Colby's report, so that's all I really know. What else do you need to know? http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif I was pretty impressed that the team signed Dishon so quickly, since he obviously is a talented overall athlete but just couldn't crack LSU's regular lineup for regular playing time. He's got very good speed, exciting power potential and a strong arm, so now it's simply a matter of him getting as much playing experience as possible. While Dishon didn't play football, D'Vontrey Richardson might be a better comparison given the lack of playing time in college but being in school for three years. He's really a boom or bust kind of prospect, but there doesn't seem to be much "bust" involved since they used such a low pick to take him. The Brewers scouts really did their homework with this kid to gauge he signability.