colbyjack

Today I have released my annual draft review/draft preview story, which can be found on the draft page of the fan forum. The 2009 draft preview is probably is most readers interest, especially those that are fans of other teams. Since that story includes my top 12 prospects from both the high school and college ranks, it's time to release my top 30 overall players. If the name shows up as a link, click on it and you will be taken to their scouting profile as they are added in the 2009 player spotlight thread. When the default draft page that most of you are familiar with, dedicated to the 2009 draft, is up, I'll be sure to let everyone know. Brewerfan.net Top 30 Prospects for 2009: 1. Stephen Strasburg, RHP, San Diego State 2. Matthew Purke, LHP, Spring, TX 3. Grant Green, SS, USC 4. Alex White, RHP, North Carolina 5. Dustin Ackley, 1B/OF, North Carolina 6. Aaron Crow, RHP, Fort Worth Cats (Independent League) 7. Donovan Tate, OF, Cartersville, GA 8. Andrew Oliver, LHP, Oklahoma State 9. Tyler Matzek, LHP, Mission Viejo, CA 10. Kyle Gibson, RHP, Missouri 11. Mike Minor, LHP, Vanderbilt 12. Jacob Turner, RHP, St. Charles, MO 13. Shelby Miller, RHP, Brownwood, TX 14. Kentrail Davis, OF, Tennessee 15. Mychal Givens, RHP/SS, Tampa, FL 16. Zack Wheeler, RHP, Dallas, GA 17. Kendal Volz, RHP, Baylor 18. Austin Maddox, C/RHP, Jacksonville, FL 19. Matt Davidson, 3B, Yucaipa, CA 20. Jason Stoffel, RHP, Arizona 21. Blake Smith, RHP/OF, California 22. Keyvius Sampson, RHP/OF, Ocala, FL 23. Ben Tootle, RHP, Jacksonville State 24. Robbie Shields, SS, Florida Southern 25. Ben Paulsen, 1B, Clemson 26. Jonathan Walsh, C/3B/OF, Coppell, TX 27. Brian Goodwin, CF, Rocky Mount, NC 28. Tanner Scheppers, RHP, Saint Paul Saints (Independent League) 29. Brad Boxberger, RHP, USC 30. Max Stassi, C, Yuba City, CA

Bob Brenly for the bullpen job?

A ton of new stuff hits Brewerfan.net today. We apologize for having everything on the message boards as opposed to the homepage, but some technical difficulties are keeping us from releasing these features in ways we have typically done so in the past. Don't feel like you have to cram it all down your throat on this gloomy Saturday afternoon in November, but be sure to check out the updated, end-of-season Power 50: Brewerfan.net Power 50 Also, the Brewerfan.net staff took the time to break down the 2008 minor league season, handing out some hardware while also looking ahead to next year (Toby's initial projection of the 2009 rosters are always fun to look over): Farm Hops - November 2008 And finally, I was able to wrap up my annual draft recap/draft preview story, taking a peak back at Jack Zduriencik's last draft with the Brewers, while also taking a peak at some of the more intriguing names available for 2009: 2008 Draft Recap/2009 Preview Please talk about those individual stories in their individual thread. Feel free to use this thread to beat up the Power 50 editors on how much you think we missed the boat on your favorite farmhand.

A ton of new stuff hits Brewerfan.net today. We apologize for having everything on the message boards as opposed to the homepage, but some technical difficulties are keeping us from releasing these features in ways we have typically done so in the past. Don't feel like you have to cram it all down your throat on this gloomy Saturday afternoon in November, but be sure to check out the updated, end-of-season Power 50: Brewerfan.net Power 50 Also, the Brewerfan.net staff took the time to break down the 2008 minor league season, handing out some hardware while also looking ahead to next year (Toby's initial projection of the 2009 rosters are always fun to look over): Farm Hops - November 2008 And finally, I was able to wrap up my annual draft recap/draft preview story, taking a peak back at Jack Zduriencik's last draft with the Brewers, while also taking a peak at some of the more intriguing names available for 2009: 2008 Draft Recap/2009 Preview Please talk about those individual stories in their individual thread. Feel free to use this thread to beat up the Power 50 editors on how much you think we missed the boat on your favorite farmhand.

Caleb Gindl continues to hit the ball well out of the 3-hole in Hawaii, hitting his second home run of the fall, a solo shot in the 8th inning to right-centerfield. Overall he was 1-4 with a K. Logan Schafer was 1-3. http://mlb.mlb.com/milb/s...008_11_07_nshwin_wocwin_1

Lorenzo Cain started in LF today and went 1-4 with a RBI single as the Javelinas mounted a late "rally," avoiding a 13-0 shutout by scoring 4 runs in the 9th. Brent Brewer replaced Carlos Truinfel late in the game and went 0-2 with a K. David Welch pitched the 6th and 7th innings, giving up a pair of hits while striking out a pair, and Omar Aguilar followed him in the 9th, with a scoreless frame of his own. Aguilar wasn't as sharp today as he has been, as only 12 of his 23 pitches went for strikes, yet he only gave up one walk and struck out two. He has yet to give up an earned run over eight appearances. http://mlb.mlb.com/milb/s...008_11_07_perwin_peswin_1

Please note that this story normally would be posted on the homepage of Brewerfan.net. Due to some technical difficulties, I am posting this story here on the forums for all to enjoy. http://www.mlb.com/images/2008/06/05/LxCRzCzi.jpg Brett Lawrie 2008 Draft Recap - Early 2009 Preview by Patrick Ebert After spending the last nine years filling the Brewers system with talent, an effort that culminated with the Brewers making the postseason this year for the first time since 1982, Jack Zduriencik has finally been rewarded for his hard work and knack for procuring big-league ballplayers by being named the General Manager of the Seattle Mariners. You can nitpick and argue against the players that he accumulated through the draft, as none of them are without warts, but the bottom line remains that without him the team probably wouldn't be in the position they are today. Five of the team's regular starters (Prince Fielder, Rickie Weeks, J.J. Hardy, Ryan Braun and Corey Hart) are products of those efforts. Starting pitchers Yovani Gallardo and Manny Parra were also drafted by Zduriencik, as were the key pieces used in the trade for CC Sabathia (Matt LaPorta, Michael Brantley and Rob Bryson) and Scott Linebrink (Will Inman and Steve Garrison). The farm system remains strong, and deep, with talent as we continue to look forward to the players that will be a part of the Milwaukee Brewers moving forward. While I plan to write a more detailed story in the weeks to come breaking down the talent Zduriencik procured, in this story I want to take a look back at his final draft with the Brewers. As the 2008 draft approached, the first year in which Zduriencik would have additional, early picks to play with, most assumed the team would load up on pitchers. However, no one expected the team to draft and sign 20 pitchers among their top 28 picks. That's almost enough arms to fill two minor league rosters. The scouting department under Zduriencik's watch continued to do an exceptional job signing its draftees, inking the top 26 selections, 29 of the top 30 and 36 of 54 in total. Naming his replacement will be incredibly crucial, as the Brewers scouting department needs to continue to keep the pipeline of talent from the lower levels all the way up to Milwaukee rich with talent if the team hopes to continue their success. This talent will not only be used to replace and complement the talent at the big-league level, but also to supply General Manager Doug Melvin with valuable trade commodities the next time a trade opportunity like the one for CC Sabathia presented him with. Please continue to visit the draft page on the fan forum to read more about the players selected in the 2008 draft while also keeping up to date with some of the more talented players that will be available in 2009. Bats First "Before the draft I felt that the two biggest weaknesses in the Brewers system were power bats and catching depth." This was my comment as part of this story a year ago after the team selected Matt LaPorta and Jonathan Lucroy with their first two picks. This year they needed only one pick to address both of those needs. While the team loaded up on pitching overall in the draft, they did use a few of their early picks on potential impact positional players. 1. (Draft round) Brett Lawrie, C Did not play, signed 2009 contract 2b. Cutter Dykstra, CF/2B .269/.406/.269 in 26 at-bats with Arizona .271/.367/.438, 9 doubles, 5 home runs in 144 at-bats with Helena 3. Logan Schafer, CF .240/.355/.560 in 25 at-bats with Helena .276/.306/.370, 13 doubles, 2 triples in 181 at-bats with West Virginia 6. Jose Duran, 2B .221/.284/.309, 4 doubles, 1 triple, 2 home runs in 136 at-bats with Helena 8. Erik Komatsu, RF .321/.394/.538, 19 doubles, 4 triples, 11 home runs in 277 at-bats with Helena Lawrie is a premium athlete and a potential impact slugger. Similar to the picks of Ryan Braun and Rickie Weeks in past years, Lawrie could climb quickly through the system thanks to his prowess at the plate. However, his development could be slowed if the Brewers are intent on grooming him as a catcher. Given the system's depth behind the plate, Lawrie and the entire organization may benefit from a quick and permanent move to another position, with second and third base, as well as the outfield, being possible destinations for him. He signed a 2009 contract after playing with the Canadian National Team in the Beijing Olympics, and his placement to open the 2009 season may indicate just how serious the Brewers are about his defensive future. After Lawrie, the Brewers drafted an entire outfield, as Schafer, Dykstra and Komatsu could represent the Timber Rattlers outfield from left to right, and all three enjoyed success during their professional debuts. Dykstra is the most dynamic of the three, profiling in a very similar fashion to his father, Lenny, with a hard-nosed, aggressive approach to the game. Komatsu has the most polished bat but also the most limited upside as a 5'10" left-handed swinger, while Schafer is a long strider that plays strong defense with some speed and power to the gaps. The Brewers did toy with the idea of trying Dykstra at second base during their fall instructional camp, and either Schafer and/or Komatsu could be aggressively promoted to Brevard County to open the 2009 season. The black sheep of this group is infielder Jose Duran, who struggled upon his pro conversion after putting up big numbers at Texas A&M on his way to being named the Big 12 conference's player of the year. Prep Righties The Brewers aren't shy about taking high school pitchers with their early picks, although the past few years they have targeted more college arms after the first few rounds of the draft. Of the 23 pitchers the Brewers selected and signed, only seven hailed from the prep ranks, all of which were right-handed. 1s-a. Jake Odorizzi 3.48 ERA, 18 hits, 19:9 K:BB ratio in 20.2 innings with Arizona 2a. Seth Lintz 6.87 ERA, 22 hits, 26:16 K:BB ratio in 18.1 innings with Arizona 5. Maverick Lasker Did not pitch, injury (back) 16. Stosh Wawrzasek 6.94 ERA, 15 hits, 12:7 K:BB ratio in 11.2 innings with Arizona 17. Damon Krestalude 3.15 ERA, 36 hits, 28:16 K:BB ratio in 34.1 innings with Arizona 18. Nicholas Bucci 7.36 ERA, 12 hits, 14:2 K:BB ratio in 11 innings with Arizona 19. Blake Billings 2.25 ERA, 10 hits, 15:1 K:BB ratio in 12 innings with Arizona Odorizzi, Lintz and Lasker all have a very similar profile. All three are in the 6'2", 180 pound range, they all are very good overall athletes that also excelled at the plate as hitters, and they all show easy arm strength with the potential for wicked breaking balls. Odorizzi of course is the most promising of this trio as the highest pitcher the Brewers selected last June. Not only does he have the projectability and stuff to succeed, but he is also the most polished, with solid command of a well-rounded three-pitch repertoire (91-94 fastball that has touched 97, low-80s slider/slurve, changeup) that may allow him to open his first full professional season with Wisconsin. We didn't get a taste for Lasker since he had a stress fracture in his back, but he, Lintz, Wawrzasek, Krestalude, Bucci and Billings should all be a part of a very talented Helena staff next summer. Lintz didn't post a particularly nice looking ERA, but he did strikeout more than his fair share of batters. Krestalude and Billings were solid across the board, as Billings arguably had the finest debut of any pitcher drafted this past year (with the usual small sample warning) while also having the most projectable build. Stosh and Bucci, like Lintz, showed their propensity to miss bats despite posting ugly ERAs. College Pitching! The Brewers didn't take a single right-handed pitcher in the top 10 rounds in the 2007 draft. They made up for that, and then some, by taking the three prep pitchers listed above along with another four from the college ranks through the top 10 rounds this past year. Since the team selected and signed 16 college pitchers in total, I'm going to break them all down here without breaking them into separate categories due to their handedness. It will be hard to say that Jack Zduriencik and his scouting team didn't place an emphasis on the supposedly more refined college hurlers after this effort. 1s-b. Evan Frederickson, LHP 3.09 ERA, 13 hits, 16:5 K:BB ratio in 11.2 innings with Helena 6.20 ERA, 16 hits, 18:26 K:BB ratio in 20.1 innings with West Virginia 2c. Cody Adams, RHP 3.48 ERA, 56 hits, 37:16 K:BB ratio in 54.1 innings with Helena 4. Josh Romanski, LHP Did not pitch, appeared in four games as a DH 7. Trey Watten, RHP 5.40 ERA, 64 hits, 40:25 K:BB ratio in 55 innings with Helena 9. Michael Bowman, RHP 4.26 ERA, 21 hits, 19:6 K:BB ratio in 19 innings with Helena 3.58 ERA, 23 hits, 19:15 K:BB ratio in 27.2 innings with West Virginia 10. Greg Miller, RHP 9.30 ERA, 28 hits, 24:20 K:BB ratio in 20.1 innings with Arizona 12. Garrett Sherrill, RHP 4.71 ERA, 29 hits, 46:21 K:BB ratio in 36.1 innings with Helena 13. Robert Wooten, RHP 0.00 ERA, 10 hits, 14:2 K:BB ratio in 9 innings with Helena 2.38 ERA, 14 hits, 30:4 K:BB ratio in 22.2 innings with West Virginia 15. Mark Willinsky, RHP 4.86 ERA, 31 hits, 35:24 K:BB ratio in 33.1 innings with Helena 20. Liam Ohlmann, RHP 1.42 ERA, 4 hits, 5:1 K:BB ratio in 6.1 innings with Arizona 5.68 ERA, 37 hits, 30:16 K:BB ratio in 31.2 innings with Helena 21. Lucas Luetge, LHP 0.00 ERA, 5 hits, 13:5 K:BB ratio in 14 innings with Helena 3.72 ERA, 35 hits, 33:10 K:BB ratio in 36.1 innings with West Virginia 22. Ben Jeffers, RHP 8.13 ERA, 33 hits, 37:20 K:BB ratio in 27.2 innings with Arizona 24. Brandon Ritchie, LHP 6.87 ERA, 84 hits, 49:21 K:BB ratio in 55 innings with Helena 31. Brandon Rapoza, RHP 4.22 ERA, 10 hits, 9:6 K:BB ratio in 10.2 innings with Arizona 1.04 ERA, 14 hits, 16:9 K:BB ratio in 26 innings with Helena 48. Rico Salmon, RHP 2.25 ERA, 2 hits, 5:0 K:BB ratio in 4 innings with Arizona 3.60 ERA, 41 hits, 39:13 K:BB ratio in 40 innings with Helena 49. Daniel Meadows, LHP 0.00 ERA, 5 hits, 4:3 K:BB ratio in 8 innings with Arizona 5.45 ERA, 43 hits, 38:15 K:BB ratio in 39.2 innings with Helena I don't even know where to start with this list. As noted above, the Brewers drafted enough pitchers in 2008 to fill two full levels with arms, which is essentially what they did between Helena and Arizona this past summer, and those same arms for the most part are going to represent the staffs at Wisconsin and Helena next summer. As the old adage goes, you can never have too much pitching, and these problems do tend to work themselves out. However, don't be surprised to see an aggressive promotion or two next spring to help spread the wealth. Frederickson's profile is more similar to a high school player's, with a big frame, impressive velocity but little command and overall polish. He earned his place in the draft by opening eyes at the team's pre-draft workout with a mid-to-upper 90s heater. Unfortunately that velocity was not present during his debut, which included a quick bump up to West Virginia. A long season may have a lot to do with that, but Frederickson's boom or bust potential keeps most in the cautiously optimistic camp. Adams, Watten and Bowman are very similar in size and stuff to the prep trio of Odorizzi, Lintz and Lasker. Adams has the best, most electric arm, and fared much better towards the end of the year with the H-Crew than he did initially upon his arrival. His velocity does play better in shorter stints, so an eventual and permanent move to short relief isn't out of the question. Watten has one of the more interesting profiles, since he has only recently taken to pitching after going to college as a power-hitting third baseman. Because of that he clearly needs to gain experience, but he has two wicked pitches (low-to-mid-90s fastball, slider) to build off of. Bowman's polished three-pitch repertoire allowed him to enjoy a bump up to low-A during his debut campaign. Miller, Sherrill, Willinsky, Ohlmann, Jeffers, Ritchie, Rapoza, Salmon and Meadows are all built much bigger and stronger than the pitchers previously highlighted. Miller, like Watten, entered college as a two-way threat, and has limited experience on the mound. But his sheer arm strength is enough to get excited about, as he's been able to dial his fastball in the mid-90s despite needing experience and polish, as shown by the results during his pro debut with the Baby Brewers in Arizona. He will likely join the prep arms while working out of the Helena bullpen next June. Sherrill and Willinsky also have impressive fastballs, but their secondary stuff lacks in consistency. Both were used exclusively out of the Helena bullpen this past summer, where they, along with Rapoza, who filled the role of closer in college, will continue to be groomed. Jeffers and Ritchie aren't that far removed from Tommy John surgery, and both are better off when they're allowed to reach back and throw as hard as they can. They may be developed as starters for now to allow them to fully re-gain their arm strength and conditioning, but both may be better off coming out of the bullpen down the road. Ohlmann is somewhat of an odd duck in this group, as his size is comparable to everyone else, but he doesn't have the same raw, hard-throwing, inconsistent profile. His repertoire is fairly polished but he sits in the upper-80s with his fastball. Salmon and Meadows are likely to fill in the gaps in the lower levels of the system, although Meadows had a good enough professional debut and has decent stuff for a southpaw. Not mentioned above are lefties Romanski and Luetge, both of who pitched for prominent D1 programs in San Diego and Rice. A groin injury kept Romanski from pitching last summer, but he is a talented all-around athlete that played both ways in college and led Team USA in hitting during the summer of 2007. Luetge's polish allowed him to help West Virginia get into the playoffs on their way to making the championship series. Rob Wooten, the fiinal member of this group, was drafted as a reliever out of college and will continue to be developed that way. He's a polished sinker-slider pitcher with significant experience getting outs at the highest of levels playing for North Carolina, which includes 10 appearances in the College World Series. He finished the year at West Virginia, and should open next year at Brevard County if not Huntsville. If nothing else, the Brewers took a boat-load of arms hoping that throwing enough of them against a wall will allow a few of them to stick. They certainly did their homework by targeting a variety of live arms, while also re-stocking the shelves of the lower levels of the system. Bat Fillers With the focus of the draft on the bats at the top and the arms throughout, here are the remaining positional players that were selected and signed as part of the Brewers 2008 draft effort. With all due respect to these players, all of them, with the possible exception of Dedrick and George, likely will help fill in the cracks in the lower level of the minor leagues over the next few years. 11. Mikey Marseco, SS .311/.338/.437, 13 doubles, 3 triples in 151 at-bats with Helena 14. Corey Kemp, C .253/.345/.343, 9 doubles, 3 home runs in 198 at-bats with Helena 25. John Delaney, IF .262/.376/.424, 12 doubles, 5 triples, 9 home runs in 302 at-bats with Helena 26. Derrick Alfonso, C .227/.295/.364, 4 doubles, 3 home runs in 110 at-bats with Helena 30. Wayne Dedrick, OF Did not play, signed 2009 contract 35. Mike Vass, OF .242/.321/.435, 4 doubles, 3 triples, 7 home runs in 161 at-bats with Helena .091/.231/.227, 1 home run in 22 at-bats with West Virginia 38. Michael Roberts, C .270/.342/.397, 7 doubles, 3 home runs in 141 at-bats with Helena 46. Carlos George, SS .234/.258/.316, 10 doubles, 2 triples in 171 at-bats with Arizona Marseco and Delaney offer defensive versatility in the infield, with Marseco profiling to stick at shortstop due to very slick and easy actions at the position, one that gets rather thin talent-wise in the lower levels of the system. Delaney can, and probably will, play anywhere on the infield. Delaney is going to offer more pop, while Marseco has some power to the gaps and a little bit of speed to leg out extra-base hits. Similar to Marseco, George is very talented defensively at shortstop, although he is not as refined given the 37 errors he committed in 46 games. However, he offers a lot more physically than Marseco that could allow him to blossom at the plate with experience. That slow maturation process will continue next summer in Helena. Kemp, Alfonso and Roberts are going to shoulder the burden of catching all of the young arms the Brewers recently drafted as well as those already in place in the system. One or two of them may remain with the Helena squad to help usher in the next wave of talent, from the prep arms listed above to the players not yet added to the system. Dedrick played with Blake Billings in high school, and like Billings has considerable upside and is a great natural athlete, but he is as raw as they come. Playing time is likely going to be hard to come by for Vass, who will have to contend with the likes of fellow '08 draftees Cutter Dykstra, Logan Schafer and Erik Komatsu as well as other corner outfielders that he's currently sandwiched in between, such as Chris Dennis and Caleb Gindl. Vass is strongly built and has power potential, but is more likely to fill an organizational need as a fourth outfielder. The Ones that Got Away Jack Zduriencik has always placed a priority on signing players, especially among the first 20-25 picks, ever since he took over as the team's scouting director, so you don't typically see too many players get away that the team could end up regretting, and that was definitely the case in this past year's drafting effort. Only 18 draftees didn't end up signing. The most notable of which was 39th rounder Eric Decker, a fine baseball prospect and overall athlete, is actually more well known for his exploits on the gridiron as a wide receiver for the Minnesota Golden Gophers. He is among the national leaders in both receptions and receiving yards, and plans to keep his options wide open in both sports. 23. (draft round from 2008) Marcus Knecht, OF (Oklahoma State) 27. Austin Adams, SS (Faulkner University) 28. Brandon Garcia, C/RHP (USC) 29. Tommy Collier, RHP (San Jacinto College) 32. Colt Farrar, RHP (Texas Tech) 33. Michael White, RHP (Walters State) 34. Calvin Drummond, RHP (Arizona State) 36. Evan Bronson, LHP (Trinity University) 37. Kyle Winkler, RHP (TCU) 39. Eric Decker, OF (Minnesota) 40. Nicholas Fogarty, LHP (may have returned to Thorniea SS) 41. Joe Scott (Cal State Fullerton) 42. Ryan Wood (East Carolina) 43. Dexter Price (Auburn) 44. Kaleb Herren (Oklahoma) 45. James Kottaras (Connors State College) 47. Kavon Bahramzadeh (Kansas State) 50. Sean Nolin (San Jacinto College) Initial Assessment Like any year, it is difficult to form an opinion of a team's drafting effort four months after the draft took place, especially when the team's top pick (Lawrie) has yet to make his professional debut. Despite the number of pitchers the team selected, they did manage to target a few key bats in the early rounds, with Lawrie and Dykstra having the biggest upside to make the most significant contributions down the road. The Brewers seem committed to keep Lawrie behind the dish for now, even if his eventual defensive home may lye elsewhere. Komatsu and Schafer enjoyed immediate success, with Schafer having his season continue in the Hawaii Winter Baseball league. Jake Odorizzi and Seth Lintz were both named among the top 20 prospects in the Arizona League according to Baseball America, as Odorizzi posted fine overall numbers while Lintz did a good job limiting hits and missing bats, despite struggling with his control and posting a less than desirable ERA. 19th rounder Blake Billings may have had the most promising debut among all of the pitchers drafted, although he tossed only 12 innings in 6 appearances. Helena's staff was comprised almost entirely of '08 draftees (which should be the case again next year), and while no one really stood out more than the other, collectively they did a good job missing bats while offering a tremendous amount of depth in both the starting rotation and the bullpen. Watten is probably the biggest sleeper to watch from that group. Evan Frederickson got a quick bump up to West Virginia, although he didn't show the same mid-90s velocity that he showcased at the Brewers pre-draft workout. Rob Wooten's polished approach and repertoire allowed him to also finish the season with the Power, while Lucas Luetge was also a big part of the Power's late-season and postseason run. The combination of a few key, potential impact bats and a extraordinarily deep list of pitchers for a player or more to emerge over the next few years is encouraging, and hopefully we get a better sense of who the more likely candidates are to do so next summer. 2009 Draft If the Brewers continue their on and off trend of focusing early on either pitchers or hitters, that means hitters are due up for next year's draft. However, the strength of the '09 draft class lies in its pitchers, particularly from college, in which we may see the top 10-15 overall picks dominated by arms. San Diego State righty Stephen Strasburg is the early favorite to go first overall, with the perfect combination of size, athleticism, stuff and command, and profiles in a similar fashion to David Price in the 2007 draft and even Mark Prior from 2001. Whether he goes first overall of course remains to be seen, as he has chosen to align himself with Scott Boras. The same can be said for Oklahoma State lefty Andrew Oliver, North Carolina outfielder Dustin Ackley, USC shortstop Grant Green, Tennessee draft-eligible sophomore outfielder Kentrail Davis and the top unsigned pick from the 2008 draft, right-handed pitcher Aaron Crow, who plans to pitch for the Fort Worth Cats next spring in the Independent American Association league. Top prep stars, such as outfielder Donovan Tate from Georgia and right-handed pitcher Jacob Turner from Missouri, will also be advised by the super-agent. Meaning of course signability will once again play a prominent part of the draft. High School 1. Matthew Purke, LHP, Spring, TX 2. Donovan Tate, OF, Cartersville, GA 3. Tyler Matzek, LHP, Mission Viejo, CA 4. Jacob Turner, RHP, St. Charles, MO 5. Shelby Miller, RHP, Brownwood, TX 6. Mychael Givens, RHP/SS, Tampa, FL 7. Zach Wheeler, RHP, Dallas, GA 8. Austin Maddox, C/RHP, Jacksonville, FL 9. Matt Davidson, 3B, Yucaipa, CA 10. Keyvious Sampson, RHP/OF, Ocala, FL 11. Jonathan Walsh, C/3B/OF, Coppell, TX 12. Brian Goodwin, OF, Rocky Mount, NC Prep Notes The high school crop is highlighted by a pair of left-handed pitchers in Purke and Matzek. Both have touched the mid-90s, and pitch comfortably in the low-90s. Purke is praised for his competitive fire and wicked fastball-slider combo, while Matzek tosses a hard curveball with silky-smooth mechanics. Ian Krol (Naperville, IL), Chad James (Yukon, OK) and Beau Wright (Los Alamitos) add to the prep southpaw depth. Tate may be the most physically gifted player to come from the prep ranks since Justin Upton and Cameron Maybin in 2005. He is a two-sport star whose father, Lars Tate, was a college star running back that spent three seasons in the NFL with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Givens, Maddox and Sampson are going to draw a lot of interest in the spring for their two-way talents. Givens and Sampson are more likely to be drafted as pitchers with easy arm strength and wicked breaking balls. Maddox' arm strength and power potential will likely lead to him being pursued as a catcher. Catchers overall are a strength for next year's crop, which includes Maddox, Stassi, Luke Bailey (LaGrange, GA), Jonathan Walsh (Coppell, TX), Andrew Susac (Roseville, CA) and Michael Zunino (Cape Coral, FL), all of whom are candidates to go in the first two rounds of the draft. Texas strong righty Shelby Miller is quickly rising up draft boards, while the twin towers of Chad Thompson (Trabuco Canyon, CA) and Christopher Jenkins (Westfield, NJ), who check in at 6'8" and 6'7" respectively, also throw gas with good secondary stuff. Davidson, Goodwin, third baseman Brian Borchering (Alva, FL), shortstop Deven Marrero (Davie, FL) and outfielder Jake Marisnick (Riverside, CA) really helped their stock with strong performances this summer. College 1. Stephen Strasburg, RHP, San Diego State 2. Grant Green, SS, USC 3. Alex White, RHP, North Carolina 4. Dustin Ackley, OF/1B, North Carolina 5. Aaron Crow, RHP, Fort Worth Cats (Independent) 6. Andrew Oliver, LHP, Oklahoma State 7. Kyle Gibson, RHP, Missouri 8. Mike Minor, LHP, Vanderbilt 9. Kentrail Davis, OF, Tennessee 10. Kendal Volz, RHP, Baylor 11. Jason Stoffel, RHP, Arizona 12. Blake Smith, RHP/OF, California College Notes Strasburg as noted above is the cream of this year's crop, and is poised for a huge junior year, and has posted impressive numbers throughout his college career. He earned a spot on the U.S. Olympic team's bronze medal-winning roster as part of the Beijing Olympics. He along with fellow draft-eligible pitchers Oliver, Gibson, Minor, Volz, Smith, Mike Leake (Arizona State), Tyler Lyons (Oklahoma State), A.J. Griffin (San Diego) and Chris Hernandez (Miami) formed an incredible staff for the Team USA National Collegiate team this past summer, posting a staff ERA of 0.88 that carried the team to an undefeated, 24-0 record. Green and Ackley showed their tools on the Cape, along with infielders Robbie Shields (Florida Southern), and D.J. LeMahieu (draft-eligible sophomore, LSU), first basemen Ben Paulsen (Clemson) and Ryan Wheeler (Loyola Marymount), third basemen Chris Dominguez (Louisville) and Rich Poythress (Georgia), and outfielders A.J. Pollock (Notre Dame), Tim Wheeler (Sacramento State) and Brett Jackson (California). Kentrail Davis was the lone draft-eligible hitting star for Team USA. Cape starters such as Jeff Inman (Stanford), Craig Fritsch (Baylor), Shawn Tolleson (Baylor), Matt Thomson (San Diego) and Brad Stillings (Kent State) add to the impressive pitching talent available for next year's draft. Jason Stoffel (Arizona), Brad Boxberger (USC), Ben Tottle (Jacksonville State) and Scott Bittle (Ole Miss, an unsigned second rounder by the New York Yankees) highlight the short list of power relievers available. The weakest positional category for the 2009 draft at this point in time appears to be college catchers. Tony Sanchez (Boston College), Josh Phegley (Indiana) and Tommy Medica (Santa Clara) could be drafted in the early rounds based on need more than merit. Robert Stock (USC) may ride his reputation to an early draft selection as well. Best Guess Next June the Brewers will own the 25th overall selection, although it wouldn't be surprising to see the team forfeit that pick by signing a prominent Type A free agent this offseason. Although with two prominent Type A free agents-to-be of their own about to hit the market in CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets, it's likely the team stands to gain a few extra picks along the way. Of course trying to guess who the Brewers, or any team for that matter, is a waste of time this far out. Trying to figure out who Jack Zduriencik would draft even days before the draft was never easy, and now it will be even more difficult to predict since the team will be turning to a new scouting director to acquire talent via the draft. The Brewers have taken bats with their first pick the past two years, although they did buck a significant trend under Zduriencik's watch by taking not one college pitcher before the third round, but two. As noted above, the numbers of pitchers the Brewers selected will probably be enough to fill two levels with talent, so don't be surprised if the team takes a lot of bats early next year, even if the talent depth seems to favor the pitchers, to help fill the rookie clubs' lineups. Of course we could see them do the exact opposite of this past year, adding a key arm early before going nearly overboard with bats. There are a lot of different things the team could do between now and next June, and those are the storylines I hope to key everyone up to speed with as part of Brewerfan.net's draft coverage.

Please note that this story normally would be posted on the homepage of Brewerfan.net. Due to some technical difficulties, I am posting this story here on the forums for all to enjoy. http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/images/2008/06/03/6pnKHfg9.jpg Mat Gamel Farm Hops - November 2008 by Patrick Ebert Welcome to Brewerfan.net's season-ending edition of Farm Hops in which we will review the entire 2008 season of all of the Brewers minor league affiliates. Toby Harrmann, Brad Jiles, Jim Goulart and myself are going to hand out some hardware while tackling some of the key issues while looking ahead to the 2009 season. Minor League Player of the Year 2008: Mat Gamel, 3B, Huntsville Stars/Nashville Sounds/Milwaukee Brewers Mat Gamel can hit, no doubt about it, as he has done so at every level since he was drafted in the fourth round of the 2005 draft. And he continues to get better, seeing his power bloom considerably this past year after being named the MVP of the Hawaii Winter Baseball league last fall. He was one of three players on the Huntsville Stars squad that was considered for this award, including Alcides Escobar and Angel Salome. Since we're not a big fan of ties for such awards, Gamel got the nod by being among the league leaders in the Southern League in nearly every offensive category. He finished the season with the big-league Brewers when the rosters expanded on September 1st after a week-long stay with the Nashville Sounds, recording his first big-league hit (a double) off of Padres starter Chris Young when he tossed a two-hit complete game against the Brewers in early September. A tender elbow caused him to be shut down in mid-September and also kept him from participating in the Arizona Fall League, but he should be healthy and ready to contribute for the Sounds, where he will be a phone call away from Milwaukee. Minor League Pitcher of the Year 2008: Jeremy Jeffress, RHP, Brevard County Manatees / Huntsville Stars Despite starting the year suspended for testing positive for an illegal substance (believed to be marijuana), Jeffress put together a very strong year amidst incredible skepticism. He reportedly has got his life back on track, avoiding some of the negative influences in his life to stay clean, and he was rewarded for his success with Brevard County by being promoted to Huntsville towards the end of the season. He now is participating in the Arizona Fall League where he is focusing on improving his control, limiting walks and honing his secondary pitches. Few players in all of the minor leagues can match Jeffress' pure stuff, and he has been able to avoid serious injury on his ascent to Milwaukee. He is expected to return to Huntsville to begin the 2009 season, and could very well end the year in Nashville, if not Milwaukee. If he continues to improve, he could be counted on to become a valuable member of the big-league Brewers in 2010, where he could join fellow homegrown products such as Yovani Gallardo and Manny Parra in the starting rotation. Newcomer of the Year 2008: Erik Komatsu, OF, Helena Brewers College draftees that enjoy immediate success in the Pioneer League always draw some skepticism, since we have learned to temper our enthusiasm waiting to see what these players can do during their first full season of professional baseball. At this point in time, Komatsu looks to be a very astute selection as an eighth round pick from the 2008 draft class after he hit .321/.394/.538 during his pro debut, smacking 19 doubles and 11 home runs in 68 games. While he just turned 21 years old, his bat is reportedly polished enough to handle a relatively aggressive path to the big leagues. As a shorter, left-handed hitter his profile is similar to Caleb Gindl's, and like Gindl offers something the Brewers are short on from top to bottom in their system: A potential impact left-handed bat. He could open the 2009 season with either the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers or with Brevard County. Most Improved 2008: Eric Fryer, C, West Virginia Power Unlike Komatsu, Fryer didn't fare so well during his debut with the Helena Brewers a year ago, hitting .209 after being drafted in the 10th round out of Ohio State. A durable and versatile overall athlete, Fryer's success is especially encouraging considering that he can catch. He hit .335/.407/.506 for the West Virginia Power, although it remains to be seen how the Brewers view his future. While he didn't make his debut in 2008 until the month of May, he made a strong enough impression to be a part of their future plans now. He is poised to move up to Brevard County to open the 2009 season, and if he continues to hit the ball as well as he did this past year, he could finish the year with Huntsville. Comeback Player of the Year 2008: Brad Nelson, 1B, Nashville Sounds/Milwaukee Brewers It seems like a long, long time ago when Brad Nelson was considered to be the Brewers' top prospect. A broken hamate bone while playing for the High Desert Mavericks back in 2003 significantly derailed his career, as he struggled to find his stroke that made him such a promising offensive player until this past season, in which he hit .286/.380/.480 for the Nashville Sounds. That success led to him not only being called up when rosters expanded on September 1st, but also allowed him to be carried on the Brewers postseason roster into October. The lack of left-handed bats on the big-league roster could continue to benefit Nelson moving forward, even if he is used primarily off of the bench. Sleeper to Watch For, 2009: Wily Peralta, RHP, Helena Brewers/West Virginia Power Peralta was one of two promising pitchers the Brewers signed to impressive six-figure contracts during the 2005-06 offseason, although most considered Rolando Pascual to be the better overall prospect. While Peralta missed the entire 2007 season due to Tommy John surgery, Pascual has struggled to perform in the lower levels of the minor leagues. Peralta bounced back this past year by posting a 3.07 ERA and a 36 to eight strikeout to walk ratio in 15 appearances with the Helena Brewers on his way to being named one of the league's top prospects. He finished the year with the West Virginia Power, and offers arguably the best arm in the system after Jeffress and Omar Aguilar. His size and stuff profiles very similar to Aguilar's, with a mid-90s heater, potentially dominant slider and an improving changeup, and by this time next year he could be among the Brewers top 10-15 overall prospects, if he isn't already. All-Brewerfan.net team 2008 In addition to naming a player and pitcher of the year, we would also like to name a first and second All-Brewerfan.net farm team for 2008. Each team has a player from each position, three starters and a reliever. Please note that these lists don't necessarily reflect the top prospects at each position, but the players at each position that enjoyed the most success during the 2008 season. Position First Team Second Team Starting Pitcher Jeremy Jeffress Chris Cody Starting Pitcher Evan Anundsen Brae Wright Starting Pitcher Alexandre Periard David Welch Relief Pitcher Omar Aguilar Mitch Stetter Catcher Angel Salome Jonathan Lucroy First Base Brad Nelson Brock Kjeldgaard Second Base Mike Bell Eric Farris Third Base Mat Gamel Taylor Green Shortstop Alcides Escobar Michael Marseco Left Field Cole Gillespie Chris Dennis Center Field Michael Brantley Laynce Nix Right Field Caleb Gindl Erik Komatsu 2009 Roster Projection Toby Harrmann took an early stab at what the rosters at each of the full season affiliates may look like when the teams take the field to open next season, including the Milwaukee Brewers. Please keep in mind that this is a best guess at this point in time, filling in the spots with players that are currently in the organization. While transactions aren't projected at this point in time, any omission of a player indicates that player is projected to be found with another organization, or in the case of the lower level rosters, with one of the two rookie-level affiliates. Milwaukee Brewers Hitters Name Pitchers Name Starting C Jason Kendall #1 Starter Yovani Gallardo Starting 1B Prince Fielder #2 Starter Manny Parra Starting 2B Rickie Weeks #3 Starter Dave Bush Starting 3B Russell Branyan #4 Starter Seth McClung Starting SS J.J. Hardy #5 Starter Jeff Suppan Starting LF Ryan Braun Closer Salomon Torres Starting CF Mike Cameron Long Relief Carlos Villanueva Starting RF Corey Hart Middle Relief #1 Todd Coffey Bench - C Mike Rivera Middle Relief #2 Mitch Stetter Bench - IF Craig Counsell Middle Relief #3 Tim Dillard Bench - IF Bill Hall Setup-RHP David Riske Bench - IF Casey McGehee Setup-LHP Brian Shouse Bench - OF Gabe Kapler Bench - OF Brad Nelson Nashville Sounds Hitters Name Pitchers Name Starting C Angel Salome #1 Starter Mark DiFelice Starting 1B TBD #2 Starter Sam Narron Starting 2B Adam Heether #3 Starter Chris Narveson Starting 3B Mat Gamel #4 Starter Brae Wright Starting SS Alcides Escobar #5 Starter David Welch Starting LF Cole Gillespie Closer Luis Pena Starting CF Hernan Iribarren Long Relief Richie Gardner Starting RF Brendan Katin Middle Relief #1 Joe Bateman Bench - C Carlos Corporan Middle Relief #2 Dave Johnson Bench - UT Vinny Rottino Middle Relief #3 Steve Bray Bench - IF TBD Setup-RHP Omar Aguilar Bench - OF TBD Setup-LHP Lindsay Gulin Huntsville Stars Hitters Name Pitchers Name Starting C Jonathan Lucroy #1 Starter Jeremy Jeffress Starting 1B Chris Errecart #2 Starter Alexandre Periard Starting 2B Mike Bell #3 Starter Evan Anundsen Starting 3B Taylor Green #4 Starter Chris Cody Starting SS Michael Garciaparra #5 Starter Derek Miller Starting LF Brent Krause Closer Rob Wooten Starting CF Lorenzo Cain Long Relief Donovan Hand Starting RF Freddy Parejo Middle Relief #1 Patrick Ryan Bench - C Lou Palmisano Middle Relief #2 Mike McClendon Bench - IF Yohannis Perez Middle Relief #3 Casey Baron Bench - IF Kenny Holmberg Setup-RHP Robert Hinton Bench - OF Charlie Fermaint Setup-LHP Bobby Bramhall Brevard County Manatees Hitters Name Pitchers Name Starting C Eric Fryer #1 Starter Amaury Rivas Starting 1B Curt Rindal #2 Starter Zach Braddock Starting 2B Eric Farris #3 Starter Josh Butler Starting 3B Steffan Wilson #4 Starter R.J. Seidel Starting SS Brent Brewer #5 Starter Mike Ramlow Starting LF Stephen Chapman Closer Corey Frerichs Starting CF Lee Haydel Piggyback Starter Daniel Merklinger Starting RF Caleb Gindl Middle Relief #1 Rafael Lluberes Bench - C Martin Maldonado Middle Relief #2 Pedro Lambertus Bench - C Andy Bouchie Middle Relief #3 Jose Garcia Bench - IF Zelous Wheeler Setup-RHP Curtis Pasma Bench - IF Matt Cline Setup-RHP Reed Dickert Bench - OF Chuck Caufield Wisconsin Timber Rattlers Hitters Name Pitchers Name Starting C Brett Lawrie #1 Starter Evan Frederickson Starting 1B Brock Kjeldgaard #2 Starter Lucas Luetge Starting 2B Cutter Dykstra #3 Starter Wily Peralta Starting 3B John Delaney #4 Starter Michael Bowman Starting SS Mikey Marseco #5 Starter Cody Adams Starting LF Erik Komatsu Closer Garrett Sherrill Starting CF Logan Schafer Piggyback #1 Efrain Nieves Starting RF Christopher Dennis Piggyback #2 Cody Scarpetta Bench - C Anderson De La Rosa Middle Relief #1 Nick Tyson Bench - C Corey Kemp Middle Relief #2 Trey Watten Bench - IF David Fonseca Setup-RHP Adam Arnold Bench - IF Miguel Vasquez Setup-RHP Daniel Meadows Bench - OF Michael Vass Short Hops • After having five affiliates make the postseason during the 2007 season, only one affiliate did so this past year, the West Virginia Power. They did so in impressive fashion, winning the second half title of the Northern Division after finishing with a 32-37 record during the first half of the season. After beating the Lake County Captains in the first round of the Sally League playoffs, two games to one, they were swept by the Augusta GreenJackets in the best of five championship series. • Speaking of the Power, they will no longer be the Brewers affiliate at the low-A level in the minor leagues. The Brewers have signed a four-year agreement with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers as they return to the Midwest League, much to the excitement of Brewers fans given the proximity of the team's home ballpark, Fox Cities Stadium, in Appleton, Wisconsin. That ended the team's four-year relationship with the West Virginia organization, as they return to the league where they held a 23-year relationship with the Beloit Snappers/Brewers. • All of the other Brewers affiliates will remain with the team for at least another two years. • Collectively the Brewers affiliates finished with a 323-365 record (.469 winning percentage). • Brewers fans had to patiently wait several months before the player to be named later in the trade with the Indians for CC Sabathia was announced. Outfielder Michael Brantley was chosen by the Indians to complete that trade despite earlier reports that the player was expected to be infielder Taylor Green. • Green took Mat Gamel's spot in the Arizona Fall League, and is joined on the Peoria Javelinas roster by fellow organization mates catchers Angel Salome and Lou Palmisano, outfielder Lorenzo Cain and pitchers Jeremy Jeffress, David Welch, Omar Aguilar, Alexandre Periard and Brae Wright. Palmisano was a late addition, joining the Javelinas club more than a week into the AFL season. • Outfielders Caleb Gindl and Logan Schafer, pitchers Chris Cody, Mike Ramlow and Cody Scarpetta as well as manager Mike Guerrero are currently representing the Brewers in the Hawaii Winter Baseball league playing for the West Oahu CaneFires. Scarpetta, like Palmisano in the AFL, was a late addition, joining the West Oahu club in mid-October. • The Brewers had 13 of their prospects named to Baseball America's league-by-league top prospect lists: Jake Odorizzi and Seth Lintz of the Arizona League; Cutter Dykstra, Efrain Nieves, Wily Peralta and Erik Komatsu of the Pioneer League; Caleb Gindl of the South Atlantic League; Jeremy Jeffress, Taylor Green and Jonathan Lucroy of the Florida State League; and Alcides Escobar, Mat Gamel and Angel Salome of the Southern League. Matt LaPorta and Michael Brantley were also named to the Southern League top prospect list. • Given the amount of early, extra draft picks the team had due to the departure of Type A free agents Francisco Cordero and Scott Linebrink last offseason, the team wasn't expected to make a big splash on the international free agent market. They did sign three notable players during the summer signing period: 16-year old Venezuelan outfielder Luis Chirinos and a pair of 19-year old Dominican right-handed pitchers, Jaime King and Jose Ramos. Roundtable Discussion In addition to the hardware handed out, the general season overview and the 2009 projection, we will now tackle several of the most important issues that arose during the 2008 minor league season while looking ahead to 2009. Question #1 How excited are you to have a Brewers minor league affiliate moving back to the Midwest League? Are you going to make it a point to take in some games, and overall how would you expect the interest to be given the success of the Milwaukee Brewers? Toby: Ever since Appleton got an affiliated minor league baseball team, it has seemed inevitable that they would eventually become part of the Brewers' minor league chain. The fit was too natural not to happen. Now that the inevitable is reality, it'll be interesting to me to see how much it sparks the interest of casual Brewers fans in the minor leagues and Brewer prospects. This union comes at a good time for the Timber Rattlers because there is currently so much interest statewide in the Brewers. Success breeds interest. I expect that many of those who haven't seen a minor league game in years, perhaps since Beloit was affiliated with the Brewers, will make the trek up to Appleton. I don't live in Wisconsin, so I might not get over to Appleton every year, but I will make a concerted effort to try. It certainly sounds more appealing than going to Beloit. Patrick: While I understood the reasoning for the Brewers leaving Beloit to find greener pastures, I was always pretty bummed that I couldn't hop in my car and drive an hour to see some of the more exciting pieces to the Brewers future. I guess the Brewers aren't too concerned about the weather in April and even May to move back to the Midwest League, and I couldn't be happier to see that happening. Especially considering the facilities they will be playing in as compared to what they had in Beloit. I think the T-Rats are going to enjoy some record attendances next year, which will only strengthen their relationship with the big-league club, while the fans will get a taste of players such as Brett Lawrie and the bulk of the 2008 draft class, and I certainly will be one of those fans in attendance. Jim: Many folks know that I'm a Massachusetts resident, so in terms of personal attendance, it's a non-factor for myself. However, from a Brewerfan Link Report standpoint, it appears that the online audio game package and local newspaper coverage will be on a par with the excellent standards that were set by the Charleston, West Virginia media. I'm looking forward to all the first-hand accounts we'll be getting; it will be as if Brewerfan acquired multiple correspondents. I'm sure others on the internet will make wonderful use of video and reporting tools to make the 2009 Timber Rattlers the most discussed minor league squad in Wisconsin history. The kids on the Wisconsin roster will be celebrities to be sure, ready or not. Brad: More than anyone else, it seems, I'm really disappointed by this. In the last few years, I've gotten to go to many West Virginia Power games, and I'm going to deeply miss getting to see our farmhands play. On top of that, my hometown lost its minor league affiliation completely, so the closest place for baseball is now 90 miles away. On the other hand, I think increased awareness about the baseball and the Brewers will help the low-A team succeed in Appleton. I know you guys will have a blast getting to watch and meet the young guys. Question #2 Are any of the players from the talented 2008 Huntsville Stars squad, particularly Mat Gamel and Alcides Escobar, ready to join the Brewers on a regular basis in 2009? Brad: Maybe by the end of the year, but not right now. The most obvious proof of that was the Brewers unwillingness to play Mat or Alcides over guys like Brad Nelson, Craig Counsell, and Mike Lamb over the last month of the season. Mat's just not ready on defense and Alcides doesn't have a defined place to play yet. Truthfully, the Brewers have done fine without them, so holding off another year shouldn't hurt the team and it will aide the players in their development. Patrick: Not to open the season, but it wouldn't surprise me to see both called up by midseason similar to how Braun and Gallardo were in 2007. Whether that happens due to Gamel and Escobar starting the year well in Nashville, filling a need at the big-league level due to injury or a combination of the two, I don't think it will be long until Brewers fans are watching those two on a regular basis. I think Omar Aguilar is a darkhorse to make the bullpen out of spring training. Toby: Some of Doug Melvin's recent comments have fueled speculation that Mat Gamel could break camp with the Brewers as their 2009 Opening Day third bagger. Do I think that will happen? No. Here is why: While he may hit at an average level for a third baseman, say .270/.330/.450, that won't make up for the struggles he'd almost positively have on defense. His OBP wouldn't be an asset on team in need of better OBP, either. Gamel will see time in Milwaukee next year. It just won't be right away, and probably not until the All-Star break. While Alcides Escobar would be a defensive upgrade over J.J. Hardy, Hardy is not a liability defensively on a team with numerous defensive liabilities. A solution to the third base situation could be moving Hardy to third, and thrusting Escobar in to shortstop. If this happens, the defense improves a bit, but the offense gets downgraded. Escobar might struggle to a .650 OPS if he went straight to Milwaukee to start the season. That would mitigate virtually all of his defensive value. Riding the bench as a utility guy would not be a good idea either, he needs to play. Again, like with Gamel, I expect to see him at some point, but it's not at the beginning of the year. As for other members of the 2008 Stars, Angel Salome and Cole Gillespie will both be in AAA and might see action. Salome could arguably be an offensive upgrade to Jason Kendall right now, but he won't get the call until his defense is up to snuff. Gillespie, who played with a broken bone in his foot for most of 2008, will probably only see action if an injury occurs to one of the Brewers' outfielders. The Brewers don't want him riding the bench. On the pitching side, any one of Brae Wright, David Welch, Dave Johnson or Omar Aguilar could see time in Milwaukee in the bullpen. Jeremy Jeffress is still about a year away. Jim: It was almost a relief to learn that Mat Gamel's second-half struggles were partially injury-related (right elbow tendonitis). It legitimizes his amazing first-half 2008 statistics even further. The Brewers are so dearly in need of a sweet left-handed stick in the lineup, that I could almost envision Doug Melvin handing the Opening Day third-base job to Gamel and hoping for the best defensively. I still consider one of the biggest mistakes in Doug Melvin's tenure to be allowing J.J. Hardy to open the 2005 season on the Opening Day roster, instead of holding off his debut a la Ryan Braun. If Melvin had acted more prudently, Hardy would be in Brewer control for three more seasons instead of just two. J.J. Hardy will be traded either this offseason or next. More realistically, it will be after 2009, and Alcides Escobar will spend most of 2009 in AAA. But if Melvin feels the package he could garner for Hardy will be that much significant by dealing him two seasons from free agency, we'll see J.J. moved this winter and Escobar in Milwaukee on Opening Day (which would repeat the service time error made with J.J.). And no, I won't be upset with Melvin if Escobar were to make his non-September debut Opening Day 2010, since he would have had a full AAA season under his belt (something Hardy did not have due to injury). Question #3 Since Doug Melvin has shown a willingness to trade prospects to address needs at the big-league level particularly at the trade deadline, do you think he may start parting with some of these young players this offseason in an attempt to strengthen the team for 2009? Patrick: After having the Brewers make the playoffs you would think so. He's going to need to address the starting rotation somehow, and the best way to pry young pitching away from other teams is to do so with younger, pre-arbitration talent. Brad: Yes, I think we'll see some more prospects traded. I don't expect to see a lot of guys moved, but if the right deal came along, the Brewers are likely prepared to move basically anyone. From my perspective, I'd love to have Jake Peavy, and if that means trading Gamel and Jeffress, then I think you do it. I wouldn't trade prospects like that for anyone else, but to replace Ben Sheets with a better arm, I would move top prospects. After what we saw last year, I would assume Jack Z. likely has a similar view on things. Jim: You may see a deal like the one in which Salomon Torres was acquired, with RHP's Kevin Roberts and Marino Salas being moved, marginal to mid-level guys. If there's an organizational agreement that Mat Gamel (anywhere on the diamond) or Angel Salome are beyond hope defensively, that would be the only circumstance you'd see one of the top 10 or so prospects being moved. And I don't believe the organization thinks that's the case, nor do I. Toby: If the right deal comes along to "motivate" Melvin to move one of his prospects, he'll do it without a doubt. However, as the prospect pool has become somewhat thinned out due to recent trades, it might take a bit more to pry away the remaining top prospects. Doug Melvin knows that this team has to keep being reinforced by young players, and that mortgaging some of those young players for short-term veteran help is something that is tough to sustain over the long term. So for the purposes of this offseason, Gamel, Escobar, Jeffress, Green and either Salome or Green all have to be considered about as close to untouchable as is possible. A Fielder trade may be more likely than a Gamel trade at this point. Question #4 Given the addition of Lawrie, the emergence of Fryer, and the continued success of both Salome and Lucroy, do you feel that the Brewers catcher of the future is among that quartet? Jim: For me, Salome's dominance of AA pitching was a watershed moment in terms of saying, "wow, the Brewers really do have a future big-league catcher here," even if Angel's body and offensive approach may eventually make him one of the most unique big leaguers of our time. You can't ignore a .973 OPS as a young 22-year-old taking his first AA hacks. Lucroy seems to be so solid and his intangibles so strong that you can only be excited about his projected career path. But please, who is Brett Lawrie and the Brewers kidding? An advanced and athletic bat like his needs to be in a lineup 160 games a year, not 120, and it needs to reach Milwaukee more quickly than a catcher's educational path allows. Toby: Let's not forget Lou Palmisano or Shawn Zarraga on that list, either. The Brewers are as loaded with catching prospects as any minor league system I have ever seen, so you have to figure a long term solution is in there some place. Obviously not all of those guys are going to be the catcher of the future, so it will be interesting to follow who continues to make progress defensively and at the plate, maybe who switches positions, and who gets traded. Lucroy and Salome have to be considered the front-runners at the moment. The edge, slight as it is, goes to Lucroy right now in my book, because he is more polished behind the plate. A healthy Palmisano will push both of those guys this year, as will Fryer and Lawrie. All the competition makes this a good battle, and it should make everyone a little better. Patrick: I'd love to be able to confidently answer 'yes' to this question, but until the Brewers actually develop a catcher that can stick around for a while, I will remain skeptical. I like Lucroy's chances the best out of that group, just because everything we have heard leads me to believe he is the most polished across the board and the most likely to stick behind the plate while also hitting enough to be a big-league regular. He may even leap-frog Salome at some point if Angel doesn't dramatically improve defensively. I don't consider Fryer to be on the same level as a prospect, and I think Lawrie will eventually move to another position which should allow his bat to carry him more quickly to Milwaukee. Brad: I hope so. I have lost the ability to trust catching prospects, as it seems as though they burn out at a higher rate. To make matters more depressing, a huge number get to the majors and then decline back towards the median. Plenty of today's journeyman catchers were once top prospects. That's all fine and dandy, after all Jason Kendall is a decent ball player, but considering all the catchers in the bigs, the odds of one of our guys becoming a star at the position are low. That said, I still view Lucroy as a well rounded prospect who should hit a ton at the higher levels. Angel remains a mystery with the glove, but his bat is mighty. Who knows what will happen with him. Fryer, however, I don't consider in the same breath. He's a talented minor league player, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him fall away as he advances. Question #5 The organization didn't have a clear-cut favorite as the pitcher of the year but they did address the system need for arms by drafting a ton of arms. Are you confident that a pitcher or two will emerge from that group to help strengthen what seems to be an organizational weakness? Toby: When 20 of your first 27 draft picks are pitchers, you sure hope one or two of them turn out to be something. None of them have fully emerged from the pack just yet. While the spotlight will be on the top picks, such as Jake Odorizzi and Cody Adams, I think a couple of the mid-lower round guys have a good shot too - Blake Billings and Damon Krestalude are two of the pitchers I'm watching closely. I also don't think the pitching depth in the minor league system is necessarily a weakness. When you pluck a Yovani Gallardo and a Manny Parra out of the minors in consecutive years, the top of the farm system obviously won't be as strong. However, I think there is plenty of depth in the low minors, now reaching into AA. Of course there's Jeremy Jeffress, there's Alex Periard, I think Evan Anundsen gets pushed up to AA next year, Brae Wright had a terrific year for Huntsville as did David Welch, not to mention relief guys like Tim Dillard, Omar Aguilar, Luis Pena, and Rob Hinton. I think the depth is there, it's just there isn't an obvious top-end talent to complement Jeffress. I believe a pitcher or two will emerge next year to be that compliment, though not necessarily from the clump of guys the Brewers drafted in '08. Brad: I sure hope so, pitching is incredibly fickle. We pick on the team for drafting high school pitchers and for not successfully getting guys to the bigs, but they are actually very good at it. We began the season with three above average-star pitchers that were drafted by the Brewers in the rotation, and two of those guys should be around for a long time. We want to be blown away by the minor leaguers and await their future greatness, but minor league numbers are massively deceptive. So, I wasn't too impressed this year, but at the same time, I have realized that there is so much more to developing pitchers than there is hitters. Finding a pitcher that is consistently good is very challenging. Jack Z's method of drafting a bunch and seeing what sticks as well as Melvin's good job of acquiring proven pitchers has worked very well. So, while I was disheartened by results this year, I have faith that things will turn around. Oh yeah, Jeffress is a stud. Jim: Well, somebody's going to emerge, just from a sheer numbers standpoint, but I can't say I'm as confident as Toby about the overall strength of the organization's pitchers. I have thoroughly enjoyed following Alex Periard and Evan Anundsen, as they seem to have made textbook seasonal strides and advances as extremely young high-school draft picks from non-traditional year-round baseball climates (Quebec and Colorado, respectively). But it was a very frustrating minor league season pitching-wise, or at least it was to this observer. I've promised myself I won't be losing myself in Zach Braddock-mania until he makes 20 consecutive starts, although I secretly will admit that's hard to avoid, given his off-the-charts power southpaw potential. The Evan Frederickson selection has me thoroughly concerned, so prove me wrong, Evan. Patrick: The Brewers have had some decent fortune having a pitcher or two step forward to excel more than previous expectations from the system each year, at least recently. This year it was Wily Peralta. Last year it was Zach Braddock. Next year it may be one of the recent draftees, and there are plenty of other candidates such as Cody Scarpetta and Efrain Nieves from the rookie level or even Evan Anundsen and R.J. Seidel, who should benefit from pitching in the Florida State League. Of course you can never have too much pitching, and I'm guessing this will continue to be their focus in the draft of which they likely will once again have extra, early picks to play with. It does concern me that they don't have too many options to turn to at the upper levels of the system, as I'm not convinced that guys like Brae Wright and Alexandre Periard are going to provide the depth needed in the event one of the team's big-league starters falls to injury. Question #6 Among the hitters, are there any positions that concern you? Brad: Corner Infield. I say this in a half-true manner. Mat Gamel should be a good regular at one of the corners. However, if we have to move Gamel to first base, then there will be a hole at third. The opposite is true if Gamel isn't moved but Fielder is traded. Perhaps the biggest weakness in the system is power. Many complained about the team's over-reliance on home runs this year, but power is a necessary element to the team. Once LaPorta was traded, it became clear that this team is devoid of real power prospects. Hopefully this will be addressed in June. Patrick: For as much outfield depth as the team has, they still have not been able to develop a solid centerfielder. Krynzel didn't pan out, Gwynn appears to be way too light with his bat, Brantley and Ford were traded, Cain has played right field for much of his professional career, and each player of the next wave is far from a sure thing. First base also is a concern, since it would seem as though the Brewers are going to have to find a replacement for Fielder sooner rather than later. Toby: There isn't one position in particular that concerns me. Part of the reason for that is the relative strength of the big league club. I look at the Brewers and see that most of the positions aren't in desperate need of a minor league influx. Assuming things stay moderately settled with the Brewers' roster, the minor league system will only need to produce one or two outfielders, a third baseman, a catcher, and maybe a first baseman over the next few years. And I think they are in good position to fill all of those needs as they come up, save for a third baseman this coming year. As long as the minor league system can do a good job filling holes on the big league roster, I feel good about it. If I got a little nitpicky, I'd say the second basemen in the system are fairly nondescript, mostly because I'm not sold on Eric Farris just yet, and Mike Bell didn't have a great year. Then again, Taylor Green could slide over to second and make that concern go away. I could also say the outfield depth certainly isn't what it was now that Brantley, LaPorta and Ford have been traded. That puts a bit more pressure on Lorenzo Cain and Cole Gillespie, but the Brewers don't have a pressing need for an outfielder this year, so I don't think it's a big deal. Mat Gamel could always be moved to the outfield (or first base) if third base doesn't work out for him. That is why I'm not worried about first base, either. Jim: I haven't analyzed recent drafts throughout baseball specifically as it pertains to my one note here, but wouldn't it be nice to have a legitimate prospect who was a switch-hitter anywhere in the system? Actually, soon-to-be 25-year-old defensive stud catcher Carlos Corporan may actually be considered a legitimate prospect in many organizations, and he isn't even mentioned in the catcher talk here. If Carlos has been scouted properly by others, Doug Melvin has probably fielded some inquiries on him. Question #7 While we didn't get a taste of what Brett Lawrie can do since he signed an '09 deal, what are your impressions of the 2008 draft class? Patrick: I think everyone was expecting more, at least statistically, from some of the higher draft picks, but there were some encouraging things to take from those debut performances. Erik Komatsu and Logan Schafer of course were solid, and while Cutter Dykstra finished the season cold, he more than held his own. Cody Adams finished strong, Jake Odorizzi enjoyed success in all but one of his appearances, and Seth Lintz struck out a ton of batters despite being knocked around. A pair of their lefty college pitchers, Evan Frederickson and Lucas Luetge, both got the bump to West Virginia, and while the more heralded Frederickson struggled with command, Luetge was rock solid down the stretch. We definitely have to be patient to see how these players respond during their first full season next year, especially since the organization was clearly being cautious with the use of all of the pitchers they drafted, and it will also be interesting to see where and how they all fit in to open the 2009 season. However, I know everyone wanted to be "wowed" a little more than we were with the early returns, and that might have been because we weren't able to get a taste for what Lawrie is capable of. Jim: Yovani Gallardo has spoiled us all in terms of expectations on the mound. For all of Jack Z.'s wonderful works, his drafts are scattered with top six round pitchers such as Eric Thomas, Robbie Wooley, Josh Wahpapah, and Josh Baker, among others. It's ridiculously early for us to form opinions of high schoolers Jake Odorizzi and Seth Lintz. Cutter Dykstra should be a hoot to follow in Appleton. But I miss the draft-and-follow process already. To be honest, if first impressions mean anything, and I guess they do, consider me underwhelmed on 2008 given all the extra picks. Toby: The 2008 draft class has the chance to be the final crown jewel in Jack Zduriencik's reign as scouting director with the Brewers, though it also has a chance to tarnish his legacy a little if the pitching comes up dry. I like pitching prospects about as much as anyone, and if you like pitching prospects, it would be hard not to get a little excited about this draft, if only from a quantity standpoint. And as with most drafts, a large part of the tale will be told with how the top few picks do. I am confident in Brett Lawrie's abilities at the plate, and I think he can stick at catcher too. I think he'll turn out to be a good one. Brad: I like the outfielders but I think the jury's still out on the pitchers. No one really leapt out at us in rookie ball besides Komatsu, but that could just be because there weren't a bunch of 23 year old college seniors out there dominating this year. Question #8 While he certainly deserved the opportunity, how big of a blow was it to have Jack Zduriencik leave the team to become the general manager of the Seattle Mariners? Brad: It's a big loss, but he's just one guy in a well run organization, and I can't imagine the team's drafting philosophy changing drastically. As noted by others, several of his scouts have moved on to higher positions with other organizations, so I feel comfortable he's left a well trained staff. It sucks, but his value on his own has probably been overstated for awhile. It kind of reminds me of when Leo Mazzone left Atlanta a few years ago. Leo had a huge impact in Atlanta, but he wasn't the only cog that made the Braves a good team. That was proven when the Orioles didn't immediately become contenders. Toby: The impact won't turn out to be as big as I get the impression many people think it will be. One of Zduriencik's points of pride about his staff was that there was communication and accountability up and down the ranks. I believe this attitude will continue under the new scouting director, and I also believe that's what had made the Brewers' scouting department so good under Zduriencik's reign. The ultimate impact won't be known for years and the changes we see in drafting philosophy will be slight. For the most part, it will still be the same scouts doing their jobs, and since they've done their jobs well in the past, I see no reason that will change. Zduriencik's leadership will be missed for sure, but the foundation he laid will keep the Brewers' scouting department among the best. Patrick: It is potentially a huge blow to the organization, and one that may not be felt until three to five years down the road. Part of me is encouraged that Zduriencik put enough pieces in place for the success to continue, but what happens if he picks apart the Brewers scouting department to take a few key contributors with him to Seattle? Melvin does have a background in scouting as well, and oversaw a fine scouting and player development system when he was with the Rangers, but it's impossible to see the guy responsible for filling the Brewers with the bulk of their young talent leave and not be concerned about the lasting effect it could have. Jim: What do they say about the law of averages? Isn't Jack due for a clunker draft or two? If so, it'll be on the Mariners watch. Thanks for everything, Jack. Question #9 What are your impressions/projections for the 2009 season? Which affiliates are you most excited to watch, which levels will be stocked with the most interesting collection of talent and do you have any predictions relative to players and what we might see next year? Jim: Nashville is going to be insanely more interesting to follow than the tepid 2008 collection of Sounds, and that's not said purely from a won-loss standpoint. The 2007 West Virginia / 2008 Brevard bunch has been relatively anonymous outside of Taylor Green for a couple of years now (although somewhat productive), but heck, I find all the affiliate levels fascinating in their own way. Patrick: Nashville, Huntsville and Wisconsin could be very solid from top to bottom. Nashville is the most exciting to me since they will have quite a few players that will be on the brink of contributing, something that was clearly lacking this past year. Wisconsin will be the most exciting from a pure fan experience, especially if Brett Lawrie plays there at some point next year. I think Taylor Green will start to make a few more believers of his play, and will convert those disappointed that he wasn't the player to be named in the Sabathia deal with a strong, MVP type season in the Southern League. Caleb Gindl will continue to rake in the Florida State League, and will continue the line of strong left-handed hitters producing there following in the footsteps of Gamel and Green (the killer "G's"). Brad: I'm most excited to watch Huntsville. They should be as strong as last year, and I can't wait to see what Taylor Green and Jonathon Lucroy do there. I think both of those guys are going to hit 20 homers and bat .300. I also think we will see Jeffress in the bigs at some point next season. Toby: The thing I'm most looking forward to is how the pitching shakes out. As I talked about earlier, I have a feeling that a few pitchers are really going to step forward. All of the pitching staffs below AAA will be interesting to watch for various reasons. No team stands out to me as the most interesting because the talent depth is spread pretty evenly. Nashville, Huntsville and Brevard each have a mix of some stud prospects and some organizational guys in their lineups. To that end, the Timber Rattlers may be the most interesting team due to Lawrie and the rest of the talent making their full-season debuts.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/images/awhite08428309aw.jpg Alex White is up next, and I'm going to start with his cumulative stat line: 21-11, 3.67 ERA, 46 games (36 starts), 2 CG, 1 save, 225.2 IP, 196 H, 227 K, 98 BB, 1.30 WHIP White was part of a very talented North Carolina draft class coming out of high school in 2006, a class that included a pair of Tar Heel starters that he ended up replacing, Andrew Miller and Daniel Bard. Like Miller and Bard three years before, North Carolina didn't hesitate placing White into a weekend starting role, and he pitched quite well, starting 18 games and tossing nearly 100 innings with an ERA of 4.94. Since his freshman year he has enjoyed a very successful summer on the Cape and a very good sophomore year, in which he went 13-3 with a 2.83 ERA. His 13 wins were tied for tops in the nation, while he finished 10th nationally with 113 strikeouts. He's a great all-around athlete, as he could have been drafted for his bat as an infielder, and even received interest for his skills as a point guard in basketball. The Dodgers drafted him in the 14th round, but they had no chance to sign him away from UNC. With a prototypical build, and a nice and easy, athletic delivery, White is able to maintain his 91-94 mph fastball deep into games. He has improved the velocity and command on his fastball, a pitch that shows very good, natural late movement. As good as his fastball is, his slider is his best pitch, a wicked breaker that is nearly impossible for right-handed hitters to track when it's working at its best. He also throws a changeup, but hasn't need it too much up until this point in time. As you can tell by the stat line above, he does need to work on honing his control. His stuff is so good that he often isn't able to control where it goes as well as he would like to. It is an area he has improved, while also learning how to work off of his fastball instead of pitching off of the success of his slider. White is currently ranked among the top two to four draft eligible prospects in the nation, as he and teammate Dustin Ackley will be drawing large scouting crowds on a daily basis.

The Red Sox are up today. Their system doesn't seem as strong now as it did 1-2 years ago, but they have graduated a ton of impact talent in recent years, and have been spending a ton of money on scouting and player development. http://www.baseballameric...rospects/2009/267146.html

Uh-oh, Keith Ginter and Jason Lane are available... There are quite a few names that stand out to me. I didn't really look at the pitchers that much, since they're harder to keep track of than the positional players, and IMO the team does need to try and collect a handful of left-handed bats that could be options off of the bench. One name that doesn't fit this bill but that really stands out is Joel Guzman, who was a top 10 prospect overall not too long ago. He has a big power stroke, but just needs someone to convince him to take a pitch, and a walk, once and a while. Here are the others: Hector Gimenez: Switch-hitting catcher, better as a LH hitter, missed '07 due to injury, great arm behind the plate, progressed as a hitter as he moved up. Kevin Howard: Left-handed hitting infielder, more of a 2B/3B type. Tons of patience, walks more than he Ks, good numbers in the minors, a little surprised he hasn't been given more of a chance to stick (which usually says something more than the stats do). D'Angelo Jimenez: A Craig Counsell type at a fraction of the cost. Switch-hitter with infield versatility. Tim Raines Jr.: Switch hitting OF that has put up good numbers. Can steal bases. Rob Mackowiak: A personal fave of mine for a long time. Not great numbers, but is versatile and better vs. RHP. Todd Linden: Switch-hitting OF with some MLB experience. Hits well from both sides. Val Majewski: Big, powerful left-handed hitting OF. Potential good bench bat for corner OF/1B/DH (although that could be Brad Nelson). Bronson Sardinha: Still young (26 next April), good left-handed bat, can hit, good approach, limited power. OF tweener (similar to Melky Cabrera). Mike Stodolka: Converted from LHP to 1B just a couple of years ago, as he was a two-way star in HS. Doesn't have a place with KC, who has a glut of fringe 1B types, but Stodolka still could blossom with patience since he's relatively new to hitting. Scott Thorman: Big, left-handed thumper from North of the border. Was never given a chance to stick at 1B in Atlanta with LaRoche/Kotchman, and may have gotten stale at AAA.

How about Fielder for Beltre, Putz and Balentien? Balentien could be the replacement for Cameron in CF if he is dealt to the Yankees, and has a Cameron-esque .273/.344/.526 line in his time spent in the minors (including good power at one of the largest AAA parks in Tacoma). To play devil's advocate to my own proposal, while getting a 3B, CF and closer for Prince is appealing, I think you have to get a young starter back for Prince. And as noted by others, you're only getting Beltre for one year, unless you somehow can workout a contract extension with a Boras client. I'm not so sure Melvin and Zduriencik would work out a potential blockbuster given how well they know one another.

Rene Lachemann didn't exactly have success as a manager, but he worked with Macha in Oakland and does have managerial experience in the National League. Randolph makes some sense since he turned down the opportunity to coach with the Nationals despite not getting the managerial job here.

I like the idea of Ian Kennedy, who I have been a huge fan of dating back to his time at USC. His minor league numbers are incredibly solid, even if he has struggled in the big-leagues. I saw one person compare him to Dave Bush, who I would love to get another one of. I'm not high on Melky Cabrera, at least not as a starter, but he would be a fine 4th or 5th OF, especially if it's he and Kapler coming off the bench. To the Cabrera supporters still pointing to his success a couple of years ago, even during his best season, he hasn't had a year in which his OPS+ was at or above 100 (which in my understanding, is the break-point for average players). Yes, he hits RHPs better, but it's not like he does that incredibly well, and even his minor league prospect reports suggest that he could be a 4th OF as a 'tweener, in that his defense isn't ideal for CF and his power isn't ideal for a corner spot. There is something to be said for getting a potential 4th or 5th starter and a 4th OF for Cameron while saving $9 million. I'm not saying that is why Melvin picked up Cameron's option, as I would be happy to see Cameron back in CF with the Brewers next year, but this could be a situation that really benefits the Brewers, although they would need to find a better everyday option for CF than Melky Cabrera. Counting on him for '09 is not very wise for a playoff team.

http://www.themaneater.com/media/2008/0429/photos/baseball053t.jpg Switching back to the college ranks, Kyle Gibson gets tonight's attention. Gibson is the latest in a recent trend of talented, hard-throwing right-handed pitchers, following fellow draft-eligible righty Aaron Crow (who will pitch for the Fort Worth Cats of the independent league next spring) and Max Scherzer. While both of those two pitchers were all about their power fastballs, Gibson's claim to fame is an absolutely wicked slider that could profile as the single best pitch of those thrown by '09 draft eligibles. And that isn't to say Gibson doesn't throw hard. He sits in the upper-80s to low-90s, and can max out around 93-94. His fastball can straighten out, and he struggles to command the pitch at times, often relying far too much on his slider than he should. His changeup also shows the potential to be a plus-pitch, giving him a solid three-pitch repertoire. Built tall and lean, Gibson has very long, skinny yet strong limbs and a narrow waist. With wide shoulders and solid through the waist, there is plenty of room for Gibson to fill out and continue to add strength. His arm action works wells, although he can overthrow his fastball, which, as noted above, causes him to fall a little too much in love with his slider. With a big, angular leg kick, Gibson's delivery can be on the slow side, even out of the stretch, which makes him easier to run off of, but that hasn't been as big of a problem during his college career given his knack for limiting baserunners. He has all of the talent to succeed at the highest of levels, but my biggest concerns with Gibson at this point in time have to do with his fastball. A little added movement to go along with more confidence in the pitch will allow him to succeed more as a starter. If he continues to rely on his slider to succeed, he could end up in a short-relief role, a role he is plenty familiar with since only 23 of his 68 appearances during his college career, which includes one summer spent on the Cape and another with Team USA, have been as a starter. That's not the worst thing in the world, since his slider and stature are quite similar to those of Brad Lidge. Here are the cumulative numbers from college: 24-7, 3.14 ERA, 68 games (23 starts), 2 complete games, 9 saves, 218 innings, 190 hits, 249 K, 57 BB, 1.13 WHIP

Lou Palmisano had a nice game today, going 1-3 with an RBI single and a sac fly. He did strike out twice, but that's some fine run production for a catcher that handled four different pitchers as part of a 7-0 shutout of the Surprise Rafters. Brent Brewer recorded his first two hits of the AFL, including a double, going 2-4 with a run scored and two Ks of his own. He played third base in today's contest, and has yet to commit an error. http://mlb.mlb.com/milb/s...008_11_06_perwin_surwin_1

I'm not really confident about any of the internal options, outside of Villanueva, who doesn't profile as the prototypical closer (not that he needs to). Someone internally may very well be able to step up and anchor down that position, but that's a big if for a team that enjoyed it's first playoff berth in 26 years. I think our bullpen would be better off keeping the guys we have in the roles they currently serve and supplementing them with someone that is proven, even if it means paying more than you would like to. I also am not a big fan of having the closer be a role by committee. I can't think of an instance in which that has worked. I remember the Red Sox trying it prior to the 2004 season, and then when it didn't work they went out and dropped a lot of money to acquire Keith Foulke, only to enjoy their first World Series victory in almost a century. The Rays didn't have a defined closer this past year, at least they didn't after Percival went down, Wheeler looked spent in the playoffs and fortunately they had the #1 overall pick from the 2007 draft to step in an throw some key late innings for them. The Phillies of course had Lidge, who was somewhat of a risk entering the season but at least had some history of being very successful. The Red Sox gave up with the idea of Papelbon as a starter a year or two ago when they realize just how good and valuable he was as their closer. Rivera has been the most dominant closer ever, and K-Rod set the saves record this year for the Angels. The Mets collapsed and missed the playoffs, doing so without the services of Bill Wagner, the Cubs used a converted started (Wood) with power stuff, and fortunately the Brewers made it to the postseason despite Torres' late-season struggles. And yes, you can point to how the Reds dropped a ton of cash on Cordero, but the Reds weren't particularly good in 2007. Most seemed to agree that the Reds were a curious destination for Cordero when he signed there. I only bring all of this up, because I like the ideas most people are throwing out, but I wouldn't be comfortable with them if I were Doug Melvin knowing that anything less than the playoffs next year is going to be a disappointment to most of the fan base, not to mention himself. If he has to go to an internal option or a closer by committee situaiton once every option had been investigated, I can't argue with that, as I'm happy to hear the Brewers mentioned with some of the more appealing options that are available.

Stock is a good, not great, overall player. He needs to have a big year to be taken as high as his reputation may suggest. It's not that he has performed poorly, but he definitely hasn't hit for the power that he's capable of.

BA has released their top 100 overall prospects today. It's not a surprise that 7 of the top 10 prospects, and 11 of the top 15, are pitchers. (Link for subscribers only.): http://www.baseballameric...aft-dish/2009/267144.html

Caleb Gindl was one of three CaneFires to record a hit last night, going 1-4 in a game that ended 0-0. He now has 5 hits (3 of those hits were doubles) in his last 13 ABs since being moved into the 3-hole for the CaneFires, and as one astute reader has pointed out to me, many of his hits are going to LF where he seems to enjoy more success. The league is off today (Thursday), the second to last off-day of the HWB season.

I'm not as concerned about giving up a first-round pick if the team gets one, or two, back if they lose Sabathia and/or Sheets. Torres pretty much fell apart down the stretch, as I don't feel comfortable moving forward with him as the team closer. Not for a team that just had a taste for the playoffs. I'm a big proponent of moving Villanueva into that role, as I was last year before the team acquired Gagne. Although the team might be intent on keeping him in a more versatile role. endaround makes a good point about Luis Pena. He could bounce back significantly next year, but definitely needs more time in AAA. Aguilar is pitching very well in the AFL so far, and is throwing a lot of strikes, but as Toby noted, you can't count on him to be the closer for '09 (or 2010 IMO). Jeffress has hard time throwing strikes, as I don't see how he's pitching out of the Brewers bullpen in 2009, especially since he has been shut down with a sore shoulder in the AFL. I like the idea of Fuentes for 3 years, although I have been hoping that the team would go out and acquire Fuentes for a few years now. He may cost a first-round pick, but Street would cost probably more in prospects, and the internal options aren't particularly appealing for next year. Move Torres back to a set-up role which only strengthens the bullpen.

Periard gets rocked again; Palmisano goes 0-2; Cain goes 0-4. Welch and Aguilar both pitch a perfect frame (Aguilar has been one of the more exciting stories this fall): http://mlb.mlb.com/milb/s...008_11_05_surwin_perwin_1

Instead of writing a different post for every single pitcher the Brewers may pursue to be their closer for next year, I thought one all encompassing post might be better. And I'm doing so because the Brewers are linked to two such pitchers, Brian Fuentes and Huston Street, in this story: http://www.nypost.com/sev...se_for_fuentes_136796.htm

Yes, a lot of Phillies fans think the team hired the wrong person to be the GM. Arbuckle or course wasn't happy to be passed over given everything he has done for the club, which includes selecting/signing Rollins, Burrell, Howard, Utley, Myers and Madson. He actually has been the ass't. GM with the Phillies since 2001, although he still overlooked the scouting, as Marti Wolever was technically the scouting director from 2002-present. And I did a quick search and found a rather interesting link, although that would contradict with what Haudricourt just wrote: http://www.philly.com/dai...uckle_quits_Phillies.html Although the story notes that the Brewers could be interested in Arbuckle, not that they would.

Baseball America has kicked off their first top prospect list, starting with the Baltimore Orioles. Not too long ago the O's realized it was time to start thinking about the future instead of trying to sign the next Javy Lopez, Ramon Hernandez or even Leo Mazzone to make them competitive once again. Now they arguably have the top 1-2-3-4 prospects in all of baseball with Wieters, Tillman, Matusz and Arrieta. After Wieters, the system is low on impact bats, as the trio of Nolan Reimold, Billy Rowell and Brandon Snyder need to step up to prove that they are legitimate everyday contributors at the big-league level. http://www.baseballameric...rospects/2009/267135.html The Brewers are up on January 19th. Here's the full schedule: http://www.baseballameric...on-top-10-prospects/2009/