colbyjack

I'm not so sure DHonks. Helena has Dennis, one of the biggest dark-horse sleepers in the system, and three early picks from this year's draft, Schafer, Komatsu and Dykstra . Arizona has the two notable, high-priced Dominican signees, Hitaniel Arias and Jose Garcia, as well as Erik Miller, a day-one pick last year, with Ryan Jensen as Toby pointed out being notably absent from the roster. I'd say from Arizona to Milwaukee outfield is by far the least of the organization's concern, which is a huge turnaround from a few short years ago. As Mass has noted elsewhere, I'm a little surprised that Joey Paciorek is beginning the year back with the Baby Brewers. I thought he would get a bump to Helena for sure. I think this year's Arizona team could be one of their best in years, although that won't be hard to accomplish.

I'm going to be moving to a new home in about three weeks, and my wife is currently trying to dig up info on the different TV/internet/phone options out there. Unfortunately I'm too busy at work right now to do my usual homework, but this forum has been a valuable resource in the past. We have Time Warner Cable now, with the digital/DVR package. No landline phone currently, just the TV & Roadrunner service. We like it, but we're definitely interested in saving some money by going with a different provider if possible, and we definitely want to get a landline since cell phone reception is spotty and we don't want to be without a phone in the case of an emergency. I know there have been other threads on this subject, but I went back a few pages and didn't see any, so if anyone has any opinions as to which plan is the way to go, I'm all ears. Thanks!

I haven't been shy to say that I think Odorizzi could very well be the best player from this draft, and I say that as a big, big fan of the Lawrie selection. It's so exciting to see so many players sign quickly. This is really the MO of the Brewers' scouting dep't. under Jack Z. They've already signed 30 of their 54 draftees (including 25 of their top 30 overall selections), quite simply an astonishing total, and you know that Lawrie and Lintz are going to be in the mix as well (hopefully sooner rather than later). This is a well-oiled machine we're watching doing it's thing, and it's incredibly exciting being a fan of a team that knows how to build from the bottom up.

Helena just isn't clicking to open the season. The do have somewhat of an OF "jam" with Dennis, Schafer, Komatsu, Dykstra and Vass all competing for time with only one DH spot. It could be a fairly exciting OF if Dennis, Dykstra and Komatsu are the everyday starters from left to right. It also doesn't help that Marseco and Delaney aren't exactly big boppers on the IF, and Trejo's injury doesn't help. I still think the pitching will come around, and again Brett Lawrie's presence in the batting order would be a huge boost, although that does add another jam given the presence of Kemp, and Alfonso behind the plate. Regardless of their poor start, it's always nice to listen to Helena baseball.

PG Crosschecker has a list of the top guys, but I'm pretty sure it's for subscribers. Check out the thread just one below this one that talks about summer showcase and tournament events for links to recent events such as the PG National, which will give you an idea of what the '09 prep class has to offer. On the college side, the class is stacked with pitchers, highlighted by Stephen Strasburg of SDSU and Kyle Gibson of Mizzou. Jorge Reyes (Oregon St.) and Alex White (UNC) are a couple of more righties to watch, while Gavin Brooks (UCLA), Mike Minor (Vandy) and Andrew Oliver (Ok St.) are the most notable lefties to watch. Robert Stock and Grant Green from USC are two of the top positional players, but a lot is going to happen as far as these rankings are concerned between now and the end of the summer.

Check out this thread for some nice, detailed results from the PG National last weekend, which includes velocities, POP times and dash times, as well as top prospect lists: http://www.perfectgame.org/stories/08_06_18_national_showcase/index.aspx The top prospect list will give you a good idea of the players that will be participating in the Aflac All-American Classic, as they're usually participants at this event.

Sorry I didn't check in earlier. I really hoped to make this game, but I just got home from work about an hour ago.

Lintz on draft day had some peculiar comments, which seemed to cause everyone to question his signability. The Brewers didn't take Lintz where they did if they weren't 99.9% confident they would be able to sign him. Lawrie and even Odorizzi haven't signed yet either, yet no one seems concerned about them signing eventually. I've said this before and I'll say it again, Lintz will be in the system by the end of the month, and there's a better than good chance that Lawrie and Odorizzi will be as well.

Pretty early, but Helena seems to be having a Mendoza party. Is there help on the way? The H-Crew's lineup will look significantly different when they get Brett Lawrie in the fold, assuming that is where he debuts. I actually like their pitching staff, and the lineup really is only a legitimate big bat away from allowing everything else to click. Schafer and Komatsu could also be a big help.

I apologize if this was posted elsewhere, but BA has an account from last night's Sally league all-star game that includes an at-bat between Jonathan Lucroy and LHP Madison Bumgarner, one of the Giants top prospects and a first-round pick a year ago:

Callis' story is featured on the draft page at BA, which includes a picture of Lawrie: http://www.baseballamerica.com/images/blawrie08428309mj.jpg

Players to watch in NW Iowa include RHP Dean McArdle from Sioux City, a shorter (5'10") RHP that throws in the 88-90 range with a very good curve, RHP Matt Koch from Cherokee that has good size and an improving 88-91 FB, and RHP/IF Rick Sandquist from Fort Dodge. If RHP Chase Hentges ends up at Iowa Western CC instead of signing with the Royals as a 14th round pick, he's another guy to keep an eye on. PGCrosschecker last week unveiled their top 10 HS prospects for 2009 as part of their top 10 lists. Here is the archive for those lists from last week (free): http://www.pgcrosschecker.com/2008/toptenlists/june/week22.aspx David Rawnsley chimes in with his top 10 prospects from last weekend's PG National which was held at the Metrodome. The list is currently on the homepage: http://www.pgcrosschecker.com/Default.aspx As for the Green Bay Bullfrogs, I may try to get up there to see them if I can't catch them in Madison. I just noticed Tulane SS Josh Prince was recently added to their roster, who will definitely be one of the top prospects in the league. He didn't get as much playing time this spring, but looked extremely well in fall practices last year.

That's certainly possible, I just hope Lawrie doesn't take that long to sign.

I know Helena will have the added benefit of the DH, but if Lawrie signs it will be interesting to see where he's placed given the roster. If he is to be groomed as a catcher, playing time may be tight with Kemp and Alfonso (and Whiteside, who could be more of a utility player) already signed up. I'm only guessing Helena, assuming that is the lowest he would be placed since Dykstra is going to debut there. Although I suppose Lawrie could use development time behind the plate at Arizona even if his bat is more advanced than that level. That is assuming he signs within the next week or two...although there is that open catching spot at WV, but that isn't likely since guys like Braun, LaPorta, Fielder, Weeks, etc. didn't even begin their pro careers at that level. Exciting time of year. Helena is always my most favorite team to follow. Thank you late-night broadcasts.

I'm sure many to most of you know that I also work for Perfect Game USA. You may not know that Perfect Game's headquarters are located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, which currently is underwater. With most of the PG staff in Minneapolis, MN for their largest annual event, the PG National, most of their focus and attention has been forced to be away from what and where it should be. I just bring this up as a way to send out my deepest thoughts and prayers to the PG staff, while making the loyal readers to Brewerfan.net, Brewer fans or not, aware of this as they deal with this very difficult time. I know some of the members of the PG staff reads this forum, so I welcome everyone to add your comments of support.

Jim, that's awesome. My already low opinion of Tom H creeped a few notches lower. How he is employed to do what he does still amazes me, and to me it shows you how little the MJS cares about their Brewers coverage. I'm guessing the Brewers vs. the Packers is similar to the Patriots vs. the Red Sox in Bean Town, even with the Patriots amazing success the past several years. Can you imagine Jim Goulart as the Brewers beat writer? Not only is Mass consistent, but he clearly has a knack for words and writing in general and would absolutely school Tom H if he were in a similar position. And with all due respect to one Mr. Jim Callis, just because you consult with him in regards to prospects doesn't really mean anything.

The Brewers signed a Dominican player by the name of Jose Ricardo Garcia last year as part of their international free agent haul. He is a very physical OF with power potential and some speed that drew a lot of rave reviews from BA and other resources, and was one of two promising Dominican signings to go along with Hitaniel Arias. I just noticed that he's not part of Brewerfan.net's player index page, so I'm not sure if that is an oversight or if something happened to him that I'm not aware of. Speaking of which, I don't expect the Brewers to be as active on this market this year, but you never know given their activity the past three years (Pascual/Peralta in '05, Yohannis Perez in '06, Arias/Garcia last year). BA just reported on some of the top players available this year, and here's their general overview, although few players are mentioned: http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/international-affairs/2008/266316.html Inoa reportedly is getting prepared to get paid crazy money, possibly breaking the $2.4M Wily Mo Pena received several years ago. We're sure to hear more and more about the players eligible to be signed over the next several weeks. http://www.baseballamerica.com/artman2live/uploads/1/minoa08260200ck.jpg Michel Inoa, Baseball America Plus, there's word of a Cuban teenager that has defected and has already landed in the states, Dayan Viciedo. If his advisor/agent were smart, he would have defected to the Dominican Republic, where he would have been declared a free agent once filing the paperwork. Since he arrived in Miami, he may not be eligible to sign as a NDFA, as this BA blog points out: http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/prospects/?p=1141#more-1141

I saw that (and nice job on all of your interviews, I know the hard work that is involved tracking down players for interviews), but we've heard players in the past say that they expect to go to a certain team only to start elsewhere, even if Fredrcikson is more likely to debut at Helena being a college pitcher and all. But that only adds to my point. So many players slated for only so many spots...we're going to see a lot of transactions in the next week, which again adds to my excitement this time of year as the rookie league teams set to begin their long-awaited seasons. The system keeps getting deeper and deeper.

I was just going through my projected Helena lineup, of which I scribed last September at the end of the minor league season, and after cross-referencing that with the players that still have not reported this year along with those that played at Arizona and the players the team just drafted, allow me to say that there are going to be a ton of transactions made in the next week or so. Arizona for once might actually have a prospect-laden team, as you could very well see a pitching staff that includes names like Odorizzi, Fredrickson, Lintz, Lasker, Krestralude, Bucci, Ohlmann, Pascual and many others depending on where they're placed. At Helena you have a very interesting pitching situation, with Efrain Nieves, Joel Morales, Chad Robinson, Luis Guerrero, Kristian Bueno, Adrian Rosario, Cody Scarpetta, Josh Romanski, Michael Bowman, Greg Miller, Trey Watten, Robert Wooten, Garrett Sherrill, Mark Willinsky, Lucas Luetge, Ben Jeffers, Brandon Ritchie and Cody Adams all in the mix for jobs, as well as some of the pitchers listed above. Some may end up at WV, and some down at AZ, while others are sure to be released (outside of the newly drafted players). Since Lawrie was drafted as a catcher, do the Brewers begin his career with the Baby Brewers, or do they move his polished bat to Helena similar to Gindl a year ago? And what about Shawn Zarraga? DJ Neyens and Brett Whiteside are still with the organization (last I checked at least), while Corey Kemp is likely a lock for Helena and Derrick Alfonso has to fit in somewhere. If Logan Schafer and Erik Komatsu are signed (which I'm assuming they will), where do guys like Chris Dennis, Erik Miller and Ryan Jensen fall? Back at Arizona? The Arizona OF may consist of Cutter Dykstra, Hitaniel Arias and Jose Garcia, which would form a very exciting and promising OF at Arizona, only creating that much greater of a logjam in the outfield in the Brewers system. You would assume Jose Duran also starts at Helena, but again, where does Miguel Vasquez, if he's healthy, fit in, and does Edgar Trejo stay at Helena? Michael Marseco is probably Helena's utility infielder, but then you also have John Delaney, and Cequea seems to be one of the organization's better, unknown Latin prospects. I would try to figure out the rosters, since it does interest me, but I figured I would wait a week and see how the pieces fall into place when the two rookie league teams begin their respective seasons. As always, I am more and more excited to watch these players perform via the box scores and game reports that Mass provides, since these are the players that for the most part we know the least about.

I'm bummed tonight's game was called off, but I think most of us saw that coming even if we did dodge the earlier storms more than we were supposed to. I had a feeling tonight would be my last game, but I'm not going to give out hope on the rest of the season regardless of how crappy of a time of year this is for me. I'm encouraged that next week's game is also at 9pm, which I think I missed before. The July 3rd game being at 9pm is also a distinct possibility, as is the game on July 17th, but the rest unfortunately I absolutely positively cannot make. We got screwed by the weather two years ago as well IIRC.

Whoops. Sorry about that. Luetge is bolded for good reason, as the team did sign him. He is definitely one of the team's higher profile, more aggressive signs from their late round picks. I think my explanation of Rice players and Luetge's situation only increases the excitment for that transaction. Assuming they get most of their picks in the top 20 signed (which I'm assuming they will, since they almost always do), Winkler is the one guy you should keep your fingers crossed for.

Sorry, no opinion/report on Brad.

I'm not saying I agree with the point I brought up Cmnder37, I just brought it up as a distinct possibility for the sake of conversation. More than likely Lucroy is being kept at WV because the team wants to see him put in 400+ ABs at the low-A level.

No word on Luetge. As I noted in my scouting profile on him (at least I think I mentioned this), I think he's one of the more likely candidates to return to school. If you hear otherwise, we all obviously would love to know the details. Rice is one of those schools that is tough to pry talent away from, both HS recruits and existing players. And kudos to the Brewers for getting so many signings done so quickly. Of course this is nothing new, directed to those that try to go out of their way to find a way to bash the team for being cheap with their draft signings.

Outside of a few bright spots, the Power have really been struggling this year. Yes, they won tonight, but the game certainly got scary late. A win is a win, but the team is full of prospects that for the most part have not stepped up yet this year. I know it's still early, but Jonathan Lucroy is definitely putting up overall numbers worthy of a bump up, especially since he was drafted out of college and probably could handle the bump better than most, but I'm somewhat curious if the Brewers are keeping him in WV to somewhat keep the team together. We've read the stories and read his blogs and know that he is a very strong individual with natural leadership qualities, and you almost have to wonder where this team would be without him. And this is new for WV, at least given their seasons the past couple of years, as Charleston has been more of a launching pad for some of the team's most brightest prospects that are now at A+ and up. It will be interesting to see if the team aggressively promotes any of their recent draftees (and recently signed draftees at that) to WV since there is still some intriguing talent to look forward to at Helena, and for the most part the team has not promoted their recently drafted players past Helena, especially not in June or July. As for Braddock, I'm not too concerned about his command. Prior to his promotion, that was his strongest attribute, and I'm sure he'll iron out his control before too long. Taylor Green, as others have noted recently, is quietly having a monster season for the FSL.