TheCrew07

... and strike 1 was thigh high right down the middle of plate, thankfully Johnson didn't swing at it. The AB turned out to be win though, so all is well.

... and now backup to 92... darnit!

Teheran was down under 90 MPH on his FB to start the inning... 87.88 to Gennett, then a 90 to Gallardo. Time to take advantage of a tiring pitcher.

For those of us following on Gameday did they mention anything about Gallardo's pitch count today on TV or radio? If it's 85 he'll be fortunate to get through 6, hopefully they will let him go 100.

I'm pretty sure Miller was released, you'd have to dig through the transaction thread, MH is very thorough on those updates passing along whatever is posted online.

That would be fine expect most pitchers are RH, are you really suggesting O should be the larger half of the platoon, or should be part of a regular platoon in the first place?

I have a great deal of venom for anyone would seriously blame a goat, curse, fan, or any other irrelevant issue on their lack of success so the way this article started almost lost me. Ringolsby: Cubs Growing Promise On The Farm Ya, we know the feeling buddy.

Never underestimate the power of veteraness!

Yea we've seen this drill before... getting bats in the line-up regardless of their best defensive position. As I said I don't have a problem with both guys switching between 2B and SS, positional flexibility is a very good thing. Arcia needs to continue to play SS on a regular basis, he reminded me a bit of Escobar in that he'd make the fantastic play and then boot the routine grounder or make a horribly ill-advised throw. I don't think it matters where he's playing from a mental lapse standpoint, that issue can be worked on at any position, but I can't see bumping Arcia off SS because Rivera is there, it should be the other way around. We have 3 legitimate defensive but light hitting SS now between A+ and A ball, this issue likely isn't going to go away in the immediate future so the organization needs to be more creative than making 1 guy a 2B for a year. Bouncing them all between 2B/SS preconditions all the athletes for a utility role if nothing else. Ortega only put a .558 OPS for the H-Crew last year, Arcia had the best OPS at a measly .647, Rivera's OPS dropped all the way to .612 in BC. Yadiel has the most thump in his bat with 12 bombs and a .692 OPS as 20 year old in WI (2012) , but that doesn't mean he's the first or best option at SS long-term.

He's dealing with personal issues and wasn't in camp, noted elsewhere.

I didn't want to jump the gun after looking at Nashville's roster, but now this all makes sense. The over abundance of 28+ year old relievers in AAA has stalled the development of every other relief prospect in the organization... how is that logical? I would absolutely keep Hand, Wooten, and Blazek, no problems there... but I would cut the rest without a thought, move Fiers to the BP, and at least promote Jungmann out of AA. This is one year I'd really like to have been a fly on the wall when decisions were being made, I have no idea why some youngsters with promising enough upside, stats, and/or improvement were let go for this backlog of guys who likely don't have a MLB future? I like Brock Kjeldgaard but let's be honest, this is his 9th season with the organization, none above AA, but we cut someone like Jenkins and kept him (from the prospect worthy perspective, not positional). Usually this stuff is pretty self explanatory but I don't understand what the Brewers are trying to do here with Nashville and Huntsville beyond lining up as many guys with MLB experience as possible. There's a difference between depth and then quality depth.

No Taylor Jungmann to start the season...

This is where I look at a roster and think "oh no"... you have 2 SSs who project as MLB players defensively, but neither one hit particularly well last season. I have no problem with Arcia getting bumped up nor Rivera repeating A+ again based on their career arcs, but if this becomes one of those deals where one guy is sitting while the other plays I'll be pissed. Rodriguez is a nice utility guy, I like "Fredo" as Mehring referred to him, but if he plays any SS outside of an injury, someone needs a punch in the eye. I not opposed to the idea of Rivera and Arcia splitting time between SS and 2B increasing their positional flexibility, but I feel much better about Orlando's long-term prospects than I do Yadiel at this point. So if push came to shove and they were going to choose 1 or the other, they'd better make the correct choice about which prospect ends up playing SS. Does this mean McFarland heads back to WI? I'll also echo MH, how are none of those relievers promoted to AA? Tommy Toledo especially, he put up 1.1 WHIP, 2.11 ERA, 7H/9, 2.9BB/9, and 7.2K/9 last year, he now almost has a full 1.5 years in A+. What more would he need to do? Jed Bradley returns to A+ for the 3rd straight year... I don't have the words... hopefully he earns a quick bump.

The 2000 team was a fluke at just an #8 seed... our best player was Mark Vershaw for goodness sake (my brother still loves him), though who could forget little Jon Bryant raining down 3s!?! It was an incredibly fun tournament and I still remember exactly what I was doing for each game in that run. This team feels legit, a very streaky though offensively talented bunch. I'm not as high on Jackson or Dekker as many people, too many ill advised shots and poor decisions.... the 2 players I like the most are the 2 freshman; Koenig and Hayes. Speaking of which, I understand that Jackson always wants the ball at the end of the game, but couldn't they do better actually running a set play and trying to free up someone instead of letting him mess around until the clock runs down and then take a bad shot? He's a very good ball handler but he's not quick enough to consistently break the defender down off the dribble and create space for himself. Not mention his shot makes me cringe (it's like watch pitcher with a weird motion such as Will Inman), it's off to the side of his head a bit and isn't all that smooth, I'm always surprised when a shot of his goes in. I realize he's made a bunch of game winners but I'm just not comfortable with him "trying to create something" at the end of a game, and I also understand that his %s have improved since last season. All that being said I couldn't be more thrilled for Bo Ryan, the Badgers, and the state of Wisconsin. It's going to be nice riding this tournament high into opening day for the Brewers and all of the affiliates this week.

2014 NHSI Prospect Notebook: Day 3

I always liked Chadwin and you're right about that tweet, good luck to all those released.

Well this is interesting development.

I think that the majority of owners, like many fans, only care about *this* season. Which is why you find many of the same types of GMs around, who will always buy to win now. The owner wants to win now and the GM placates the owner, so everyone basically ends up operating in the same fashion. I don't think Melvin and Attanasio are outside of the norm, more that they are firmly in the middle, which has been and remains my biggest issue with the franchise. It's very difficult to sell a long-term view to pretty much anyone involved in baseball from the owners, GMs, coaching staffs, and press on down to the fans, hardcore or casual, there's really no difference. There's very little interest in building a brand, the focus is simply how to get the most out of their product each year. Quality isn't measured over time, it's measured from season to season, take the current run of the Brewers for example: [pre]Rk Year Lg W L W-L% Finish 1 2013 NL Central 74 88 .457 4th of 5 2 2012 NL Central 83 79 .512 3rd of 6 3 2011 NL Central 96 66 .593 1st of 6 4 2010 NL Central 77 85 .475 3rd of 6 5 2009 NL Central 80 82 .494 3rd of 6 6 2008 NL Central 90 72 .556 2nd of 6 7 2007 NL Central 83 79 .512 2nd of 6 8 2006 NL Central 75 87 .463 4th of 6[/pre] Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table I chose 2006 as the starting point because it didn't seem fair to peg Melvin with all of the losing before the core of those playoff teams was in Milwaukee and playing for the Brewers. Since 2006 the Brewers have posted a cumulative 658-638 record for a .507% winning percentage. What's so special about what's been done over that time? What exactly are people romanticizing? Was one trip to the NLCS worth it all? The objective truth here is that Milwaukee has been nothing but a model of mediocrity... of course that's better than being 23 games out by the end of August of every year, but that isn't being "good" either. Many posters seem to equate being a good businessman with being a good owner, or in Mark A's case, he's a good businessman because he's a very good investment banker. I don't think any of that is synonymous, because sustaining success over a long period time in a professional sport is more like manufacturing a product than knowing how to manipulate investments. In business your end product is only as good as the materials you use during construction. If you're a company concerned with quality that product is going to be constantly tinkered with and upgraded, all inefficiencies are going to be removed the from the manufacturing process to streamline production and reduce cost. It's also going to be built with quality materials that will stand up to the elements as well as daily wear and tear. Your product will be durable, it will hold it's value through the years, and if marketed properly will become an iconic brand over time. Conversely if your a company just looking to hop on a hot idea and milk it for all it's worth (think cell phones for example) then you're basically only concerned with the bottom line for each product line. Since the primary concern is the profit line the product is constructed at a passable level for the consumer, it won't last, and will need to be periodically replaced. These products are normally associated with some kind of gimmick-ed salesmanship, the pitch isn't the about the longevity, it's about some kind of instant gratification. Which extreme example above seems more like MLB? Minor league teams really don't have a choice, they don't control their talent, so they have no control over the product, they can only manage the experience of the game, so they are primarily going to be gimmick based. However every MLB franchise has the same opportunity to make every dollar count, acquire talent, and build their roster. Organizations that choose to focus on the quality of the product they produce aren't typically going to make frivolous moves in FA and will be labeled "cheap" by the fans and media until they prove over time that there was a method to their madness, it even happened with the Packers and Thompson. I think most major sport franchises operate on gimmicks and aren't really interested in their brand. They want you to be instantly gratified now so that you'll come back and give them a try in the future. There are a smattering franchises that are more like the first example, and that's where I'd like the Brewers to be. The genius in the way the Rays operated to get the to the WS in 2008 has been routinely and regularly dismissed on this forum, the same goes for the Pirates. The Pirates still have quite a bit to prove, but they announced that they were going to focus their dollars on developing a better minor league system and even though that strategy has started to bear fruit there are still posts about them being "notoriously cheap". Why? Because it was easy for other owners, media, and fans to smear the franchise publicly, even though the investments they were making in facilities and talent were transparent to anyone who cared to look. Will Pittsburgh hold that tact long-term? I have no idea... a lot of teams have talked that talk, but when push comes to shove they'll sell for a win now move like KC or Toronto and set themselves back. It would take some serious convincing of angles which hadn't previously occurred to me for me to believe that giving up 6+ years of both Odorizzi and Myers was worth 2 years of Shields in his early 30s and 3 of years of Wade Davis, though I've been a fan of both Shields and Davis for a long time (even though Davis has never come close to his ceiling). Was Toronto acquiring Johnson or Buehrle worth giving up Nicolino? Was a 38 year old Dickey worth Syndergaard? BA rated Syndergaard the 16th best prospect and Nicolino was the Marlin's #4 prospect... Johnson only managed 81.1 innings and none of those 3 MLB pitchers put up an ERA under 4, and Toronto finished dead last again in the AL east. If Toronto had just been patient in 2015 they would have Syndergaard as a potential #2, Sanchez as a potential #2, and Nicolino as a potential #3 to anchor their rotation for years. The Brewers were *that* close to getting a great performance from Sabathia but ultimately netting nothing from him as well, the Mets had to totally collapse for the Brewers to make the playoffs, in mid September this forum was completely bummed because we thought it was likely over. The comp pick for Sabathia became Max Walla, he's proved valueless as well. Without falling ass-backwards into the playoffs that move would have netted nothing tangible other than, "at least they went for it...". As noted beyond the way teams are operated all these mega contracts have the effect of pulling up the bottom of the market or put another way artificially inflating the salaries of all FAs, regardless of talent level. The only mild equalizer has been the draft pick penalty, very few teams have been willing to sign a mediocre talent just to have to give their 1st round pick for a player who declined his qualifying offer. Since as far as I know MLB revenue is never going to be split 50/50, I believe it's currently 65/35 or something along those lines, the Brewers will always have reduced buying power in the market. This means that for every $ they spend, they need to get 40% more value out of that dollar than do the Yankees, Angels, and so on. I'm not certain that we'll get that much surplus value out of Lohse or Garza, but I'm damn sure that the large markets don't care about the value they are giving away. I'm also quite sure Detroit doesn't care about anything other than that elusive WS title. Some will applaud the move, some will be appalled, I'm largely indifferent because this is the reality of MLB financial system.

2014 NHSI Prospect Notebook: Day 2

Hamilton revs it back up for Reds

Cubs Prospect Primer: Candelario thinks big

Cardinals Prospect Primer: Taveras adjusting

Pirates Prospect Primer: Polanco blossoms

Reds Prospect Primer: Stephenson soaring

Brewers Prospect Primer: Arcia gains steam