TheCrew07

Before Buxton was promoted the MWL had quite the collection of CF prospects... Unfortunately Hunter Morris made the Not Hot list. Prospect Hot Sheet: George Springer Could Make A Run At 40-40 IN THE TEAM PHOTO NOT HOT

Draft Deadline Day Figures To Be Quiet

Jesse Winkler of the Reds generates buzz again. Reds' Winker productive at plate

RHP Zach Petrick of the Cards. Cards' Petrick loses no-no bid in eighth

I forgot to mention in the game story how Chris gushed about Tyrone Taylor's improved OF play over the course of the season, his routes have become much better. Having watched the majority of their home games on TV that's one thing which is tough to pick-up because by the time the camera gets to the OF he's already tracking the ball. Mehring covered that and more in the post game. Energy and Persistence – Postgame Post for July 11, 2013 ... and a Ben Franklin quote rocks!

Final: Wisconsin 6, Fort Wayne (Padres) 3 Wisconsin tops TinCaps Rattlers collect 14 hits in third straight win By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/7/2/6/53501726/cuts/RoacheRuns_myiqqr60_k8ids8uu.jpg Victor Roache went 3-for-4 with a triple, an RBI, a run, and a walk in the Rattlers 6-3 win over the Fort Wayne TinCaps on July 11, 2013. GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers picked up their third consecutive victory with a 6-3 win over the Fort Wayne TinCaps on Thursday night at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium. Victor Roache had three hits, scored a run, and drove in a run to pace the Rattlers 14-hit onslaught. Wisconsin (38-47 overall, 9-11 second half) started the scoring with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first. Michael Reed and Tyrone Taylor each singled with one out against TinCaps starter Max Fried. Then, Fried attempted a pickoff of Reed at second base and threw the ball into centerfield. Reed went to third. The next pitch was in the dirt and Taylor took off for second base. Catcher Rodney Daal also threw the ball into center. That let Reed score and Taylor take third. Roache was patiently waiting for a pitch to hit and he smacked a single on a full count off the glove of the third baseman for an RBI and a 2-0 lead. Fort Wayne (49-40, 6-14) answered with a run in the second and two more in the third against Rattlers starting pitcher Leonard Lorenzo to take a 3-2 lead. Luis Domoromo drove in Dane Phillips with a sacrifice fly in the second inning. In the third, Tyler Stubblefield started the inning with a double. A throw to second to try to catch Stubblefield rounding the base too far backfired. The throw was wild and by the time it was retrieved, Stubblefield was scoring the tying run. Mallex Smith singled on the next pitch, was balked to second, and went to third on a wild pitch. Phillips drove him in with a sacrifice fly to give Fort Wayne the lead. The Rattlers went back in front with three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Parker Berberet singled to start the inning. Orlando Arcia reached on a bunt single. An error on the play let Berberet take third and Arcia to move to second. Tyler Roberts followed with a single down the line in right to knock in both runners. Roberts was out at second as he tried to stretch the hit into a double, but the Rattlers had a 4-3 lead. Alfredo Rodriguez made it 5-3 with a line drive home run over the wall in left later in the fourth inning. The homer was the second of the season for Rodriguez. Lorenzo worked a scoreless fifth inning to protect that lead. Lorenzo allowed three runs on five hits and struck out a pair to put himself in line for his first win since April 27. The Rattlers added an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth. Roache battled Fort Wayne reliever Colin Rea in a 14-pitch at bat to start the inning. The Rattlers slugger banged a triple off the wall in left-center on the final pitch of the at bat. Mike Garza was next and he singled through the drawn-in infield to send Roache home for a 6-3 Rattlers lead. Harvey Martin took over for Lorenzo and worked three scoreless innings to maintain the lead. Jono Armold came on in the ninth. He gave up a leadoff single and hit the next batter to bring the tying run to the plate. But, Armold retired the next three hitters to finish off the TinCaps and earn his third save of the season. Game three of the series is Friday night at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium. Wisconsin has Eric Semmelhack (1-4, 4.68) as their scheduled starting pitcher. Fort Wayne will send Matthew Shepherd (4-1, 2.83) to the mound. Game time is 7:05pm. Paramedics, firemen, police officers, and their families will receive $1 off reserved bleachers and box seating for Emergency Services Night. Plus, the first 1,000 fans to attend this game will receive a baseball courtesy of Baycom. The baseball will feature Clint Coulter, Victor Roache, and Mitch Haniger, the top three picks by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2012 draft. Kids 12 and under receive a free hot dog and soda as part of North Shore Bank Family Night. Children 14 and under may participate in Kids Run the Bases thanks to Molina Healthcare after the postgame fireworks display. If you can't make it out to the ballpark on Friday, there are a myriad of ways to catch the action. My NEW32's Sports Showdown will have the television broadcast starting with their pregame show at 6:30pm. The radio broadcast can be heard on AM1280, WNAM or IHeartRadio starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:45pm. Friday's game is also available to subscribers of MiLB.TV. HOME RUN: WIS: Alfredo Rodriguez (2nd, 0 on in 4th inning off Max Fried, 2 out) WP: Leonard Lorenzo (2-4) LP: Max Fried (3-4) SAVE: Jono Armold (3) TIME: 3:04 ATTN: 3,182 Wisconsin Boxscore Victor Roache have yourself a night, 3-4 with a BB! Harvey Martin hadn't been all that impressive in previous 2 outings for the T-Rats, but for the most part I liked what I saw from him. His 2 seamer has nice arm side run. The T-Rats pounded out 14 hits, everyone in the line-up had a hit, and in addition to Roache's multi-hit night mentioned earlier Alfredo Rodriguez, Michael Reed, and Tyler Roberts each had multiple hit games. I was very happy with the offensive output given the T-Rats were facing Padres #2 Prospect Max Fried. Wisconsin Recap Arcia's error on an ill advised throw was looking like it was going to loom pretty large, but the 3 run 4th blew the game open, not that Lorenzo helped his own cause at all. Fort Wayne Top of the 3rd Tyler Stubblefield doubles (5) on a fly ball to left fielder Victor Roache. Tyler Stubblefield scores. Throwing error by shortstop Orlando Arcia. Mallex Smith singles on a line drive to left fielder Victor Roache. Maxx Tissenbaum pops out to second baseman Christopher McFarland. With Diego Goris batting, Mallex Smith advances to 2nd on a balk. With Diego Goris batting, wild pitch by Leonard Lorenzo, Mallex Smith to 3rd. Diego Goris walks. Dane Phillips out on a sacrifice fly to center fielder Tyrone Taylor. Mallex Smith scores. Diego Goris to 2nd. Chris Burke flies out to center fielder Tyrone Taylor. Wisconsin Gameday

If he could squeeze one more year out I think Seattle could be a different team with much better pitching next season and his job would be safe. I really like Walker and Hultzen, plus Brandon Maurer has decent upside though he didn't pitch well so far this season for the Mariners. The problem is that Z's track record has been horrible for the Mariners. He also curiously fired their Latin American coordinator and then their International Scouting Director walked when his contract was up after the season. These are 2 guys that had a hand in identifying and signing players like Hernandez, Pineda, Shin-Soo Choo, Asdrubal Cabrera, Chris Carpenter, Roy Halladay and Pat Hentgen. Just an odd move, there must have been major disagreements on the direction which Seattle wanted to take.

I wouldn't get too worked up about what Melvin says, what he says and what he does are usually 2 different things. Until he demonstrates a willingness to retool/reload (note that I'm not talking about a full blow rebuild and never have) with at least 2 trades for legitimate impact talent I will remain a skeptic. He had to sell Greinke last year because there was no chance of resigning him and the player made that situation very clear for him.

That's not entirely true... the Brewers did well bringing him along from an innings standpoint through the system but he pitched up to 148 pitches and 11 innings in a HS game which took place in March of his senior season. I don't know what his innings and pitch counts were through HS, but he was also playing in showcases and such as well. There is likely more wear and tear on that arm than people realize. I hope it's a temporary issue, but if I had to guess I would guess that his days of being a starting pitcher with an above average fastball are done unless he's willing to make changes, especially to his off-season routine.

No one from the division gets mentioned today. Prospect Notebook: Henry Urrutia Goes 5-For-5

Notable Quotables: Burning down the house

Red's 1B prospect Seth Mejias-Brean featured. Mejias-Brean digs out of early hole

Cubs' 1B Dan Vogelbach. MWL notes: Vogelbach shows maturity

Feature on Cubs' Arismendy Alcantara, subscriber content Arismendy Alcantara Packs Plenty Of Pop In Small Package

I don't see what MLB possibly has to gain by releasing or leaking any of this information. Not only does it raise the ire of the player's union but if they would fail to pin anything on A-Rod and Braun again they've essentially created 2 "Telfon Dons". What I find more likely is that people who'd like to assume Braun is clean by default see this entire situation as MLB having an axe to grind and are willing to make the leap that MLB is initiating a smear campaign against some of the league's biggest stars. Which by the way would also be counterproductive for many reasons. If anyone has an axe to grind here it's clearly ESPN and has been from the start. They make think Braun is dirty, they may even know he's dirty, but either way I would rather they keep their mouths shut until there is some hard evidence ready to be released either way. This would be like a major newspaper back in the day leaking the contents of a bombshell investigative piece before it's ready to run in the paper, tipping their hand and giving the targets plenty of time to form a defense. The way it's being handled makes absolutely no sense unless it's all about sensationalism, in which case there is nothing to report except hearsay and rumors.

Chris nails another quote, the Rattler postgame for tonight. At the right time – Postgame post for July 10, 2013

Can we imbed tweets here? I couldn't figure it out. Anyway, I thought Chris was a bit too critical of himself, but he's right this play was a game changer.

Wisconsin claims 8-6 win over Fort Wayne Rattlers rally three times to beat TinCaps By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers needed three comebacks, but they finally overcame the Fort Wayne TinCaps 8-6 Wednesday night at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium. Chris McFarland drove in the run that tied the game 6-6 with a triple and scored the go ahead run on a wild pitch in the sixth inning. Ryan Gibbard made that lead hold with four hitless innings out of the bullpen. Fort Wayne opened the scoring with a run in the top of the first inning. Dane Phillips singled with two outs to drive in Max Tissenbaum for a 1-0 lead. The Timber Rattlers took the lead in the bottom of the first inning with a two out hit of their own. Mike Garza singled to drive in Michael Reed and Tyrone Taylor for a 2-1 advantage. The TinCaps rallied for three runs off Wisconsin starting pitcher Preston Gainey in the top of the second inning. The frame started with a walk to Luis Tejada, who stole second and took third on a wild pitch. Luis Domoromo singled to drive in Tejada. Tyler Stubblefield followed with a double that scored Domoromo. Later in the inning, a single by Mallex Smith sent Stubblefield across the plate for a 4-2 lead. Wisconsin rallied to retake the lead thanks to a two-out error in the bottom of the second. Tyler Roberts doubled with one out, but was still at second with two away. Orlando Arcia reached on a error to extend the inning and put runners on the corners. Reed followed with a single to drive in Roberts and send Arcia around to third base. Taylor was next and he singled to knock in Arcia to tie the game 4-4. The single also sent Reed around to third base. An error on a grounder off the bat of Victor Roache let Reed score the go ahead run for a 5-4 lead. Fort Wayne tied the game in the top of the third. They had the bases loaded with one out on a pair of walks and a single. Domoromo sent a grounder to first and the Rattlers got the out at second, but there was no chance to get Domoromo at first for the double play. That let the runner at third score the tying run. Another fielder's choice in the top of the fourth got Fort Wayne the lead against reliever Rodolfo Fernandez. They had runners at the corners and one out and Diego Goris had a high chopper near second base. The Rattlers got the out at second, but they again had no chance to turn the inning ending double play. That allowed the runner from third score and the TinCaps led 6-5. Wisconsin made their third and final rally in the bottom of the sixth. Max Walla started the inning with a triple. One out later, Chris McFarland tripled to knock in Walla with the tying run. Arcia was next and he struck out, but pitch for strike three got to the backstop for a wild pitch to allow McFarland to score the go ahead run. Wisconsin tacked on a run in the eighth on an RBI single by Arcia that drove in Roberts. Gibbard, who came on in the top of the sixth inning, worked around a pair of walks and did not allow a hit over his four innings of work. He struck out Phillips with a runner at first to end the game and pick up his fourth win of the season. Wednesday night was the thirteenth consecutive Timber Rattlers game to be decided by two or fewer runs. Wisconsin is 8-5 in their last thirteen games. Game two of the series is Friday night. Leonard Lorenzo (1-4, 6.10) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Max Fried (3-3, 3.62) is set to start for the TinCaps. Game time is set for 7:05pm. Paramedics, firemen, police officers, and their families will receive $1 off reserved bleachers and box seating for Emergency Services Night. Plus, the first 1,000 fans to attend this game will receive a baseball courtesy of Baycom. The baseball will feature Clint Coulter, Victor Roache, and Mitch Haniger, the top three picks by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2012 draft. It's a North Shore Bank Family Night and kids 12 and under receive a free hot dog and soda. Children 14 and under may run the bases thanks to Molina Healthcare after the postgame fireworks display. If you can't make it out to the ballpark, catch the television broadcast on My NEW32's Sports Showdown starting with the pregame show at 6:30pm. The radio broadcast is on AM1280, WNAM or through the IHeartRadio app starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:45pm. Thursday's game is also available to subscribers of MiLB.TV. WP: Ryan Gibbard (4-2) LP: Matt Chabot (2-1) TIME: 3:02 ATTN: 4,043 Wisconsin Boxscore Ryan Gibbard posted his first scoreless appearance in some time and picked a great spot, shutting down the Tincaps and enabling the come back. The young Rattlers have shown some resiliency lately, 2 very nice come from behind wins after the starting pitchers got blown up. The offense was fantastic once again as Michael Reed, Tyrone Taylor, Max Walla, Tyler Roberts, and Chris Mcfarland all had multiple hit games. As noted earlier Orlando Arcia returned to the line-up but had a rough game, I didn't recall him striking out 3 times in a game all year so I looked up his game log and sure enough, he hadn't... well until tonight. On top of another nice comeback the T-Rats played clean defense... dare I say this team is finally starting to ascend? Wisconsin Recap Lots to wade through, as the score and game story would suggest. Wisconsin Gameday

I don't necessarily agree with the notion the Brewers don't have talent whom could bring back the impact talent we're looking for. I do agree that people are generally unwilling to move the pieces like Gomez which would command that kind of return. It's not that we don't have the talent to trade, it's that people are unwilling to give the talent necessary to get the talent back. No one is going to give us talent for spare parts that we don't want, an yet every year those type of trades are suggested on this forum. To get value we need to give value... unfortunately Ramirez most recent knee injury is going to give teams pause, it's not worth trading for a position player whom can only play 3 games a week. Lohse doesn't have great stuff and is old by professional sport standards without a great career track record, just small a window of success in STL. Gallardo's velocity and effectiveness are down, Hart may not play all season, and so on. We have to strike when the iron is hot, not when it's convenient, which is why we always seem to be selling low and missing opportunities to sell high. I like our prospects, but I also believe in make an effort to be realistic about what they are exactly are. I firmly believe that for Milwaukee pitching has to come first because we haven't been able to buy impact pitching in FA or develop it internally, so to get it we have to trade for it. I also firmly believe that trading 1 or 2 position players to get that talent wouldn't have hurt the Brewers as a whole and the team would have been much stronger. I disagree vehemently with Mark A, fans don't need players to attach to, that idea is a relic of the past, it's not possible given the economics of the sport and Milwaukee's limited means. If he wants attendance, he has to put a good product on the field and the only way to for the Brewers to keep the window from closing is to cycle talent properly keeping the organization rich with talent. I don't believe Lohse will command a big return and he should have never been signed in the first place. I don't want to be a team that's always pseudo competitive, making marginal signings to be .500 ish, that's not building for any specific goal and the easiest way to mire the franchise in mediocrity. Casual fans are bandwagonish, worry about building the most talented organization possible, the MLB team will be truly competitive year and year out, and winning will put fans in the seats. Sign that impact talent early, lock it up for the player's first 8-10 years, then cycle it out and move on. Brewers for life? Rarely... maybe never. Lohse could bring back an under the radar type in the low minors, but I'd be shocked if the Brewers could get any big time prospect for him, which is why I haven't suggested a trade package around him on this forum. The Brewers best bet for that kind of return is an unfortunate injury to an impact pitcher from a team with WS aspirations who doesn't have impact pitching near MLB ready which would make the team desperate for a pitcher. That's a pretty short list of teams.

Divisional related notes.

More on Glasnow. Prospect Notebook: George Springer Keeps On Ticking At Triple-A

Stetson Allie the only divisional mention in this one. Midseason Prospect Update: The Minor League All-Surprise Team

Robert Stephenson of the Reds is the only divisional prospect to make the list. Midseason Prospect Update: Minor League All-Star Team

Ask some Brewer related questions! Chat starts at noon local time Prospects Chat With Jim Callis

Tyler Glasnow again, it must be nice to have legitimate pitching up and down a system. Power's Glasnow changes his tune