TheCrew07

This does a pretty good job summing it up.

I've harped on may of the poor training methods I've seen from the Brewer organization over the years, but it occurred to me this morning that I never really share what's proper or tips to look for. I've quite literally stolen some concept or drill from just about every presentation I've been to over the years but I wanted to highlight of couple of resources for parents. I linked to him once before, and I've personally sat in on a handful of his presentations, but Brad Arnett of NX Level down in the Milwaukee is a tremendous resource for athletes of any age, especially if you want to help your son or daughter develop athletically in a safe and proper manner. Just as example Brad did a full 80 minute presentation at the football clinic on just the squat, and all of the negative consequences poor technique can have, what to look for, and so on. As a football coach over of 10 years at the time, and having done squats most of my life, I was blown away by how little I actually knew about the lift or had failed to consider when performing, teaching, and supervising the exercise. He runs a business so there's going to be cost involved, but it's worth it. ****** A guy who churns quite a bit of free content and nuggets of wisdom in regards to baseball training specifically is Eric Cressey, though he's more than just baseball. His article from today was the catalyst for this post. Read the article, watch the video, those little things like rest and proper technique are so important to long term health and development. Eric doesn't give much away for free, but there's plenty of food for thought which will lead you in the right direction. There's so much good information out there about what to do, it's just that many people don't where to find it or who to believe so I thought I'd share a couple of resources I've found to be extremely valuable over the years.

I get that you're going to keep this beating drum JB12, but I find this Davis issue very similar to the people who insisted Fielder's defensive issues didn't matter because his offense was *that* good, which was possibly true every other year, though I didn't buy it. This is a tangent, but I've always wondered why 1B defense is overlooked, that's the one defensive position that has the ability to make everyone else around him better, turning errors into outs or at least saving an extra base. I understand that you don't need a great athlete at the position, but it's the linchpin of the entire IF defense. Getting back on track even though literally everyone who has replied to your posts has pointed this out, but Davis is in fact a 1 trick pony. I'm not a big Nottingham fan, and I'm willing to concede that the Brewers could have done better trading away Davis, but I don't have a problem with Brewers moving Davis at all. He was a DH playing in a league that doesn't have a DH, and didn't have a need for his services with Santana moving to RF. Of course Santana got hurt which opened up the door for you to continually beat on the Davis issue all year, but it would not have made sense to sit Santana for Davis. I will say though that you're completely unwilling to back away from your "must win now" mantra, you've even posted in the transaction forum about acquiring an aging McCann to catch for the Brewers next season. I don't expect everyone to be on board with the rebuild, lord knows many of the people in my immediate circle are not, but even if the Brewers were competing why would the Brewers want to acquire any players over 30 years old to play a significant role with the team? Especially a catcher? I have a very difficult time believing that the folly of counting on players to produce into their mid 30s isn't blatantly obvious by now? Trades for veteran players and FA should be a tool used sparingly, even if the team can afford the contract it just doesn't make good sense to pay a player for what they've already done, rather than what they are going to do. Professional franchises need to pick their spots and make those moves when the opportunity outweighs the total cost (not just dollars). I hear the same arguments from Packer fans all the time... "we like winning but it sure would be nice if Thompson would "go for it" once in a while". The issue of course is that if you "go for it", then you aren't going to keep winning, because you become top heavy with a maxed out payroll as players start declining from a production standpoint, and no team in any sport drafts so perfectly that they never miss and always have talent to spare. The simple truth is there isn't a Charles Woodson or Ryan Pickett move out there every off season. However the Packers haven't lost in the playoffs because of the talent, they've lost because of terrible decisions made by players and coaches in the moment, and also health. Health is the one part of sports that is truly random, there's just no way of knowing which players you are going to lose in a given season, and sometimes the players are irreplaceable, that's no different than baseball, and that's why have a robust talent base to draw from is so important. Melvin made a "go for it" trade every year starting with Linebrink, how did that ultimately work out? The key to winning is having dynamic athletes who can produce, and a diversity of skills. The Brewers don't need to hit 180 HRs if they get on base and play better defense with better pitching. There's always more than one way to get home. Melvin and Jack Z favored power, everything else be damned, so the Brewers needed to hit HRs to score runs, this version doesn't need Davis' total package. Davis is actually in a much better situation being in the AL where he can DH and his OF defense doesn't hurt the team, there wasn't room for Davis and Santana in the same OF (and no playing Santana in CF again would have been a terrible idea), so other than the return of the trade, there isn't much to complain about, but you've proven completely unwilling to concede even the most of minor of points when it comes to Kris. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7X2_V60YK8

Isan Diaz has all of the physical tools to play SS except his arm gets exposed in the 3B hole, his glove is solid, his feet are good, and his range is above average. Over half of his errors were just silly/stupid decisions like flips behind his back that missed 2B by 10 feet and stuff like that, his error total is not representative of his fielding skill. I never watched him on the DVR (just live) to see if it was something mechanical rather than arm strength, but his throws were fairly loopy when he was moving away from 1B towards the 3B line. I think his bat will get him on the list, but his position with a MLB club will likely be 2B, and there just aren't many 2B who are actually legit prospects. Weeks obviously scored high on prospect lists during his time so I don't think it keeps him off the lists, but it will be interesting to see what people have to say about him, and where he ultimately slots It was a smallish sample, but one thing I noticed is that when he slumps, he slumps hard with the bat, and it's an extended period of time, just like his hot streaks are. Some guys will go 1 for 10 and then get back on track, Isan rode tremendous peaks and valleys 2016. He was extremely hot to start the season, then cooled off by mid April and that lasted until around June 8th, then he was white hot all the way through until mid August when he started to slide again and finished on another cold streak. You would hope he smooths that out ride out in a positive manner as he progresses.

It was 65 degrees and raining, with school back in session. I understand you're opinion about filling a stadium, but given the conditions that wasn't going to happen, free or not.

Much of this depends on if they trade a piece this winter and when they pull the trigger with Hader. I'd prefer to start him in AAA so he has more time to work on his control/command. Talent wise I don't believe there's much of an argument to be made about Suter, he's at the bottom. Production wise there's an argument, but for a guy that throws in the mid 80s he's going to face a steep uphill climb, like he has his whole career. The thing that would help him the most would be to slot him between 2 guys that really throw gas, so he's a huge change up to them. That's why he projects better in the pen, because his FB is already the slider velocity of an average FB pitcher, he has instant velocity differential. If you let him start I'm just not convinced that MLB hitters will stay out in front 3 times through the order... Maybe they will because he's enough of a different look, but I have serious doubts. The problem with the Brewers when they had Fiers, Gallardo, and Estrada wasn't the individual talent of the pitchers, it was that they were basically all the same type velocity pitchers, hitters didn't have to ramp up or ramp down from game to game. I think those kind of subtleties in how a rotation is built are often over looked. If Suter is sandwiched between guys pitching 95+ he might just be effective as a starter, of the course the problem with that the Brewers haven't exactly been developing that kind of pitching, getting any pitchers for the rotation has been a win.

The don't really have time to start him in rookie ball, I would guess his placement depends on how well he does this fall. He's too old start at the bottom and work his way up 1 year at a time.

If everyone who I want to be playing is actually on the field and they win, so be it. I'm not going to begrudge the players doing their best and winning. My problem has always and will always stem from the short sighted "this guy gives us the better chance to win" argument which isn't even necessarily true. Maybe today, but probably not a month from now when a prospect is settled in and hopefully performing well, and especially not in the following seasons. I think effect of struggling bat in the line-up is vastly overstated by many, every line-up will have a struggling player or 2 in it every day during the season, how often do teams really put up 15+ hits? It pissed me off when Gamel wasn't given a shot for McGehee, I wanted to strangle Macha every time he sat Escobar for having 3 bad games in a row, and now Counsell is ticking me off sitting one of Broxton or Santana most every day. Even posts like Rluz' about Villar's value as a SS (where he stinks defensively) get under my skin, that's just a recycle of the original Hall vs Hardy debate and then later the Hardy vs Escobar debate. I'll say this one last time because I think it should be self explanatory by now, but even if you take a small step back in that first year swapping out a veteran for a prospect, the potential to be a much better team in year 2 is very real. Like I tried point out numerous times in the Hardy/Escobar debate... if you trade Hardy for a decent young pitcher, then the pitcher + Escobar will provide greater long term value than the current Hardy + below replacement level pitcher on the staff. Yes you step back from Hardy to Escobar, but you gain so much more by replacing a scrub pitcher. Play chess people, see all of the moves working in unison, roster management should not be linear like playing checkers.

Kernels Beat Rattlers to End Wisconsin's Season Cedar Rapids sweeps first round series with 3-1 victory By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers Wisconsin Boxscore Unfortunately tonight's LR brings the season to a close. If you've been following along all season you already know the many positive stories to come from the Rattlers in 2016, and you have my sincere thanks for reading along on a daily basis. As for this game, Marcos Diplan left the ball up the 2nd time through the order and got smacked around in the 3rd which was ultimately the difference in the game. Scott Grist and Nate Griep came on in relief and finished the season in fine fashion. With so many slumping hitters at the same time the T-Rats struggled once again to scratch runs across, though many outs on the bases didn't help the cause tonight. Corey Ray (2-4) singled twice and had a real nice diving catch in CF but also made his own contribution to the base running gaffes in the game. Luis Aviles (2-3) added the other multi effort for the Rattlers and finished on the upswing after slumping most of the 2nd half. I'd also like to pass along my sincere gratitude to Chris Mehring for his continued excellence, I once again stood on his shoulders all season and was able to pass along his many insights to the readers here. Finally, a special thanks to Maas Haas who started the Link Report, provides all of the crucial links on a daily basis, and is essentially the best clearing house for Brewer prospect information there is. Wisconsin Log

Kernels take Game One 11-3 Wisconsin trails Cedar Rapids in best-of-three series By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/8/4/6/200161846/cuts/9_7_PlayerOfTheGame_LuisAviles_7345tidv_n22a7hkc.jpg Luis Aviles went 1-for-3 with a double, a stolen base, a run scored, and two RBI for the Timber Rattlers on Wednesday night. (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers/Ann Mollica) Wisconsin Boxscore Well this was an uninspiring performance with poor pitching, poor defense(misplays not scored errors), and poor hitting... not much to be excited about after game 1. I know the conditions weren't ideal, but they were the same for both teams. Isan Diaz is mired in a horrible slump, batting <.120 over his last 10 games and it couldn't have been timed worse. Same same for Trent Clark and to make matters worse Lucas Erceg's day off to the end season didn't help matters as he has just 1 hit in his last 4 games. Since coming down Corey Ray has 2 hits as a Rattler in 4 games, today's was of the IF variety where the infielder fell down trying to set his feet to make the throw, without being able to watch I'm unsure if there would have been a play. Rattler hitters struck out 16 times... just bleh. I was listening pretty intently to the game but I did miss why Jonathan Oquendo replaced Diaz after his strike out to end the 8th, I'm guessing it was disciplinary. I'm pretty sure the difference in Erceg's error totals from Helena to WI is a bit of good fortune with bounces on poor throws, but more so the quality of the 1B in WI as Alan Sharkey is fantastic defensively and Jake Gatewood has made nice strides over there, scooping a poor Erceg throw early. Erceg looks the part as a fielder, he's got excellent reaction time, range, and arm strength, plus a very nice glove. He's made a plethora of plays on balls down the line and into foul territory, hopefully his throwing accuracy improves because he could be a plus defender. Wisconsin Log ****** Postgame Post – September 7, 2016 Erickson's comments worthwhile ******

Since the Brewers seem insistent on developing gimmicky side arm pitchers why not add a couple of nuckleballers as well?

I think that's an emotional baseline that has no logical basis in either MLB or MiLB development. Why wouldn't we want our young players to get as much experience as possible now and why would we want to sacrifice draft position and potentially talent for an arbitrary number? I really don't understand the "can't win with young players argument" when teams around the game prove that theory wrong every year, I'm not even sure where it came from? The marginal difference in production from a MLB placeholder like Kirk to a hopefully ascending prospect like Broxton is negligible over the course of a full season. This would have been the perfect season to get Santana an extended look but the injury ruined that, and Broxton should be playing every day like Arcia is. I want every day ABs for prospects called up to MLB, I want to start weeding out the players that never will be... but that's very difficult when they aren't getting playing time. Nothing irritates me more than the AAAA label being thrown at a guy who has <=300 sporadic PAs, that short leash leads to players looking over their shoulder and does nothing for their mental development as a player. Somehow it seems that people forget how long it took Gomez to develop with limited ABs... every time he failed he'd end up sitting the bench, and in Milwaukee he had actually lost the CF job to Cain before Cain was traded away. It's not about "pressure", it's about the player looking ahead to his success instead of worrying about what's going to happen if you fail. If you focus on failure it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy because the subconscious focuses on the last dominant thought. That's why you shouldn't tell anyone "not to do something", instead tell them what you want them to be. For example I never tell my pitchers "not to nibble" even when that's exactly what they are doing, instead I tell them to "attack the hitter". On surface it would appear to be the same message however they are anything but. Just like a telling a child "not to lie" leaves them with the last dominant thought of "lie". Give youngsters room to have ups and downs, succeed and fail, until their production evens out, just have patience with them, and please understand that every player is going to have a somewhat unique career arc "or curve".

Garrett Cooper may have the best raw power in the Brewer system, how has that translated? Or David Denson? That aside, you're selling Haniger short as a baseball player, even if he never makes it with AZ. He was much better than I expected to him to be when I saw him in WI. Cordell is certainly an athletic upgrade over Haniger, but from a production standpoint I don't think much separates them, and again that was intended to be a very loose comparison based on the type player I see them as. As far as instincts goes, to use a player from the Brewer's system, the more I see of Trent Clark the less I like him as a CF, and he's not limited athletically. To me that's either something you have, or something you don't, and while players can certainly get better, their ceiling as a player is limited by those instincts. Cordell is a nice prospect, but he's not even a MLB regular at this point, let alone a 3 WAR player like a Hart. I do like that the Brewers continue to get better athletically and continue to add options though, Stearns is definitely moving in the right direction.

I'm not sure I'd peg this on Mark A., though he's a factor regardless. Counsell just has this weird dynamic where people think he's really smart and intuitive for some reason, which is as far as I can tell is based on nothing more than he's a WI guy who was pretty clutch in his time with the Brewers. I have a bunch of acquaintances who think he's a great manager based on those things, but from where I'm sitting he's not tangibly better than anyone else. I talked about him stubbornly holding onto that horrible batting stance which suggested to me that he was minimizing his meager potential as a player because he didn't have the talent to pull it off but others saw him as a guy who got the most out of his limited abilities. It's somewhat fascinating that people can see the same thing and come to basically opposite conclusions regarding what they are seeing.

My thoughts. Cordell is basically Mitch Haniger. He's not someone you play to play CF, but he can be passable for a time. They have somewhat similar physical skills, somewhat similar batting lines, and a similar career trajectory. They aren't directly comparable, but for anyone who may have lamented Haniger's loss, here's a pretty similar player coming back. As much as I enjoy following prospects and believe in continually turning over the roster, Cordell is not comparable to Hart or any other major league player until he actually produces at that level. I'm not trying to hate on any particular poster, and I realize that to a certain extent MLB player comps will always be around, but I despise them with a passion. There are literally tons of players in the minors with 60+ raw power, but very few of those guys translate that in games. It's become too common around the forum to suggest that because a player has above average speed and is a great athlete he'll steal 40 bases, or because he hit X of HRs he'll hit Y in MLB, or is the best fielder the Brewers have ever developed because the player is a "defensive first" prospect, and so on down the line. Every prospect has a pretty unique career arc from the time they are acquired to what they ultimately become in the majors, statistical analysis doesn't do a great job of projecting MLB player in a given calendar year, and it's extremely dangerous to try and apply that same method to prospects who are constantly changing field conditions, leagues, and opposing player talent in addition to everything else the prospect has going on trying to improve their own game. As to the pitchers the Brewers have acquired. Yes the Brewers have plenty of depth, but I'd definitely debate the quality. We don't have a single pitching prospect who was at the same level as Gallardo in terms of track record and stuff. Our best pitchers have 1 or the other but not both. I was always slightly disappointed that Gallardo didn't achieve greater heights, I don't think he reached his full potential, and while anything can and certainly will happen when it comes to prospects, all of our guys have quite a bit to prove yet. I was quite certain Gallardo would at least be a 2, right now I see that as the ceiling for both Hader and Ortiz. I don't believe it's possible to enough pitching, I would have preferred a pitcher in the lower minors with some talent. If Cordell is the best that they could do that's fine but I also think it's reasonable to be somewhat let down. Cordell was a 3rd piece, he's a fine player, and is a welcome addition, but again there's also reason to be a little bit let down if you were looking for pitching.

Perhaps if the TRats advance, they can revisit the possibility of free admission.. Maybe the Crew can kick some money in to make it worthwhile... Why is free admission that important? The best T-Rat tickets are so cheap and it's still a business, I'm not seeing an affordability issue. In terms of quality (play & game experience) and cost, the Rattlers are the best baseball value in the state. If I wasn't busy with a lame work audit tomorrow I'd be sitting behind home plate with a radar gun myself.

Rattlers Drop Regular Season Finale Beloit hits three homers to beat Wisconsin 4-3 By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers Wisconsin Boxscore Rattler pitchers allowed all 4 runs via the 3 HRs mentioned above, please read the game story for additional details. Jake Gatewood (2-3,2B,BB) and Luis Aviles (2-3) had the multi hit games for the Rattlers. The playoffs start Wednesday, I'm excited to see how the team reacts. Wisconsin Recap

Shuckers close season with win over M-Braves Angel Ortega had three hits and drove in two runs on Monday Biloxi Shuckers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/3/0/4/199703304/cuts/_BRP5848_8e9xjwcb_vr2680of.jpg Biloxi Boxscore The Shuckers, Jorge Lopez, Angel Ventura, Johnny Davis, Angel Ortega, and Clint Coulter all go out on a high note. Biloxi finishes the year 5 games over .500 which is acceptable if not for the talent which was assembled here most of this season, I just haven't been able to shake my disappointment at the individual performances of the position players even though the season was successful on the whole. 3 players stood out to me positively. Josh Hader - The results in AA speak for themselves but I'll continue to caution people against throwing the top of the rotation label at him. So many things have to come together for that to happen and he's just not there yet, I fear like Arcia people are going to expect more than he's ready to provide when he arrives. Garrett Cooper - It was interesting to learn he may have the most raw power in the system because it's never translated into games. He did everything else well this season and if he figures to put consistent backspin on the baseball he'll be a pop up player that seemingly came for no where, but we'll know better. Bradon Woodruff - Barely on my radar to start the season he became quite the story in the middle of the season when things were pretty bleak around the system. He's not a top of the rotation starter at this time, he'll have to continue to improve, but the raw tools are there. The Shuckers should be extremely interesting again next year from a talent perspective with players who should repeat and new players coming up for the first time. Biloxi Recap

Rattlers Claim Playoff Spot with 6-2 win at Beloit Wisconsin hosts Cedar Rapids Wednesday in Game One at 6:35pm By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers Wisconsin Boxscore Playoffs! Trey Supak came up big pitching one his better outings when the Rattlers needed it most, kudos to him. I'm still incredibly high on Miguel Diaz, I like him more than Marcos Diplan and Freddy Peralta longterm. If he finds some consistency he could break out like Woodruff did this season. His stuff is legit, his FB is legit, his control goes with his arm slot... He's mechanically unsound. Troy Stokes (2-4,BB) is a tale of 2 halves, he's raised his AVE up from .181 to end the first half to .269 to end the season. He's batted over .300 thus far in the 2nd half. Isan Diaz (2-5,2B) needed a multi hit game, it's been tough sledding for him of late, even after today he's hitting just .111 over his last 10 games. The T-Rats will need his bat in the playoffs. Luis Aviles (2-4,HR,2B) had a tough second half, but I really like him on a personal level, I hope he can be a legit super utility type as he moves up. Carlos Belonis (2-4) had the final multi hit game for the Rattlers, it's been an up and down season for Belonis, and he's been pissy with the umpires over the last month, but there's some talent in him. He's a sleeper type to follow in the future. Wisconsin Log

Woodruff masterful in shutout win over Braves on Sunday Shuckers win 7-0 behind Woodruff's nine strikeouts and 10th win Biloxi Shuckers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/1/9/8/199612198/cuts/Woody3_6mreacas_n90ukisg.jpg Brandon Woodruff has a minor league best 173 strikeouts after Sunday's nine in the win. (Chris Birch) Biloxi Boxscore It was awesome to see Brandon Woodruff finish on a high note, he's pitched very well in his last 3 starts, and I was unaware of where his strike out total ranked in MiLB, his 2 hot streaks pushed his ERA down to just above 3 in AA this season. Clint Coulter (3-4,2B) had been on fairly cold streak batting around .200 over his last 10 games, but his 3 hit performance changed that around in a hurry. I'm not convinced the league has adjusted to him yet, I'm no longer a believer as he's proven slow to make adjustments over the course of a full season. I think 2017 will give the definitive answer many of us are looking for in regards to his career. Biloxi Log

Rattlers Move Closer to Playoff Spot Wisconsin wins 8-4 at Beloit to lower magic number to one By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers Wisconsin Boxscore I've been saying this all year, but I'll mention it one last time, Jake Drossner has legitimate stuff, his control is just below average for the level. In a season long trend the T-Rat pitchers combined to strike out 12, since I lean very much towards pitching this has been the most fun season for me personally to follow. The bottom of the order was the difference tonight with Alan Sharkey (3-5,2B) and Max McDowell (2-4) recording the only multi hit games. Unfortunately McDowell also record his 17th passed ball... he does so many things well but he really has to clean up his receiving if he's going to make it as a catcher. Monte Harrison drew 3(!) walks while Corey Ray and Jonathan Oquendo both took 2 free passes. Lucas Erceg left the game and I wasn't able to follow enough of it to figure out why, and nothing jumped out at me in the game log. Wisconsin Log

Shuckers eliminated from playoff contention after 6-2 loss to Braves Biloxi dropped third straight game in Pearl on Saturday night Biloxi Shuckers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/6/3/6/199419636/cuts/Ortegathumb8_8c9v10sm_q017jard.JPG Angel Ortega went 3-for-3 with a sacrifice fly in Saturday night's loss. Biloxi Boxscore In a rarity this year the Shuckers actually outhit their opponent, unfortunately managing 2 runs meant they came out on the short end of the stick. Plenty of multi-hit games were covered in the game story, but beyond some personal success this was a pretty deflating loss. Biloxi Log

I just want to say how impressed I was with the LSU fans. We had a premier tailgating spot and had at least 30 LSU fans stop by before the game, and then we tailgated after the game with some LSU fans as well. Not only were they extremely complimentary of WI hospitality, they were incredibly gracious in defeat. I've been to ton of football, basketball, and baseball games at various venues and this was far and away the best opposing fan experience I've ever had. What wonderful people. If any of them read this board I hope they enjoyed WI as much as we enjoyed hosting them.

Kernels Beat Rattlers 5-4 in 16 Innings Rattlers magic number stays at two By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/2/4/0/199290240/cuts/9_2PlayerOftheGame_Farina_IMAGE_vy8ed481_xw15hcqa.jpg Alex Farina pitched three scoreless extra innings against the Cedar Rapids Kernels on Friday night for the Timber Rattlers. (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers/Ann Mollica) Wisconsin Boxscore Wisconsin Log ****** Postgame Post – September 3, 2016 ******

32 is Ashland in GB, on I41 north that's the exit between Main St De Pere and Oneida/Waube. I wouldn't go through all of the small towns on 32/57, but that's your call. If you come up that way it would be correct to stay on 32 when that becomes Main Street in De Pere and heads west across the river. LSU is here in full force, I'm not at liberty to divulge what I found out later this afternoon after my original post, but it's safe to say that they've dumped a significant amount of money into the community in just a few days.