TheCrew07

The only team that worked for me last night was the T-Rats but I didn't have time to play with it. edit. I see you already fixed the problem so never mind.

Final: Beloit 2, Wisconsin 1 Friedrichs Dominates in Season Opener (Beloit Summary) Wisconsin Boxscore This was your typical early season MWL game with the sloppy play, none of the runs scored in the game were earned. Unfortunately Monte Harrison started this season as he left off last season in WI, he finally settled in after his demotion to Helena and was playing well before the injury which ended 2015. He's the player I'm most intrigued by on the opening roster for the T-Rats. Tucker Neuhaus had a tough night in the field with 2 errors, but through the first 8 innings he had the only 2 hits. Jake Drossner was behind almost every hitter and threw nearly 30 pitches in both of his first 2 innings of work. Conor Harber was dominant out of the pen, 4 Ks in just 2 innings of work. Wisconsin Game Log There is quite literally nothing to see here.

I think Glasnow has the ceiling of a #1, the only thing that's going to limit him is his control, and it keeps improving year to year like you'd hope out of a top pitching prospect. Maybe he falls apart like a Manny Parra and just won't ever trust his stuff and attack MLB hitters, forever nibbling off the corners, but having watched him pitch on a handful of occasions I don't get the impression he lacks confidence at all. Reyes is probably a solid #2, maybe he squeaks into that 1.5 range, I'm not as confident in him as I am in Glasnow, but I also haven't seen Reyes pitch outside of a couple of innings. If you're willing to dream on him you see a legit tier 1 FB, a plus true hammer curve, and a plus change with MLB average control and command. I'm in wait and see mode on the control and command, not to mention his drug suspension gives me pause. I don't so much care about the legality of that issue as I do players who willfully break the rules knowing if they get caught it will set their career back. (I'm not any more interested in debating relative maturity levels than I am the legality of marijuana) If you're looking at the scouting report from just one source then yes Ponce's stuff lines up with the best pitchers in the game, but that's a stretch today. I would guess Ponce's ranking from this particular source comes from improved velocity reports in pro ball to go with his draft day scouting reports on his breaking stuff, kind of a best case scenario on both ends. He has the physical tools to be a top of the rotation guy but he also has plenty of cleaning up to do prior to hitting MLB. With that kind of projection he should have been taken in the top 5 picks in the draft, at the very least top 10, and who knows, maybe one day we'll look back at him as one of the best draft picks in Brewer history.

Gah, I woke up this morning and that post I made yesterday was bothering me and now I know why after I finally had a chance to revisit it. I meant to say that Ponce's FB was better than advertised and but his secondary stuff wasn't as good. For some reason I changed it around when I proof read it and submitted it backwards. I was multitasking at the time and I apologize for the confusing differing opinions I offered inside of 1 post. Again, his FB is better than it was advertised on draft day (topped out at 97 when I saw him pitch) but I wasn't impressed with his secondary stuff that much in person or watching on TV. His FB does lose a couple MPH out of the stretch which brings his AVE velocity down but that seems to be an issue that he can address, as it had to something mechanical.

Fastball: 70 Slider: 60 Changeup: 60 Curveball: 40 And they have them as a mid-rotation starter? Shouldn't those 3 pitches combine to a #2 at least? FYI, I think the strong FB/strong Change combo is the deadliest pitch combo. I mentioned this quite a bit last year but his secondary stuff was better than advertised on draft day, though his command/control were worse. Here's the brief scouting report I wrote on him last year. I may have mislabed his change as a curve, but it wasn't moving arm side so looked more like hammer curve, or maybe he wasn't throwing it when I watched him pitch which is a distinct possibility. His best case profile would be that of a #2, his middle ground would be that of a #3, which is fine. He's definitely interesting.

Those are pretty broad assumptions, I would say the reverse is actually true. College pitchers are often abused and less flexible because they've already had quite a bit of success doing it their way post high school. Obviously this is a case by case thing and I've championed college pitchers like Newcomb over Medeiros, there are a ton of factors beyond age to be considered. If we're talking pitchers I'd prefer they go directly to the pro ranks and avoid the college game all together. With position players I'm indifferent. Also why does the college player automatically have better performance and a higher ceiling performance wise? The other glaring issue with a 27 year old rookie is that they are on downside of their career before they are done with arbitration and the previous Brewer regime would have signed that player to a FA contract to decline for 3 years before letting them walk. I'm not sure how the new front office will handle those things but in almost every situation things being equal from a production standpoint I'm going to take the younger player with the hopes of signing an extension buying out 2 years of FA with an option or 2. I'd like to cut ties with all players around age 30-31... I've never understood how it's a business from the players perspective and but when teams treat players like business assets they are devil, it's such a clear double standard.

Computer projections aren't unbiased, their algorithms on based on the programmer's bias, his or her base assumptions, just like all of the metrics currently around baseball. Computer based projections aren't any more factual than anyone else's opinion, they just have the appearance of being so. FIP isn't fact, it truth it's largely garbage because it ignores the situation and treats all type of hits, walks, and strike outs like they occur in a vacuum regressed to a league average. However baseball, sports, even life in general, is entirely about context, and that's why FIP is not gospel and pitchers like Zach Greinke will a;ways outperform their ERA and get labeled as "unlucky" or playing behind a poor defensive team.... because the have high SO and low hit totals, and the system has no method to account for giving up hits in bunches. Put another way... It is a fact to say that Clint Coulter hit .246 with a .725 OPS last year, but any projection based on those numbers is simply an opinion, not only because minor league statistics can be extremely volatile, but because every athlete is going to have a somewhat unique career path. I wanted to believe last year that he figured it out based on his late season surge the year before and hot start to 2015, but he clearly fell back into in his career performance pattern and didn't make the progress we had hoped. A hot start followed by an unwillingness or inability to adjust which leads to incredibly prolonged periods of "blah". That doesn't mean he's never going to figure it out, but the problem ignored by any system is that performance is not just based on physical gifts and what he's done in past weighed against statistical averages, it's also a result of what's going on in an athlete's head and that's nearly impossible to measure. That's why development and drafting in all sports is such an inexact science, because mental talent is at least as meaningful as the physical talent that everyone gets wrapped in discussing. Generally speaking the lower in the system a player is assigned, the fewer definitive statements I'm willing to make about a guy and even in the case of someone like Jorge Lopez who appears to have broken out I'm going to be conservative. I'm on the fence in regards to if he has truly broken out unless he proves it again next year, and I'm even less convinced that he's in fact a #2. He may very well be that good and may have ascended that fast but I remember the kid who threw his CB 2 different ways and was kind of all over the place mechanically, not to mention inconsistent results wise when I saw him in person. His jump in ERA is unprecedented in our modern system for a pitcher of his of physical talent so I'm going to be conservative with him.

In the first round? No. Here's his profile pic from PG, see the hips already open and the arm is still loaded? He's got a high arm slot which I prefer to the low 3/4, he's steps a little bit across himself (left foot comes down on the right side) and like all pitchers with that they rotate around the plant foot and fall off towards the glove side (part of that is also his arm slot as well). However for his age and the extra motion in his delivery he locates very well. He doesn't have a plus secondary pitch right now (flashes plus based on multiple scouting reports), but he's got a nice arm and plenty of upside. If you're willing to dream on him you think he's at least a #3 with a decent chance to add more velocity and sharpen his stuff ascending to a #2 or maybe better. I'm not sure I'd take him prior to 75, it would depend who else was there at 46, as far as where he gets drafted all it takes is one team to really like you but I'd guess late 1st to early 2nd if he has a good senior year. Colby probably has some insight on his commitment to Vandy and if he's falling that would be why if he's healthy.

Just a quick note on the hip/elbow thing I mentioned above. When you're watching video watch to see if the hips are open and square to home plate before the arm starts forward (easier with slow mo), ideally the hips stay closed (perpendicular to the target) until the elbow starts coming forward out of the load position. The hip and elbow should fire together regardless of sport when "throwing" anything. That way the upper and lower halves of the body are in sync so all of the weight transfers and explosive motion are happening at the same time. Getting that part right makes everything on the down side of throw simpler as there's nothing extra the muscles need to compensate for and also greatly improves arm health. It was one of the major things I did wrong and contributed to the arm issues I had up until my late 20s.

I understand your main point here, in that it's all about trying to project where a player will end up, it's not necessarily about where they are today. However the Brewers have never developed a pitcher with filthy stuff and control problems into an ace so I cringe when people go to the Randy Johnson, or Justin Verlander, or any other Hall of Fame pitcher for justification of an argument. As I've mentioned many times I abhor the extremist examples used in support of any argument, I'd rather evaluate situations based on the whole picture and argue around most likely scenarios. For me I'd rather the Brewers draft pitchers with plus stuff, control, decent command, and 2nd tier velocity rather than trying to hit HRs with flamethrowers who have the arm and stuff, but little control or command. That's why my list of pitchers is extremely short every year and that's why I've gravitated towards HS pitchers like Groome and Aiken way before the draft since most college pitchers fitting that profile would be long gone before the Brewers had a chance to select them. As it turned out the Brewers didn't/won't have a chance to select either if healthy, and yes I realize they passed on Aiken last year after TJ for Clark (which is fine, well I hope it turns out fine). We don't need aces, we just need impact pitchers, and no I don't believe Medeiros is in that class. Yes he generates a ton of strikeouts and ground balls, but he does it pitching up in the zone which is completely atypical. People are drawing conclusions based on his statistics that are difficult to support with observation. To me the arm is secondary to the rest of the package, I'll happily take a #2 type pitcher who tops out around 95 and is going to give you 180 IP+ per season rather than all or nothing flamethrower which the Brewers haven't had much historical success with. However that doesn't mean I'm looking to draft Jungmann type #3s either, I'm not looking for "safe", I'm looking for legitimately talented pitchers with some polish, and yet some upside left as well. For HS pitchers mechanically I like Jason Groome and Reggie Lawson the best. Most every pitcher in this year's HS class has issues that I'd like them to address. Groome is far and away the cleanest to home plate mechanically, though I could do without his exaggerated knee raise out of the windup, I'd simplify it to make it quicker to the plate and more like his stretch for consistency sake (as an example of things I would nitpick on a pitcher). Generally I'm not a fan of guys with mixed tempos, like a Chris Archer from TB, who are super slow then explode towards the plate. I'm looking for a smooth tempo and delivery, with a higher arm slot, good foot placement, and a direct path with the body toward home plate (no rounding). Since I highly doubt Groome lasts to 5, he's out of the mix. College wise AJ Puk has a decent lower half and comes from a true 3/4 arm slot, rounding out his delivery at the end. Alec Hansen is basically a RH Groome, but as noted he's had a poor start to the season, and his control has been relatively inconsistent over the course of his career. He's a guy I'd like to see in person because just based on limited video and stats I'd question his athleticism as his control has never really settled in. I've never liked Funkhouser, I talked him about him in depth last year. Connor Jones is another UVA pitcher (we drafted Kirby last year), true 3/4 slot, delivery is pretty smooth and clean, though he has an interesting mini squat thing to start out of the wind up. Many of the rest of the young men drag their arm behind their lower half or have a glaring flaw that suggests surgery in their future to me (Matt Krook as an example). Pretty much any pitcher who throws with the classic "C" motion where the ball drops to 6 o'clock, then around to 9, and finally up past 12 before coming forward is going to drag their arm behind their hips which saps velo and puts more stress on the shoulder and elbow. You can make it work if you sync everything up correctly but that's harder to do from a timing standpoint unless you exaggerate your kick because the arm has so much further to travel to hit a load position. Many pitchers who exaggerate their kick also tend do that glide thing with their foot where they extend out and then bring the foot back around towards home plate which adds that rotational element I talk about quite a bit. I'm into simple, clean, direct deliveries to home plate in the first round. After the 1st my standards will relax significantly but I'm not into missing on 1st rounders. I'll stick to a top #4 from a pitching stand point and right now I'd go Groome (HS), Puk(4yr), Lawson (HS), and Jones(4yr). Position player wise I like to wait until the HS season is mostly wrapped up before offering an opinion because those guys tend to be fairly volatile from my perspective. The best college hitters are OFs and we're loaded in the OF, not that we should be drafting for need, always BPA, but I'm still chasing legitimate impact pitching so that's my priority in every draft, all things equal from a talent perspective I'm taking the pitcher. In OF I do like Corey Ray, and he's a lefty, which we're slowing adding a nice stable of in the system. On the IF Nick Senzel is intriguing to me, but he's another bat without a true position at this point (going to play 3B this year), but with mixed reviews on his athleticism and fielding instincts he's a guy I'd like to watch a little before jumping on his bandwagon. If there was Schwarber type who I thought would make a good 1B I'd be all over him, but I'm just not seeing that out of the college ranks at this time. Hell even a high AVE SS, can never have too many middle IFs, but there's not a guy who jumps out me from the College ranks in the middle infield either(though I do like HS SS Delvin Perez from PR who's already been mentioned).

I've been thinking on this for a day now and it doesn't really make sense to me any more than than trying to make Jason Rogers a 3B made sense. I understand where Casey is coming from as it would potentially increase his positional flexibility but OF is perhaps the strongest position in the entire organization. I realize that I've repeatedly mentioned how he moves better than you'd think for a big man, but he's made significant strides at 1B and 1B is a position that fits him much better as I doubt he'll even cover 70% of the ground our other OFs will. For the most part our OFs are above average to elite athletically and David just isn't in that same class. Denson was no Alan Sharkey, who's probably the best defensive 1B to come through the organization since they've been with the T-Rats, but again he did make what I considered to be dramatic improvement at 1B from year 1 to year 2 in WI. If he says patient to a fault then none of this really matters because he's not going to hit enough, but assuming he figures it out at the plate 1B should be his position. The DH talk for the NL gains a little more traction each year as well so I'm very much past the point of trying to fit square pegs in round holes.

Daniel Norris (AAA/MLB), Jeff Hoffman (AA), Jake Thompson (AA), and Sean Manaea (AA) were all top-100 pitching prospects traded last season. Not counting Josh Hader (AA) and others. Once again, that's not what I said. I didn't say top 100 pitching prospects, I said "the top pitching prospects", and I named pitchers who are legit #1 and likely #2 candidates today through Newcomb in various posts. Hoffman has that #1/2potential, but he was in A+ until his start on 7-18, so while he was in AA for a couple of starts, that's not where he started the season, and he was traded for Tulowitzki. Norris also has #2 potential and was traded for David Price, which of course also fits directly into what I said about getting that kind of player requires trading impact MLB talent, as in from a Brewers perspective a Braun or Gomez, maybe Lucroy. Thompson, Manaea, and Hader (+others) are not top of the rotation pitchers today, nor will they likely ever be, and I say that while being relatively high on many of them. Just because someone is a top 100 prospect doesn't mean their most likely profile is that of a top of the rotation starter, and I don't deal in best case scenarios to skew arguments in my favor. In fact I don't like to deal in the extremes period. The only 2 things worth taking away from this discussion are that potential impact pitchers require giving up impact MLB players and the longer you wait at the trade deadline the less likely you are to be able to acquire impact minor league pitching. Here's the 2015 Trade Index from BA, Hoffamn went in the first significant prospect deal at the deadline and Norris in the 2nd which was 2 days later. Toronto had the prospects and the willingness to guy their system, so this year we should be looking for a team in a similar situation. A team that desperately wants to improve the MLB roster, has a need which matches up, and is willing to burn legit prospects to acquire said need. It's going to be a short list, it is every year.

I'm not opposed to prospect for prospect trades at all but there's no way Arcia would net us whomever we want. There is a short list of teams with prospects that have the potential to be true #1s, and then reduce that number further by the # of teams who would actually be willing to trade a MLB ready yet unproven #1 or even a #2, then reduce that # by someone who needs a SS (or whatever position we'd like to trade). 10 years ago I would have agreed with you, but that's not the way the market works anymore, especially with such a finite supply of available pitching. I would trade Arcia for Glasnow, Giolito, or Urias in a heartbeat but there's simply no way the Pirates, Nationals, or Dodgers make that deal as pitching > hitting. We could maybe pull someone like Newcomb because the Braves have acquired so much pitching but they are really the only team in a good position to deal a young arm right now, and that's pretty much the way it is in any given year. There are literally 1 or 2 potential impact prospect pitchers traded each year and it's all about needs matching up and timing. There's no such thing as waiting for the market to be set if that's the kind of talent you're in the market for... if you snooze you lose.

UWW has more than just Bachar, that's about as interesting a pitching staff as D3 gets.

This has been covered so many times but what exactly makes people think that the top pitching prospects in the upper minors are readily available for a trade in today's market? What was true in the mid 2000s when organizations were chasing OPS isn't necessarily true anymore. While the market could swing back in the direction of devaluing prospects, I don't think that's on the immediate horizon, and the Brewers simply haven't played the "all hitting and no pitching" game very well. With all the hitting talent the Brewers successfully developed they still never had enough pitching to make a consistent run year in and year out. Of course with a different FO we might actually adopt a sustainable long term model but the simple truth is that regardless the Brewers have to develop their own impact pitching because they aren't able to afford it in FA. Not that FA is a good route to build a pitching staff as organizations will almost always end up paying for nothing by the end of those contracts. The Brewer's best bet to acquire impact MiLB pitching is by trading impact MLB players at the correct time, as in when they have more than rental player value at the trade deadline of their last season. If the Brewers are trading in season then they can't really sit around and wait for the market to be set because in recent history the top prospect pitching moving in deadline deals typically happens on the front side and there's not much out there at the back end. Based on the arbitrary criteria Melvin's FO limited themselves to the Brewers haven't acquired any potential impact minor league pitching above A ball, at least in my opinion. The pitchers either have/had stuff but no arm/control or control without the arm/stuff. I think an argument could be made that some guys have/had #2 upside as an absolute best case, but there just hasn't been a guy who comfortably projected as a #2. I like the depth of pitching in the minors right now, we have a ton of mid and back of the rotation types, but we don't have any MLB quality #2s at their peak, there's no Gallardo out there right now. Certainly some of our existing pitchers could continue to improve and progress in that direction and while I could care less about having an "Ace", to be truly competitive year in and year out, especially in the playoffs, we need at least 2 pitchers of #2 quality though I'd prefer 3. I'd like a rotation of #2, #2, #2, #3, and #3, that's been my goal since I started thinking about this stuff in 2007-8. That would allow the Brewers to shift the fringe guys with arms and stuff but lacking control to the bullpen to be top notch relievers. Developing pitching is a numbers game, it always has been, and likely will be in the future... the Brewers have never had numbers and that's why there just haven't been enough pitchers to fill out a rotation much less a bullpen.

That's not exactly true, both TLB and I noted that while he threw 93-94 as a starter for the T-Rats his velocity quickly fell off. edit. And as been noted his entire career he was a 1 pitch guy, just a FB, he doesn't have a plus secondary offering of any kind, he's a middle reliever until he gets some kind of out pitch.

I realize that football is always going to grab headlines but soccer isn't any safer to play, in fact from a concussion standpoint it's much worse. Soccer is #1 when it comes to concussions, it always has been and always will be, and popular women's sports like basketball also have higher per athlete concussion rates. *Disclaimer here that data varies by the year, and will also vary by reporting method (how the data is framed). For example the most common reporting method now is by 100,000 "athletic exposures" which on the surface seems fair, but in my experience it's usually the same players having repeat issues over their careers due to poor habits. So based on my experience I prefer a measure by # of athletes but most reporting is done these days by total frequency. The facts regarding these issues are not supported by the spin national media outlets, especially CNN put on them. The pieces are neither well researched nor even handed, they are sensationalist. Instead of trying to educate parents on prevention and treatment (like for example how a follow on concussion is much more dangerous than the initial) the articles are written from the slant of "barbarism". The whole key to concussions is letting the initial injury completely heal before returning to action, post concussion syndrome is most often the result of an athlete taking another blow to head while already being concussed (regardless of sport). In football most of our concussion issues were seniors because they would get a minor one and try to play through it without telling any of the coaches or our excellent trainer, so then 1 concussion always became 2 and a much bigger issue (longer recovery time and worse side effects) it literally doesn't much to get another if you don't let the first one heal. Concussions are no joke and in years past I took the Brewers to task repeatedly for their horrible handling of head injuries, especially on the MiLB side, but again the inherent risks in each sport remain the same, they are just being amplified by a culture in which is 180 degrees different than the one many of us older people were born in. The days of kids playing unsupervised outside all day are long gone which is having negative effects beyond athletic playing fields around the country, studies are showing that our children have over inflated feelings of self worth and entitlement coupled with problems dealing with failure. Football hasn't suddenly become unsafe, it's the same as it's always been. The difference here is that kids are not as well coached, nor do they play the game enough to learn how to protect themselves. My generation played unsupervised tackle football without pads as early as 2nd grade. Everyone learned how to fall and what not to do long before putting on pads which for most of us was 7th grade, there bumps and bruises but no one broke bones and no one led with their head because without a helmet it's incredibly obvious that it would hurt like hell. I've yet to see football fatality or spinal injury that wasn't the result of leading with the helmet and hitting with the head down so the neck can compress or fracture. It's nearly impossible to suffer a catastrophic injury if the head is up due the physics and mechanics of the human body. It's a such a simple correction and yet one so often overlooked in reporting. This is no different than the TJ surgery in baseball. Cause and effect is continually wildly speculated on and regularly misapplied... In truth very few people are seeing and talking about the actual root cause which is year round specialization isn't good for the athlete for a variety of reasons but from a TJ standpoint because the tendons never have time to fully recover. Recovery time is measured in months and not days or weeks for tendons because there is so little blood flow to those areas. Concussion and injury rates are going up drastically on a yearly basis, part of that is better reporting but mostly it's because our children are less equipped to play sports than they've ever been because they don't play outside anymore. Most of us over 40 had many more concussions than our children by simply falling off/wiping out our bikes repeatedly when we were kids. I was knocked unconscious 3 times on my bike but never once in a sporting event, in fact the only concussion I had in sports was my very first play in a varsity game as a sophomore making a solo tackle on a kick-off. Even being a coaches' kid I initially severely underestimated the power and speed of playing young men who were 2 years older than me, for some reason it never occurred to me that I should maybe go low when taking on the other team's best player even though it was incredibly obvious after the fact. There's no such thing as eliminating risk from sport or from life, rather we need to manage the risk and we do that best by educating ourselves through trial and error at a young age. If we want our sports to be safer then the solutions are simple and mostly 2 fold... 1) parents need to let good coaches coach and quit sabotaging what's being taught. Parents, administrators, coaches, and teachers should all be on the side here... that way good coaches will continue to coach 30+ years and not burn out in 10-15 due to the continual political battles. Parents who have never been to a practice whining to the administration about playing time based on little more than their son or daughter's word is ludicrous. How many of us told the whole truth at that age? I continue to be shocked at the number of parents who believe their children are completely honest with them when the truth is usually 180 degrees the opposite. I could spend 10 minutes in a locker room and know more about their son than they do just by listening to the conversations going on. 2) Get kids playing outside again as parks are largely empty and that's a shame. As a culture we're so caught up in fear mitigation that by and large we're no longer allowing our children to develop the life skills necessary to live on their own...

Except for having watched him pitch 10+ times and clearly stating my observations and opinions dozens times I'm sure I've been awful vague over the course of the season. I've said it before and I'll say it one last time because I'm incredibly tired of repeating myself ad nauseum on this stuff but FIP is completely worthless, those who champion it rarely understand how it's calculated... it's a stat derived not out of necessity but as proof of a concept that is inadequately understood at best and horribly applied at worst. It has even less value when applied to MiLB pitchers as their baseline changes rapidly from year to year for example the Jorge Lopez of 2015 is a much different than inconsistent young man who pitched for the Rattlers in 2013. If you've watched him pitch and would like to tell me where I've misread what I've watched and wrote about all season that's fine and I'd be happy to discuss Kodi from a professional growth standpoint. If you're going to blather on about rate stats and FIP then I have nothing else to say. Regardless either you haven't put in the time to read what I've written or aren't able to form a coherent counter argument because "No idea what you're talking about. " is about as lame and unnecessary a comment at this point as possible.

Is it wrong that I to see what they are renovating?

Well except that he can work inside the strike zone consistently...

I understand the spin you're trying to put on this, however I'll ask how is spending any money on a below replacement level performance a good deal? Every long term deal the Brewers have signed has turned out the same way, with way too much dead money in the contract. It doesn't matter if it's Ramirez, Garza, Wolf, Lohse... whomever. Dead money is wasted, and there's really no excusing it away. People rationalized Wolf's bad year because the first 2 were good and are doing the same with Lohse, but the truth 33% of the contract was a complete waste regardless of how it's spun. Is that acceptable for a small market franchise with limited means? I would submit no. It's foolish for the Brewers to try and do anything meaningful in FA because they just don't have the dollars to spend against the big boys, and every a bad year from a player like that eats up roughly 10% of the available payroll. A different tactical approach to organization building is required for the Brewers, I know it's not fair, I wish MLB was a level playing field, but it's not. That's why the Brewers need to exploit the short term outlook so many franchises have and stay away from that mindset themselves. If they want to consistently win, which is something the Brewers haven't done even through these "good" years, then a different approach is required.

Rattlers get shutout in season finale By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/1/2/4/147957124/cuts/Labor_Day_in_Burlington_Web_m73lwped_4nf0e5wp.jpg The Rattlers lost 4-0 at Community Field in the final game of the season. BURLINGTON, IA - The Burlington Bees completed a three-game sweep of the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers with a 4-0 victory on Labor Day at Community Field. The Bees scored twice in the first and twice in the second while four Burlington pitchers combined on the five-hit shutout. Wisconsin (50-89 overall, 27-42 second half) threatened to score first. Tucker Neuhaus singled to start the game. Elvis Rubio had a hit-and-run single with one out and David Denson drew a walk to load the bases. But, Bees starting pitcher Austin Robichaux got out of the inning with a strikeout and a force play at second base. The Bees (63-76, 28-42) went up 2-0 three batters into the bottom of the first inning. Ayendy Perez reached on a bunt single and wound up at third base after a throwing error. Tim Arakawa followed with a ground rule double to knock in Perez. Zach Houchins made it 2-0 with an RBI single. Burlington scored two runs in the second inning. Mitchell Esser and Nick Flair had back-to-back doubles to convert the first Bees run. Arakawa plated Flair with a single later in the inning and Burlington was up four runs. Robichaux tossed five scoreless innings, allowed four hits, walked three, and struck out two. A trio of Timber Rattlers relievers - Gian Rizzo, Scott Lieser, and Luke Curtis - combined to pitch five scoreless innings to keep Wisconsin close. However, three Bees relievers - Eric Alonzo, Gaither Bumgardner, and Jacob Kopra - shut the Rattlers out over the final four innings. The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers will open the 2016 season on the road with two games at the Beloit Snappers on April 7 and 8. The next Timber Rattlers home game is scheduled for Saturday, April 9 against the Snappers at 4:05pm. WP: Austin Robichaux (9-8) LP: David Burkhalter (5-9) TIME: 2:05 ATTN: 959 Wisconsin Boxscore What a downer to end the season on... I don't have anything to add regarding any of the pitchers beyond what I've already said in the past. The offense didn't do enough to discuss in this game. I'd just like to thank everyone from the Rattlers who's work I've leaned on all year, Chris and Ann specifically. Also to our own MH who's wonderful work started the Link Report tradition and continues. Here's to a better 2016 for WI! Wisconsin Recap

Actually I think you are missing the point, most players from college who become superstars are drafted in the first 10 picks, usually the top 5. The Brewers haven't drafted a HS kid who panned out as a 1st division player since Odorizzi. Our best shot at young top of the rotation pitching is to draft in those top 5 slots since the Brewers won't trade for it. We have plenty of 3s, we need some 2s. Our best prospect was a cheap international signing and while I have high hopes for some of the recent HS draftees all of them still have significant warts with Trent Clark being the exception(at least on paper since I haven't gotten to watch him as a pro).

Heartbreak in Burlington Bees score three in ninth to beat Wisconsin 3-2 By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/4/4/4/123445444/cuts/5_9Denson_WEB_uwomukmk_zso9puhe.jpg David Denson hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning for the Timber Rattlers on Sunday afternoon at Burlington. (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers/Ann Mollica) BURLINGTON, IA - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers had a 2-0 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth inning at Community Field on Sunday afternoon, but could not hold on for the win. The Burlington Bees scored three runs after there were two outs for a 3-2 walkoff win. Rattlers starting pitcher Cody Ponce pitched five scoreless innings, allowed three hits, and walked one, but faced just fifteen batters in the game. All three singles were erased on double plays. Ponce picked the walk off first base to end the third inning. Burlington starting pitcher Justin Anderson worked eight scoreless innings. He allowed a one-out walk to Blake Allemand in the first, a two-out double to Greg McCall in the second, and a two-out double to Tucker Neuhaus in the third. After the Neuhaus double, Anderson retired fourteen in a row. That streak was snapped when he walked Elvis Rubio with one out in the eighth, but Anderson kept the game scoreless. Wisconsin (50-88 overall, 27-41 second half) broke through in the ninth inning against reliever Jordan Piche. Allemand singled with one out. David Denson stepped in with two away and lined a homer on a 2-1 pitch to left. Denson's third homer of the season with Wisconsin put the Rattlers up 2-0. Devin Williams, who took over for Ponce to start the bottom of the sixth inning had sailed through his first three innings, but couldn't get the final out in the ninth. Ayendy Perez tripled with one out before Williams got a strikeout for the second out of the inning. Taylor Ward, the first round pick of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the 2015 draft, got his turn and made the most of it. Ward lined a 2-1 pitch from Williams over the wall in left to tie the game 2-2. The Bees (62-76, 27-42) weren't done. Zach Houchins singled to chase Williams from the game. Rattlers reliever Zach Cooper took over for Williams and gave up a single to Trevor Gretzky to move Houchins to second with the winning run. Steven Mateo ended the game with a deep drive to the wall in left. He was credited with an RBI single as Houchins scored the winning run and the Bees celebrated. Burlington had three hits in the first eight innings of the game. They collected five hits in the ninth, including four straight with two outs. Sunday marked the ninth time the Timber Rattlers have been walked off in 2015. It was also the eighteenth time an opponent has scored a winning run in their final at bat. Wisconsin is now 13-31 in games decided by one run this season. The final game of the 2015 season for both teams is Monday afternoon at Community Field. David Burkhalter (5-8, 4.78) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Austin Robichaux (8-8, 3.88) is set to start for the Bees. Game time is 2:00pm. The radio broadcast is on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 1:40pm. The broadcast is also available on Tune In Radio and IHeartRadio. HOME RUNS: WIS: David Denson (3rd, 1 on in 9th inning off Jordan Piche, 2 out) BUR: Taylor Ward (1st, 1 on in 9th inning off Devin Williams, 2 out) WP: Jordan Piche (3-5) LP: Devin Williams (3-9) TIME: 2:08 ATTN: 871 Wisconsin Boxscore Ugh... with so many brutal losses this season it's hard to pick one that stands out more than the others, but if I had to pick one this would be it. 2 run HR in the 9th to take the lead and it all goes away with 2 outs in the bottom half, heartbreaking doesn't begin to describe this season. Well I had hoped Devin Williams season was done last time he pitched because he was cold, very cold, and of course that continued today and torpedoed an excellent chance at victory. I won't go through the numbers again but Devin ends on his coldest streak of the season, 3 consecutive bad performances. Yes he pitched well until the 9th, but in the end the result was the same. Cody Ponce closes out an an excellent campaign doing what he's pretty much been doing all along... manageable hits and walks with a decent amount of strike outs. I posted his full scouting report earlier in the year so I'll simplify here; his control was better than advertised on draft day but his breaking stuff isn't near as good, it's pretty average. Overall he still profiles like a 3, just in a different way from his original report. Cody pitched 51 innings allowing 47 hits and 9 walks against 40 strike outs for a 1.10 WHIP and 2.29 ERA. Most of David Denson's XBH since he's been back have been opposite field but that's not because he's unable to turn on pitches but rather because that's were he's been pitched most of the season. I sincerely hope he can translate this end of the success into something moving forward, he's been one of my boys since I first saw him play. Wisconsin Recap

This is no different than how the Brewers handled Hardy when Escobar was ready to get an extra year of service time out of him, take an under performing MLB player and tweak the situation to their favor. I don't have any love for Garza or the signing, but this is all about the Brewers trying to save themselves from a vesting option and nothing more. Or put another way, the Brewers doing what they've done best under Melvin by being reactionary. As to Garza's comments he'd be better off saying nothing, in fact both sides would be better off because nothing good can come from discussing this publicly.