TheCrew07

Just because you think it to be true, doesn't make it true, it just makes it your opinion. There was nothing in print, audio, or video from the organization or any of his coaches to suggest that he was relief prospect. In fact quite the opposite, Melvin likes to trot Rogers' and Jones' injuries as the reasons why we didn't have enough starting pitching, and just last summer spoke of hope that someday Rogers could join the rotation. I don't agree with Melvin on much, but I agreed with keeping Rogers a SP. If the organization viewed him as a relief prospect he would have been treated similarily to Braddock. The fact that he can't throw a strike right now means he doesn't have any role for the MLB team, relief or otherwise... regardless, you can't seem to make up your mind about this: Sept 16, 2010 - Nothing but a middle relief prospect http://forum.brewerfan.net/search.php?keywords=683088/Is-our-farm-system-really-depleted-#reply-683088 Dec 20, 2010 - Limited ceiling based on his AA performance. http://forum.brewerfan.net/search.php?keywords=682718/Power-50-Shakeup-Latest-New-P50-is-up-#reply-682718 Dec 21, 2010 - Relief prospect or injured http://forum.brewerfan.net/search.php?keywords=683059/Power-50-Shakeup-Latest-New-P50-is-up-#reply-683059 Dec 21, 2010 - One of 3 legit SP prospects between AAA and AA (odd that 2 different opinions are posted the same day?) http://forum.brewerfan.net/search.php?keywords=683088/Is-our-farm-system-really-depleted-#reply-683088 Funny that I don't recall a post from you about Rogers being a relief prospect prior to last season and search of Brewerfan.net's minor league didn't yield a single post. I have 6 pages of posts concerning Rogers with this username.... you have 4 posts total... all from this year. If he's been a relief prospect for years you've certainly been keeping that opinion to yourself since there are have literally been dozens of threads discussing Mark's future.

I actually kind of like the Reds... I despise the Cubs and the Cards though.

I don't even know what to say. I've been on the Rogers bandwagon ever since he was drafted but through the early part of the season my faith is being tested significantly. If we have to cross Rogers off the starting pitcher list, we're in an even worse position as an organization than we were coming into the season.

Sure you can develop defense... if the organization actually does that sort of thing. Who was last poor defensive player that Brewers developed into a competent defender by the time they reached MLB? Weeks is the only poor defender who's ever even become average and that took years at the MLB level, and he's had a rough start to the season. It's one thing to state it can be done, it's another to submit any evidence that the Brewers have ever accomplished such a feat. I do agree with your premise however, that I prefer any raw position player has an obvious hit tool first, because they won't get to MLB if they can't hit. I don't want to rehash the flaws in the Brewer's minor league system as I see them so I'll simply say that I don't see the organization shuffling priorities around until a regime change takes place.

If anyone had them, they'd be posted in one of the various threads. Injury news on MiLB players is incredibly difficult to come by, especially since HIPAA was passed. Just so you understand... as a coach if I have one of my players get injured during the game or practice, the trainer cannot talk to me about the injury unless the player's parents have previously signed the release. Typically we only find out about injury updates through the beat writers, though there is an occasional leak through a hometown paper or audio interview.

I like Loe, he's just been overused, he's been leaving most everything up in the zone.

I don't think he is. I put Heckathorn at 12 and Ross at 23 on my last Power 50 ballot. I'm also not sure where I implied that. As for Heckathorn, I think he should be in AA too, even though he's not as polished as Ross. Both are much better prospects than Bowman, and Merklinger should probably be in AAA. There's room for them both in Huntsville. I agree completely as far as AA having room for both guys and I'm happy we agree overall. The "implied" was if Ross jumps past Heckathorn to AA, it would effectively put him in front of Heckathorn in the pecking order and possibly set back Heckathorn's development if they wouldn't open a AA slot for him. Ultimately I guess it doesn't matter, both guys just need to stay healthy and keep throwing pitches, and Heckathorn does have a bit more to work on than Ross. It's just difficult to predict what Milwaukee is going to do. I think Peralta and Scarpetta are in AA for the year, unless Wily's game takes significant jump up in the near future. I believe the organizaiton wants to push him, but he just hasn't pitched well enough yet to warrant any discussion about a promotion. Sanchez... honestly I really don't care about him at all, I know I shouldn't say that, but I haven't put any time into researching him and nothing about his stat lines blows me away. Merklinger hasn't exactly earned a promotion to AAA, he's the token lefty SP in the upper part of the minors, and Bowman's peripherals don't support his ERA. I'd be fine ditching Sanchez and moving Bowman to the pen to make room for Ross and Heckathorn, the AA rotation would be exteremely interesting to follow. Hinton could easily be promoted to AAA, and there's 2 or 3 relievers on that Huntsville staff that I'd be willing to part with tomorrow, so I think room could easily be made, I'm just not sure the Brewers do it.

So you want someone that plays great defense, has a decent AVE, has a high OBP, and good SLG in CF? No problem... those guys are everywhere... there's umm... Grady Sizemore circa 2008...and Torii Hunter circa 2002... and there's Andruw Jones circa 2000 or 2005... I think you get my point... the next prospect to realistically have a shot at being that kind of player is Mike Trout and he's out of reach. Lo Cain has the potential to be a very good CF, but he's not in that class, and he's not an option anymore. Everyone else that has pop in CF is a pretty bad defensive player. Beyond young Mr. Trout who has the potential to be the next great CF, maybe we'd better set our sights a little bit lower considering our payroll and what's actually available to us. While Gomez has the tools to be special, he's been appromimately the same player since 2008, I'm not sold he'll ever be anything more than he already is. His stats are essentially a flat line, how do we realistically project him to become a better player? We don't have a 5 tool CF prospect in the system nor do we possess the means to acquire one, Richardson is probably our most toolsy/athletic CF prospect (I don't see him hitting for power) though he's incredibly raw and he has plenty of Gomez in him when he's running the bases. In the near future if it's not Gomez or Morgan, then I don't see how it's not Schafer or Komatsu.

What makes him a better long-term option than Heckathorn? I understand what you're saying, but that's exactly what Heckathorn needs to work on as well and he has legit velocity. Heckathorn also has more time in the system, and he didn't start having success with the change until the all-star break was nearing last season. I get that you think Ross will just dominate A+ as well because his FB command is that good, but we don't need a 3/4 pitcher this year, and yes the system developing those guys is a hell of a lot better than paying $10 mil for them in free agency. I fully support that concept, as should everyone. If he's not good enough to push one of our current pitchers out of the rotation then I think he's better served making short stops along the way, let him work the change while he's dominating A ball hitters. I agree that players make the greatest strides playing the best competition, but what if he's not ready? Every AA hitter can easily center on the FB if they know it's coming, I'm not certain throwing him into the fire is the best possible solution. Personally, I'm much more interested in Heckathorn and Thornburg than I am in Ross in the long-term, and I've had that opinion since he was drafted and I read the above scouting report. Don't get me wrong, his start is extremely encouraging, I'd just rather go incrementally with him than push him like he's Mike Leake.

This argument has been so overused on this site over the last 3 years... has an argument as unsupportable as this ever had more run? It's literally been used in every thread we've had for trading an established MLB Brewer player for a prospect in season. The only other statement that's close is the proven/unproven thing, we're certainly dropping plenty of cliches into a single thread here. The obvious point that someone else made is that possibly in the short term Trout + Gamel > Gomez + Fielder. In the long-term there's no doubt that 6+ years of Trout and 5 years of Gamel is worth more than 2/3 of a Fielder season + whatever the team gets out Gomez. I struggle with the fact that a concept so simple is routinely dismissed or ignored, the merits of a deal of this type is are obvious. This exactly like the whole Hardy for Buccholz deal I wanted to make when Hardy was actually hitting... Escobar + Buccholz > Hardy + Looper but just couldn't seem to get their minds around the trade. I'd much rather have Buccholz than Greinke, we'd still have Jeffress, Cain, and Odorizzi. Heaven forbid we ever make a deal when we can sell high on a player that can have an immediate impact as well as solidfy the future... I know, that's crazy talk. It's much better to make Overbay and Hardy deals when pinned in a corner so we end up with impact talent like Gomez, Jackson, Bush, and Gross... If the Angels are dumb enough to trade us Trout for Fielder, that's a deal Melvin should make 100% of the time, whatever the rest of the trade looks like. There's less than a .1% chance this deal would go through in any form, and certainly I wouldn't count on the Angels overpaying for a rental. The original Teixeira trade has had a lasting impact on MLB, teams just don't make those kinds of deals for rentals anymore... and by the way, the throw in player in the Teixeira trade was one of my all time favorite prospects and might be the best young closer in baseball, Neftali Feliz. I still think Feliz should be in the rotation but that's a discussion for another time.

I hate to state the obvious but Narveson, Capuano, and Wolf are all LHP, the average LHP pitcher doesn't throw 90 MPH. How successful were Bush and Suppan? Marcum is pretty much the gold standard for soft tossing RHP, I wouldn't use him as the benchmark for much of anything. I really don't know about Ross' #2 and #3 pitches, I haven't seen him pitch in person. He's the BA scouting report on him from the draft: With Anthony Ranaudo a shell of his former self this spring, righthander Austin Ross became Louisiana State's most effective starter, going 5-4, 5.22 with 98 strikeouts in 88 innings. The 6-foot-2, 190-pounder also made eight relief appearances, and he projects as a middle reliever in pro ball. When he comes out of the bullpen, he has a 90-93 mph fastball and a solid breaking ball. He throws strikes, but perhaps too many to the extent that he's more hittable than he should be, and his well below-average changeup isn't effective at keeping lefties at bay. If you don't think he has the potential to be a top of the rotation guy then why exactly do you want him pushed?

Right handed pitchers in general, regardless of level or role. If a highschool kid sits 90-91 topping out at 93 you hope he can add more velocity as he approaches his physical peak (projection). If the young man is 22-24 years old, the odds of him adding velocity aren't very good unless he has a major mechanical flaw in his delivery. Relief pitchers can generally work more towards the upper end of their velocity range, more of a max effort delivery, where as a starting pitcher is going to generally work 3-5 MPH off their peak velocity, only going max effort when they need it.

Geez I thought the game was in hand and turned my attention elsewhere, how quickly things turn.

I could spend all night, every night, picking on Bill like the boys at Fire Joe Morgan did broadcasters, but it's not worth the time as he's not going anywhere... this most recent gem about baserunning mistakes being okay if you learn from them... well... how long have these guys been playing baseball? How long does it reasonably take? Gomez has been making the same baserunning mistakes forever, if he hasn't learned by now... Most of the regulars have at least 4 years of MLB experience, when will they figure out how to run the bases? Shouldn't it be something that you at least would figure out by the time you get through the minors?

I know Lucroy didn't show much last year but he's hitting the way I hoped he would this season, remember that he once hit 20 HR in a minor league season, he's not devoid of power.

It's time that Lucroy quits batting 8th... he's a better hitter than that.

That looks like an out to me, more good fortune.

Did Bill just say Clayton Kershaw is really struggling out there?

Melvin should be interesting commenting on the minor league side.

I'm not really big on "I told you so", you have nothing to worry about. If he continues to dominate he'll get his promotion, if he falters he won't, it's that simple for me. I want the system to develop quality pitching as much as anyone, but it's not like we have an immediate need at MLB. The way I see it we have 2 years before we'll need his services on a full time basis, so there's no really no rush here. If he hits AA by August and starts in AA next season, getting the bump up to AAA before the end of the year he'll be in very good shape. After following prospects on this site since 2003 I find it hard to get excited by players with averagish velocity who excel in the low the minors, so few of those guys have panned out for the Brewers that I'm basically always in "wait and see" mode. That doesn't mean I don't like them as prospects, it just means I'm cautiously optimistic, I've intentionally tempered my enthusiasm for such players since little Ben. As for the 90-93... I've read differing accounts of his velocity and like I said I haven't seen him pitch in person so I'm not going to speculate on his exact velocity range. When I go to T-Rat games I sit right behind homeplate and get the velocity straight from the scouts or players charting pitches, not the stadium the gun. An average velocity in the 90-91 range is pretty average for a RHP in this era, and topping out at 93 isn't all that special for a 22 year old, where as Thornburg's 97 is. He's had an excellent start to the season, and I hope he continues to dominate, but I don't want to the Brewers to get into this mindset of drafting and pushing college talent that will move fast but top out in AA.

Fell asleep and missed the end of the game, but sounds like the end of the game was pretty exciting. Good start to the home stand.

I'd like to see Lucroy bat higher too, but I don't say much about it because he's always been one of my boys and I'm not very objective about him.

I've watched the triple 4 times now and don't understand how that was triple? The angle stinks on the replay though, did Hart bobble it in the corner?

No worse than Weeks' relay throw... Lucroy is doing a good job behind the plate tonight including knocking that one down. I didn't realize how bad the Padres offense was till I looked up their 2011 Organizational stats on baseball ref... yikes, just yikes.. and we get bitter about the Brewers' woes from time to time. I guess if I would quit clicking on the baseballs here I'd actually see the first post in thread and would have realized it as well.

I couldn't agree more, get after those hitters.