TheCrew07

I'd do Lucroy for (From BA's midseason top 10): 1. Lucas Giolito, rhp 4. Reynaldo Lopez, rhp 9. Pedro Severino, c If the Brewers had to kick in to even the scales that would be fine. Anything less than 1 pitcher with top of the rotation potential and I'm not interested in any more trades. I don't care about MLB ready, I care about talent and I see Giolito as the only young pitcher of that caliber who could possibly be attainable. Wilson Ramos is is Washington's weakest link, though just barely as Zimmerman and Desmond have really tapered off.

HBO's Real Sports just did a segment on this very topic, I think there's plenty of fault on both sides of the debate.

I think Phillips is the only impact player in that bunch, he's right there with Arcia. As to the rest, it's completely subjective, some good depth but no one I'd be convinced today would make a major impact. I'm not a big believer in Santana's swing, he could be like LaPorta, I understand what people are excited about though. He's a much more well rounded player than AJ Reed, but Reed is literally the only all bat guy I'd be excited about acquiring. Hader is the most intriguing pitcher in the bunch, I'd put him roughly on the same level as Jorge Lopez. Davies is going to be a finesse righty, nothing wrong with that, he'll contribute in some manner. Houser doesn't have anything that excites me. Collymore was a fringe top #30 prospect in the Cards' system (#27) and hasn't put up a good year. He's an athlete but hasn't made it out of rookie ball in 3 years. Tough to get excited about that but anything for Broxton is better than nothing. I said before that Barrios is Damien Magnifico without the development time... a big arm who needs to learn control, command, and some secondary pitches. That's a tall order in a short window, and I don't really see him as a rule 5 guy because every MLB hitter can hit a FB or they wouldn't be at MLB, what I mean is that he's already 23 and starting over. That's a tough hill to climb. As to your rankings, everyone after Phillips is ranked too high. Collymore and Houser wouldn't make my list. Looking at the community list Santana probably slots in front of Reed, Hader after Wagner, and Davies around Cravy some place. I know I said I'd put Hader on the same level as Lopez but I think Jorge is ranked way too high on the community list. Though again when you're ranking 3ish pitchers is going to be a pretty subjective endeavor so there will be volatility in the result.

You really hand drive them all? Regardless there are different types of Phillips screw heads which most people don't pay attention to, most commonly I end up using a #2. Usually stripping out the inside of the screw is caused by using the wrong driver for the type of screw. I do quite a bit of work on networking components and many of my coworkers have stripped out the screws that way making it very difficult to remove the devices from the network rack. Robertson screws work pretty well, we've used those now on 3 decks I've helped my brother install. I also like Torx (star drive) screws, I use those quite a bit for mounting cable management devices in my facilities. I do agree with your hex head assessment though, I use those pretty much any time I'm working with metal, unless I need to mount something like a surge protector which requires a specific screw head size or type. I suggested the impact driver because if you use the proper driver for the screw head the clutch engages and it's very difficult to strip screws or torque the heads off, the downside is the noise generated. Admittedly I have to remind myself to be careful when I'm using a drill because I've gotten so used to zipping screws down in a second, doing that at full power with a regular drill causes problems.

Yeah, I think that's a solid overall assessment. I brought it up last night because I'm not so sure Davies is quite the player ideally I'd want in return for Parra, but I'm sure DM and his team have done their homework to weigh the value of the QO vs. the comp pick vs. this return. In Davies' defense he's young, in the upper levels of the minors and has enjoyed success, moving relatively quickly up the ladder. A good player, I just hoped for someone with a little higher upside. The Brewers pitching depth in the upper levels is encouraging, even if there isn't that clear-cut ace as others have noted. I quoted both because they are essentially where I'm at. It's no secret I wanted impact pitching but that window had moved past before the Brewers made a trade and while I'm not thrilled about that aspect of the deadline nor the fact that many of the players acquired are higher floor players at the upper levels of the minors this is about as good as I would have hoped for. Not coincidentally, that's the reason I didn't really want this front office working on a reload. I want upside, and I'll never stop wanting upside, so part of me is always going to be let down when Melvin makes trades, even for prospects. Davies is essentially a Mike Fiers/Dave Bush type pitcher velocity wise but he actually has a plus pitch in his change which is something neither of the other 2 possessed. If Davies can locate similarly to Fiers he could be a solid #3 (yes I know we have a ton of those guys already) so he's not bad value for Parra, just underwhelming from an upside perspective, which of course remains my primary concern on the pitching front. Maybe at some point down the road we can spin off some of these #3s to get the young impact pitching I've been craving since my little epiphany in 2008. Maybe Taylor Williams can ascend towards a #2 and I've overlooked him all along, but his slider wasn't *that* good in WI last year. I really wish he would have pitched this season but we're down to a month to go and no word on if his injection will allow him to skip TJ like it did for Thornburg or not, though ultimately both pitchers lost a full season anyway.

It will get updated at the end of the season.

Pretty much the exact same story as last time. 78 pitches is an avalanche for just 3 innings Luis Ortega LHP [pre]01) 91 (21) 91 (41) 81 (61) 91 02) 91 (22) 82 (42) 91 (62) 88 03) 84 (23) 90 (43) 89 (63) 93 04) 89 (24) 89 (44) 88 (64) 91 05) 85 (25) 87 (45) 89 (65) 91 06) 89 (26) 87 (46) 80 (66) 82 07) 81 (27) 90 (47) 87 (67) 90 08) 87 (28) 90 (48) 80 (68) 91 09) 82 (29) 90 (49) 87 (69) 87 10) 91 (30) 88 (50) 88 (70) 89 11) 80 (31) 92 (51) 00 (71) 89 12) 81 (32) 92 (52) 87 (72) 87 13) 89 (33) 80 (53) 83 (73) 82 14) 90 (34) 87 (54) 78 (74) 90 15) 89 (35) 87 (55) 89 (75) 90 16) 83 (36) 87 (56) 80 (76) 86 17) 82 (37) 91 (57) 89 (77) 81 18) 81 (38) 90 (58) 91 (78) 83 19) 92 (39) 83 (59) 82 20) 82 (41) 82 (60) 82[/pre]

Josh Uhen RHP Low 3/4 arm slot. Clean lower half. Uses 2 FBs. It looked like he mixed in a change. Finish was inconsistent which leads to his location issues. [pre]01) 91 02) 95 03) 85 04) 93 05) 87 06) 93 07) 93 08) 92 09) 84 10) 93 11) 85 12) 91 13) 83 14) 86 15) 84[/pre]

It occurred to me while I was at the game that I didn't do a scouting report for Perrin last time. Jon Perrin RHP Low 3/4 arm slot. Clean lower half. Very quick pick off move. Curve is very average. Primarily relies on the sinker, occasionally mixes in a 4 seam. Sinker has more run than sink from what I've seen. His slider doesn't bite, or at least hasn't when I've watch him pitch. Falls off a bit towards 1st. [pre]01) 87 (21) 86 (41) 81 (61) 81 02) 87 (22) 77 (42) 78 (62) 90 03) 76 (23) 78 (43) 88 (63) 89 04) 88 (24) 83 (44) 88 (64) 89 05) 88 (25) 90 (45) 87 (65) 89 06) 87 (26) 85 (46) 84 (66) 89 07) 78 (27) 93 (47) 80 (67) 86 08) 88 (28) 90 (48) 80 (68) 81 09) 89 (29) 90 (49) 89 (69) 81 10) 91 (30) 81 (50) 79 (70) 93 11) 81 (31) 89 (51) 84 12) 89 (32) 85 (52) 81 13) 81 (33) 81 (53) 91 14) 83 (34) 76 (54) 92 15) 91 (35) 91 (55) 90 16) 82 (36) 91 (56) 81 17) 90 (37) 83 (57) 94 18) 91 (38) 89 (58) 87 19) 90 (39) 83 (59) 85 20) 89 (40) 82 (60) 82[/pre]

This trade has actually made me happy with Melvin for the first time since I can remember, and I was bottoming out here about 2 hours ago. I would have preferred a package built around impact pitching but that ship sailed already and unless Lucroy goes I don't see how that's possible now... not to mention DM would want some kind of C back in the deal. I was certain Melvin had blown the opportunity and I was wrong, kudos to him.

That's probably a fair statement, though his change is better than Fiers' curve.

It was different for the Mid season top 10: 1. Brett Phillips, cf 2. Mark Appel, rhp 3. Michael Feliz, rhp 4. A.J. Reed, 1b 5. Francis Martes, rhp 6. Derek Fisher, of 7. Joe Musgrove, rhp 8. Josh Hader, lhp 9. Jacob Nottingham, c 10. Tony Kemp, if/of I would have preferred Feliz as I said earlier, just from a pitching evaluation standpoint, but I like the fact that suddenly we have quite a few LHP options in the minors, something I've been whining about for years. BTW, Kirby will make his debut for the T-Rats in the next week.

Hader came from the Os for Norris, he's a low arm slot left like Medeiros... low 90s, good movement, questions about command, the usual drill. Adrian Houser is a guy I had to look up, he's a big bodied dude, mid 90s FB, control issues, and not much in the way of secondary pitches as his K:9 would suggest. Profiles like a back end starter or reliever.

Of course Phillips to be heir apparent to Gomez, I like him, because that's how Melvin works. I wish Feliz would have been part of the deal instead of the 2 lesser pitchers but Hader is intriguing enough. Can we be sure this time?

LOL just so I can die of a heart attack tonight.

I'm less apt to strip straight slot screws because they're a more forgiving target. I can't really see the slots in any kind of screw; that causes me to strip way more screws than othewise. If I'm able to have a choice, I'll get something that can be driven with a socket. You need to start using an impact driver instead of a drill my friend... no more screw stripping. I use a little of everything but despise flat head screws.

No one that I covet at the moment.

I would agree completely from a MLB and organization building standpoint as that's precisely how I feel. I just keeping reminding myself there have been some positive happenings with the draft and in the minors. It's just frustrating when everyone else can make trades and the Brewers get a fringe prospect for Ramirez and nothing else besides being shot down by the Mets for both Parra and Gomez. Not to mention all of the young impact pitching likely to move this season has already done so. There's only one prospect impact pitcher below AA left on a contender who might be willing to buy and I have no idea how the Brewers could possibly hope to pull Lucas Giolito from Washington. Apparently the Dodgers might have been willing to Part with Urias if the reports are to be believed but we don't have the pitching ammunition to get him either. I've said repeatedly that you don't trade if the value isn't there, but I have time believing the Mets were the only realistic trading partner over the last month. I don't have much faith in getting better value over the winter either regardless of Melvin's oft repeated notion that position players have more value in the winter. I don't think it's played out that way over the last 10 years or so.

Gomber & Chiefs stop Wisconsin's Win Streak By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/7/4/0/124494740/cuts/5_May13_Matos_972w9wmh_sehsmorr.jpg Sthervin Matos hit his team-leading eighth home run of the season for the Timber Rattlers in Thursday's game against the Peoria Chiefs. (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers/Ann Mollica) GRAND CHUTE, WI - Austin Gomber stopped the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers winning streak and extended his own. The left-handed starting pitcher for the Peoria Chief allowed one run on three hits and struck out seven over 7-2/3 innings to win his tenth straight decision in a 5-1 victory over the Rattlers at Neuroscience Group Field on Thursday afternoon. Wisconsin saw their five-game winning streak come to an end. Peoria (55-47 overall, 22-12 second half) scored an unearned run in the top of the first to take the lead. Darren Seferina reached on an error to start the game. He stole second and third base to get into position. Brian O'Keefe knocked in Seferina with a two out single to right. Gomber, who last lost a game on April 29, took over from there. The only two hits he allowed in the early part of the game were a first inning single to Carlos Leal and a one-out double to Greg McCall in the third. Gomber retired fourteen in a row after the double by McCall. Wisconsin starter Jon Perrin gave up the unearned run in the first inning, but nothing else over his five innings of work. Perrin struck out five, hit two, and walked none, but the offense couldn't get the game back to even. The Chiefs padded their lead in the seventh inning with three runs against reliever Luis Ortega. Seferina and Alex DeJong had back-to-back RBI singles with one out. Seferina scored on a wild pitch later in the frame and Peoria was up 4-0. The Timber Rattlers (36-67, 13-16) got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the eighth. Sthervin Matos launched an opposite field home run on the first pitch of the frame. The homer was the eighth of the season for Matos and pulled Wisconsin to within 4-1. The homer extended a streak for Matos, who has now scored a run on five straight games for Wisconsin. That run was the only one allowed by Gomber who retired the next two batters, but left with McCall reached on an error. Jhonny Polanco got the final out of the eighth inning,. The Chiefs added another run in the top of the ninth. They loaded the bases after there were two outs and none on base against Ortega, who would walk Kenny Peoples-Walls to force in a run. Polanco finished off the game with a 1-2-3 ninth inning. The loss evened the season series between the Rattlers and Chiefs. Both teams have won six of the twelve games played in the 2015 series. The Rattlers, who now trail the Chiefs for the second half Western Division Wild Card by 8-1/2 games, have three games left against Peoria. The teams will meet at Dozer Park August 21-23. The Timber Rattlers begin a road trip on Friday with the first game of a three-game series against the Quad Cities River Bandits in Davenport, Iowa. The Timber Rattlers have named Angel Ventura (5-4, 3.18) as their starting pitcher. Quad Cities has not named their starter. Game time at Modern Woodmen Park is 7:00pm. The radio broadcast is on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:40pm. The broadcast may also be heard on Tune In Radio and IHeartRadio. Subscribers to MiLB.TV may watch the game on that platform with the Quad Cities announcers. HOME RUN: WIS: Sthervin Matos (8th, 0 on in 8th inning off Austin Gomber, 0 out) WP: Austin Gomber (11-3) LP: Jon Perrin (1-2) SAVE: Jhonny Polanco (1) TIME: 2:40 ATTN: 4,190 Rattler Radio Postgame Post – July 30, 2015 Erickson drops some Nathan Kirby hints and talks about Sthervin Matos, worth a listen. Wisconsin Boxscore I wish there was more to talk about than this, but why is it that 110 year old John Lucas can hustle out to the mound and it takes the Peoria manager and pitching coach literally a minute to cover that same 15 yards? The world gets put on hold on for Cardinal class? Speaking of which Joe Kruzel was ejected after arguing a possible HR that was called foul by the base ump. I couldn't tell fair or foul from behind home plate, but by where it landed on the catwalk behind the foul poll in RF I thought it might have been a HR. Peoria argues every close call non stop, they did it in all 3 games, it's really irritating how they slow the game down for nothing. Austin Gomber was covered by Chris above, I was surprised when he came back out for the 8th but the Cards will push their young pitchers. Omar Cotto hit the ball hard twice with no result, the only thing not to like about Carlos Leal is he drags the plow a little bit when running the bases. Luis Aviles is incredibly susceptible to high heat, Peoria attacked him up there in all 3 games but he did make an awesome diving catch towards the LF line that was worth a look in the Rattler Radio postgame linked above. I'll get the velocities up later. Wisconsin Recap

It just occurred to me that the Jays have traded more potential impact pitching in the last 3 years than the Brewers have ever had... Syndergaard, Nicolino, Hoffman, and Norris. That bothers me and I hope like hell they don't make the playoffs.

The Jays have completely unloaded the top of their farm system for 2 players and Price is a rental. If they don't make the WS was it worth it?

Flores is just a younger and less lazy version of Yuni B at this point. I openly admit to bias, I never liked him as a prospect as he's basically a bat only player. He'll catch what he can get to... but he doesn't get to much. I guess the best way I can put it is that he's not athletic enough for me and is not the type of player I would ever look to acquire in a trade. He doesn't really compare favorably to Gomez in any way other than he's an intriguing bat that hasn't put it together. For argument's sake if his career path is similar to Gomez he'll get outplayed by other 2 position players and then finally break out as he enters his peak at which point he won't have many years of team control remaining. I don't mind waiting 2 full seasons for a young player to break out in MLB, but 5 is pushing it and is much more the exception than the rule.

I would have loved Wheeler but why Wilmer Flores? He's slow and doesn't have a defensive home, was he supposed to be the be 3B of the future? I really don't get the obsession with MLB ready talent this organization seems to have. Why does every big trade have to include a sub-par SS coming back? I would have rather taken back any of their top prospects other than Gabriel Ynoa. I guess it doesn't matter now that there is no deal but I was pretty pissed about Flores being in the trade when I was watching the Rattlers this evening, it wasn't logical outside of filling the 3B hole, but he stinks and I never liked him as prospect so I admit to bias. When I read Wheeler and I nearly jumped out of my seat and then when I got to Flores I wanted to throw my phone... but this deal would have fit a Melvin trade to a T.

Luke Curtis RHP These readings are accurate I was able to move lower [pre]01) 94 02) 92 03) 93 04) 93 05) 93 06) 90 07) 92 08) 93 09) 83 10) 94 11) 81 12) 93 13) 93 14) 93 15) 93 16) 92 17) 84 18) 92 19) 92 20) 83 21) 81 22) 93 23) 92[/pre]

Scott Lieser RHP Once again velocity readings will be low [pre]01) 89 (21) 90 (41) 87 02) 76 (22) 76 (42) 89 03) 73 (23) 90 (43) 87 04) 75 (24) 89 (44) 76 05) 70 (25) 89 (45) 79 06) 73 (26) 88 07) 90 (27) 90 08) 88 (28) 88 09) 77 (29) 74 10) 78 (30) 88 11) 72 (31) 89 12) 89 (32) 87 13) 86 (33) 87 14) 88 (34) 86 15) 78 (35) 84 16) 88 (36) 77 17) 88 (37) 74 18) 90 (38) 86 19) 77 (39) 88 20) 89 (40) 87[/pre]