TheCrew07

Melvin actually wasn't responsible for the team's rise, that was Jack Z, who was hired by Taylor and retained by Melvin. While the Sexson trade immediately improved the fortunes of the big league club which had woeful talent at the time, the draft and scouting it was actually turned the franchise around. I'll give Melvin his props for holding onto Jack Z and letting him and his staff do their thing, most of those guys have since moved on to other organizations with Ray Montgomery recently coming back. I will not however give Melvin any props for his ultraconservative approach to plugging holes. No team, no matter how good they are can draft and develop 3-5 top of the rotation starters, and field an entire team of average or better position players. Melvin and Attanasio were well aware of the teams deficiencies and instead of choosing to to deal away a couple of position players early for the pitching we so desperately needed, they chose to target the players we've debated over for years. The strategy wasn't sustainable, holes weren't being plugged, they were being patched, and as such the overall strategy was unsound. There were limited success, but largely an incredibly talented team on the position player front rolled through Milwaukee with little to show for it other than raising the bar from awful to mediocrity. The team's front office had continual opportunities to approach the situation differently, but the choices made ultimately set a rather low ceiling given the talent the team had assembled. We banter continually about prospects vs veterans, who fails, properly assigning risk, what's the ultimate value, and all that stuff... but the truth the Brewers as a franchise had a chance to setup for something special but managed their way to be mediocre instead. The Brewers didn't come close to their ceiling, are we seriously celebrating 1 playoff series win? Are we happy when any other team we root for makes out of the first round of the playoffs 1 time in 10 years? I don't believe those are accomplishments worth celebrating, and as everyone knows I've long been an opponent of how this organization has gone about defining itself and muddling through roster construction. I don't hate the gentlemen, I actually respect them, but I vehemently disagree with the tact the organization has continually taken. I remember the optimism when Gord Ash was doing radio interviews with the minor league affiliates talking about the Brewers trading hitting for the pitching they needed, I was ecstatic that we were going to get young pitching to go along with Gallardo. I was absolutely crushed when those pitching deals turned out to all be short term solutions which just left the same gaping holes behind. Melvin oversaw the initial transformation of the team through the Sexson trade, but since he's done little to help the franchise reach it's ceiling. Many probably aren't paying attention but the Dodgers and Friedman just pulled off another caper this week on the international market. While the Brewers operate conservatively the best organizations are finding ways to exploit the rules and other organizations to build their franchise. He did it in TB, and he's going to do it in LA which will ultimately piss me off because instead of looking for creative people who are always changing and adapting we end up with "good baseball people" here in Milwaukee. It's not the market size that's held us back, it's the thinking at the upper levels of the organization.

3 legitimately talented former 1st round picks isn't an underpay for Lucroy, none of those guys were high floor signability types like teams used to draft. You're either over valuing Lucroy or under valuing the return. Fried was #7 overall, Sims #27, and Toussaint #16. If you want some throw in players I can understand, but that's an avalanche of talent to headline a trade. Braxton Davidson, the 3B/OF that Nate mentioned, was the #32 overall pick last year. Ricardo Sanchez isn't a bad throw in guy as mentioned by the MLBTR piece, the only guy I wouldn't have interest in that was listed is Mike Foltynewicz, I've always thought he was a reliever. A note that Sims would actually have to be a PTNBL as I believe he's been on the DL since that bus accident.

Snappers crack Rattlers in ten innings By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/1/3/4/126890134/cuts/5_26_Leal_Article_nceh3p5z_3fp9mx5d.jpg Carlos Leal was 2-for-5 with an RBI for the Timber Rattlers on Friday night at Pohlman Field. (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers/Ann Mollica) BELOIT, WI - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers suffered another heartbreaking defeat on Friday night. The Rattlers saw a pair of leads evaporate at Pohlman Field and had to watch the Beloit Snappers celebrate after a 6-5 walkoff win in ten innings. Wisconsin (25-54 overall, 2-7 second half) took an early lead with three runs in the top of the second inning. Elvis Rubio was hit by a pitch with one out. Alan Sharkey followed with single to left on a hit-and-run. Rubio went around to third and drew a throw. Sharkey saw the throw go into third and made second base without a throw. Sthervin Matos was next and his grounder to third got in a pair of runs when the throw to first was wild. Later in the inning, Brandon Diaz drove in Matos with a sacrifice fly and the Rattlers had a 3-0 lead. The Rattlers added to their lead in the third inning. Elvis Rubio drove in Dustin DeMuth from third base with a sacrifice fly to make it 4-0. Wisconsin could not hold this lead against the Snappers (31-48, 5-4). Jon Perrin, Milwaukee's 27th round pick in the 2015 draft, made his Midwest League debut as the starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers on Friday and worked the first four innings in scoreless fashion with only two hits against him. Perrin struck out the first batter he faced in the bottom of the fifth, but gave up consecutive singles to Max Kuhn and Shawn Duinkerk. Perrin got the second out on a force play at second, but Yairo Munoz beat out the throw to first for what could have been an inning-ending double play. Then, Munoz stole second to get into scoring position. Iolana Akau was next and he singled to right to drive in two runs. Perrin would leave the game for Scott Lieser. Justin Higley greeted Lieser with a long, two-run home run to right to tie the game 4-4. Perrin's official line was 4-2/3 innings pitched, five hits, three runs, no walks, and three strikeouts. The Rattlers caught the Snappers by surprise to take the lead in the top of the seventh. Blake Allemand and Khris Davis drew walks with one out against Jerad Grundy and a grounder to first moved both runners into scoring position. Carlos Leal bunted with the third baseman back and Allemand scored as Leal reached first without a throw to give the Rattlers a 5-4 lead. Wisconsin tried to manufacture another run in the inning. Rubio was at the plate when Leal took off for second to draw a throw to let Davis score, but the Snappers were ready for this play and Davis was tagged out in a rundown between third and home for the final out of the frame. The Rattlers could not protect this lead either. Zach Cooper walked Sandber Pimentel, the leadoff batter, in the bottom of the ninth. Cooper got the first out and nearly ended the game on a strike-'em out, throw-'em out double play as he got the strikeout for the second out of the ninth, but pinch-runner James Harris was just safe at second base. Cooper would throw a wild pitch to allow Harris to take third with pinch-hitter Argenis Raga at the plate, but he was ahead 1-2 in the count. Raga fouled off one two-strike pitch to stay alive before lining a double down the line in left to send the tying run home Leal nearly gave the Rattlers the lead in the top of the tenth. He hit a high, deep drive to the wall in right field as the leadoff batter against Carlos Navas. But, Higley got back to the wall, leaped, and made the catch to rob Leal of a home run. The next two batters would reach against Navas, but the Rattlers could do nothing with that. Wisconsin wound up stranding ten runners in the game and going 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position. Luis Ortega took over on the mound for the Rattlers in the bottom of the tenth and walked the first two batters of the inning on eight pitches. Ortega got the first out of the inning on a force play at second, but that left runners at the corners for Jose Brizuela. Brizuela hit a chopper to second with the infield a couple of steps off the infield grass and the Rattlers tried to turn two end the inning. Wisconsin got the out at second, but Brizuela beat the throw to first to allow the winning run to score. Wisconsin has lost six straight games. The last four losses have been by one run. The last two losses were walkoff defeats at the hands of the Snappers in Beloit. The series moves to Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium on Saturday night. Angel Ventura (3-2, 2.47) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Heath Fillmyer (0-8, 7.87) is set to start for the Snappers. Game time is 6:35pm. Celebrate Independence Day evening and Military Appreciation Weekend with the Timber Rattlers and American National Bank. Current and former military personnel receive a free ticket for reserved bleacher seat by showing military ID or proof of service at the box office for July 4th. Davis is scheduled to conclude his rehabilitation assignment as he plays for the Rattlers in the final two games of the series with the Snappers at home on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. Wisconsin Timber Rattlers players and coaches will wear patriotic jerseys and caps for this game. The jerseys will be available for bid in a silent auction during the game. Proceeds from the auction will go to the Fox Valley Veterans Emergency Fund. Additionally, a veteran in attendance will receive a surprise "Extreme Bathroom Makeover" from Tundraland Home Improvements with the new bathroom being unveiled to the winner during the game! Stick around after the game for an All-American Fireworks display presented by FOX 11. If you can't make it out to the game, the radio broadcast is on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:15. The broadcast may also be heard on Tune In Radio and IHeartRadio. Subscribers to MiLB.TV may watch the game on that platform. HOME RUN: BEL: Justin Higley (4th, 1 on in 5th inning off Scott Lieser, 2 out) WP: Carlos Navas (2-1) LP: Luis Ortega (1-7) TIME: 3:20 ATTN: 2,282 Wisconsin Boxscore Monty Python has a skit that's applicable to every situation, this one fits perfectly. Chris was actually kind to Luis Ortega in the game story, he actually threw 10 straight balls to open the 10th, how symmetric of him... For those that aren't aware Beloit has no stadium gun so Chris wasn't able to relay any velocity readings on Jonathan Perrin. Somehow Gian Rizzo was charged with the BS in the Box, hopefully someone catches that and updates it to Zach Cooper. Brandon Diaz (2-4) continued his awesomeness of late, he did go hitless yesterday but walked twice and was hit by a pitch, I actually forget to mention that in my summary. Carlos Leal's night was highlighted above (Chris' call of the near HR was priceless), Gregory Munoz (2-5) edged his AVE back over .200, and Alan Sharkey (3-4,BB) had a heck of game. Wisconsin Recap

I understand that you've always been a Melvin supporter but the organization has been tactically unsound since they became "competitive". I've been dealing in abstract concepts here for a long time trying to explain how the Brewers have been predictable, ultra-conservative, and have narrowly defined their possible actions to disastrous effect. I make it a point to read a couple of books a month, usually taking 30-60 minutes before bed or if I'm home and have some free time I'll grab an hour or 2. Instead of reiterating the same ideas in the same manner, I'm going to change up and suggest reading The Guns of August, it's a book about how WW1, the war that nobody really wanted became reality. Strategic and/or tactical thinking isn't just the realm of the military, it permeates every aspect of sport, business, and life. Too often posters will suggest that the Brewer organization took their path because that was the only path open or available to them, but the truth is that's not life, we always have options, there's always more than 1 way to get home. We just have to widen our view and have the courage or willingness to jump outside of our comfort zones and look at problems from different angles and/or perspectives. The book is written in a way that anyone can understand and I honestly believe that if you read about how rigidly the various countries conducted themselves, essentially boxing themselves into a war that had no winners, you will see the parallel between those theories and the very rigid ideology that most sports franchises adhere to.

No, not throwing him away, moving assets around the board to trade up in value and acquire a greater position of need. Starting pitching > position players > the bullpen. The idea shouldn't be to limit the possibilities to a narrowly defined set, keep your options open. It doesn't make sense just to trade someone just because they are expensive, because their contract their contract is expiring, or because the team is having a down year. They can be both buyers and sellers in the same year, I've demonstrated the WAR difference dozens of times. The Brewers should be looking to re-position assets and build a rotation first because that's the hardest thing to do. Once they have a rotation, then they can spin assets off if they won't sign early to keep the pitching train going, but the Brewers have to start somewhere because they haven't ever been able to develop enough impact pitching on their own. Too many want to acquire prospects like Noah Syndergaard when he's the best pitching prospect in baseball, the idea should be to acquire him in A ball like the Mets did... that's where the value is.

Because he's replaceable talent, he's not a piece you build around.

Top 10 Cuban Player Luis Yander La O Defects July 3, 2015 by Ben Badler

Once again here's the updated tracker. Team-by-Team International Signings Tracker July 3, 2015 by Ben Badler

Pirates Agree To Sign Dominican Outfielder Kevin Sanchez July 3, 2015 by Ben Badler

Pirates Agree To Sign Outfielder Larry Alcime From Bahamas July 3, 2015 by Ben Badler

Pirates Agree To Sign Dominican Catcher Samuel Inoa July 3, 2015 by Ben Badler

I would take Freid, Sims, and Toussaint in a heartbeat. While I prefer someone like Daniel Norris the simple truth is that it takes 2 to tango, and there may not be a deal on the table for better pitching prospects. Ideally I want someone who always been healthy with a huge arm like Tyler Glasnow, but we aren't going to get him and there are only so many of those guys around. Perfect pitching prospects like Noah Syndergaard are pretty rare and nearly impossible acquire so we have to be willing to accept some warts and hope the team can help the player work through them.

Arcia is a lock, Lara I could see if he keeps hitting, Lopez would have to close out this season like he started it and then I'd be on board, Taylor was close before the start of the season so graduations will help him. If Coulter's season continues to match last year's MWL campaign he won't make it, if he finds any kind of hit tool consistency and gets his AVE to level off in the .280s he'd have a shot. Medeiros I don't think so, any scout who's watched him pitch is going to say the same thing I have, he's a project at this time; there's a chance he makes it because of his rate stats but as I've said a couple of times Williams and Ventura control the strike zone much better than Kodi does. He's filthy, but he doesn't have first tier velocity, he's been working 88-93 all season, so people are going to see different ceilings when they watch him, and depending on what day and how many times they've seen him pitch will matter. I could see him being in the back 25 if enough people like him but generally speaking control projects with first tier velocity and plus stuff all the way around are the guys that get rated higher than they probably should be based on ceiling early in their career. He's atypical enough he's very hard to judge it many respects. I honestly believe that Williams is the more advanced pitcher even though he doesn't have Kodi's secondary stuff. I wouldn't be surprised if he makes the top 100 because he gets results, but he works mostly up and out of the strike zone, and I just don't think he's going to have to have the same level of success if he moves up with the same control. That's the part of his game that needs to take significant steps forward as he advances. Diplan, it's early for that, he's an international player in Rookie ball. A solid campaign next year at WI could put him on the map for the future. Reed is interesting in so many ways, but I'm not sure he's sexy enough tool wise to make the list, he's a solid across the board type. He's an OBP machine though and everyone loves OBP these days so maybe that would be enough for him to sneak in. Tyler Wagner is going to get some looks as a results orientated pitcher, his tools are MLB average like Kingham from the Pirates, Kingham made the list in the past but hasn't as he's moved up. It's hard to say really because scouts and organizations will value different things. For example I'm control/command orientated where as someone like Colby is more stuff orientated so even on the board here the scouting reports will vary depending on the personal bias of the viewer. Where some see results, maybe a huge FB, or simply believe a player has a superb ceiling because he was drafted high, I see delivery complications so I'm skeptical what they are doing will work in MLB. Our personal biases are going to influence what we see, which is why rating by video becomes so helpful; it's much easier to get a true sense of a players strengths and weaknesses when you can slow down and watch both the good and the bad. I think back to all of the players I've missed on over the years, and not just from the Brewer organization as it is quite easy to get attached to non divisional players in the minors as well. I've tried to learn something different from each those players and situations, self evaluate to see what I missed, and in most cases it was simply not getting to watch enough of the player, I was making statistical observations. That's why I pick my words very carefully and I rarely fawn over a prospect... it's difficult for me to get excited, a player really has to stand out amongst his peers. If he just looks like everyone else in A ball, then he's really not much of a prospect... in fact if he just looks like the average AA player he's not much of a prospect, so I think results need to be put in context of athleticism and talent, and of course vice versa. If you go back and look you'll see I was telling people to remember the name "Mike Trout" in the Link Reports after the Rattlers played 2 series against him... Trout and Segura lit the Rattlers up and in Trout's case he was obviously so much better than everyone else on the field that it was obvious he was going to be special, and I'm not easily impressed. The prospects that skip past WI I'm not going to have a lot to say about because I haven't watched them play, so for example I'm not going to have all that much to offer about Hobbs Johnson other than his BA scouting report: I think many people will over value our own guys much like the Brewers do, so I try to keep in mind that the top 100 is basically the top 3 prospects from each organization. Of course organizations in the top 10 will have more top 100 prospects than organizations in the bottom 10, and I think the Brewers are moving towards the middle, which is why I settled on the top 3 in my first post. I find Coulter to be the most frustrating prospect in the system but I try not to hold that against him, so maybe I over compensate the other way when I make lists, but like I said after Arcia it's pretty much up in the air who people are going to like and why.

Taylor Williams, oh how I miss thee.

Kirby has hardly pitched all season, when he signs, and I'm guessing it will be late, he'll likely be in rookie ball. There's no room for him in WI right now anyway. Which pitcher would you send down to make room? Or if you wanted to promote a pitcher form WI to BC to make room who would move out of the rotation? Wang, Salas, Woodruff, Ortega, and Sneed are all right where they should be. Wagner, Hall, Johnson, and Lopez belong in AA rotation right now, the 5th spot in that rotation has been in flux but as good as Ortega has been I'd have a hard time pushing him up. I'm really not in a rush to push anyone to Colorado or rush any promotions at this point. edit. Kirby could very well just relieve the remainder of this season but if that's the case I'd rather he dominate Helena as well, if he has success he could always come up to WI to see what full season ball is about before the end of the season.

Brewers at #6 and #7... Prospect Hot Sheet (July 3): Giolito’s Dominant Run Continues July 3, 2015 by Staff Report

Cubs Agree To Sign Dominican Third Baseman Christopher Martinez July 3, 2015 by Ben Badler

Snappers spoil Rattlers rally with a walkoff win By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/2/0/8/127793208/cuts/May31_Devin_Williams_WEB_fmsluiom_s3c0ulcr.jpg Devin Williams struck out eight to set a single-game high as a professional, but ended up with a no decision at Beloit on Thursday night. (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers/Ann Mollica) BELOIT, WI - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers and Beloit Snappers engaged in a back-and-forth contest Thursday night at Pohlman Field, but it was the Snappers who prevailed 5-4 on a walkoff hit by Trent Gilbert in the bottom of the ninth inning. The loss was the fifth straight for the Rattlers. Wisconsin (25-53 overall, 2-6 second half) got on the scoreboard in the first inning. Brandon Diaz was hit by a pitch to start the game. Blake Allemand was next and his bunt up the third base line appeared ready to go foul. But, the ball kicked back fair for a bunt single. Diaz noticed that no one was covering third and time had not been called so he raced for third to put runners on the corners. Khris Davis, in the second game of his rehabilitation assignment for the Milwaukee Brewers, followed with a sacrifice fly to deep right-center. Diaz tagged and scored to make it 1-0 in favor of Wisconsin. Wisconsin tacked on two runs in the top of the third. Diaz drew a leadoff walk, stole second, and went to third on a ground out. Davis knocked in Diaz with a grounder to short for a 2-0 lead. Then, Dustin DeMuth singled, stole second, and took third on a wild pitch. Carlos Leal cashed in DeMuth with a double and the Rattlers were up 3-0. Rattlers starting pitcher Devin Williams retired the first seven batters he faced, but an error with one out in the bottom of the third broke that streak. Then, Shawn Duinkerk lined a home run to right-center and the Snappers were within 3-2. Williams allowed one more hit as he worked through six innings and protected the one-run lead. He struck out eight to set a new single-game high as a professional and walked just two. The Snappers (30-48, 4-4) took the lead in the bottom of the seventh and it was Duinkerk again. Reliever Luke Curtis struck out the first two batters he faced after taking over for Williams to start the Beloit seventh. But, Iolana Akau doubled to left to keep the inning going for the Snappers. Duinkerk worked the count to 3-2 before launching his second two-run home run of the night. The deep drive to right put the Snappers up 4-3. Wisconsin rallied to tie the game in the top of the ninth with two outs. Diaz drew a walk to reach with two away against Beloit reliever Koby Guana. Blake Allemand was next and his sharp grounder to second was booted for an error by Gilbert to let Diaz take third. Mitch Meyer, who took over for Davis in left field in the bottom of the seventh, was at the plate when Akau was charged with a passed ball to allow Diaz to score the tying run. Tyler Linehan, who worked a scoreless eighth for Wisconsin came back out for the bottom of the ninth and allowed a leadoff single to Jose Brizuela. Justin Higley was unable to get a bunt down and struck out for the first out, but Linehan walked the next two batters on eight straight pitches to load the bases. Zach Cooper was called out of the bullpen to try to send the game to extra innings and he got a strikeout for the second out of the inning. Gilbert, who made the error that extended Wisconsin's top of the ninth, stepped to the plate and Cooper battled him. Gilbert fouled off four two-strike pitches from Cooper as the count ran full with two outs. The tenth pitch of the at bat was a sinking line drive to left that landed just out of the reach of Meyer, who made a lunging dive but came up just short and the Snappers celebrated their third straight win. Gilbert also ended the final game of the first half between the Rattlers and Snappers with a bases loaded walk-off single with the bases loaded in the second game of a doubleheader on June 21. Davis went 1-for-2 with a sacrifice fly and two RBI in the second game of his five-game rehabilitation assignment. Game two of the series is Friday night at Pohlman Field. Jon Perrin, the 27th round pick of the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2015 draft out of Oklahoma State University, makes his Midwest League debut as the starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers on Friday. Joey Wagman (3-2, 2.39) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Snappers. Game time is 7:00pm. Catch the radio broadcast is on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:40. The broadcast may also be heard on Tune In Radio and IHeartRadio. HOME RUNS: BEL: Shawn Duinkerk (2nd, 1 on in 3rd off Devin Williams, 1 out) Shawn Duinkerk (3rd, 1 on in 7th off Luke Curtis, 2 out) WP: Kody Guana (2-0) LP: Tyler Linehan (1-3) TIME: 3:11 ATTN: 871 Wisconsin Boxscore So the refrain here is becoming quite familiar; the offense continually comes up just short, spotty defense, and spotty bullpen work again cost the T-Rats a victory. People were asking about Dustin DeMuth's (2-3,BB) defense earlier this season, he's played 3rd the last 2 games and committed 3 errors in those 2 games. I wasn't sure he had the range to play there to start with after the first bunch of televised games and I'm still not sure what to make of him now. He did however have the only multi hit game of the night for the Rattlers. Devin Williams was cruising along until DeMuth's error and then sort of came unhinged for the rest of the inning, he threw more pitches in the 3rd than he did in the first 2 innings combined: Beloit Bottom of the 3rd Justin Higley strikes out swinging. Iolana Akau reaches on a throwing error by third baseman Dustin DeMuth. Iolana Akau to 2nd. Shawn Duinkerk homers (2) on a fly ball to right field. Iolana Akau scores. James Harris walks. With Trent Gilbert batting, James Harris steals (7) 2nd base. With Trent Gilbert batting, wild pitch by Devin Williams, James Harris to 3rd. Trent Gilbert strikes out swinging. Sandber Pimentel walks. Yairo Munoz called out on strikes. However the 3rd was the only blemish, he was fantastic before and after whatever was going on with him in that one inning. I'll take 6 innings, 2 hits, 1 earned run, and 8 strike outs every single time a pitching prospect below AA gets on the mound. Once they get to AA they'd better give us an extra inning though! Wisconsin Recap

Chris was just on a quite a roll hating on Harry C. Pohlman Field, it was pretty entertaining.

That's not even remotely close to what I said. The Brewers have only handed out 1 bonus that big in their entire history and that was last season to Gilbert Lara. Once again overstated, diving into the international market is a necessary risk, the Brewers aren't able to compete in FA so they have to expand the talent base they draw from. As I posted earlier 500k is in that 3rd-4th round pick range, it's money better spent than $10 mil/year for Suppan, Wolf, Garza, and Lohse... those guys have sure put the Brewers over the top.

Cardinals Agree To Sign Dominican Shortstop Raffy Ozuna July 2, 2015 by Ben Badler

Cubs Agree To Sign No. 22 International Prospect Miguel Amaya July 2, 2015 by Ben Badler

Cubs Agree To Sign No. 20 International Prospect Yonathan Perlaza July 2, 2015 by Ben Badler

Cardinals Agree To Sign No. 10 International Prospect Alvaro Seijas July 2, 2015 by Ben Badler

Most organizations cap the max email size, for example my company caps the message at 5mb, so messages which are larger can get stuck in the outbox/sent items depending on how it's configured. Instead of bouncing the message back corporate has it set up to automatically delete the email, which leads to user confusion because they believe the email was sent, when it fact it wasn't because the email was too large. I run across this a couple of times per quarter. I would check both spots and delete the email, then try zipping up the file to reduce the size. Most "free" email accounts have size limits as well.