TheCrew07

Seriously? I think you need to revisit your bonus baby comments.... it's not relevant past the top 4 rounds or so. 5. Dustin Demuth - $50,000 6. David Burkhalter - $200,000 7. Mitch Meyer - $10,000 8. JB Kole - $159,000 9. Greg McCall - $10,000 10. Javi Salas - $15,000 Burkhalter is a HS kid, how many years could he live off of that $200,000 bonus? You seem to be forgetting that there are all kinds of deductions taken out of that sum such as taxes. Here's a good blog post on the financial side of the draft. TCU baseball coach shows how fast the guaranteed $$ of the MLB draft goes This whole deal is complete garbage and has been for a very long time, MLB is awash in money, just pay the kids in the minors enough that they can sleep in regular beds and eat good meals, that's not asking much. I'm not a liberal by any stretch, I tend to lean very conservative, but even I can see how ridiculous this situation is. Does MLB want great athletes/players or not? There isn't much incentive to stick with baseball if you aren't drafted in the top 3-4 rounds and there is even less incentive to play the game clean. Poor rest and poor nutrition directly lead to athletes looking for "pick me ups" or an edge, MLB has created, almost forced upon the athletes, it's own drug culture. MiLB is a farce by any measure.

I hope Bernie writes more even handed articles like that... give us both the good and the bad!

They essentially skipped Hardy over AAA when he injured his shoulder, it's not entirely unprecedented. However, with Gomez playing for the big league club there's no reason to push Taylor, from a development standpoint it would make sense to move him 1 level per season. He could play his way out of AA by the all-star break if he plays that well and end up in AAA anyway. I'd rather they just sign some AAA organizational soldier types for next year and see how the OF situation shakes out.

Just 2 divisional prospects (no Brewers) in this list, OF Jesse Winkler of the Reds and LHP Joely Rodriguez of the Pirates. Rodriguez in particular is an interesting guy as he's not someone I've been keeping any kind of tabs on. 2014 AFL All-Star Team December 10, 2014 by Vince Lara-Cinisomo

You can try degaussing it but chances are the poor packing was the issue, my mother did that to her laptop when she took it on a cross country trip and let it get beat up. I work in the shipping industry and that's one of the reasons electronics are supposed to be packed in their original packing or we won't accept them into the system.

Ya Taillon is coming off of TJ surgery but they have also have a #3-5 type young pitcher ready in Nick Kingham, and another stud with a huge arm behind him in Tyler Glasnow. Glasnow doesn't have the control yet but he's still very young and continues to improve every year, his CB is going to be a plus pitch. He'll start in AA for 2015 and could move very quickly if he starts scratching the surface of his potential. I expect Taillon to struggle some with his control next season, most pitchers coming off TJ do, but long-term no one in the division can match the potential of Cole, Taillon, and Glasnow... 3 guys with first tier FBs and plus secondary stuff at the top of the rotation. Do Taillon and Glasnow get to Cole's level? I'm not sure, but even if they end up as #2 types, or a #2 and a #3 the Pirates will still be very well off. I'm not thrilled about Liriano for them, but he does provide some insurance at a fairly reasonable cost, if he's not their #5 pitcher by the end of the contract something went horribly wrong.

I've been saying for a long time that I thought 2016 will be the year the Cubs truly breakout, but they'll be much improved offensively, defensively, and will have a decent enough rotation for 2015, they won't be a cake walk. Their success for 2015 will depend on how quickly their prospects settle in... They also have a couple of young #3 type pitchers at AAA in CJ Edwards and Pierce Johnson. If they can add a more impact pitching via FA for 2016 the Cubs will be a force in the division.

We're just stuck in that middle ground... the same place we've been since 2006... the team doesn't have the upside to be truly great and has enough talent that they won't be truly awful either. 2016 is a different matter with all of the aging players and expiring contracts, but for 2015 I think this is a 3rd place team in the division, which is again pretty much right in the middle NL wise. Even if Segura and Gennett improve and Braun returns to form the rotation is pretty much the epitome of average.... no one sucks, no one is *that* great. It seems like every time a player takes a step forward another takes a step back so I don't think we can safely play the "if everything stays the same and players X, Y, and Z do better we're a 90 win team" card. We still have one of the more aggressive line-ups in baseball... which is great when they are "on" but is also capable of extreme lows as well. We have a couple of outliers each way but for the most part our pitching staff and hitters are all pretty much the same kind of guys. It's a roster that can win a bunch in the regular season but on the post season side I still believe it all comes down to match-ups, and on paper this team's strengths don't match-up well against the other 2014 post season teams' weaknesses. That could still change here through the off-season, but I honestly don't feel any better about the 2015 incarnation of the Crew than I did the 2014 version. I openly admit though that I'm chasing the WS, and trying to ascend within the division, not just trying to make the playoffs, so I might be coming at this from a much different perspective from many posters who believe that all you need to do is get into the post season and anything can happen. I think the Pirates and Cubs will be improved again in 2015, I expect the Cards to maintain even without Taveras, and I think Cincy will bounce back some with improved health. My fear is that the Brewers and Reds become the patsies in the division much sooner than we really thought was possible which is the problem with older rosters, you never really know when it's all going to come crashing down like it for the Cubs after 2009... they didn't realize it was over for them until 2011. I feel the Brewers have been in that place for a while, not realizing the best days are past them so we just keep trying to chase that 85th win...

Yes but you can't platoon every position either, it's not cost effective if the platoon mate isn't able to play multiple positions. Parra fits that bill as he can cover multiple positions, but he's an extremely expensive backup or platoon mate. Our backups haven't had a whole lot of positional flexibility which has been the biggest problem with our platoons. Again, Parra has flexibility but he's being paid like a starter, will RR get him enough ABs to make that commitment worth it? In theory sure, but I don't think any of us really know for sure, and Parra may be a luxury the Brewers aren't able to afford. Parra is a marginal upgrade at best over Davis... certainly defensively, but he's not superior offensively by any stretch. I get the "insurance policy" argument but if there is a good deal out there for him I don't see the value in arbitrarily turning it down because "we need insurance". Gerardo Parra will not save the 2015 Milwaukee Brewers by himself, he's a huge downgrade from Gomez or Braun, even last year's Braun. If the Brewers lose key pieces they are sunk with or without Parra.

Do we really know that for a fact, or just because he didn't fail a test? Any number of documentaries (Lance Armstrong) and stories in print are out there about how relatively easy it is to avoid detection if you're getting advice from the "correct" doctors. The cheaters are always ahead of the testing. I really don't care one way or the other as what's done is done, all that matters is what a reasonable expectation of his production will be going forward. He always had a nagging injury of one type or another prior to the thumb and PED suspensions, even if the PEDs were just for recovery purposes how many games per season will he actually appear in without the healing assistance? As he continues to age will he be a 140 game guy? 130? Less? The days of Braun playing 150+ games with an OPS over .900 are likely gone, he'll be 31 next season. Why would we expect better health with age? Not just for Braun, but for any athlete? I have no doubt Ryan can be a productive player for some time if his thumb holds out, but at this point I'm hoping he can maintain an OPS north of .850 for the next 4-5 years. I don't see much point in holding out hope that anything resembling MVP Braun will emerge again... he'll do it stretches, but it doesn't seem likely he'll be able to do it over the course of a full season given his age and consistent health issues. I was never a fan of Braun on a personal level so I'm about as far from the "I hope he comes back and proves everyone wrong" camp as possible, I just don't see any compelling reason to be overly optimistic about his production moving forward.

A prospect article! Thanks Tom! Subscriber Content. Strong A Surprise Add For Brewers December 6, 2014 by Tom Haudricourt

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Amir Garrett is scary as I commented during the season... Subscriber content. Reds, Garrett Commit To Each Other C. Trent Rosecrans -Sunday, December 7, 2014 Premium Content

Subscriber content. No Draft This Time For Diaz December 7, 2014 by John Perrotto

Subscriber content with a teaser. 2015 HS Top 500 Prospects

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