Bambis Bombers

If Crow does not sign, it will be interesting to see what happens with the negotiations between the Orioles and Brian Matusz. From what I've read at BA and BP, the Matusz camp wanted use the Crow deal as a baseline for any agreement with Baltimore.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h243/DIMPHardcore/tonybullpentorres.jpg Got this one off last night's game thread from the Cardinals blog Viva El Birdos. Someone photoshopped TLR's face onto a photo of the Iraqi Minister of Propaganda after LaRussa blasted a local reporter for blaming the loss on the Card's bullpen.

Joe Thatcher got rocked this afternoon, giving up 5 runs in two thirds of an inning. SD loses, 9 to 5. He now sports a hefty 8.42 ERA.

2008 ninth round pick Michael Bowman continues to impress. Two more scoreless innings with 3 Ks.

At the end of the 2007 season, Elias had Rauch ranked as the 10th best NL reliever, firmly in Class A territory.

Looking at the Elias rankings at the end of last year, Randy Wolf made the list as the 55th best NL starting pitcher. The lowest ranked Class B NL starting pitcher was 42nd ranked Rich Hill of the Cubs. Wolf's ranking at the end of 2008 will benefit from his 2006 stats being removed from the evaluation (only 56 IP and a 5.56 ERA). His brutal record away from Petco and a suspect Astro relief core does project him to significantly improve his 2008 season stats. There are a number of starting pitchers ranked ahead of him (Capuano, Matt Morris, Freedy Garcia, etc.) that will fall in the rankings offset by pitchers ranked below (Lincecum and Lohse) that will likely pass him up.

Five stolen bases off Frederickson / Fryer in the first three innings of West Virginia tilt against the Charleston RiverDogs.

Adrian Rosario getting the start for the Baby Brewers today, matching up against KC's 3rd round pick Tyler Sample

brosto1 Makes you wonder if Melvin is leaking info to the press to attract some other offers and pressure Cleveland into closing the deal .

Here's the BA blurb on Fryer prior to the 2007 draft.

wvpowerblkwel, thanks for the first hand report. I was pleasantly surprised at Merklinger's line tonight - what speed was his fastball topping out at?

Jim Callis of BA had this to say on Wednesday when asked about the status of the negotiations between Lawrie and the Brewers: Rodney (Minneapolis): What's a fan to think of this Lawrie stuff between his national team commitments and his signing with the Brewers? This won't stand in the way of him signing, will it? http://assets.espn.go.com/i/sn2.gif Jim Callis: (2:57 PM ET ) No. He'll turn pro this summer.

Did the Brewers anyone on the first day of the international signing period? Sound like the Padres made an initial splash, per Ben Badler at BA.

Here is the Baseball America scouting report by when Reinhardt was drafted in the 6th round of the 2005 draft by the Rays.

Official confirmation of the signings of Wooten, Luetge and Roberts from Brewers.com Brewers announce three additional draft signings 06/30/2008 12:16 PM ET MLB.com MILWAUKEE -- The Milwaukee Brewers have signed three additional draft selections from the 2008 First-Year Player Draft and have now signed 32 of the 54 players that the team selected and one passed over player, it was announced today by Jack Zduriencik, Vice President - Special Assistant to the General Manager for Player Personnel. Of the first 20 draft selections by the Brewers, 18 have now signed. These three signings include 13th round pick (398th overall) RHP Rob Wooten from the University of North Carolina, 21st round selection LHP Lucas Luetge from Rice University and 38th round pick C Mike Roberts from Virginia Military Institute. Wooten went 6-2 with a 1.87 ERA (62.2ip, 13er) and five saves in 44 appearances during his senior season at North Carolina. He helped lead the Tar Heels to the College World Series semifinals before being eliminated by the College World Series Champion Fresno State Bulldogs. Luetge also participated in the College World Series and went 1-0 with a 6.16 ERA (30.2ip, 21er) and one save in 17 games (3 starts) during his junior season with the Rice Owls. Roberts batted .298 with nine home runs and 44 RBI in 50 games played during his junior season at Virginia Military Institute.

Baseball America - Link Perfect Game - Link

In a recent column, Sid Hartman of the Star Tribune mentioned the Brewers made a token effort to sign 39th round pick Eric Decker:

Joel Morales is on the mound today for the Baby Brewers. Pitching for the Rangers is 2007 first round draft choice Michael Main.

An awful outing for the H-Crew tonight. Helena made three errors, walked twelve Great Falls batters and Corey Kemp had four passed balls. Great Falls wins 12 to 6. Edit - Final stats

Adam McCalvey provides us with an update on the negotiations between Brett Lawrie and the Brewers. Unsigned Lawrie to join Team Canada Brewers' top Draftee to play in world junior games, then go pro By Adam McCalvy / MLB.com ATLANTA -- Indications from all sides are that a deal will be struck before the Aug. 15 deadline, but it appears Milwaukee's top Draft pick will play for his country before he signs with the Brewers. Last week, catcher Brett Lawrie was named -- as expected -- among the 25 players selected for the Canadian junior team's July 13-23 national tour. It is Team Canada's final tune-up for the World Junior Baseball Championship. The Brewers, who selected Lawrie with the 16th overall pick in the First-Year Player Draft, had hoped to sign Lawrie as early as possible and send him for a few weeks of work with Minor League catching coordinator Charlie Greene before the Team Canada workouts begin. Now, it appears Greene will have to wait to get his hands on Lawrie, an 18-year-old converted infielder who remains somewhat raw behind the plate. "You hope he doesn't get hurt along the way and cost himself a year of service time," Brewers assistant general manager Gord Ash said on Wednesday. Lawrie also remains a strong candidate to play in the Summer Olympic Games. The baseball program is scheduled for August 13-23 in Beijing, but Canada has yet to finalize its squad. If he is selected for the Olympics in addition to the juniors tournament, Lawrie would get six weeks of top-notch, wooden-bat International competition. He likely would travel from Edmonton to North Carolina around Aug. 4 to catch the end of Team Canada's "training camp" against Team USA, then would head to Asia for the Olympics. At some point along the line, Lawrie would have to pass a physical and sign his Brewers contract. Professional players are eligible for International competition if they are not on a 25-man Major League roster. Major League teams face an Aug. 15 deadline to sign their Draft picks. Last summer, the first year the signing deadline was in place, many of the top high school picks waited until the final hours to sign, and that could be the case again this year. Unsigned players of interest to the Lawrie camp include No. 15 overall selection Ethan Martin, a high school right-hander from Georgia. Neither Brewers amateur scouting director Jack Zduriencik, who generally does not discuss negotiations with Draft picks, nor Dan Lawson, Lawrie's agent, would comment on the record. The Brewers have already signed eight of their first 10 Draft picks, with the holdouts being Lawrie and Tennessee high school right-hander Seth Lintz. The team is closing in on a deal with Lintz, according to a club official. But the top target remains Lawrie, who came out of high school in Langley, British Columbia, and sealed Milwaukee's interest this spring when he batted .486 (17-for-35) with eight home runs and 24 RBIs in the Dominican Republic against professional summer league teams. On Draft day June 5, Lawrie was asked whether he intended to sign quickly. "That's going to be up to my family and the people in my corner as well as my advisor," Lawrie said. "Obviously, I want to get going, but we'll see when that time comes."

A nice start (so far) by Evan Frederickson for the H Crew tonight...3 IP, 3H, 3 SO and 0 BB.

Though he signed a couple of weeks ago, here's an article on Maverick Lasker of the Arizona Brewers O'Connor grad launches pro career by Jason P. Skoda - Jun. 23, 2008 09:36 AM The Arizona Republic Maverick Lasker didn't waste any time. He figured he did enough of that during the season. So the Phoenix Sandra Day O'Connor graduate signed with the Milwaukee Brewers the day he was drafted. "It's what I wanted to do from the start," Lasker said. "They called me that day (June 5) and asked if I was willing to sign. We talked money and got it done that night." http://gcirm.azcentral.gcion.com/RealMedia/.ads/adstream_lx.ads/www.azcentral.com/sports/preps/articles/2008/06/23/20080623phxlasker.html/1755081784/ArticleFlex_1/OasDefault/vans_pro_shops_sports_160A/flashcreative.html/34623634363831363438336564326230?_RM_EMPTY_ With the six-year deal signed, Lasker, a right-handed pitcher, reported to the Maryvale Baseball Complex in Phoenix on June 9 and his professional career was under way. "I always wanted to do this, but during my junior year when the scouts started showing up is when I first thought it was possible," he said. "I thought maybe I'd get drafted out of high school and although I thought it might be earlier it was good enough for me." Lasker was taken in the fifth round, 158th overall, by the Brewers despite being shut down as a pitcher for a good portion of the season because of bicep tendonitis. There were some scouts who thought he had first-round talent, but the injury, along with a hamstring injury, held him back. "He obviously had a future ahead of him and I wasn't going to be the guy who derailed that," Sandra Day O'Connor coach Jeff Baumgartner said. "We were cautious with him, but it left him strong at the end of the year." Lasker, who is named Maverick after Tom Cruise's character in Top Gun, went the distance in an eight-inning, 3-2 win over Tucson Catalina Foothills in the Class 4A Division I semifinals and also had the game-winning hit with the bases loaded. "That felt so good," said Lasker, whose team lost in the state title game to Scottsdale Chaparral. "I wasn't myself all year and it was frustrating. That was my time to help the team. I finally felt like myself." He finished the season 3-0 with a 0.97 ERA in 29 innings. He allowed only 13 hits to the 120 batters he faced, while walking 13 and striking out 27. None of the really matters now as his new teammates, the ones he is staying with in a Tempe hotel, almost all had dominating numbers. The 6-foot-3, 195-pound Lasker is now a professional. The team is going through drills - a lot of pitcher's fielding practice - and throwing bullpen sessions in preparation of the Arizona Rookie League season starting Monday. "It's been great," Lasker said. "We are doing a lot of basic stuff, but they want to see where we are at mechanically and they are making adjustments." Lasker, who has been dealing with a sore back but no ill effects from the bicep or hamstring problems, told MLB.com what it means to be a professional. "To me, 'professional' means everything is run the right way. And no excuses," Lasker told the reporter.

Rivals.com writer for the University of Kentucky baseball team gives the impression that second round pick Seth Lintz will be signing with the Brewers.

Jonathon Small of MLB Draft University had the Brewers listed in the winners column on his draft review. And he scores bonus points by placing the Cubs in the losers column:

Attached is a video highlight from the Highland vs. Crystal Lake Central state semi-final game where Jake Odorizzi scores the winning run.