Monthly Archives: June 2009

Protecting your assets

Posted on June 27, 2009 by | 5 Comments

Posted by Steve

I mentioned recently that I’m becoming concerned with Yovani Gallardo’s workload this season.  I was unable to find Pitcher Abuse ratings for 2009 (maybe it hasn’t been compiled yet), but Yo is definitely one of the more abused pitchers to this point.  He has thrown 110 pitches or more five times already this season.

Last night really ticked me off.  Ken Macha was given a great opportunity to not push Gallardo to the limit.  Yo was great yesterday, and it was very enjoyable to watch.  He was finally tested in the seventh inning, but managed to get out of a jam.  The Brewers led 5-1 at that time.  I’m not sure of his exact pitch count, but it was right around 100.  Gallardo really had to work to get out of that inning, and it was obvious that he had lost some effectiveness.  With a four run lead, removing him from the game was the correct move–this was painfully obvious.

Instead, Macha inexplicably ran him out there to start the eighth.  He labored through two outs but was unable to get out of the inning and was removed from the game.  He finished with an incredibly unnecessary pitch count of 118.

This is the same crap Ned Yost pulled with Ben Sheets last year.  He repeatedly tried to squeeze an extra inning out of Sheets even when the game was well in hand.  It’s incredibly stupid with a pitcher with an injury history (Sheets), and it’s equally stupid with a young pitcher who missed most of the previous season (Gallardo).  It would be one thing if it was a one or two run game, but a four run game in the eighth should be fine in the hands of your bullpen.

Yo is the most irreplaceable player on the Brewers’ roster.  If he gets injured, their season is up in smoke.  The Brewers should be jumping at any chance they get to remove him from a game before racking up a high pitch count.

If you can’t tell, this really ticks me off.  He’s one of your most valuable assets, so stop being so careless.

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Posted in Milwaukee Brewers 2009

Starting Rotation: Pretty much an emergency

Posted on June 23, 2009 by | 8 Comments

Posted by Steve

Before I get started, I want to say that I used my best judgment and ultimately decided to end the tarnation streak at three.  I could have gone with something like, “What in tarnation is wrong with the starting rotation?” or “What in tarnation can the Brewers get in the trade market?” but it just felt forced.  Nothing kills a joke like overuse, so I decided to tuck away the tarnation tag until it truly fits.

I’m feeling one of those cheezy radio commercials here that are played during a game.  You know, the ones that try to relate something like banking, truck driving or insurance to baseball.

In baseball, you should never make a trade just to make a trade.  The same goes for blogging!  Don’t use a tarnation tag just to use a tarnation tag.  Before using a tarnation tag, be sure it adds to the enjoyment of the post.  For more information, call the Digger’s Hotline.

Anyway.  Things have been pretty ugly as of late.  One of the more active threads on BF right now is discussing whether the Brewers should be sellers at the deadline.  That’s jumping the gun in my opinion, but something will need to be done before long if the Brewers are going to make a serious run for the playoffs.

I’ve said I felt the offense would improve to the point of making up for the drop in pitching from last season.  So far, the offense has been good but not great–fourth in the NL in with 4.77 runs per game compared to seventh (4.63 runs per game) last season.  That won’t be enough to overcome for the poor pitching.

I didn’t expect the starting pitching to be very good as a whole to begin with, but it’s been even worse than expected.  They’ve had one good start in the last eight games.  Yo’s last start was good, but I’ve made light of his recent struggles.  I’m also getting concerned about his heavy workload.  Bush and Looper have been very hittable lately (and Bush’s arm fatigue wrinkles things even further).  As amazing as it sounds, the only pitcher pitching up to his capability over the last month is none other than Jeff Suppan.  What’s worse is the struggles of the rotation is taking a toll on the bullpen, which was stellar over the first two months.

Things wouldn’t be so dire if it wasn’t for Manny Parra.  He’s really screwed the pooch.  Dan went over why Parra is probably set to bounce back at some point, but the fact of the matter is it’s a very poorly timed implosion on his part.

Before the season, I assumed that in order to make the playoffs, the Brewers would need to bring in another solid starting pitcher to improve the rotation–at least a number three-type starter.  I still feel this way.  The problem is, quality starting pitching is not as abundant as it was around last season’s trade deadline.

Injuries have taken a toll on the trade market.  Jake Peavy was probably a lock to be traded somewhere (already was but vetoed the trade to the White Sox), but his foot injury may have him sidelined past the trade deadline.  This was a bit of a relief to me, because there was plenty of chatter that the Brewers were in talks with San Diego to acquire Peavy.  I was all ready to write an anti-Peavy post, but his injury made the point moot.  In a nutshell, my reasons against Peavy were mainly his hefty contract, but also his decline in numbers, drop in his velocity and moving out of a friendly pitcher’s park.

Roy Halladay, a phenomenal pitcher, was recently put on the DL–to be fair, he was only an outside shot to be traded this year anyway.  Erik Bedard is another good pitcher who could be traded but recently went on the DL.

Matt Cain was a popular trade target for some fans, but the Giants are hanging around so far and won’t deal him if they’re still in contention for a wildcard spot around the deadline.

Complicating the matter is the Brewers have told teams that Mat Gamel and Alcides Escobar are untouchable.  That means you can cross off guys like Halladay, Cliff Lee and Cain anyway.

I’m ready to make a pitch for my number one trade target.  Before I say who, keep in mind there is no CC Sabathia readily available this year.  There isn’t even a Rich Harden.  The best pitcher who could be available is Cliff Lee, but he’s under contract for next year; therefore Cleveland is likely to ask for a ton.  I’m not even sure they’ll trade him, because they might want to keep him to make a run next season.  To find a match, you need to identify the best pitcher likely to be available that won’t require either Gamel or Escobar.  In my mind, that pitcher is Erik Bedard.

Bedard had been a good to great pitcher in each of the last five seasons.  He’s having an outstanding 2009 so far: 65 2/3 innigs, 2.47 ERA, 1.157 WHIP, 65 strikeouts and 22 walks.  So far this season, he’s been an ace.

So why, then, would the Brewers be able to acquire him without giving up Gamel or Escobar?  Here’s why.

1) Bedard is injury prone.  He only threw 81 innings last season.  He’s currently on the DL with “shoulder fatigue,” which is never a good sign.  I wouldn’t even be discussing him, but an MRI revealed no structural damage and the plan as of now is to have him back in the rotation before too long.  If that ends up not happening, this entire point is moot and I’ll have to live with the fact that I wasted 20 minutes typing about an Erik Bedard trade.

2) He’s not a workhorse.  He will in absolutely no way come close to what Sabathia did last year.  And I’m not referring to performance, as nobody should be expected to put up the numbers CC did last year, but I’m referring to innings pitched.  Sabathia consistently went deep into the game, and made several starts on three days’ rest.  Bedard won’t do either of those things.  He has one, count em, one complete game in his entire career.  He’s generally a six inning pitcher, which is almost exactly what he’s averaged per start this season.  Not that that’s bad, but coupled with his injury history, it lowers his price to trade suitors.

3) Here’s the big one: he’s a free agent at the end of this year.  Therefore, it would be another rental situation.  The Brewers gave up a top 100 prospect in Matt LaPorta for a rental last year, but that was for a Hall of Fame-talent pitcher.  There’s no way they’d give up Gamel or Escobar to rent Bedard, nor would the Mariners expect them to.

A Mariners-Brewers trade is also logical because Jack Z is Seattle’s GM now, and he’s obviously extremely familiar with the Brewers’ system.  I’m sure there’s plenty of players in Milwaukee’s system that he’d love to add.

If Bedard doesn’t work out, there are some lesser pitchers who could be available.  Another free agent-to-be the Mariners have is Jarrod Washburn, who is quietly having his best season in years.  His stuff isn’t as good as Bedard’s, but he’s more durable and therefore less of a risk.  He actually probably wouldn’t even be that much cheaper than Bedard, and I’d be just about as pleased to get him.

Same goes for Randy Johnson.  The Brewers could get him without giving up Gamel or Escobar, but as I mentioned with Matt Cain, the Giants won’t trade him as long as they’re playing fairly well.

Another decent-yet-unexciting pickup could be our old friend Doug Davis.  He’s another guy in a contract year.

Any of these players I mentioned are better than most of the guys in the Brewers’ starting rotation right now.  The ideal pickup would be someone who’s better than everyone besides Gallardo, but there just aren’t many fits for reasons discussed above.  Regardless, the Brewers should be able to right the ship if they can add a solid pitcher.  If Manny Parra can get his head on straight as well, they’d be back in good shape.

Oh, and I’m still giving this the What in tarnation?!@ category even though it’s not in the title because I discussed why it wasn’t getting the What in tarnation?!@ category.  Wrap your mind around that one.

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Posted in 2009 Hot Stove, Milwaukee Brewers 2009, What in tarnation?!@

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What in Tarnation is wrong with JJ Hardy?

Posted on June 19, 2009 by | 3 Comments

Posted by Dan

First off, let’s make it 3 in a row for the word “Tarnation.” I think we may need a new tag. Also, props to wordpress and its security.  I, for whatever reason, couldn’t remember my password after posting just a few days ago, and when I asked for a new one, I received an e-mail.  Let’s just say the new password was about 10-digits long, made no sense, and included an ampersand and two parentheses.

The Crew is currently under a rain delay in Detroit.  Braden Looper is/was unraveling by allowing 4 runs in the 4th inning (7 ER through 3 2/3).  The game so far has featured 2 home runs which were initially ruled incorrectly (Miguel Cabrera HR ruled in play, and a Dusty Ryan HR which clearly hit the top of the wall and stayed in).  Upon review, both HRs were overturned and correctly ruled.  Nevertheless, Davey doesn’t like instant replay. He says the 4 umpires will get together and make a correct call on their own, despite them twice failing to do so, presumably right in front of his face in the past 20 minutes.  Anyways, onto the topic of this post.  So, what is J.J. Hardy’s freakin problem?

I mean, he’s 0-2 today! What is wrong with him? Ok. He also has a svelte .546 OPS over the past calender month and a .645 OPS for the season.  Well, good new Brewer fans, I’m here to tell you it’s going to be ok.  J.J.  Hardy is the streakiest hitter ever. He has a streakiness quotient of 2.1 over his career. Actually, as far as I can tell, there is no stat for streakiness, so let’s look at some real stats:

In 2007, Hardy posted a season long .786 OPS.  Yet, on a month by month basis, he OPSed the following: .869 .961 .685 .558. .821 .744

In 2008, Hardy posted a season long .821 OPS. Monthly it broke down like this: .628 .701 .969 1.031 .873 .751

This year, he’s gone .509 .888 .482

I’m not concerned. He has 6 months out of 12 (2007/2008 as well as all 3 this year) where he has OPSed either 100 points above or below his season long OPS.  Hardy has pretty clearly defined what he is at this point in his career and I’d bet my bottom dollar (whatever than means) that when the dust settles in October, Hardy possesses a .760-.830 OPS and is a very valuable player.  His line drive percentage of 15.0% is right in line with the past two years (15.5% in 2008, and 17.2% in 2007) which doesn’t indicate a decrease in skill or worsening approach.  Only 8.1% of his fly balls are going for HR’s which is well below his number the past two years (14.1% and 12.5%).  His K:BB ratio is almost unchanged — it’s actually slightly better.  After being 1.88 and 1.82 the past two years, it stands at 1.56 this year.  This implies he’s not up there hacking away willy nilly.  The main culprit is going to be that low HR/FB rate, as well as a ridiculous .236 BABIP.  Sooner or later, the line drives will fall in, the fly balls will start leaving, and we’ll start wondering something else.  Suggestions include: “What in tarnation is Ken Macha thinking not pinch hitting for Jason Kendall late in close games”, or “What in tarnation can I, as a Brewer fan, do to bring Corey Hart circa 2007 back?

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Posted in Uncategorized, What in tarnation?!@

What in tarnation is wrong with Yovani Gallardo?

Posted on June 17, 2009 by | 1 Comment

Posted by Steve

Alright, so Yo’s overall numbers this season are still very good.  This title is admittedly an overstatement, but I just wanted to see how many times in a row we can conceivably incorporate the word “tarnation” into a post title.  Still, the last handful of starts, we’ve seen who I so creatively refer to as “Bad Yo.”

His strikeout rate is still very good, but his walks are higher than I’d like to see.  I won’t use any 2008 numbers because he hardly pitched last year, but over 110 innings in 2007 he averaged 3.24 walks per nine innings pitched.  This year, he’s at 4.12 BB/9.

The walk rate is just one byproduct of his inability to pitch efficiently as of late.  He hasn’t been “struggling” all season, but it’s been over a month since he’s been on top of his game.  His first six starts of the season, he averaged 6.94 innings per start, 15.3 pitches per inning and 2.6 BB/9.  Those are very good numbers.

Lately, those peripheral numbers have gotten much worse.  His last seven games, he’s averaged 5.9 innings per start, 18.1 pitches per inning and 5.66 BB/9.  Those numbers are downright bad.

For an average pitcher, those numbers would result in a big jump in ERA.  Luckily for Yo, some combination of luck and skill has kept that from happening (to this point).  Despite getting into many more jams (mainly from walks), he has frequently pitched his way out of them–largely by using the strikeout.  Yesterday’s outing was a microcosm of the problem I’m referring to.  He threw a whopping 116 pitches over five innings, allowing six walks over that time.  Gross.  It’s amazing that he only allowed two runs, but when you see he also struck out eight hitters, you can understand how he’s bailed himself out with the punchout.

Short term, this isn’t the worst thing in the world, because the only stat that matters to the Brewers is how many runs he allows.  Long term, this needs to get better.

For one, he’s not going to pitch out of jams forever.  If he keeps walking guys at this rate, he’s eventually going to run into some ugly innings in which he gets tagged for three or more runs.  Secondly, pitching so inefficiently is preventing him from going deep into games.  A team looks to its best starter to pitch deeper into games and save the bullpen.  Think Ben Sheets, who averaged 6.4 innings per start and 15.4 pitches per inning all of last season.

The good news is that Yo is very aware that he hasn’t been efficient.  Here’s his quote from today’s JS game story:

“The last couple of starts, I’ve had to work very hard,” Gallardo said. “I’d make a good pitch and they would foul it off. The next thing I know, I have five or six pitches to every hitter.

“Every starter, we want to go nine innings. These games are going to happen. I had to fight through it.”

I expect his walk rate to settle back down, but hopefully that happens soon.  Yo is the only special starting pitcher the Brewers have (which hopefully won’t be the case in a month–stay tuned for my trade target post OMG TEASER), so they need him at his best.

In summation:

Bad Yo=Bad

Regular Yo=Good

We want Regular Yo back.

One final thing.  You may have noticed the new layout.  I finally got rid of the two-line widow (orphan?) title at the top.  I’m not sure how I feel about it.  I used to hate the way the headline looked, but it was there so long that it kind of grew on me.  We were probably the only blog with such an embarrassing-looking title.  I could always go back to the old layout, so feel free to leave any feedback.

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Posted in Milwaukee Brewers 2009, What in tarnation?!@

Tagged

What in Tarnation is wrong with Manny Parra?

Posted on June 14, 2009 by | 4 Comments

Posted by Dan

The Brewers sent Manny Parra down to Nashville after yesterday’s debacle, calling up lefty Chris Narveson to take his place. You would have a hard time finding a more disappointing performance this year than that of ole Manny. Instead of a breakout year, the Crew so far hasn’t even really gotten serviceable numbers from Parra. After yesterday, his ERA ballooned to 7.52 with a tidy 1.92 WHIP. It’s easy to forget the stretch of 5 starts at the end of April/beginning of May in which he turned 4 quality starts out of 5, with the only non QS being a 5 inning, 1 run outing.  Since then however, the wheels have come off: 21.1 IP, 32 ER(!!), 16 K:16 BB.  Clearly, by being able to merely turn on your computer, and access the internet you are able to see the problem for Parra is his walk rate: it currently is at 5.1 BB/9.  The problem seems somewhat bizarre as Parra has a career minor league walk rate of 2.5, yet that number has grown to 4.5  over his MLB career.

Long term this horrible stretch is just a hiccup, and sending him down to Nashville will hopefully allow him to recover his lost control so he contribute to the Crew later this year.  I’ll also add that Parra has been rather unlucky this year, with a strand rate of only 60.5%, which is 10% lower than his career norm. His FIP of 5.12 is nearly 2.5 runs lower than his actual ERA which signifies he’s pitched better than his 8 ERA indicates (it must be hard to pitch bad enough to warrant an 8 ERA). Hopefully he fixes whatever is causing his problems throwing strikes, and is back in a month.

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Posted in Milwaukee Brewers 2009, What in tarnation?!@

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Brewers Draft 2009

Posted on June 10, 2009 by | 2 Comments

Posted by Steve

Despite not getting as many picks as they hoped for, the Brewers still have several early picks.  They have six picks in the first three rounds this year, which was a great opportunity to collect some talent.  It’s quite a task for scouting director Bruce Seid in his first draft since replacing Jack Zduriencik.

First Round, 26 Overall: Eric Arnett, RHP, Indiana University

MLB.com Scouting Report

Source: Heraldtimesonline.com

Source: Heraldtimesonline.com

The last few years, some posters at brewerfan have pegged the Brewers’ first overall selection.  Their draft gurus called for Brett Lawrie last year at 16, and sure enough he was the pick.  At pick number 26 this year, I didn’t spend much time researching to guess who the pick would be, and instead I just read about 10-15 players who people had linked to the Brewers.  I figured 26 would be too late to really project.

Yet, as I watched the first round unfold yesterday, people began to get more and more excited that right-handed pitcher Eric Arnett was falling.  So basically, without ever having seen this guy play, I was completely sucked into the hype.  By the time pick 26 rolled around, I was really hoping it would be Arnett.

Here’s what got me excited.  This is what a poster had to say about Arnett just a couple weeks ago on May 20.

I just love Arnett. In fact I think he’s on par with everybody besides Strasburg. I got the pleasure of watching him on the BTN today. He was outstanding. He’s tall, lanky, lean, but still strong. He throws downhill. Outstanding velocity with a killer slider. He’s a terrific athlete, has outstanding body control who I think will develop outstanding command. He showed really quick feet picking off a baserunner. Cal Eldred broke down his mechanics after the game and pointed out his flawless delivery. His production has been outstanding all year. He only has 1 year of college abuse, as opposed to most top college pitchers who have been rode into the ground by the time they’re drafted. 

Right now, unfortunately, I think Arnett is well out of our reach. 

Sweet deal.  The Brewers had similar things to say about him.  Bruce Seid said he was the best player available on their draft board.  He’s 6’5″, 225 pounds and throws a mid-90s fastball, a mid 80s slider and an occasional changeup that will likely be developed in pro ball.  In 108 innings at Indiana during his Junior year, he had a 2.50 ERA, 109 strikeouts and 39 walks.  He’s considered a workhorse, as he frequently pitched late into games.  He had six complete games this season.

It’s nice for the top player on the board to coincide with a need, as most of the Brewers’ impact pitching talent is in the lower levels of the minors.  Jack Z definitely preferred to draft high school pitchers in the first round, so this is a change for the Brewers.  The last time the Brewers drafted a college pitcher in the first round, it worked out pretty well for them (Ben Sheets in 1999).  As a college pitcher, Arnett is much closer to the big leagues than a high school pitcher would be.  Another plus is that he is signable; the Brewers simply won’t take a player this high if they aren’t sure they can sign him.  Doug Melvin said he expects him to be signed quickly.

Supplemental First Round, 39 Overall: OF Kentrail Davis, University of Tennessee

MLB.com Scouting Report 

 

Source: knoxnews.com

Source: knoxnews.com

Davis is a compact and powerful guy, standing 5’9″ and weighing 200 pounds.  He’s garnered comparisons to Kirby Puckett, but obviously that’s because of his body type and position.  He was a draft eligible sophomore out of Tennessee, and he played on Team USA last year as well.  The report on him is that his production this season didn’t match his talent–he hit .308/.424/.528.  The Brewers obviously like his left handed bat, and Bruce Seid said there’s a chance he could stick in centerfield (which sounds to me like he’ll end up in a corner).

The potential catch here is that he’s a Scott Boras client.  I’d be surprised if they didn’t sign him, though, because as I said the Brewers spend a lot of time researching a player’s signability (worst thing about the MLB draft by far).  Matt LaPorta was a Scott Boras client a couple years ago, and the Brewers had no trouble getting him signed.  Hopefully things go similarly with Davis.

Supplemental First Round, 47 Overall: Kyle Heckathorn, RHP, Kennesaw State University

MLB.com Scouting Report

Wow, two college pitchers before the second round!  Heckathorn, like Arnett, is another huge righty–6’6″, 240 pounds.  He’s a power pitcher with a mid-to-upper 90s fastball and a slider in the upper 80s.  That right there makes him sound more intriguing than Arnett, but it didn’t translate into as much success as Arnett.  Heckathorn has outstanding stuff, but his numbers weren’t as good as they probably should have been.  In 86.1 innings, Heckathorn had a 3.44 ERA, 98 strikeouts, 27 walks and 85 hits allowed.  The most surprising part to me is the 85 hits.  With that kind of stuff, he should be dominating hitters rather than giving up a hit an inning.  

Many scouts sound like they think Heckathorn will end up as a power reliever, but the Brewers plan on using him as a starter and working on honing his command.

Incidentally, it was quite a day for Kennesaw State.  Heckathorn’s teammate Chad Jenkins, another starting pitcher, was drafted 20th overall by Toronto.

Second Round, 73 Overall: Max Walla, OF, Albuquerque (High School)

MLB.com Scouting Report

Before I get into the baseball stuff, I have to say that this pick caught my eye due to his reaction.  He sounds like a pretty cool kid.  Check out how excited he is in this video.  He made similar comments to Baseball America.  Aside from the awesome dogpiling quote, it impressed me that he was already this knowledgeable of the Brewers: “I really like their organization. I think six of their nine starters in the major leagues right now have come up through their organization. They have a great organization, they treat their players well and I’m very excited.”

Anyway, on to the baseball part.  Walla is supposed to be a pure hitter.  Doug Melvin mentioned in his interview last night that Walla caught his eye during his workout with his power.  Walla profiles as a middle-of-the-order type slugger.  He doesn’t have speed and will be relegated to a corner outfield spot, but he has a strong throwing arm that should play well from the outfield (hit 90 mph pitching for his high school team).  He’s 5’11″ and 195 pounds, so it’s another compact lefty bat.  I like the fact that the Brewers got a couple left-handed hitters early.  

The common theme in the first four picks is power.  The Brewers got two power pitchers and two power hitters.

Second Round, 74 Overall: Cameron Garfield, C, California (High School)

MLB.com Scouting Report

With this pick the Brewers switched their focus to defense.  Garfield isn’t considered a great hitter at this point, but his defense behind the plate has drawn rave reviews.  And it isn’t as though he can’t hit at all; a quick internet search reveals that scouts think he has potential to develop some pop.

Other Early Picks

Round Three, 105 Overall: Josh Prince, SS, Tulane

Source: espn.com

Source: espn.com

Shortstop with good range, a .467 OBP and and incredible 48 stolen bases this year.  He has four tools right now, with some room to possibly develop a fifth, which is power.

Round 4: Brooks Hall, RHP, High School

Another tall right-hander with plenty of room to fill out.  6’5″, 195 pounds.  Not that it means anything as far as pro ball is concerned, but Hall threw a perfect game this season in a high school game.

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Happy Draft Day!

Posted on June 9, 2009 by | Leave a comment

Posted by Steve

With the draft moving to prime time, I actually won’t be able to blog during the draft because I’ll be working.  The last few years I’ve managed to follow the draft during the day.  I believe the first live broadcast of the draft was a couple years ago when the Brewers selected Matt LaPorta seventh overall and shocked the pundits.  That one worked out well enough for them.

Still, as cool as it is that the draft has increased in popularity the last couple years, I still think I prefer the system of a few years ago.  The only way to follow the draft was online, and it took place on a Tuesday afternoon.  You literally heard teams’ conference calls in to the commissioner’s office to announce their pick.  It was pretty sweet hearing Tommy Lasorda blabbering about how he knew the kid’s father as he announced the Dodgers’ pick via conference call.  It felt much cooler and more… underground, I guess, than the NFL or NBA drafts that have been popular for years.  Those days are gone though, and I suppose I shouldn’t complain because higher exposure is better for the game.

I’m also looking forward to watching it at work with fans of all different teams.  Many of the guys at work are really into the draft–much, much more than I am.  I guarantee there will be people criticizing picks as soon as they are made, and I generally don’t know enough about draftees to criticize picks as soon as they’re made.

Despite not picking until number 26 and getting seriously screwed out of some high picks with the CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets debacles, the Brewers still own five of the top 74 selections.  They have a good opportunity to re-stock the farm system with some impact prospects.  It will be interesting to see how Bruce Seid does in his first draft as scouting director.

I’m sure I’ll do a rundown of the Brewers’ top picks tonight or tomorrow, but until then, here’s an interesting link.  SI ranks MLB teams in the draft over the last ten years.  The Brewers are exactly where you’d want them to be, which is in the number one spot.  Sigh.  I miss Jack Z already.

I take issue with a couple things, such as Manny Parra being the big steal.  It’s true Parra was a 42nd round pick, but he was a draft and follow pick and was given first round money by the time he was signed.  A better pick for their “steal” would have been Corey Hart, who was an 11th round pick.

I also don’t get the Mike Jones selection as their bust.  Certainly Jones was pretty much a bust, but he’s still pitching in AA and actually may still have a shot to reach the big leagues at some point.  Dave Krynzel, the first round pick in 2000, would have been a better choice, as he’s been out of baseball for a few years.

Finally, no mention of Ben Sheets?  He was their first rounder in 1999, and no player the Brewers have drafted since has done as much at the big league level to this point as Sheets.

As far as team rankings go, it’s fair to point out that the Brewers may only be in that number one spot because they picked high in the draft for so many years.  That’s certainly true, but I’d argue that picking high doesn’t guarantee anything.  Teams like Pittsburgh, Kansas City and Baltimore picked high for years as well, yet none of them are in the top ten.  No matter how you look at it, the crop of players the Brewers have drafted in the last decade is very impressive.

This is why, in my opinion, it’s so much more rewarding to be a Brewer fan than a fan of a team like the Yankees, Cubs, Angels, etc who just buy top players in free agency.  It’s much more fun to root for someone who came up in your team’s system than a veteran you just signed from another team, or at least it is in my opinion.  Not to mention, it’s much more cost-effective and it’s really the only way the Brewers can compete.  The draft has been by far the number one reason for the Brewers’ success the last couple seasons, and things will have to continue that way if they are going to have success in the future.

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Posted in MLB Draft

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June Call-ups

Posted on June 7, 2009 by | Leave a comment

Posted by Steve

I’m very much looking forward to today’s game, even though I’m guessing the Brewers won’t win.  That’s because the Crew will be facing Tommy Hanson, one of the best pitching prospects in the game.  His numbers in AAA this year are downright stupid.  It’s like a video game: 66.1 innings, 1.49 ERA, 17 walks, 40 hits, 90 (!!!) strikeouts.

I was talking with a friend the other day, and we were discussing how the end of May/June has become the time for top prospects to come to the big leagues over the past couple years.  There are certain evens I really look forward to in a baseball season (opening day, MLB draft, trade deadline) but the “June Call-ups” have definitely been added to my list.

I don’t have any proof of this, but it just seems to me that there have been more big names called up this year than in the past.  This is just off the top of my head, but here are some stud prospects who have debuted over the last few weeks: Matt Wieters (Orioles), Matt LaPorta (Indians), Gordon Beckham (White Sox), Mat Gamel (duh), Reid Brignac (Rays), David Price (first MLB start, anyway–Rays), Andrew McCutchen (Pirates), Rick Porcello (Tigers), Jordan Zimmerman (Nationals), Daniel Bard (Red Sox), Gerardo Parra (Diamondbacks), Fernando Martinex (Mets).

I went to an Orioles game with some guys from work.  We had planned it a few weeks in advance, and it randomly ended up being Wieters’ MLB debut.  That was pretty cool… It was definitely Wieters Mania at Camden Yards (which is a great stadium, by the by).  Wieters is Baseball America’s number one prospect.  Now today I’ll get to score the game for Hanson’s debut, so I’ve had some pretty good luck lately.  Hanson is the number four prospect according to BA.  In case you’re wondering, four Brewers make BA’s top 100: Alcides Escobar (19), Mat Gamel (34), Brett Lawrie (81) and Jeremy Jeffress (100).

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You can’t make this stuff up

Posted on June 1, 2009 by | 5 Comments

Posted by Steve

I’m officially cursed.  Or at least I have the ability to strike down anyone by simply saying “I like this player.”  Freaking Mark DiFelice is injured.

The best is that I jokingly called for this to happen after Weeks was lost for the season.  Now he’s actually hurt, and TH hints that it could be somewhat serious.  What a joke.

At least this helps explain why Julio was in a close game “protecting” a lead.  But that’s no consolation.  In fact, this might mean that Julio somehow will manage to stay on the team a little longer.  He’s overstayed his welcome more than Matt Damon in The Talented Mr. Ripley (just saw that recently… weird movie).

I’d like to officially announce that I really don’t like Ryan Braun, Yovani Gallardo, Prince Fielder or J.J. Hardy at all.  In fact, I don’t even like the Brewers.

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Posted in Milwaukee Brewers 2009

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