Brent Brewer

[agent39]

When all is said and done this is just a fan site where people toss around ideas...

 

I think this is the key point here. I know agent39 is passionate about what he does and the players he represents, and he's taken his shots at me when I have suggested that Brewer's likely position down the road could very well be centerfield. I agree with the overlying idea that there is no reason to move him anywhere else at this point in time, but really if we didn't have things like this to talk and disagree about what fun would this forum be?

 

Just a comment on the PG scouting aspect, something I have talked to agent39 about on the side, I will say that Perfect Game employs several full-time regional scouts across the country that provides the thousands of scouting reports of which the individual player profiles are built, and these scouts could just as easily be working for big-league teams, and in several instances either have in the past or have moved on to do so. So to add the comment "because if writers could scout or play they would be scouts or they would play" is about as fair as saying that Brent Brewer has no business playing SS.

I dont like scouwting services because they are a business. From my understanding dont they only cover their own events?? There are some very smart people that work at PG (patrick) and some very smart people at baseball america (I think). Im sure like any field there are a ton of idiots too. PG is a great resource to me as an agent and im sure its a great read for fans. All im saying as an agent, if Iwere to depend on the reports PG has to run my business I would be shut down within a year. You have to do your own talent analysis or you're a dead man as an agent.

 

Thats not even my point here. Obviously (I hope) Im not an idiot. Brewer profiles great in CF and Im not denying that at all. The only thing I am saying is the Brewers have ZERO motivation to move him there based on what they paid Brent to play ss and the org. depth in the system. Could that change ever? Sure. However I do not see that happening for a while.

 

And of course Im totally biased towards Brent but from a practical sense if a KID A has a chance to play SS in the bigs, wouldnt you want to keep him there as long as possible until he fails completely? I dont consider struggling in the lower minors failing thats just me. The Brewers will keep brent at SS until there is a reason to move him and right now from what I know there isnt a reason to move him. It's not like he's going to play CF with Haydel in WV or Ford in Brevard so again where are they going to play him??

 

 

PS. Patrick is very awesome and is very much the man.

[colbyjack]

Thats not even my point here. Obviously (I hope) Im not an idiot. Brewer profiles great in CF and Im not denying that at all. The only thing I am saying is the Brewers have ZERO motivation to move him there based on what they paid Brent to play ss and the org. depth in the system. Could that change ever? Sure. However I do not see that happening for a while.

 

I agree 100%. It's way too early in the season, and in Brent's career, to think about a position change at this point in time. The Brewers obviously believe in him as a SS and are committed to developing him as one, and while I'm not 100% comfortable with the status of CFs in the organization, there are enough from top to bottom that would make a move to the OF particularly difficult for Brewer. I think some people that follow the Brewers from top to bottom are a little snake-bit by the number of players (Braun and Weeks being the most notable) that have struggled at their past and/or present positions, which IMO makes those same people more anxious to follow more well-rounded players in the minors, and also increases the desire to see players at the positions that suit their skills the best. We knew, or at least I knew, that Brewer would have his fair share of growing pains at SS, and hopefully he does steadily improve. As SoCal and others have pointed out, there are plenty of examples of young players, particularly at SS, struggling at the position early in their careers only to improve to Gold Glove status at the big-league level (I remember when Bill Hall was named the Midwest League's best defensive SS, which was surprising given the number of errors he had).

 

I often talk to coaches and scouts about how important it is for young players to have 1,000-2,000 ABs while taking 1,000-2,000 ground balls over the course of their minor league career before they come close to being a finished, big-league player, which speaks to the development aspect of the game that has been mentioned.

 

Just to sum up the Perfect Game thing as quickly as I can, PG does cover other events (the Area Code Games and the East Coast Pro come to mind), as well as keeping tabs on the college level. They went into business to help promote players, giving them an opportunity to showcase their skills with other top players in their region (or nationally) in front of a strong contingent of scouts, recruiters and even agents. These events help everyone involved, so they originally got into business to be more than just a scouting service, and I've never seen them downplay a player's ability because they didn't participate at one of their events (and really, few haven't been a part of a PG event).

 

In that regard they're a lot different that Baseball American, which went into business as a subscription publication, and while they have vast contacts and have even graduated a few of their writers to big-league teams as area scouts, they don't really deal with the game of baseball on the field level like PG does, they just report what they see and hear. I'm not saying one is better or worse (ok, maybe I am just a little bit), I'm just stating that they do have different origins and overall approaches and effects to the game of baseball.

 

And I don't expect anyone to take any of the scouting reports as gospel, but as noted, it is an incredibly valuable resource to players, scouts, college recruiters, agents and even fans to gather a better idea as to what a player is all about.

 

And thanks for calling me awesome http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif.

[DrWood]

I haven't waded into this before now because I haven't seen Brewer play. If I had seen him play numerous times, I think I could come to a pretty good conclusion concerning his chances to make the grade at SS. If I can do that, then scouts and coaches can certainly do that too. Brent needs to start hitting or he will be spending a third year in WV, or becoming a non-prospect.

[Gopher74]

I dont like scouwting services because they are a business.

 

So is being an agent. It's all a business. I don't understand why that means that they wouldn't be accurate however. In any event, I don't think anyone's relying solely on any scouting reports.

 

All im saying as an agent, if Iwere to depend on the reports PG has to run my business I would be shut down within a year. You have to do your own talent analysis or you're a dead man as an agent.

 

Right, but we're not agents. We're just fans talking about how some of our prospects may shake out over the long haul. Nothing more, nothing less.

Thats not even my point here. Obviously (I hope) Im not an idiot. Brewer profiles great in CF and Im not denying that at all. The only thing I am saying is the Brewers have ZERO motivation to move him there based on what they paid Brent to play ss and the org. depth in the system.

No...they may not want to move him, but their motivation may be out of necessity. They may be forced to move him if he doesn't improve dramatically at short stop. And I think you've got the impression that we're worried about stats on here. No, we're not. At least I'm not. But stats do tell us something. If a guy has an error once ever 3 games at the most important defensive position in front of the plate, that's not a real encouraging sign, that's all.

 

And of course Im totally biased towards Brent but from a practical sense if a KID A has a chance to play SS in the bigs, wouldnt you want to keep him there as long as possible until he fails completely?

I don't think we're saying they should move him right now, we're simply talking about the chances he'll end up sticking at short for the duration.

It's not like he's going to play CF with Haydel in WV or Ford in Brevard so again where are they going to play him??

Why wouldn't he? I think we can all agree he's a better looking prospect by a fairly substantial margin than those two.

The Brewers wouldn't have held Justin Upton back because they had Tony Gwynn in their minor league system at the same level. Just because someone currently plays the position doesn't mean that another player can't be moved there.

[Gopher74]

Brantley is a viable CF, Cain is a viable CF and I really think you are selling Darren Ford short. At the end of the season I believe Darren will be a top 10 prospect in the system. He just makes more things happen on the diamond than the other guys.

Agent, I'm just curious, but do you represent those players as well?

 

And I think they're all nice prospects. Cain is the guy the Brewers and scouts seem to think can develop into a real five tool player, but I also think as he fills out he's more likely going to be a corner OF'er.

Brantley's not a CF'er in the minors, so I think to say he's a viable big league CF'er is a bit of a stretch.

And Darren Ford's obviously got some very impressive skills, and I hope you're right on that front.

 

It'd be fantastic to get a real viable leadoff option up to the big leagues, especially since I think that Rickie could be a better number 2-3-4-5 hitter than leadoff(I think it take so much of his aggressiveness away).

 

I do have to say that it's a little bit odd that in the same post you rail against scouting reports and prospect rankings, you say that by the end of the year Ford will rank as one of their top 10.

[Mass Haas]

Gopher74 wrote:

 

Brantley is a viable CF, Cain is a viable CF and I really think you are selling Darren Ford short. At the end of the season I believe Darren will be a top 10 prospect in the system. He just makes more things happen on the diamond than the other guys.

 

Agent, I'm just curious, but do you represent those players as well?

 

Agent39's Brewer client list as of December, according to his own post:

 

Luis Pena

Michael Brantley

Lorenzo Cain

Darren Ford

Taylor Green

Brent Brewer

Jimmy Mojica

Stephen Chapman

Nick Tyson

Cam Robulack

Chris Dennis

[agent39]

Brantley is a viable CF, Cain is a viable CF and I really think you are selling Darren Ford short. At the end of the season I believe Darren will be a top 10 prospect in the system. He just makes more things happen on the diamond than the other guys.

Agent, I'm just curious, but do you represent those players as well?

 

And I think they're all nice prospects. Cain is the guy the Brewers and scouts seem to think can develop into a real five tool player, but I also think as he fills out he's more likely going to be a corner OF'er.

Brantley's not a CF'er in the minors, so I think to say he's a viable big league CF'er is a bit of a stretch.

And Darren Ford's obviously got some very impressive skills, and I hope you're right on that front.

 

It'd be fantastic to get a real viable leadoff option up to the big leagues, especially since I think that Rickie could be a better number 2-3-4-5 hitter than leadoff(I think it take so much of his aggressiveness away).

 

I do have to say that it's a little bit odd that in the same post you rail against scouting reports and prospect rankings, you say that by the end of the year Ford will rank as one of their top 10.

 

I was not, I repeat not refering to anything having to do with the media. Dont you think the team has a list of their own prospects http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

 

How is Brantley not being a CF in the minors any different than Brewer not being a CF in the minors? Brantley profiles much better in CF.

[paul253]

Well that makes sense. I can't blame you, though. Your job is to do whats best for your clients. But when you are worried about your player being blocked, only to find out he'd be blocked by more of your players, your arguments kind of fall by the wayside. Especially when you say stuff like how you can't get an impartial opinion from a scout because its a business or stuff like "for whatever its worth i think i know what i am talking about", an obvious reference to your apparent inside knowledge, yet you don't share any of that knowledge. I'll be the first to admit, I have never seen Brewer play. All I have to go on is his defensive statistics, yet with that many errors in such an important position i don't think its unfair to wonder outloud how long he should play there.

 

How is Brantley not being a CF in the minors any different than Brewer not being a CF in the minors? Brantley profiles much better in CF.

 

That's fine, but how come when someone says Brewer profiles more as a centerfielder than as a shortstop, you jump all over them? Is it ok to say it about Brantley because he is one of your guys?

[bullox]

Dont you think the team has a list of their own prospects

Condescension does not go over well here.

 

[agent39]

Dont you think the team has a list of their own prospects

Condescension does not go over well here.

 

It was definately not in a condecending tone. Hence the smiley face you didnt quote.

[strawbossisevil]

I wonder if he would profile well as a 2nd baseman. He seems to be a pretty athletic player from all accounts, and in a few short years we may need a 2nd baseman if Weeks moves on.

 

Escobar already seems to have his hands on the SS position once J.J. moves on, and we have plenty of options in the OF currently, but with the Hurricane's recent move to CF, we have very little depth at 2nd.

 

I wonder if he would benefit from the shorter throws too, since he seems to have an issue with throwing errors.

[jjfanec]

I think Hardy has good potential to stay and he may move to 2nd if Escobar makes his way to the bigs

[Gopher74]

I was not, I repeat not refering to anything having to do with the media. Dont you think the team has a list of their own prospects http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

 

How is Brantley not being a CF in the minors any different than Brewer not being a CF in the minors? Brantley profiles much better in CF.

I don't think that's even close to the same thing.

 

The very obvious reason being SS is a more important position than CF, so clearly you're going to keep a guy there until he proves he can't handle it. You don't take a guy who's going to be a big league CF'er and play him at 1st base and LF and RF very often.

 

[Gopher74]

I wonder if he would profile well as a 2nd baseman. He seems to be a pretty athletic player from all accounts, and in a few short years we may need a 2nd baseman if Weeks moves on.

 

Escobar already seems to have his hands on the SS position once J.J. moves on, and we have plenty of options in the OF currently, but with the Hurricane's recent move to CF, we have very little depth at 2nd.

 

I wonder if he would benefit from the shorter throws too, since he seems to have an issue with throwing errors.

I don't know how much you would gain by moving him to 2nd base. If he's good enough to handle 2nd, you'd probably just keep him at Short because his strong arm and great range is what makes him a great IF prospect. If you move him to 2nd, you're taking that away, and you've still likely got a player who's got trouble making the routine plays.

 

It makes sense, in theory, but you're either wasting what would make him a good IF'er, or dealing with the same issues.

 

In that same breath, I do find it a bit surprising that Rickie never saw any time at shortstop in his college career. He seems to have all the physical attributes to be a fine defensive Shortstop.

 

[nodakfan17]

Does anyone have any insight as to why Brent Brewer was recently promoted to Brevard County? I noticed that he was only batting .213 in West Virginia.

[pogokat]

would guess the brewers always intended to promote brent at this time

[Never Outhustled]

My guess is the Brewers thought Brewer was pressing, trying to do too much because he was disappointed about being back at WV. Whatever the reason, it looks like it was a wise move. Brewer is 4-10 with 3 walks and just 1 K and 0 errors with BC.

[bullox]

Let's try to watch more than 13 PAs before deciding whether or not it was a good decision. I'm not saying it was or it wasn't a good decision, I'm saying it is way too early to tell either way.