Who will be the first guy promoted?

[DrWood]

because he is abusing his league, not to fill a need for another team.
and will fermaint get demoted again?

[pogokat]

a sequence of events that leads darren ford to huntsville and alcides escobar to nashville seems likely at some point...however, other than laporta and gillespie, we're young at most levels so there's really no reason to bump anyone up...

 

i've never seen much necessity to move AA players to AAA, so i'm fine with laporta playing there all year...

[twobrewers]

I doubt there will be too much movement this year. Most guys are pretty well placed.

 

Obviously, there will be some movement - but I wouldn't say it will be from "abusing [h]is league".

[DrWood]

If a guy is hitting .350 or slugging .600 or striking out 12/9 or an ERA < 1.5, he needs better competition. It also seems to have been the brewers SOP to promote to AAA rather than straight from AA to milwaukee.

[battlekow]

Assuming he does pitch well, how many good starts before Braddock gets bumped to Brevard?

[twobrewers]

If a guy is hitting .350 or slugging .600 or striking out 12/9 or an ERA < 1.5, he needs better competition.

The problem is he needs somewhere to go.

 

I think Taylor Green could very well fit that criteria. But he isn't going to AA, because Gamel is playing 3B. And they aren't going to bump Gamel up a level - because he still needs time at AA working on his defense. (Not to mention that Branyan is at AAA0

[pogokat]

it's only been like 60 ab's for Taylor...as awesome as he's been, a 2 for 20 streak would kill his stats..

 

if you are promoting just based on statistics, then you've got to wait on sample size a little more...

 

if you are promoting based on other criteria, them hings may change...that said, the brewers don't promote many guys midd year...and they don't even ddo that until closer to the all-star break..

[colbyjack]

I think Darren Ford, Lorenzo Cain and Brent Brewer are the most likely candidates for the simple fact that they have repeated the same level they ended at last year. I think all three are likely bump-ups by midseason the latest as long as they perform well.

 

Zach Braddock may not be at WV for too long.

[DrWood]

it's only been like 60 ab's for Taylor...as awesome as he's been, a 2 for 20 streak would kill his stats..

 

if you are promoting just based on statistics, then you've got to wait on sample size a little more...

 

if you are promoting based on other criteria, them hings may change...that said, the brewers don't promote many guys midd year...and they don't even ddo that until closer to the all-star break..

I thought they regularly promote guys at midyear, but typically wait until all-star teams are picked. brantley, ford, parra, gallardo...all got promoted last year.

 

[JJHardy7]

Fermaint isn't going to get demoted at this point. Too few at bats. We'll see where he's at in a month or so. I think Luis Pena gets promoted to Milwaukee at some point this year and hopefully because of how he's pitching and not how the Milwaukee bullpen is pitching.

[battlekow]

If Eric Farris hits well at WV, does he get bumped to Brevard at midseason too? Seemed like some people thought he'd start the season in Brevard anyway.

[pogokat]

if fermaint can't hit this year. they'll just bench him...there's little point in demoting him again...

 

and yes, the crrew usually promotes a few guys at the all-star break but never more than 2-3 per team...

[BoKnowsBall]

Mike Cameron

[Never Outhustled]

Matt Laporta has been fast tracked so far, why stop now. He is starting to abuse the Southern League. What an awesome draft pick.

[igor67]

He started off with the sub .300 batting average, so I didn't realize how well he was hitting until a few days ago and then LaPorta got really hot. An OPS over 1.000 in Huntsville, no one does that Corey won his MVP award with an OPS in the .800's! Maybe they really want him to work on defense, but that OPS in that league is going to result in Bonds like treatment pretty fast.

[DrWood]

aguillar and Brantley are finding little opposition in their leagues. Aguillar has been closing at Brevard, while Huntsville uses a closer-by-committee (with good results); I could see him getting promoted. There is no room in Nashville for Brantley or LaPorta, but there could be if one of the major league veterans moves off.

Taylor Green could get moved if dominoes fall and gamel gets promoted (again, at the loss of a veteran in Nashville).

[twobrewers]

I don't really see any reason for them to fast track Brantley.

Until he develops some power, his effectiveness at the MLB level would be pretty limited. (MLB pitchers aren't going to walk him)

LaPorta is really making a case. Braun's OPS at Hunstville was .956. But again, there are plenty of outfielders in AAA.

[TheCrew07]

Brantley doesn't get much love because he walks too much and doesn't have much power, but I see him as a great lead off option, and always have. I still think his position will end up being in CF where his lack of power will not impact the team. If I could choose between Brantely, Iribarren, or Gwynn as the CF of the future, I take Brantley hands down with Iribarren on the bench. People keeping posting about Gwynn's upside, but I think he is what he is at this point.

[DrWood]

They HAVE been fast-tracking Brantley. He was called up to Huntsville last year, while the older Ford was promoted to Brevard. He'll walk every 10 AB, at least, even before he develops any power (which I think he will), though you don't have to walk much if you are hitting .320 in the majors.

[homer]

I have been 'worried' about Brantley's lack of power but if you look at a guy like Tony Gwynn Sr. he didn't slug over .500 until he was 27 years old. Granted, he only played about 155 games in the minors, but he is a guy that developed SLG later on in life.

[pogokat]

Tony gwynn is not a fair comp at all...brantley struggles to slug .400---projecting .500 is beyond wishful thinking...

[DrWood]

Tony gwynn is not a fair comp at all...brantley struggles to slug .400---projecting .500 is beyond wishful thinking...

I don't think so, though it would probably be in a career year. If he can keep hitting well over .300. 45 doubles, 10 triples, and 15 HR would about do it, wouldn't it? But, he's not going to be a .900 OPS guy. If he is over an .800 OPS guy, that's a fine CF. If he is a .850 OPS guy with .400 OBP, that plays pretty well everywhere except 1b, though not terrible there.

 

 

[pogokat]

you see, i think that's overly optimistic for a guy that's only hit 40 doubles and 2 home runs in his career...in about 1000 ab's...

 

i guess i just don't think he's gonna be that guy...i think he's much more unique than that...i still like the daric barton comp i mentioned the other day...he could feasably hit 5 homers a year and 30 doubles...that puts him close to barton...a .300/.400/.400 line would work really well...

[battlekow]

Sounds like Jason Kendall in his post-injury prime.

[Gopher74]

Tony gwynn is not a fair comp at all...brantley struggles to slug .400---projecting .500 is beyond wishful thinking...

I didn't see anyone compare Brantley to Gwynn, only that he was a player who developed his slugging later on, and so to could Brantley, a pretty basic comment when projecting minor leaguers.