2010 thus far

[DHonks]

I've followed the minors leagues since the late 90's when the Journal Sentinel would give once a week updates on the top statistical minor leaguers. This season has had some huge disappointments, as Stetter has had a rough go of it (after seemingly having no chance of seeing the minors), Anundsen has barely toed the rubber, Chad Robinson still isn't dominating, Cody Adams and Seth Lintz are still toiling, and Eric Arnett has been a huge flop. However, have we ever had this many breakout years in one season? When you factor in the guys who aren't breaking out, but simply continuing their progression (like Rivas), this has to be a huge success. Next year our AAA and AA teams will begin being flooded with talent, especially on the mound. Our A ball teams are all ready full of exciting pitchers, while Wisconsin in particular has a fun lineup to follow. It's been a real treat following the link report, as it seems each day we've had 2-3 potential big leaguers on the hill. Throw in the hugely successful seasons for guys with previous question marks (Peralta, Rogers, Komatsu, Fiers, Lamontagne, and even Frederickson of late), and it's been fun.

 

This year, which guys have you started following that have captivated you more than in years past?

[Tedaldtada]

Well, I want to defend the 2010 draft class a little. Matt Miller, Jimmy Nelson, and Tyler Thornburg have been outstanding so far. Hunter Morris is holding his own, and it's safe to say his power is translating to pro ball. Cody Hawn has been raking. John Dishon was a steal. Neda, Rivera, and Pierce have all-star upside. Even guys like Mike Walker, Nick Shaw and Greg Holle have some potential.

 

As for the rest of the farm, I like the WI roster the best. Especially since Davis and Morris were added to the lineup. I always check out Cutter and Kentrail's lines.

 

Hecky is a breakout guy. I always have been attached to Scarpetta too. I also want to mention that I miss Rob Wooten.

[uwisfan]

I didnt pay a whole lot of attention to Axford or Cain before they hit the bigs. Some guys from A-ball: the Davises, Gennett.. Komatsu and Odorizzi.. was nice to see some positive results from Rogers & Jeffress

[igor67]

I generally agree. Just looking at the Power 50 the top 20 or so there is a lot of upward movement and excitement for those prospects. I think part of the reason it has taken so long is that a lot of the pitchers got off to slow starts.

[True CryM]

First, Mike McClendon. His numbers in relief were fantastic all year. Multiple innings, high pressure situations, strike outs and being able to do it on back to back occasions. If nothing else, he's proof positive that if you're dominating, you'll get an opportunity with the big league club. Between Axford, McClendon, Kam Loe (a sneaky great pick up by Melvin) and depending if Braddock goes back to starting, the Brewers have a strong core of young reliable relievers. It'll be nice to see money spent elsewhere.

 

Second, the Fullerton guys - Komatsu and Khris Davis. I think the reports on Komatsu's defense are a bit misleading. He's not D'Vontrey Richardson skills wise, but he will make every play - a natural outfielder. Davis has tailed off lately, but he's been great for the majority of the year. I'd like to see him get more of an opportunity in the field as he's much more athletic than Morris. Both have all the qualities you'd expect coming from a top collegiate program.

[logan82]

I generally agree. Just looking at the Power 50 the top 20 or so there is a lot of upward movement and excitement for those prospects. I think part of the reason it has taken so long is that a lot of the pitchers got off to slow starts.

I think a lot of that upward movement is deceiving. Axford and Lucroy were towards the top and they graduated off the list. I would say that nobody dropped would be more accurate.

[molitor fan]

I agree with the original premise and extend it to some of the higher level hitters like Gamel and Farris...I think Farris has rebounded from his injury with aplomb, as he is in the .290 range in batting average while skipping AA. His .700 OPS is not ideal but his 70 for 76 steal rate from last year shows that he can still be an effective major leaguer one day. And Gamel - wow. Gamel has given me some level of confidence that he can be our first baseman next year if Prince is jetisoned. Komatsu has been a revelation, Lawrie has been excellent, and is a MVP candidate of his league. I love Cam Garfield, and think that a 19 year old catcher in the midwest league hitting .255 and being steady is actually pretty special. Hawn has mashed - leading the league in rbi's by ten (about 20%) when I last checked, and I think D'Vo is going to be a big leaguer one day. Kentrail Davis is having a far superior year to Aaron Hicks of Beloit, who is regarded by some as a top 20 overall prospect (give me Kirby Puckett over Matt Kemp II any day of the week). I love our minor league system, think it is very underrated, and am very thankful to the people on this site that keep the info about them coming.

[wibadgers23]

Other than guys like Gamel, Lawrie, Gennett, and the Davises, the pitching is what has me the most excited about our minor league system right now. Rivas, Rogers, Scarpetta, Peralta, Odorizzi, Heckathorn, etc. have all had excellent seasons and all but Odorizzi will begin next season at AA or higher.

[twobrewers]

It is impossible to overstate how important Jeffress and Rogers' years have been so far.

 

Rogers took a bit of a hit with his blister. And Jeffress was lit up last night. But assuming Jeffress goes back to starting (which I believe is still the long term plan), a 2012 rotation of Yovanni, Jeffress & Rogers could be fairly exciting.

[colbyjack]

Things certainly got better as the season progressed. I remember a lot of grumpy people around these parts in April and May, and for good reason. I wish some of the teams were playing better as a whole, as you would think the T-Rats in particular would be better than what they have been, but otherwise I don't care too much about where they fall in the standings, aside from being able to follow more games in the postseason.

 

The numbers of arms, both in the bullpen and the starting rotation, creeping towards Milwaukee is impressive. I think a lot of guys have really snuck under the radar, and not only is building a strong starting staff internally important, it may be even more important for a team like Milwaukee to build a strong bullpen internally so they don't feel they have to go out and sign players like Riske, Hawkins and even Hoffman moving forward. Axford, Braddock, possibly Jeffress, Villanueva, Loe, McClendon and some combination of guys like Dillard, Hand, Lamontagne, Fiers and Kintlzer could all be contributing (cheaply) out of the bullpen in the next 1-2 years.

 

Butler seems to provide good depth at the AAA level among the starters, while Rivas, Rogers, Jeffers and possibly even Peralta (at some point) could join him next year. Peralta, Scarpetta and Heckathorn could all open next year at AA, and the current low A ball staff will be one level higher, and many think Odorizzi is a candidate to spend next year at both high-A and AA. A pitcher out of Nelson, Thornburg and Miller could even get an aggressive placement out of spring training, or at least a mid-season callup.

 

Gamel's recent surge and Lawrie's continued development are also huge. Cain and Lucroy developed to the point where they seem to be fixtures in CF and C, another huge development.

 

The biggest disappointments of the season would seem to be Schafer (injury), Salome, Arnett and Covey. The situations for Schafer and Salome has been lessened due to the development of Cain and Lucroy. And I'm not sure the Brewers should take another pitcher in the first round ever again http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif.

[igor67]

I posted in a hurry so I was somewhat vague earlier, but what I meant but upward movement was that in absolute prospect terms the vast majority of the top 20 guys rate higher now (for example on Sickel's A,B,C system) than they did to start the year. And you've had a couple of those top 20 spots open up due to graduations.

[biedergb]

This season has probably been more of downer than others, but then again the minors peaked in the mid-2000s and then took a step down and plateau'd. I think we were all hoping for a jump up again, especially with two recent drafts with multiple 1st - 2nd round picks. But for every up there has been a down (Cain/Komatsu return, while Schafer has a lost year; Odorizzi steps up, while Arnett struggles; etc). Overall though, as someone who was an early reader of the initial BF.com, this organization is light years away from where we were say 10 years ago. The first power 50 was filled with guys who were there either because they were higher draft picks, rule V pick ups or had a nice season. Now we have about 30 guys who are legit prospects based on tools and production. Our pro club is a disappointment in terms of results so far, but we have a team filled with in home developed prospects and/or quality pickups (McGehee, Axford).

 

This was a comeback/redemption year, with guys like Rogers, Cain, Jeffress headlining that list, and guys like T. Green, Dykstra. The 2009 draft failed at the top spot, but has brough the Davises, Heckathorn, Scooter and Andre Lamontagne. While the 2008 draft hit it on the head with the top 2, but stuggled with the rest on that list. This past draft is a downer, with the Covey situation. And we haven't had a good show so far in the past 1-2 year in the DR, despite reopening in the DSL. With Escobar, Rivas, Peralta at the top of our Latin investments, we have little in the lower rungs of the minors.

[DHonks]

one more name...Whatever happened to Periard? Toby and I always used to root for him, but is it still shoulder related?

[uwisfan]

This season has probably been more of downer than others, but then again the minors peaked in the mid-2000s and then took a step down and plateau'd. I think we were all hoping for a jump up again, especially with two recent drafts with multiple 1st - 2nd round picks. But for every up there has been a down (Cain/Komatsu return, while Schafer has a lost year; Odorizzi steps up, while Arnett struggles; etc). Overall though, as someone who was an early reader of the initial BF.com, this organization is light years away from where we were say 10 years ago. The first power 50 was filled with guys who were there either because they were higher draft picks, rule V pick ups or had a nice season. Now we have about 30 guys who are legit prospects based on tools and production. Our pro club is a disappointment in terms of results so far, but we have a team filled with in home developed prospects and/or quality pickups (McGehee, Axford).

 

This was a comeback/redemption year, with guys like Rogers, Cain, Jeffress headlining that list, and guys like T. Green, Dykstra. The 2009 draft failed at the top spot, but has brough the Davises, Heckathorn, Scooter and Andre Lamontagne. While the 2008 draft hit it on the head with the top 2, but stuggled with the rest on that list. This past draft is a downer, with the Covey situation. And we haven't had a good show so far in the past 1-2 year in the DR, despite reopening in the DSL. With Escobar, Rivas, Peralta at the top of our Latin investments, we have little in the lower rungs of the minors.

I dont know how anyone could call this year disappointing for the minors aside from perhaps some of the team records.. I mean, you could make a legit case that the Brewers might not have had any legit rookie callups, and instead they get Lucroy, Cain, Axford, Braddock..plus Loe & McClendon.. I dont think anyone could have seen that kind of haul coming this year, and the best players really are still in the system.

[biedergb]

I didn't call the year a disappointment, but that compared to expectations coming in, it was a let down. That is probably more to the fact that we had some good, some bad, and a few surprises (good ones like Axford, Kintzler, Lamontagne, and bad ones like Salome). I think it was a generally good to slightly above average year, but I was personally hoping (expecting) a well above average year especially with the number of high picks the past few years. Part of that is the fact that we've been spoiled with some really good years and elite prospects, which we don't have right now. But in terms of depth, we have several prospects at every level both as hitters and pitchers. That is something we haven't had before.

[hyerbro1]

I don't post often but I look at the link report almost everyday. I look forward to seeing the Brewers young SP pitch each night. One SP I am excited about is Merklinger. SP whose strikeout numbers reach double digits are rare. I believe he has done it 3 times in the last 2 months. I know he is 24 and pitching in A+, but with his recent results I would think we will see him rise on the next Power 50.

Has anyone seen him pitch or give a scouting report on him? I know others have questioned it before but why haven't the Brewers been more aggressive with him? I am assuming he doesn't need to be added to the 40 man roster this offseason.