Power 50 Discussion Thread

[Mass Haas]

LINK

 

Read. Digest. Discuss.

 

Or

 

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

 

Whichever you prefer...

[RyDogg66]

Well done JIM!!. I dont ever remember seeing quite a pitiful list since the Power 50 began. Hopefully the Brewers can remember to sign their top 3 picks and get them into the system.

 

edited for proper credit!

[paul253]

Good work Toby. That top 10 will look a heck of a lot better once Bradley, Jungmann and Lopez sign, that's for sure. Peralta'a turnaround from earlier this year is really getting me excited about him. Thornburg needs to cut down on those walks. I'd really, really love to see Mark Rogers find it again because he has a special arm.

 

Depth wise, there is still a LONG way to go towards rebuilding the system, but hopefully the three names above from this past draft and hopefully up to 5 first round picks and additional second round picks next season (Fielder, K-Rod, Hawkins and/or Saito comp picks) will turn out.

[CheezWizHed]

Hopefully the Brewers can remember to sign their top 3 picks

 

And Rounds 5, 12, 13, 16, 17, and 18! Those last three are long shots, but they could shake up the system a bit also...

 

And in the next month, we could see two more events to change the system. Signing deadline on Aug 15th and the Mets trade PTBNL deadline on Sept 1.

 

edit: This line looks a little suspect: The 2010 2nd rounder, Nelson made progress in July, with a much higher K

rate and much lower K rate than he had posted previously.

[TheCrew07]

Why are we giving Toby props for the comments when Mass wrote them?

 

Excellent work as always gentlemen and I enjoyed the comments Mass.

[brewmann04]

NICE JOB

[brewfan1]

Maas, great job on the list. This is always one of my absolute favorites. Great to see Nick Ramirez, Max Walla making the list. Obviously, you had to drop Cameron Garfield a few notches and to be quite honest, I figured it would have been further down than it was. I looked at his stats this season (when he has played) and they are not bad .361 avg, RBI's, couple of dingers, doubles, singles, etc..... Do you think catching is the reason his bat has been slow to come around? It seems that everytime he has time off from behind the dish his bat comes back strong. Also, what's the latest, I see he has not been in the lineup for quite awhile? In the top 50, you mentioned that his latest injury was a dislocated knee, was there another injury that we didn't know about? Because from what I have read, he was sent to AZ. to rehab the knee.

[prophet]

any predictions on when we might get our top three picks under contract?

[homer]

any predictions on when we might get our top three picks under contract?

I bet it goes all the way to Aug 15th.

[And That]

Why are we giving Toby props for the comments when Mass wrote them?

I submitted a ballot. That's as far as I went with this one. Granted, I do submit a mean ballot.

 

Great job, Jim.

[Mass Haas]

This line looks a little suspect: The 2010 2nd rounder, Nelson made progress in July, with a much higher K rate and much lower K rate than he had posted previously.

Thanks, corrected to read lower walk rate.

[Mass Haas]

Why are we giving Toby props for the comments when Mass wrote them?

I can understand why. The banner of the Power 50 page still purposely refers to "Toby's Power 50", in deference to Toby's (And That's) origination of the endeavor and our appreciation of his efforts when for many years he'd single-handedly knock out the rankings and comments on a much more frequent basis. I invested at least four full hours to research and editing to give the rankings and comments justice this time around, so we still amaze at Toby's efforts back in the day when "real life" may have been a bit less hectic. Currently Toby, myself and Eric (Sessile) submit individual rankings which are then molded into the current P50, and we take turns on the commentary. The next Power 50 will be up shortly after the minor league seasons end, so mid-September.

[gregmag]

Great work as always, guys, and a welcome morning distraction. I always try to find something to argue with, but this time out all I can find are really marginal issues. I'd put Green ahead of Schafer, but it's almost a coin toss . . . Richardson ahead of Khris Davis strikes me as a little too reactive to very recent events, but you guys have a better sense of their physical tools, and I suspect that has something to do with their placements. I'd put Bucci over Heckathorn based on the two-year age difference; that's probably my strongest point of disagreement, but again, it's a marginal thing.

 

Overall, at this point, I like our top 12 just fine, given all the talent we've traded away. With (hopefully) the other draft signings, that's going to be a strong top15 in a couple of weeks. It is a lot of upper-level talent, and even Jungmann and Bradley will be closer to that group than to the raw kids, which is a great thing for a team in win-now mode. I just hope our brain trust has the good sense to make use of these older prospects, rather than letting them waste away (Gamel) or undervaluing them in trades (Nelson Cruz).

 

For the record, and just in case this is a good argument starter, I have near-zero confidence in Nick Ramirez. I don't get why the Brewers keep drafting these older, defensively limited, halfway-decent power prospects at 1b with poor batting eyes. Ramirez (age 21 season but an August birthday, just got to A), Halton (24 at AA), Morris (22, just got to AA), Hawn (22 at A) if you swap out plate discipline for power . . . . What's the precedent for getting value out of this type of player? Morris has the best shot at putting something together, but he hasn't knocked anybody's socks off. Heck, Matt LaPorta is basically the super-premium version of this type of player, and look at how he's disappointed. At least a guy with LaPorta's raw power has trade value, but with these lower-wattage variants, what's the point?

[TooLiveBrew]

Nice work Jim & Co. LOVE the new P50 release days!

[paul253]

I don't get why the Brewers keep drafting these older, defensively

limited, halfway-decent power prospects at 1b with poor batting eyes.

 

Yeah with the utter lack of position prospects in the system, I was rather disappointed that the first position player taken was yet another first basemen. I'd have been happy with a third basemen, a catcher, a shortstop, or an outfielder but not a first basemen. I understand the whole best player available strategy, but at that point in the draft was Nick Ramirez really that far ahead of the next best player who plays one of the other positions?

[craigharmann]

I dont ever remember seeing quite a pitiful list since the Power 50 began.

It could just be seeing the glass half full after a 7 game winning streak, it could be watching the T-Gumbel interview over and over, I don't know. But, I look at it as an opportunity for a prospect to make his mark and move up quickly! Yeah, there's a whole lot of not much on the list, and I was surprised that Arnett was still on the list, but, who else is there? But, it makes the point. A guy can go from bolivion to top prospect quite quickly, if he's consistent and in a system with not a whole lot in it.

[TooLiveBrew]

A guy can go from bolivion to top prospect quite quickly

 

I don't know if this was on purpose or not, but it doesn't matter. Awesome.

[craigharmann]

A guy can go from bolivion to top prospect quite quickly

 

I don't know if this was on purpose or not, but it doesn't matter. Awesome.

Absolutely on purpose. Wondered if anyone would pick up on it!

[Tedaldtada]

Well done, fellas.

 

My biggest beef is how in the heck is Drew Gagnon 13 spots ahead of Jimmy J Nelson?

[CheezWizHed]

My biggest beef is how in the heck is Drew Gagnon 13 spots ahead of Jimmy J Nelson?

 

Coolness of their names garnered 10% of their score. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

 

My guess is that last year when Nelson was drafted, no on was overly impressed with his upside. Then his results for the last year backed that up. Now in the last month, he is finally showing some signs of life. And Gagnon really could only be rated on his draft profile.

 

I'm sure Jimmy will rise quickly if he keeps pitching like he did in July.

[And That]

I like Gagnon more for three reasons: better body, chance to have four MLB average or better pitches, better control.

 

I like Nelson too, though, and probably more than most here. If he's able to get his change-up to even average status, he'd be right there with Gagnon.

 

I had them at 5 & 15 on my ballot, FWIW, and I think I may have shorted Nelson a few spots.

[battlekow]

Given the respective depths of the last two drafts, I don't think it's crazy that the 100th-drafted player this year might be better than the 64th-drafted one last year, even without Nelson's months in the wilderness.

[LouisEly]

Personally I'd flip Bucci and Gagnon for Manzanillo and Fiers, but that's just me - I tend to give more weight to production at AA and AAA.

 

Interesting that you could say the same thing about Nic Bucci as was said about Brooks Hall, since Bucci has only 89 Ks in 123 IP and a GO/AO of 1.01. Both recently turned 21, and while Bucci is at a higher level he is pitching in a pitcher-friendly park and league and has 1.5 more years of professional coaching and experience than Hall.

 

I think the bottom line is that there isn't a lot of difference between #8 and #28 (or #32) and that's why people perceive it as "weak". But once they get the top 3 picks in the fold they will have some talent especially at pitching with Peralta, Thornburg, a recent resurgence (or surgence, as there wasn't really one to begin with) of Nelson, signs of life from Arnett (worms tremble when he starts), and Manzanillo and Fiers dominating at the upper levels. Bats are weak, but the top position players in Schafer and Green fill short-term needs for the big league club and you can always trade pitching for bats.

 

Oh, and way to jinx Merklinger...

[WV Brew]

No votes for Kjeldgaard, Marzec?

[And That]

Kjeldgaard has big power, but I don't see him hitting for any average in MLB. While K rates are moderately useless in the big leagues, they are often very good predictors in the lower minors. Dude strikes out a lot. Big, long swing.

 

I'd like to see Marzec get a little more consistent before he becomes the rare 23 year old A-ball reliever who makes the list.