If the Brewers lose Greinke, rebuild or re-load?

[HiAndTight]

Just curious what the boards opinion is if we lose Greinke to Free Agency?

 

Let me start by saying I think the Brewers have a very good start in the farm system and a very good core of young pitchers down there. Tyler Thornburg, while he's only 2 games in, has a .82 ERA. If he continues to progress, he's a guy who could legitimately be available later this year in some capacity, most likely as a reliever, but I think he could be a dominant one for us down the stretch in Sept and possibly in the post-season. Similar to Adam Wainwright for the Cards in 2004.

 

But you have Thornburg, Jed Bradley, both of whom I believe could front a rotation, Jungman and Peralta, both of whom I believe are capable of being #2's, and then Fiers whom I can't figure out for the life of me, but at some point you need to stop bickering and just accept the results which have been just extraordinary at every single level even the higher levels.

 

But I think we all know that while these pitchers are CAPABLE of reaching these levels, it's almost certain that they'll fall short. Unless you're the Rays, you can't count on your pitchers to actually perform to their cieling. Still, it's a heckuva start.

Now if you plug them into the rotation AS THEY'RE READY behind Grienke AND Gallardo, you could have a overall cheap and incredibly dominant starting rotation for the next 5-6-7 years. If you can get one of those guys to reach his ceiling, even if the rest fall a bit short and Bradley becomes a 2/3, Peralta a 3, Jungman a 200 Innings a year 4.25 ERA type guy, etc..etc...but Thornburg in this scenario becomes another #1, you've got a Phillies like rotation.

 

Which is why I think with all our newfound financial resources;

1-19.2 million in profits last year

2-9 pct ticket increase.

3-record ticket sales for this point in the season already surpassing 2 million tickets.

4-20 million in additional TV revenue coming in.

5-A new radio deal which is said to add revenue(though I have no idea if that's 5 million 100 million of 1 million).

 

And the Brewers are in position truly contend for the foreseeable future.

 

 

BUT-if they lose Greinke, what should the plan be?

My fear is they'll try and make up for it by signing Marcum to an inflated 4 year 50 million dollar deal, a contract I fear would be a nightmare, and then go out and try and sign a guy like Edwin Jackson to a 4 year 45 million dollar deal(a deal I'd be much more alright with). And go with the same team they have this year for the most part.

 

 

My particular preference would be to see the Brewers blow it up.

1-Trade Hart for a SS. Jackson Profar would be ideal as the Rangers are set at SS with Andrus, but guys like Billy Hamilton from the Reds, a team that's been trying to fill LF for a few years might bite, Xander Boegarts from Boston may be a fit with Iglassias a higher ranked SS, Nick Franklin Seattle, Johnathan Schoop from Baltimore,a potential star, and certainly behind Machado at SS, Jean Segura from the Angels who may or may not be happy with Aybar as their current SS, Lindor from Cleveland which is unlikely without a top prospect to supplement the trade with Hart, or a couple darkhorses like Rosell Herrara from Col who obviously is blocked at short or Jaycee Peterson a guy with HUGE upside as a former Cornerback.

 

Some of these obviously wouldn't be 1 for 1 type deals. In many cases, it might come down to Hart being traded for prospects and then us working out a deal with a team that has a top shortstop blocked. Or Hart plus a prospect. WHATEVER. Address the SS position.

 

2-Let the FA's walk.

Marcum 8 million

K-Rod 8.5 million

Wolf 10 million

Grienke 13.5 million

Hart 10 million

Morgan-2.5 million-Not much use for him if we're going to be starting over.

Aram-6-10 million(much will depend on what he does this year, but there were teams such as the Angels interested in him last year. If he can put together another .300/25/90 type season for us this year, I'm guessing we could trade him for a B- type prospect and only have to eat 6-7 million dollars on the contract. If he struggles to, then perhaps more.

 

That's over 50 million dollars that we could shave off the payroll. That, to my way of thinking leaves us with ONE question.

Weeks.

 

Do you trade Weeks as well, especially if he has a good season, or do you move him..again, provided he has a good season for a couple prospects? He's the type of guy who could help a LOT of teams out. He's also the type of guy who I'd like to see stick around Milwaukee and remain part of our core. So I say he stays.

 

That leaves you with'

Braun, Yo, Weeks, Lucroy as your regulars.

A lineup of RFAoki/1BGamel/LF Braun/2B Weeks/3B Green/CF Schafer-Gomez/C Lucroy/SS Gonzalez

 

I'm still hoping out hope that the type of AB's Gomez has been putting together will finally lead to more confidence, taking more pitches and him continuing to hit the ball well. A .285/.325 line from him would make him a 5+ WAR player IMO as I think he'd steal 60 bags. Schafer however reminds me of Steve Finley.

 

Pitching Staff would be decimated obviously, but you'd be rebuilding.

Gallardo/Narveson/Peralta/Fiers/Thornburg

BP-Axford/Veras as well as others

 

You're obviously starting from scratch, but you're also pretty well set up with the upcoming draft.

Marcum and Greinke would net you additional 1st round picks.

So in addition to 2011 when you had 2 first rounders who look to be durable inning eaters with high upsides and a 2nd rounder who may have the highest upside.

You have back to back 1st round picks in the 2012 draft, plus a supplemental 1st round pick as well as your 2nd round picks.

2013 you will have 3 first round picks, plus 2 supplemental 1sts.

 

That's a total of 7 first rounders in 3 years and 3 supplemental 1st rounders to add to a farm system that has several extremely talented toolsy players in the lower levels, including a couple on the DR team that could turn out to be stars, but a system that's also lacking any truly elite prospects as of right now.

 

Use the slashed payroll over the next couple years to identify the players who have a long term future with the Brewers. Mat Gamel IMO will be one of those players, Taylor Green I view as a Mark Loretta type player with more power, Aoki is 30, but his type of skills tend to diminish a bit later than others. He should be a viable starting option for 5-6 years IMO.

 

 

 

But the bottom line is that I don't want to see the Brewers stuck in the purgatory that the Brewers are currently in, or find themselves in the position the Astro's found themselves in trying to hang on to long trying to win. Without Grienke, I don't think we have a team that can win a World Series. So the next best option IMO is to take what we have that can help us win in the future, ie, Braun, Gamel, Gallardo, Weeks(maybe) and then see what we have in the plethora of young arms we've got coming up. See who sticks. Take the money saved from the payroll to lock them in, be it Thornburg, or whomever, be much more aggressive in the foreign markets before they become subjected to the draft, get into the Cepedis type players sweepstakes and use that money to add talent to the system.

 

If we draft wisely, add a couple impact bats, our pitching develops, we could turn around and contend again within 3 years and be a legitimate contender in 4-5 years.

 

If we hold on IMO, keep our payroll up at 110 with the likes of overpaying Marcum and a second tier starting pitcher, we're going to struggle to win 85 games and will be a couple injuries away from being a 70-some win team.

 

 

Relocating those assets, slashing our major league payroll in lieu of re-building our system and then locking in those players who prove to be part of the future is a far smarter way to go.

 

Of course the best case scenario is to sign Greinke, even if it takes a 5 year 115 million dollar extension, thereby keeping our window open for another 5 years is preferable. But, again, if that doesn't work out, I don't want to see this team just hang on to try and appease the fan base at the expense of the long term goal of winning a world series.

[3and2Fastball]

I would not trade one of the top 5 RF's in MLB to our division rivals.

 

Greinke is very good, but he's not an ace. He's a 3.80 ERA, 1.200 WHIP, 114 ERA+ guy. You don't rebuild just because you lose Greinke. I bet Peralta can put up a 3.80 ERA, 114 ERA+ season in 2013, certainly by 2014 (if not better).

 

I'd let Marcum walk too. Bring Wolf back for another year and put Peralta in the starting lineup for 2013 along with Estrada. You'd be looking at maybe 3 more losses over the course of a 162 game season. Seriously, check out the WAR value of these players. The difference between Marcum and Estrada is about 3 wins (based on last year's WAR, and that is betting on Marcum staying healthy!)

 

We invested a lot of draft capital in pitching, they'll be ready to help us in 2013 and 2014

[PrinceFielderx1]

I think there is another option for the Brewers and Doug Melvin.

 

I could see Melvin trade one of Marcum or Greinke and prospects for another top pitcher who is controlled beyond this season. Doug Melvin always goes after the top pitcher available and there have been plenty of Felix Hernandez trade rumors the last couple of seasons. I wouldn't put it past Doug Melvin to go hard after him or whoever is the top get. This would allow the Brewers to remain competitive beyond this season. I really don't see Mark A ever rebuilding. He wants to remain competitive every year for the fans, and because it's financially beneficial to him and his investors.

[paul253]

I have to admit I didn't read your entire post because it was REALLY long, but my thoughts on the topic.

 

First of all, give Greinke whatever he wants. If he wants a Matt Cain type deal, give it to him. Pitching is the absolute key to long term success and having Gallardo and Greinke anchoring the rotation for a few more year would be bigger than I can put into words. That being said, IF he does walk I don't see a reason to blow up the team. This is what I'd like to see done:

 

-Save money by letting K-Rod and Wolf go.

- Offer Marcum that one year deal where you get picks if he turns it down. Depending on how he does this season, I don't think paying Marcum $15 million or whatever you'd need to pay him would be the end of the world. We'd have three open spots in the rotation and I don't think we can replace them all in-house quite yet. I think it'd be a K-Rod type/win-win type situation if you offer Marcum the contract. If he accepts, you have a decent pitcher on a one year deal. If he declines you get some draft picks

-Trade Weeks or Hart. I'd prefer Hart because of his contract situation and because we still have Aoki and Gindl

-Trade Morgan and let the Schafer era begin

-Find a shortstop. I have no idea how, or where, but find one. Maybe Hart could get you a decent one in return.

 

A lineup of Schafer, Weeks, Braun, Ramirez, Gamel, Gindl/Aoki, Lucroy, SS.

Rotation being Gallardo/Marcum/FA, Narveson, Peralta, Fiers/Thornburg/Rogers.

 

Another key is the draft. The Brewers really need to hit on their top 3 picks this year.

[PrinceEatMeat]

This is pretty much already being talked about in the other Greinke thread, so not sure if this will stay open. It's a good topic though. As I said over there, I'd try to keep Marcum on a 3-year deal and exercise Wolf's option. It's a lot smarter financially than going after a similar pitcher in free agency. Go with Peralta or Fiers in the open spot in 2013, then in 2014 after Wolf's gone plug another young pitcher in. Then in the years after that hopefully more young pitchers like Jungmann and Bradley will have developed and be able to make an impact and the rotation will be in good shape without making any big money signings like Greinke or anyone else. There's really no reason to rebuild in my opinion. They can get by this way, and ease in their pitching prospects one at a time rather than throwing them all in too early or at once.

[endaround]

Replacing Greinke and Marcum with Estrada and Peralta is likely a 7 win swing in 2013. Most young players take about half a season to adjust so for his first year so counting on average to above average play from Peralta is tricky. So you are now below .500. Do you risk and hope in Hart's last year? My feeling is you move him because the downside is too great and your time frame right now is 3 years until Gallardo's contract is up. So you rebuild in 2013 hoping everything is set for 2014-2015 if you can't bring back Greinke.

 

So Hart's gone. Now look at the over 30 players. Morgan is gone for a B-/C prospect. Narveson probably should be moved. You may pick up Wolf's option to give you some stability and maybe move him by the deadline. Weeks is a question because he isn't really replaceable but his injury history and age makes him a risk to hold onto through a rebuilding year.

 

Ramirez might be tradeable mostly because the teams seem to be awash in money and next year's position FA class stinks. It's basically Mike Napoli and Josh Hamilton and each of those guys has their own issues.

[HiAndTight]

I would not trade one of the top 5 RF's in MLB to our division rivals.

 

Greinke is very good, but he's not an ace. He's a 3.80 ERA, 1.200 WHIP, 114 ERA+ guy. You don't rebuild just because you lose Greinke. I bet Peralta can put up a 3.80 ERA, 114 ERA+ season in 2013, certainly by 2014 (if not better).

 

I'd let Marcum walk too. Bring Wolf back for another year and put Peralta in the starting lineup for 2013 along with Estrada. You'd be looking at maybe 3 more losses over the course of a 162 game season. Seriously, check out the WAR value of these players. The difference between Marcum and Estrada is about 3 wins (based on last year's WAR, and that is betting on Marcum staying healthy!)

 

We invested a lot of draft capital in pitching, they'll be ready to help us in 2013 and 2014

 

 

First of all, I don't know that Hart is one of the top 5 RF'ers in all of baseball...and I don't particularly care. This was under the assumption that we rebuild. Hart is a FA after next year. I don't think it's a particularly wise baseball move to re-sign him. I don't see him aging well.

 

Not to mention, if we're rebuilding, Hart's likely not going to be much of a threat by the time we're contending again.

 

As for your assessment of Greinke, from ages 23-28 his ERA is 3.45 and he's coming off a 2.98 FIP and has looked as good as a Brewers pitcher has looked since CC so far this year. Even in his blow up inning, he wasn't getting hit hard, he was giving up seeing eye singles, bloopers and hitting his spots. I have a lot of thoughts about your assessment of Greinke, but I'll just sum it up with I think you're ridiculously underestimating him.

 

AS for using WAR, if you want to look at WAR, which by the way, isn't intended to literally mean a player is worth X number of wins, it should be used to compare players, nothing more. But Greinke has more WAR in one season than Wolf has in his FIVE seasons combined. In fact, Greinke's WORST WAR since he was 23 years old is Wolf's best Wolf's career.

 

Greinke's about as good a pitcher as the Brewers are going to get. They're not going to be able to replace him, and unlike in a lineup, you can't makeup for Greinke's production by getting slightly better at other spots.

 

I also think it's ridiculous to think that Wily Peralta is going to ever become the pitcher Greinke is and I think Peralta is a helluva prospect. But lets say he does. THEN we've got a legit WS team. If we could trot out Greinke, Yo and then another pitcher as good as those two, that's what makes for a Championship team. Not Randy Wolf as your #2 pitcher and a rookie as your #3.

[1992casey]

This is pretty much already being talked about in the other Greinke thread, so not sure if this will stay open. It's a good topic though.

 

For the thread to stay open, it should focus on this:

 

if they lose Greinke, what should the plan be?

 

In other words, for the purposes of this topic, we should assume Zack is gone.

 

If it's a rehash of whether or not Zack should be re-signed, it'll be unnecessary duplication.

[Ennder]

I'd go with reload, there is just too much of a core in place to not give it another season. I'd be looking to add a 1-2 year guy like Edwin Jackson got this year and then going with a young guy in the 5th slot. After 2013 would be the time to rebuild as we will be a year or three away from the next wave of young talent reaching the majors so taking a year or two off makes sense.

[BrewCrewForever]

Re-load. I don't feel with Mark Attanasio as our owner that we will re-build for awhile. I think it will be tinkering and trying to re-load to at least always compete for a playoff spot, yet have a strong farm system with guys coming through to help the big league club.

[TooLiveBrew]

The single most important thing I'd like to see changed when it comes to the Brewers is the notion that you have "a window" in which you HAVE to do [x]... or else! Melvin *had* to trade for Marcum & Greinke, because omgprinceisleaving. Now, (according to some) it's that they *have* to re-sign Greinke, or else it's time to totally rebuild. What you *have* to do as a GM, as far as I'm concerned, is build a deep organization. That way, you're not talking about "windows", you're talking about how do you account for letting Player X walk in free agency so you're not overpaying for him. The Brewers are going to have the opportunity in the very near future to walk away from the wannabe-big-market approach they've been working with for the past two or so seasons, and imo it's exceedingly important that they do. The focus needs to be on building the farm system, not spending tons of money to improve the 25-man roster on a year-to-year basis.

 

So to answer the question more directly, if Greinke hits FA, I look to...

 

- Trade Hart. His value will never be as high as it is today/yesterday, since he's only going to get older & have less time remaining under contract. Additionally, the Brewers have good OF depth. I don't want to even have to consider spending big money to re-sign him for his age-32 season & beyond.

- Let Marcum go to FA. Even if a contract extension would only be for three seasons (imo the bare minimum, conceivably), that's his age 31, 32, & 33 seasons. Pass.

- Exercise Randy Wolf's option for 2013. Yes, it's $10M. But he's a pitcher who's proven himself to be a useful big-league SP, and there will almost certainly be trading partners if the Brewers aren't contending. Keeping him also gives the org. some flexibility with how to break in the young SPs.

- Trade Morgan. Not only do the Brewers have OF depth, they have tons of depth in CF. Morgan's under team salary control through 2014, plays good defense & can hit RHP. There's always a trade market for that.

- Trade Ramirez. The sooner, the better. The guy can still hit, but the longer you wait, the more risk there is that other teams won't want to pay much to acquire him. Obviously you might be looking at having to eat some of the salary, but make the trade.

 

As HiAndTight alluded to, that's a lot of freed-up payroll. After shedding all of that veteran money, the organization's in a great position to reserve its money for extending young talent (a la Braun/Gallardo/Weeks), or spending on international FAs, etc.

 

Also, I'd like to note that really the only move I wouldn't make if Greinke were retained would be trading Hart. If Greinke re-signs, I think the value the Brewers can get from one more (walk-year) season from Hart would trump what value they could find on the trade market. All the other moves imo are just good moves to make regardless.

[RockCoCougars]

I think it depends on what happens for the rest of this season. If they make the playoffs again, I don't see a rebuild making sense even if Greinke departs. If they are 10 games below .500 on July 29, I say start the rebuild.

 

Other thoughts.....I'm still not sold on trading Hart in a scenario where the Brewers are still competitive. He signed a team friendly deal a few years ago so who is to say that he won't do the same again? Also, I don't see a scenario where the Brewers will be moving Ramirez unless they eat a ton of that backloaded deal. As for the pitchers, again I think that it depends on whether they look to compete. As stated above, I think of the three in question, Wolf has the best odds of returning. I also say no to any 4 year deal for Marcum regardless.

[TooLiveBrew]

He signed a team friendly deal a few years ago so who is to say that he won't do the same again?

 

Jayson Werth & $126M. I like Corey, he's become one of my favorite players in recent years, but he's probably going to command a nice price as a FA at this point. I don't expect him to necessarily command $125M, but the new TV money apparently has some owners feeling very frisky.

[rluzinski]

I would not trade one of the top 5 RF's in MLB to our division rivals.

 

Greinke is very good, but he's not an ace. He's a 3.80 ERA, 1.200 WHIP, 114 ERA+ guy. You don't rebuild just because you lose Greinke. I bet Peralta can put up a 3.80 ERA, 114 ERA+ season in 2013, certainly by 2014 (if not better).

 

Every mainstream projection system has Greinke as better than that. And to say any minor league starting pitcher projects to be a 3.8 ERA pitcher in a couple of years is pretty bold, to say the least.

[nate82]

I would not trade one of the top 5 RF's in MLB to our division rivals.

 

Greinke is very good, but he's not an ace. He's a 3.80 ERA, 1.200 WHIP, 114 ERA+ guy. You don't rebuild just because you lose Greinke. I bet Peralta can put up a 3.80 ERA, 114 ERA+ season in 2013, certainly by 2014 (if not better).

 

Every mainstream projection system has Greinke as better than that. And to say any minor league starting pitcher projects to be a 3.8 ERA pitcher in a couple of years is pretty bold, to say the least.

 

Case in point is Hellickson of the Rays who is a better pitcher overall than Peralta and he is probably going to be slightly worse than the 3.80 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 114 ERA+. Peralta will probably come in around a 4+ ERA and that is just guessing. There is no way to know what Peralta or any minor league player will do.

[DuWayne Steurer]

A lot of what the Brewers will do in 2013 will depend on how certain guys perform in Nashville this year. If Gindl has a great year, Hart becomes expendable/tradeable. If Peralta has a great year, it doesn't become AS critical to re-sign Marcum, and pick up Wolf's option.

 

Of course, Gindl and Peralta having great years don't mean they'll perform at the bigs in 2013, but we're just looking for indicators. Are they pushing for entrance into the bigs? Are they showing they're ready?

[endaround]

Gindl is more in competition with Schafer than anyone on the Brewers right now. Even if Morgan and Hart are moved, I think Aoki get one spot and Schafer and Gindl have to compete for the other.

 

And of course Ishikawa will still be the 4th OFer...

[HiAndTight]

I'd go with reload, there is just too much of a core in place to not give it another season. I'd be looking to add a 1-2 year guy like Edwin Jackson got this year and then going with a young guy in the 5th slot. After 2013 would be the time to rebuild as we will be a year or three away from the next wave of young talent reaching the majors so taking a year or two off makes sense.

 

 

A guy like Edwin Jackson makes sense to me. He's about the only guy I can picture us realistically signing that could shutdown a team in the post-season. He has that type of stuff. Frankly I wanted to find a way to sign him this year when he hung around so long for 1 year and 10 million...which was obviously not feasible(unless they'd perhaps traded Marcum for a couple B prospects.

 

His yearly numbers won't likely be as good as Marcum, but I like my chances in the post-season much more with him than Marcum(a statement I made before the season, and to a lesser degree Wolf and Narveson, though lefties seem to be able to get away with a bit more without great stuff(.

[JohnBriggs12]

The term "re-load" assumes they are loaded now. I don't think that's the case. They can contend in a division with a lot of games against 3 very weak teams. Next year the Astros are gone and that means a tougher overall schedule. Greinke, Marcum, and not picking up Wolf's option frees up well over $30 million. There are at least 5 guys in the system with the potential to start next year at the major league level: Peralta, Fiers, Thornburg, Bradley and Jungmann. One or two more could emerge too. There will also be guys available in trade from franchises like Oakland that deal guys as they start to reach arby years. Not all of that $30 million needs to be spent on pitching either.

 

The guy I'd trade isn't Hart, its Weeks. Weeks has peaked as a player (well below his potential in my opinion) and should be traded before he loses his value. Scooter is the heir apparent.

 

They might take a step back in 2013, though I'm not convinced this team is all that either. But I have no problem gearing up for 2014 and 2015.

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

I'd keep it going as long as they can stay competitive. Granted, you don't want to see them wind up like the Cubs where they are burdened by a bunch of bad contracts, but they are close enough to be in the mix for the next few years. The most likely scenario is they sign guys like Doug Davis and Braden Looper and muddle around .500, but maybe they catch one that works while they wait for the pitching to develop. They have enough shots on goal to get a couple decent starters out of that group.

 

Rebuilding by blowing up the roster is going to be a struggle for this team. There isn't a single impact bat in the system. This from a system that produced Fielder, Braun, Weeks, Hart, Hardy & Lawrie...there isn't one player anywhere close to those guys. I'd keep it going and see what they can come up with over the next couple years in the draft. The system has to get better, it can't get much worse.

[Warning Track Power]

There is absolutely zero chance the Brewers blow anything up in my opinion.

 

There is a passionate fan base for the Brewers now. Miller Park constantly has 30,000 people in the stands. I don't think losing Prince via free agency, likely K-Rod, possibly Greinke, Marcum and Wolf, then dealing of Hart and Weeks will keep attendance around 30,000. Now we can argue the merits of how to build a franchise or whether or not losing Greinke will affect the Brewers ability to compete. However, Attanasio is not the losing type and I don't see him allowing for any type of fire sale in this manner. The Brewers will simply retool.

[fondybrewfan]

So long as the pitching talent in MILB moves along in 2012 it makes no sense to completely rebuild. The offensive core is still really strong; if only 2 of the 5-6 guys in MILB turn out to be above average or better MLB starters than this team will be really strong for a while. Long term the Brewers need to develop some hitting prospects because they aren't going to have Weeks and Hart forever (At least at their current production). I am much more comfortable with our long term pitching prospects than hitting.

[3and2Fastball]

Long term the Brewers need to develop some hitting prospects because they aren't going to have Weeks and Hart forever (At least at their current production). I am much more comfortable with our long term pitching prospects than hitting.

 

I agree that they could always use more great hitting prospects but it is not like the farm is completely without hitting. Caleb Gindl & Scooter Gennett will likely be able to replace Weeks & Hart's production eventually, and Hunter Morris is a beast if he can learn to up his OBP. Yadiel Rivera has started out strong in A ball, he's more of a long range prospect but if he can continue to hit that will solve our future SS problems.

 

Honestly I would keep drafting Pitchers in the first few rounds. You can never have too much pitching

[TooLiveBrew]

I don't think it's likely at all that Gennett & Gindl can fully replace what Corey & Rickie have done as hitters. The system completely lacks any big-time hitting prospect. There are guys who could develop into solid or perhaps good big-league hitters, but very few & most are longshots imo. I like guys like Gindl/Gennett/Green/etc., but I think we're kidding ourselves to say that they should be expected to do anything close to what Hart & Weeks have been able to do. Those are two guys who've turned themselves into well-above average big-league hitters, due in large part to physical abilities & strength that is mostly lacking on the offensive side of the farm right now.

 

The system has a lot of hitters who profile to be useful big-leaguers (and/or guys who could be top hitting prospects if they can remove significant warts from their offense), but none imo should be expected to match or surpass the All-Star caliber offense that Hart & Weeks have provided for the past couple seasons. If one guy out of the current crop of hitting prospects that's currently at AA or higher winds up matching or exceeding the offense from Corey or Rickie, the Brewers will be very fortunate.

[longball04]

Heck, at this point, wouldn't you take guys like Gindl/Gennett/Green who actually make contact and put the ball in play? I agree on the pitching prospects and drafting with that mindset. You are going to find more quality pitchers higher up in the draft whereas good hitters can be found throughout. It really depends on what you determine as a good hitting prospect. Are you speaking purely power hitters? Because we don't have a ton of that in the minors. What we do have are guys who consistently put the ball in play and get on base. I would take 4 of those before I would take one power hitting threat. It is easier to replace the production, being on base, of Hart and Weeks, than it is to replace a guy like Greinke.

 

Stay the course. You need good pitching to win championships. Greinke will be worth the money and there is no way this fan base would take another rebuilding project. The Brewers have been looking to lock up their young guys. That doesn't sound like a team looking to rebuild or preparing to do that.