2014 Brewers' 1st-Rd. Pick Speculation & Overall 2014 Prospects Discussion Thread

[HiAndTight]

Maybe the broader concern is that whatever the Brewers do to keep pitchers healthy also stunts their upside as players. It seems that Atlanta is toward the top both with developing young pitchers and then having those pitchers get injured. Not sure where the right trade off lies.

Without going into great detail I think you're drawing conclusions and parallels because that's what you want to see.

 

The injury rate has more to do with the type of pitchers the Brewers are targeting than anything special they are doing from a development or treatment standpoint. You want them to be progressive when they just aren't, they are an extremely conservative organization not on the cutting edge of basically any aspect of professional baseball. They aren't the worst at anything, but they certainly aren't the best at anything either. Many of the pitchers they've targeted haven't even made it as far as AA, others had significant injuries, you arbitrarily limited your focus to TJ surgery because it's a hot topic, but shoulder injuries are actually the pitcher killers.

 

Frederickson, Lintz, Adams, and Lasker never made it out of A ball from 2008, Lasker dealt with a plethora of injuries, Adams was suspended for a drug of abuse.

 

Arnett, Heckathorn, and Hall were the "upside" picks from 2009. Arnett hurt himself outside of baseball but it didn't matter by that point, Heckathorn is a poor reliever, and it turned out that like Anundsen before him Hall didn't have projection left.

 

2010 was the Dylan Covey debacle, Jimmy Nelson, and Tyler Thornburg. Obviously Covey didn't sign and wouldn't have been a great pick regardless, I'm happy with Nelson and Thornburg, 5th rounder Matt Miller never made it out of A ball.

 

In 2011 they picked Jungmann, Bradley, Lopez, and Gagnon. Bradley has yet to make it through a full season, Lopez is finally out of the tandem system for the first time, Jungmann is what he is repeating AA, and Gagnon is pitching well in AA.

 

2012 was Zach Quintana who hasn't been all that impressive in A ball so far but is still in a tandem system and Tyler Wagner whom I really like.

 

From last year's draft you have a bunch of guys that haven't even really had a chance to be injured. Devin Williams who is at least 2 years removed from being out of the tandem system, Barret Astin who is nothing special, Taylor Williams whom I like the most on the current T-Rat staff, and Josh Uhen who was already hurt in college. Astin and Williams are in the tandem system in WI.

 

If you look at that list of pitchers what you don't have is is a ton of big arms like Peralta, you have a bunch of above average to average arms. Relievers won't get injured as much as starting pitchers to start with, nor will pitchers in a tandem, which is the whole point of the tandem. If you are so ineffective you don't make AA then you aren't really throwing enough to be injured in the first place.

 

The commonality for the most part from those drafts is body type; The Brewers are targeting big bodied guys early and going with less prototypical guys later. Eventually I think many of those guys will get injured, that's the nature of the beast with pitching, it's not an ergonomic motion and most pitchers apply additional unnecessary stress with problems in their deliveries which will have an effect over time. Pitchers like CC Sabathia are rare, and that has more to do with genetics than anything special Cleveland did when developing him, and the same is true of the Brewers. They've been targeting big bodied workhorse types because statistically those guys have a better track record of health. If they had drafted Taylor Guerrieri instead of Jungmann we'd have a pitcher with more upside but who has already needed TJ surgery.

 

It's almost entirely about the player, little of this has anything to do with the Brewers' development system.

 

Finally including position players show the overall approach to injuries that the organization takes, I'm not sure when we're talking about possible treatment methods the Brewers are using we'd arbitrarily limit the discussion to pitchers. They've treated the pitchers in the organization exactly the same as the position players when it comes to injury diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation. If you want a true sense of what the organization is doing you need to look at all of the available data, regardless of position or injury type, to see if there is something unique going on.

 

The organization just isn't that good at injury prevention or treatment, regardless of the organizational spin you'll get out of the TV & radio broadcasts or JSO. Even when they won that silly award for the least amount of DL time it had more to do with having a roster full of ascending young players than anything the training staff was doing at the big league level at that time. The lack of impact talent could be a developmental issue, but I think it's more of a draft philosophy issue. They focusing on a body type for injury prevention rather than attempting anything progressive from the developmental side.

 

 

 

Actually, it looks like he's just repeating the very raw data and it happens to contradict the perception that the Brewers are inadequate here or there...(or I think you've stated pretty clearly at just about everything on every level of the organization).

 

The second bolded part, you argue first that they push players too hard. Then you argue they're very conservative. Direct contradiction.

 

But what I'm really curious about is how do you know what their approach is to rehabbing players? It seems like YOU'RE drawing conclusions and parallels because that's what you believe.

 

And you can list names of pitchers who never made it for days for every single team in the entire league.

 

The topic-Hoffman.

The question-Can the Brewers bring a guy back from a TJ surgery and keep him healthy.

The evidence seems to suggest they can.

 

 

I'm just baffled how you can so readily insult the entire organization without...as far as I know being a part of it. I came out of school with several good friends starting their careers in Milwaukee. Some of us moved on, others have stayed the course. I know people on their training staff and I would certainly challenge your entire guess that the award they won is "silly," or that they're not good at injury prevention because....young pitchers got hurt. I just can't remember the last post where you were not critical of the Brewers and almost literally everything they do.

[colbyjack]

NC prep 1B/OF Braxton Davidson just tweeted a picture from Miller Park:

 

Braxton Davidson ‏@B_Davidson06 18m

Just a little glimpse of what I got to play in today #blessed #livingthedream #millerpark pic.twitter.com/pB3pToOWKa

[TheCrew07]

Didn't the Brewers have something like 30 players come in for the pre-draft workout today?

[paul253]

Any chance Davidson lasts until the Brewers 2nd pick?

[colbyjack]

Yeah, they usually have about that many players TheCrew07. Paul, I would be a little surprised if Davidson last until #41 overall. At the beginning of the season I thought he would be in the mix for #12, but I don't think that's the case anymore.

[Mass Haas]

Waiakea Grad Medeiros to Attend MLB Draft

by Josh Pacheco, Big IslandNow.com

 

Waiakea High School graduate Kodi Medeiros poses prior to his audition with the Milwaukee Brewers organization. Photo courtesy: Kori Ann Medeiros.

 

http://bigislandnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/IMG_1449.jpg

 

The opportunity for an athlete to attend a professional sports draft is usually reserved for the top up-and-coming athletes in each sport.

 

Waiakea High School graduate Kodi Medeiros is considered by many to fit that description.

 

Major League Baseball announced Thursday that Medeiros will be one of seven prospects to attend the 2014 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, which will originate from MLB Network’s Studio 42 in Seacaucus, NJ. The first day of the draft, which will be broadcast on the network, will happen on June 5. The entire draft runs for three days.

 

Medeiros, who was in Milwaukee Thursday for an audition with the Brewers, said he received the invite from the league about 2-3 weeks ago. “I kinda made the decision right away, because it’s something I really wanted to attend and it’s exciting to be able to go to that,” Medeiros said.

 

Many scouts believe that the left-handed pitcher will go in the first round of the draft. Medeiros has been told that he could go anywhere between picks 15-40.

 

Medeiros faced four batters on Thursday in front of scouts from the Brewers organization. The batters, who are also trying to impress scouts for an opportunity to be drafted, are either out of high school or have played on the collegiate level. Medeiros struck out two and induced two ground ball outs.

 

Next on the post-high school audition list is the Kansas City Royals, where he will attend a workout on Sunday. Medeiros may not throw at the workout, however, because of the amount of pitches he has thrown recently.

 

Prior to Milwaukee, he attend a workout hosted by the Arizona Diamondbacks.

 

“I just know the competition is better and it’s good to just go out there and just compete against the better competition,” Medeiros said of facing talent outside of the islands. “I’m really just enjoying it and it’s just more of a challenge as well.”

 

Joining Medeiros at the MLB Draft will be Michael Chavis (Sprayberry HS), Jacob Gatewood (Clovis HS), Monte Harrison (Lee’s Summit West HS), Derek Hill (Elk Grove HS), Grant Holmes (Conway HS), and Nick Gordon (Olympia HS).

[splitterpfj]

Braxton's a nice kid, I'd love to see him with the Brewers, but I think colby is right, I think he goes between the two Brewers picks.

[colbyjack]

Wow, love seeing Medeiros in front of Miller Park, I just wish he or his dad would have let me know they were in town ! Great kid from a great family and truly outstanding stuff. No chance he makes it to their pick at No. 41, so he would have to be the pick at No. 12.

[narwhalattack]

I'm seeing a fair amount of mock drafts linking the Brewers to Max Pentecost. Does anyone here have sources who could get a gauge of how much they are interested in Pentecost?

[nate82]

NC prep 1B/OF Braxton Davidson just tweeted a picture from Miller Park:

 

Braxton Davidson ‏@B_Davidson06 18m

Just a little glimpse of what I got to play in today #blessed #livingthedream #millerpark pic.twitter.com/pB3pToOWKa

 

I would love for the Brewers to take Davidson but it doesn't look like he will last until the Brewers 2nd pick. Not sure if it would be a good idea to take him with the 12th pick.

 

 

I'm seeing a fair amount of mock drafts linking the Brewers to Max Pentecost. Does anyone here have sources who could get a gauge of how much they are interested in Pentecost?

 

I wouldn't trust much of any of the mock draft that are linking the Brewers to any player. The Brewers have been fairly secretive with who they are going to pick and normally don't leak anything on who they are going to pick.

[paul253]

The stupid thing about the MLB draft that is different than every other draft is that there are certain players that have a 0% chance of being drafted by certain teams. Davidson is not good enough to be drafted at 12 but too good to last to 41 and since the teams can't trade for picks there is essentially no chance he plays in Milwaukee. This is in addition to rules that say if you grow up in country A you have to be drafted but if you grow up in country B you are a free agent. When is MLB going to stop trying to over-complicate its draft and just do something that makes sense?

[splitterpfj]

Here is my final mock draft...

 

http://www.baseballintheblood.com/?p=1126

[splitterpfj]

Narwhal, no, I don't have anything linking the Brewers to Pentecost, Nate's right, the Brewers stay as quiet as anyone before the draft.

 

Pentecost would be a great fit, but so would about ten other players, since the Brewers just plain need organizational depth.

[reillymcshane]

Narwhal, no, I don't have anything linking the Brewers to Pentecost, Nate's right, the Brewers stay as quiet as anyone before the draft.

 

Pentecost would be a great fit, but so would about ten other players, since the Brewers just plain need organizational depth.

Baseball America has the Brewers taking Pentecost in their new Mock.

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/draft/mock-draft-4-separating-fact-from-fiction/

[igor67]

Would drafting Pentecost seal an offseason position switch for Coulter?

[Hammer]

I would think that having Lucroy and Maldonado at the MLB level, plus having an organizational need at both 1b and 3b would be more likely reasons to move Coulter...just my opinion though.

[splitterpfj]

Grant Holmes did indeed throw at MP yesterday....only one hitter made contact against him.

 

I'm going to go ahead and assume the scouts liked that.

[brewcrewdue80]

Here is my final mock draft...

 

http://www.baseballintheblood.com/?p=1126

 

Come on Splitter, you can do better than that. It's like you took all the ties to clubs in recent mocks and decided to go against them all. Jackson to Miami?

Trea Turner/Touki picks to Toronto. Has to be flip flopped because Toronto must sign that 11th selection or lose that pick. They also previously drafted Beede and Nola. I find it hard to see Beede slipping by them especially with that 11th selection.

 

I get Pentecost to Milwaukee if Holmes isn't left available. But he is so Milw will take him, Holmes has to be higher on the draft board than Pentecost you can't deviate from that. After Hoffman and Beede's selections I can't really argue for or against those picks. I don't think Hoffman falls that far I cant believe Anaheim or Arizona would pass the chance to grab someone portrayed previously as a potential #1 selection.

And Beede already said, Toronto will take him, having been on him before.

 

I liked your previous versioned mocks. I know you have one more mock yet in you...the 1-12 thread!

[splitterpfj]

Oh, AWESOME!....I love the discussion/debate - tell me you love my picks, tell me you hate 'em, tell me you think I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue....whatever.

 

BCD80, on the picks you mentioned, I'll tell you why I did what I did.

 

You have a good point on the Jays' needing to sign that pick, absolutely, I put Turner there because I think the Mets would take him if the Jays don't. Obviously, Toronto will take signability into account, so of course I could be wrong.

 

On Holmes to the Brewers...I wrote this a few days ago, and then posted it today, had I known what I know now about Holmes' workout in Milwaukee, I would have put him in the Brewers' spot.

 

I think Milwaukee is one of the toughest teams to guess on, because they need pretty much everything in the system, and they're in a position where there will be plenty of bats, and arms, to pick from.

 

On Jackson to Miami....I mean that, I think he's going there.

 

Beede...I don't know much about it, but he's falling. Nola doesn't look like he'll get to Toronto, but Beede probably will. If there is the equivalent of the last guy in the NFL Draft green room, I think it's going to be Beede.

 

If there is a kid who comes as a surprise top ten pick, (I really don't see it, but just for fun)....I'm going with Monte Harrison.

[colbyjack]

Teams now have 2 years to sign unsigned comp picks, so the Blue Jays don't have to go blatantly cheap with the pick at No. 11. And recent history has proven that isn't as big of a deal as people make it out to be. Those slots still pay big money. Same goes for the example of the Blue Jays drafting Beede since they already took him. Look at draft history and find notable college draft picks that were re-drafted by the teams that took them out of high school. It just doesn't happen, not by design or indifference, just 'cuz.

 

Don't over think the process. Teams are zeroed in on talent, not convenience.

 

Paul, not sure what you're talking about. Anything can, and usually does, happen. If you don't do you due diligence you will be burned.

[brewcrewdue80]

Oh, I wasn't aware it was 2years now. I thought it was just one obviously.

[TheCrew07]

Mock Draft: Aiken gets nod at No. 1 over Rodon

 

12. Milwaukee Brewers: Tyler Beede, RHP, Vanderbilt

Beede is still one of the more difficult players to place due to what was a fairly inconsistent season. Still, the raw stuff is excellent and a team in the top 10 that believes he just needs mechanical adjustments could take him. Milwaukee could also be looking at college hitters or high school pitchers like Grant Holmes or Kodi Medeiros.

Mayo's last pick: Conforto | Callis' last pick: Pentecost

[paul253]

Paul, not sure what you're talking about. Anything can, and usually does, happen. If you don't do you due diligence you will be burned.

 

What I mean is that there are some guys who you may like but can't justify taking 12 even though you know they won't be available at 41. In any other sport if the guy is still around at, say, 30, and you really wanted him you get trade to get that #30 pick. Baseball is the only sport you can't do that.

[Austin Tatious]

Beede is interesting because this time last year he was considered a top 5 guy, if not top 3. I saw him projected up there with Rodon in some projections in the early post 2013 write ups.

 

I would take Kyle Schwarber over Pentecost hands down. Pentecost may be a true catcher but I don't care. Schwarber will be a plug and play 1st baseman very rapidly. He is a very sophisticated bat. He has prodigious power, but he is a beautiful hitter because he also hits for high average. He takes what the pitcher gives you. He will go the other way; he can work the pitcher. He would finally give us a left handed stick at first base that can hit for average and power. I would be really impressed if the Brewer brass pulled the trigger on Schwarber. Make no mistake though, he has rocket power too.

[fondybrewfan]

Last pick from Indiana didn't go over very well. I guess I can't hold that against Schwarber though.

 

I know next to nothing about these prospects. So long as the Crew picks someone that is considered top 15 by most publication I will be happy. Just no reaches or weird picks in the first couple picks please. Part of me wants a college bat that can progress through the system quickly; but no reason to pass over a better talent to do that