What prospect did you 'miss' on?

[JJHardy7]

It isn't easy to always be a Brewers fan with some of the tough seasons we've had, but one thing that always seems to excite bf.net is prospects.

 

What prospect did you think was going to be the real deal that ended up in disappointment?

 

I think for me...Manny Parra would have to be #1. I really thought this guy was going to be an ace in our rotation for a long, long time. Parra wasn't a total bust since he has developed into a serviceable bullpen arm, but I would say he missed expectations of most Brewers fans.

 

Mat Gamel would probably be my #2 'miss'.

[Boomer5]

The one that hurt the most, and it wasnt so much a miss, as just never was what we had hoped was BJ Surhoff.

 

A really likable guy, hard worker, good person. One of my favorite Brewers. Had all the tools but it never really happened. Then look at the 85 draft.

[3and2Fastball]

Brett Lawrie. Jury is still out though. Still time for him to get it together

 

The other one was Rickie Weeks. I thought he was going to be Hall of Fame material and one of the All-Time great 2B's.

[Outlander]

Probably wouldn't really be considered a prospect but I thought Marc Newfield would be great. He was only 23 when traded to the Brewers and put up a near 900 OPS in his couple hundred of at bats with the Brewers. Was horrible the next year and did pretty much nothing after.

[DuWayne Steurer]

The one that hurt the most, and it wasnt so much a miss, as just never was what we had hoped was BJ Surhoff.

 

A really likable guy, hard worker, good person. One of my favorite Brewers. Had all the tools but it never really happened. Then look at the 85 draft.

 

 

I don't call BJ a 'miss'. He had a long, very servicable career. 2300 hits, 34 WAR, 1100 RBI. He wasn't a superstar, but he was good enough to hang around 19 years and compile a good (not great) war. Was he worthy of a #1 pick? No, probably not, but a lot of #1 picks don't even stick for 5 years.

[Boomer5]

The one that hurt the most, and it wasnt so much a miss, as just never was what we had hoped was BJ Surhoff.

 

A really likable guy, hard worker, good person. One of my favorite Brewers. Had all the tools but it never really happened. Then look at the 85 draft.

 

 

I don't call BJ a 'miss'. He had a long, very servicable career. 2300 hits, 34 WAR, 1100 RBI. He wasn't a superstar, but he was good enough to hang around 19 years and compile a good (not great) war. Was he worthy of a #1 pick? No, probably not, but a lot of #1 picks don't even stick for 5 years.

 

I was always a Surhoff fan. I think we could go all day on prospects that never scratched the big leagues, so maybe I read the OP wrong.

 

I picked BJ not because he was a bust, not at all, but because he never was a true star like most everyone assumed he would become. As I mentioned, I was a huge fan of his. However, his time with Milwaukee, in particular, was pretty meh.

 

Then, there is this list:

 

http://www.baseball-reference.com/draft/?draft_type=junreg&query_type=year_round&draft_round=1&year_ID=1985

[DuWayne Steurer]

Going back in time.......when I was a kid...... I thought Billy Jo Robideaux was going to be our first baseman for years to come. Of course I wasn't even a teenager yet. I just saw the guy's minor league stats and they were MONSTER. Of course I had no idea that even I could have hit 20 homers at El Paso. Also, he had a boss name.

[DuWayne Steurer]

The one that hurt the most, and it wasnt so much a miss, as just never was what we had hoped was BJ Surhoff.

 

A really likable guy, hard worker, good person. One of my favorite Brewers. Had all the tools but it never really happened. Then look at the 85 draft.

 

 

I don't call BJ a 'miss'. He had a long, very servicable career. 2300 hits, 34 WAR, 1100 RBI. He wasn't a superstar, but he was good enough to hang around 19 years and compile a good (not great) war. Was he worthy of a #1 pick? No, probably not, but a lot of #1 picks don't even stick for 5 years.

 

I was always a Surhoff fan. I think we could go all day on prospects that never scratched the big leagues, so maybe I read the OP wrong.

 

I picked BJ not because he was a bust, not at all, but because he never was a true star like most everyone assumed he would become. As I mentioned, I was a huge fan of his. However, his time with Milwaukee, in particular, was pretty meh.

 

Then, there is this list:

 

http://www.baseball-reference.com/draft/?draft_type=junreg&query_type=year_round&draft_round=1&year_ID=1985

 

 

Well, there's four guys on that list that ended up with a higher career WAR than Surhoff. Bonds (jerk), Palmeiro (cheater, liar), Larkin (HOF), and Will Clark. I still don't call Surhoff a "miss". Gregg Jefferies is further down that list in the first round, and he was supposed to be 'can't miss', and he wasn't a flame out (he played like 15 years, but had a few decent years, and was about as close to average as a guy can be.

 

To me, BJ is like Rickie Weeks. He's a serviceable/decent ballplayer who gets scrutinized because of expectations. He didn't live up to the hype, so he's labelled a bust/letdown. BJ was a good ballplayer who wasn't worthy of being a number one pick.

[Boomer5]

I think the BJ and Weeks comparison is valid. Both good guys, decent players but hardly the mega stars they were supposed to become. In the case of BJ, he became a much better player once he left Milwaukee and left the catcher position.

 

Guys like Nieves, Braggs, BJR, Wegman could all fill out a prospects that never did what we thought they would do too.

[torts]

The one that hurt the most, and it wasnt so much a miss, as just never was what we had hoped was BJ Surhoff.

 

A really likable guy, hard worker, good person. One of my favorite Brewers. Had all the tools but it never really happened. Then look at the 85 draft.

 

 

I don't call BJ a 'miss'. He had a long, very servicable career. 2300 hits, 34 WAR, 1100 RBI. He wasn't a superstar, but he was good enough to hang around 19 years and compile a good (not great) war. Was he worthy of a #1 pick? No, probably not, but a lot of #1 picks don't even stick for 5 years.

 

I was always a Surhoff fan. I think we could go all day on prospects that never scratched the big leagues, so maybe I read the OP wrong.

 

I picked BJ not because he was a bust, not at all, but because he never was a true star like most everyone assumed he would become. As I mentioned, I was a huge fan of his. However, his time with Milwaukee, in particular, was pretty meh.

 

Then, there is this list:

 

http://www.baseball-reference.com/draft/?draft_type=junreg&query_type=year_round&draft_round=1&year_ID=1985

 

thought it was really interesting that 85, 86 and 87 the brewers picked a SS with their 1st overall (Surhoff, Sheffield, Spiers)

[tmwiese55]

For me:

#1 Jeff D'aMico (similar to Surhoff/Weeks talk because he did contribute)

#2 Lawrie

#3 LaPorta

#4 Gamel

[jerichoholicninja]

After watching Dana Eveland pitch in Beloit I thought he would at least be a solid major leaguer instead of the AAAA filler he's been.

[igor67]

Ben Hendrickson, I was absolutely convinced that anyone who could pitch that well in High Desert would be guaranteed some kind of major league career. The fact that he had the year he did in High Desert as a breaking ball guy is still amazing.

[DuWayne Steurer]

I thought Dave Krynzel would come up and contribute in some fashion.

 

I think everyone knew Antone WIlliamson was a disaster from the get-go.

 

JM Gold.....meh. Same.

 

Man..... we couldn't draft worth a CRAP back then.

[patrickgpe]

Ben Hendrickson is the one that comes to mind

[yfinn6]

Mark Hendrickson, I was absolutely convinced that anyone who could pitch that well in High Desert would be guaranteed some kind of major league career. The fact that he had the year he did in High Desert as a breaking ball guy is still amazing.

 

Are you thinking of Ben Hedrickson? If so, didn't he have a family member that posted on this site at one point? I remember them being some "legendary" rants of some sort.

 

If you are referring to Mark Hendrickson, then disregard.

[WV Brew]

Mark Rogers. Just never could stay healthy.

[monty57]

Mark Hendrickson, I was absolutely convinced that anyone who could pitch that well in High Desert would be guaranteed some kind of major league career. The fact that he had the year he did in High Desert as a breaking ball guy is still amazing.

 

Are you thinking of Ben Hedrickson? If so, didn't he have a family member that posted on this site at one point? I remember them being some "legendary" rants of some sort.

 

If you are referring to Mark Hendrickson, then disregard.

 

Yeah, his dad posted here, and when Ben was traded went on a rant about what a terrible organization this was, and how he was destroying anything he had that was Brewer-related.

 

I remember a lot of high expectations for him (Ben, not his dad), but when he got to the majors his big overhand curve was never called for a strike, so his mid-to-high 80's fastball got rocked.

 

Going back in time.......when I was a kid...... I thought Billy Jo Robideaux was going to be our first baseman for years to come. Of course I wasn't even a teenager yet. I just saw the guy's minor league stats and they were MONSTER. Of course I had no idea that even I could have hit 20 homers at El Paso. Also, he had a boss name.

 

He and Joey Meyers were the first names I thought of when I saw this post. I thought their inflated Denver numbers would have been enough for the Brewers to never put a AAA team in Colorado again.

[igor67]

Edited, I meant Ben

[The stache]

 

Then, there is this list:

 

http://www.baseball-reference.com/draft/?draft_type=junreg&query_type=year_round&draft_round=1&year_ID=1985

 

Oh, man.

 

I missed on...Gary Sheffield. As in, "I missed his being here''....because as soon as he left Milwaukee, he chased the Triple Crown in San Diego.

 

He was a horse's ----, but he could hit. Oh boy, could he hit.

[AKCheesehead]

Monty thanks for reminding me of Joey Meyer. That guy could rake but he sure couldn't run, he had to be the slowest Brewer I have ever watched. Hard hit "singles" to right-if the RF had any kind of arm he was in danger of being thrown out at first. Gappers that were a double for any other player in MLB and he'd have to hold up at 1B. Crushed his share of singles off the wall, too. Big, strong man. I remember after he was with the Brewers and he played in Japan, he got beaned and went walking towards the mound with the bat still in his hand and the entire infield ran away.

[MrTPlush]

I don't think it is really fair to say you missed on prospect if they had injury problems. Mat Gamel never got a chance and even a guy like Rickie Weeks went south because of injuries. I true miss would be a guy you thought was going to be amazing and they just flat out sucked.

 

My pick would be Taylor Jungmann...man I thought he was going to get here fast and be a solid starter with nice strikeout numbers. Now it would be great if he could be a #5 starter.

[homer]

Angel Salome

[Eye Black]

Another one that probably isn't fair because he had his share of success at the big league level, but the first Brewers player I remember being excited about when he made his debut was Cal Eldred. More recent guys I thought were going to be future stars for the crew include Mark Rogers, Nick Neugebauer, and Brett Lawrie. Guys I was excited about when they were drafted (mainly because of bloodlines) included Tony Gwynn and Cutter Dykstra.

[remfire]

Nick Neugebauer

 

His k-rate in the minors was outstanding. He was a strikout machine. Came to the bigs at the perfect time. New ballpark, new era, winning teams on the horizon. Thought him and Sheets were going to dominate. Coupled with D'Amico, Kyle Peterson, and Ben Diggins that we were going to have a solid rotation. Guess not.