AUDIO: Jonathan Lucroy Telling It Like It Is

[Mass Haas]

AUDIO via Bill Michaels Show:

 

Wow, Jonathan needs a hug.

 

Brutally honest on the state of the organization, everything from recent draft picks to small-market musings.

 

Doesn't sound like a guy who's going to jump on a contract extension without signs of progress.

[wildcat2237]

AUDIO via Bill Michaels Show:

 

Doesn't sound like a guy who's going to jump on a contract extension without signs of progress.

 

He's likely trade bait or will be long before his extension is up.

[Baldkin]

B.M: "Can you see yourself retiring here?"

Luc: "To me this game is about winning, and we haven't won here since 2011."

[MrTPlush]

It's ok Lucroy we don't want you to retire here. Actually the faster you are traded is the better. The Brewers don't want to sign him to an extension. It's only a matter of time before he is traded. Whether that is this year or next it is coming.

[wildcat2237]

It's ok Lucroy we don't want you to retire here. Actually the faster you are traded is the better. The Brewers don't want to sign him to an extension. It's only a matter of time before he is traded. Whether that is this year or next it is coming.

 

+1. Hopefully these comments go a long way towards encouraging a trade sooner than later. It leaves a black hole in the organization but if it brings back a possible future ace its worth it.

[Raw Biz]

It's ok Lucroy we don't want you to retire here. Actually the faster you are traded is the better. The Brewers don't want to sign him to an extension. It's only a matter of time before he is traded. Whether that is this year or next it is coming.

 

+1. Hopefully these comments go a long way towards encouraging a trade sooner than later. It leaves a black hole in the organization but if it brings back a possible future ace its worth it.

 

Exactly. I was hoping to read the comments by him were "I'm going to be on the wrong side of 30 when my contract is up, this team is going nowhere in the next two years, I will want a lot of money, and my skills will be declining. However, I'm signed to a very reasonable contract now and the Brewers could probably get their pick of just about any team's top prospects. So they should just go ahead and trade me now."

 

Hopefully that's what the Brewers are reading into it.

[Outlander]

Probably not the best thing to say all their first rounders have been busts since Braun when your best pitcher right now was a first rounder. Otherwise I am fine with what he said and hope the Brewers are now more open to trading him.

[SRB]

Can you imagine the reaction if Braun or Gomez said this? Yet they are the jerks and Lucroy is the fan favorite, ok.

 

Anyways, please trade Lucroy while his value is still high. He is not the face of the franchise. Braun is the only career Brewer on the roster right now.

[3and2Fastball]

I thought the interview was refreshingly honest. If Mark A won't listen to the fans, maybe he'll hear the message more clearly from Lucroy!

[The stache]

Probably not the best thing to say all their first rounders have been busts since Braun when your best pitcher right now was a first rounder. Otherwise I am fine with what he said and hope the Brewers are now more open to trading him.

 

Why? Every other first rounder since Braun has been a major bust. Why would 37 innings from Taylor Jungmann somehow gloss over the collective wasteland that our first round picks from 2006 to 2010 represent?

 

Let's look at the Brewer first rounders from 2006 on:

 

2006: Jeremy Jeffress

2007: Matt LaPorta

2008: Brett Lawrie, Jake Odorizzi and Evan Frederickson

2009: Eric Arnett, Kentrail Davis, Kyle Heckathorn

2010: Dylan Covey

2011: Taylor Jungmann and Jed Bradley

 

It's nice to hear somebody within the franchise willing to speak their mind. This team sucks from the top down. Nobody else wants to say it, certainly not anybody in the front office. And now because he's speaking the truth, the attitude is "well, we don't care, Lucroy. You're not the face of the franchise, and if you don't want to be here, then don't let the door hit your butt on the way out."

 

Seriously? Last year, when he was having an MVP-caliber season, it was "Lucroy is so great. He's the face of the franchise." I saw it constantly, here, on the JS online discussions, on ESPN's in game discussions. But now because somebody tells it like it is, now he's a pariah.

[SomewhereInTime]

It's surprising to me to hear a player talk about the organization's past drafts and trading away of prospects. It's not to say the players are usually dumb, I think most know what goes on in the organization and whether their team is in a "going for it" strategy, a complete rebuild type of strategy, or somewhere in between. You're just not often going to hear things like this voiced, there's a lot more of the recent comments by Ryan Braun.

[MrTPlush]

I have to say I find it kind of annoying when someone like Lucroy starts going around insulting this and that when he has been pretty bad all year long. Between his lazy defense and not so great offense he has no room to talk. I think he should be more worried about doing his job before complaining about bad drafting etc. He may totally be right but it isn't his job to go around worrying about it.

 

All I learned from that interview is that Lucroy isnt a leader. He is a follower who prefers to complain when things are going bad than step up and be the guy.

[pacopete4]

Easy to run your mouth when things aren't going well. Takes a bigger person to keep their yap shut. Take these issues up with DM & MA in a private meeting. The rest of this is just a lot of hooee.

[The stache]

Can you imagine the reaction if Braun or Gomez said this? Yet they are the jerks and Lucroy is the fan favorite, ok.

 

Anyways, please trade Lucroy while his value is still high. He is not the face of the franchise. Braun is the only career Brewer on the roster right now.

 

Huh? We drafted Lucroy in 2007, two years after Braun, and I have yet to see Lucroy play for any other team but Milwaukee.

 

Lucroy isn't saying he doesn't want to play here. He is saying that he doesn't want to waste his career on a perennial loser, and since 2011 (let's see, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015...) the Brewers haven't been doing much winning at all. What competitive player wants to spend the remainder of his time in the bigs on a team that is going to suck? The man is a competitor, and that is the kind of player we want on this team, not some schlub like Kyle Lohse, who was "encouraged" after giving up four runs in 6 innings his last outing.

 

We don't want people here who are just going through the motions, and collecting a paycheck. We want winners. People who want to make the playoffs, and go to the World Series.

 

If we trade Lucroy because it's the best thing for our future, ok. But if some of you are telling to get out of here for speaking his conscience, I have to seriously question those people.

[The stache]

Easy to run your mouth when things aren't going well. Takes a bigger person to keep their yap shut. Take these issues up with DM & MA in a private meeting. The rest of this is just a lot of hooee.

 

So, an athlete should just "toe the line, and be a good little soldier" while the ship is going down?

 

How do you know that he hasn't addressed these things in private? That assumes an awful lot.

 

I think it takes a bigger person to speak from the heart, and say the things that we sometimes don't want to hear. That's called character. Integrity. I'm sorry you don't like what he had to say, but can you honestly tell me he's that off base?

[umphrey]

I'm pretty impressed by his knowledge of our crappy farm system and baseball economics honestly

[trwi7]

Why? Every other first rounder since Braun has been a major bust. Why would 37 innings from Taylor Jungmann somehow gloss over the collective wasteland that our first round picks from 2006 to 2010 represent?

 

Let's look at the Brewer first rounders from 2006 on:

 

2006: Jeremy Jeffress

2007: Matt LaPorta

2008: Brett Lawrie, Jake Odorizzi and Evan Frederickson

2009: Eric Arnett, Kentrail Davis, Kyle Heckathorn

2010: Dylan Covey

2011: Taylor Jungmann and Jed Bradley

 

Lawrie and Odorizzi aren't busts. They were traded, that doesn't make them busts. Jungmann is looking like he could be a decent mid rotation option. Obviously if you're picking at 12 you might hope for a little more than that but that's not a player I would classify as a bust. At least not yet.

[MrTPlush]

I'm pretty impressed by his knowledge of our crappy farm system and baseball economics honestly

 

What exactly did he say that was so knowledgeable? Your expectations must have been rock bottom. All I heard was:

 

Our first rounders have done nothing since Ryan Braun(which is false and pretty narrow minded).

 

We are a mid market that can't go out and sign players to massive contracts.(pre school level baseball economics)

[The stache]

Perhaps bust is a bit strong for Lawrie. He's not lived up to lofty expectations that were projected, but he's not been bad.

 

He was great as a rookie, but has had trouble staying on the field since. We'll see. Maybe he's another late bloomer.

[WV Brew]

'06 Adam Ottavino

'07 Peter Kozma

'08 Brett Wallace

'09 Shelby Miller

10 Tyrell Jenkins

10 Seth Blair

10 Zach Cox

11 Kolton Wong

 

Not exactly a collection of superstars either. What's the point? A lot of first rounders fail or are mediocre.

[The stache]

 

Our first rounders have done nothing since Ryan Braun(which is false and pretty narrow minded).

 

 

What first rounder since Braun has done anything substantial at the Major League level??

 

/cue the Jeopardy music

[MrTPlush]

Jeffress, Odorizzi, LaPorta, and Lawrie were all huge parts of the 2008/2011 runs. The fact they didn't pan out elsewhere is not the Brewers problem. They did their job for the Brewers by being valuable trade pieces.

 

Lucroy is flat out wrong saying Braun is the last good thing they got out of the 1st round. They ended up with great value from 2006, 2007, and 2008.

[The stache]

'06 Adam Ottavino

'07 Peter Kozma

'08 Brett Wallace

'09 Shelby Miller

10 Tyrell Jenkins

10 Seth Blair

10 Zach Cox

11 Kolton Wong

 

Not exactly a collection of superstars either. What's the point? A lot of first rounders fail or are mediocre.

 

Um, Shelby Miller is 5-4 with a 2.07 ERA, 88 strikeouts, 1.095 WHIP and a 182 ERA + this year for the Braves, and leads the NL with a pair of shutouts. Kolten Wong was third in the NL Rookie of the Year last season, and his hitting .281 on pace for 18 home runs and 16 stolen bases for the Cardinals. He has a 2.2 WAR in 81 games as a 24 year old.

[The stache]

Jeffress, Odorizzi, LaPorta, and Lawrie were all huge parts of the 2008/2011 runs. The fact they didn't pan out elsewhere is not the Brewers problem. They did their job for the Brewers by being valuable trade pieces.

 

Lucroy is flat out wrong saying Braun is the last good thing they got out of the 1st round. They ended up with great value from 2006, 2007, and 2008.

 

Nope, he's not. The comment was that since Braun, the first rounders have been busts. That is a pretty dead on, accurate statement, and easily comprehended.

 

Those other ten players drafted in the first round in the years I listed have produced one Major League average player (Lawrie), and a pitcher showing flashes of potential in his fourth season (Odorizzi). None of the other eight players have really amounted to a hill of beans at the Major League level. None. That one or two might have been traded to other teams stupid enough to think they might amount to something does not change that we completely whiffed on first round draft pick after first round draft pick. Most of those guys are out of baseball, or will never reach the Majors, with Jeffress being the exception. I hope he continues on and has a solid career. It would be nice to have something from all those picks that is still paying off for Milwaukee, because Odorizzi and LaPortta stopped paying off for us a long time ago.

[LouisEly]

Accurate or not, it's probably not a good idea to say that two of your not just teammates but battery-mates have done nothing since being drafted.