3b/1b of the future

[benji]

For the guys who follow the minors much more than I do. Do any of our minor league power outfielders (Coulter, Roache, Santana or someone else) have a chance to transition to 3b or at least 1b in the near future?

[reillymcshane]

For the guys who follow the minors much more than I do. Do any of our minor league power outfielders (Coulter, Roache, Santana or someone else) have a chance to transition to 3b or at least 1b in the near future?

I don't think any of these guys can realistically be considered for 3B, but all of them could potentially move to 1B in the future.

[CheezWizHed]

It sounds as if Santana has the strongest arm in the OF. Coulter has the least experience in the OF.

 

But my guess it that Braun is the first one to move to 1B. None of them are options for 3B. Coulter would have moved there already if it was even possible.

[And That]

Taylor Brennan could turn some heads next year in Biloxi, but realistically the Brewers' third baseman of the future is probably in rookie ball.

 

Of our main OF prospects, I'd move Roache to 1B first.

[BrewersAA]

Interesting question. The system is virtually void of corner Ifs. Though at AAA 2 guys that i would still really like to see get regular ABs at jason rogers and matt clark. I feel like at best the could each be average plus, and at worst they cant be worse, lol, than playing shortstops everywhere. They may provide a year or 2 (hopefully not 2) while the brewers try to flip their SS and CF assets into some corner IF assets. Of the guys currently the guy that makes the most sense to me is Clint Coulter, he has the least OF experience and has the necessary power, the other thing i really like about him is his size, athleticism, and flexibility. He has the tools to hit for the requisite power and potential be a top flight defensive 1st baseman.

[FVBrewerFan]

Braun can also play 1B, Rogers may get that opportunity to soft platoon there next season. 3B is a bigger question mark, could still be addressed in a Krod, Lucroy, Lind, etc. trade before next season.

 

If they get this right, they should be able to build the rotation and bullpen from within. OF, 1B, and middle infield as well. So only question marks are Catcher and 3B. Someone could emerge there- either guys already in the system or not yet acquired. Worst case, you have two positions you need to spend some money on in FA- and that's very manageable.

[WV Brew]

Coulter's best defensive asset is his arm which is largely wasted at 1B. Brewers have Denson and Perry and a couple others who could eventually fill the 1B spot. Probably Gatewood or Lara could be a 3B. All those guys a quite a bit away from the Brewers though.

[JohnBriggs12]

Which future? A year from now, 3 years from now or 6 years from now?

 

My guesses: 2016: Lind/Rogers 2018: Braun 2021: Some college kid

 

Maybe they can deal Braun to the Cubs for Dan Vogelbach. If Santana takes over in RF, and Braun moves to 1B, they are very light on LH bats.

[TheCrew07]

None of the current OFs are a 3B and Coulter was already tried there during instructs last fall and was bad enough they made the decision to put him in RF.

 

At 3B 2 guys who are excellent defenders with some power and low batting averages are Taylor Brennan in A+ and Sthervin Matos in A. Matos in particular has been owned by a particular opponent this season where he only has 3 hits in almost 60 ABs which is way beyond a statistical abnormality, but I believe his true talent at this point is in that .240 range as a hitter.

 

At 1B Garrett Cooper has had a breakout year repeating A+ and there's still Jason Rogers at AAA. Alan Sharkey is an excellent defensive 1B with a weak stick at WI, and David Denson and Tyler Perry are at R+ and R respectively.

 

I think long term 3B, SS, and 2B will be covered by players in the SS pipeline. I'm not sure any of the 3B or 2B that I like in the system are going to hit enough to be regulars at MLB, much less impact players.

 

1B may ultimately be Braun or one of the other OFs, And That's suggestion of Roache makes some sense because he was awful in LF when he was with WI, as in way below average even for the level.

 

Like I said prior to the deadline we need corner infield, catching, and impact pitching prospects, and we didn't get any of that which is why I was just okay with what happened. The organization has become fond of trying to put square pegs in round holes, especially at 3B, so who knows what will ultimately transpire there.

[MrTPlush]

3B will most likely be held down by Lara or Gatewood in the future. Before than it will either be a FA addition or scrubs holding down the fort.

[WV Brew]

One other guy who always flies under the radar is Nathan Orf. He could be a stopgap 3B if there is nobody else short term. Not much power but always has a decent OBP (around .385 last year and .365 this year) and works the opposition pitchers. I really think he's more of a 2B but has played a lot at 3rd also.

[umphrey]

We are hoping for Lara or Gatewood but Gatewood is 19 and has real problems with contact and strikeouts while Lara is 17 and we don't really know what his problems are yet. If I had to guess who our 3B is in 6 years: Lara, Gatewood or the field I would pick the field.

 

Dave Denson needs to save us all as the only 1B or 3B listed in our prospects top 30

[reillymcshane]

As suggested, roache should be moved to 1B. He's a bad fielder, so it works. Just do it sooner than later. No point in waiting. I think he's pretty far down on the OF prospect list.

[CheezWizHed]

Roache or Braun. Who makes more sense to move to 1B?

[Outlander]

Probably Braun because he is still owed $100 million and they need to get as much out of him as possible. Roache should probably get playing time at 1st as well in the minors as I think he still has a couple more years down there and it will be very difficult to crack one of those three outfield spots.

[Jenkins5]

I'd like Ramirez to at least get a shot to see what he can offer. Cooper is very Overbay like and wouldn't be a horrible stop gap. Roache could very well be like Khris Davis were 1st base isn't even an option. Be nice if he could play it though. Coulter could be a solid 1st baseman, like others have mentioned a waste of a cannon of an arm but really our OF is getting pretty crowded.

 

Braun and Lucroy are both options. Rogers I don't see ever being an everyday 1b and his defense at 3b hurts.Lind still has next season.

 

You hope you hit in Perez or Doninguez for a couple of years like McGehee until someone Lin the system steps up.

 

I think they will try to target a 1b or 3b type prospect in a Garza, Lind, Reliever, Etc future trade.

[ewitkows]

I see Dustin DeMuth making it at 3b. Solid but not spectacular. good avg/ good obp/ low 400 slugging. Still 2-3 years away

[Jenkins5]

I see Dustin DeMuth making it at 3b. Solid but not spectacular. good avg/ good obp/ low 400 slugging. Still 2-3 years away

 

I see him topping out at AA or being career AAA player. He is already 24 and it is not like he was really dominating the kids in A ball. He may make it at 27-30 as a utility bench bat I don't see his ceiling any higher than that.

[SRB]

It seems incredibly unlikely that Roache hits well enough to be a major-league 1B.

 

He's 24 soon, not 19, and has shown neither above-average power nor OBP-skills in the minors.

[TheCrew07]

It seems incredibly unlikely that Roache hits well enough to be a major-league 1B.

 

He's 24 soon, not 19, and has shown neither above-average power nor OBP-skills in the minors.

 

I'm not real big on Roache at this point, in fact I've been firmly in the skeptic category since his first half season in WI but that blurb about power is not remotely true, he's displaying above average power with a well below average hit tool. That's something very difficult to do. He's hit 22, 18, and so far this year 15 HRs between 2 levels. He's hitting a HR every 23 ABs for his career, and as I mentioned has hit 15 this season while striking out 37.43% of the time. I agree he's never going to be an OBP guy, he'd be a nice 5 or 6 hole hitter with that kind of power hitting .240 while batting 5th or 6th as a best case. We don't have a high AVE, high SLG, high OBP prospect like Fielder in the system at this time. Even Braun only had a trio of good OBP seasons, his OBP is normally 50 to 60 points higher than his BA, the Brewers just haven't developed that kind of hitter.

[SRB]

It seems incredibly unlikely that Roache hits well enough to be a major-league 1B.

 

He's 24 soon, not 19, and has shown neither above-average power nor OBP-skills in the minors.

 

I'm not real big on Roache at this point, in fact I've been firmly in the skeptic category since his first half season in WI but that blurb about power is not remotely true, he's displaying above average power with a well below average hit tool. That's something very difficult to do. He's hit 22, 18, and so far this year 15 HRs between 2 levels. He's hitting a HR every 23 ABs for his career, and as I mentioned has hit 15 this season while striking out 37.43% of the time. I agree he's never going to be an OBP guy, he'd be a nice 5 or 6 hole hitter with that kind of power hitting .240 while batting 5th or 6th as a best case. We don't have a high AVE, high SLG, high OBP prospect like Fielder in the system at this time. Even Braun only had a trio of good OBP seasons, his OBP is normally 50 to 60 points higher than his BA, the Brewers just haven't developed that kind of hitter.

 

I don't consider those minor league HR totals above-average for a first baseman.

[TheCrew07]

Then you need to do some research and see how many HRs are being hit period, the following have enough ABs in the league to qualify statistically. In the SL the leading HR hitter is Brett Walker (MIN) with 26 and that's exceptional, no else has more than 15. In the FSL the leading HR hitter has 12, Phil Ervin (CIN). In the MWL (the most volatile with the age differences) Casey Gillespie (TBR) had 16 before his promotion, in fact all of the top HR hitters were promoted already. The player with the most HRs who's been in the league all year is 22 year old Mike Gerber (DET) with 10.

 

Here's the entire list which includes the Mexican and Korean leagues and of course indy ball.

 

Legitimate prospects with over 20 HRs.

 

AJ Reed - 28

Adam Walker - 26

Tyler O'Neill -24

Richie Shaffer - 23

Cody Bellinger - 21

Kevin Cron - 20

Peter O'Brien - 20

Ryan O'Hearn - 20

 

That's it, across all of minor league baseball. Roache's HR production is above average regardless of position, not that there are many legitimate 1B prospects around baseball period.

 

I find it odd that I'm even defending 15+ HRs a year from a player in the minors as above average... this isn't MLB and most players with great raw power aren't able to translate it into HRs and wash out before ever reaching MLB.

 

Roache's current 15 HR total would be tied for 15th in MLB, or exactly MLB average tied with Cabera and Alvarez... my point is not that HRs in the minors directly translate because they don't, both ways for a wide variety of reasons, but rather to reign in outlandish expectations.

[And That]

I don't consider those minor league HR totals above-average for a first baseman.

Just curious, what do you consider to be above-average totals for a minor league first base prospect?

[Jenkins5]

How about Santana? Kid is 6'5 230 and I heard a disappointing report by a caller on Bill michaels today from an individual who was in Colorado Springs for their last series. It sounded like he wasn't a fly energy, play making OF and wasn't making plays or getting to balls that the caller felt most guys would get.

 

Now that is just one unprofessional scouts take and I've never seen him but his size, power, and etc. With our OF wave coming, it'd be nice his him or Roache had ability to slide down to 1st. Or at least Coulter. That or they hope Cooper is next Overbay... That's who I feel he compares very well with at peak of his ceiling

[SRB]

Then you need to do some research and see how many HRs are being hit period, the following have enough ABs in the league to qualify statistically. In the SL the leading HR hitter is Brett Walker (MIN) with 26 and that's exceptional, no else has more than 15. In the FSL the leading HR hitter has 12, Phil Ervin (CIN). In the MWL (the most volatile with the age differences) Casey Gillespie (TBR) had 16 before his promotion, in fact all of the top HR hitters were promoted already. The player with the most HRs who's been in the league all year is 22 year old Mike Gerber (DET) with 10.

 

Here's the entire list which includes the Mexican and Korean leagues and of course indy ball.

 

Legitimate prospects with over 20 HRs.

 

AJ Reed - 28

Adam Walker - 26

Tyler O'Neill -24

Richie Shaffer - 23

Cody Bellinger - 21

Kevin Cron - 20

Peter O'Brien - 20

Ryan O'Hearn - 20

 

That's it, across all of minor league baseball. Roache's HR production is above average regardless of position, not that there are many legitimate 1B prospects around baseball period.

 

I find it odd that I'm even defending 15+ HRs a year from a player in the minors as above average... this isn't MLB and most players with great raw power aren't able to translate it into HRs and wash out before ever reaching MLB.

 

Roache's current 15 HR total would be tied for 15th in MLB, or exactly MLB average tied with Cabera and Alvarez... my point is not that HRs in the minors directly translate because they don't, both ways for a wide variety of reasons, but rather to reign in outlandish expectations.

 

All you've done is explain why legit minor league 1B prospects are so rare.