David Stearns named Milwaukee's new GM

[Jenkins5]

Anyone know if Montgomery is being retained as scouting director? I think it is important to keep him around.

 

I always thought by pure speculation he came here because he was going to be the GM after Melvin, I feel the way things went this season that an internal hire just could not happen whether that is fair or not I don't know.

 

Building through the draft cannot be our only resource going forward. The moves the Cubs made to get Rizzo, Arrieta, and Russell/Mckinney were great acquisitions to get that organization jump started, Phillips/Santana/Hader is a good start. Only thing is we can't fall back on buying pitching like the Cubs could and will probably do. Which worries me as taking pitchers in the top 5 seems like a high risk but the organization needs an Ace prospect desperately. Next June can't come soon enough.

 

He is under contract and Stearns liked his draft. Ray is a very well respected baseball exec and scouting director, I doubt he goes anywhere unless offered either GM or Ast. GM somewhere else. I think the Brewers are in great shape at Pro & Amature Scouting Directors. They have really begun to infuse some talent into the system.

 

We can not build simply through draft is true and we do need to make trades for high ceiling prospects to continue to over infuse our system with talent. Like the Astros or Bluejays, it is nice to be able to sell off your whole system and yet still be pretty darn strong. Santana to Houston was a throw in almost because they had absolutely nowhere for him on roster. It will be important to have that kind of depth so we do not destroy our whole future again if we need to go out and get another Greinke or CC. What I do 100% disagree with is participating in Free Agent market. I don't ever want Brewers to make a splash. Save money, lock in your own guys. I'm a Ted Thompson type guy. Playing 15 million for a Garza or a 20+ for a Hanley is crazy to me. Money much better spent saving for Arcia's career long, Braun type deal. Big FAs almost always eventually burn you.

[tmwiese55]

Anyone know if Montgomery is being retained as scouting director? I think it is important to keep him around.

 

I always thought by pure speculation he came here because he was going to be the GM after Melvin, I feel the way things went this season that an internal hire just could not happen whether that is fair or not I don't know.

 

Building through the draft cannot be our only resource going forward. The moves the Cubs made to get Rizzo, Arrieta, and Russell/Mckinney were great acquisitions to get that organization jump started, Phillips/Santana/Hader is a good start. Only thing is we can't fall back on buying pitching like the Cubs could and will probably do. Which worries me as taking pitchers in the top 5 seems like a high risk but the organization needs an Ace prospect desperately. Next June can't come soon enough.

 

Have to think Cubs are the heavy favorite for David Price this offseason, heck I'd almost call it a lock. Man the division is going to be tough, hopefully Pitt falls a bit because CHC and STL aren't going anywhere.

[reillymcshane]

Have to think Cubs are the heavy favorite for David Price this offseason, heck I'd almost call it a lock. Man the division is going to be tough, hopefully Pitt falls a bit because CHC and STL aren't going anywhere.

Price will get $30M a year (minimum) for eight years. Not a lot of teams can do that. Cubs, as noted, can handle that. Makes for a formidable rotation (Lester, Arrieta, Price). Chicago can throw money like that around because their position players are so cheap.

 

The Dodgers will also be a factor, assuming Greinke becomes a free agent. And the Yankees have a ton of money coming off the books after 2016, so they could easily make a play. Toronto has an outside shot since Price seems to be enjoying his time there, and they don't have many big long term contracts outside of Tulo and Martin. My sleeper team for Price is Houston. They lack an ace, and don't have many expensive players. That's a huge market (I think 4th in the country) and should start generating a lot more cash as the team improves. He'd be a perfect guy to build a rotation around.

[reillymcshane]

 

Have to think Cubs are the heavy favorite for David Price this offseason, heck I'd almost call it a lock. Man the division is going to be tough, hopefully Pitt falls a bit because CHC and STL aren't going anywhere.

 

I'm really worried the Cubs than the Cardinals. They have developed faster than I anticipated (I figured they would be around .500 this year). If they added Price, they would have a heck of a rotation. Lester, Price and Arieta are all far better than anyone Milwaukee has (or probably any team). And in Bryant and Rizzo, the team has two all-star type players - maybe even MVP quality guys - who are only 24 and 26, respectively. Milwaukee's best hitters are in their 30s. Schwarber could be an elite bat as well. That gives them a great rotation and a great middle of the order. And then they have the financial flexibility to fill other areas as needed. It all makes for a pretty nice outlook for them.

 

The big issue will come with injuries and aging. They've been pretty healthy this year, but they don't have a lot of depth in starting pitching. But again, money can help with that. Lester and Price (assuming they sign him) would be in their 30s - and that's always a risk sinking huge money in those types of guys.

 

The Cardinals probably lack the star power the Cubs have (and can buy). They keep producing decent players, but I don't see anyone like Bryant coming along. I don't doubt they'll be good, but I don't know how long they can keep winning 90+ games.

[LouisEly]

Because they couldn't find anyone else to get those last 4 outs? It's a guarantee that Drew would've gotten the game tying or go ahead hit if say Trever Miller faced him instead of David Price?

 

My point was, he had basically nothing to do with them winning the division and a little to do with them going to the World Series. To say he had some huge part in it is ridiculous.

Because every pitcher in baseball can get a strikeout with bases loaded in the 8th inning of Game 7 of the ALCS against an All-Star with a .927 OPS and .408 OBP that season? If Trever Miller could have done it why didn't they use him to get the last four outs? If Miller could have done it then why did they only use him for 0.2 IP that entire seven game series? You want to rely on a guy who walked 20 batters in 43 IP that season to come through in that situation? There's a reason why his WHIP was 3.000 in the ALCS and 2.000 in the World Series.

 

Your stance that anyone could have come through in that situation, particularly Miller, is just as ridiculous.

[brewmann04]

Well no reason for the Brewers to retool and lock up their future stars. I hope they keep Ray they really can't afford to start over with another scouting Director, unless Ray takes one of the vacant GM jobs. It seems that the brewers have still some Valuable trade chips heading into the offseason.

should be very interesting to see what direction Stearns takes us.

[tmwiese55]

 

Have to think Cubs are the heavy favorite for David Price this offseason, heck I'd almost call it a lock. Man the division is going to be tough, hopefully Pitt falls a bit because CHC and STL aren't going anywhere.

 

I'm really worried the Cubs than the Cardinals. They have developed faster than I anticipated (I figured they would be around .500 this year). If they added Price, they would have a heck of a rotation. Lester, Price and Arieta are all far better than anyone Milwaukee has (or probably any team). And in Bryant and Rizzo, the team has two all-star type players - maybe even MVP quality guys - who are only 24 and 26, respectively. Milwaukee's best hitters are in their 30s. Schwarber could be an elite bat as well. That gives them a great rotation and a great middle of the order. And then they have the financial flexibility to fill other areas as needed. It all makes for a pretty nice outlook for them.

 

The big issue will come with injuries and aging. They've been pretty healthy this year, but they don't have a lot of depth in starting pitching. But again, money can help with that. Lester and Price (assuming they sign him) would be in their 30s - and that's always a risk sinking huge money in those types of guys.

 

The Cardinals probably lack the star power the Cubs have (and can buy). They keep producing decent players, but I don't see anyone like Bryant coming along. I don't doubt they'll be good, but I don't know how long they can keep winning 90+ games.

 

I think the Cubs are the big favorites because of Madden. Everything you said is accurate on the other potentials, but have to think that relationship with Maddon will be the deciding factor. And Cubs are a contending team in the NL. Only thing against is that Wrigley is more of a hitters park. They could get in trouble 4 years from now once Lester/Price are aging and getting paid a ton but they should be a powerhouse for the next few years. What's scary with the Cubs is most of the A+ prospects haven't really done much yet, other than Bryant and Schwarber (and Schwarber has tailed off since the hot start). If say just two more of those guys live up to their potentials then look out. And 4-5 years from now as those pitchers are expensive and not as good they'll have to start paying the position players.

 

STL hasn't made any sense for a while as to how they keep doing this but I will expect them to be 85+ wins every year just because they're the cardinals. Somehow they just keep producing.

[trwi7]

Because every pitcher in baseball can get a strikeout with bases loaded in the 8th inning of Game 7 of the ALCS against an All-Star with a .927 OPS and .408 OBP that season? If Trever Miller could have done it why didn't they use him to get the last four outs? If Miller could have done it then why did they only use him for 0.2 IP that entire seven game series? You want to rely on a guy who walked 20 batters in 43 IP that season to come through in that situation? There's a reason why his WHIP was 3.000 in the ALCS and 2.000 in the World Series.

 

Your stance that anyone could have come through in that situation, particularly Miller, is just as ridiculous.

 

LHB hit .209/.305/.308 off of Miller that year. Literally the only reason he was in the big leagues was to get guys like Drew out. So yes, I think he could've gotten that final out in the 8th and then someone else can take the 9th.

[BallFour]

We can not build simply through draft is true and we do need to make trades for high ceiling prospects to continue to over infuse our system with talent. Like the Astros or Bluejays, it is nice to be able to sell off your whole system and yet still be pretty darn strong. Santana to Houston was a throw in almost because they had absolutely nowhere for him on roster. It will be important to have that kind of depth so we do not destroy our whole future again if we need to go out and get another Greinke or CC. What I do 100% disagree with is participating in Free Agent market. I don't ever want Brewers to make a splash. Save money, lock in your own guys. I'm a Ted Thompson type guy. Playing 15 million for a Garza or a 20+ for a Hanley is crazy to me. Money much better spent saving for Arcia's career long, Braun type deal. Big FAs almost always eventually burn you.

 

I agree a 100% with you my friend, I am a Thompson disciple myself. Just noting that the Cubs strategy of taking strictly bats with their first round picks since Theo and Jed took over probably won't cut it for us because the only way we were are going to get bona fide ace prospects is with either drafting them with our 1st pick or apply a really great draft strategy to acquiring and developing pitching ala the Mets and the Rays of a couple years ago.

[monty57]

We can not build simply through draft is true and we do need to make trades for high ceiling prospects to continue to over infuse our system with talent. Like the Astros or Bluejays, it is nice to be able to sell off your whole system and yet still be pretty darn strong. Santana to Houston was a throw in almost because they had absolutely nowhere for him on roster. It will be important to have that kind of depth so we do not destroy our whole future again if we need to go out and get another Greinke or CC. What I do 100% disagree with is participating in Free Agent market. I don't ever want Brewers to make a splash. Save money, lock in your own guys. I'm a Ted Thompson type guy. Playing 15 million for a Garza or a 20+ for a Hanley is crazy to me. Money much better spent saving for Arcia's career long, Braun type deal. Big FAs almost always eventually burn you.

 

I agree a 100% with you my friend, I am a Thompson disciple myself. Just noting that the Cubs strategy of taking strictly bats with their first round picks since Theo and Jed took over probably won't cut it for us because the only way we were are going to get bona fide ace prospects is with either drafting them with our 1st pick or apply a really great draft strategy to acquiring and developing pitching ala the Mets and the Rays of a couple years ago.

 

What's "hot" changes all the time. This season seems to have shown that teams are putting less value on prospects, even top prospects, than they have in the recent past. If this continues, I think it's possible (not easy, but possible) to land a young prospect who could become a top-of-the-rotation starter by trading a good, proven player.

 

I guess what I'm saying is that the market trends may be lining up nicely with the Brewers' rebuild :-)

[AKCheesehead]

Price will get $30M a year (minimum) for eight years. Not a lot of teams can do that. Cubs, as noted, can handle that. Makes for a formidable rotation (Lester, Arrieta, Price). Chicago can throw money like that around because their position players are so cheap.

 

The Dodgers will also be a factor, assuming Greinke becomes a free agent. And the Yankees have a ton of money coming off the books after 2016, so they could easily make a play. Toronto has an outside shot since Price seems to be enjoying his time there, and they don't have many big long term contracts outside of Tulo and Martin. My sleeper team for Price is Houston. They lack an ace, and don't have many expensive players. That's a huge market (I think 4th in the country) and should start generating a lot more cash as the team improves. He'd be a perfect guy to build a rotation around.

 

Price is 30 years old and will have pitched 1300+ innings over the past 6 seasons. It wouldn't break my heart one bit to see chicago toss $240 million his way. As great as he is, one would expect that a decline or health issue looms.

[1992casey]

Here's an update that was posted on JSOnline earlier today:

 

David Stearns getting to know Craig Counsell, front office staff

 

It sounds like he's been pretty busy getting to know everyone and determine their skillsets. For the past two days, he's been in San Diego meeting with Craig Counsell and his staff.

 

I’ve had conversations with a number of (front office people) and I think a number of them will stay. I’m not ready to announce any of that at this point but we’ll get there.

 

From a definitive standpoint, it’s probably a little too early but there are a number of really good people in this organization – people who have been here a while and people who are new. I’m confident a large portion of them are going to help me going forward.

 

It’s a small enough industry so that you know of reputations. Word travels pretty fast about good people. I had a better idea on some than others but over the last eight days I’ve got to spend time with a majority of the leadership group within the front office and it has been an enjoyable experience.

[jerichoholicninja]

I hope there is a cleaning house of the coaching staff. They might not be the problem but many of them have been here since Ron was hired and the team has played the same undisciplined, uninspired baseball the whole time. It's time for some new voices in the dugout.

[trwi7]

You can agree or disagree that Stearns looks like Ryan Braun but can we all agree that he sounds exactly like him? Listening to that interview in the 3rd inning tonight was like listening to Ryan Braun taking up Doug Melvin on his offer of being deputy GM.

[1992casey]

Yeah, he sounds like Braun.

 

Here's a summary of the interview:

 

[list-sp]

• David described his week on the job as “one continuous day.”
   
  
• He has a complete wardrobe of Brewers gear.
   
  
• He’s been busy getting to know everyone. That process is started.
   
  
• Counsell has a tremendous reputation throughout the game as a good communicator and a guy who players play hard for. David said that Craig is open minded to all sorts of information and all sorts of strategies. They see eye to eye on a lot of things, and David appreciates that Craig is honest with his opinions and is open to hearing David’s thoughts as well.
   
  
• Doug has been invaluable with tidbits of advice. He’s not one to impose or step on toes.
   
  
• Brian said to David that Doug brings a lot of Canadian history with him “which I’m sure you’ll be brushing up on.” David responded, “he hasn’t dropped that on me yet, but I’m sure it’s coming at some point.” Brian finished David’s sentence by saying “and that.”
   
  
• They discussed David’s age and experience. David talked about the “tremendous people” he’s worked with.
   
  
• David described the recent Astros-Brewers trade as one of the tougher trades he’s been involved with and the type of trade where you say “this one has a chance to be really good for both sides.” He said that the Brewers got a “tremendous haul in prospects.”
   
  
• The Brewers have restocked and have “taken a pretty sizable jump in just a year’s time.” He said that was a step that the Brewers organization needed to take and that Doug and his group did an excellent job executing.
   
  
• He said “we have a team that plays hard.” “There’s no quit,” and that’s “really encouraging.”
   
  
• Both analytics and scouting are “integral.” The Brewers have a number of very qualified scouts and a burgeoning analytics department. He’d like to grow both of those groups.
   
  
• David’s impressed by López’s poise and skills.
   
  
• His financé Whitney is supportive, and they’re both blown away by how welcoming the community has been. He said he’ll “learn to like snow” and is looking forward to the sport activities that snow provides.
   
  
• He said that he and Whitney are getting recognized already and that the days of anonymity might be over. He said that’s indicative of how much the city cares about baseball.
   
  
• The Brewers have a “compressed timeline” for formulating their offseason plan. Most teams are doing that right how, but for the Brewers, it’ll probably be closer to the end of the World Series to have plans in place.
   
  
• He talked about how the people he’s worked for have influenced him, but he says the bottom line is that you have to be “true to who you are.”
   
  
• He grew up as a Mets fan.
   
  
• He’s headed back to Milwaukee in the morning.
   
  
• Airtight general manager-manager relationships spread throughout the entire organization.
   
  
• Lopez has taken as big a step this year as any prospect in baseball.
   
  
• As acting GM, Doug is still making personnel decisions. David officially takes over once the season ends.
   
  
• He talked about Padres GM A.J. Preller. David says that he’s made high profile moves. When someone’s that aggressive, it raises some eyebrows. But the good news for him is that he has a lot of these guys for multiple years, so the fact that this year didn’t turn out as planned doesn’t indicate a failed strategy.

[/list-sp]

[And That]

I busted out laughing when Brian Anderson dropped an "...and that" during the part of their conversation about Doug Melvin. I heart BA.

[Mass Haas]

In one of the first front office transaction updates, longtime pro scout Leon Wurth has left the Brewers for the Braves after 13 years with the Crew (h/t to MLB Trade Rumors).

 

Some recent archive searches indicate that Wurth suggested targeting Michael Blazek in the John Axford trade with St. Louis, and was the suggestive force behind the key Jerry Hairston acquisition in 2011.

 

Prior to working for Milwaukee, Wurth had a longtime stint with the Yankees, and Jorge Posada kindly singled him out, identified and thanked Wurth at his Yankee Stadium retirement ceremony.

 

I'm a sucker for great scouting stories, and the Posada signing story is pretty fantastic.

[3and2Fastball]

I really like this interview with Stearns. Seems like he is going to go in the right direction

 

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/331213651.html

[Mass Haas]

First posted October 13th --

 

In one of the first front office transaction updates, longtime pro scout Leon Wurth has left the Brewers for the Braves after 13 years with the Crew (h/t to MLB Trade Rumors).

 

Some recent archive searches indicate that Wurth suggested targeting Michael Blazek in the John Axford trade with St. Louis, and was the suggestive force behind the key Jerry Hairston acquisition in 2011.

 

Prior to working for Milwaukee, Wurth had a longtime stint with the Yankees, and Jorge Posada kindly singled him out, identified and thanked Wurth at his Yankee Stadium retirement ceremony.

 

I'm a sucker for great scouting stories, and the Posada signing story is pretty fantastic.

 

The latest --

 

The Brewers have updated their Front Office page with Wurth now removed (Farm Director Reid Nichols, who we've known was not retained, has been removed from the online posting).

 

A few scouts have been removed from the posting. No replacements have been named for those listed below. It's quite possible these individuals, like Wurth, left on their own, or retired, we don't know.

 

The most notable name gone is National Crosschecker Joe Ferrone. Hired in December 2010 (link), Ferrone replaced Ray Montgomery when Montgomery took the top amateur scouting job with the D-backs. Of course, Montgomery came back as Scouting Director after Bruce Seid's passing. Ferrone was also a candidate to replace Seid at that time.

 

Ferrone was one of two National Crosscheckers, the top tier of the amateur scouting rung, under Montgomery in 2015. The other was (and remains) Stephen Riha, whose hiring last December we brought to your attention in this post.

 

Three other amateur scouts are no longer listed -- Manolo Hernandez, a veteran scout of Puerto Rico, who, along with current South Florida scout Charlie Sullivan, signed current 40-man roster members and Puerto Rico natives RHP Jorge Lopez and SS Yadiel Rivera

 

Northern California Area Scout Justin McCray - a longtime member of the Brewers staff (Dec. 1999), McCray was the draft-and-follow scout for LHP Manny Parra (26th round), and in 2009 signed current 40-man roster RHP Tyler Cravy out of the 17th round

 

Also gone from the online posting are Carlos Dominguez, listed as an amateur scout out of Raleigh, NC, and pro scouts Ben McLure (mid-Atlantic) and Thomas Wheeler.

 

The Brewers will certainly re-shuffle area assignments and/or bring in replacements. It will be interesting to see if Ferrone's replacement will be an in-house promotion, or if they'll just go with the one national crosschecker moving forward.

 

***

 

We realize these moves may seem obscure (no, they are obscure to the casual fan), but I'm a big fan of what scouts do, and enjoy tracking such news.

[3and2Fastball]

We realize these moves may seem obscure (no, they are obscure to the casual fan), but I'm a big fan of what scouts do, and enjoy tracking such news.

 

I find it fascinating, too, and appreciate the updates. It is difficult to know how each individual scout might be ranked against their competitors for an outsider like myself, and there may never really be a way of knowing.

 

Seemed inevitable for personnel shakeups throughout the Brewers organization once Stearns came onboard.

[Thurston Fluff]

We realize these moves may seem obscure (no, they are obscure to the casual fan), but I'm a big fan of what scouts do, and enjoy tracking such news.

 

I find it fascinating, too, and appreciate the updates. It is difficult to know how each individual scout might be ranked against their competitors for an outsider like myself, and there may never really be a way of knowing.

 

Seemed inevitable for personnel shakeups throughout the Brewers organization once Stearns came onboard.

 

Ditto for me. I wonder if the roles might change as much as who fills the roles. If we are going to be more stat driven in player development/acquisition then it stands to reason some of the scouting roles will change to reflect that. Perhaps the number of positions remain the same but what each person does changes. It would be great if we can find out what background the new guys have to get some idea how the scouting and player development departments will operate.

[3and2Fastball]

I've heard, though, that it is difficult to be a stat driven scout especially when it comes to high school players. There are certain measurables a scout can look for that can be applied to analytics (exit velocity, 60 time, throwing velocity etc) but it can be tough to compare an OBP for a player in Georgia to a player in Texas, for instance, and really the Perfect Game Showcases offer too small a sample to reliably look at game results.

[1992casey]

I don't think it's part of a scout's job description to be "stat driven." However, he should understand stats in order to be able to use the information that the statheads come up with.

[MadScientist]

I've heard, though, that it is difficult to be a stat driven scout especially when it comes to high school players. There are certain measurables a scout can look for that can be applied to analytics (exit velocity, 60 time, throwing velocity etc) but it can be tough to compare an OBP for a player in Georgia to a player in Texas, for instance, and really the Perfect Game Showcases offer too small a sample to reliably look at game results.

 

 

A high school season is a small sample size. Maybe the equivalent of a month or so of a professional schedule. It is hard, if not impossible to make proper projections using the normal statistics for the big leagues. Somewhere somebody must be trying to crack the code of what combination of measurables, game statistics, and other gradable traits gives a reliable way to project prospects. The first team to do so will start having some of the best drafts in history.

 

Might almost be easier to develop a time machine to find out which players develop, though.

[Thurston Fluff]

I've heard, though, that it is difficult to be a stat driven scout especially when it comes to high school players. There are certain measurables a scout can look for that can be applied to analytics (exit velocity, 60 time, throwing velocity etc) but it can be tough to compare an OBP for a player in Georgia to a player in Texas, for instance, and really the Perfect Game Showcases offer too small a sample to reliably look at game results.

 

I wasn't really talking about amateur scouting as much as I was scouting in the minors or international leagues. But I do think there is an element of analytics in amateur scouting as well. Not so much numbers but in breaking down body types, what types of growth potential of high school vs college kids can projected. That sort of thing. I would think analytics will find it's way into even amateur scouting more than in the past.