Jed Bradley traded to Braves for PTBNL/cash; Latest: Bradley outrighted off Braves' 40-man

[DHonks]

I'd like to see Jungmann try the same change that AJ Burnett did. Remember Burnett wasn't happy with his finish and stride, so he decided to try mimicking another pitcher that rotated heavily. The result was he felt more comfortable and added movement/deception.

[dacbrewers]

It is surprising that a number of minor league pitchers have performed better once they are out of the Brewers organization. I would be interested to know if the new pitching coach messed with Jungmanns mechanics thus sending him in a tailspin.

[MillerParkSouth]

I saw the same Keith Law note and wondered why we haven't done something different as well. I know prospects bust all the time, but the lack of success on the pitching front in this organization is alarming.

[And That]

I have a sneaking suspicion that there will be an overhaul of the development staff this coming offseason. There have been too many subpar performances versus standout performance this year to ignore. The talent is still there, but it's not going to mean anything if the coaching isn't.

[MillerParkSouth]

I was wondering if Stearns wanted to have the season to see everything for himself to decide if he needed to make changes, so I hope you're right.

[reillymcshane]

It's ridiculous to have subpar (heck, even average) coaching and development staff. If there's a place to invest in for a club like Milwaukee, it's in helping identifying and getting the most out of the young players.

 

I know money will always be an issue for Milwaukee, but I'd rather invest a couple of million dollars in good coaches and staff in the minors than spend it on a player like Capuano.

 

This team will thrive and survive only if we can take advantage of the system - it's foolish to shortchange a part of it.

[TheCrew07]

I know money will always be an issue for Milwaukee, but I'd rather invest a couple of million dollars in good coaches and staff in the minors than spend it on a player like Capuano.

 

That's always been the crux of the development argument, 1 extra player from each draft making MLB pays for the extra development cost in player salary. In years past we mused if it was possible to add extra coaches at each level to get players more individual instruction and things like that. Field time is always going to be limited, especially on the road, so to me the question has always been how to get the most out of that time.

 

I don't know, maybe on the hitting/positional side it's something as simple as eliminating daily BP and doing more small group fielding/hitting stuff. I've actually been thinking about that quite a bit because I've been asked to help coach youth baseball and while I haven't committed it got my wheels turning... having to teach everything where you do start, how do you get most out of 2 hours, how do you make it fun, etc? I can tell you that as a lefty if I wasn't on the mound, or at 1B, baseball practice was the worst, because as a LF there was literally nothing to do. I lost track of the number of extra laps around the field I had to run because the CF and I were turned around in left center talking and watching the girls run track... it got to the point we'd hear the fungo, the strings of the ball whipping past over our heads, and start running before we were even yelled at.

 

On the pitching side I believe everyone needs bullpen sessions for individual coaching in season or not, reliever or not, and really the only way to accomplish that is to have a set schedule. You know the one thing I never understood about baseball is why everything pitching related is max effort? I don't train that way, we go 3 sets of about 50-60% effort from 45 feet working on mechanical issues, then 3 sets 70-80% effort from 60 feet doing the same, then go max effort for 1 or 2 sets. 1 set for me is 12 pitches. There are pitching coaches who are adamant that during games while warming up between innings a pitcher should throw max effort... that's just dumb to me, why take bullets out of the gun? Throw 70-80%, load up on the last pitch if you want, save the arm strength for what matters. Why throw 60+ max effort pitches on top of the game pitch count?

[LouisEly]

Just remembered that Bradley was traded for PTBNL or cash. I would think that he's doing well enough to get a decent lower level lottery ticket.

[Mass Haas]

Incredible --

 

Jed Bradley called up by the Braves after posting phenomenal numbers since the trade (which is being reported by a Braves blogger as for cash, although the Brewers have yet to confirm if a PTBNL could still be involved).

 

Yes, there have been some good mound developments within the Brewers system this year, but there's no sugar-coating that Bradley immediately finding success in another organization is a very large black mark on Milwaukee player development. This isn't a guy rediscovering himself years later in independent ball. This is Atlanta's staff making instant adjustments somehow and seeing results right away.

 

And oh yes, congrats to Jed!

[MillerParkSouth]

I really hope Stearns/Montgomery do a little house cleaning in the PD department this off season. This is not a franchise that can afford to have misses like this. He was so bad in our system.

[clancyphile]

I really hope Stearns/Montgomery do a little house cleaning in the PD department this off season. This is not a franchise that can afford to have misses like this. He was so bad in our system.

 

There need to be some answers on this. Bradley's just become a steal for the Braves.

 

That said, this is the same PD staff that pushed a 31st-round pick (LHP Brent Suter) to the majors, and Suter was dominant for the most past in 2015 and 2016 in AA/AAA. So, I'm not ready to say housecleaning, but there need to be answers.

[brewmann04]

I was very curious why they let him go so soon especially being a 1st rounder and a lefty

[Austin Tatious]

Player development needs a long look, obviously. All you have to do is look at each coach and instructor and see who they were responsible for, and assess improvements for those players, keeping in mind the player's profile and how they did before and after.

 

I'd start with BC. The typical hitter is at like .180 there, and the pitchers are beyond foundering. It's unacceptable. I am not saying Helena, or Appleton are fine. Just that BC is striking.

[Mass Haas]

Brevard County (to get off on a bit of a tangent) was seemingly the victim of a gap in offensive make-up in the system. Cuas, Collymore, Brandon Diaz and others all would have benefited from more time at low-A. But more prominent prospects needed time there, and AA wasn't so over-stuffed that they could unfairly demote from Biloxi to help stem the tide. I really feel bad for the Manatee bats and staff this year, because they were placed in a no-win situation from the get-go.

[Mass Haas]

Back on topic, I'm taking a bit of heat on the initial Bradley Twitter take (see subsequent replies), maybe why I don't have many "hot" takes .

 

Another reason why we try and accentuate the positive around here within this forum, I suppose. If we can't question the Brewers' PD on Bradley's non-development and subsequent success (even if we can review the actual numbers a bunch of ways to indicate it's not that glaring a failure), then it's almost like the PD system is Teflon, which shouldn't be the case within our discussions either.

 

We don't want to come down too hard on the young men we follow, so if we question the development staff, it can still come across as unfair to the player. A double-edged sword in terms of having legitimate but fair discussions.

[jerichoholicninja]

Obviously the Brewers haven't been great at developing players but let's not let ONE guy getting a September callup by the worst team in baseball get us all riled up.

[Austin Tatious]

Having aggressive assignments does not answer the development question at BC by a long shot. You have guys like Coulter who were a mess there and figured it out, ironically, at a higher level. A pitcher like Ponce has not been good and that's not an aggressive assignment for him. Rijo is below the Mendoza line. We can make excuses until we are blue in the face. Some of Medeiros' peers (high school arms taken in the first round in 2014) like Sheffield and Kopech are far surpassing Medeiros at the same level. Diplan and Peralta may have moved up young, but they arguably did what they needed to get up to high A.

 

You can look case by case and find excuses, but it's a fair question to analyze the group as a whole. No one here is trying to fire anyone, but you can look at a particular coach and see how they got through to a body of players. If they all foundered, despite having some high picks to work with, then you have your answer to that particular coach/instructor.

 

There is very little media on these issues (other than a guy like Charlie Greene being commended), so it's tough for us to analyze it, but I am sure that Stearns and Flanagan are studying it. The analysis should not be limited to BC by a long shot. I grant you that. The pitchers at AAA have a tough draw but many of them went bananas to the downside. There is a way to attack it there as even Jacob Barnes pointed out, and it has not been handled well there at all. Nottingham and Phillips lost momentum at AA. Some of the Wisconsin and Helena guys have been slow learners.

[Boomer5]

This is crazy. We can not afford to give away guys who have talent just because we can't develop them and have a front office that doesn't know what we have on the farm.

 

This guy was a first round round pick with a lot of eyes on him so it wasn't like he slipped through the cracks.

[MKE81]

This board is so over reactionary. Bradley is 26 and finally had some success at AA. He's also been in the rotation with ATL and hasn't seen that in 1.5 years with us. How is this any different than Houser with us last year? Bradley is going to continue to get rocked starting next year and his WHIP at AAA is almost 1.4 in his 3 starts. People thinking this is a black eye and we "lost" a strong prospect need to come back to reality

[And That]

Just pretend they traded Bradley for Kyle Wren.

[Boomer5]

This board is so over reactionary. Bradley is 26 and finally had some success at AA. He's also been in the rotation with ATL and hasn't seen that in 1.5 years with us. How is this any different than Houser with us last year? Bradley is going to continue to get rocked starting next year and his WHIP at AAA is almost 1.4 in his 3 starts. People thinking this is a black eye and we "lost" a strong prospect need to come back to reality

 

At the very least, had our coaches done exactly what ATL's coaches had done, he would have been a more valuable asset than the one Stearns dumped for pennies a few months ago. The timing is what makes this a clear case that we didn't know what we had in Bradley but a smarter front office did.

[Greenleaf1]

I freaked out over Haniger's AAA numbers this year, then freaked out more when he got called up and had a few great games. I've calmed down now that I've seen him fall back to earth.

 

I'm going to take my time before I freak out about Jed Bradley. Sometimes prospects get away, sometimes we won't develop prospects properly, but we tried a lot with Bradley before cutting him loose and maybe he just needed a change of scenery and a fresh take on things.

[reillymcshane]

I don't like losing a valuable asset for next to nothing, but things happen. It's not like we don't have guys just like Bradley, such as Perez or Villar. Sometimes it happens - you give up on a guy to quickly or whatever. It doesn't hurt to assess your own internal assets - coaches, scouts, etc. - when you miss something or overvalue something. But with human beings, things happen.

[LouisEly]

Jim, the criticisms of you on Twitter aren't fair - it's based on 83 innings with the Braves, not 65!

 

But I'm with you, and the reason is like I've said before - Bradley has done most of this with a team in the same league as he was in, facing 90% of the same hitters. It's not like he's in a new league facing guys who haven't seen him before. Bradley's career K/9 is 7.1 but now is up over 9.5 with the Braves. He also hasn't given up a HR since going to the Braves (and only 2 on the season in 107 innings - he's always been a ground ball pitcher).

 

Yes, Bradley is 26 but that's kind of the point - he didn't do this in four years here.

[CheezWizHed]

I would tend to think that this has more to do with a change of scenery for Bradley than a miracle working training staff with Atlanta.