Brewers who didn't make it but you think could have

[nodakfan17]

Taylor Green. I saw him play a whole lot when he was with West Virginia in 2007, and spoke to him at length a couple of times. He is a genuinely nice guy, who had power, on base skills, and the ability to play all over the field. He worked his way up through the system, won the Minor league Player of the year award twice, and made it to the majors in 2011. Then just stopped. He got hurt in '12 and was never the same player. Missed all of 13, and wasn't even good in the minors afterwards.

 

I know there have been a lot of guys like Green in the system, but he stands out for me because watching him in his first trip through the minors, I was just sure he'd have a career in the bigs.

Taylor Green would be my answer, as well.

 

He seemed to have sustained success at virtually every level of the minors until he reached MLB. He hit .207 in 140 AB across 2011 and 2012 and then missed a full season due to injury.

[MNBrew]

What I think of are guys who weren't given an opportunity.

 

Steve Stanicek was the 11th overall pick of the 1982 draft by the Giants and acquired by the Brewers in 1986. That year he put up a 1.031 OPS in El Paso; that park inflated hitting stats, but Stanicek walked (88) more than he struck out (70) that year. The following year he put up a 1.012 OPS in Denver, was called up in September, and got seven plate appearances. Didn't make the team in 1988 - you know, because those big free agents Greg Brock and Jeffrey Leonard were the keys to getting into the playoffs - and didn't get called up and was subsequently released after the 1988 season.

 

Side note: also on that 1987 team, but not brought back, was Brad Komminsk. Komminsk was the #4 overall pick of the 1979 draft, and look at the stats he put up as a 19, 20, 21, and 22 year old in the minors - if they ranked prospects he would have been a top 5 overall prospect if not #1.

 

LaVel Freeman was the Brewers first round pick in the 1983 draft (#26 overall) and had a career minor league slash line of .305/.378/.440, but in 1987 in El Paso put up a .395/.467/.624 slash line. In 1988 the power cooled off, but he still hit .318/.385/.461 in Denver and got called up and given all of three plate appearances. Didn't make the team in 1990 - you know, because Dave Parker, Mike Felder, and Daryl Hamilton were the keys to making the playoffs - and was traded for Scott May.

 

Yes, these guys played in hitter-friendly parks but they also had the OBP to back them and were first round picks - they were thought of highly. But they were stuck behind overrated veterans and never given a chance.

I was a huge, huge fan of both Steve Stanicek and LaVel Freeman at the time. I used to love it when "What's Brewing" would come out back in the early/mid '80s with minor league updates, and of course The Sporting News (back in its good ol' days) with the WEEKLY updated minor league stats. TSN delivered LOTS of good news about those two guys and I could never figure out why neither ever got a very well-earned meaningful chance in the bigs. Stanicek had a brother (Pete) who played for the Orioles.

 

Another guy who was good in the minors, showed something in the bigs, and then got injured was undersized lefty SP Sid Roberson back in 1995. He had years of 12-8 and 15-8 with sub-3.00 ERAs in high-A & AA El Paso (that hitters' haven!), respectively, in '93 (age 21) & '94 (22), earned a chance in the bigs. He went 6-4 but had a 5.76 ERA (sound like Zach Davies' 2017 1st half, anyone?), then got injured and never could get it together again. His K/9 & BB/9 numbers weren't ever stellar and his first run at MLB still had some signs of hope, but the injuries left him with no chance of ever improving on that first go-'round. Roberson was a quietly bright spot in the organization when not many SPs were doing much to distinguish themselves -- the start of the downward organizational slide that took the hiring of Dean Taylor to start to finally reverse. As a FL native myself, I liked that Roberson was a University of Northern Florida guy, too.

 

I loved Taylor Green. So bummed that the injuries did him in. His spot on the postseason roster was well-earned.

 

Somebody mentioned Doug Loman. I remember watching him foul a ball into his face in a game at Detroit. He was out for a while and never had the same shine thereafter, nor did he last long in the bigs once he came back.

 

Dion James was quite the prospect but separated his shoulder diving in CF before his Brewers career really got going and never really got his game back together in MIL. Of course he got chances elsewhere and put together a respectable career.

 

I loved the possibilities of a guy named Tim Pyznarski. I think we got him in a trade with San Diego, and I think he had been a minor-league MVP or something. Never sniffed MLB time in MIL, unfortunately, but had some pretty strong cred going for him when we got him.

 

I have fuzzy recollections of some other guy like Pyznarski -- another OF or 1B type -- that we got from somewhere else earlier in the '80s (Baltimore?) but none of my searching has yielded who that may have been. For some reason I think his last name started with the letter B.

 

I loved 1B/OF Jim Adduci. The guy had a sweet, smooth swing. We got him AND Paul Householder (former highly touted Reds prospect) in the same trade from STL for a bunch of nobodies who never became anybodies. He finally got decent MLB playing time off the bench in 1988 and distinguished himself with a .260s BA -- and a LOWER OBP (yes, you read that right) thanks to 0 walks along with a sacrifice fly or two. His son has bounced into, out of, & otherwise close to the bigs with a few organizations in just as part-time a role. I think he was just DFA'd by Detroit.

 

While he had way too much MLB time to "qualify" legitimately for this thread, Matt Mieske was also a total favorite -- two-time MVP of his league when we got him in the Sheffield trade. He was a decent part-timer but never fulfilled the potential he seemed to show as a low-level prospect in the Padres' system.

[homer]

I remember how genuinely excited Doug Melvin was during his first interview after the Dan Kolb/Capellan trade. He said they were targeting a few mid-tier prospects back for Kolb, and the GM of the Braves said "why not just take the cream of the crop?"

 

I had a friend who had inside sources with the Brewers during Ned Yost era and he said Melvin's leg started shaking when they offered up Capellan.

[MVP2110]

I would have to go with Johnny Hellweg. I thought for sure he was going to turn into a top of the rotation starter

[StearnsFTW]

Marc Newfield is #1 with a bullet for me.

 

Also, Tim Pyznarksi had ridiculous AAA numbers but never made it. He even had a Topps 1987 rookie card despite having 47 career PA in the majors.

 

He was the PTBNL in the deal that sent Randy Ready to the Padres. I remember being so excited that we got him.

 

 

Edit: In retrospect I have no idea why I thought Newfield was such a great prospect. He only had one good season and it was at Calgary, which I'm sure the elevation had something to do with.