2018 Draft Pick Discussion, Rounds 1-5 [7/5 -- 1st rounder Turang signs]

[Eye Black]

Baseball America report on HS OF Micah Bello (ranked #121 overall)...

 

School: Hilo (Hawaii) HS

Ht: 6-0 | Wt: 165 | B-T: R-R | Commit/Drafted: St. Mary's

Scouting Report: Hawaii’s top draft prospect by a wide margin, Bello held his own during the Area Code Games and stood out at the MLB Prospect Development Pipeline showcase with an opposite-field, standup triple. The 6-foot, righthanded-hitting Bello has average or better tools across the board and a long track record of hitting. He takes aggressive swings with a small leg kick, above-average bat speed and a level bat path that produces frequent hard line drives. He’s aggressive but takes good at-bats and shows average power potential. Bello is playable in center field, but his average speed and above-average arm profile best in right field. He is one of the youngest players in the class, so his tools are still growing. Bello spent the offseason working out with Kolton and Kean Wong to prepare for pro ball. He is committed to St. Mary’s but expected to sign.

[And That]

Going to go out on a limb and go with Luken Baker here for the Brewers.

Stupid Cardinals.

[DHonks]

Maybe they should target pitchers and maybe one or two might be a solid starter

 

In fairness we’ve heavily targeted pitching for years and most have been wasted picks. The Cubs have found success forgoing pitching in the draft, drafting hitting, and signing free agent pitchers. I don’t want to mimic them, but I prefer seeing us go hard early after hitters. Rounds 4-10 can go more heavily pitching.

[Eye Black]

Going to go out on a limb and go with Luken Baker here for the Brewers. Maybe Adam Kloffenstein or De Sedas.

Cardinals get Luken Baker unfortunately.

[SRB]

..seems like a bit of a reach on this one. Would have liked a pitcher

 

Keep in mind that we're in the range where this guy could legitimately be at the top of the front office's draft board, and/or could be signed underslot to help bring in talent later.

 

Eric Longenhagen‏ @longenhagen 3m3 minutes ago

Love Micah Bello. Bat-first CF prospect with great feel to hit, chance to stay in CF. Milwaukee has drafted several Hawaiian players last 4 years (Yamamoto, Medeiros, KJ Harrison all from there)

[And That]

Really like the Bello pick, by the way. Outstanding bat speed and one of the younger players.

[Jenkins5]

Load up on up the middle talent, develop them into really good prospects, trade them for pitching down the road.... be nice to draft a pitcher, but Brewers playing there board. Clearly CF prospects grade out higher in the war room. You look at our recent drafts & international signings.... we may soon have a whole top 10 of just CFs lol

[Austin Tatious]

I was about to mention all the Hawaiians. I wonder if we have a scout with good intel over there.

 

The FO is foaming at the mouth for outfielders at this point. That’s been a heavy focus in the draft and particularly in the international market.

[KeithStone53151]

This draft gets more and more frustrating by the pick. Are we expecting to contend by trading for the Zach Davies and chase Anderson's of the world? That is not a blue print for success.

 

And to whoever mentioned we are following the cubs blue print, their pitching situation is almost exclusively free agent spending. They also drafted in the top 10 for 5 straight years and got a generational talent at number 2 overall.

[Eye Black]

JJ Cooper[/url]"]So USA 18U Team Director @MLBlood41 and the Brewers think similarly. Blood cited Brice Turang and Joe Gray as two guys who may be better than where they end up being picked. Brewers got both of them.

 

From Baseball America: Brice Turang's MLB Draft Slide Might Be One Teams Regret

[Jenkins5]

I personally really like the draft so far. Now I am almost always more excited about high school picks & ceiling. Not to mention love athletes. That makes me biased a bit. I trust front office. We should see some college 4 year guys come soon for pool reasons. Next pick I assume will be a college arm that can sign around slot but who knows how board plays out. Brewers have shown they will go with what board has

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

This draft gets more and more frustrating by the pick. Are we expecting to contend by trading for the Zach Davies and chase Anderson's of the world? That is not a blue print for success.

 

And to whoever mentioned we are following the cubs blue print, their pitching situation is almost exclusively free agent spending. They also drafted in the top 10 for 5 straight years and got a generational talent at number 2 overall.

 

They are 3 picks in. Plenty of talented pitching still available. A guy like Corbin Burnes can walk on water according to some posters around here. When was he drafted?

[narwhalattack]

This draft gets more and more frustrating by the pick. Are we expecting to contend by trading for the Zach Davies and chase Anderson's of the world? That is not a blue print for success.

 

And to whoever mentioned we are following the cubs blue print, their pitching situation is almost exclusively free agent spending. They also drafted in the top 10 for 5 straight years and got a generational talent at number 2 overall.

 

To be fair, though, Rocker and Wilcox were likely difficult signs from the get-go (especially considering the Brewers’ relatively small pool), and the ones who are signable at this point probably aren’t gonna be the TOR pitchers the Brewers need.

[homer]

From SI:

 

21. Milwaukee Brewers: Brice Turang, SS, 6’ 1”, 180 lbs., Santiago HS (Corona, Calif.)

 

Brice is the son of Brian Turang, a utility infielder/outfielder who played with the Seattle Mariners in 1993 and 1994. Prior to the beginning of the spring season, Turang was hyped as a potential top-five pick; his draft stock has fallen significantly as the season has progressed.

 

The reason is simple: Turang is trying to be a hitter he is not. He has adopted a severe upward launch angle, fly ball, home run or nothing swing—think Joc Pederson or Cody Bellinger. Thin and wiry, that style is not suited to Turang.

 

If he switches to a gap-to-gap (slight upward angle) line drive type of swing, Turang will have a far better chance to succeed. His non-hitting tools are outstanding. Turang runs well, is athletic, shows a fine arm with excellent fielding skills. He should stick at shortstop but could easily transition elsewhere.

[Eye Black]

Matthew Blood[/url]"]The Brewers just got one of the most resilient players in this draft. @JoJo2Gray is so fun to be around and is a huge upside pick by the Brewers. Defense, power, speed, arm strength, and aptitude. Huge fan of this kid.

[3and2Fastball]

I personally really like the draft so far. Now I am almost always more excited about high school picks & ceiling. Not to mention love athletes. That makes me biased a bit. I trust front office. We should see some college 4 year guys come soon for pool reasons. Next pick I assume will be a college arm that can sign around slot but who knows how board plays out. Brewers have shown they will go with what board has

 

Strongly agree. They don't need all of the athletic OF's to live up to their ceiling, one of Lutz, Ray, Gray, Bello will likely be stars....

[And That]

Turang mentioned he patterns his game after Daniel Murphy, so if that's true the high launch angle swing might not go away.

[3and2Fastball]

Turang mentioned he patterns his game after Daniel Murphy, so if that's true the high launch angle swing might not go away.

 

It will if he's hitting .228 in A+ Ball in 2020

 

I fully expect Turang to take awhile to develop. A lot of high school draftees struggle at first even in A Ball. But I think this kid could be the next great Shortstop for the Brewers, hopefully ready for the Show when Arcia goes into free agency

[Fear The Chorizo]

The mlb draft is ultimately such a crapshoot, I'm not sure why people get up in arms over any pick, let alone assume there are set blue prints or strategies. Many times it has more to do with signability (especially with hs pitching) and which scout a gm trusts the most to go with "his guy".

[Eye Black]

I personally really like the draft so far. Now I am almost always more excited about high school picks & ceiling. Not to mention love athletes. That makes me biased a bit. I trust front office. We should see some college 4 year guys come soon for pool reasons. Next pick I assume will be a college arm that can sign around slot but who knows how board plays out. Brewers have shown they will go with what board has

 

Strongly agree. They don't need all of the athletic OF's to live up to their ceiling, one of Lutz, Ray, Gray, Bello will likely be stars....

Not to mention Carlos Rodriguez and Larry Ernesto. The odds would say there is likely a star or two in that overall group.

[Austin Tatious]

We’ve got some good pitchers at the top levels of our system but the lower levels are barren.

 

It’s not the act of drafting pitchers that is a mistake. It’s that the Brewers have not made good decisions with pitching. Hence, they are terrified to do so.

 

I’m optimistic the new regime may be smarter in drafting, but the organization as a whole has whiffed with position players. It’s not like they have a good track record avoiding pitchers when you look at first rounders like Roache, Coulter, Grisham and company.

 

You look at a top organization like Cleveland and they draft pitchers very well, year in, year out. And those pitchers end up being assets. You’re more than likely not getting Tristan McKenzie in a trade. If you want talent like that, you need good scouting and the balls to execute on draft day. Again, you look at the top pitchers they took and you see the same projectable upside that McKenzie has. Then, in two years, on the transaction board, folks will dream about trading for those guys when they’ll be unavailable.

 

At the end of the day, the Cubs can afford to sign free agent pitchers. Milwaukee can’t. The top pitchers can’t be fetched in a trade and the Brewers can’t sign them in free agency.

[SRB]

This draft gets more and more frustrating by the pick. Are we expecting to contend by trading for the Zach Davies and chase Anderson's of the world? That is not a blue print for success.

 

And to whoever mentioned we are following the cubs blue print, their pitching situation is almost exclusively free agent spending. They also drafted in the top 10 for 5 straight years and got a generational talent at number 2 overall.

 

Top 20 pitchers in the majors this season by fWAR:

 

Verlander: trade

Scherzer: free agent

deGrom: 9th round draft pick

Severino: international amateur

Cole: trade

Nola: 1st round, top-10 draft pick

Bauer: trade

Sale: trade

Kluber: 4th round draft pick

Paxton: 4th round draft pick

Syndergaard: trade

Snell: 1st round draft pick

Mengden: 4th round draft pick

Porcello: trade

Pivetta: 4th round draft pick

Gray: 1st round, top-10 draft pick

Gonzalez: trade

Corbin: trade

Foltynewicz: trade

Happ: trade

 

Only one of them was acquired by a first day draft pick outside of the top 10.

[Jenkins5]

This draft gets more and more frustrating by the pick. Are we expecting to contend by trading for the Zach Davies and chase Anderson's of the world? That is not a blue print for success.

 

And to whoever mentioned we are following the cubs blue print, their pitching situation is almost exclusively free agent spending. They also drafted in the top 10 for 5 straight years and got a generational talent at number 2 overall.

 

Disagree strongly... Davies was a 1 for 1 trade for K-Rod.... Anderson was more of the throw in, Diaz was centerpiece. Not sure how you think having loaded system of players at a priemium position could not be used to get an Ace simply because Stearns hasn’t yet? You load system up, get logjam, and trade to improve MLB team. If it is SP & Stearns doesn’t have to sell soul to finish deal... he will do it. Not sure why you think because we draft a pitcher in 2nd or 3rd round, they will save our SP situation. Yo, Nelson, Odorizzi, and Jungmann very briefly are only ones to help at all in past decade & Odorizzi wasn’t for us. Burns was 4th round pick. Suter, Fiers, and others much later. Those are not stellar odds. Ponce, hasn’t been good in AA either. Medorois.... who knows what we have. Jeffress kind of can’t pitch for any other team.

[MrTPlush]

I’m okay focusing on positional players early on in this draft. It seems the pitchers are pretty limited as is, but a little deeper going into rounds 3-5.

[Austin Tatious]

You’re cherry picking your own rules. I could just as easily point to the top pitchers and where they were picked. We are talking about the draft today. The top pitchers are drafted high more often than not. The Brewers can’t afford some of the contracts where established pitchers move. That’s not an option. Top pitchers go high in the draft.