Note from BA on Braun

[giffted1]

I think Ryan's bat will be able to make up for any defensive problems he might have at third. However, if his defense shows no improvement, it makes a lot of sense to move Hall back to third and put Braun in the outfield. It doesn't make sense to keep your best third baseman in the outfield with a questionable defender at third especially if Braun can play in the outfield at least adequately.

[homer]

Do we actually know for a fact that it's one scout's assessment being repeated in several publications? Or is that just conjecture at this point?

[SoCalBrewfan]

The Brewers decided to make things more difficult on themselves by making Hall a CF when they already had three of them (Gross and Hart, plus Clark) on the roster.

 

The Brewers felt that none of those three were long-term solutions in CF...and I think that's the right assessment.

[pogokat]

Quote:

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Do we actually know for a fact that it's one scout's assessment being repeated in several publications? Or is that just conjecture at this point?

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It's mostly conjecture...but the guys hasn't played on a high profile team...he's never been to AA...i've been to brevard and huntsville...it's not teaming with mlb writers...in brevard there's only like 200 people a night...

 

there just aren't that many people who have seem him play...of course, i've never seen a lot of minor leaguers play, and i write about them based on someone elses authority...i think its fair to say that some of what it going on is that...

 

braun has defensive problems, however the brewers clearly think he can handle third...so somebody is overexaggerating his ability or his deficiency...

[colbyjack]

Each time Baseball America brings up Ryan Braun and includes a scouting report with comments from an anonymous scout, the report sounds almost exactly the same. And not just by the description, as it's nearly verbatim, as if the exact same person is telling BA the exact same thing the next time they ask him about it.

 

That is just a hunch on my end. As I noted when I first brought that up, the scouting report may be the same because scouts are seeing the same thing, but I don't get that impression given the way it is presented by BA.

 

EDIT: And then as pogo pointed out, other "experts" get these reports and run with it. Do the folks at BP, Fox Sports, The Hardball Times, The Baseball Analysts, Project Prospects, etc., get to see these prospects? Usually not. In fact, the people at BA rarely do either, as they're relying on reports given to them from people that have. So these reports often get regurgitated to the point that it seems as though hundreds of people have seen Braun and they all feel the exact same way.

 

Which is why when I have had the chance to see someone play and I don't see the same things that are being reported I tend to be a lot more skeptical of those other reports, especially when someone like pogo sees the same thing I do.