A week ago over at Brew Crew Ball, I explored the importance of union membership for big league ballplayers. The MLBPA is considered one of the strongest unions in America, which is exemplified through their fight for free agency, guaranteed contacts, and an excellent pension program that a player vests in after just 43 days […]
Tag: Minor Leagues
What Colorado Springs Means for Jorge Lopez and Zach Davies
Just two weeks ago, I speculated about the state of the Brewers’ rotation. I concluded that Matt Garza’s contract status and Taylor Jungmann’s 2015 performance have made them near-locks for the Opening Day rotation. Furthermore, I argued that although Wily Peralta has recently trended in the wrong direction, he has proven to be a consistent part of the […]
The Brewers and the Year of the Prospect
Prospects mess with our emotions. They make us smile, they make us cheer, they make us angry, and they often make us question our sanity. But, in many ways, that’s what makes them so much fun. It’s these emotions and the boundless hope prospects bring that engage us in such a visceral emotional attachment. At […]
Top Brewers Storylines of 2015: Resurrection of the Farm System
On Monday, my colleague Jack Moore covered the departure of Doug Melvin, one of the bigger developments to emerge from this year. While Melvin certainly had his strengths as General Manager, his failures ultimately outweighed his successes — and chief among the former was, as Moore cited, Melvin’s utter inability to construct a respectable minor […]
Hope Springs with the 2016 Sky Sox
In September 2014, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel used the following headline to announce that the Brewers had a new minor-league affiliate: “Brewers Settle for Colorado Springs as AAA Team’s Host.” PR departments might cringe at the headline writer’s verb choice, but there is no denying that the Milwaukee Brewers and Colorado Springs Sky Sox came together out […]
Josh Hader and the Durability of Impressions
On August 4, 2015, in his first start with the Biloxi Shuckers of the Double-A Southern League, left-hander Josh Hader treated the Brewers and their fans to the sort of dominant performance that made him the 2014 California League Pitcher of the Year and convinced Milwaukee to acquire him as part of the deal that […]
NL Central’s Top-50 Prospects
BP Milwaukee’s own Seth Victor recently raised the question of where the Brewers stand and how they might compete in a loaded NL Central that featured MLB’s three best records in 2015. St. Louis (100-62), Pittsburgh (98-64), and Chicago (97-65) paved the way, while Milwaukee (68-94) and Cincinnati (64-98) faltered. MLB’s 2013 realignment into […]
Surprise: Eight Brewers to Arizona Fall League
Brewers fans who wish the baseball regular season did not have to end — or at least that it might go on a bit longer — would do well to cast their hopeful gazes southward, where warmth and sunshine reign year-round, and where some of Milwaukee’s top prospects continue to hone their crafts. From mid-October […]
Rolling Out the Barrel: Back to the Future
Welcome to the first postseason version of Rolling Out the Barrel. The Wild Card games are behind us, and as Major League Baseball enters the portion of the playoff schedule in which they do not allow the outcome of a 162-game season to come down to a single game’s result, we turn our heads towards […]
Jorge Lopez & The Fickle Nature of Prospect Lists
Top-prospect lists are not what people desire them to be. They don’t rank how likely minor-league players are to stick in the majors and find success. They shouldn’t guarantee what a prospect will become in the future, nor should they pretend to foresee all possible paths of development. In the end, prospect lists are best utilized to […]