2018-09-04 19:00:00 (link to chat) | Will the White Sox bullpen be stacked with power rookies next year? And what will the rotation look like after Rodon, Kopech, two guys and Giolito? (Alex Prettyface from Gundergunder) | This is part of why I foresee a path to 2019 contention as hinted at above, even if it's unlikely--and we've seen how conservative teams have gotten when playoff berths appear to be less than 50% in the offseason.
I'm bullish on both Ryan Burr and Ian Hamilton, Jace Fry has already had an excellent 2018 in the majors, and there's reason to think Caleb Frare is already here and effective. There's always attrition in the bullpen, but there's just so many guys here who have flashed ability to be excellent back end options, and it's a strength of the organization. Covey has looked really good in short bursts, Carson Fulmer will have an offseason to prepare solely as a reliever, some of the guys who don't make the rotation, like say, Jordan Stephens may be effective in that role. Nate Jones might come back, Zack Burdi should be in the majors at some point next year, and even the newly promoted Jose Ruiz has an extremely live arm. Kodi Medeiros is still getting to try starting, but I think he could be a late inning reliever as well. Aaron Bummer is a guy they like a lot.
All of these guys individually are risky propositions based on being relievers, health, ability, etc. But collectively I think they just have a flood of in-house options such that this could be a big strength as soon as next year. (Nick Schaefer) |
2016-03-28 13:00:00 (link to chat) | Kodi Medeiros, why is he so frustrating? (Jake from Green Bay) | Because he has such a complex delivery it is hard to repeat. He gets under the ball a ton, and his command and control show that. He might have more movement on his fastball than like--almost anyone in the minors--and sometimes that can be hard to keep going in one direction.
There's some Gio Gonzalez to this guy. Really tough angle, but he'll always be wild-ish, I think. (Adam McInturff) |
2015-06-10 14:00:00 (link to chat) | Isn't it a bit early to say the Brewers "whiffed on Kodi Medeiros"? (BadgerNoonan from Chicago) | I don't think so, given the concerns. I assume that you're addressing Chris Crawford's analysis from Tuesday. If one didn't like Medeiros due to his slight stature and unorthodox mechanics, causing one to believe he's ultimately a reliever down the line, I'm not sure statistics or performance is going to do much to change that. That is, I don't think Medeiros has done anything to quell the concerns that he's a future reliever, considering none of it stemmed from performance. Thus, I can completely understand why Crawford would consider Medeiros at #15 to be a whiff. You don't take a future reliever at #15. However, I'm not quite ready to lock him in that box. I'd reserve such criticism for the Jake Gatewood selection. (J.P. Breen) |
2015-04-06 20:15:00 (link to chat) | Everyone dogs the Brewers for having a weak system.
Is it a case of bad depth, or not enough high-end talent?
Seems some guys are emerging, like Taylor, Arcia, Harrison, Lara, Gatewood, etc (Bart Bennison from The rivers) | I love this question. The answer is a little bit of column A and a little bit of column B.
The guys you mentioned are mostly guys who are in the system just this past season, where they seemed to make investing in the farm a priority (Harrison, Lara, Gatewood, Medeiros). I think that's a great shift in strategy for them, but the question is whether it's a great concept with poor execution. For example - they signed Kodi Medeiros for $2.5M as the 12th overall pick, saving some slot money so they could spend on Harrison and Gatewood. Grant Holmes - once viewed as a possible top-10 selection slipped to 22nd-overall and *also* signed for $2.5M. Holmes is now viewed as a top-100 quality prospect while a lot of scouts view Medeiros as a LOOGY. Good idea, but was that executed ideally? I'll say no.
On top of that, Gatewood's consistency in selling out for power raised a lot of questions about his selection with that second 1st-rounder. It's too soon to tell whether that was a good selection or not (for most picks, anyway) and Gatewood looked good in BP in my viewing, but it raised some eyebrows at the time.
Harrison seems like a gem, at this point though!
Ultimately, they have some high-end talent but it's super far away and carries a lot of risk (Lara may not be an infielder), and the other talent just isn't very exciting (Taylor). Lot of good reports on Arcia though. (Craig Goldstein) |
2015-04-06 20:15:00 (link to chat) | You mentioned Grant Holmes as the 22nd pick signing for around what Kodi Medeiros signed for as a reason why the plan might not have been executed as expertly as it could have been. However Holmes signed for over slot and Medeiros signed for underslot. Who's to say Holmes would have signed for underslot had he gone 12th? People always rave about Monte Harrison while questioning Medeiros going so high. I just tell them to pretend their draft position was switched. (Mokajige from Sheboygan, WI) | The point though is, they signed for the same amount of money. It's possible Holmes postured that he wouldn't sign for said amount and the Brewers believed him. I don't know that that's the case or not, but it would at least suggest that they didn't do enough homework then. Even so, it's possible they did their work and he just folded to LA where he wouldn't to MIL. Even if you want to play that game though, Brandon Finnegan (another possible LOOGY in the end) signed for even less than Medeiros ($2.206M), already reached the majors and might have a better shot at starting.
I'm not trying to take shots here, but hindsight being what it is, it looks like they could have come away with a better player at 12th overall, while still taking the shots they did on Harrison and Gatewood.
I don't think it's as simple as flipping their draft positions either. Harrison is a great prospect to have, but he's still extremely risky and even upon redraft, likely wouldn't go in the range you're talking about. (Craig Goldstein) |
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