Brewers Load Up on Bats in Shortened MLB Draft

When a sports draft happens, my immediate thought is ‘what is their plan of action?’ You try to get into the head of the general manager and front office. I recommend it for those who are critical of NBA, NFL, or MLB Drafts. For the Brewers, they drafted five positional players all from college in the shortened MLB Draft. Brewers aren’t a team that needs offense right now, but what the team believed were they had a better chance at a sure thing from college than a lottery ticket at pitcher. It is the first time since 2003 that the Brewers did not take a pitcher in the first five rounds. That draft didn’t work out well for Brewers besides Rickie Weeks. Let’s hope this one goes better.
Stearns is looking at a scaled-down draft plus no ‘rookie training camp’ and is thinking ‘Who can make immediate impacts in Single and Double-A?’ The answer is college hitters. Those are the guys that can make quick ascends through the ranks. With pitchers or high school players for that matter, there is a lot more finesse that goes into it. Pitchers are rarely ever capable of being thrown right into the mix. The same goes for high schoolers.
As for Brewers’ draft picks, there is a great deal to like about these guys. Freddy Zamora is a middle infielder who is patient at the plate. Zamora is a good defender and starting to get it at the plate. There is some laziness concernsZavier Warren, their third-round pick, might be my favorite pick of the five. Warren can hit and play multiple positions. He seems like a complete stud. Brewers also added a lanky outfielder Joey Wiemer who has a large frame with muscle to put on. Lastly, they added Hayden Cantrelle, another middle infielder. For those keeping track at home, Brewers added two outfielders, two middle infielders, and a utility guy.
So what to do about the pitching? Brewers obviously believe they can pick up some guys in the free-agent market. It would not surprise me if they have a system for adding young pitchers to their arsenal too. It is not a concern in my eyes. You can add pitching through trades, and with a shortened draft, there will be good players out there.
Charlie.