Brendan Gawlowski Prospects Chat: 4/14/26

Brendan Gawlowski: Hello everybody. A little list housekeeping to start… I wrote up the Rangers system yesterday, and Eric tackled Sacramento last week. He’s currently working on the Nationals and I’m writing up Kansas City. Hopefully both will be live by this time next week.

Brendan Gawlowski: I also went out to Everett last week and wrote up some notes on a few Top 100 guys — Farmelo, Bremner, Celesten — and a few other guys, including Luke Stevenson, who has a chance to make the list on our next update.

Brendan Gawlowski: It appears Johnny Level has homered again

Brendan Gawlowski: I’ll have Brecht and the Spokane/Vancouver game in the background, maybe we can all follow along with that together too

Brendan Gawlowski: Otherwise, let’s get going

Insert Witty Name Here: Have you watched Painter’s games at all this year? SSS of course, but curious to know how you think he looks.

Brendan Gawlowski: Saw two of his three outings… Stuff broadly looks good, a little concerned about how the arm strength dips fairly early in the outing. Not a great fastball if he’s not throwing really hard. SFG had incredibly good takes against him, made me wonder if they were seeing something. Encouraged that he righted the ship in his last outing. Looks like the guy we wrote up writ large.

miguel sime, sr.: have you watched either of Sime’s 2 starts?  interested to know your opinion on where he stands as a prospect given he doesnt have a grade on fg yet.

Brendan Gawlowski: I have not, but check back in soon for Eric’s list. His lack of an update is kind of a quirk, he signed a week after Eric did the Nats list last year.

Wallyworld: I saw your notes on Farmelo. Imagine the high end of his range would be PCA esque? Live with the hit tool/K’s, high end speed and plus power?

Brendan Gawlowski: The surface offensive production could resemble what PCA posted last season but I don’t see them as similar players. PCA is faster and a better defender, Farmelo has way more physicality and pop

Alec: Prospects putting up the same stats in the same minor league level can be valued very differently based on their age. What do you view as sort of the threshold at the minor league levels to say “wow, he’s playing great here for his age” to “I would expect him to play above average here given his age”, and does that change between hitters and pitchers?

Brendan Gawlowski: Sliding scale based on the tools and experience.

Brendan Gawlowski: And it’s not linear, either. If you’re 19 on the complex, you’re already kind of old. But it’s not weird for college draft picks to go to Low-A at 21 or 22

War2D2: Brendan! Given the fact that Willson Contreras is currently in the top-10 on bWAR leaderboards and Michael Busch is currently microwaved ass, I got to thinking about how the Cubs messed up by not extending Willson to be the post-Rizzo 1B and instead let him go for a draft pick. I was curious who the pick turned into, but I can’t find an easy way to see what pick it was or who they drafted in that slot. Any help would be much appreciated.

Brendan Gawlowski: It’s 15 games

Billy G: At what level do swing holes tend to reveal themselves? Are there certain levels you expect certain holes to show up? Or is it more case by case? I know Eric has talked about guys like Kieboom having swings that worked until they didn’t at the MLB level

Brendan Gawlowski: All things are possible here, case by case

Guest: Curious to know if you have anything on newest chicago prospect Jordan Rich, really nothing I can find elsewhere

Brendan Gawlowski: Small, athletic, not much power. Flier/project type, scout I spoke with said he didn’t really stand out on the backfields. But it’s very early.

Guards! Guards!: When a prospect is described as having short levers, is that something based on visual analysis, or vibes? And is there any benefit to a hitter’s swing if their arms are shorter, the same way NBA players typically have a wingspan larger than average?

Brendan Gawlowski: Just look at them. You’re looking for short arms, which generally means someone on the short side.

Brendan Gawlowski: When you have a big guy with short arms, that’s ideal

Brendan Gawlowski: Soderstrom is kinda like that

Seth: Samuel Zavala hit 286/.396/.398 at High-A from June 1 last year and seems to be continuing to hit as a 21-year-old in AA. Did the Sox maybe actually get something in return for Cease?

Brendan Gawlowski: Sometimes guys need a beat. The jump from Low-A to High-A while changing orgs may have just been a lot for him.

Bumpin Ugglas: What would you realistically like to see change with the draft in the new CBA?

Brendan Gawlowski: Realistically: Move it earlier, teams hate having that and the deadline back to back. Better to get the drafted guys going earlier in the year too

Brendan Gawlowski: I’m not holding my breath

Hop: The Padres have the second-best record in MLB, though it feels like the smoke-and-mirrors embodiment of a Randy Vasquez start. Is there any hope the minor league system will be able to provide any reinforcements?

Brendan Gawlowski: It’s pretty lean down there

Brendan Gawlowski: Getting $.60 on the dollar for years has taken a toll

Tacoby Bellsbury: You seem quite conflicted by Felnin Celesten. Are there other notable prospects for whom you’ve had similar thoughts? How has that played out?

Brendan Gawlowski: He’s a tough report. Guys with big gaps between tools and skills often are. Pitchers on a bad day can be tricky. Hitters when their timing looks off.

Brendan Gawlowski: Also guys where there’s a gap between hype and what they actually look like

Brendan Gawlowski: If you go back and read all the stuff I wrote here about Jordyn Adams, for instance, prior to being an actual scout… I’m just dancing around saying “I don’t think he can hit”

Brendan Gawlowski: At this point, I’d feel more comfortable just saying it in that situation

Brendan Gawlowski: Off the top of my head, other tough reports in recent years… Tai Peete, Miguel Vargas, Oscar Colas.

Brendan Gawlowski: Of recent systems we’ve written up, AJ Russell and Malcolm Moore presented different kinds of challenges

DJ Tofu: Looking back at the previous top top prospects that didn’t pan out (Kelenic, Lux, Robles), were there signs that could have foreshadowed future problems?

Brendan Gawlowski: With Lux and Robles, power data probably would’ve helped pump the breaks a little bit

Guest: How would you compare Jackson Flora to Tyler Bremner as the first pitcher taken off the board this year?

Brendan Gawlowski: Flora > Bremner for me

lukacs: how cooked would you say guys with crazy high strikeout rates are? i’m thinking dudes like spencer jones, vance honeycutt, elijah green, etc.

Brendan Gawlowski: Depends on the guy. I don’t see how this works for Green; Jones could do something productive

Jimmy (Catching) Crooks: If you have elite EVs like Jordan Walker, it seems like pull air % isn’t as important as he is so strong he can go with a pitch for a 420 ft bomb. Am I right I thinking as an industry there is too much focus on pull for top end raw power guys?

Brendan Gawlowski: I don’t know about “too much” because I think you’ll find a range of opinions on that subject. Certainly the more power you have, the less important it is to get to the pull side.

Al: Will Cijntje ultimately be a #2 SP can he bitch more than 80 innings for the Braves this season?

Brendan Gawlowski: I think he’s gonna get tossed if he’s bitching that often

Mike Vasil 2028: Happy Noah Schultz day to you and yours. I love just how big that guy is

Brendan Gawlowski: I covered the Sox my first year with PIT and saw Schultz in instructs. I came to the park really skeptical that the 6’10” cold weather high schooler was a wise use of a first round pick and it took about three pitches to go “ohhh I see…”

Jimmy (Catching) Crooks: Any farms left you think would be in contention for a top 3 system?

Brendan Gawlowski: Boston and Tampa are going to be good. Miami has traded for so many guys that they could be sneaky high as well. Probably not top 3

Maddoning: When you release a system overview in the middle of the season, how much do you take this year’s performance into account for grades and rankings?

Brendan Gawlowski: As much as possible. Really noticing that uptick with the KC writeup, there’s now enough video/data out there to lean on it in a way I couldn’t with previous clubs.

Gruber: Odds that Eric Bitonti ever sees the majors? Wha would need to happen and is there a comp?

Brendan Gawlowski: He could make it, yeah. Tons of power goofs with 30 hit tools get a little run, some of them figure out an approach that lets them have a little career. Helps a lot if you can play a premium position.

Mr. WorldWide: What are the odds that the next two-way player is more in the mold of a Josh Owens? Someone not necessarily elite on one side, but potentially average to above average on both. Or will at some point the offensive potential will be too much to continue or vice-versa.

Brendan Gawlowski: Most of these guys will have their lane picked for them

Brendan Gawlowski: I also suspect that teams, unless they’re getting real value on both sides, will want to narrow the focus to protect the player’s health.

millvillemeltdown: scouting and writing seems like a hectic job, and i would not be able to do it without copious stimulant intake. do you keep track of your caffeine consumption, and if so, how much on an average workday?

Brendan Gawlowski: I appreciate your concern but one latte a day is enough

Tim: Kind of a post-hype guy at this point, but have you seen anything different in Zach Gelof’s profile that would give you hope he’s turned a corner this year? Bit frustration that the A’s called him up just to sit him for 4 straight games.

Brendan Gawlowski: No

Tibbsy: Any chance I see the majors this year? There’s a lot good outfield play above me. Mr. Tibbs.

Brendan Gawlowski: Yeah you’ll make it. You might need an injury

Brendan Gawlowski: Not to you, to be clear.

Umps with six-pack ABS: University of Denver grad here. With CHL players now eligible for NCAA, my Pios won a record 11 hockey championship this week on the backs of a bunch of freshman who came out of the WHL. Your neck of the woods. Coincidence? You tell me.

Brendan Gawlowski: You might be on the wrong website

blackjack: Has Charlie Condon re-emerged as an elite prospect?  Was it a mistake for analysts to degrade his value after the tough start to his pro career?

Brendan Gawlowski: I think he remains a volatile, power over hit prospect. Needle on him hasn’t changed a lot for me.

Brendan Gawlowski: I like him, there’s clearly a lot of upside. I don’t think he’s breaking out or anything like that though

O: How should the Mariners’ be approaching Emerson’s promotion given that he’s not exactly murdering AAA pitching so far? Do you think it’ll take an injury for him to make the jump?

Brendan Gawlowski: Let him play everyday, assess on a case by case basis when opportunities arise.

Brendan Gawlowski: Not concerned at all about the production, weather’s bad up here and in a lot of the PCL right now

A Boy Named Su: I hate to do it, but I’m going to……any updates on the ETA for the Cubs list?

Brendan Gawlowski: James and Eric are going to tag team that one… I have no specific update but given that Eric is in Florida now and presumably prioritizing some of those looks, I suspect that the Cubbies will be toward the back

Finnegan’s SSW: (The comp pick for Contreras was Jaxon Wiggins)

Jeremy: Re: big guys with short arms being ideal, have you ever seen a big hitter whose arms were *too* short, so that he struggled to cover the whole strike zone?

Brendan Gawlowski: no

Bob: Seems like the Braves rotation is going to have a spot open after Martin Perez’s DFA, who is more ready, Ritchie or Fuentes?

Brendan Gawlowski: Both? Fuentes has looked awesome and is already on the 40 so maybe him by default

EccentricATLFan: Meg obviously mentioned yesterday that Foscue graduated from the prospect list due to active roster days, but curious to know your thoughts on him and whether you have much, if any, hope for him going forward.

Brendan Gawlowski: I’m out

Tipping: Are certain pitcher types more prone to pitch tipping than others or is it entirely individually-based?

Brendan Gawlowski: There are certain delivery markers that are, generally, easier for hitters to pick things up.

Brendan Gawlowski: But on a more case by case basis, some guys just hold their glove in a certain way (or whatever) that tips what’s coming

A Boy Named Su: Just a housekeeping thing, but Roster Resource says Ethan Conrad was drafted by TEX not the Cubs.  Also, any updates on when he will head to an affiliate?

Brendan Gawlowski: I’ll pass that long; I do not

Level Up: How aggressive do you see the Giants being with Jhonny Level? SSS and extreme BABIP obviously, but three homers and five doubles in 6.1 games

Brendan Gawlowski: They’re not shy about moving quickly as a general matter, a mid-summer promotion wouldn’t surprise me a bit.

Brendan Gawlowski: They’ve also got a ton of guys they want to get reps at short… that’s not the kind of thing that by itself would get someone promoted but it doesn’t hurt his chances of getting a bump sooner rather than later

DJ: If Rangers two-way prospect Seong-Jun Kim does take the hitter route do you think he has the defensive ability to stick at shortstop?

Brendan Gawlowski: Cautiously, yes.

Brendan Gawlowski: Didn’t see him there myself, scout I trust is in on him there

Kate: What do you make of guys who’s velo is still down from last year at this point?  Ex: Elmer Rodriguez appears to be down almost 2 mph on his sinker so far.  Is this a ramping up thing or cause for concern?

Brendan Gawlowski: Not ideal, obviously, but it’s cold and not unusual for guys to be down a tick or two this time of year

Brendan Gawlowski: Something to monitor, not panic about

doughboy: Bryce Rainer is striking out at a concerningly high rate to start the season. Chalk it up to rust? Or is this part of the risk in his profile?

Brendan Gawlowski: Both

Kate: Asked Eric on Fri what Wilder Dalis would have to do to be a midseason Top 100 add and he said he wanted to see the bat speed improvements stick.  After a 2 HR game this weekend, I’d say we’re looking good so far!  Is this a possible big breakout incoming?

Brendan Gawlowski: He looks improved year over year. And I liked him plenty last summer

Jack: How much of your scouting at this point is something you personally notice, either in the data or video, vs something you hear about from a source and then look at to form an opinion? For example noticing prospect X has a closed-off swing that might struggle against velocity (Fien?) vs hearing reports that some teams think he might struggle with pro velo and checking to see if you come to the same conclusion?

Brendan Gawlowski: Trying to digest info from as many avenues as possible. I can’t possibly see everything, so data/other perspectives are really valuable.

Bud: Say that right now, you “hit” on 60% of the guys in your top 100, ignoring injuries. What’s the highest you think you or anyone else will ever do on that? Will it get to the point where 90% of prospects on top 100 lists will ever be a hit?

Brendan Gawlowski: What does “hit” indicate? Because I don’t think it’s possible for 90% of guys on a FV-based Top 100 to turn into two-win players

Ben: Curious to hear your thoughts on whether guys would be better served going to college (assuming they are a good enough student)? Thinking about the poor success of high school arms and especially Brock Porter (I really wanted him to end up at Clemson). Or would they just end up breaking down in school and never get paid.

Brendan Gawlowski: It’s a personal decision laden with non-baseball factors as well but, as a general matter, I would lean toward advising HS prospects to get into pro ball, particularly pitchers looking at a solid bonus.

DJ: Is there a system writeup you’ve done where your opinion of the overall org talent significantly changed from what you thought it would be going into the process?

Brendan Gawlowski: I knew basically nothing about most of the Braves guys going in, so that one stands out. A couple more low-level bats with upside than I’d have expected based on reputation. And then also the fun roller coaster of writing up Gil one way and then seeing him show up to camp looking like a strong safety and having to scramble on that report.

DJ: Brewers 1B/DH Blake Burke has been on fire since early August of last year. Are you buying him as a future every day regular?

Brendan Gawlowski: It’s in play

PBNJ: Will the top three pitching prospects by mid-summer be 1) K Anderson 2) R Sloan 3) S Hernandez?

Brendan Gawlowski: Possibly but I think you might need to slide Anderson to third to account for the ace upside on the other two

Umps with six-pack ABS:

1. d4 Your move

Brendan Gawlowski: Englund gambit, let’s go

Jurassic James Abstract: Which dinosaur is going to produce the most fWAR under the short arms/big strength theory?  Majungasaurus is bordering on vestigial arms so we might be facing diminishing returns once we get past T-Rex?

Brendan Gawlowski: Best question of the day

A Boy Named Yu: I appreciate all you do, especially these chats, so I’m choosing my words carefully to not lose that tone.  I feel like I submit a lot of questions and rarely do they get answered.  Is it just the shear number of questions you get where you can only get to a fraction of them?  Or is there a certain type of question you get drawn to answering?  (of course, just as soon as I finished typing this, you answered two of mine within five minutes of each other.  Go figure!)

Brendan Gawlowski: There are 100+ I can’t get to every week. I try to spread it out a little among the IP’s/usernames but am probably not very good at that

Brendan Gawlowski: I lean toward things I know about — nobody wants to read “I haven’t really dove into Minnesota’s system much” or whatever

Brendan Gawlowski: So, systems I’ve written up, west half of the country, general scouting, MLB are more likely to get selected

Billy G: Were you surprised to see Toronto send Nimmala back to A+? Wasn’t he awesome there for like the last 3 months of the season?

Brendan Gawlowski: I think it’s fine to give him a chance to really hit there

Definitely Not Carl Crawford: Justin Crawford has only 1 barrel and 1 ball pulled in the air (not the same batted ball event by the way) through 54 PAs/37 batted balls. The surface stats look good, but Crawford is riding a .405 BABIP. Do you foresee trouble for him down the line this year if the batted ball profile doesn’t change much? There is not much depth here for Philly so he will get every chance, but I worry things may get ugly.

Brendan Gawlowski: Clearly running hot but he’s a candidate to run a high BABIP over the long haul and he’ll grow and make his own adjustments as he gets acclimated

RH: Any idea of when the Giants list will drop?

Brendan Gawlowski: Need to work out with Eric whether he wants to co-byline that one or if it’ll make more sense for me to tackle it. Late April/early May eta

Jay: Guesses on arrivals of the following: Eldridge, Condon, Clark, Aidan, Waldschmidt.
Is it all mid-late May for service time considerations? (Maybe not Aidan as he’s not swinging a bat yet)

Brendan Gawlowski: I think you’ve mostly got it sorted.

King Useless: What happened to Walter Ford?

Brendan Gawlowski: Lost six ticks right after signing

Brendan Gawlowski: has looked like an org from just about day one

Ben: But do you answer your wife’s questions every week?  (I ask in a joking manner)

Brendan Gawlowski: Mostly. She’s been pretty good at finding the right topic. Last week she snuck into my office and looked at where I was on the Rangers list and asked a question about the two way guys.

lukacs: who will you be the last soldier for? i finally sold all my forrest whitley stock when he signed with yomiuri.

Brendan Gawlowski: There’re a lot of Rockies that spring to mind

Brendan Gawlowski: Amador, Beck, Roldy

Gaints: Seems like a few obscure Giants pitchers are doing well (Switalski, Farone, Cayama, just to name a few), do any of them stand out?

Brendan Gawlowski: 40’s

Dylan Lesko: I threw 12 pitches the other day and only 2 were balls. AM I BACK?

Brendan Gawlowski: Speaking of guys I’d soldier on for…

Oddball Herrera: Why do some guys with near elite speed, like De Vries, seldom steal bases? Do some orgs discourage trying to cultivate SBs as a lower priority

Brendan Gawlowski: some guys aren’t very good at it. It’s part of baseball’s charm that Josh Naylor can take bases at will while Jake Cook went like 3-8 against Sun Belt arms/catchers last year

Jay: I know he was released by a team desperate for any offensive help in WAS, but what happened to Orelvis? Is he destined for the NPB or Long Island?

Brendan Gawlowski: Not very skilled

Brendan Gawlowski: Very little improvement over his prospect life

Brendan Gawlowski: as easy to pitch to now as he was as a 19 year old

Brendan Gawlowski: raw defensively

Mr. WorldWide: When does projection for guys like yolfran castillo go to far? At what point is lack of production weighed more heavily than projections? I know you and Eric were high on him but it seems he is struggling again this year so far.

Brendan Gawlowski: A pretty long time. Shorter here than for a team.

Umps with six-pack ABS: 2) d5. Declining the gambit.

Brendan Gawlowski: You’re no fun

Brendan Gawlowski: Nf6

millvillemeltdown: how do scouts assess mechanics? ex: delauter’s swing is unquestionably “ugly,” but it works. however if, say, belli tried to swing like that, i think the results would be… bad. (his movements are so… wiggly??? reminds me of a noodle. incongruent with delauter imo.) also, unique pitching motions, etc, contributing to poor command/control or velo etc. (i’m thinking about a bryan woo article i saw here about repeatability of delivery or something). clearly there’s something there, else it would have been dropped, but i’m very curious about how it plays into it

Brendan Gawlowski: Note what they’re doing physically, assess how it impacts what they do on the field, possibly identify potential adjustments where relevant as part of the projection.

Greg: You think Jared Jones can stick as a starter if he stays healthy?

Brendan Gawlowski: Yes

Mario: I still imagine scouts holding their trademark radar guns. Do they need those anymore? What will you do with yours when you don’t need it anymore? Mount it over fireplace like a musket?

Brendan Gawlowski: Amateur scouts still need them a fair bit for high schools/small colleges. Occasionally pro scouts will but for the most part you’re relying on trackman/hawkeye. I used mine a handful of times over four years. I like the musket idea

Johnny5Alive: What prospects should we be just excited about this season once the Mets start to sell off their roster?

Brendan Gawlowski: It’s 17 games

Don: Has Jesus Rodriguez’s profile changed at all as he continues to hit well in AAA? Does he have enough in him from an offensive standpoint for the Giants to find him At Bats regardless of the position? They need any help they can get right now.

Brendan Gawlowski: Quirky profile, lot of ways to help, just about ready. I don’t know that it’s changed much though…

Karl Hungus: What are your thoughts on teams extending guys early? I understand it’s a case-by-case, but was asking more more of an approach question.

Brendan Gawlowski: Makes sense for all parties. Sympathetic to the critique that it’s an exploitative system for the players but at a certain point we’re talking about multi-generational wealth for guys who haven’t played a big league game and I can’t get that worked up about it. ymmv

Dan G: Chess moves get answered.  But mine never do.

Brendan Gawlowski: I think you’ve found the path forward

Brendan Gawlowski: (I do not have thoughts about Tanner Franklin at this time, I’ll look for next week)

Karl Hungus: How important is extension? Is that something that you make note of, or is its importance teased out with the pitch performance data?

Brendan Gawlowski: It’s a factor. Tend to think it’s more important at the extremes but open to a more nuanced perspective

All Power to the People except Westerners lol: Worst prospect echo chamber in the MLB fandom? The Cubs one is f’n weird man, sameish guys talking the sameish guys

Brendan Gawlowski: No idea. Tend to think the same dynamics exist everywhere, just with larger and smaller fanbases.

Utah’s Biggest M’s Fan: You seem like the kind of guy who would enjoy OOTP Brendan. Also, English Opening thoughts?

Brendan Gawlowski: I’m sure I would, wish I had a 30 hour day. English is complicated, I’ve tried it and generally don’t like where I wind up. Skill issue.

Keeptheminors: What’s going on with these high storing games?

Brendan Gawlowski: Yesterday was nuts!

Brendan Gawlowski: But also there was a day last week where there like 10 homers

O: Be honest did you also get faked out by fake Seattle spring last week?

Brendan Gawlowski: Not my first rodeo

Guest: Is Zach erhard a legit prospect in your eyes if not LA some other team in trade?

Brendan Gawlowski: Definitely a prospect, good example of a guy/profile who will struggle to break into LAD’s lineup

Pawn: Any thoughts on Alexander Frias, OF, MIL?

Brendan Gawlowski: Jumped out on the DSL video, got some positive feedback from the org on him as well. eager to see how he hits in the complex this summer, definitely a priority eval.

Adobe: Druw Jones bails out of the batter’s box on every swing. Two questions here: Was he doing that as an amateur? And, how is this not something that can be fixed?

Brendan Gawlowski: Pulling up some video, so going to answer in reverse order

Brendan Gawlowski: Dev tweaks are not easy. We read about the successes but for every swing change that unlocks real power there are a ton that don’t materially change anything for the player

Brendan Gawlowski: And yes he was

EccentricATLFan: I remember at one point seeing people speculate that one of the next areas teams might focus heavily on would be better nutrition.  Do you see that generally playing out (or not), and if so, which teams seem to be focusing on it the most?  Side note for Umps: Declining the Englund?  Really?  Not that scary.

Brendan Gawlowski: Yeah most (all?) teams have made big changes there in the last 15 years

Karl Hungus: Have you ever scouted the Little League World Series?

Brendan Gawlowski: No and way too young.

Sad Mets Fan: Brendan tell me something nice about Elian Pena to make me less sad about the current state of the Mets.

Brendan Gawlowski: The owner of the team who signed Elian Pena has a gazillion dollars and is willing to spend it and things are probably going to work out just fine for the 2026 edition of the club

Brendan Gawlowski: Peña is very good tho

Oaktown Blues: Do major league teams have scouts that watch their own big league players? Either to suggest adjustments or just evaluate if a guy belongs?

Brendan Gawlowski: Ideally our own coaching staff should be all over it, but teams do self scout their big leaguers as well

RH: Is it worth your time to write up West Coast League games in the summer? I don’t know where it fits in the summer collegiate hierarchy

Brendan Gawlowski: There very likely will be future big leaguers there and I may go to a game or two but I don’t think it’ll lead to much, if any content here

Brendan Gawlowski: Generally, the best players to have come out of that league were there after their high school or college freshman season

Turduckenfrank: Earlier you mentioned a scout’s evaluation that you trust. Are there scouts (or scouts of teams generally) that you do NOT trust as a rule? You don’t have to name names, but curious how high the level of skepticism gets.

Brendan Gawlowski: Yes

Colton: I was also, and still am like that with Keston Hiura. I know the dream is long gone but I will never stop believing

Brendan Gawlowski: I respect the willingness to go down with the ship

Your Name: Brendan leaves the Pirates. The Pirates start winning. Coincidence?

Brendan Gawlowski: Should’ve fired that bum years ago. Wait

Hot Start City: Who do you see having the greater WAR over the next 6 years: Kevin McGonigle or JJ Wetherholt? Similar “shortstop” prospects that are best elsewhere in the infield with very good results so far; McGonigle’s hitting has been nothing short of elite and Wetherholt’s hitting metrics show improvement with one of the best infield gloves in the game right now, great speed, and great plate discipline giving shades of peak Tommy Edman (think around 2022)

Brendan Gawlowski: I’ll take McGonigle

35+ FV names: While the current top 100 crop has plenty of talent, I feel like the name value is severely lacking. Outside of Trey Yesavage there just aren’t really good baseball names IMO (Konnor with a K? really?) Other than Arjun Nimmala, am I sleeping on somebody here with a 50 FV or better name, or is this one area that the minors are sadly bereft of right now?

Brendan Gawlowski: Not a fan of Yolfran? Lazaro? Felnin? Even Ryan Waldschmidt has an appropriate bluntness too it, imo.

squeeeeeks: How much do orgs value their affiliates winning? Development is the priority, but do orgs generally try to optimize for wins at that level as well?

Brendan Gawlowski: Some teams care more than others, but they all want to win.

Brendan Gawlowski: I can’t find it on the fly, but back when he was with Cincy Kyle Boddy had a great tweet thread about how a winning environment is more conducive to player buy in

Brendan Gawlowski: So there’s that angle on top of just wanting to foster competitiveness

Tim: How do you rate Jacob Reimer? He’s off to a slow start at AA, but my dynasty team is a mess at 3B and he’s the only guy available. What does he need to do (aside from finding a defensive opening in NY) to further develop?

Brendan Gawlowski: I’m a little lower on him of the two of us. When we were evaluating him over the winter, it looked to me like he does just about all of his damage on middle middle mistakes.

War2D2: Speaking of Wetherholt, how short do you think the Cards’ leash is on Masyn Winn when they have a potential replacement playing next to him? If Winn puts up another 90 wRC+ year with 3 mostly-defense WAR that’s obviously enough to keep his job. But how little O are teams generally willing to put up with for an elite glove? What if he puts up an 80 wRC+ and 2 WAR? How low does it have to go?

Brendan Gawlowski: It should be pretty damn long. He’s been a 3.5 win player for two years and is 24 years old.

busta rhymes: Read the article on PCA spiking his bat. Is it possible that when evaluating makeup, a guy could just be too competitive for his own good?

Brendan Gawlowski: Sometimes it’s not channeled appropriately

War2D2: Do you ever go to CapeCod League games? Is it worth targeting as a vacation thing?

Brendan Gawlowski: Never been but if you have the chance I’d encourage you to go.

Wallyworld: Obviously Colt will be called up, but the 31% K rate in AAA is at least slightly alarming?

Brendan Gawlowski: 13 games

Jason: What is a realistic expectation for Jose Fernandez this season? He seems talented and athletic, but the lack of walks is a big red flag.

Brendan Gawlowski: Could be a nice utility guy

Brendan Gawlowski: Kicking myself a little for not 40’ing him. Stay on the athletes, Brendan.

Brendan Gawlowski: On that reflective note, let’s shut it down here. Thanks as always for the questions and for hanging out. We’ll do it again next week.