In the first half of this retrospective, the Brewers' representatives on each of Baseball America's Top 100 Prospects lists were compiled and broken down by their year, placement, position, and number of appearances. This time, each Brewers player who has appeared on one or more of the Baseball America rankings will be evaluated in terms of their eventual contributions (or lack thereof) at the big league level.

As was the case with the Daily Brew's breakdown of the Top Ten Pitching Seasons and Top Ten Hitting Seasons in franchise history, this analysis will rely on a statistical tool developed by Baseball Prospectus. A handy way to compare both position players and pitchers in different leagues and in different seasons, BP's Wins Above Replacement Player is a measure of a given player's contributions in wins, both offensively and defensively, compared with a replacement player at his position. The resulting number is adjusted for ballpark and league difficulty as well as the length of the season (to accommodate shortened seasons) and is labeled WARP3.

Each Brewers' representative is profiled below in chronological order according to their first appearance on Baseball America's lists. This is followed by the player's career statistics at the Major and Minor League level with those for the year(s) the player was ranked by BA in grey text. For hitters, the statistics included are games (G), at-bats (AB), doubles (2B), home runs (HR), walks (BB), strikeouts (SO), batting average (AVG), on-base average (OBA), slugging average (SLG), and on-base plus slugging (OPS). In some cases, complete statistical records were unavailable; on-base averages accompanied by an asterisk (*) were calculated without the benefit of sacrifice and hit-by-pitch data and thus are only an estimation (hits plus walks divided by at-bats plus walks). For pitchers, the statistics included are games (G) and games started (GS), innings pitched (IP), hits (H), walks (BB), strikeouts (SO), and earned run average (ERA).

To measure and compare each player's contributions in the big leagues, these profiles and statistics are followed by a table detailing the player's WARP3 totals in the Majors. For hitters, the table lists the player's plate appearances (PA), Value Over Replacement Player rate (VORPr), Value Over Replacement Player (VORP), and WARP3. For pitchers, the statistics include innings pitched (IP), Adjusted Runs Allowed Average (RA+), Value Over Replacement Player (VORP), and WARP3. It is this final number that allows pitchers and position players to be compared on relatively equal footing.

The players included in this article were featured on BA's 1990 through 1999 rankings. Of those who have appeared on a Top 100 list since 2000, only one (Nick Neugebauer) is no longer in the organization and likely finished with his career. Because the rest of the team's representatives from 2000-2005 are still in the Brewers' organization, it is still too early to tell whether their placements were justified and how valuable they will be in the big leagues. The same is also true for a handful of the players included in this article; Cal Eldred, Jeff D'Amico, Geoff Jenkins, Valerio de los Santos, and Ronnie Belliard are still playing at the big league level. For the most part, however, the 1990-1999 break-off point will allow for both an interesting and enlightening retrospective. At the conclusion of the player profiles, this article will break down each player's career contributions as well as their single-season and three-season peaks.

GREG VAUGHN - 1990 (#09)

Vaughn was the fourth overall pick in the Secondary Phase of the 1986 June Amateur Draft, part of an outstanding class of Brewers picks that included Gary Sheffield and Darryl Hamilton. A star slugger at the University of Miami, Vaughn tore through the minor leagues like few players in Brewers history. After notching 16 homers in just 66 games and earning All-Star honors at Rookie-Level Helena in his professional debut, Vaughn crushed 33 dingers and posted a 1018 OPS for Single-A Beloit. That performance earned him an appearance on the Midwest League's All-Star team, Baseball America's Class A All-Star team, and the Midwest League's MVP Award. El Paso was the next stop on Vaughn's tour through the minors and he cracked 28 longballs and a career-high 39 doubles with the Diablos and was again named to both his league's All-Star team and the Baseball America Double-A club. Vaughn spent the 1989 season with Triple-A Denver and continued to dominate; his 26 homers and 924 OPS were enough to earn him the American Association MVP and both league and Baseball America All-Star nods. He was recalled to the big leagues in August and hit .265 with five homers and a 761 OPS in 38 games, a line good enough to place him in the top ten prospects on Baseball America's inaugural list.

Inserted into the Brewers lineup for good in 1990, Vaughn experienced difficulties adjusting to the big leagues and his batting and on-base averages plummeted. By 1993, however, he had turned things around and began to fulfill the potential he flashed in the minors. A four-time All-Star, Vaughn finished fourth in the NL MVP vote twice and finished third in his league in home runs in both 1998 and 1999. By that time, however, he had already departed from Milwaukee; after being dealt along with Gerald Parent to the Padres for Bryce Florie, Marc Newfield, and Ron Villone, Vaughn was shipped to the Reds with Mark Sweeney for Damian Jackson, Reggie Sanders, and Josh Harris. He signed a huge free agent contract with the Devil Rays in 2000 and finished his career in 2003 with the Rockies. Over his 15 years in the Majors, Vaughn batted .242 with 355 homers and an 807 OPS, twelve percent better than the league average.

===================================================================================
Year  Team          Level   G    AB   2B   HR   BB   SO    AVG    OBA    SLG    OPS
===================================================================================
1986  Helena         R+    66   258   13   16   30   69   .291   .363   .543    906
1987  Beloit         A    139   492   31   33  102  115   .305   .425   .593   1018  
1988  El Paso        AA   131   505   39   28   63  120   .301   .379   .552    931
1989  Denver         AAA  110   387   17   26   62   94   .276   .376   .548    924
      Milwaukee      MLB   38   113    3    5   13   23   .265   .336   .425    761
1990  Milwaukee      MLB  120   382   26   17   33   91   .220   .280   .432    712
1991  Milwaukee      MLB  145   542   24   27   62  125   .244   .319   .456    774
1992  Milwaukee      MLB  141   501   18   23   60  123   .228   .313   .409    723
1993  Milwaukee      MLB  154   569   28   30   89  118   .267   .369   .482    850
1994  Milwaukee      MLB   95   370   24   19   51   93   .254   .345   .478    824
      Beloit         A      2     6    0    0    4    1   .167   .500*  .167    667
1995  Milwaukee      MLB  108   392   19   17   55   89   .224   .317   .408    725
1996  Milwaukee      MLB  102   375   16   31   58   99   .280   .378   .571    948
      San Diego      MLB   43   141    3   10   24   31   .206   .328   .454    783
1997  San Diego      MLB  120   361   10   18   56  110   .216   .322   .393    716
1998  San Diego      MLB  158   573   28   50   79  121   .272   .363   .597    960
1999  Cincinnati     MLB  153   550   20   45   85  137   .245   .347   .535    881
2000  Tampa Bay      MLB  127   461   27   28   80  128   .254   .365   .499    864
2001  Tampa Bay      MLB  136   485   25   24   71  130   .233   .333   .433    766
2002  Tampa Bay      MLB   69   251   10    8   41   82   .163   .286   .315    601
2003  CO Springs     AAA   35   116    7   12   16   28   .302   .388   .690   1078
      Colorado       MLB   22    37    3    3    8   13   .189   .326   .514    809
===================================================================================

A free swinger who racked up lots of strikeouts, walks, and homers, Vaughn put together two and a half very good seasons with Milwaukee: 1991, 1993, and 1996 (until he was traded to San Diego). Never much of a defensive player, Vaughn nonetheless went on to enjoy a solid career with the Padres, Reds, and Devil Rays and racked up a VORP of 323.4 and 58.9 WARP3.

===========================================
Year  Team  Pos   PA   VORPr   VORP   WARP3
===========================================
1989  MIL   LF   128   .214     6.6     1.0
1990  MIL   LF   429   .056     5.6     1.7
1991  MIL   LF   614   .205    29.0     7.4
1992  MIL   LF   573   .096    12.9     5.2
1993  MIL   LF   667   .302    47.3     6.3
1994  MIL   LF   423   .197    19.2     4.4
1995  MIL   DH   451   .009     0.9     1.3
1996  MIL   LF   442   .387    38.8     4.8
      SD    LF   167   .115     4.3     1.6
1997  SD    LF   422   .079     7.7     2.0
1998  SD    LF   661   .456    70.3     9.7
1999  CIN   LF   643   .284    42.0     6.9
2000  TBA   LF   545   .251    31.9     5.1
2001  TBA   DH   562   .124    16.6     3.6
2002  TBA   DH   297  -.151   -10.5     0.3
2003  COL   LF    46   .161     1.7     0.4
===========================================

NARCISO ELVIRA - 1990 (#23), 1991 (#76)

A native of Mexico, Elvira was acquired in 1986 when the Brewers purchased his contract from a Mexican League team. A southpaw with a good fastball and plus breaking pitch, he made four appearances with Milwaukee in 1990 but has never been back on a big league mound. After striking-out well over a batter per inning in Beloit and Stockton, Elvira hit the wall at Double-A and a combination of injuries (to his pitching arm and back) and ineffectiveness quickly dampened the Brewers' hopes of unearthing the next Teddy Higuera. Elvira became a free agent in 1992 when he refused his assignment to Triple-A and has since bounced from team to team and continent to continent, pitching in the U.S., Mexico, Japan, and Korea. He tossed two no-hitters in 1999 for the Campeche Pirates of the Mexican League and another in 2000 while playing in Japan. He's still going strong and posted a 3.94 ERA last season at age 37 in the Mexican League.

==================================================================
Year  Team          Level    G/GS      IP     H    BB    SO    ERA
==================================================================
1986  Leon           MXL    31/19   127.0   128    84    86   5.95
1987  Leon           MXL    33/19   109.1   104    62    80   5.27
      Beloit         A       4/4     27.0    15    12    29   1.33
1988  Stockton       A+     25/23   135.1    76    79   161   2.93
1989  Stockton       A+     17/17   115.1    92    43   135   3.04
      El Paso        AA      7/7     33.0    48    23    18   7.64
1990  Beloit         A       8/7     38.1    37     9    45   2.35
      El Paso        AA      4/4     18.0    17     6    12   4.50
      Milwaukee      MLB     4/0      5.0     6     5     5   5.40
1991  Denver         AAA    18/13    80.0   100    40    52   5.96
==================================================================

Certainly one of the most disappointing Brewers on Baseball America's All-Time list, Elvira contributed just five innings of below-replacement-level pitching in the big leagues in 1990.

==================================
Year     IP    RA+    VORP   WARP3
==================================
1990   5.0     79    -0.2      0.0
==================================

ANGEL MIRANDA - 1991 (#81)

Volatile on the mound and off it, Miranda spent his career with the Brewers in a constant battle with weight problems, temper tantrums, injuries, and wildness. When he was on, his screwball and fastball formed a potent one-two punch that confounded opposing hitters. After making a splash in his initial call-up in 1993, the Puerto Rican native missed most of the 1994 and 1995 seasons with a pair of knee injuries and was never able to rediscover his earlier form. The Brewers finally cut ties with him early in the 1997 season, prompting him to throw a chair, and Miranda spent the remainder of that season with the Indians' and Rangers' Triple-A clubs.

He latched on with Boston the following season and has continued to hold on ever since, suiting up for teams in several independent leagues including the North Atlantic League (in 1999), the Mexican League (2000), the Atlantic League (2000-2004), and the Northeast (or Can-Am) League (2004). Still only 35, Miranda pitched for the Allentown Aces last season, a "replacement" team that played their entire 92-game schedule on the road.

==================================================================
Year  Team          Level    G/GS      IP     H    BB    SO    ERA
==================================================================
1987  Helena         R+     13/NA    21.2    12    16    32   2.49
      Butte          R+     12/NA    21.2    15    10    29   3.74
1988  Helena         R+     14/NA    60.2    54    58    75   3.86
      Stockton       A+     16/NA    26.1    20    37    36   7.18
1989  Beloit         A      43/NA    63.0    39    32    88   0.86
1990  Stockton       A+     52/NA   108.1    75    49   138   2.66
1991  El Paso        AA     38/NA    74.1    55    41    86   2.54
      Denver         AAA    11/NA    11.2    10    17    14   6.17
1992  Denver         AAA    28/NA   160.1   183    77   122   4.77
1993  New Orleans    AAA     9/NA    18.1    11    10    24   3.44
      Milwaukee      MLB    22/17   120.0   100    52    88   3.30
1994  Milwaukee      MLB     8/8     46.0    39    27    24   5.28
      Beloit         A       2/NA    10.0    11     1    14   2.70
      New Orleans    AAA     3/NA    13.0    11     7     9   3.46
1995  Milwaukee      MLB    30/10    74.0    83    49    45   5.23
1996  Milwaukee      MLB    46/12   109.3   116    69    78   4.94
1997  Milwaukee      MLB    10/0     14.0    17     9     8   3.86
      Stockton       A+      1/NA     2.0     0     2     2   0.00
      Buffalo        AAA     9/NA    11.2    20     5     9  10.03
      Oklahoma City  AAA     2/NA     2.2     4     1     2  16.88  
==================================================================

Miranda was a valuable pitcher in 1993 and continued to contribute modestly for the rest of his tenure with the Brewers. For his career, Miranda accumulated 10.6 WARP3 while posting an ERA seven percent better than his league's average.

==================================
Year     IP    RA+    VORP   WARP3
==================================
1993  120.0    112    24.9     3.6
1994   46.0    100     5.5     1.4
1995   74.0     96     5.5     2.0
1996  109.1    101    15.1     3.2
1997   14.0    130     3.6     0.3
==================================

TYRONE HILL - 1992 (#20), 1993 (#10), 1994 (#54)

One of the biggest busts in franchise history, Hill was selected with the 15th pick in the 1991 draft as compensation for Rob Deer's departure for Detroit. The second of the club's two first rounders, Hill signed almost immediately while fellow prep hurler Kenny Henderson (a 6-foot-7 right-hander from Ringgold, Georgia) opted to enroll at the University of Miami when the Brewers refused to accede to his demand for a seven figure contract. Henderson was drafted in the second round of the 1994 draft by the Expos, turning down a $350,000 bonus, and again in the fifth round in 1995, this time rejecting $60,000. He eventually signed for $55,000 as an outfielder and his career went nowhere fast.

A product of Yucaipa High School in Southern California, Hill was projected as a late first rounder but was plucked early by the Brewers after the Indians took Manny Ramirez and the Expos took Cliff Floyd. He signed for $280,000--a veritable bargain compared to fellow lefty and first overall pick Brien Taylor, who netted a $1.55 million contract, the largest in baseball history--and was assigned to Helena of the Rookie-level Pioneer League.

Rated the top prospect in the Brewers organization by Baseball America, he wowed scouts the following season with Single-A Beloit and was named the starting pitcher in the Midwest League All-Star Game. A rail-thin, 6-foot-6 tower on the mound, Hill was shut down for the season with elbow tendinitis in mid-August but returned in time to pitch in the Arizona Fall League. After only 19 starts with Advanced-A Stockton in 1993, however, he went down with a torn rotator cuff and his once-promising career was functionally finished. He missed all of the 1994 season and made just nine appearances between 1995 and 1996 before another shoulder injury forced him to retire at the tender age of 24. The waste of potential was profound; when healthy, Hill was considered by many as one of the most dominating pitchers in Midwest League history.

==================================================================
Year  Team          Level    G/GS      IP     H    BB    SO    ERA
==================================================================
1991  Helena         R+     11/11    60.0    43    35    76   3.15
1992  Beloit         A      20/19   113.2    76    74   133   3.25
1993  Stockton       A+     19/17    66.0    43    60    65   4.50
1994  ----------------------- DID NOT PITCH ----------------------
1995  AZL Brewers    R       4/4     11.1     8     5     9   3.18
1996  Stockton       A+      5/NA    19.2    18     9    11   5.03
==================================================================

One of only two Brewers on Baseball America's Top 100 lists never to make the big leagues, Hill finished his career without ever tasting Double-A.

==================================
Year     IP    RA+    VORP   WARP3
==================================
----- NO MAJOR LEAGUE RECORD -----
==================================

DAVE NILSSON - 1992 (#29)

Signed as an amateur free agent as a 17-year old, Nilsson was a much-ballyhooed Australian hitting prospect when he arrived in the U.S. in 1987 and tore through Pioneer League pitching. Converted from first-base to catcher by Milwaukee, he experienced growing pains as he climbed the ladder but had made it to Milwaukee by 1992. Only 22 and the first native-Australian to play everyday in the big leagues, Nilsson hit .232 with a 658 OPS in 51 games for the Brewers and was back for good in 1993 after a stint in the minors.

For the next six seasons, he was a staple in the Brewers lineup and one of the team's most productive offensive players. Sidelined for the beginning of the 1995 season with Ross River Fever, Nilsson moved to the outfield and split his time between right, left, first-base, and designated hitter until returning to catcher in 1999. That season he hit .284 with a 954 OPS and earned All-Star honors but was limited to just 404 plate appearances because of injuries. He became a free agent after the season but received offers well below his 1999 salary of just under $6 million. Rather than return to the big leagues, the 30-year old signed on with a team in Japan and played in the 2000 Olympics for Australia. While he received a few offers to return to the States, Nilsson spent the next three seasons in retirement before returning briefly with the Braves' Triple-A club in 2004.

===================================================================================
Year  Team          Level   G    AB   2B   HR   BB   SO    AVG    OBA    SLG    OPS
===================================================================================
1987  Helena         R+    55   188   13    1    5    7   .394   .412*  .479    891
1988  Beloit         A     95   332   15    4   25   49   .223   .283*  .316    599
1989  Stockton       A+   125   472   16    5   50   76   .244   .321*  .335    656
1990  Stockton       A+   107   359   22    7   43   36   .290   .369*  .426    795
1991  El Paso        AA    65   249   24    5   27   14   .418   .476*  .598   1074
      Denver         AAA   28    95    8    1   17   16   .232   .352*  .347    699
1992  Denver         AAA   66   240   16    3   23   19   .317   .380*  .479    859
      Milwaukee      MLB   51   164    8    4   17   18   .232   .304   .354    658
1993  El Paso        AA     5    17    1    1    2    4   .471   .527*  .706   1233
      New Orleans    AAA   17    61    6    1    5    6   .344   .397*  .492    889
      Milwaukee      MLB  100   296   10    7   37   36   .257   .336   .375    711
1994  Milwaukee      MLB  109   397   28   12   34   61   .275   .326   .451    777
1995  Beloit         A      3    11    3    1    2    0   .545   .614* 1.091   1705
      El Paso        AA     5    15    1    1    0    1   .467   .469*  .733   1202
      New Orleans    AAA    3     9    0    1    2    0   .444   .546*  .778   1324
      Milwaukee      MLB   81   263   12   12   24   41   .278   .337   .468    804
1996  Milwaukee      MLB  123   453   33   17   57   68   .331   .407   .525    932
      New Orleans    AAA    7    26    1    1    4    3   .269   .339   .437    776
1997  Milwaukee      MLB  156   554   33   20   65   88   .278   .352   .446    798
1998  Milwaukee      MLB  102   309   14   12   33   48   .269   .339   .437    776
      Beloit         A      4    12    3    1    2    0   .417   .501*  .917   1418
      El Paso        AA     5    17    3    0    2    0   .294   .372*  .471    843
1999  Milwaukee      MLB  115   343   19   21   53   64   .309   .400   .554    954
2004  Richmond       AAA   16    55    1    1    7   15   .236   .323   .309    632
===================================================================================

Never much of a defensive catcher, Nilsson struggled with injuries but was an effective hitter even as an outfielder or first-baseman when healthy. In a big league career that ended after only his age-29 season, Nilsson accumulated 23.8 WARP3 and posted a .271 Equivalent Average.

===========================================
Year  Team  Pos   PA   VORPr   VORP   WARP3
===========================================
1992  MIL   C    183   .076     3.3     1.8
1993  MIL   C    340   .112     8.9     2.0
1994  MIL   C    440   .178    18.1     3.0
1995  MIL   RF   294   .172    11.7     2.7
1996  MIL   RF   516   .410    48.0     5.3
1997  MIL   1B   627   .179    26.8     3.8
1998  MIL   1B   347   .129    10.5     1.1
1999  MIL   C    404   .491    44.7     4.9
===========================================

DUANE SINGLETON - 1992 (#69)

===================================================================================
Year  Team          Level   G    AB   2B   HR   BB   SO    AVG    OBA    SLG    OPS
===================================================================================
1990  AZL Brewers    R     46   134    6    1   43   39   .231   .418*  .358    776        
1991  Beloit         A    101   388   13    3   40   57   .289   .355*  .381    736
1992  Salinas        A+    19    72    5    1    6   11   .306   .359*  .472    831
      Stockton       A+    97   389   15    5   39   66   .288   .353*  .416    769
1993  El Paso        AA   125   456   21    2   34   90   .230   .284*  .316    600
1994  Stockton       A+    38   134    5    4   18   23   .291   .375*  .425    800
      El Paso        AA    39   139   11    2   19   33   .288   .373*  .399    772
      New Orleans    AAA   41   133    4    0   18   26   .278   .364*  .383    747
      Milwaukee      MLB    2     0    0    0    0    0   .000   .000   .000    000
1995  New Orleans    AAA  106   355   10    4   39   63   .268   .340*  .352    692
      Milwaukee      MLB   13    31    0    0    1   10   .065   .094   .065    158
1996  Toledo         AAA   88   294   14    8   36   84   .221   .306*  .395    701
      Detroit        MLB   18    56    1    0    4   15   .161   .230   .179    408
1997  Midland        AA    13    55    5    2    6    8   .309   .377*  .236    613
      Vancouver      AAA  108   383   17    5   37   79   .206   .276*  .305    581
===================================================================================

While Singleton did manage to the make it to the Majors, the teams that employed him would have been better off if he had not. In just under 100 plate appearances, he cost the Brewers and Tigers a half-win apiece compared with a replacement player at his position.

===========================================
Year  Team  Pos   PA   VORPr   VORP   WARP3
===========================================
1994  MIL   --    --    --      --      0.0
1995  MIL   CF    32  -.866    -6.4    -0.5
1996  DET   CF    61  -.542    -7.8    -0.5
===========================================

CAL ELDRED - 1992 (#85)

The 17th-overall pick in the 1989 draft, Eldred was a workhorse staff ace at the University of Iowa and rose quickly through the minor leagues. He made three starts in September of 1991 and, after spending the first half of the following season at Triple-A Denver, burst onto the scene with a remarkable rookie campaign in 1992. Inserted into the rotation on July 19th, Eldred made 14 starts and posted an 11-2 record and 1.79 ERA and was nearly perfect in August and September, going 10-0 with an ERA under one. He returned to Earth in 1993 and 1994 but was still a solid starter, notching ERAs of 4.01 and 4.68, slightly better than the league average. The extensive workload--he notched 860 and two-thirds innings between 1990 and 1993, an average of just over 215 innings per season--caught up with him, however, and he suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow after just four starts in 1995. Eldred missed the rest of the season with Tommy John reconstructive elbow surgery and didn't return until July of 1996, finishing the year with a 4.46 ERA in 84 and two-thirds innings.

Gambling that he would remain healthy, the Brewers inked the 29-year old to a four-year, $14.1 million deal and sorely regretted it almost immediately. Eldred battled more arm injuries for the next three seasons and went 19-31 with a 5.48 ERA while averaging just 139 innings and was traded to the White Sox along with shortstop Jose Valentin before the 2000 season for former-Brewer Jaime Navarro and John Snyder, a 25-year old non-prospect with 40 games of big league experience. It was one of the worst blunders of the Dean Taylor administration; Valentin posted career-best OPSes in 2000 and 2001, Navarro made only five starts before being released with a 12.54 ERA, and the Brewers suffered through 127 innings of below replacement level pitching from Snyder, who hasn't pitched in the big leagues since. And Eldred somehow managed to turn things around, going 10-2 with a 4.58 ERA before a stress fracture in his already-fragile elbow sidelined him for the rest of the season in August.

With a five-inch screw inserted into his elbow, Eldred tried to return for the 2001 campaign but managed only two starts before succumbing to another elbow injury. He announced his retirement and stayed away from the game until a comeback with the Cardinals in 2003. With an elbow resembling Will Smith's bionic arm in I, Robot, Eldred has pitched brilliantly out of the bullpen for St. Louis the past two seasons, posting ERAs of 3.74 and 3.76 while helping the Cards reach the World Series in 2004. A remarkable triumph of sports medicine and orthopedic imagination, he is back with the Redbirds for 2005.

==================================================================
Year  Team          Level    G/GS      IP     H    BB    SO    ERA
==================================================================
1989  Beloit         A       5/5     31.1    23    11    32   2.30
1990  Stockton       A+      7/7     50.0    31    19    75   1.62
      El Paso        AA     19/19   110.1   126    47    93   4.49
1991  Denver         AAA    29/29   185.0   161    84   168   3.75
      Milwaukee      MLB     3/3     16.0    20     6    10   4.50
1992  Denver         AAA    19/19   141.0   122    42    99   3.00
      Milwaukee      MLB    14/14   100.1    76    23    62   1.79
1993  Milwaukee      MLB    36/36   258.0   232    91   180   4.01
1994  Milwaukee      MLB    25/25   179.0   158    84    98   4.68
1995  Milwaukee      MLB     4/4     23.2    24    10    18   3.42
1996  Milwaukee      MLB    15/15    84.2    82    38    50   4.46
      New Orleans    AAA     6/6     32.1    24    17    30   3.34
1997  Milwaukee      MLB    34/34   202.0   207    89   122   4.99
1998  Milwaukee      MLB    23/23   133.0   157    61    86   4.80
1999  Milwaukee      MLB    20/15    82.0   101    46    60   7.79
      Huntsville     AA      2/2     12.0    13     3    10   7.50
      Louisville     AAA     4/4     18.2    19    10    21   5.30
2000  Chicago AL     MLB    20/20   112.0   103    59    97   4.58
      Charlotte      AAA     2/2      5.0     4     1     1   7.20
2001  Chicago AL     MLB     2/2      6.0    12     3     6  13.50
2002  ----------------------- DID NOT PITCH ----------------------
2003  St. Louis      MLB    62/0     67.3    62    31    67   3.74
2004  St. Louis      MLB    52/0     67.0    71    17    54   3.76
==================================================================

Eldred has parts of 13 seasons in the big leagues and has an ERA one percent better than his combined league's averages. A potential ace-in-the-making as a youngster with Milwaukee, he has continued to contribute well into his thirties and after a number of arm surgeries. In total, the right-hander has racked up 36.1 WARP3 and an 85-74 career record.

=========================================
Year  Team      IP    RA+    VORP   WARP3
=========================================
1991  MIL     16.0     86     0.8     0.3
1992  MIL    100.1    223    37.9     5.4
1993  MIL    258.0    106    47.6     8.7
1994  MIL    179.0    114    34.4     6.4
1995  MIL     23.2    145     6.7     0.8
1996  MIL     84.2    124    20.6     2.7
1997  MIL    202.0     95    20.3     4.7
1998  MIL    133.0     85     1.9     1.2
1999  MIL     82.0     60   -18.6    -0.7
2000  CHA    112.0    114    21.8     3.2
2001  CHA      6.0     37    -5.0    -0.3
2002  ---------- DID NOT PLAY -----------
2003  STL     67.1    105    10.0     2.9
2004  STL     67.0    109    11.4     1.7
=========================================

JEFF D'AMICO - 1994 (#95), 1996 (#25)

Another in a long-line of injury-plagued Brewers hurlers, D'Amico was the club's first round pick in the 1993 draft out of a Florida high school. Rated sixth among draft-eligible prep players and sixteenth among pitchers by Baseball America, the 6-foot-6, 230-plus pounder signed a $525,000 contract in August and spent the rest of the season in Arizona on a strengthening program. He opened 1994 in Extended Spring Training and missed the entire season because of surgery to remove a bone spur from his pitching elbow. D'Amico finally made his professional debut in 1995 with Beloit and pitched well enough to earn an All-Star nod and help the Snappers win the Midwest League Championship, leading the team in innings, strikeouts, wins, and ERA.

The Brewers promoted him aggressively and D'Amico jumped to Double-A and then the big leagues in 1996. He went 6-6 with a 5.44 ERA in 17 starts for Milwaukee at the tender age of 20 and 9-7/4.71 in 23 starts in 1997. He missed more than a month with shoulder tendinitis, however, a sign of things to come. Diagnosed with a torn labrum after the season, he underwent arthroscopic surgery in January and a capsular shift in August and did not return to the mound until the end of the 1999 season, appearing in four minor league contests and a single game in the big leagues. He missed time in 2000 with shoulder tendinitis but went 12-7 with a 2.66 ERA in 23 games and the Brewers rewarded him with a one-year, $2.3 million contract for 2001. D'Amico made just four starts before succumbing to another injury and another surgery, this one to decompress the radial nerve in his throwing arm. He became the first big league pitcher to ever undergo the procedure and returned to the Brewers in September, making six starts.

The Brewers traded him in the off-season to the Mets in a complicated three-team deal. In exchange for Jeromy Burnitz, Lou Collier, Mark Sweeney, cash, and D'Amico, the Brewers received Lenny Harris and Glendon Rusch from the Mets and Alex Ochoa from the Rockies. D'Amico spent 2002 with the Mets, 2003 with the Pirates, and 2004 with the Indians, combining for a 16-28 record and 5.09 ERA in 65 games.

==================================================================
Year  Team          Level    G/GS      IP     H    BB    SO    ERA
==================================================================
1995  Beloit         A      21/20   132.0   102    31   119   2.39
1996  El Paso        AA     13/13    96.0    89    13    76   3.19
      Milwaukee      MLB    17/17    86.0    88    31    53   5.44
1997  Beloit         A       1/1      3.0     0     1     7   0.00
      Milwaukee      MLB    23/23   135.2   139    43    94   4.71
1998  ----------------------- DID NOT PITCH ----------------------
1999  Beloit         A       2/2      8.0     7     1     6   0.00
      Huntsville     AA      1/1      2.0     6     1     2  36.00
      Louisville     AAA     1/1      3.1     6     2     2  13.50
      Milwaukee      MLB     1/0      1.0     1     0     1   0.00
2000  Indianapolis   AAA     6/6     31.1    25    11    20   3.16
      Milwaukee      MLB    23/23   162.1   143    46   101   2.66
2001  Beloit         A       2/2      8.1    11     1     6   5.40
      Huntsville     AA      1/1      7.0     3     2     5   2.57
      Milwaukee      MLB    10/10    47.3    60    16    32   6.08
2002  New York Mets  MLB    29/22   145.2   152    37   101   4.94
2003  Pittsburgh     MLB    29/29   175.1   204    42   100   4.77
2004  Lake County    A       2/1      2.0     1     0     1   0.00
      Buffalo        AAA     3/3     10.1    18     3     6  10.45
      Cleveland      MLB     7/7     30.2    45     6    16   7.63
==================================================================

D'Amico has one outstanding season to his name, the 2000 campaign in which he ranked tenth in baseball and eighth in the NL in VORP. Beyond that, he has hovered right around replacement level, racking up 16.6 WARP3 in 784 career innings.

=========================================
Year  Team      IP    RA+    VORP   WARP3
=========================================
1996  MIL     86.0    102    11.6     2.4
1997  MIL    135.2     93    11.9     2.8
1998  ---------- DID NOT PLAY -----------
1999  MIL      1.0     --     0.7     0.0
2000  MIL    162.1    161    58.4     6.8
2001  MIL     47.1     60   -11.2    -0.4
2002  NYN    145.2     82     4.8     2.2
2003  PIT    175.1     85     6.9     3.2
2004  CLE     30.7     57    -7.8    -0.2
=========================================

ANTONE WILLIAMSON - 1995 (#64), 1996 (#81)

The personification of Sal Bando's tenure as Brewers' General Manager, Williamson was, like Bando, a third-baseman from Arizona State. He signed for $895,000 and ascended from Helena to Stockton to El Paso during his first year with the organization. Repeating Double-A in 1995, Williamson hit .309 with an 853 OPS in 104 games but hit just seven homers and committed 28 errors at the hot corner. That was the high point of his career, however, as injuries combined with more ill-fated defensive work and declining skills at the plate to derail Williamson's career. He appeared in 24 games with the Brewers in 1997, hitting just .204 with a 513 OPS, and was released in Spring Training three years later after toiling ineffectively in limited Triple-A action in 1998 and 1999. Unable to find a job, he surfaced briefly with the Greenville Bluesmen of the Independent Texas-Louisiana League before hanging up the spikes for good.

"Bando made him a sentimental pick, because both of them were third basemen at Arizona State," teammate Brian Banks told Peter Barrouquere of the Times-Picayune about Williamson. "Antone could hit. He wasn't all that bad a fielder, except he couldn't catch pop flies or ground balls."

And in the final analysis, he couldn't hit all that much, either.

===================================================================================
Year  Team          Level   G    AB   2B   HR   BB   SO    AVG    OBA    SLG    OPS
===================================================================================
1994  Helena         R+     6    26    2    0    2    4   .423   .464   .577   1041
      Stockton       A+    23    85    4    3    7   19   .224   .271   .376    647
      El Paso        AA    14    48    3    1    7    8   .250   .339   .375    714
1995  El Paso        AA   104   392   30    7   47   57   .309   .383   .469    853
1996  New Orleans    AAA   55   199   10    5   19   40   .261   .326   .397    723
1997  Tucson         AAA   83   304   20    5   49   41   .286   .389   .434    824
      Milwaukee      MLB   24    54    3    0    4    8   .204   .254   .259    513
1998  Louisville     AAA   29   103    8    2   13   19   .204   .291   .359    650
1999  Huntsville     AA    12    38    3    0    7    6   .342   .457   .421    878
      Louisville     AAA   68   184    7    5   30   29   .239   .349   .359    707
===================================================================================

Williamson played poorly in his only big league stint, posting a negative VORP and WARP3 while committing a pair of errors at first base.

===========================================
Year  Team  Pos   PA   VORPr   VORP   WARP3
===========================================
1997  MIL   1B    60  -.351    -5.0    -0.5
===========================================

GEOFF JENKINS - 1996 (#25), 1997 (#78), 1998 (#95)

The Brewers' first round pick in 1995 out of USC, Jenkins followed a similar "fast track" to Williamson and jetted through three levels in his first professional season. He split the 1996 campaign between Stockton and El Paso and hit well despite stroking just four homers in 59 games. His first stint at Triple-A (with Tuscon in 1997) found him overmatched but he rebounded to post an 893 OPS in 55 games with Louisville a year later and earned a call-up to Milwaukee. He was in the Brewers' lineup for good by 1999 and has been there ever since. Plagued by injuries, Jenkins was named to the All-Star Team in 2003 and has a career .279/.344/.507 line with 149 homers in 807 games.

===================================================================================
Year  Team          Level   G    AB   2B   HR   BB   SO    AVG    OBA    SLG    OPS
===================================================================================
1995  Helena         R+     7    28    0    0    3   11   .321   .375   .393    788
      Stockton       A+    13    47    2    3   10   12   .255   .373   .489    862
      El Paso        AA    21    79    4    1    8   23   .278   .341   .418    759
1996  Stockton       A+    37   138    8    3   20   32   .348   .433   .529    962
      El Paso        AA    22    77    5    1   12   21   .286   .391   .494    885
1997  Tucson         AAA   93   347   24   10   33   87   .236   .308   .409    717
1998  Louisville     AAA   55   215   10    7   14   39   .330   .381   .512    893
      Milwaukee      MLB   84   262   12    9   20   61   .229   .288   .385    673
1999  Milwaukee      MLB  135   447   43   21   35   87   .313   .371   .564    935
2000  Milwaukee      MLB  135   512   36   34   33  135   .303   .360   .588    948
2001  Milwaukee      MLB  105   397   21   20   36  120   .264   .334   .474    808
      Beloit         A      1     3    1    0    1    1   .333   .500   .667   1167
2002  Milwaukee      MLB   67   243   17   10   22   60   .243   .320   .444    764
2003  Milwaukee      MLB  124   487   30   28   58  120   .296   .375   .538    913
      Huntsville     AA     6    20    0    2    1    7   .250   .286   .550    836
2004  Milwaukee      MLB  157   617   36   27   46  152   .264   .325   .473    798
===================================================================================

A solid defensive left-fielder, Jenkins has accumulated 32.3 WARP3 in his seven seasons including 7.6 in 2000, his career year to date.

===========================================
Year  Team  Pos   PA   VORPr   VORP   WARP3
===========================================
1998  MIL   LF   285  -.044    -2.9     0.3
1999  MIL   LF   493   .419    46.5     6.9
2000  MIL   LF   564   .414    53.9     7.6
2001  MIL   LF   446   .164    17.4     4.5
2002  MIL   LF   272   .107     7.0     2.4
2003  MIL   LF   554   .331    42.6     6.0
2004  MIL   LF   681   .164    26.1     4.4
===========================================

VALERIO DE LOS SANTOS - 1997 (#52), 1998 (#89)

One of the only successful products of the Brewers' woeful Latin American scouting operation, de los Santos signed as an amateur free agent in 1993 and spent the next two seasons in the Dominican Summer League. He made his stateside debut in 1995 with Milwaukee's Arizona League affiliate and earned All-Star honors the following year in Beloit. A tall left-hander with a good fastball and biting slider, de los Santos spent all of 1997 at Double-A El Paso before converting to a reliever and advancing from there to the Triple-A to the big leagues as a 25-year old in 1998, posting a 2.90 ERA in 13 games with the Brewers. He missed much of the 1999 season with back surgery and was ineffective in 2000, going 2-2 with an ERA twelve percent below the league average in a career-high 73 and two-thirds innings. The injury bug bit again after only one appearance in 2001; this time, de los Santos missed the rest of the season with a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow and underwent Tommy John surgery.

Visa problems delayed his return in 2002 but he began the year at Indianapolis and earned a promotion to Milwaukee on May 17th. He appeared in 51 games and posted his best ERA since his rookie season, a solid 3.12, and allowed just 42 hits in 57 and two-thirds innings. He regressed the following season but still posted an ERA six percent above his league's average before the Brewers dealt him to Philadelphia in September. De los Santos finished the year with the Phillies and signed as a free agent with Toronto for 2004 but missed most of the season with an injured shoulder.

==================================================================
Year  Team          Level    G/GS      IP     H    BB    SO    ERA
==================================================================
1995  AZL Brewers    R      14/12    82.0    81    12    57   2.20
1996  Beloit         A      33/23   164.2   164    59   137   3.55
1997  El Paso        AA     26/16   114.1   146    38    61   5.75
1998  El Paso        AA     42/4     66.2    82    25    62   3.91
      Louisville     AAA     5/0      5.0     4     0     0   3.60
      Milwaukee      MLB    13/0     21.2    11     2    18   2.90
1999  Milwaukee      MLB     7/0      8.1    12     7     5   6.48
2000  Milwaukee      MLB    66/2     73.2    72    33    70   5.13
2001  Milwaukee      MLB     1/0      1.0     1     1     1   9.00
2002  Milwaukee      MLB    51/0     57.2    42    26    38   3.12
      Indianapolis   AAA     1/0      1.0     1     1     1   0.00
2003  Milwaukee      MLB    45/0     48.0    39    22    35   4.12
      Philadelphia   MLB     6/0      4.0     7     3     4   9.00
2004  Toronto        MLB    17/0     11.2    11    10    10   6.17
==================================================================

Oft-injured, de los Santos has topped two WARP3 only once in his career and has totaled just 5.6 over 260 innings. Still only 32, his career 4.38 ERA is one percent below the league average.

=========================================
Year  Team      IP    RA+    VORP   WARP3
=========================================
1998  MIL     21.2    162     6.5     0.6
1999  MIL      8.1     77    -0.2     0.1
2000  MIL     73.2     93     8.9     1.4
2001  MIL      1.0     53    -0.4     0.0
2002  MIL     57.2    133    13.4     2.1
2003  MIL     48.0    105     5.9     1.8
      PHI      4.0     74    -4.5    -0.5
2004  TOR     11.2     85     0.1     0.1
=========================================

CHAD GREEN - 1997 (#99)

Along with Williamson, Green was one of the biggest first round busts of Sal Bando's tenure as the club's GM. A switch-hitting center-fielder from the University of Kentucky, he was selected with the eighth overall pick in the 1996 draft and proved unable to adapt to wood bats and advanced pitching. One of (if not) the fastest players available, Green was drafted more for his quickness on the bases than for his ability to hit. An good defender, he swiped 37 bases in 53 tries with Stockton in 1997 but posted just a 666 OPS. A flurry of leg injuries including a stress fracture and a number of strained hamstrings kept him out of the lineup for significant chunks of the 1998 and 1999 seasons and Green failed to eclipse the 650 mark in OPS at either Double- or Triple-A in 2000.

The Brewers decided to cut ties with him in December and sent him to San Diego along with Santiago Perez for right-handers Brandon Kolb and Will Cunnane. Kolb appeared in ten games for the Brewers in 2001 and surrendered 16 runs, 14 earned, in just nine and two-thirds innings while Cunnane pitched slightly less poorly, posting a 5.40 ERA in 31 games; both became free agents after the season. Green lasted just 63 games before the Padres released him and he finished the season with Cleveland's Double-A affiliate. He signed with the Twins and split 2002 between the Eastern and Pacific Coast Leagues and spent all of 2003 with Triple-A Rochester, posting a .252/.294/.395 line in 106 games.

===================================================================================
Year  Team          Level   G    AB   2B   HR   BB   SO    AVG    OBA    SLG    OPS
===================================================================================
1996  Ogden          R+    21    81    4    3   15   23   .358   .458*  .543   1002
1997  Stockton       A+   127   513   26    2   37  138   .250   .300*  .366    666
1998  Stockton       A+    40   151   13    0   12   22   .344   .393*  .457    850
      El Paso        AA     7     6    0    0    1    3   .000   .143*  .000    143
1999  Huntsville     AA   116   422   22   10   46  109   .246   .321*  .384    704
2000  Huntsville     AA    85   317   22    3   29   85   .233   .297   .344    641
      Indianapolis   AAA   43   123    8    3   10   36   .203   .267   .374    641
2001  Mobile         AA    42   137    8    1   11   42   .226   .282   .350    632
      Portland       AAA   21    67    4    2    9   28   .224   .316   .403    719
      Akron          AA    37   127    8    3   11   28   .260   .317   .425    742
2002  New Britain    AA    20    76    3    3    5   11   .329   .366   .539    905
      Edmonton       AAA   75   220   11    7   13   61   .218   .261   .373    633
2003  Rochester      AAA  106   397   24    9   22   85   .252   .294   .395    689
===================================================================================

Green is one of two Brewers (along with Tyrone Hill) on Baseball America's rankings never to make the Show.

===========================================
Year  Team  Pos   PA   VORPr   VORP   WARP3
===========================================
---------- NO MAJOR LEAGUE RECORD ---------
===========================================

RONNIE BELLIARD - 1999 (#49)

An eighth round pick by the Brewers in 1994, Belliard advanced quickly through the system, earned Texas League All-Star honors in 1996 while with El Paso, and spent a full season at Triple-A in 1997 at age-22. He repeated the level in 1998 and hit .321 with a 408 on-base average and 911 OPS and earned All-Star honors from both the International League and Baseball America and a call-up to Milwaukee. He opened the 1999 campaign at Louisville but quickly earned a promotion and stuck with the big league club for the rest of the year, hitting .295 with an 808 OPS in 124 games while playing primarily at second-base. He earned the starting nod in 2000 and batted .263 with a 743 OPS, notching 30 doubles and eight homers in 571 at-bats, but spent the next two seasons fighting for playing time and often sulking on the bench. He hit .264 in 2001 and just .211 in 2002 and the Brewers non-tendered him after the season.

After rebounding in 2003 with the Rockies, Belliard broke out last season with Cleveland and hit .282/.348/.426, earned a spot on the American League All-Star team, and finished second in the league with 48 doubles.

===================================================================================
Year  Team          Level   G    AB   2B   HR   BB   SO    AVG    OBA    SLG    OPS
===================================================================================
1994  GCL Brewers    R     39   143    7    0   14   25   .294   .385   .366    741
1995  Beloit         A    130   461   28   13   36   67   .297   .356   .464    820
1996  El Paso        AA   109   416   20    3   60   51   .279   .373   .387    760
1997  Tucson         AAA  118   443   35    4   61   69   .282   .379   .406    775
1998  Louisville     AAA  133   507   36   14   69   77   .321   .408   .503    911
      Milwaukee      MLB    8     5    0    0    0    0   .200   .200   .200    400
1999  Louisville     AAA   29   108    4    1   14   13   .241   .331   .306    637
      Milwaukee      MLB  124   457   29    8   64   59   .295   .379   .429    808
2000  Milwaukee      MLB  152   571   30    8   82   84   .263   .354   .389    743
2001  Milwaukee      MLB  101   364   30   11   35   65   .264   .335   .453    788
2002  Milwaukee      MLB  104   289   13    3   18   46   .211   .257   .287    544
2003  Colorado       MLB  116   447   31    8   49   71   .277   .351   .409    760
      CO Springs     AAA    6    19    1    0    0    1   .263   .263   .316    579
2004  Cleveland      MLB  152   599   48   12   60   98   .282   .348   .426    774
===================================================================================

With the exception of his 2002 debacle, Belliard has been consistently solid-or-better during his six-plus seasons in the big leagues. A slightly below average defender, he has posted three seasons with four or more WARP3 and has accumulated 20.5 WARP3 in his career.

===========================================
Year  Team  Pos   PA   VORPr   VORP   WARP3
===========================================
1998  MIL   PH     4  -.305    -0.4    -0.1
1999  MIL   2B   531   .249    29.7     5.4
2000  MIL   2B   667   .171    26.3     3.6
2001  MIL   2B   410   .239    23.2     4.7
2002  MIL   2B   317  -.153   -11.6    -0.7
2003  COL   2B   505   .182    21.3     1.9
2004  CLE   2B   663   .248    37.2     5.7
===========================================

HIGHEST CAREER VALUE

Greg Vaughn easily tops the list of highest career WARP3 with 58.9, more than 20 wins better than Cal Eldred. Geoff Jenkins will catch Eldred easily if he stays healthy and has an outside chance of besting Vaughn if he enjoys a long career. In total, seven of the thirteen players on one or more of Baseball America's lists has accumulated at least ten WARP3 while an eighth (Valerio de los Santos) still has a shot to join that group. The remaining five either didn't make the big leagues (Chad Green and Tyrone Hill) or managed only a cup of coffee (Narciso Elvira, Antone Williamson, and Duane Singleton).

The group has together racked up 202.6 WARP3, an average of 15.6 per player. The total is weighted heavily toward position players; Vaughn, Jenkins, Nilsson, Belliard, Williamson, and Singleton combined for 134 WARP3 while Eldred, D'Amico, Miranda, de los Santos, and Elvira notched 68.6 for the pitchers.

HIGHEST PEAK VALUE

As was mentioned in the first half of this retrospective, Baseball America bases their rankings in large part on a player's projected peak value. The following table lists each Brewers' representative with at least three big league seasons along with their highest single season WARP3 total and their highest total over three consecutive seasons.

Vaughn and Eldred once again top the list with three-year peaks of 21.7 and 20.5 WARP3, respectively. Jenkins, Belliard, and Nilsson also reached double-digits while D'Amico, Miranda, and de los Santos barely enjoyed peaks at all.

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

Baseball America hit the mark with Vaughn, Eldred, and Jenkins and to a lesser degree with Belliard and Nilsson. The former three players enjoyed All-Star caliber peaks of the kind that winning ballclubs require while the latter two developed into consistently solid performers and each earned an All-Star nod of their own. D'Amico flourished in 2000 but has otherwise been a disappointment; like Miranda and de los Santos, he has become only a modestly valuable big leaguer and not the impact player of Baseball America's projections.

Even that trio has contributed in the Major Leagues, however, something that can't be said for the remaining five players on BA's lists. Two hurlers, Elvira and Hill, flamed out after being ranking in the top 25 (and in Hill's case, top ten) while Singleton, Williamson, and Green never developed into big league hitters.

Of the thirteen players ranked in the Top 100 during the 1990s, only three (or 23 percent) achieved the peak value described by Baseball America's rationale and only five (or 38.4 percent) became productive big leaguers. Eight of the thirteen at least enjoyed meaningful careers in the Majors, a batting average of .615.

With eleven players ranked on BA's lists from 2000-2005 still with the organization, the Brewers have nearly equalled their total from the entire decade of the 1990s in half the number of years. Ben Sheets has already become one of the premiere pitchers in baseball and hitters like Prince Fielder, Rickie Weeks, and J.J. Hardy appear primed for long and productive big league careers. If the Brewers are to turn things around and finally bring their playoff drought to an end, they will need this latest group of Baseball America-rated prospects to turn out more like Vaughn and Eldred than Hill and Green.

So far, things are looking good.

NOTES AND REFERENCES

Compiling the statistical data for this article proved difficult and would not have been possible without The Baseball Cube, Waymore Sports, Baseball-Reference.com, MinorLeagueBaseball.com, and the help of Patrick Ebert, Jim Shemanski, and Jamie Siegel. Special thanks are also extended to Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus, without whom this article would not have been possible.

Bill Batterman is a writer for Brewerfan.net. You can get in touch with him by sending email to batman@brewerfan.net.