Anyone else losing their patience?

[Madhawk23]

I have complete trust that Stearns is going to make smart offers/moves for the long term benefit of our organization, but man I'm starting to get a little impatient here as we're in the final hours of the winter meetings now with no moves to speak of. Meanwhile, the Cubs and Cards have each done multiple things already to improve their rosters for 2018.

 

I know stuff can and will get done after these meetings conclude, but I had high hopes that we might be active this week.

[bill hAll Star]

Not here. My expectation was to maybe sign some free agents (or not) and maybe stay with the Cards and Cubs if possible in 2018 but to really make a push in '19 or '20. Don't do anything silly with our depth of prospects.

 

I am frustrated that the Cubs made a lot of shrewd moves, but nothing has bothered me about what the Brewers have not done.

[Matt Breen]

Not at all. I don't want moves just to make moves. With free agents, be disciplined, take what comes to you. That gets us value. Trades will take time since virtually none of the top free agents are off the market. Once that happens, trades start becoming more commonplace.

[Warning Track Power]

Not at all. With the discussion in other threads about the 40 man roster crunch coming next season, I always expected the Brewers to be making trades this offseason to improve their roster and not sign FAs. Trades for the holes the Brewers have (front line SP and bullpen) will likely take a little more time to develop.

 

Be patient.

[StearnsFTW]

Nope. Stay the course. I wouldn't mind consolidating some of the prospect depth, but I understand that that may be extremely difficult. And I'd only do it for the right player.

 

In Stearns I trust. Completely, until he gives me a reason to do otherwise.

[Oldcity]

No. Hardly any teams have done anything.

[Madhawk23]

OK - thanks for talking me off the ledge. I agree that we shouldn't do anything stupid, just to say we made a move. But, I guess I've just bought into all of the outside hype that we might be one of the more active teams this week. And like someone else pointed out - it irks me that the Cubs continue to make what appears to be very smart moves with their roster.

[pacopete4]

I think you can lose patience and want them to make moves while still realizing that this is a process and that there is a long offseason yet to go.

[JohnBriggs12]

Not here. My expectation was to maybe sign some free agents (or not) and maybe stay with the Cards and Cubs if possible in 2018 but to really make a push in '19 or '20. Don't do anything silly with our depth of prospects.

 

I am frustrated that the Cubs made a lot of shrewd moves, but nothing has bothered me about what the Brewers have not done.

 

Did I miss something or are the Cubs and Cards set to lose a bunch of talent for 19 and 20 and not make more shrewd moves before then? Ever since the Cubs came out of the All Star game last year, Theo's been kicking Stearns behind and now we have the Cardinals getting just what they were after.

 

I'm not sold that Stearns is some boy genius. He's hit on some and missed on others. But doing nothing won't cut it either. From reports that have surfaced it seems that his focus is all over the place whereas the main competitors are focused and getting done what they set out to do. I'm concerned because as of now, this roster isn't as good as the one that finished the year. Letting Swarzak go elsewhere for really an amount that is in line with other late inning relievers is concerning. Are they really ready to pay the going price for quality? Doesn't seem so.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

I'm not going to lie, losing Swarzak and hearing that they are shopping Santana is a little unnerving. Swarzak was a bulldog in that pen at the end of the year, and I would have felt much more comfortable if he was coming back. And I can understand if they are listening on Santana, but to hear that they are out-and-out shopping him is disappointing. He was one of their only consistent bats last year, and it young and cheap for the next several seasons. Dumping him would seem to go against the "young, controllable talent" mantra Stearns has been preaching.

 

Seeing the Cubs and Cardinals make smart moves sucks. Seeing the Cardinals connected to every big name on the trade or free agent market really sucks. That said, a move could happen at any time that would brighten all of our spirits.

[bill hAll Star]

Not here. My expectation was to maybe sign some free agents (or not) and maybe stay with the Cards and Cubs if possible in 2018 but to really make a push in '19 or '20. Don't do anything silly with our depth of prospects.

 

I am frustrated that the Cubs made a lot of shrewd moves, but nothing has bothered me about what the Brewers have not done.

 

Did I miss something or are the Cubs and Cards set to lose a bunch of talent for 19 and 20 and not make more shrewd moves before then? Ever since the Cubs came out of the All Star game last year, Theo's been kicking Stearns behind and now we have the Cardinals getting just what they were after.

 

I'm not sold that Stearns is some boy genius. He's hit on some and missed on others. But doing nothing won't cut it either. From reports that have surfaced it seems that his focus is all over the place whereas the main competitors are focused and getting done what they set out to do. I'm concerned because as of now, this roster isn't as good as the one that finished the year. Letting Swarzak go elsewhere for really an amount that is in line with other late inning relievers is concerning. Are they really ready to pay the going price for quality? Doesn't seem so.

 

I'm extremely pleased that Stearns didn't dump a bunch of future value to try to chase the Cubs after the ASB this past year.

 

The Cubs are unfortunately going to be good for another 3 years at least. The Cards, I'm not so sure about that.

 

However, I don't see any way that the Brewers can easily catch the Cubs this year without dumping 3/4 of their prospects that all should be coming up to help overtake the division 3 years from now. And I think that this year and maybe next, we can still beat the Cubs. But let's not be foolish and blow our wad just so we can raise a banner for losing the division to the Cubs by only 3 games.

[patrickgpe]

there are some here that needs to relax. There has been maybe a dozen major moves so far. I am going to predict that within the next week something will be done by DS. No reason to overpay or give up too extra prospects at this point in the offseason. The brewers are a good team and don't need that much. We could sign Arietta today if we gave him 200MM, then would you be happy because we made a move?

[brewmann04]

Not here Stearns is going to hold onto his prospects until he gets the deal he wants and also he might feel they will be the cornerstone of the finished rebuild in a few years.

[FVBrewerFan]

I love that they haven't signed anyone or traded top prospects for 2 year rentals. If anything, I wish they would have traded any combination of Knebel, Braun, Santana, Broxton, Shaw, Thames, Pina by now. But still early, so one can hope.

[Austin Tatious]

I am aligned with what Stearns is doing. I don't want to make panic moves. Stay the course.

 

Speaking only for myself, I'd rather see how our young players develop rather than trade them away and suffer as they erupt elsewhere. The Cubs were patient for five years. And it worked. Once they saw their pieces come together, they have made shrewd moves to round it out. We are not at the same stage.

 

To the contrary, if we would have traded Hader as some wanted, I wouldn't have been happy. I see him as a weapon.

 

For all we know, an outfield of Brinson, Phillips and Harrison may be better than what the Marlins just dismantled, except that we can flourish with our group.

 

If a long term pitcher with controllability and youth sprung available in a realistic trade, then you may have to trade from strength. I'd be open to that, but we have to wait for the right timing on that.

 

I'm taking the opposite view of many, and do not want to us to trade off key farm pieces. Not right now.

[TURBO]

 

I'm taking the opposite view of many, and do not want to us to trade off key farm pieces. Not right now.

 

I feel ya and agree 100%

[FVBrewerFan]

I am aligned with what Stearns is doing. I don't want to make panic moves. Stay the course.

 

Speaking only for myself, I'd rather see how our young players develop rather than trade them away and suffer as they erupt elsewhere. The Cubs were patient for five years. And it worked. Once they saw their pieces come together, they have made shrewd moves to round it out. We are not at the same stage.

 

To the contrary, if we would have traded Hader as some wanted, I wouldn't have been happy. I see him as a weapon.

 

For all we know, an outfield of Brinson, Phillips and Harrison may be better than what the Marlins just dismantled, except that we can flourish with our group.

 

If a long term pitcher with controllability and youth sprung available in a realistic trade, then you may have to trade from strength. I'd be open to that, but we have to wait for the right timing on that.

 

I'm taking the opposite view of many, and do not want to us to trade off key farm pieces. Not right now.

 

Yea, if it makes you feel better there's a large minority in your camp. We're just a little quieter than the "make some moves" crowd. It's boring to stay the course.

[KeithStone53151]

I'm generally frustrated by the slow pace of this off season, notably free agency. I feel like by this point, generally many of the marquee free agents will have signed and there will have been more trade activity. There have been some trades, but only a few signings to this point...and none of the heavy hitters(Arrieta/Darvish/Hosmer/Martinez/etc). I'm sure it's all GM speak, posturing, other nonsense and it's all very frustrating. I definitely get it, GM's are trying not to blink first...and going big in free agency is the best way to set yourself up to get fired as a GM...the fan part of me wants some stuff to happen is all.

[DR28]

Yes, I am!!

 

Stearns we need to add to the bullpen and rotation!! Please do something, before the good ones are gone!

 

WE HAVE MONEY TO SPEND!

[wallus]

There is plenty of time yet so no worries.

[shanedog19]

With the market for relievers the way it is, I'm upset we didn't match the Mets offer for Swarzak. He was as good as anyone on the open market and pitched phenomenal for us last year. I'm okay with us not making any trades as of yet.

[Jenkins5]

I just find it annoying, I’ve spent every spare second in school between classes, during my prep, & lunch checking to see if something exciting had happened.... it’s a let down each time but that’s just the excited fan in me. DS knows what he is doing & I trust it. Worse case T. Williams & Houser get longer looks in ST. Go into season with Knebel closing & prob Hader/Jeffress/ Barnes 7th & 8th as of now. Unless pull in someone good, hard to see Hader moving to rotation. They need depth in order to do that.

[3and2Fastball]

Phenomenal? Not exactly. He was pretty good. Based on his career history and the general volatility of relief pitchers anyways, it would be a roll of the dice as to whether Swarzak ever pitches as well as he did in 2017.

 

To answer the OP's question: no, I'm not losing patience. It is a lot of fun to discuss and speculate whenever the Brewers make a move, but what I want is great moves regardless of how soon they happen.

[Jenkins5]

Realistically, if we had not overachieved we’d still be focused on developing our talent & giving them opportunities to see what they are. Instead of talking about bringing Ace, we’d be pushing to see what Woodruff, Hader, Burnes, Ortiz can do. We’d be more focused on letting Williams, Houser, and etc earn those spots & see what they can do. Know we are more in contention mindset where it makes it harder to get looks at young talent over getting experienced & proven talent. We can buy now & undercut development & make team stronger now on short term or we can still focus on getting all these guys experience, get these guys threw growing pains, and attack next years loaded FA group loaded with money. I’ve always said 2019 is start of our developmental window to compete. I don’t care what way we go.... I just love winter meetings & off-season guessing what way we are going!

[Outlander]

Yes, I am!!

 

Stearns we need to add to the bullpen and rotation!! Please do something, before the good ones are gone!

 

WE HAVE MONEY TO SPEND!

He hasn't really since becoming GM so until he starts changing his approach I assume he won't. I think he is open to making larger moves but he isn't going to force it.