Opening Day Roster

[TURBO]

1 hour ago, edfunderburk said:

This is too good to be true

I can’t see Oakland making that trade

Milwaukee would jump all over that opportunity 

I would be thrilled … it appears one-sided & unlikely 

Laureano is such a whiff machine though, and just can't stay healthy.

[jay87shot]

Just meant someone like Laureano, right handed OF that can play a bunch for a month and then be traded or be 4th of and trade Taylor. Laureano and Huira were both 0.9 WAR players, Laureano makes a million more and is no longer a gold glove caliber player.

[JohnBriggs12]

I foresee Brosseau getting dealt before opening day, perhaps for a bullpen arm.  Personally, I'd like to see all 3 young OF on the opening day roster and make it a 6-8 week audition to see who stays when Taylor returns.  I don't think that will happen but it wouldn't shock me if Wiemer makes it over Frelick only because they can use a RH bat.  They may want to give Mitchell more AB's by starting him off at Nashville.

The bigger deal that wouldn't shock me either would involve Urias.  If that happens they could hold on to Brosseau, and insert Turang into the everyday 2B job with days off against LHP.  Turang has given every indication that he's major league ready right now.  Further AB's against inferior AAA pitching will only stunt his development.

 

[Redd Vencher]

3 hours ago, JohnBriggs12 said:

I foresee Brosseau getting dealt before opening day, perhaps for a bullpen arm.  Personally, I'd like to see all 3 young OF on the opening day roster and make it a 6-8 week audition to see who stays when Taylor returns.  I don't think that will happen but it wouldn't shock me if Wiemer makes it over Frelick only because they can use a RH bat.  They may want to give Mitchell more AB's by starting him off at Nashville.

The bigger deal that wouldn't shock me either would involve Urias.  If that happens they could hold on to Brosseau, and insert Turang into the everyday 2B job with days off against LHP.  Turang has given every indication that he's major league ready right now.  Further AB's against inferior AAA pitching will only stunt his development.

 

Why would they trade one of their better position players in Urias?

[nate82]

39 minutes ago, Redd Vencher said:

Why would they trade one of their better position players in Urias?

That wouldn't even be the biggest hurdle to a trade with Urias.  I am having a difficult time even finding a team that would be a match for Urias. 

[endaround]

58 minutes ago, nate82 said:

That wouldn't even be the biggest hurdle to a trade with Urias.  I am having a difficult time even finding a team that would be a match for Urias. 

The White Sox are the ones with the huge need so something built around Ramos would be fair.  It just doesn't make any sense for the Brewers to get worse at 2B.

[monty57]

6 hours ago, JohnBriggs12 said:

I foresee Brosseau getting dealt before opening day, perhaps for a bullpen arm.  Personally, I'd like to see all 3 young OF on the opening day roster and make it a 6-8 week audition to see who stays when Taylor returns.  I don't think that will happen but it wouldn't shock me if Wiemer makes it over Frelick only because they can use a RH bat.  They may want to give Mitchell more AB's by starting him off at Nashville.

The bigger deal that wouldn't shock me either would involve Urias.  If that happens they could hold on to Brosseau, and insert Turang into the everyday 2B job with days off against LHP.  Turang has given every indication that he's major league ready right now.  Further AB's against inferior AAA pitching will only stunt his development.

 

Anderson is probably going to be the RH corner OF to start the season, and will probably get a lot of playing time in the OF until Taylor returns or they bring up a prospect. Hiura can also play some games there if he's still around on opening day.

I was originally on board with Frelick being on the roster on opening day, but I think the Brewers are being pretty clear that they prefer to start the prospects (outside of Mitchell) in the minors to save service time. Frelick acknowledged this early in the spring when he said he expected to start the year in the minors. 

It'll be a couple of weeks before they can bring a prospect up without costing them a year's service time. It'll be a couple more weeks from then until Taylor should be back. We can make it with someone like Naquin and Anderson manning RF until then. They've mentioned repeatedly how the team sees Blake Perkins "as a part of the future," so that seems to point to him starting the year in the minors. That leaves a backup CF, and Owen Miller is listed as a CF on the team's site, so he could be a utility guy who can give Mitchell a day's rest if he needs one in the first couple weeks.

If they think Winker's surgery was a success, and they want to give the roster spot to someone other than Naquin, they could let Winker and Anderson cover RF for the first couple weeks until Frelick/Wiemer gets brought up. That could open a spot for Toro, who could help out at 3B if Anderson is getting a lot of time in the OF.

We're talking 2-3 weeks to start this season to add a year's service time when Turang, Frelick, and Wiemer are in their prime. I can accept Winker's defense in the OF for four or five games if it means we get another full year of Frelick.

[Brewcrew82]

4 minutes ago, monty57 said:

Anderson is probably going to be the RH corner OF to start the season, and will probably get a lot of playing time in the OF until Taylor returns or they bring up a prospect. Hiura can also play some games there if he's still around on opening day.

I was originally on board with Frelick being on the roster on opening day, but I think the Brewers are being pretty clear that they prefer to start the prospects (outside of Mitchell) in the minors to save service time. Frelick acknowledged this early in the spring when he said he expected to start the year in the minors. 

It'll be a couple of weeks before they can bring a prospect up without costing them a year's service time. It'll be a couple more weeks from then until Taylor should be back. We can make it with someone like Naquin and Anderson manning RF until then. They've mentioned repeatedly how the team sees Blake Perkins "as a part of the future," so that seems to point to him starting the year in the minors. That leaves a backup CF, and Owen Miller is listed as a CF on the team's site, so he could be a utility guy who can give Mitchell a day's rest if he needs one in the first couple weeks.

If they think Winker's surgery was a success, and they want to give the roster spot to someone other than Naquin, they could let Winker and Anderson cover RF for the first couple weeks until Frelick/Wiemer gets brought up. That could open a spot for Toro, who could help out at 3B if Anderson is getting a lot of time in the OF.

We're talking 2-3 weeks to start this season to add a year's service time when Turang, Frelick, and Wiemer are in their prime. I can accept Winker's defense in the OF for four or five games if it means we get another full year of Frelick.

I don’t know about ”it’s only 2-3 weeks”. As we saw last year, when we missed the playoffs by a single game, games in April mean every bit as they do in September. I’m of the opinion that you play your best players as soon and as often as you can.

I get the service time ramifications are big for a small market club such as the Brewers. However, the Brewers could easily mitigate this by offering an extension to Frelick at some point during the season once he’s proven himself and buy out a couple of his free agent years. 

[nate82]

1 hour ago, endaround said:

The White Sox are the ones with the huge need so something built around Ramos would be fair.  It just doesn't make any sense for the Brewers to get worse at 2B.

Maybe at the deadline you trade Urias but right now no.  I am not sure you would get full value for Urias at this point in time. 

[Brewcrew82]

I think Varland is a good candidate to make the team after reading this. 

[sveumrules]

I’d go with…

Contreras, Caratini

Rowdy, Turang, Adames, Urias, Brosseau, Voit

Yelich, Mitchell, Frelick, Anderson, Winker

Burnes, Woodruff, Peralta, Lauer, Miley

Williams, Bush, Milner, Strez, Houser, Guerra, Wilson, Varland

Pretty much the same thing they have projected at Roster Resource but with Frelick, Voit, Varland instead of Miller, Hiura, Payamps.

[monty57]

19 hours ago, Brewcrew82 said:

I don’t know about ”it’s only 2-3 weeks”. As we saw last year, when we missed the playoffs by a single game, games in April mean every bit as they do in September. I’m of the opinion that you play your best players as soon and as often as you can.

I get the service time ramifications are big for a small market club such as the Brewers. However, the Brewers could easily mitigate this by offering an extension to Frelick at some point during the season once he’s proven himself and buy out a couple of his free agent years. 

The Brewers will need "that extra win" in the future, too. What are the odds that the prospect in question will provide more value in the full year of service gained down the road over the 2-3 weeks spent in the minors this season?

The Brewers can offer extensions to anyone they wish. The extension will be significantly less expensive it the team has an additional year of team control. They wouldn't be "mitigating" anything, as they would be paying tens of millions more in extensions for their prospects than they would if they all had that extra year of control. That's notwithstanding that many of them wouldn't take the extension and would simply hit free agency a year earlier. If one of the prospects wants to sign the extension now, then fine, put him on the opening day roster. If they haven't signed the extension by opening day, send them down for a few weeks.

Putting the top prospects out there on opening day instead of calling them up after a few weeks is extreme short-term thinking, and it would cost the Brewers a lot of money and wins in the future. All teams do this because it's the smart thing to do. It's in the CBA and gives the team an extra year of control, so take advantage of it.

[Brewcrew82]

25 minutes ago, monty57 said:

The Brewers will need "that extra win" in the future, too. What are the odds that the prospect in question will provide more value in the full year of service gained down the road over the 2-3 weeks spent in the minors this season?

The Brewers can offer extensions to anyone they wish. The extension will be significantly less expensive it the team has an additional year of team control. They wouldn't be "mitigating" anything, as they would be paying tens of millions more in extensions for their prospects than they would if they all had that extra year of control. That's notwithstanding that many of them wouldn't take the extension and would simply hit free agency a year earlier. If one of the prospects wants to sign the extension now, then fine, put him on the opening day roster. If they haven't signed the extension by opening day, send them down for a few weeks.

Putting the top prospects out there on opening day instead of calling them up after a few weeks is extreme short-term thinking, and it would cost the Brewers a lot of money and wins in the future. All teams do this because it's the smart thing to do. It's in the CBA and gives the team an extra year of control, so take advantage of it.

It’s a real fine game to play when you’re “going for it” this season, yet decline to play your best players as often as possible. Especially when you missed the playoffs by a single game last season…

And it is mitigation when speaking about service time and team control, as the year of control that would be lost by having Frelick on the OD roster would be gained right back and then some with an extension. Would a few extra dollars be involved in the early years? Yes. But then you’re looking at potentially saving money on the back end in addition to gaining valuable cost certainty. This is why you’ve seen smart FO’s such as the Braves, D-backs, etc. adopt this tact recently…

As for the odds, I obviously don’t have a precise figure. But Steven Kwan, who is probably Frelick’s closest comparable atm, put up a 5.5 WAR last season... So, when things are as close as they were last year and are looking to be this year in the NL, those 2-3 weeks could literally be the difference between making the playoffs and missing the playoffs. It’s one thing if you have a Tyrone Taylor to fill in the gaps during those 2 weeks to couple months; it’s an entirely different matter, however, when you’re looking at trying to get by with some combination of Tyler Naquin, Brian Anderson, and Owen Miller in the OF…

[markedman5]

 

[Jopal78]

I don’t think the Brewers are going to take a chance letting Varland leave their organization. Bryce Wilson or Payamps won’t make the team, with a slight leg up for Wilson because he can also start

[wiguy94]

Just now, Jopal78 said:

I don’t think the Brewers are going to take a chance letting Varland leave their organization. Bryce Wilson or Payamps won’t make the team, with a slight leg up for Wilson because he can also start

I think one of Wilson or Payamps will come down with some type of soreness right before the season and start the season on the IL to give the Brewers a bit more time to figure things out.

[markedman5]

Major news

 

[MVP2110]

Arnold also stated Frelick & Wiemer were under serious consideration for OD. Frelick I can certainly understand, but Wiemer isn't eligible for the draft pick compensation so we'd be throwing away a year of control in his prime for 2 weeks now which wouldn't seem smart to me

[True Blue Brew Crew]

The reason for considering Wiemer over Frelick is Joey's right handedness and the lack of RH bats in the OF.

[MVP2110]

1 minute ago, True Blue Brew Crew said:

The reason for considering Wiemer over Frelick is Joey's right handedness and the lack of RH bats in the OF.

I get that, I just don't think it's smart. Brian Anderson or Owen Miller can cover those at bats for 2 weeks. I just don't believe a full year of age 31 Joey Wiemer is worth 2 weeks now

[bensheeps]

So information on Hiura and Naquin, but no word on why the change with Voit out of the lineup late?

[brewcrewdue80]

7 minutes ago, MVP2110 said:

Arnold also stated Frelick & Wiemer were under serious consideration for OD. Frelick I can certainly understand, but Wiemer isn't eligible for the draft pick compensation so we'd be throwing away a year of control in his prime for 2 weeks now which wouldn't seem smart to me

Why is Wiemer not eligible for draft pick compensation? I thought he was in the 80s on most lists?

[MVP2110]

2 minutes ago, brewcrewdue80 said:

Why is Wiemer not eligible for draft pick compensation? I thought he was in the 80s on most lists?

He only made 1 of the top 100 lists that are considered(BA, Pipeline, ESPN). You need to make 2 to be eligible 

[SF70]

14 minutes ago, MVP2110 said:

I get that, I just don't think it's smart. Brian Anderson or Owen Miller can cover those at bats for 2 weeks. I just don't believe a full year of age 31 Joey Wiemer is worth 2 weeks now

When TT is ready they’ll option Wiemer back to Nashville in all likelihood, so they won’t lose the extra year.

[MVP2110]

6 minutes ago, SF70 said:

When TT is ready they’ll option Wiemer back to Nashville in all likelihood, so they won’t lose the extra year.

Possible, but injuries or performance could dictate differently, if Wiemer comes out and tears it up the Brewers will have a hard time justifying sending him down. Likewise if there were injuries to any other outfielders before TT came back