Grade the Deadline Deals

[jay87shot]

1) Santana for Barrios

2) Canha for Jarvis

3) Chafin for Strezlecki

4) Blalock for Urias

5) McKendry for Jackson

Missed opportunities=

Overall deadline Grade=

[jay87shot]

8 minutes ago, jay87shot said:

1) Santana for Barrios

2) Canha for Jarvis

3) Chafin for Strezlecki

4) Blalock for Urias

5) McKendry for Jackson

Missed opportunities=

Overall deadline Grade=

1) B+. Santana helps 1B defense and provides a better middle of the order bat than what has been put out there. Barrios has some high end upside to make this bad in the long term.

2)B+. Basically the same boat as the Santana trade, his defensive versatility can help and is at least a huge improvement at DH and verse lefties. Jarvis is at best Adrian Houser in a few years so we don't really lise a ton of potential.

3)A. I love this deal, I don't see Strez turning into legit high stress reliever. Chafin had amazing 21 and 22 seasons, if he can limit the walks he will be a huge add. Add in a potentially pickupable 2024 option and jackpot.

4)A-. This depends on if you think Urias would have had a chance to be a 2B upgrade. However I feel like we would have non-tendered Urias next year so getting a solid young arm is great.

5)A. McKendry kind of has a Jason Alexander/Colin Rea feel to him next year. With Henry, Naveretto, and Quero getting something something interesting is a win.

Missing opportunities= There really weren't any big bats to be had at a reasonable price. However not getting a 2B/3B upgrade does seem like a bit of a miss. 

Final Grade= A-. We got 3 solid improvements and got a prospect who is better than anyone we gave up. There were no wow moves but we are better set to compete and didn't lose anything towards the future.

[wiguy94]

1) Santana for Severino - B

2) Canha for Jarvis - A-

3) Chafin for Strezlecki - B+

4) Blalock for Urias - A-

5) McKendry for Jackson - A

Missed opportunities= Feel like team could have gotten 1 more bat

Overall deadline Grade= B, improved the team with very little overall cost to the future but think there was room for one more MLB move

[Jim French Stepstool]

1) Santana trade B+. Pretty good deal for Pittsburgh as well. Severino has a chance, but we dealt from strength. Well done.

2) Canha trade B+. This almost seems to be an afterthought trade because it came after the Santana deal & was in the midst of Jimenez rumors. But it could be every bit as fruitful. The guy's a great roster fit.

3) Chafin deal A-. Fills an immediate need, & may be around next year as well. I was a Strez fan but certainly a replaceable role in the organization.

4) Blalock deal B+. Almost gave this a C due to Urias being a guy who has had some productive moments, on both ends of the floor. But this seems to be one of those things that, while I didn't see it coming, should have. The more I hear the more I like Blalock. Seems to be getting better the further removed from TJ & walks very few.

 5) McKendry deal B+. Not as intriguing to me as Blalock, but still a depth piece. Anybody a little miffed at losing Jarvis, these last two deals basically filled that potential gap admirably. Jackson was nice to have around in case of an injury, but Navaretto fills the same role.

Missed opps----Looking at the Mets dealing Pham for a 17-yr-old SS, I wonder what it would've taken to get him to Milwaukee. I think it's safe to assume Jimenez would've been much too pricey. No big complaints, really.

Overall grade---B++. On the 1-100 scale they used back in the stone age, a "B" was like 85-92. They earned a 91.

[bigred]

8 hours ago, jay87shot said:

1) Santana for Barrios

2) Canha for Jarvis

3) Chafin for Strezlecki

4) Blalock for Urias

5) McKendry for Jackson

Missed opportunities=

Overall deadline Grade=

They traded Severino for Santana. 

[Jopal78]

Depends on how you look at it. If the goal was to improve the team as much as possible without giving up prized minor leaguers they achieved their goal. Under that perspective you’d give them an A. 
 

Did they use the deadline to fix what ails team? Not really, most likely they will still be offensively challenged, but maybe the problem simply wasn’t fixable with what players were available C+\B-

[igor67]

I down grade them for not making these types of moves earlier (though that may not have been completely in their control).

I also think it is fair to limit grade inflation and to get an A either you need to get stud MLB players or be selling and get stud minor leaguers.

Low cost of acquisition definitely raises the grade, Having a high trade volume compared to everyone else is also a positive as I think the team is definitely getting something worthwhile in each deal.

Creative in basically managing the entire roster and not just worrying about the current MLB team is also a noteworthy positive.

I think collectively we have about as much minor league talent as we did before the trades started, and more useful pieces to us at the major league level. So overall I'd call it a B

[Fear The Chorizo]

Look around the rest league - this year's trade deadline was a dud unless they wanted to be in the market for 40-something starting pitchers with enormous contracts.  The Brewers did just fine over the deadline by making noteable roster upgrades at positions of need without giving up anyone to be concerned about losing in the long run.  Just having competent options to play 1B and serve as the DH the rest of this season improves the depth across the lineup every night.  I'd call their deadline a solid B, but that's not the best news for the organization from yesterday.

Both Woodruff and Lauer were on the hill in minor league stadiums last night on rehab stints, setting up the possibility of the Brewers being able to have their opening day rotation pitching for them in the stretch run.  

[Jake McKibbin]

2 minutes ago, Fear The Chorizo said:

Look around the rest league - this year's trade deadline was a dud unless they wanted to be in the market for 40-something starting pitchers with enormous contracts.  The Brewers did just fine over the deadline by making noteable roster upgrades at positions of need without giving up anyone to be concerned about losing in the long run.  Just having competent options to play 1B and serve as the DH the rest of this season improves the depth across the lineup every night.  I'd call their deadline a solid B, but that's not the best news for the organization from yesterday.

Both Woodruff and Lauer were on the hill in minor league stadiums last night on rehab stints, setting up the possibility of the Brewers being able to have their opening day rotation pitching for them in the stretch run.  

Absolutely, and that last paragraph is crucial. However I'm trying to avoid that feeling of forgetting a players downside and enhacing his upside simply because they've been out of the game for a while, and might actually prefer Colin Rea's recent performances over Lauer. I think Rea was very unlucky last time out, but he struck out a ton of Braves, with home runs at the most inopportune moments. 8 strikeouts in 5 innings is great stuff, with 5 hits and 2 walks. It's just unfortunate the timing of the homers, but that's the Braves offense for you.

Lauer with confidence is better, there's no doubt, but I'm definitely coming round to the idea of Rea as a fifth starter next year, eating innings and mostly keeping the team in games

[StearnsFTW]

B

B

A

B +

B +

Overall, I'm fine.  B+.  Severino is the only prospect they dealt that I think has any chance to have any impact and I think the odds are pretty small there.

 

They improved the ML team and actually added a couple of interesting minor league arms without giving much up in my opinion.

 

For instance, I'd rather have McKendry and Blalock than Jarvis and Strzelecki, which makes it basically the 3 major league guys for Severino and Urias (at least in my mind), which is pretty good.

[TURBO]

Barrios?

[Outlander]

C or C+, they got some average players where they were horrible at during the year. Didn't give up much so that is where the + comes in. Needed one more bat on the last day and it never came.

[brewers888]

17 hours ago, jay87shot said:

1) Santana for Barrios

2) Canha for Jarvis

3) Chafin for Strezlecki

4) Blalock for Urias

5) McKendry for Jackson

Missed opportunities=

Overall deadline Grade=

Santana C. He's not terrible but far from a real difference maker.

Canha D Just another below average bat for a lineup already full of them

Chafin B He's probably better than Strz but who knows how he will perform down the stretch and I see no reason why we would keep him past this season

Urias D He was a solid performer for us last season and on a team with a lack of bats he should have been given more of a chance instead of banking on Turang and Monestario

McKendry incomplete probably a nothing for nothing kind of deal but maybe there is some upside there

Overall grade C- good that they didn't trade any top prospects but I would have preferred to see them get a haul for Burnes.

[Rico]

I don't get the Canha trade.  He is batting 20 points lower than Owen Miller, and what is the point? Miller ca play the outfield.

[wallus]

14 minutes ago, Rico said:

I don't get the Canha trade.  He is batting 20 points lower than Owen Miller, and what is the point? Miller ca play the outfield.

Miller started off hot but has been bad for a while now.

[BlightyBrew]

D+/C-

Trouble giving this FO/ownership group points for trying to fix a poor offensive roster construction that they created with a deadline pickups to make it slightly less poor and claiming a victory.  It's like praising a person for putting out a fire they started.

When the Crew falls out of contention at the end of August I wonder if CC hangs it up and doesn't finish out the year?  Not saying he gets fired but retires on his own,  

Watching and listening him after losing the Nats series I have to believe he is thinking only 53 more games to go.

 

 

 

[Brock Beauchamp]

11 hours ago, Rico said:

I don't get the Canha trade.  He is batting 20 points lower than Owen Miller, and what is the point? Miller ca play the outfield.

Welcome to Brewer Fanatic!

[KeithStone53151]

1) Santana for Barrios - C+. Barrios is a fair amount to give up for him, and I wish we aimed a little higher in this spot. 1b/RF/DH are great spots to prioritize offense a bit more than defense. I would call my thoughts a philosophical difference from the front office.

2) Canha for Jarvis - B+. From a value standpoint this seems very good. We essentially got Canha for nothing, for a guy we weren't going to protect from rule 5. I wish we had aimed higher than Canha, and so far in interviews I get a sense that he really doesn't want to be here, like he wants to still be playing in New York. No way for Brewers brass to know about that last part.

3) Chafin for Strezlecki - B. We might regret this a couple years from now if Strezlecki re-establishes himself. I had the sense he was pitching out of his mind a bit to be in the setup role. He seems like the type that's gonna flip from good to bad often and will settle in at middle relief value. Chafin provides immediate help and has a very strong track record. His stuff has played better than his numbers this season so far.

4) Blalock for Urias - A. Urias is a DFA candidate, we got something with potential for essentially nothing. And I generally appreciate giving guys an opportunity when they are stuck.

5) McKendry for Jackson - C. I don't know much about these guys, seems like a depth move that is fine.

Missed opportunities= Eloy Jimenez/Jake Burger. The price was seemingly prohibitive on these guys so maybe this is more wishful thinking. I think Grichuk was a great target and would have been a better fit than Canha.

Overall deadline Grade= B. I wish we picked a different target than Canha. I also think they were too focused on defense and may have been better served having an offense first guy in RF that could DH a fair amount. Looking specifically at grichuk.

[KeithStone53151]

13 hours ago, Rico said:

I don't get the Canha trade.  He is batting 20 points lower than Owen Miller, and what is the point? Miller ca play the outfield.

Miller had the month of his life in May and outside of May was the AAAA hitter he'd been in his career to this point.

[CheezWizHed]

 1) Santana for Severino - A-.  Santana is an average bat at best, but elite D.  Clearly an upgrade on what we had (especially with Miller faltering and Tellez injured).  Didn't give up much to get there.

2) Canha for Jarvis - B.  Again, an upgrade on our current RF, but again only to "average".  Again didn't give up much to get there. 

3) Chafin for Strezlecki - B+ interesting trade of struggling relievers.  Chafin more likely helps this year.  Strez more for future years or maybe we capitalized on a flash in the pan 2022?

4) Blalock for Urias - B.  Hurts to give up on Urias at this point, but clearly a long-term roster focused move.  Got a decent arm for someone that is probably non-tendered next year when it was unlikely to see him back up this year.  Also Monestario is currently producing at Urias' career level, so there is some redundancy on the roster already.   Hope the best for Urias in Boston where he gets a fresh start.  In the long run, Boston may "win" this trade but it will also cost them $$ to see that additional WAR.

5) McKendry for Jackson - A+ I think this was a great grab.  Still not an Earth shattering move, but pulling in a potential SP rotational depth for 2024 by giving up a catcher we didn't necessarily have plans on using is a great move.  Maybe gives Jackson a better chance at the MLB level too. 

Missed opportunities=  Controversially... I'll say NONE.  Sure, they could've done more and yes, we are risking wasting another year of our strong SP staff.  But I think the improvements needed to make this squad a legit WS contender right now is pretty significant and the risk very high to "sell off the farm" to get all the bats necessary. 

To me it looks like management is putting us in a situation to have a chance (slightly more than Dumb and Dumber) by getting into the playoffs and then getting hot.  By getting "hot", I mean that Frelick plays well, our additions play "average",  Tellez is healthy and plays his career norms, and BA and Adames bounce back to their norms while our pitching remains strong. 

Overall deadline Grade= B+.  They found decent improvements (i.e. plugging holes in the dike) for very low cost.  They used some creativity to strengthen the future while making mild improvements to the current. 

[BrewerFan]

On 8/3/2023 at 3:26 AM, BlightyBrew said:

When the Crew falls out of contention at the end of August I wonder if CC hangs it up and doesn't finish out the year?  Not saying he gets fired but retires on his own,  

You're wondering if Craig Counsell would just quit on this team if they..."fell out of contention," by the end of this month?

I'm not sure how bad they'd have to be to fall all the way out of contention, but I would be willing to bet....literally 1 million dollars that Counsell isn't the type of coward to just quit on a team going into Sept. Even if they happen to have a 10 game losing streak and find themselves 8 games out of the WC/Division.

 

That just seems as irrational as the Stearns was sabatoging the Brewers last year in anticipation of him joining the Mets(despite him quite literally making moves that were more beneficial for the future of the team). 

 

I think the deadline was pretty good because they didn't give up good prospects and there are so few sellers out there with the additional WC spots. If you disagree, I can respect that. But that nonsense about Counsell just...walking away in-season, you must have an exceptionally low opinion of his character. 

[BrewerFan]

On 8/1/2023 at 10:24 PM, wiguy94 said:

1) Santana for Severino - B

2) Canha for Jarvis - A-

3) Chafin for Strezlecki - B+

4) Blalock for Urias - A-

5) McKendry for Jackson - A

Missed opportunities= Feel like team could have gotten 1 more bat

Overall deadline Grade= B, improved the team with very little overall cost to the future but think there was room for one more MLB move

I like Urias and thought he'd hit if given regular ABs...but we also have Monastario and he's not some fluke. He was a good prospect and he's performing now. Maybe the Brewers really like Blalock. It's almost impossible to predict what the Brewers are gonna do with these pitchers. He's got the arm to be a really good pitcher and it'd seem the Brewers targeted him, but all that to say as much as I like Urias, I trust the Brewers evaluations when it comes to the pitchers they like.

So I'm mostly in agreement here. I don't like dealing guys like Severino just because of what they CAN become. It's the riskiest type of trade for me. I'd rather trade a Reece Olsen or Justin Jarvis. You know what they are, they clearly have value but there's not a real wide range of outcomes. MAYBE a #3 at best to a long man type. But a young MIFer(or 3B) who's that young and hits for power?

I get he's getting passed up by several players(and that was before kinda went nuts with Wilken, Boeve, Pratt, Bitonti). 

 

Those are the only two aspects I didn't love. 

I wanted to see them get Eloy Jiminiez, but when you saw the White Sox demanding Jackson Holliday for Cease, it gave you a good idea that...when they said Robert, Eloy, Cease and...inexplicably Vaughn as a 4th, but that they were all untouchable, seems like they pretty much meant it.

Beyond that, Canelario was a seemingly perfect fit with the Brewers. I'd guess a...Guilarte+Henderson type package would have been comparable to the Cubs deal.

 

So I guess I'll give them a B. You can say they should have upgraded the team, but there was a limited number of options and they didn't make any stupid moves like Daniel Norris or Rosenthal. Some of these trades may not work out, but those two were kinda immediate head scratchers(particularly Norris).

[CheeseheadInQC]

I'd go B+ overall.

Part of this is because neither Jarvis or Severino were among the guys I was terribly high on (I think I had both somewhere between 28-35. Not exactly sure why with Jarvis. With Severino, though, in large part it is the walk rate. Even guys like Chourio and Quero, who have managed to increase their walk rate this year in season, walked in short-season ball, where the pitchers are at their wildest. That Severino didn't makes me question if he ever will. It's the reason why for all the power he was never even a league average hitter during his time in the Brewers' organization. And while in time he might be able to become a competent 3rd baseman or right fielder, he's unlikely to provide plus defensive value at a premium position like low-walk all-star types Javier Baez (at his peak) or Adam Jones. So what does that leave for best-case-scenario comps if he can't improve the walk rate much? A somewhat more athletic Mark Trumbo or Jake Burger? 

I'd put Blalock and McKendry for Jarvis and Severino as roughly even. That means value wise, we got a couple of league average bats for an impending minor league free agent and a guy who very well might have already played his last game for the Brewers even if they didn't trade him. 

I'm slightly more mixed on the Chafin-Strz deal, but years of control for a non-closer type reliever are probably less valuable than just about any other position, so I'm fine with it.

I would be interested to know what it would have taken to get Candelario (as we learned this offseason, some teams have outlier evaluations on players, so going off similar rankings is imprecise at best). No real interest in any of the other deals that went down.

[SF70]

A-

Santana for Severino > A — The 1B defensive upgrade is huge. Love the switch-hitting bat as well. Losing Severino stings because of the power potential but 3-4 years away helps along with the power 3Bbats added in the last 2 drafts.

Canha for Jarvis > B+ — Canha is definitely a bat upgrade. Love his AB’s, baserunning and defensive versatility. 

Chafin for Strz > B — Definitely a win now move. Chafin helps move this years pen towards monstrous. Strz is a low heart-rate future bullpen mainstay. Fortunately, this team has quite the reliever factory.

Urias for Blaylock > A+ — A future potential mid-rotation starter for 3 months of a bad baseball player — best trade they made at the deadline. Urias is playing on bad legs, becoming one of the slowest players in baseball that was not going to get tendered anyhow, and to get arguably our closest SP prospect to the bigs for him is a huge win in my book.

Jackson for McKendry > B+ — Adding a AAA pitching prospect for a AAAA catcher is a win for me. CH is quite a weapon.

 

The team is better offensively, defensively, running the bases and in the bullpen. All this without hurting the farm. Bravo to the FO.

 

[SF70]

1 minute ago, SF70 said:

A-

Santana for Severino > A — The 1B defensive upgrade is huge. Love the switch-hitting bat as well. Losing Severino stings because of the power potential but 3-4 years away helps along with the power 3Bbats added in the last 2 drafts.

Canha for Jarvis > B+ — Canha is definitely a bat upgrade. Love his AB’s, baserunning and defensive versatility. 

Chafin for Strz > B — Definitely a win now move. Chafin helps move this years pen towards monstrous. Strz is a low heart-rate future bullpen mainstay. Fortunately, this team has quite the reliever factory.

Urias for Blaylock > A+ — A future potential mid-rotation starter for 3 months of a bad baseball player — best trade they made at the deadline. Urias is playing on bad legs, becoming one of the slowest players in baseball that was not going to get tendered anyhow, and to get arguably our closest SP prospect to the bigs for him is a huge win in my book.

Jackson for McKendry > B+ — Adding a AAA pitching prospect for a AAAA catcher is a win for me. CH is quite a weapon.

 

The team is better offensively, defensively, running the bases and in the bullpen. All this without hurting the farm. Bravo to the FO.

 

Arguably the second-closest to the bigs is Blaylock, behind Gasser, obviously. My mistake.