Brewers Still In the Market For Rotation Depth?

[Oxy]

4 hours ago, jay87shot said:

I agree they shouldn't sell off but they are at a bit of a crossroad. Currently their salary is around 230 million, Bregman and Verlander are free agents and Tucker, Valdez, Pressley (option),and Urquidy in 2 years. They can afford to keep a couple but then will still likely be paying their bats a massive amount compared to the starting pitchers (pen makes a lot with Hader, Montero, Graveman, and Pressly). I don't think they would sell the farm but at some point the Astros will have some hard financial questions to solve. If they continue to have pitching issues (injuries) and end up under .500 and are paying Abreu, McCullers, Hader, and Pressley large amounts for little production. Add on top of that one of the worst farm systems in the league and they will be forced to do something sooner rather than later.

Verlander is more likely then...for free+prospect?

[jay87shot]

1 hour ago, Oxy said:

Verlander is more likely then...for free+prospect?

Great point, Verlander makes a lot more sense than the higher value young guys. Verlander and they eat 1/2 his remaining salary for an couple intermediate prospects/pieces (at mid-season).

[jay87shot]

With the Marlins already off loading is there anyone that would interest us there? My guess is Luzardo would need a bunch of good starts to gain value back. Trevor Rogers is probably the only other decent candidate since Edward Cabrera has been good (6.05 era 19inng 10bb/30k). Max Meyer maybe off limit.

[jay87shot]

Other names to keep an eye on not mentioned in the last couple weeks.

Angels=Tyler Anderson, Reid Detmers

Rays=Zack Eflin, Drew Rasmussen (if he returns from injury), Aaron Civale

Rockies= Cal Quantrill

Dbacks= Jordan Montgomery, Merrill Kelly

Giants=Blake Snell

Jays= Yusei Kukuchi, other starters less likely

A's= Paul Blackburn, Ross Stripling

Rangers= #6/#7/#8 pitchers ( if everyone gets healthy they have like 8 starters)

One of the Royals or Tigers will probably hit a rough spot and have a pitcher available as well.

[brewmann04]

The inability of these started are going destroy this bullpen 

[Fear The Chorizo]

I wouldn't expect the video game numbers he is putting up in Mexico to continue (over 14k/9ip strikeout ratio)....but from both an on the field and budget standpoint there isn't a more obvious starter acquisition for this team than Trevor Bauer if they need rotation depth.  Hate me for stating it due to the off the field baggage that would come with him, but it's true.

 

[Matt]

Lauer is now on the market. Opted out of his deal in Pittsburgh. I know the last time we saw him it was rough, but I wouldn't rule out a reunion. 

Though Lauer looked well on his way to a breakout with the Brew Crew in 2021 after adding a slider to his arsenal, his 2023 campaign was a disaster. From 2021-22, Lauer pitched to a 3.47 ERA in 277 1/3 innings, showing strong strikeout and walk rates along the way — particularly after incorporating that new breaking ball into his repertoire. However, last year saw the southpaw post a grisly 6.46 ERA in 46 2/3 innings. The Brewers optioned him to Triple-A Nashville in hopes of getting him right, but he served up a 5.15 ERA there as well.

Lauer incurred both shoulder and elbow injuries from 2022-23, so it’s certainly possible he wasn’t pitching at full strength during that miserable 2023 campaign. He lost more than two miles per hour off his heater last year, dropping from a 93.3 mph average in 2022 to just 91.2 mph before he was optioned.

While that ugly final outing in Indy skewed Lauer’s 2024 ERA, he fanned a sharp 29.1% of opponents in his brief stint with the Pirates organization, coupling that mark with a solid 8.7% walk rate. Even if he doesn’t get all the way back to his 2021-22 form, Lauer has a 4.30 earned run average in nearly 600 big league innings — a 4.11 mark if excluding last year’s tough showing. He also only has 4.111 years of big league service time, so if a team signs him and brings him to the majors at some point, he can be controlled through the 2025 season via arbitration (or even through 2026, if his MLB promotion comes with 60 or fewer days remaining on the season’s calendar).

[wiguy94]

28 minutes ago, Matt said:

Lauer is now on the market. Opted out of his deal in Pittsburgh. I know the last time we saw him it was rough, but I wouldn't rule out a reunion. 

Though Lauer looked well on his way to a breakout with the Brew Crew in 2021 after adding a slider to his arsenal, his 2023 campaign was a disaster. From 2021-22, Lauer pitched to a 3.47 ERA in 277 1/3 innings, showing strong strikeout and walk rates along the way — particularly after incorporating that new breaking ball into his repertoire. However, last year saw the southpaw post a grisly 6.46 ERA in 46 2/3 innings. The Brewers optioned him to Triple-A Nashville in hopes of getting him right, but he served up a 5.15 ERA there as well.

Lauer incurred both shoulder and elbow injuries from 2022-23, so it’s certainly possible he wasn’t pitching at full strength during that miserable 2023 campaign. He lost more than two miles per hour off his heater last year, dropping from a 93.3 mph average in 2022 to just 91.2 mph before he was optioned.

While that ugly final outing in Indy skewed Lauer’s 2024 ERA, he fanned a sharp 29.1% of opponents in his brief stint with the Pirates organization, coupling that mark with a solid 8.7% walk rate. Even if he doesn’t get all the way back to his 2021-22 form, Lauer has a 4.30 earned run average in nearly 600 big league innings — a 4.11 mark if excluding last year’s tough showing. He also only has 4.111 years of big league service time, so if a team signs him and brings him to the majors at some point, he can be controlled through the 2025 season via arbitration (or even through 2026, if his MLB promotion comes with 60 or fewer days remaining on the season’s calendar).

I think it's pretty safe to rule out a reunion. Lauer's velo is down from where it was last year and he has not been good in AAA. He opted out in hope of getting a major league deal somewhere I would imagine, and I don't see how he's an upgrade over our current rotation options in Freddy, Rea, Wilson, Ross, Gasser, Myers and Hall off the IL in the next few weeks.

[Brian]

https://www.sportskeeda.com/baseball/news-who-telling-owners-sign-me-ex-dodger-trevor-bauer-questions-mlb-teams-signing-amid-pitching-crunch

 

[Team Canada]

We don't need to go through a Bauer debate in this thread yet again.

And don't bypass the language filter, just avoid the word at all.

[Matt]

59 minutes ago, Team Canada said:

We don't need to go through a Bauer debate in this thread yet again.

And don't bypass the language filter, just avoid the word at all.

No problem. Sorry, won't do the language thing again. 

[Matt Breen]

Let's bring back Grienke!!!

 

 

[TURBO]

We need a starter, and Bauer is available.  Why must all discussion about him be censored and removed?

People just need to get a handle on what they post and stop acting like little kids throwing a tantrum.  We get it, a lot of you don't like him as a human being, in fact, I doubt anyone here does.  

It's getting to the point with injuries around the league, that someone is going to take a chance on this guy.  He brings a ton of baggage, and each team has to weigh that out, but it's going to happen.

[sveumrules]

5 minutes ago, TURBO said:

It's getting to the point with injuries around the league, that someone is going to take a chance on this guy.  He brings a ton of baggage, and each team has to weigh that out, but it's going to happen.

People keep saying this, but it hasn’t happened yet.

I think a more likely scenario is that Bauer does not pitch in MLB this year (or maybe ever again) because he is blacklisted and none of the 30 teams will want to be the one to break ranks.

[TURBO]

9 minutes ago, sveumrules said:

People keep saying this, but it hasn’t happened yet.

I think a more likely scenario is that Bauer does not pitch in MLB this year (or maybe ever again) because he is blacklisted and none of the 30 teams will want to be the one to break ranks.

Lots of season left.  It will come down to who has the guts to sign him...

You may be right though, but I think someone is going to cave.

[brewers888]

2 hours ago, TURBO said:

We need a starter, and Bauer is available.  Why must all discussion about him be censored and removed?

People just need to get a handle on what they post and stop acting like little kids throwing a tantrum.  We get it, a lot of you don't like him as a human being, in fact, I doubt anyone here does.  

It's getting to the point with injuries around the league, that someone is going to take a chance on this guy.  He brings a ton of baggage, and each team has to weigh that out, but it's going to happen.

This team has Peralta who is a 2/3 and everyone else in the rotation is a 5. Bauer at worst would be the second best starter on this team and he is willing to play for the minimum or very close to it. This is a great opportunity for a low payroll contender like the Brewers to get a top of the rotation starter for nothing.

There were rumors that the Brewers looked into Aroldis Chapman so turning our backs on Bauer is stupid. This is a unique opportunity that we should take advantage of.  

[nate82]

9 minutes ago, EddieTheCousin said:

Yep... and since you can't block users on this sub, you can't really avoid it.

You can put users on ignore.  On desktop hover over the persons name and then click on Ignore.  There is probably a way to do it on mobile but I can't remember how.

 

[Guest]

17 hours ago, nate82 said:

You can put users on ignore.  On desktop hover over the persons name and then click on Ignore.  There is probably a way to do it on mobile but I can't remember how.

Thanks but not the same as blocking as they can still interact with anything you post.... or if someone else quotes them, you still see it.

It's a feature that should be on this sub.

[Guest]

White Sox DFA'ed Brad Keller per MLBTR: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/05/white-sox-designate-brad-keller.html

He was putting up decent numbers prior to getting rocked by the Yankees.... any chance the Crew kicks the tires?

[jay87shot]

Keller wouldn't be bad for a few starts, however at that point I would rather give Grienke a shot and go for 3000 k's. Maybe Blalock gets a shot tonight and looks good and would slot into Ross's spot. I suppose Tobias Myers would be fine to come back for a few starts as well, he was solid and has some upside. If Taylor Clarke looks a bit better next time out and could be an option as well. 

Could we consider stretching out a bullpen piece like Hudson? I know he was up to 50ish pitches in spring training, I know his value has been crazy good as a reliever but he could be an interesting starter if his stuff doesn't 

[brewers888]

The bottom line is this is a rotation you would expect from a team rebuilding and looking for a high draft pick. Besides Freddy who is extremely inconsistent every other guy we have is basically a 5th starter with the hope that Gasser can be more.

If we don't add someone legitimate to the rotation the bullpen will be fried by if not before the all star break and this team will finish below .500. Arnold really had no plan this last offseason to make this a good rotation and we are starting to really pay the price.

[Team Canada]

On 5/18/2024 at 10:31 AM, TURBO said:

We need a starter, and Bauer is available.  Why must all discussion about him be censored and removed?

Because it comes up in multiple threads and degenerates into the same tired arguments of people talking past each other. There's nothing more to be gained.

[wildcat2237]

Just saw the Royals released Zach Davies from his minor league contract: 

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/05/royals-release-zach-davies.html

It makes me cringe to even bring this guy up, but I do wonder if he might be a cheap stopgap until Ross/Junis return. 

[Playing Catch]

I'm genuinely curious what the Brewers can do with cast-offs like Davies. If the Brewers get him, then they must think that they can improve his results, and I would trust the move, but I don't really care one way or the other.

[wildcat2237]

23 minutes ago, Playing Catch said:

I'm genuinely curious what the Brewers can do with cast-offs like Davies. If the Brewers get him, then they must think that they can improve his results, and I would trust the move, but I don't really care one way or the other.

Davies is a finess pitcher and it appears his control has really suffered the last two years. If the Brewers think they could fix the issue its at least intriguing. 

Davies will never be an ace. But he used smoke and mirrors to get through 5-6 decent innings over a 5 year period as a an MLB pitcher. 

If he was a power guy who lost his velo I would say hes done. But as a control guy with a long MLB past I am intrigued,