Under the Radar (3B, 2B, SS) Targets

[brewmann04]

The infield is going to be a sore spot I have a feeling Never replace Wiily Power  and Dunn,Durbin and Andrew could be a black hole 

[Lloyd330]

You do whatever you can to trade for Jordan Lawler. Guy is blocked now. Anything outside of Made should be available 

[bigred]

5 hours ago, CheeseheadInQC said:

Three things:

1. Thanks to the Canadian TV show “Shoresy” I exclusively associate the term “veteran presence” with hockey.

2. I ask this as a genuine question, is DeJong that guy? Not all veterans are necessarily guys who add a ton of leadership value.

3. There is a good chance Frelick adds more offensive value than DeJong, especially if you take base running into account.

We have no reason to think he's known as a cancer or anything, so yes, he has a lot of experience that could be great for our younger team. All we would have needed from Dejong, is be a mentor/role model type to help our young players hit some HR'S, play solidish defense, and drive some runs in. Paying him $2M(double) would've been well worth the risk. Those types are great no matter what sport it is. 

[Scooterfletcher]

Iglesias is a better sign than Dejong and still out there.   Furthermore, Frelick may indeed play some 3B.   Furthermore beyond, we may be targeting a top prospect via trade vs some of these “value” signings of the past month.   Furthermore beyond beyond , maybe if Durbin fails we feel Wilken/Boeve/Pratt need the pressure and will go to one of them sooner than us fans predict.

[brewmann04]

They do have extra Bullpen Arms maybe a trade in the works 

[Ro Mueller]

Justin Turner went to the Cubs for $6m, plus a potential $2.5m incentives.

Brendan Rodgers went to the Astros on a minor league deal.

[bigred]

11 hours ago, Ro Mueller said:

Justin Turner went to the Cubs for $6m, plus a potential $2.5m incentives.

Brendan Rodgers went to the Astros on a minor league deal

Yeah, uh-huh. They're REALLY trying to get better. SUUUUURE they are. Seems like they're not even trying to stay competitive this season Offensively at least. 

[Ro Mueller]

The classic “Are You My Mother?” book, but for the Brewers’ 3rd base job.

Then she met Tyler Black. Are YOU my third baseman? No, coach said I’m playing first base. I am not your third basemen.

So away she went.

Then she met Caleb Durbin. Are YOU my third basemen? No, I don’t have the arm strength to play third base. I am not your third baseman.

So away she went.

Then she saw Sal Frelick…

[bigred]

On 2/17/2025 at 10:48 PM, Lloyd330 said:

You do whatever you can to trade for Jordan Lawler. Guy is blocked now. Anything outside of Made should be available 

I highly doubt Arizona would even entertain trade offers for him.

[brewmann04]

The brewers seem to put all their eggs I. One basket now with no FA left for 3RD Base 

[Austin Tatious]

3 hours ago, bigred said:

I highly doubt Arizona would even entertain trade offers for him.

Agree.  I think Lawler develops for a year and then Suarez leaves in free agency.  Or maybe Suarez is a mid-season trade candidate.  Either way, a spot is coming open. 

[bigred]

54 minutes ago, brewmann04 said:

The brewers seem to put all their eggs I. One basket now with no FA left for 3RD Base 

Exactly. It's ridiculous. Like I've always said, and have been lambasted many times about, MA and the ownership group made everything sound REALLY good when they first bought the team. They said the plans were to bring a championship to Milwauke, made a big splash move to get Yelich to get the fanbase all excited and and make us they were were trying, and it's been BS since. 

 https://fansided.com/brewers-ownership-straight-up-admits-they-re-not-serious-about-bringing-a-title-to-milwaukee

At least now MA finally admits it. Basically. 

[brewerfan82]

7 minutes ago, bigred said:

Exactly. It's ridiculous. Like I've always said, and have been lambasted many times about, MA and the ownership group made everything sound REALLY good when they first bought the team. They said the plans were to bring a championship to Milwauke, made a big splash move to get Yelich to get the fanbase all excited and and make us they were were trying, and it's been BS since. 

 https://fansided.com/brewers-ownership-straight-up-admits-they-re-not-serious-about-bringing-a-title-to-milwaukee

At least now MA finally admits it. Basically. 

Hooray! Now we don't need to talk about it anymore! 🥳

[bigred]

7 minutes ago, brewerfan82 said:

Hooray! Now we don't need to talk about it anymore! 🥳

Not necessarily, because many here still won't believe it. 🙂

[nate82]

13 minutes ago, bigred said:

Exactly. It's ridiculous. Like I've always said, and have been lambasted many times about, MA and the ownership group made everything sound REALLY good when they first bought the team. They said the plans were to bring a championship to Milwauke, made a big splash move to get Yelich to get the fanbase all excited and and make us they were were trying, and it's been BS since. 

 https://fansided.com/brewers-ownership-straight-up-admits-they-re-not-serious-about-bringing-a-title-to-milwaukee

At least now MA finally admits it. Basically. 

LOL a quote from Nightengale.  HAHAHAHAHAHA that guy contradicts everything he does and I am not sure how he keeps on getting interviews with teams.  So which is it?  Does he not want to win a WS or he does?

 

[bigred]

8 minutes ago, nate82 said:

LOL a quote from Nightengale.  HAHAHAHAHAHA that guy contradicts everything he does and I am not sure how he keeps on getting interviews with teams.  So which is it?  Does he not want to win a WS or he does?

 

Word salads. Gotta love them. Only the people that fall for them at least. If anything, it seems like maybe they're thinking it may be time for them to start thinking about selling the team. Dominating the division will only last so long, because Chicago and St. Louis aren't afraid of spending some $$ from time to time to get better, and actually give themselves a much better chance at a Ship. You ask me, I think it's obvious our domination of the division is coming to an end. At least for a while. Hope they prove me wrong. 

[nate82]

8 minutes ago, bigred said:

Word salads. Gotta love them. Only the people that fall for them at least. If anything, it seems like maybe they're thinking it may be time for them to start thinking about selling the team. Dominating the division will only last so long, because Chicago and St. Louis aren't afraid of spending some $$ from time to time to get better, and actually give themselves a much better chance at a Ship. You ask me, I think it's obvious our domination of the division is coming to an end. At least for a while. Hope they prove me wrong. 

How is it coming to an end?  Which team has gotten significantly better?  The Reds didn't get significantly better and the Pirates are still the Pirates.  The Cardinals didn't add anyone this off season.  The Cubs added a bit but they also lost out on a few players. 

The Cubs didn't add 10 more wins to their team they still look to be a 80 win team.  The Reds still look to be about an 80 win team.  The Pirates still look to be a 70 win team.  The Cardinals look to be about an 80 win team.  Which team in the NL Central improved?

The Brewers have also spent from time to time.  The 2019 season was at about $140mm and the 2022 team at $130mm.  The Cardinals and Cubs are in completely different markets than the Brewers and really should be out spending the Brewers by more than what they are spending.  Right now the gap is not that much compared to the gap between the Brewers and the Dodgers.  The Cubs should be able to spend as much as the Dodgers or very close to it at least.  The Cardinals should be able to spend up to the first spending cap but they haven't gotten close to that in a while and are currently trying to get under or around where the Brewers are spending now.  Notice the Cardinals signed absolutely no one this off season. 

[bigred]

19 minutes ago, nate82 said:

How is it coming to an end?  Which team has gotten significantly better?  The Reds didn't get significantly better and the Pirates are still the Pirates.  The Cardinals didn't add anyone this off season.  The Cubs added a bit but they also lost out on a few players. 

The Cubs didn't add 10 more wins to their team they still look to be a 80 win team.  The Reds still look to be about an 80 win team.  The Pirates still look to be a 70 win team.  The Cardinals look to be about an 80 win team.  Which team in the NL Central improved?

The Brewers have also spent from time to time.  The 2019 season was at about $140mm and the 2022 team at $130mm.  The Cardinals and Cubs are in completely different markets than the Brewers and really should be out spending the Brewers by more than what they are spending.  Right now the gap is not that much compared to the gap between the Brewers and the Dodgers.  The Cubs should be able to spend as much as the Dodgers or very close to it at least.  The Cardinals should be able to spend up to the first spending cap but they haven't gotten close to that in a while and are currently trying to get under or around where the Brewers are spending now.  Notice the Cardinals signed absolutely no one this off season. 

I'm not going to debate about it. We DEFINITELY didn't get any better. We lost a lot of offense. Like I said, hopefully they prove me wrong. If we win the division again, I don't think it will be in dominant fashion. At all. And then we'll get bounced from the playoffs right away.....again. 

[ClosetBrewerFan]

This constant hijacking of threads to push an agenda is getting old. We get it. You dont like how MA runs this team.  If you really need to post about it, start your own thread and post all you want. 

[MNBrew]

49 minutes ago, bigred said:

I'm not going to debate about it. We DEFINITELY didn't get any better. We lost a lot of offense. Like I said, hopefully they prove me wrong. If we win the division again, I don't think it will be in dominant fashion. At all. And then we'll get bounced from the playoffs right away.....again. 

Everyone's entitled to their opinion.  For some reason you keep screaming yours (in writing).  The sky's falling in your Brewers world.  Hopefully your massive number of posts on the topic has been cathartic.

We lost Adames.  That's it (unless you feel Gary Sanchez was actually a worthwhile player).  For as good as Willy was overall, he sure hit more popups than HRs over the last month & the playoffs, and that got really old really quickly.  If Mitchell's healthy most of the year, there's some of that offense back.  If Haase hits anywhere near what he did in his limited time last year, that at least exceeds Sanchez's output and chips a little into Willy's.  Plus there will be Black or whoever is the 4th IF starter -- maybe not great, but not zero.

We added Nestor Cortes and lost a (now shelved for 6-8 weeks) Frankie Montas.  We lost Williams, which hurts, but Woody's also coming back.... There are a lot of unknowns.  But there were last year, too.

The past few years would suggest that while the Brewers pretty much never "win" the winter, they're right more often than they're wrong and, in many folks' minds, have earned the benefit of doubt.  If you choose not to see it that way, that's your prerogative.

As for IF targets, perhaps any eventual acquisition, if needed, comes via a trade.  I don't think there are any "mainstream" FAs left out there that are worth getting.

[Jopal78]

11 hours ago, bigred said:

Yeah, uh-huh. They're REALLY trying to get better. SUUUUURE they are. Seems like they're not even trying to stay competitive this season Offensively at least. 

Justin Turner? Here’s a guy who had a .737 OPS last year, is essentially a DH/1B and is over 40 years old. For 6 million dollars, plus incentives…

 

If all 6 million dollars gets you is veteran players at or near the end of their career, I’m okay with the Brewers not shopping in that aisle. 
 

Rodgers is an intriguing player, but the Brewers apparently aren’t moving Turang off 2B so Rodgers doesn’t really fit

[bigred]

1 hour ago, MNBrew said:

Everyone's entitled to their opinion.  For some reason you keep screaming yours (in writing).  The sky's falling in your Brewers world.  Hopefully your massive number of posts on the topic has been cathartic.

We lost Adames.  That's it (unless you feel Gary Sanchez was actually a worthwhile player).  For as good as Willy was overall, he sure hit more popups than HRs over the last month & the playoffs, and that got really old really quickly.  If Mitchell's healthy most of the year, there's some of that offense back.  If Haase hits anywhere near what he did in his limited time last year, that at least exceeds Sanchez's output and chips a little into Willy's.  Plus there will be Black or whoever is the 4th IF starter -- maybe not great, but not zero.

We added Nestor Cortes and lost a (now shelved for 6-8 weeks) Frankie Montas.  We lost Williams, which hurts, but Woody's also coming back.... There are a lot of unknowns.  But there were last year, too.

The past few years would suggest that while the Brewers pretty much never "win" the winter, they're right more often than they're wrong and, in many folks' minds, have earned the benefit of doubt.  If you choose not to see it that way, that's your prerogative.

As for IF targets, perhaps any eventual acquisition, if needed, comes via a trade.  I don't think there are any "mainstream" FAs left out there that are worth getting.

There was plenty of FA's out there to get this offseason. They just kept dragging their feet, like they always do, and now there's none. Same thing they do pretty much every year. My "sky isn't falling". I just don't turn a blind eye to the obvious, just because I'm a fan. The blunt truth is always better than kindness clouded with deceit. 

[bigred]

1 hour ago, Jopal78 said:

Justin Turner? Here’s a guy who had a .737 OPS last year, is essentially a DH/1B and is over 40 years old. For 6 million dollars, plus incentives…

 

If all 6 million dollars gets you is veteran players at or near the end of their career, I’m okay with the Brewers not shopping in that aisle. 
 

Rodgers is an intriguing player, but the Brewers apparently aren’t moving Turang off 2B so Rodgers doesn’t really fit

I wouldn't want Turner for that amount either, and I never had any interest in Rodgers. 

[MNBrew]

23 hours ago, bigred said:

There was plenty of FA's out there to get this offseason. They just kept dragging their feet, like they always do, and now there's none. Same thing they do pretty much every year. My "sky isn't falling". I just don't turn a blind eye to the obvious, just because I'm a fan. The blunt truth is always better than kindness clouded with deceit. 

Maybe they weren't dragging their feet at all because they actually had limits to what they felt any players they deemed desirable were actually worth, and were disciplined enough not to overspend with respect to what they believe those FAs were worth..... or because they felt the potential cost/benefit (quality of play/production for the money spent) scenarios with Tyler Black at 3B were better than FA options for whatever glaring needs may come up during the season.

It was definitely a fairly quiet Brewers winter.  I'd far prefer seeing them be more active, esp. if the moves seemed to improve the team -- that's so much more exciting & entertaining.  I would love to have signed Alex Bregman.  But at a $40M net annual price tag (as it turns out), that was never going to happen.  There weren't many others that piqued my curiosity.

None of us here know what they tried to do, what they could've done but chose not to do, etc. -- I'm not sure where kindness clouded with deceit comes in.  Given those things, "dragging their feet" is clearly an assumption based on your perception.

[bigred]

10 hours ago, MNBrew said:

Maybe they weren't dragging their feet at all because they actually had limits to what they felt any players they deemed desirable were actually worth, and were disciplined enough not to overspend with respect to what they believe those FAs were worth..... or because they felt the potential cost/benefit (quality of play/production for the money spent) scenarios with Tyler Black at 3B were better than FA options for whatever glaring needs may come up during the season.

It was definitely a fairly quiet Brewers winter.  I'd far prefer seeing them be more active, esp. if the moves seemed to improve the team -- that's so much more exciting & entertaining.  I would love to have signed Alex Bregman.  But at a $40M net annual price tag (as it turns out), that was never going to happen.  There weren't many others that piqued my curiosity.

None of us here know what they tried to do, what they could've done but chose not to do, etc. -- I'm not sure where kindness clouded with deceit comes in.  Given those things, "dragging their feet" is clearly an assumption based on your perception.

I completely understand that signing a player like Bregman is/was a pipe dream for our team. Probably always will be. The main player I'm very disappointed that they didn't sign, was Dejong. Especially after he was signed for only $1M. He's obviously not the player he used to be, but I think his veteran presence alone, could've helped wonders with our young roster. Plus, one thing he can still do, is hit HR's and knock runs in, to replace the offense we lost when Adames left. Since we're hearing about the real possibility of Frelick playing some 3rd base, I'm fairly certain that they must not feel comfortable with Black playing there. Imo, there's no valid reason why they shouldn't have signed Dejong.