Offseason Moves Grades

[jay87shot]

What would you give each trade/addition on the grade scale? I don't think we have done one of these.

Collins/Mears for Zerpa

Freddy/Myers for Williams/Sproat

Durbin/Mone/Seigler/Comp B for Harrison/Hamilton/Drohan

Signings Sanchez, minor league deals

[jay87shot]

Collins/Mears for Zerpa= D+,   I think when you look at what we got for Durbin (Kyle Harrison value) giving up Collins a similar player for roughly half of Zerpa is a disappoinment in terms of value. 

Freddy/Myers for Williams/Sproat=B,  I really like Spoat and Williams but throwing in Myers and not getting something back just brings this grade down a bit for me.

Durbin/Mone/Seigler/Comp B for Harrison/Hamilton/Drohan= B/incomplete     I like the value return of getting upside pitching for hitting however with no obvious 3rd base replacement this grade is incomplete. If we make a nice 3B addition this gets at least a B if not higher. Without a 3rd base add I would bring it down to a C as it does create a worrisome whole.

Free Agency= B-, we got catcher depth which is all I really wanted out of the offseason and we added pitching depth in trades. If we could have spend some money this could have been nicer but there isn't anyone obvious to me I would have gone after. I would have loved Murakami at 2/34 (or slightly better) but he doesn't really fit our team great.

[sveumrules]

2 minutes ago, jay87shot said:

Collins/Mears for Zerpa= D+,   I think when you look at what we got for Durbin (Kyle Harrison value) giving up Collins a similar player for roughly half of Zerpa is a disappoinment in terms of value. 

Their bottom line results ended up close last year (2.6 WAR each on FanGraphs) but there's a big difference in future value between 28 year old Collins as pretty much a LF only guy at this point, versus Durbin who is two and a half years younger and can play either of 3B or 2B.

[Lathund]

Zerpa/Collins trade: B. This is only a D if you don't even try to look beyond the most surface level stats. There is some variance here for sure, which is why it's hard to give an A. But it's such an obvious upside play even looking at public metrics. Projections tend to be quite conservative, but even they believe a lot in him. But the real thing is the stuff. The Stuff+ model has his 2025 as tied 13th in baseball (min. 60 IP), tied with Uribe. Just having filthy pitches in and of itself won't always translate 1:1 to results, but it's not as if he is a total project either. Already showing average-ish results, some small tweaks could unlock a lot. You get Chris Hook some of the best raw stuff in all of Baseball, that upside is fine paying for. Collins will never sniff 122 wRC+ again. He'll be around a league average hitter limited to only corner OF, where he plays well. If Zerpa had more than 3 years, or was more of a starter (They talk about stretching him out, but I think that's just a backup plan, or to go multiple innings in relief), I'd give it an A. 

Peralta/Myers for Williams/Sproat: A-. You can't judge a trade like this by "Are we better right now than before the trade?" because the answer will always be no. If the opposite was true, the other team wouldn't have made the trade. But for a year of a very good starter (but not an ace) we got two MLB-ready top 100 prospects who will both contribute a lot in 2026. It's not at all unlikely they will produce more WAR than Freddy. I will drop the grade a tiny bit because of Myers. I don't think he's some amazing pitcher, and he'd be far down the depth chart. I just feel that even as back of the rotation type, 5 years of that should be worth a bit more. So basically I think the Brewers could perhaps have squeezed out a bit more value from the trade, but the overall return is very sound. 

Durbin+ for Harrison+: B+. I've written at length about it elsewhere. Long term (Assuming a normal level of injuries etc) Brewers win this easily. Durbin's skill set has a hard ceiling, which isn't far from what he did in 2025. Harrison has a ton of raw talent. Drohan's 2025 changes shows a really good pitcher underneath. Brewers have 6 prospects who can conceivably play 3B in the near future who have been rated in various top 100 lists, including a top 3 prospect in all of baseball. It's a no-brainer to sell high on a very useful but limited 3B. Again though, the short-term fit brings the grade down a bit. And it kinds feels like they could've given up less; but that presupposes that Boston straight up believes Durbin's surface numbers. Which I doubt; if we all can see the risk in Durbin's offensive profile, so can Craig Breslow. Red Sox put themselves in a mess with their infield situation and had to shore it up short term, which they did. They don't view Durbin as some long term foundational piece either I don't think. But he is very useful for now,. 

Free agency: C+. It's not a negative grade really, it's just a reflection of how little happened. Which is fine, there wasn't a lot that needed doing, and they didn't miss out on much that would've fit in what I presume is a tight budget. Sanchez is a perfectly croumulent pickup at a solid price point. I don't see the point of giving Baddoo a major league deal (Even if he has options). Some minor league contracts that look OK (McGuire, and one or two of the pitchers will pan out, they always do) but nothing to write home about. So fililng the vacant backup catcher spot and getting some OF depth and AAA shuttle pitching. It's.. fine. 

[Playing Catch]

I give the Brewers an A+ for having a lack of obvious needs before the offseason even started.

I give them a straight B on the offseason. They shuffled some value around, backfilled the roster depth. Seemed to trade current value for longer-term value, which like a solid performing stock, is probably a good investment even though it fails to scratch the immediate gratification itch of wanting the strongest 2026 squad they can get.

[KCBrewerfan34]

This is my favorite Brewer team and system EVER. I can’t wait to watch the next 1-5 years. 
 

woody health (please)

Mitchell emerges

our prospects blossom. We’re in 1st place at the deadline and Arnold can add pieces

please no strike

 

never been more excited to be a Brewer fan. 

 

 

[Platoon Power]

Matt Arnold wanted to turn Freddy into 2 quality pitchers and it took 3 trades to do so.  Along the way, he added some insurance for Joey Ortiz with a LH hitting infielder and reinforced the bullpen with 2 LH relievers when we run into Shohei, Freeman and Tucker on the Dodgers.  Collins and Durbin were tradeable because we needed to clear a path for players with a higher prospect pedigree. 

OF Isaac Collins --> OF Garrett Mitchell 

RP Nick Mears --> RP Angel Zerpa

SP Freddy Peralta --> SP Kyle Harrison & SP Brandon Sproat

IF Caleb Durbin --> IF Jett Williams

LR Tobias Myers --> LR Shane Drohan

IF Andruw Monasterio --> IF David Hamilton

UT Anthony Siegler --> UT Luis Rengifo

C Danny Jansen --> Gary Sanchez

It's a lot of chairs being rearranged but I believe we increased our ceiling while adding several years of control.  The Hamilton / Rengifo platoon isn't very exciting but that duo is infinitely better than the Dunn / Capra platoon we were forced to watch last year.  I'll suffer through those two for a few weeks until we guarantee an extra year of team control over Jett.  

[SF70]

A+ offseason.

We sold high on 3 players and ended up with the most controlled stable of starters with BL experience in all of baseball plus the best farm system in the game.

Arnold & co have created a juggernaut organization with more talent than any team in baseball but 1, and with the current trajectory, they’ll surpass even them at some point, and likely fairly soon.

[StearnsFTW]

Zerpa trade-A.  I think Zerpa is going to be really good here.

Freddy trade-B+ 

Durbin trade-A+.  Gonna look back at this and wonder how we got Harrison for Durbin.

Free agency-C.   Rengifo saves this from being a D-.  Sanchez stinks.