Let's Go All In?

[wallus]

Anyone else think we should be aggressive with the team we have in front of us? We have tons of prospects and obvious weaknesses on the team. We also have a good long term payroll situation starting next season. We have some nice prospects coming but rushing them to fill needs usually doesn't work out.

Brewers: CJ Abrams

Nationals: Pena

Why would the Nationals trade him? They just offered him a long term contract and he declined. They are having a better season than maybe what most people expect but they aren't making the playoffs. By the time they may be a contender, he will be a free agent. Pena immediately makes them one of the better systems in baseball.

Why would the Brewers trade for him? You move him to third base and let him rake for 1.5 seasons without him breaking the bank. Then you trade him before his final season to restock the system. Trading Pena would be about the boldest move since trading for CC and Greinke and you may regret it. However, I think teams may be hugging onto prospects a little too much these days and that may be something to exploit. The future infield looks to be set without him.

Brewers: Buxton

Twins: Payne and one of our first basemen (Burke, Adams)

Why would the Twins trade him? Even though their division is bad, they aren't making the playoffs. Buxton is getting older and has injury concerns. Sending him to a likely playoff team would be doing right by him. Getting two quality prospects would be a nice return for a team looking for a short rebuild.

Why would the Brewers trade for him? He immediately brings more power to our lineup. He is also a well respected veteran that would fit well in the clubhouse. There are obvious injury concerns but moving Mitchell to a 4th outfielder role might be good for both player's injury concers. His contract isn't tiny but fits in our payroll for the future.

Part of me was thinking about also trading for one of Henderson or Pena if you really want to go "all in" but both guys might be overrated for what you are gonna have to give up. I can live with Ortiz/Hamilton in the 9 spot if the rest of the lineup isn't terrible.

New lineup:

Chourio (LF)

Turang (2B)

Buxton (CF)

Abrams (3B)

Yelich (DH)

Contreras (C)

Vaughn (1B)

Frelick (RF)

Ortiz/Hamilton (SS)

Bench: Sanchez, Bauers, Mitchell, Ortiz/Hamilton

Not sure this lineup would take down the Dodgers but it would surely be interesting. We would also still have a really good farm system. I am guessing we will do our usual trade for a reliever but maybe this is the year we don't?

What would be your all in moves?

[Roderick]

I don't know anything, but isn't that risking team chemistry for Abrams?

[True Blue Brew Crew]

Nope. Maintain the depth in the system because all of the needed reinforcements are coming from within. This can be long lasting if we have patience. I'm not trading anybody because not everybody will pan out and I don't want to require my team to hit a higher rate due to fewer numbers. But with the numbers we have in terms of talent yet to arrive in Milwaukee, we have enough to overcome fail rate. The WS window will likely peak in 28 or 29. That doesn't preclude winning a championship sooner or later than that, but I believe maintaining our prospect capital and putting it to use ourselves will offer the single highest any given year odds in that 28/29 window. Whereas we could increase our chances either this year or next but still not reach the ceiling or percent chances we could realize 2-3 years from now if a fair amount of our coming prospects pan out combined with improvement and development from those already here.

TLDR Version, I'm not sacrificing anything from the roster we project to have in '28/29 to go all in on 26 or 27.

[TwinsBrewersWorldSeries]

On 5/19/2026 at 5:44 PM, True Blue Brew Crew said:

Nope. Maintain the depth in the system because all of the needed reinforcements are coming from within. This can be long lasting if we have patience. I'm not trading anybody because not everybody will pan out and I don't want to require my team to hit a higher rate due to fewer numbers. But with the numbers we have in terms of talent yet to arrive in Milwaukee, we have enough to overcome fail rate. The WS window will likely peak in 28 or 29. That doesn't preclude winning a championship sooner or later than that, but I believe maintaining our prospect capital and putting it to use ourselves will offer the single highest any given year odds in that 28/29 window. Whereas we could increase our chances either this year or next but still not reach the ceiling or percent chances we could realize 2-3 years from now if a fair amount of our coming prospects pan out combined with improvement and development from those already here.

TLDR Version, I'm not sacrificing anything from the roster we project to have in '28/29 to go all in on 26 or 27.

I would support both of these trades.  I get the “bites of the apple” approach, which gives us a ton of playoff appearances, but we just have not had enough offense over the past decade when it matters.

looking back, it seems like a no brainer to have traded Burnes for Machado.  I hate the guy, but we probably win the NL Pennant that year if we make that trade.  Burnes was a good player for us and won a Cy Young, but I don’t think we won a single playoff game with Burnes 2019+

[jay87shot]

Abrams would be a no for me, he is a bad SS and is hitting very well but way better than carerer norms andwould be a candidate to struggle at some point this year. Also he will have 2 years of control that will get expensive quick and I would suspect it would take Pena and 2 of our best pitching prospect (other than Henderson) bare minimum to get him.

Buxton is great and would fit extremely well but that price is still probably weak in my estimation especially when there will be a dozen teams going after him if made available.

I don't have a problem going all in but the prices will be steep. I think in all likelihood we probably add our normal reliever and maybe a depth piece somewhere else. Our farm is so strong that I wouldn't go nuts to deplete it. If we could get one big bat I think I would be over the moon.

With Bauers hitting so well I kind of wonder if maybe we explore him playing LF on a closer to daily basis, that would be one way of strengthening the lineup. I would expect Jett and/or Pratt to help 3B/SS as well. 

[AJOHNSON104]

Unless the Brewers experience injuries, I think jay87shot is correct. Play Bauers in LF. Bauers, Yelich and Vaughn each being in the lineup 80-90% of the time makes a big difference offensively. Use Sanchez and Mitchell as backups. It doesn't fix the 3B/SS offense, but helps a lot. If Pratt, Williams, or Leonard continue to play well, they'll try one of them (or maybe more) before a trade happens. 

[tmwiese55]

Just chiming in another factor on a "when is the best time to go all in" type discussion is the Dodgers are at about peak level right now.  There is at least a chance in the 28/29 window others mentioned above, that LAD will be much weaker than now.   Betts, Freeman, and even Ohtani will be getting old by then. Replacing two mvp level players in their prime isn't as easy as snapping your fingers.

Of course, chances are they're just going to keep spending and spending to compensate for it at least to a degree. But in the not too distant future they are likely going to be carrying some dead weight or at least underwater contracts that will make things tougher for them.  Whereas right now they're in kind of a peak spot

[brewmann04]

they can use some hitting to go with their pitching

[igor67]

I'm all for improving, but I feel like our next most likely peak is yet to come with so many guys coming up at our weaker positions.

[wntrtxn21]

7 hours ago, TwinsBrewersWorldSeries said:

I would support both of these trades.  I get the “bites of the apple” approach, which gives us a ton of playoff appearances, but we just have not had enough offense over the past decade when it matters.

looking back, it seems like a no brainer to have traded Burnes for Machado.  I hate the guy, but we probably win the NL Pennant that year if we make that trade.  Burnes was a good player for us and won a Cy Young, but I don’t think we won a single playoff game with Burnes 2019+

Machado is making Burnes' type money so Milwaukee couldn't afford him, just like Burnes. $25+M this year then $39+M after that. So far this year Machado is hitting .178 with an OPS+ of 70.  That's going to change, but the money is far more than the Brewers would pay. 

[tmwiese55]

2 minutes ago, wntrtxn21 said:

Machado is making Burnes' type money so Milwaukee couldn't afford him, just like Burnes. $25+M this year then $39+M after that. So far this year Machado is hitting .178 with an OPS+ of 70.  That's going to change, but the money is far more than the Brewers would pay. 

He meant in 2018 or whatever year we made the NLCS vs LAD and LAD traded for Machado at the deadline.  The hypothetical is what if we had traded a very good prospect such as Burnes to get Machado (even knowing he's gone in the offseason) it would've been worth it to tip the scales and win it all.

Which, sure if you cold guarantee it I'd agree.  But there is no way of knowing and it likely only moved our percentage of winning by more than a few points.  And we've had missed out what should've been a great title window with Burnes, Wood, Peralta rotation. Overall, that is the whole debate on trade prospects or not.         Unfortunately, our O was too poor most of the years we had that trio. And generally speaking, those aces didn't dominate or do well enough to win in spite of it (the year vs AZ Burnes/'Peralta were given early leads and both immediately gave it back)

[TwinsBrewersWorldSeries]

My concern on our 2028/2029 window would be that we won't have Contreras during those years, and we might not have Turang in 2029.    Would we still have Bauers?  Age/FA?

I hope Quero/Dinges can step in but that point, but they (assuming year 1/2 of their MLB career) would likely be a major downgrade offensively from Wild Bill.

If Jett/Pratt come up and give us something, that could help improve on the current Hamilton/Ortiz offensive challenges, but losing Turang would be a huge blow to our offense.

Not trying to be pessimistic, but by 2028-29, the only regular that we can probably pencil in for sure in our lineup (especially 2029) is Chourio, while also hoping that Pratt/Made/Jett have made the leap.  Key in a WS run versus being competitive is that our offense likely needs to be significantly better than it is now, and while I'm very high on our young/unproven players, expecting them to not only replace production from Contreras/Turang but also step up from what we're getting from Yelich, Bauers, Vaughn could be tough.

Maybe a healthy compromise would be to go for Buxton...

And yes, I was talking about 2018 Burnes / 2018 Machado... not 2026 Machado

[nate82]

I don’t believe the 2018 Orioles would have had much interest in Burnes.  He was too close to MLB ready at the time.  The Orioles were going for a full on rebuild at the time and preferred lower level prospects.  The Brewers went hard after Machado in 2018 but the Orioles just didn’t like what the Brewers had to offer in 2018 vs what the Dodgers had.

In hindsight it would have been better for them to take Burnes over what they received for both Schoop and Machado.  

[long ball]

4 hours ago, TwinsBrewersWorldSeries said:

Not trying to be pessimistic, but by 2028-29, the only regular that we can probably pencil in for sure in our lineup (especially 2029) is Chourio, while also hoping that Pratt/Made/Jett have made the leap.  Key in a WS run versus being competitive is that our offense likely needs to be significantly better than it is now, and while I'm very high on our young/unproven players, expecting them to not only replace production from Contreras/Turang but also step up from what we're getting from Yelich, Bauers, Vaughn could be tough.

In my head I’ve been thinking 2028 (or 2029 if we keep Turang in his final year of arb) is the prime chance at winning a World Series. Hopefully peak Turang and Chourio. All of these pre-arb pitchers will be 2-3 years of experience at that point and hitting that 2021 level rotation we had. 
 

but your point is well taken for me. I think I’ve been too optimistic that guys like Made, Pratt, Lara, Jett, and Quero will be championship level in their second years as potential every day players. I’m probably a little more optimistic than you are as I think Yelich will still be be our DH and Frelick our RF in 2028. 

as it turns to 2029, that’s one more year of experience for the upcoming core, the pitching will still be similar, but the Turang situation would be up in the air so that would be a huge loss from the line up if he’s traded before 2029. 

[SF70]

17 hours ago, tmwiese55 said:

Just chiming in another factor on a "when is the best time to go all in" type discussion is the Dodgers are at about peak level right now.  There is at least a chance in the 28/29 window others mentioned above, that LAD will be much weaker than now.   Betts, Freeman, and even Ohtani will be getting old by then. Replacing two mvp level players in their prime isn't as easy as snapping your fingers.

Of course, chances are they're just going to keep spending and spending to compensate for it at least to a degree. But in the not too distant future they are likely going to be carrying some dead weight or at least underwater contracts that will make things tougher for them.  Whereas right now they're in kind of a peak spot

I would argue the Dodgers are past-peak with most of their regular positionals 31 years of age or older. The great Ohtani should start showing his age any time now. The Dodgers don’t want him hitting in most of his mound outings, so maybe the decline has already started. Too many players moving into their mid-30’s.

Look for the Brewers to pass them up over the next half-decade.

[tmwiese55]

3 hours ago, SF70 said:

I would argue the Dodgers are past-peak with most of their regular positionals 31 years of age or older. The great Ohtani should start showing his age any time now. The Dodgers don’t want him hitting in most of his mound outings, so maybe the decline has already started. Too many players moving into their mid-30’s.

Look for the Brewers to pass them up over the next half-decade.

Yea I'd agree, its starting already but give it a couple more years and it should be more pronounced.  And I don't think they have any dead money right now, could probably argue underwater on Betts though.   In 2-3 years, you could have Betts, Snell, tucker if he keeps being blah, Scott, Smith, Diaz, Edman all as dead or underwater contracts.  Chances are they won't axe Freeman so will give him some kind of deal too that he'll be overpaid for at that age.   

[wallus]

The Dodgers have a great system and have tons of money. I would not assume they will decline soon 

[Playing Catch]

12 minutes ago, wallus said:

The Dodgers have a great system and have tons of money. I would not assume they will decline soon 

I wouldn't expect a collapse. But I think it's fair to look at all of those guaranteed roster spots dedicated to guys well into their 30's to envision a decline to being merely good.

[MilwaukeeBeers]

I get that all our prospects cant make the big league level (with us) or even be successful, but we have something really rare right now and vital to the sustained success of a small market team. I would be very cautious dealing away some of these guys. Luckily one of the best assets of this front office is their ability to self scout. 

[TwinsBrewersWorldSeries]

14 hours ago, long ball said:

In my head I’ve been thinking 2028 (or 2029 if we keep Turang in his final year of arb) is the prime chance at winning a World Series. Hopefully peak Turang and Chourio. All of these pre-arb pitchers will be 2-3 years of experience at that point and hitting that 2021 level rotation we had. 
 

but your point is well taken for me. I think I’ve been too optimistic that guys like Made, Pratt, Lara, Jett, and Quero will be championship level in their second years as potential every day players. I’m probably a little more optimistic than you are as I think Yelich will still be be our DH and Frelick our RF in 2028. 

as it turns to 2029, that’s one more year of experience for the upcoming core, the pitching will still be similar, but the Turang situation would be up in the air so that would be a huge loss from the line up if he’s traded before 2029. 

This might be a situation (ala Adames) where it is in the best interests of the franchise to keep Turang until FA, then let him walk for the comp pick.   

I realize and respect that others have a difference of opinion on the Burnes/Hader deals, but I just don't think those worked out for us.  I guess for the "getting over the top", having a 5 WAR player for 1 season is far more valuable to me than having a 1 WAR player for 5 seasons, even though it can be argued the WAR is the same (Burnes - 1 year versus 5 years of Hall/Ortiz, Hader versus 5 years of Ruiz/Gasser).

Not trying to argue that the later follow up trade of Ruiz was phenomenal.  I'd revise my perception considerably if we acquired Ruiz specifically to acquire Contreras, but I honestly feel like that just fell into our lap rather than a multi-step plan.

[nate82]

I think you let hitters go to FA and take the draft compensation.  With pitchers you trade them before they hit FA.  The risk of injury for pitchers is far harsher than with a positional player.  Meaning if a pitcher gets injured it will hurt their value far more than it will hurt a positional player.  A shoulder injury to a pitcher is far more concerning than the same injury to a positional player. 

[Lloyd330]

i argued last year that we needed to make a go for it move and many on this board were too scared. 

This years team is better than last years and we have 1 need and that is SS/3B.  Im all about moving some prospects for an all in move and that move is CJ Abrams. 

You put that bat in our lineup, you eliminate a giant hole. 

There has been rumors that they are trying Vaughn at 3b again and if that is the case, the move is Skubal. 

i dont have the trade values site, but if you can get him for Jett/Adamczewski/Gasser - You do it.  or something like that

[adambr2]

9 hours ago, Lloyd330 said:

i argued last year that we needed to make a go for it move and many on this board were too scared. 

 

We could have added Aaron Judge at the trade deadline and the NLCS would have been no different. Maybe we would have lost in 5 instead of 4.

[Brewcrew82]

12 hours ago, Lloyd330 said:

i argued last year that we needed to make a go for it move and many on this board were too scared. 

This years team is better than last years and we have 1 need and that is SS/3B.  Im all about moving some prospects for an all in move and that move is CJ Abrams. 

You put that bat in our lineup, you eliminate a giant hole. 

There has been rumors that they are trying Vaughn at 3b again and if that is the case, the move is Skubal. 

i dont have the trade values site, but if you can get him for Jett/Adamczewski/Gasser - You do it.  or something like that

I can assure you that this team isn't playing Andrew Vaughn at 3B except in case of absolute emergency. 

[adambr2]

On 5/21/2026 at 9:40 PM, long ball said:

In my head I’ve been thinking 2028 (or 2029 if we keep Turang in his final year of arb) is the prime chance at winning a World Series. Hopefully peak Turang and Chourio. All of these pre-arb pitchers will be 2-3 years of experience at that point and hitting that 2021 level rotation we had. 
 

but your point is well taken for me. I think I’ve been too optimistic that guys like Made, Pratt, Lara, Jett, and Quero will be championship level in their second years as potential every day players. I’m probably a little more optimistic than you are as I think Yelich will still be be our DH and Frelick our RF in 2028. 

as it turns to 2029, that’s one more year of experience for the upcoming core, the pitching will still be similar, but the Turang situation would be up in the air so that would be a huge loss from the line up if he’s traded before 2029. 

My belief is that the Brewers don’t look at contending windows. I believe they believe they have a shot to win this year, to win in 2029, and by 2035 I think they plan to have just as good of a shot as they did in 2026 and 2029.

The model here is sustainability, which is why we can’t get too attached to names here because we’ll have our new Brice Turangs and William Contreras by then, and new prospects that are teenagers right now and unknown to us but probably on the radar of our scouting department will backfill when guys like Made and Pena make it up here and replace the future Yankees and Dodgers on our current MLB roster.

Very long-winded way of me saying, I think an all-in type move like we saw with Sabathia and Greinke probably died out in the Doug Melvin era and isn’t something we are likely to see under the current FO.