How Brewers Can Respond After Dodgers Trade for Tarik Skubal

[Opening Day]

The Brewers dont even play in the same league at the Dodgers.  They have 2 guys making the Brewers entire payroll.  While I have for years enjoyed the pursuit of the playoffs and hoping to "make noise", its becoming frustrating knowing that when they reach a new level, other teams just purchase another level, and its time to trade one of our guy before FA.  If they lose to the Dodgers again, especially if Skubal and Ohtani are the stars of the series, I probably wont be able to have the same excitement for the next season.  Not that anyone cares how much I care about baseball, but I just wanted to vent.

[Snoebird]

3 hours ago, ImissDougMelvin said:

This development has been so bizarre to me...I mean he hit 29 HR's and knocked in over 100 last year. To watch him this year is just shocking. Like how does a guy drop that fast that quickly after having a season like he did last year? What the hell changed that quickly over the offseason that he's just a shell of what he was even a year ago. It's truly bizarre. 

Tom Verducci followed up his terrific profile of Misiorowski for Sports Illustrated with a story that asserts that this is worst time in MLB history to be a thirtysomething hitter. The rise in velocity and spin on pitches is humbling a lot of hitters in their 30s. It's dragging down Yelich, but it could be a silver lining for the Brewers. The Brewers are working with an age curve of 28, according to Mark A., and they continue to shed players approaching free agency. Staying young will allow them to compete with the big-market teams that indulge in free agents. 

[ImissDougMelvin]

1 minute ago, Snoebird said:

Tom Verducci followed up his terrific profile of Misiorowski for Sports Illustrated with a story that asserts that this is worst time in MLB history to be a thirtysomething hitter. The rise in velocity and spin on pitches is humbling a lot of hitters in their 30s. It's dragging down Yelich, but it could be a silver lining for the Brewers. The Brewers are working with an age curve of 28, according to Mark A., and they continue to shed players approaching free agency. Staying young will allow them to compete with the big-market teams that indulge in free agents. 

Yeah but is that drastically different from last year when he hit 29 HR's? I can't imagine it's that different

[TigerUppercut]

1 hour ago, ImissDougMelvin said:

Yeah but is that drastically different from last year when he hit 29 HR's? I can't imagine it's that different

Baseball, heck sports history, is littered with hundreds if not thousands of guys who have fallen off a cliff hard somewhere in their thirties.  I'm not ready to completely throw the towel in on Yelich as guys have down seasons but is it really that hard to believe?  Many of the posters here years ago were lamenting the likelihood that his contract would age poorly. 

Would it really be that surprising if that turned out to be the case?

[MrTPlush]

4 hours ago, Opening Day said:

The Brewers dont even play in the same league at the Dodgers.  They have 2 guys making the Brewers entire payroll.  While I have for years enjoyed the pursuit of the playoffs and hoping to "make noise", its becoming frustrating knowing that when they reach a new level, other teams just purchase another level, and its time to trade one of our guy before FA.  If they lose to the Dodgers again, especially if Skubal and Ohtani are the stars of the series, I probably wont be able to have the same excitement for the next season.  Not that anyone cares how much I care about baseball, but I just wanted to vent.

Nah, you aren’t alone. Woke up this morning, saw the news, and canceled brewers.tv. I’ll watch if they are on somewhere free and follow along. Not paying money to anything MLB related till they fix the system.

Assuming the Brewers don’t win it all, praying the Dodgers do. Worst thing would be some early exit and then owners just decide it’s not that big of a deal.

[homer]

Im more upset with the Dodgers manipulating the injured list than I am any player moves they've made. 

 

[da swedish german]

i'm ready to cheer on scumbag behavior.  everyone stomp on every dodgers pitchers ankle when covering first base

I can't figure out how to make this blue. or at least "light" blue

[torts]

2 hours ago, homer said:

Im more upset with the Dodgers manipulating the injured list than I am any player moves they've made. 

 

Snells 4 month warm up stint is almost over?

[TURBO]

Do nothing, lick your wounds, save the farm, and see what we can do when the playoffs hit...

[trwi7]

2 hours ago, homer said:

Im more upset with the Dodgers manipulating the injured list than I am any player moves they've made. 

 

They can do that because of the player moves they've made.

[craigharmann]

2 hours ago, MrTPlush said:

Nah, you aren’t alone. Woke up this morning, saw the news, and canceled brewers.tv. I’ll watch if they are on somewhere free and follow along. Not paying money to anything MLB related till they fix the system.

Assuming the Brewers don’t win it all, praying the Dodgers do. Worst thing would be some early exit and then owners just decide it’s not that big of a deal.

THAT was what did it? Not the Dodgers signing Ohtani, Tucker, so on and so forth? Not the lack of a salary cap or floor? Not the stupid blackout restrictions that make zero sense whatsoever? I mean, the answer to the question of this post is that the response needs to be on the field. Win. Take down the Dodgers. It is absolutely possible. 

[FidoMcCokefiend]

If Arnold can get something of value for a player he thinks has no future in Milwaukee, great, but trading anything that the organization values is basically pointless. I don't know there's any offense in MLB that, come playoff time, beats the Dodgers starters 4/7 games. To think this team's offense would is fantasy. Trading anything of value for a 5th tier SP isn't going to change a thing.  And frankly, even if the impossible happened and they worked a deal for someone like Buxton, I don't think that's enough to beat the Dodgers. 

I hate the "Best Farm System" championship as much as anyone, but there's legit no way this team as constructed beats the Dodgers in the playoffs, so keep the powder dry for another day.

Problem is unless significant changes (that I don't think are very likely) happen, I'm not sure that "another day" ever comes. Cheapskate owners hate a floor as much, or more than, players hate a ceiling, and without a floor, the cap is pointless. 

[Brian]

I think now 2/3rd's of America dislikes the Dodgers like we dislike the Cubs. 

OK by me. 

[Snoebird]

5 hours ago, ImissDougMelvin said:

Yeah but is that drastically different from last year when he hit 29 HR's? I can't imagine it's that different

Ryan Braun's cohort disappeared when 97 mph became the speed of an effective fastball. Miz and the Brewers could help speed some of the current greats into retirement. As for Yelich, he could transition into a player/coach role. Or Mark A. eventually could offer him a personal services contract if he retired as a player. I think Yelich is still trying to figure out what he can and can't do as a hitter.

[MrTPlush]

2 hours ago, craigharmann said:

THAT was what did it? Not the Dodgers signing Ohtani, Tucker, so on and so forth? Not the lack of a salary cap or floor? Not the stupid blackout restrictions that make zero sense whatsoever? I mean, the answer to the question of this post is that the response needs to be on the field. Win. Take down the Dodgers. It is absolutely possible. 

No, it is all of that collectively. It is called the last straw, not the only straw. But it is what it is. Hopefully the owners are willing to save the sport in the offseason. Will be interesting to see how many actually care to save competitiveness in the sport.

 

[Jopal78]

I can already  hear Arnold saying they got Hall, Harrison and Frelick back from the IL,  and that’s as good as anyone is going to add at the deadline. 

[Underachiever]

14 hours ago, da swedish german said:

i'm ready to cheer on scumbag behavior.  everyone stomp on every dodgers pitchers ankle when covering first base

I can't figure out how to make this blue. or at least "light" blue

Make it Dodger blue, then.

[craigharmann]

9 hours ago, MrTPlush said:

No, it is all of that collectively. It is called the last straw, not the only straw. But it is what it is. Hopefully the owners are willing to save the sport in the offseason. Will be interesting to see how many actually care to save competitiveness in the sport.

 

Fair point. I want to be optimistic, but I think in the end, the almighty dollar and the bottom line wins out. 

[Snoebird]

10 hours ago, MrTPlush said:

No, it is all of that collectively. It is called the last straw, not the only straw. But it is what it is. Hopefully the owners are willing to save the sport in the offseason. Will be interesting to see how many actually care to save competitiveness in the sport.

 

What you should have noticed is a proliferation of sports on the legacy TV networks. The networks lost a lot of their original programming to the streaming services, so the networks and their advertisers pounced on sports -- led by football -- to fill air space. Baseball's return to summer TV prominence requires competitive races and fresh faces, so Rob Manfred is taking on that challenge by working toward teams sharing their TV revenue evenly. The trigger year is 2028, when current TV contracts are due to expire. If you can wait that long before throwing in the towel, imagine what the Brewers could look like with Chourio hitting his prime, Pena joining Made on the infield and the homegrown sluggers weighing in. Freddie Freeman should be past his prime by then.

[homer]

The thing is, there are probably ten teams that could be doing what the Dodgers are doing, but they choose not to. That would spread out the talent quite a bit. And even then, you still have to know what you are doing, as the Mets, Blue Jays, Tigers, and, to a lesser extent, Phillies are proving. 

[Jopal78]

34 minutes ago, homer said:

The thing is, there are probably ten teams that could be doing what the Dodgers are doing, but they choose not to. That would spread out the talent quite a bit. And even then, you still have to know what you are doing, as the Mets, Blue Jays, Tigers, and, to a lesser extent, Phillies are proving. 

The Brewers could be doing what the Dodgers do as well. I don’t mean carrying a $300M payroll. But look at Zyhir Hope who they just traded away for Skubal. 
 

The Dodgers were looking to clear 40 man roster spots and traded Michael Busch to Chicago for Hope. The Dodgers obviously had identified him as a player they could coach up. Their farm system is littered with players acquired from other organizations who they have coached up. 
 

The Dodgers are not afraid to take a risk, be it guaranteeing hundreds of millions of dollars to a player in his 30s confident they won’t be under water on the contract, or trading away prospects for a premium rental knowing they can replenish the farm system easily. 
 

The Brewers are handicapped by being in MLB’s worst market, but they also are extremely risk averse. Which is why they’ll probably wind up with the same club tonight as they had this morning 

[homer]

2 minutes ago, Jopal78 said:

The Brewers could be doing what the Dodgers do as well. I don’t mean carrying a $300M payroll. But look at Zyhir Hope who they just traded away for Skubal. 
 

The Dodgers were looking to clear 40 man roster spots and traded Michael Busch to Chicago for Hope. The Dodgers obviously had identified him as a player they could coach up. Their farm system is littered with players acquired from other organizations who they have coached up. 
 

The Dodgers are not afraid to take a risk, be it guaranteeing hundreds of millions of dollars to a player in his 30s confident they won’t be under water on the contract, or trading away prospects for a premium rental knowing they can replenish the farm system easily. 
 

The Brewers are handicapped by being in MLB’s worst market, but they also are extremely risk averse. Which is why they’ll probably wind up with the same club tonight as they had this morning 

I know. I am not comparing the Brewers to the Dodgers. I am comparing all the big market teams that are not willing to consistently spend money. That would probably create a higher ceiling for the elite players but they would not all concentrate on one team. And you are correct that the Brewers very easily could have matched the Dodgers offer.  I am not saying they SHOULD have matched or beaten it. For all we know, the Brewers offered up better players but the Tigers just liked the Dodgers players better.

[JCREW]

7 minutes ago, Jopal78 said:

The Brewers are handicapped by being in MLB’s worst market, but they also are extremely risk averse. Which is why they’ll probably wind up with the same club tonight as they had this morning 

With Skubal and Soriano gone, I kind of hope we don’t make any trades. There aren’t really any upgrades out there, unless we go huge for someone with years of control remaining. 

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

1 minute ago, JCREW said:

With Skubal and Soriano gone, I kind of hope we don’t make any trades. There aren’t really any upgrades out there, unless we go huge for someone with years of control remaining. 

Casey Mize would be a solid addition to the rotation, but is not without risk. I am afraid of what the return would be for Detmers.

[Thurston Fluff]

56 minutes ago, Jopal78 said:

The Brewers could be doing what the Dodgers do as well. I don’t mean carrying a $300M payroll. But look at Zyhir Hope who they just traded away for Skubal. 
 

The Dodgers were looking to clear 40 man roster spots and traded Michael Busch to Chicago for Hope. The Dodgers obviously had identified him as a player they could coach up. Their farm system is littered with players acquired from other organizations who they have coached up. 
 

The Dodgers are not afraid to take a risk, be it guaranteeing hundreds of millions of dollars to a player in his 30s confident they won’t be under water on the contract, or trading away prospects for a premium rental knowing they can replenish the farm system easily. 
 

The Brewers are handicapped by being in MLB’s worst market, but they also are extremely risk averse. Which is why they’ll probably wind up with the same club tonight as they had this morning 

The difference isn't risk aversion. It's what risk looks like in each organization is different. The Dodgers can lose every prospect and still not have to worry about how they'll field a winning team down the road. They don't have to worry about maintaining fan interest by having a homegrown star come up from their minors. They don't have to push prospects through the system because they're needed in the majors. They can afford to string out a prospect's timeline so they control them as long as possible. They don't have to add a player who's still a year or two away from needing to be placed on the 40 man because he's needed in the majors. They can keep them in the minors until they run out of options. All of those things keeps their farm strong but has less to do with being better than it is being rich enough to do fill their roster with high priced free agents. Their prospects are not as important to the team's future as they are to the Brewers. Teams that can do that see the value in their prospects as what they can help the team get to win now. If the Brewers did that the cost to future teams would be significantly higher than it is for the Dodgers.