Catcher position in 2027

[SeaBass]

I've posted before that I would be against a big money extension for Contreras but screw it, I'm happy.

Give him the bag. Google AI sees speculation in the 6/$120 to 6/$150 range. Maybe Wild Bill gives a tad of a hometown discount, I think I'd be ok with this through his age 36 season.

[kestrel79]

I agree. Unless we trade for a younger, cheaper catcher I am ok with resigning him in hopes he ages like a Yadi Molina. It's a premium position that can affect the entire pitching staff as well. 

[thammondwis]

2 hours ago, SeaBass said:

I've posted before that I would be against a big money extension for Contreras but screw it, I'm happy.

Give him the bag. Google AI sees speculation in the 6/$120 to 6/$150 range. Maybe Wild Bill gives a tad of a hometown discount, I think I'd be ok with this through his age 36 season.

Not necessarily against giving him a big contract. 

I would guess at the time everyone was all for giving Yelich a big contract when he got it.  But this year there has been a lot of grumbling about his production.  Well, he isn't going anywhere because of that contract.  So, if we do this he is going to be our long term catcher good/bad/other.

Point being that you have to be smart about these things.  Any way the Brewers play this could backfire.

 

[craigharmann]

I've been thinking about it in regard to Bill. Do we win the WS without him? I don't think so. Not just his ABs, but his defense, and most importantly, his challenges. That's a huge value. 

[tmwiese55]

I'd still be really skeptical about 6 years.   But if there's ever a time to overpay for 'right now' production knowing its likely going to have a negative 4 years down the line it would be when you're the WS top or second favorite for the next 2-3 years.  Which they should be, barring mass injuries to the pitching staff

[Matt]

Think my preferences are: 

1 - Let him play out his final year before walking next offseason. We get the final year of his prime and try to go back to back.

2 - Trade him if the offer is something we can't turn down, then dip into FA/trades for his replacement.

3 - Trade him and hand the job over to Quero/Miller/temporary vet

That's it. I'm not giving him a long term deal.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

12 minutes ago, Matt said:

Think my preferences are: 

1 - Let him play out his final year before walking next offseason. We get the final year of his prime and try to go back to back.

2 - Trade him if the offer is something we can't turn down, then dip into FA/trades for his replacement.

3 - Trade him and hand the job over to Quero/Miller/temporary vet

That's it. I'm not giving him a long term deal.

I agree, Now is not the time to make an emotional decision. He was one of the key pieces of this, but next spring, this in the past. I would not trade him. I would just play out his contract, make the offer you want to make knowing he 99% leaving. No more Yelich deals.

[JCREW]

I can’t stand Yadi, but there’s a comp here.

they won in 2011 when he was 29.
contract went through  2012. They signed him to 5/75M for a run of NLCS and WS losses. Say what you want, but he was the heart of that team, and it was the right choice. 
 

Having him in the Yelich role, even if his production falls off seems to matter. The last few days worth of interviews seem to make that pretty clear. 
 

I’m here for a salary floor and spending it on Wild Bill. 

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

I think Contreras is absolutely worth 5/110 or 6/140 or something like that. You could do a lot worse than spending some extra playoff revenue on a catcher who should at least be good for the first half to two-thirds of that contract. 

[39Streak]

I was firmly in the “play out arby” and make the QO before the WS.  As someone who consumes so much Brewers content, I think I became a bit immune to many of the intangibles.  I am now in the Yadi deal camp.  This guy is our guy.  There’s a five year window on returning Pitching alone.  I want this guy to handle them.  In his prime for 3 to 4 more years before some increase in DH, etc.  I just want him around not for sentimental reasons, but for being the coach on the field with our blossoming pitching staff.

[gregmag]

16 hours ago, OldSchoolSnapper said:

I agree, Now is not the time to make an emotional decision. He was one of the key pieces of this, but next spring, this in the past. I would not trade him. I would just play out his contract, make the offer you want to make knowing he 99% leaving. No more Yelich deals.

This is exactly where I am. Baseball history is littered with successful teams that got less successful by running it back. The whole foundation of the Brewers’ success is understanding the difference between the past and the future. Catchers age terribly. I think Molina was vastly overhyped, but even if we take Molina‘s early 30s as a positive example, there’s no particular reason to think Contreras will have similar success.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

6 minutes ago, gregmag said:

This is exactly where I am. Baseball history is littered with successful teams that got less successful by running it back. The whole foundation of the Brewers’ success is understanding the difference between the past and the future. Catchers age terribly. I think Molina was vastly overhyped, but even if we take Molina‘s early 30s as a positive example, there’s no particular reason to think Contreras will have similar success.

And I feel the same about Bauers. A negative defensive 1B who is 30 and some nice moments. I'm glad they were for us but there is a mountain of evidence he is going to underperform his next gig. I think he's obviously gone anyway but he is the exact kind of emotional decision that kills a team. 

To be clear Contreras is much more justifiable. 

[cragi]

yes, the more i think about Bauers, the less I think we can find a fit. Love his plate discipline and power, his defense is "meh" to me. Has little to do with him and everything to do with the Brewers recent efforts to draft a power bat in recent years (Adams > Burke > Fischer) and how those guys are unlikely to fit anywhere but 1B/DH.

I would only offer a one-year QO if its expected he will find a better deal. Otherwise, he's just completely redundant. The team cant afford to eat up significant payroll on someone they have already replaced. We have too many young, valuable pieces in our system we'd love to sign and Bauers makes no sense.

Contreras is different because of the psychological value as well as the allstar play and experience we've seen, especially in big games.  They would have to take a long look at his durability because I dont want yet another 1B/DH on the team. Dont give him a contract past his expected catcher years.  Otherwise, gather up a bunch of trade chips and find the next Contreras, even if you overpay to bring him in.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

20 hours ago, OldSchoolSnapper said:

I agree, Now is not the time to make an emotional decision. He was one of the key pieces of this, but next spring, this in the past. I would not trade him. I would just play out his contract, make the offer you want to make knowing he 99% leaving. No more Yelich deals.

I don't know that offering now is necessarily emotional.

Bill makes 14.5 next year. You could add 5 or 10 to that number, roll it into the overall value of the contract, and it helps both parties. We keep talking about this as being expensive and risky for the Brewers, but there's also a risk that you wait, and Bill increases his value even more. He was only a 3 bWAR guy this past year, which was very nearly a career low (2.6 in 2022). Would anyone bet heavily against him putting together an MVP season? He was a top 5 finisher as recently as 2024.

It can go a lot of ways. But I'd have no issue offering a big, big number. 5 years. 120 or 130. Take him through age 33 and solve a position where we don't have a lot in the pipeline for the next few seasons. If he says no (which he might!), at least you gave it a shot, and at the time where I think he'd be most likely to say yes.