Bauers to Red Sox 4/58M

[Eye Black]

The Brewers are going to get a better draft pick for Jake Bauers than they received for losing Prince Fielder.

[treego14]

3 minutes ago, liveforoctober said:

So your whole boycott wasn't even towards Major League baseball, it was just a boycott of us? 

It was a boycott of wasting my time online for a rigged league!

[treego14]

4 minutes ago, adambr2 said:

So you remained a fan of the team, sport and rigged league, but drew the line at @Team Canada and @homer and boycotted the forum brewerfanatic.com, which is in no way affiliated with MLB or the system you despise. 

I remained a Brewers fan and resolved not to waste time online posting about a rigged league.

[treego14]

4 minutes ago, JackNicholson1974 said:

We just finished a post season where every baseball podcast was pointing out how the Brewers generally not giving big money or long contracts to guys in their 30s is more or less the new Moneyball and all you can do is complain the league is rigged and not level? Read the room. We got Jake Bauers best season and I predict our 1B output next year will be offensively better than Jake’s.

 

love Jake Bauers by the way, glad he got his bag. Brewers easily could have matched but they know what works and what their formula is. 

Do you realize that the Brewers would have multiple championships likely if the league was not rigged for the big market teams?

[adambr2]

2 minutes ago, treego14 said:

I remained a Brewers fan and resolved not to waste time online posting about a rigged league.

 

4 minutes ago, treego14 said:

It was a boycott of wasting my time online for a rigged league!

Wouldn’t it… wouldn’t it also be a waste of time to continue following said rigged league? 

[adambr2]

1 minute ago, treego14 said:

Do you realize that the Brewers would have multiple championships likely if the league was not rigged for the big market teams?

No, because there are 29 other teams trying to do the same thing, many of which are also really good at their job, and it is very hard to win a World Series.

[treego14]

I always root for the underdogs!

[Bulldogboy]

Should make for a fun ring ceremony at home plate when he comes back.

[Bulldogboy]

Just now, Bulldogboy said:

Should make for a fun ring ceremony at home plate when he comes back.

This is very fun to say by the way!!

[edfunderburk]

25 minutes ago, treego14 said:

I cannot believe so many here cannot see the playing field is UN-level in the MLB.  MLB.com even says it is.  

You may have missed it while boycotting, but the Milwaukee Brewers won the 2026 World Series! It was an enjoyable season & an even better postseason. Sorry you missed it while pouting. 

[Bulldogboy]

I would be interested in seeing Yelich with a mitt in spring to open up some dh ab.

[treego14]

7 minutes ago, edfunderburk said:

You may have missed it while boycotting, but the Milwaukee Brewers won the 2026 World Series! It was an enjoyable season & an even better postseason. Sorry you missed it while pouting. 

Trust me I did not miss it!  I simply boycotted posting here because the overwhelming majority here are just fine with the Brewers having to capture lightning in a bottle to win a championship.  It is exhausting trying to reason with people here that are fine with the status quo in the MLB which makes it extremely and almost impossible for smaller market teams to overcome big market teams in a quest for a championship.  We did it this season, but unless MLB changes, it will be a tortuously difficult climb to the top again while big market teams don’t have to go through torture to win it all.

All the bettors know this!

 

[cragi]

Couldnt have worked out better for the Brewers imo. As teams adjust to the brewers FO strategy, these picks could become harder to come by, and extend our competitive window.

I dont think the dropoff below Bauers is significant. Brewers offered 23/yr which is a huge chunk of our payroll and the Sox gave him 14.5. Good for jake for getting some longterm security and I think he'll continue to do well.  The QO was borderline imo, but it was a nice gamble that paid off for us.

Vaughn is only 28, carried an .834 OPS, which was good for third behind Bauers (.874) and Chourio (.837). I prefer Vaughn's defense over Bauers, but he is certainly slower on the basepaths.  Vaughn CARRIED the brewers offense before the hamate in 2025 with a team-high .869 OPS and we can expect him to get back there next year.

Either way, we have 3 of our top 10-15 prospects waiting in AA/AAA at first base. This gives us more financial flexibilty and more system talent for the long haul. Love it. 

[treego14]

15 minutes ago, adambr2 said:

 

Wouldn’t it… wouldn’t it also be a waste of time to continue following said rigged league? 

I can make decisions for myself on what to boycott.  I saved a lot of time/grief here with fellas like you who are fine with status quo MLB when I am not.  I always root for and follow the Brewers, even in a rigged league!

[liveforoctober]

12 minutes ago, Bulldogboy said:

I would be interested in seeing Yelich with a mitt in spring to open up some dh ab.

I've been yearning for Yelich to pick up a 1B mitt for a few years now. Even if he is terrible there defensively, his usefulness to the team expands greatly. Just late inning shuffling opportunities, etc. Having guys with basic understandings of multiple positions can only help.

Lockridge trying to learn 1st in camp last year as an example. Only makes you more useful. Do I want Vaughn playing 3rd? Nope. But in a pinch, great to know it could happen, etc.

[SeaBass]

19 minutes ago, treego14 said:

I always root for the underdogs!

The Brewers were favored in the World Series.

[treego14]

1 minute ago, SeaBass said:

The Brewers were favored in the World Series.

I think you're missing the big picture!  LOL

[long ball]

Just now, liveforoctober said:

I've been yearning for Yelich to pick up a 1B mitt for a few years now. Even if he is terrible there defensively, his usefulness to the team expands greatly. Just late inning shuffling opportunities, etc. Having guys with basic understandings of multiple positions can only help.

Lockridge trying to learn 1st in camp last year as an example. Only makes you more useful. Do I want Vaughn playing 3rd? Nope. But in a pinch, great to know it could happen, etc.

I’m listening to the BF podcast right now and Spencer’s “bold” prediction was that they’d try Yelich out at 1b if Bauers departs. 
 

Would definitely help out for the first few months of next season at least. 

[SeaBass]

Just now, treego14 said:

I think you're missing the big picture!  LOL

I'm sure according to you I am because I am about as against a salary cap as it's possible to be.

[treego14]

That Big Papi T-shirt really got to Jake Bauers' heart!

[adambr2]

8 minutes ago, treego14 said:

I can make decisions for myself on what to boycott.  I saved a lot of time/grief here with fellas like you who are fine with status quo MLB when I am not.  I always root for and follow the Brewers, even in a rigged league!

So basically, you want to boycott a league and system that you feel is unfair, unless something joyous and celebratory happens like a Brewer World Series victory, in which case, you’d like to reserve the right to participate in that. 

Is that the gist of it?

[owbc]

11 minutes ago, treego14 said:

Trust me I did not miss it!  I simply boycotted posting here because the overwhelming majority here are just fine with the Brewers having to capture lightning in a bottle to win a championship.  It is exhausting trying to reason with people here that are fine with the status quo in the MLB which makes it extremely and almost impossible for smaller market teams to overcome big market teams in a quest for a championship.  We did it this season, but unless MLB changes, it will be a tortuously difficult climb to the top again while big market teams don’t have to go through torture to win it all.

All the bettors know this!

 

Here's a fun fact I read the other day -- 40.7% of fWAR was produced by pre-arb players. Yet, last year, pre-arb players earned just 9.4% of all player salaries.

Conversely, from 2019-25, free agents earned 61.4% of all player salaries and produced just 28.8% of fWAR.

The Brewers have plenty of money now, they have basically no disadvantage in the current system. There's no scenario where they were giving out a 4/$58M contract to Bauers, even if they had the Dodgers' budget. 

[cragi]

2 minutes ago, long ball said:

I’m listening to the BF podcast right now and Spencer’s “bold” prediction was that they’d try Yelich out at 1b if Bauers departs. 

That makes some sense. Gives you a lefty platoon and you can use Mitchell as DH wtih Lara and Frelick as LH in the OF

[treego14]

1 minute ago, adambr2 said:

So basically, you want to boycott a league and system that you feel is unfair, unless something joyous and celebratory happens like a Brewer World Series victory, in which case, you’d like to reserve the right to participate in that. 

Is that the gist of it?

Nope ... I watched the Brewers all season ... please be more careful when reading posts, and stop trying to strawman me, please.  It's exhausting trying to dialog with such people.  (part of my reason for staying offline this past season)

[adambr2]

1 minute ago, treego14 said:

Nope ... I watched the Brewers all season ... please be more careful when reading posts, and stop trying to strawman me, please.  It's exhausting trying to dialog with such people.  (part of my reason for staying offline this past season)

Feel free to go back to doing so, it’ll greatly reduce the hypocrisy around here.