Fear The Chorizo

This vintage of the Brewers had their "hot streak" during the season's 1st two months - when they managed to string together a record 10-12 games above 0.500 against a pretty tough opening 8 weeks of a schedule. When the calendar turned to June and many of us looked at the 6 weeks leading up to the AS Break hoping they'd really get on a roll and take command of the division, their pitching imploded and offense went to sleep for extended stretches. It's been a steady decline since, with a few 7-3 stretches mixed in with a bunch of 4-6 stretches. Some of it was injuries, some of it was very questionable MLB roster decisions, but frankly most of it was just the product of the organization not having near the quality depth we had hoped for back in march when looking at the 40 man roster on paper. Could they run into some dumb luck and rattle off 12 out of 15? sure, but just as soon as they'd do it there's an even better chance this roster then goes on to drop 5 of 9 against the Reds, Pirates, and Rockies to close out September and squander any gains they make in the standings anyways.

The lesson from this is that spending an extra $5 million would have been well worth it. And with this team 5th in the NL in attendance and on pace to easily surpass 3 million, this was not the time to penny pinch. The Brewers had their highest opening day payroll by far this year, I have a hard time saying what they did this offseason as penny pinching.

The lesson from this is that spending an extra $5 million would have been well worth it. And with this team 5th in the NL in attendance and on pace to easily surpass 3 million, this was not the time to penny pinch. The Brewers had their highest opening day payroll by far this year, I have a hard time saying what they did this offseason as penny pinching.

The lesson from this is that spending an extra $5 million would have been well worth it. And with this team 5th in the NL in attendance and on pace to easily surpass 3 million, this was not the time to penny pinch. The Brewers had their highest opening day payroll by far this year, I have a hard time saying what they did this offseason as penny pinching.

Since Stearns took over almost 4 years ago, two of his own draft picks (Hiura and Burnes) have made it to the majors and made a significant impact. Burnes has been terrible this year but there's no denying he was key to their 2018 run and still possesses the arm talent to be a MLB pitcher. He took a collection of blocked prospects based on the timeframe when they'd have required addition to the Brewers' 40 man + Yamamoto and turned it into Yelich, who still has a decent shot at back to back NL MVPs with a few more years of team-friendly control remaining, and several other low level prospects he traded for have also made it to the majors (Peralta, Nottingham). Other prospects like Ortiz, Modeiros, and Phillips were only valuable until they stepped foot on a MLB field or even upper levels of the minors, as their on-field results make them afterthoughts. The Brewers system was pretty well regarded a few years ago, but those same prospects who made up a big part of its higher ranking that Stearns likely dealt at peak (or marginally higher) value have largely proven to be duds. Who cares if the 2016-2017 prospects in the system that gave them a top 5 or top 10 ranking back then are no longer around when they can't actually play at the MLB level? That is hardly a bad job with the Farm - he used the farm to get the MLB club to a home NLCS game 7 last year, and on paper had a more talented roster heading into opening day 2019. Had Stearns not done the same things with the farm that he did, the Brewers don't have Yelich and are in the unenviable wasteland of MLB afterthoughts. I don't love their chances this year given how poorly they've played as a collective unit since the calendar turned to June, but they at least have pieces to build competitive rosters around - and as for the farm, its strength is in the lower levels that are the product of recent drafts. The poor system rating today is largely due to a lack of young talent in its upper levels that can be directly linked to the last couple poor drafts made when Melvin was GM.

Yes. OK, I wasn't sure ... because we had 8 innings of AB's and they have had only 7 innings of AB's. The brewers had the lead after 7 though, so that would make it an official game if they can't restart it. Crew has a day off tomorrow but the cards dont... would be surprised if they let this delay go much longer without just calling it.

Has happened way too often this year. Score early and hibernate. But I thought the offense problem was hibernate too long before scoring late...

If the Brewers' pen is a dumpster fire, the Cubs' is a full-on landfill fire. And that is exactly why being 4 games behind the cubs and cards at this stage has the brewers in contention, no matter how crappy they appear to be playing. Nobody is good enough to run away with it. Get to September in reasonably the same spot in the standings the brewers are now, and I actually like their chances. Win tonight to pull back within 3 and saddle up!

The Rays are great and all - but their only WS appearance came after compiling nearly a decade's worth of extremely high draft picks because they were awful forever and they still didn't win it all. It was basically the model the Royals used to win a title a few years ago. Since then it's been largely a steady decline with a few bright spot seasons where they almost were good enough for a playoff run, but that doesn't really amount to anything in the AL East. What I do like about the Rays as an organization is how they appear to develop pitching talent - by both drafting and acquiring from other organizations via trade. It's tough to poach from other organizations for lateral moves, but I'd love to see the Brewers bring in someone for their organization to run their pitching development systemwide. The Brewers have a really great one in DS to run their organization, make no question about it. Some years things just don't come together no matter how well planned. I'll continue to believe that losing Knebel in late Spring Training was a crippling blow to the pitching staff as a whole - combine that with Jeffress not recovering over the offseason following a 2018 that saw him burn out and Wahl's injury, and 3 of their top 4 late inning relief options vanished right before the season started. That forces Hader into the closer role, which flat out diminishes his value as a multi inning relief option for innings 7-8 and eliminates quality depth. Before the season even started, their pitching staff plan was shattered and they just didn't have the starters capable of giving them 6-7 innings consistently once it was apparent both Burnes and Peralta weren't ready as MLB starters. Where do the Brewers go from here? Barring an unexpected turnaround, they're not making the playoffs. Regardless, I think it's high time to view 2020 as a season that should give new blood opportunities at the MLB level. I don't want to see Perez back. Depending on what Moose does with the mutual option, I only want to see 1 of Shaw or Moose in the organization come opening day 2020. I want Thames back, and I want him to platoon with Braun at 1B so Grisham has an opportunity to be an everyday player (Braun could still see time in LF against lefty starters). While I haven't given up completely on Arcia, I'd be open to making a change at SS if there's a reasonably significant upgrade available, and then in turn utilize Arcia as a utility IF/late inning defensive replacement. Assuming Grandal moves on, C is a big question mark that I'd be fine with the Brewers sticking with Pina and other internal options for 2020 (Nottingham, Freitas, etc). On the pitching side of things, hopefully Knebel and Wahl are back healthy next year. Then Hader needs to get back to his best role as a high leverage situation reliever, not the "closer". I feel like Woodruff is a rotation lock, and Houser has earned a shot at the opening day rotation. If Suter is healthy I think he's in the mix next spring as a starter, too. Then you have the veteran guys like Anderson, Davies - I'd keep one as a rotation option and do whatever I could to deal the other for something of value....even if it's for a prospect years away. Then you have competition in spring training for Burnes, Peralta, and other youngsters/spring training vet invites for that last rotation spot and middle relief roles. I doubt they make a big FA splash this offseason, because as others have noted the offseason between 2020-2021 sets up nicely for them to have payroll flexibility to do so and I doubt DS will hamper it by spending more on a roster that will have a ton of question marks this winter. As for the minors - it's poorly regarded due to recent graduations and apparent lack of impact prospects, but somehow it continues to graduate players to the MLB level. Assuming there are no offseason trades that see prospect depth further thinned, it wouldn't surprise me to see the system ranked back towards the middle of the MLB pack around this time next season after some of the really young guys and recent draftees progress.

Cards score 4 runs without hitting a ball hard all inning...

that looked like at least 2 of those fielders could have caught the ball and they all decided to run away from the ball - terrible play by Braun there

just wow

yeah I really hate this move...but then again the cupboard is pretty flipping bare in that pen right now I feel like we see some variation of this post pretty much every night. "I don't like (reliever x), but what choice is there?" Albers. Right now our only actual decent choice is Albers (IMO) That post shows up pretty much every night because it's accurate. Sure Albers would be a good choice - then we get out of it and still need to get 9 more outs in a likely 1 run game without Albers as an option. It's basically a game of chicken which couple innings CC has to send a gas can out to the mound and pray the opponent can't find a match.

jesus - walk in a run and then leave Guerra in to face Carpenter?? I guess they're already conceding and want to preserve more bad pen arms for tomorrow?

yeah I really hate this move...but then again the cupboard is pretty flipping bare in that pen right now

Unless the 2018 frosty boys show up to turn the bullpen into something more than a glaring weakness, the best they can hope for is to have the offense go on a crazy 6 week run and win the race to 88 wins to win this cluster of a division. Regardless, this team is entertaining - both good and bad

For me its tough, because I think his offensive struggles are directly related to his right thumb problem...if it was as simple as resting it this offseason to guarantee it will be 100 percent next year, no way I trade him - but if this is now the new norm because it will continue giving him problems, then I'd be fine with dealing Cain. If it somehow provided some salary relief

Gonzalez's HR was on a low-middle fastball with no movement. Gonzalez is a primo low fastball hitter. I mean, the dots are easy to connect. If you think that is where Hader meant the pitch to be you are living in la la land. That pitch wasn't within 5 feet of where it was mean to be. His control is just completely gone at this point. Pretty sure the prior post was meant to agree with your point

True, but if he's physically not able to command consistently up in the zone it doesn't do him much good to know where he should be pitching in the zone.

Just look at Hader's location...he's down in the zone or middle/middle - and it's still at least 75% fastballs. It might still be deceptive but at some point MLB hitters can turn just about anything around when they know what's coming. The velo might still be decent, but all the HR's make me think he's missing some late life or movement on his heater that helped him miss barrels alot more.

At some point guys aside from Hader have got to consistently get outs late in close games - asking Hader to come in every time he's relatively rested for 6 outs if the Brewers have a slight lead is just a bad way to use him, particularly when he's scuffled lately with those assignments. Even if he gets through 2 IP to close a game, he's likely unavailable to close the next two games. And that's pretty much why Hader shouldn't be considered a multi inning stopper when he's going like this right now. He's not getting the job done.

There's just not anything better unless they want to attempt torching Hader for 6 outs and ~40 pitches and hope he doesn't give up another tater. It's almost like CC is just praying for the law of averages to gift them a few atem balls to get to the 9th...and you can't blame him.

Hoping the ominous feeling after that one is just me being a nervous nelly. With you on that...Twins tried gifting an out and the Brewers' D said no way - the last 6 outs of these close games now seem like having to get 12.

There is just too much evidence suggesting his thumb injury was something that needed much more rest than they gave it...Seemed like Cain was picking it up a bit shortly after returning from that cryotherapy, but I think the shelf life on that wears off after awhile. The constant beating everything into the ground has me thinking his thumb is either giving him a lot of problems, or the adjustment Cain made to his swing to compensate for a weaker and painful right thumb basically gives him no top hand strength. Jeez Hiura - leave the stone hands in the dugout

Honestly given your history pimping all our young "aces" and superpen, I'm more inclined to DFA Grisham than sign him to an extension at this point if that's what you think of him.