Fear The Chorizo

Seemingly every contender is interested in adding Britton, including teams with loaded systems like the Astros, Braves, and Yankees - teams like the Astros and Cubs probably view him has their closer moving forward...As I mentioned leading off this thread, someone is going to overpay for a two month reliever rental based on demand.

He'll be 30 before he's back in the big leagues, and his best role longterm is probably that of a LOOGY or middle reliever/swingman (just like it's always been). Closer, relief ace, or consistent rotation starter he is most certainly not (unless whichever ligament gets used on his elbow suddenly gives him 7-8 more mph and a better breaking ball). Suter has made the most of his opportunity to have a major league career, but he was always going to have to fight to keep a roster spot. Looking at what Milwaukee has in the organization for pitching, he'll be hard-pressed to stick with the Brewers longterm.

I dont think anybody was attempting to say he wouldn't be a good baseball player in the future. Just that hiura does not equal moancada, and Peralta does not equal kopech in trade value. At some point, the MLB #'s a young player produces have to start trumping where that player was ranked as a prospect. I'm not meaning this to slight Moncada, as I still think he'll be a very good MLB player. However, Moncada basically started as a top 2-3 prospect from the day he signed that huge bonus with Boston after defecting from Cuba. Those prospect rankings, even towards the top, are very subjective and oftentimes are influenced by popularity contests and timing when a player is knocking on the MLB door compared to when other more talented players get drafted/signed moreso than onfield results. From a raw tools standpoint focused on physical attributes, there's no question Moncada is more impressive than Hiura. He's got to reduce that 33% MLB K rate if he's going to take that next step as a quality big league player. Hiura's hit tool makes the two much more comparable as overall prospects, however Moncada should rightfully still be considered to have the higher upside. Regarding Kopech, has anyone gushing about his big fastball actually looked at his pitching #'s? He's got a big K rate but also a big walk rate, and he's gotten hit around quite a bit in his first AAA season. I realize his ceiling is higher due to that fastball and he appears to have a good slider, but it looks like he still needs to work alot on command and developing a 3rd pitch to truly be considered an Ace-caliber pitching prospect. He's rated highly because of that fastball, but so was Jose Capellan. Back on topic, Hiura and Burnes headlining a trade package for Degrom is absolutely something the Mets would strongly consider - however if it becomes known that Degrom is realistically available and the Mets aren't stupid, another one of the big market teams with a loaded farm and a need for a frontline starter would be more willing to completely gut their system and trump the Brewers' best offer. The Yankees would be positioned to actually offer a combo of highly rated prospects and young MLB talent considering that they could be going after Machado or Harper this coming offseason. In fact, the Mets could probably get more value in dealing Degrom this offseason because contending teams this year wouldn't be as adverse to trading MLB assets in the winter they could plan on replacing via free agency.

I'd rather have Davies back healthy than trade anything for Gray, and I'm not exactly over the moon about Davies - let the Yankees find another patsy to unload their unwanted arms on.

(if there is a drop-off, I think they have to look at a relief role for him). If there is a drop-off, they'd be looking at a minor league instructor role for him - too much young pitching depth in the minors and already at the major league level for a lesser version of Suter to stick anywhere in the Brewer rotation 2 seasons from now. My guess is his best opportunity to get back to the majors will be for a different organization. It sucks, but it's reality.

I doubt they actually decide to trade Harper at the deadline, but are there any other pieces on that team that could be available and help the Brewers should the Nats decide to sell in the next week?

Just looked up the standings and was shocked to see the Pirates sitting just 4 games behind the Brewers tonight...obviously a big part of that was the 5 game sweep before the break, but they've kept on winning since then, winning 10 straight. It will be interesting to see what happens to the Cards following Matheny getting canned - I can see that club fading. But right now the entire NL Central is very competitive, with Cincy playing well since their dreadful start (although that may shift again assuming more of their MLB regulars are dealt for prospects in the next week). I think a competitive Central division is the best shot the Brewers have at actually winning the division - having those teams that play each other the most down the stretch make it tough on each other gives teams with the most depth the best chance. I'd argue the Brewers have the most depth in the division, and forcing a more talented but thinner Cub team to grind out more of these divisional games could pay dividends come late August/September.

Looking like a good night to get a game back in the standings on the cubs. They got blasted by the dbacks tonight with a bad farrell start that was required due to their own 5 game, 4 day series right after the break against stl. They are going to need more pitching help, particularly if Darvish gives them nothing of value over the next few weeks.

I don't believe that for one second. What, you don't believe a guy needs a rest after just having four days off? Trade probably hasn't happened yet, but for sure there is something getting finalized where twins management told Molitor to get all the potential trade chips out of there with the game in hand to avoid injury. If it's the brewers I would be surprised if anything is official until after their game ends - particularly if any brewer currently on the active roster is involved.

Tonight's Brewer lineup leaves alot to be desired for a team that could really use winning the first game of a series...please prove me wrong! Broxton Yelich Cain Braun Shaw Saladino Perez Kratz Chacin

Watch the Raptor come back throwing mid 90's in 18 months... Bummer for Brent - hoping he makes a full and speedy recovery and resumes his MLB career! Also hoping this opens the door for ending the 6 man rotation chatter and Davies finally gets right enough to be both a healthy and effective starter in Milwaukee.

And get rid of Lutz in that list of potential offers...no way I want him leaving this organization, either.

[sarcasm]yes[/sarcasm] - just to be contrarian! Frankly I'd struggle including Hiura in a trade for DeGrom...

When Williams entered the game we were already trailing 6-2. After which batter would you have pulled Williams & which pitcher would you have gone to if you were managing to win the game? I get that we were already losing pretty handily, but I think you pull him and use jeffress either after the Kemp single or walk to Hernandez. He was approaching 30 pitches after the Hernandez walk, hasn't been pitching multiple innings all that much, and was clearly struggling. It's not as simple as using your best relievers in games you are winning and worst relievers in games you are losing. Sometimes, you have to use your good relievers in close games to give the guys a chance. This isn't the perfect example of that as 7-2 isn't all that close, but we had opportunities to score and were 1 hit away plenty of times. There have been other games where CC would use Jennings instead of Hader in a 1 run game in the 7th...which would then turn into a 3 run game. CC probably needs to study how some of the more effective bullpen managers handle their guys. Francona, LaRussa, Bochy, etc. In general those managers you listed always had a few starters in their rotation that could be counted on to give them much more than 4-5 IP before having to start making pen decisions - meaning they could essentially pencil in 6-7IP at minimum for 1/2 if not more than 1/2 of the games started. That makes being aggressive with quality late inning relievers much easier to do. In yesterday's game, the Brewers got bageled the rest of the game offensively after plating 2 and having 1 out, bases loaded in the 1st. The best friends of any bullpen are 1a - quality starters that consistently leave the pen with 9 outs or less to get per game, and 1b - a consistent, above average offense that can provide them the occasional stretch of easy appearances due to scoring a ton of runs. This Brewers team appears to have neither, so when the pen goes through it's expected periods of overuse and poor performances, it looks really bad.

Generally agree, but specifically to the Brewers I'd say the most valuable asset is team-controlled, budget-friendly, impact starting pitching. This year has proven to a large extent that if you mine the right pile of veteran starters, you can come with a few serviceable rotation options to give you 5ish innings consistently and leave the game with a good chance to win. However, impact starters aren't out there on the waiver wire or toiling away buried on some other organization's depth chart. The Brewers either have to draft/develop a couple of them, or acquire one using farm system prospect depth - because they shouldn't be in the free agent market at the level those arms command. Think of how brutal the Darvish signing would be looking right now had Yu accepted the Brewers' reported deal? Losing Nelson for what appears to be basically all of 2018 really hurts, particularly with his current stage in team control.

I agree, ultimately it depends on the fit between Baltimore and whoever acquires Britton - I think he'll either command 1 solid #50-150 level prospect, or 3 low level prospects/international signees that haven't been around long enough to know what their ceiling is. Even a team with a system like the Cubs could pull together the latter of those two types of deals.

The problem the Cubs have is while their system is rated very weak, they likely have some talented players at really low levels. Their upper levels are gutted, meaning they probably would need to send a quantity package of A and rookie level prospects that even they aren't certain about in exchange for rental-level MLB players. That means those trade packages always look less appealing to a team if there are multiple offers and it forces them to include more lotto tickets, but a team could also poach some standout talent that hasn't had time to develop if their scouts are right. That said, I maintain that the Cubs should be looking to trade either Schwarber, Happ, or Almora for impact pitching - with Schwarber being the most likely candidate to move since he's closest to arbitration and his OF defense is horrific. He'd still have plenty of value to headline a significant trade when coupled with low level lottery ticket prospects. Not a Britton rental, something more controllable and impactful. Problem is Schwarber has a cult following among Cub fans - even though dealing him makes the most baseball sense to allow Happ and Almora to play everyday and further improve a stellar defensive team without sacrificing much at all offensively.

The shine on Bundy's potential as a TOR ace started wearing off almost immediately after he was drafted 4th overall back in 2011. Injuries are mostly to blame why he's never become what many assumed he would be. No way do I want to trade for what he currently is and projects to be unless it's for FAR less than a ton.

He better find a way to trade for Harper and Scherzer then really quick, too in looking at the schedule...otherwise he's asleep at the wheel, apparently. I'm not giving DS a free pass, but at this point I'm actually more concerned if he makes a trade or two "just to make a move" before the deadline - and it winds up sending prospects away for 2018 rentals that still had longterm potential with the Brewers. If its rental pieces like Dozier, package a group of prospects that are blocked by a combination of controllable MLB players and more talented prospects at their position. He didn't fall asleep failing to land Quintana last season - he just didn't have one of the five best prospects in all of baseball to offer up for him that the Cubs did at the time. Not landing Machado has more to do with him valuing guys like Burnes, Peralta, Hiura, etc as either current or immediate future contributors to the MLB club - prospects who should be nowhere near a trade offer from a small market club for any rental. To me, the biggest question I currently have with DS/Brewer management is how they are handling their internal pitching options. Nelson's stagnant recovery from shoulder surgery has been a huge blow to their 2018 rotation plans, IMO - unfortunate but also something that their apparent workaround was having a ton of so-so options hanging around the 40 man that could at least get you close to 5 innings of competitive innings most times out. The problem with that is Anderson hasn't been as good as last season when he was healthy in 2017, and Davies has given them nothing due to performance/injury. When their most consistent starters have been Chacin (ideal for a #5 in a good rotation) and Guerra (solid bounceback year, but still inconsistent at times as the innings pile up), they don't have anyone remotely close to what Nelson gave them last year - an anchor starter you could expect to go at least 7 IP most nights and give you a great chance to win every 5 days without having to use all your reliable late inning pen arms. With the current options they have, I wonder why they aren't strongly considering shifting Burnes into Suter's role - he could actually use the expanded innings workload to keep him in line for an opening day rotation spot next season. It's tough getting on DS for failing to bring in every player everyone wants - his big offseason acquisitions of Yelich and Cain have proven to be quality ones. Holding onto Aguilar when most of us expected him to either be cut or traded for nothing at the end of Spring Training is an obviously good decision. Jeffress and Chacin signings look great and solid, respectively. The MIF black hole at the MLB level in the organization would look alot less bleak had Arcia just treaded water offensively in his development this year.

For the most part, yes, but there are going to be some younger guys with alot of talent that still need time to develop who could be stashed on a poor team's bullpen or bench pretty easily. I'm guessing much of the logjam clears up by cleaning up some of the current 40 man roster filler with all the utility IF and backup catcher options that really aren't worth risking losing an Ortiz or Modeiros, or gatewood if it came down to it.

With seager likely to return healthy at SS and Turner at 3b, I doubt they will pay for machado to stay there...truly a rental for the playoff push this year

I know for darn sure it isn't for me to get on my pulpit and judge what a young man did at 17. Stones and glass houses. Understandable - but Mr. Hader has had 7 years to clean up his Twitter feed. It probably took him 5 seconds to lock it out and delete those old tweets after he got into the clubhouse and saw his phone exploding, and it's not like those posts were grabbed from an account he hadn't used in years. Posting that garbage at any age is awful - but IMO, leaving it up and available for public consumption if a person truly does evolve in their perspective/beliefs is a combination of ignorance and insincerity that makes it very difficult for me to get past.

preaching to the choir...along with all the Sonny Gray stuff around this time last year. Both would've been organizational train wrecks had the Brewers traded what it would've taken to acquire them last season. From a starting pitching standpoint, there doesn't seem to be the same level of helium around any controllable starters getting dealt this season - I'm sure there eventually will be some moves made, but the Machado sweepstakes have been the entire rumor mill for the past few weeks. Part of it has to be the injuries and inconsistent performances of the likely candidates (Archer, Stroman, Hamels), or what would likely be astronomical prospect demands (Degrom).

With regard to the Quintana trade Stearns didn't have the fortitude for - he also didn't have the key prospects the Cubs did to send away in Jimenez and Cease. https://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/mlb/charlotte-knights/article214934275.html The Cubs overpaid to acquire Quintana - which is saying a ton considering the amount of control left on his contract at the time the Cubs acquired him. If reports of the package the Dodgers are giving up to acquire Machado are true for 2 months, no way do the Brewers top that without including Hiura and one of the young pitchers (Peralta, Burnes, or Woodruff) - which would've been insane. Going after it is one thing, stupidity is another.

What a craptastic week it's been to be a Brewer fan - watch the team you root for lose 6 straight games, watch your team's best reliever (Hader) giving up a bomb in the all star game to a former Brewer middle infielder they could really use (Segura) around the same time you find out he's posted things that would make a klansman blush, then watch another former Brewer MIF outcast (Gennett) tie the all star game with a bomb. As the all star game progresses, you find out Machado's not coming here and Hader's own family can't wear a replica jersey with his name on it... Yeesh