Fear The Chorizo

I actually think this may happen... Indians lead the league in stolen bases this year. Instead of doing what postseason opponents have done so far with lester when they get on base, they actually steal bases instead of daring him to throw over to 1st and second. I think the Indians run wild in the cubs, and make it embarrasing that every time a runner gets on it turns into a triple a few pitches later.

He was claimed by a playoff team though. with how the waiver process works, doesn't that mean that every non-playoff team passed on him, along with every team in the NL, meaning a vast majority of MLB teams didn't want to bother giving him a 40-man roster spot?

There will be no long concession lines at Miller Park in 2017 after the planned capital upgrades take place. Some on this board will blame the short concession lines on a young corner OF who arguably struggles against RHP and a young AA catcher/1B who will be raking while repeating the level, wishing Brian McCann was behind the dish everyday for the home 9 and wondering why the Brewers' FO didn't pay 80 Million dollars to sign Jered Weaver on a 4-year deal.

Pick an item then. Ice cream? Brats? Cheeseburgers? What are you going to find at Miller Park that is cheaper, or even modestly more expensive than the same item at a restaurant? For gosh sakes, movie theaters charge almost as much for a jumbo diet coke as Miller Park does for a 16oz Miller Lite. If somebody wishes to go out to dinner at a reasonable price, they don't go to a baseball game. If people want to tailgate prior for their food & drink sustenance, or even grab a bite at a local eatery before driving over to the game, by all means do so. Part of the concessions prices being as high as they are is the convenience of having these items available to get without needing to drag 1/2 your refrigerator along in a cooler or go on a grocery run prior to a ballgame. If they weren't making money on concessions priced as they are, prices and menu options would be different. As long as their upgrades reduce line wait times, I'm all for it - the convenience factor of being able to buy a beer or something more substantial than what the vendors walking through the stadium have to offer gets cloudy when one needs to spend a 1/2 inning waiting for food.

Um...Zach Britton - the guy that has a fairly decent shot at winning the AL Cy Young this year. Inexcusable to leave him in the pen for this game just because the Orioles were never presented with a 'save situation'. Guess he'll be available for the save next Opening Day.

I've read a few stories in recent days discussing the distinct possibility that multiple teams from each league could tie for one or two wild card spots at the end of the regular season, prompting playoff scheduling carnage to try and sort out tiebreakers and play-in games just to get to the winner take all wild card game. There's currently six teams within 2 games of each other for the 2 wild card spots in the AL - I'm not sure how schedules play out, but there's a puncher's chance of a 4-way tie for two wild card spots...and possibly a hell freezing over chance of 6 teams sharing some form of a tie for 2 wild card spots. I'm rooting for carnage - I'd love to see how MLB fumbles its way through having potential playoff teams fly all over the country for a few days playing multiple winner take all games just to earn a spot in the 1 game wild card round, only to have no fresh pitching staff available and severe jet lag leading into a 5-game divisional series. I'm hoping we have another 'Bud Selig All Star game moment', where MLB didn't derive enough plans for these possible scenarios, and a playoff spot ends up getting decided in part to a coin flip or something stupid.

I remain somewhat confused as to the Corey Ray pick Basically the top player left on Stearns' 2016 Amateur Draft Board after picks #1-4 were made was Corey Ray, so Stearns drafted him. That should hopefully clear up any confusion. Regarding the 2017 phase of the rebuild, I would hope it would continue to be acquiring the best talent available, regardless of supposed position needs throughout the system. In baseball, foregoing better talent in order to try and fill organizational roster holes shouldn't happen unless a team is "going for it", and even then it should only be done at the major league level via trade or free agency. And another point - if a player is a good or even adequate defensive CF, he'll almost certainly be a plus defender at a corner OF position...the only question would be whether their bat is good enough to play LF or RF everyday. Stockpiling talented prospects who play CF has a minimal chance of backfiring compared to piling up guys who only play LF, C, or basically any other position than SS, IMO.

There are still Olympics?

The Cubs fired the DJ: Understandable, which begs the question and obvious answer: If the Cubs waited less than 24 hours to fire and make an example out of someone for playing a song that alluded to domestic violence to show a strong stance on the issue as an organization, why trade for and continue to employ a guy who was suspended for actually committing an act of domestic violence? Answer: The Cubs can find a lot more people to play a jukebox than who can throw 100mph, and strong moral stances are never stronger than desires to win in professional sports.

Nottingham is 21 in AA - it's way too early to give up on his bat after what he did as a 20-yr old in several single A levels last season. He may not stick at catcher, but he could profile as a 1B. He's at least two more struggling seasons from even considering him a flopped prospect. As for Davis, he hits HRs and gives a team nothing else of value, which has been brought up ad nauseum in this forum. Of the top 40 HR hitters in MLB this year, he's dead last in walks, 38th in OBP, and 33rd in OPS. For a guy who's tied for 6th in all of baseball for HR's, those other offensive numbers are terrible and profile a hitter that pitchers simply aren't afraid of facing despite his HR power.

Starting next year, the pile of quasi-prospects that are struggling to develop in the upper minor league levels that aren't DS guys (Tyrone Taylor, Victor Roache, Coulter, etc, etc) are going to be exposed to Rule V and outright release to make room for younger prospects. Next year will truly be make or break for a lot of guys that people around here have been hoping take that next step with the Brewers.

he probably does have a fair grasp of English, but can answer questions more thoughtfully if posed to him in his native language by an interpreter. The game has evolved to the point where English is starting to become the less common language used around clubhouses, and kids whose 1st language is English need to learn Spanish on the fly, too. Many MLB players who have been stateside for years continue using interpreters when dealing with the media.

Braun could really help a contender - that said he's also still very valuable to the Brewers, so they're not going to just let him walk if a team claims him. With Cespedes going on the DL and other AL teams in contention still looking for bats, Braun will get claimed when put through waivers. I doubt a trade or transaction gets done, though. I think the best time to try trading him would be this or next year's offseason, when another year of $ is off the books and an AL team looking for a DH/OF bat looks at the FA market for those players and doesn't want to pay more for a lesser player than Braun.

if people were expecting to see Arcia emulate Tulo in the batters box, they really don't know what type of player he is. Arcia's glove/defense have been ready for MLB for a long time - while his hitting does need further development, it's not like he's going to ever develop into a consistent 900+ OPS offensive player. The debate about keeping him in the minors versus calling him up now should be about whether an extra 1/2 season of playing at 7,000' in Colorado Springs would turn him into what Alicedes Escobar is now, or if facing MLB pitching right now helps him longterm.

as strictly a 2B, I think Villar is a more valuable player than Gennett. Since Villar can also play multiple positions, he becomes a much more valuable player than Gennett. My hope would be that Scooter is dealt this offseason and DS gives 2B to Villar. Hopefully Arcia acclimates himself well enough to be considered the everyday Brewer SS next year, and Gomez shifts back to 3B for 2017.

Now that both Arcia and Benintendi were called up, I guess Brinson now sits at #19... And between Jeffress and Lucroy, only Jeffress was in the BA's top 100 prospects at any point during their minor league careers (Jeffress #100, 2008). So I guess Texas got swindled by sending two top 100 prospects back for one. Top 100 lists are fickle - aside from the typical top 5 prospects on that list year in-year out (who are essentially untradeable unicorns, i.e., can't miss all stars that only injuries could prevent from being quality big leaguers), #'s 6-100 are very subjective, and could easily be replaced by #'s 101-200 in any given year. Until we know the PTBNL, it's tough to gauge this trade - looks like we won't know until November, and even then it will probably be a few years until we have a better idea on how all three prospects pan out. I'm more interested in comparing the careers of who we got to the potential players that would've come over from Cleveland.

By all accounts the Rangers have quite a few players in the low minor league levels that show a lot of promise...at least they always seem to - I agree that if the PTBNL were a marquee prospect name that's been tossed around as a potential trade headliner in recent weeks, that guy would probably just have been named and included in yesterday's deal. My guess is Stearns and scouts have a handful of options between rookie league and low A to evaluate, and simply want to see those players more to make a definitive judgment on who to select. They could easily be considered top prospects based on their potential alone, just not necessarily listed in any top 100-200 lists because they're probably so early in their professional careers.

Susac gives the Brewers a competent starting catcher who could platoon nicely with Maldonado in 2017. He also gives Nottingham the additional time he likely needs to develop at AA. Nottingham's 21 - Khris Davis was older than Notthingham is right now before his first professional AB, and didn't reach AA until he was 24. Davis' OPS in AA Huntsville during his age 24 season? 0.603. Briggs must've hated Davis 5 years ago, too. Whether Nottingham sticks at C or finds a home at a different position, it's still way too early to give up on him when he had a great 20-yr old 2015 season at multiple single-A affiliates in Oakland's system.

There was a roster spot due to the trade deadline? that's another thing to consider, for sure - was there actually anyone else currently on the 40 man that would make more sense to call up to the big club following LuCroy, Jeffress, and Smith leaving it yesterday? Calling up any of the other prospects that were just acquired wouldn't make sense, and the rest of the current 40 man didn't have anyone worth calling up either due to injury or position/pitching staff depth remaining in Milwaukee. Even after the two relievers left the Brewers still had 12 pitchers on the 25 man once Goforth came back up. The other position player options aside from Arcia would've been Susac, Rivera, or Cecchini.

It could come into play if they are hoping to be a contender in 5-6 years I would sure hope they are planning to be a contender by 2022...I don't think Stearns has any intention of turning the Brewers into the MLB equivalent of the 76ers and wearing out his welcome before any big league success starts happening.

It is extremely common for a top 20 prospect to never sniff the careers weeks and gomez have had.

To be fair I don't think Arcia will sign a long term contract with the Brewers. The way Stearns likes to load up on athletic middle of the field players i think we will always have a SS of the future in waiting and Arcia will be traded down the line. I'd just like that trade to come a year later than it might now. Not sure why this isn't the automatic thought of those who are up in arms about Arcia's service time clock starting 1/2 a season earlier than the ideal rebuild plan - lower levels of the system are being engorged with SS/MIF prospects since Stearns took over, and Arcia was part of the Brewer organization pre-Stearns. From the long game perspective, Stearns may want to bring him up to get him established as the Brewers' everyday SS, with two potential outcomes: 1. if he blossoms and becomes a star the Brewers want to keep around beyond 2022-23 they'll find a way to get a manageable contract that makes him a Brewer through his prime years. The current MLB roster basically has Braun's contract obligations, but nothing else longterm to worry about - there will be plenty of money to keep Arcia around through his early 30's if his performance warrants it. 2. if he turns into an above-average player with great defense and a serviceable bat for a SS (most likely scenario), Stearns would have a pretty valuable piece to trade a few years down the road when one of the other younger SS prospects may be ready to take Arcia's place. Also, the years down the road some are so worried about what Arcia would cost are at least 3-4 seasons beyond the time when Stearns would be worrying about a contract extension for himself...

Nope, as others have said, his first professional ABs, playing in arguably the toughest league to put of offensive #'s there is, and starting out at a level where most of his competitors/teammates have had at least 2 full seasons of professional experience prior to entering into.

Let's go red sox, pony up for Luc and jj and empty that farm system!

Hadn't had much time to read through various articles and info on today's proceedings...Jim Bowden of ESPN comes down pretty harsh on Luc, and I agree with his assessment 100%... "Jonathan Lucroy deal to Indians is dead. Brewers moving on. For all the things for Lucroy and his representatives to ask for to waive no-trade nothing could be dumber than asking to eradicate option year. Of course prospect return was based on not being a rental. They could have asked for 1m trade bonus, full-no trade with Indians but NOT eradicate option year because no one would do that...no one. Now he can be traded to Mets and now nor only won't be able to block trade but will now get nothing. To be concerned he won't be every day catcher in 2017 over Gomes is stultified . Bad move by Lucroy camp In defense of Jonathan Lucroy and players in general if they have a no-trade clause to a team they should never be traded to that team without PRIOR consent because it's a violation of a contractual agreement. Lucroy should not be put in this position, not fair to him. That being said, in my opinion he is making a huge mistake. Chance to catch AL best rotation and impact closer and play for WS champion Terry Francona...to say he is worried about playing time in '17 with competition with Gomes is a joke. Lucroy clearly would have been every day catcher without a promise no team can give any player. Hope he changes his mind quickly before he ends up being traded to a place he doesn't want to go to but possibly won't be able to mix it since he doesn't have no trade rights to 21 teams."