Fear The Chorizo

Zamora? Black once he's had a few more ABs (knowing hes already on the 40 man)?? Even pushing Wilken - there are other bats worth giving a look to fill positions that are currently an offensive black hole in Milwaukee if the poor production persists at 3rd and SS. Not saying there's an obvious offensive savior who the Brewers have been holding back in the minors - but to me that means there should be less concern on the brewers' point of view on when a player they add to the 40 man would become a free agent 6-7 seasons later.

And, of course, a big reason the Brewers put so much pressure on pitching/run prevention is because they don't have a lineup capable of consistently scoring more runs...they get any sort of a lead by the 5th inning and Murphy goes into Tony LaRussa mode with the bullpen assuming the last 4 innings of offense will be nada. When their pen is lights out, it is a recipe to grind out more wins than losses when there are enough replacement relievers on the AAAA bullpen shuttle - but when that starts leaking or it isn't as deep as it needs to be things get ugly really fast.

That "consideration" for past performance is honestly the guaranteed $$$ left on his contract over the next few seasons - by playing almost everyday and hitting in the heart of the batting order, Yelich is costing the Brewers wins (below replacement level player), hitting in the heart of the order with an OPS that only pitchers would blush at. He'd be more valuable to them just cashing checks and giving his roster spot to a different player, unfortunately. At this point, if he isn't injured and can be IL'd, Yelich shouldn't be the DH on this team when he's not playing in left. The team needs a day off from him in the lineup when he's not in the field more than any sort of value keeping his bat in the lineup provides at DH.

I get that today's game has made pitching more of a specialty and emphasized quick hooks on starters...but at some point the Brewers have to get more innings out of their rotation and stop the nightly use of almost the entire bullpen. It's not even Memorial Day and key relievers are borderline torched right now. Also, there's alot of garbage sitting on the 40 man roster that needs to be exchanged for guys sitting in AAA and AA right now - starting service time clocks be damned.

I'm not saying it's all bad - maybe those people need to be promoted to the upper levels/majors where that progression has seemingly stalled all too often when facing more advanced pitching. Such a big part of the major league angst with the Brewer offense right now is the mix of Yelich ( horrible start, concerns of being washed as an impact hitter), Chourio (extended slump with getting himself out with poor pitch selection), and a stable of defense first middle infielders who need to string 3+ hits an inning to score surrounding them.

I agree, but shopping Freddy is also the one chip I think the Brewers could get a significant prospect return with during the season - I think there are going to be a ton of teams at this year's deadline in that "will they/won't they" quagmire due to 3 wildcards, and the trade deadline will resemble last year's - where some pricey and oft-injured veteran arms get sent to the large market behemoths as more of salary dump trades, and the big market teams pillage the rosters of the handful of absolute bottom feeding teams that are way, way out of it. And those trades will largely result in the haves sending peanuts to the have-nots. I think trading Freddy actually would make some sense as a way of starting an aggressive reset for this Brewer team if they are buried in the standings - he's not going have a higher value via trade than now, and he'd be an arm that would have a bidding war of contenders if they know they can land him.

I feel like the Brewers did a great job under Steans years ago at recognizing a market inefficiency and putting some cash into developing their pitching lab, which IMO has dramatically helped them both develop pitching in their system but also identify and tweak MLB veteran arms to get the most out of them on a budget at the MLB level, rather than having to pay $40M+ a season in free agency to try and sign or pay a #1 starter. Thinking they need different people (or at minimum a different teaching philosophy/approach) in the organization at both instructional and upper levels around hitting, along with some sort of similar "hitting lab" type of investment. It feels like there are bats in the minors right now that could have a dramatic impact on the perception of the Brewers being able to develop good hitters - that last step being able to carry minor league success into the majors consistently, and have that seem like a conveyor belt of prospects repeating that type of success, is a doozy. And, frankly sometimes it boils down to the profile of player you bring into the organization via draft to begin with - the Brewers have really gone heavy with toolsy athleticism that takes time to see them develop into MLB-caliber hitters (frequently never seeing that become their best quality as a player at the game's highest level) compared to advanced college bats in the draft where if they don't instantly have "it" they struggle to move up the minor league ladder rapidly, with a handful of recent noteable exceptions (Wilken, Boeve, Black) - I think if they went the Melvin route with some of his position player drafts, they'd have a larger stable of bat-first prospects in their system.

I think it's ironic all this Brewers angst at this point in a still very young season is happening as the Orioles come to town - a team oozing with young talent and a highly regarded farm system, who had to be historically bad for more than a few seasons at the MLB level in order to stockpile all that talent awarded to them by trades and a series of top 5 overall draft picks....and all they got from that was what, a 2 year window before they appear to be firmly back in the cellar of their division? I'm pretty sick of hearing about the greatness of Shane Smith, too - he got knocked around his last start against the Cubs, but almost all of that damage doesn't show up in his pitching stat line because of a 2 out error. Lots of hand-wringing about losing out on having to keep Smith on the Brewers' 40 man roster when they had the chance to do so. Would it be nice having another seemingly young and talented arm available for this year's team and potentially longterm? Sure - might be more difficult to find a way to get Mis up in Milwaukee where he belongs, but oh well. I'm pretty certain Smith wouldn't solve this roster's current problem of scoring runs, though. I think the issue with this roster with offense remains organizational philosophy, and IMO a big reason for it is payroll budget limitations at the MLB level - the 40 man, with the exception of a handful of players, physically looks like a database for utility infielders and 4th OFs whose primary calling card is defense. Combine that with your best all around hitter (Contreras) being a catcher working through trying to play with a fractured finger, your priciest veteran being a shell of his former self yet still having to be in the heart of the lineup (Yelich), and your most talented youngster getting himself out too often with poor pitch selection (Chourio). I don't think the organization has a problem developing hitters, it's the mold of players they've tended to go after doesn't prioritize offense the same way those Melvin Brewers teams did (which by the way struggled to develop pitching and defense). It's why I'm excited seeing a bat like Wilken wake up in AA - a bat with light tower power playing a corner IF position. I do think the organization needs to figure out something different at the MLB level in terms of hitting coach/scouting/hitting work - that part of the Brewers is not working right now.

When the guy you need to be a power hitting OF has a shot back, but you still have to hit him 3rd, it's not going to be consistently good enough on offense. Centering the organization's philosophy for mlb position players on defense and speed is inevitably going to lead to the obvious weakness of struggling to score for extended periods of games when your key guys aren't carrying you. At this point the brewers have to look at their hitting philosophy and realize it ain't cutting it at the MLB level - they could really use a hitting lab upgrade, or at minimum change their approach with the hitting work/scouting they are doing with players on the major league roster. Others have pointed it out - tok often the Brewers lineup resembles a freshmen high school lineup going up against varsity pitching - overmatched in too many spots in the order and the pressure it puts on the better hitters to come through is unreasonable every game.

He's exactly replacement level so far this season - him in SF now making alot more money is not the reason the rest of the guys on this roster aren't hitting better, too.

What's the over under on number of seasons before the 49ers front office is fired after signing Purdy to a franchise qb extension? I put that number at 2

Specific to the Brewers potentially being sellers at this deadline, I think their problem is the players we'd consider being the most acceptable trade fodder aren't what teams actually looking to buy at the deadline need. For example, Hoskins is having a nice bounceback season, but what team that would obviously be a deadline buyer in MLB has a glaring need for a 1B/DH who hits righthanded with pop? In most every scenario I can think of, Hoskins would be a downgrade to teams looking to be in playoff contention compared to what they currently have on their roster. All this being said, the Brewers are still only 4 games out of leading this division, chasing a team that is going to run into pitching problems as the season wears on. It's not time to sell, and if a month from now the Brewers are in the realm of wanting to sell at the deadline I think it's some of their arms that make more sense to deal if they're hoping to land impact prospects in return. If the Brewers fall out of it, honestly the best chip they should shop at this year's deadline is Freddy.

The only budget limitations huge market MLB teams have come from the number of roster spots they have available to stash players, and having competent front offices that know baseball is a young man's game which requires adding young/pre arbitration players to the mix consistently who don't require being paid $30+M dollars a season. However, I will say the Dodgers appear to have found a good way to stockpile expensive veteran arms on the IL beyond their 40 man rosters, too.

103 late into a start is absurd... 103 coming from a 6'7" frame where the release point is probably close to a foot closer to the plate than other flamethrowers is beyond unfair. You can see the physical changes Miz has had over the past couple seasons from when he was first drafted, filling that frame out just enough to the point where command of his arsenal of filth suddenly "clicks", and seemingly optimistic projections instantly become reality. Get that arm on a plane to Milwaukee before the next time he's supposed to pitch, please.

Same!

Offensively Yelich and McMahon are the same player right now. Your trade proposal included still paying that amount for him to play elsewhere (or at least a good portion of it), then also paying close to that amount for what's left of McMahons contract the next 3 seasons to watch a 3b who is hardly a great offensive player playing home games in Coors Fields play in Milwaukee. Plus throw in low level prospects. Meanwhile a former 1st round pick for the brewers is destroying baseballs in AA at 3b right now, and he could wind up in Milwaukee next season. Compared to your alternative, yes im ok with just paying Yelich to stay in Milwaukee

The article mentions how frequently they talked with Jenkins about the position change. This is about Jenkins' agent seeing cap space that can be thrown his clients way sooner than what his existing contract would get it to him and trying to get something done before training camp opens.

I should have further elaborated in my earlier post that im ok with HOF enshrinement for these sort of situations AFTER they breathe their last breath. IMO they shouldn't get the satisfaction of knowing they're in the baseball HOF during their lifetimes - actions do have consequences.

As long as the full story of these guys goes into their HOF sections (i.e., why they were banned from the game for life), I have zero problems with all time great players going into HOF's... infamy is just as important to teach people. I think the same should happen to the group of obvious PEDers with numbers deserving HOF credentials after they leave this earth.

Made's bat could play up a few levels from where he's at, but defensively he needs more time to develop - which is totally ok given the fact he just turned 18.

Yes, but that 0.235 average is deceiving given a horribly slow start - that's actually jumped up like 100 points in a couple weeks. BA is 0.260 over his last month or so. With Wilken being a college draftee with elite power - if he continues his recent hot streak at AA there shouldn't be anything blocking him from a AAA promotion soon, and frankly there is plenty of 40 man roster fodder to DFA/option/trade to get him to the majors once he proves he's ready. Agreed that time isn't now or in the very near future, but I tend to throw out Wilken's 2024 #'s because of the HBP to the face. If he's hovering at or above a 1.000 OPS consistently I don't care where his BA sits and he should be steadily working towards Milwaukee.

Making this type of move would be when Arnold should get fired.

The issue wasn't going all in for 2008 or prior to the 2012 season - it was that the drafting between those seasons wasn't good enough to bring in another core of young talent to avoid having to slog through a few seasons of non-contention afterwards....and those teams were built on hitting with poor defense, and had no organizational pitching depth compared to what the Brewers have now.

I fully agree, but a small market team has to be willing to sacrifice longterm WAR from prospects who may turn into good mlb players for rentals that could lead teams to a championship. As long as the organization is well run in the draft and develop department, it's easier to replace that production longterm with other cheap, in-house prospects. I think of it as the currency the Brewers can afford to spend on improving their chances to win a world series compared to giving out 9 figure free agent contracts like candy in free agency.

To start, I guess Mark must not be good at convincing the rest of Brewers' ownership to set a bunch of their money that's also tied up and not just sitting in Venmo accounts on fire. With incredibly rare exceptions (dying Illitch Siedler and that's about it), owners aren't sending GM's their own cash to sign pricey free agents in MLB - the market size /revenue those clubs generate are what write those checks, not the owners. Not that those facts will ever change some people's assumptions that Mark A. sleeps on pillows filled with cash, but whatever.