Fear The Chorizo

Dez was high on Doubs early last season, too.

1 - those weren't contentious negotiations, as the Brewers made Burnes a solid Arby 2 offer and Burnes opted to go to an arbitration hearing instead, then he got pouty because he lost. The Brewers reached terms on ALL of their other arbitration cases, including Woodruff and Adames. 2 - I hate how Boras operates, but it's in his own best interest to keep Burnes as happy and productive as possible this season if he wants a shot at a decent agent's commission next offseason when Burnes becomes a free agent and doesn't wind up signing a contract until middle of spring training 2025. Torres makes zero sense in a trade for Burnes from the Brewers' perspective - he's basically going to be a salary wash in his own 3rd year of arbitration and will be a free agent after next season. The Brewers would be better off just sticking with Burnes for 2024 and then getting the QO draft pick compensation.

It would be so fun for this team to get into the playoffs....and despite their defensive limitations, their offense if anywhere close to healthy would terrify playoff opponents right now, just because it's full of young playmakes all over the field.

Despite being the current NFC favorite, I still think the 49ers will Shanahan themselves out of the mix before the Super Bowl in the playoffs....their demolition of both the Cowboys and Eagles in the regular season are the type of situations where a rematch in the playoffs turn into dramatically different games - and I just don't trust Purdy to flat out win them a playoff game when the opposing defense takes away the middle of the field and makes him beat them with throws to the perimeter.

The 12 team playoff field is a step in the right direction...that should at least keep players in the top tier programs long enough to have a slate of good games rather than see the transfor portal and nfl sit out announcements pour in for games that should carry some weight. However, with the expanded field I'd like to see them do away completely with the top 25 rankings. Just make the cfp field the top two teams in each of the four power conferences plus four at large bids - with no more than 4 teams being able to get into the playoff from any one conference. I hate that preseason rankings carry weight through the year , and this large of a playoff field should render them completely pointless.

When you diminish everything else that was formerly of value in major college football (conference titles, conference-specific Bowl game representation, etc.) to be meaningless besides winning what still amounts to a popularity contest to get into two games at the end of the year, something that 90+ percent of the teams in major college football that aren't NFL factories have zero chance at to begin with, then sprinkle in the current insanity that is the transfer portal and NIL push for good players at these mid tier programs to shop around where they could make more $$, you get the current state of college football. Which is essentially garbage but enough people in SEC country care about it to make the current system profitable, so things aren't changing for the better anytime soon.

Right now the Phil's are focused on giving Wheeler a massive extension...and since he's a better pitcher than Burnes is I don't see them being a match via trade. I can see the Braves being an interesting fit for Burnes in that division, though.

Adames 2021 season after first coming to the Brewers has proven to be his statistical outlier for his career. Expecting him to repeat that and then base an extension or free agent deal of sustaining that level of offense is what teams like the Angels do in free agency. Adames is a good mlb player who plays solid defense at a premium position and can carry a team offensively for a couple weeks here and there during the season...the rest if the time you better not have to rely on him in the top half of the batting order. Personally, I'd like to trade Adames now if there's value to avoid him repeating 2023 at the plate and wind up not even being comfortable offering him a QO next offseason and getting nothing back for him leaving.

Giving their top prospect who has a ceiling of a league MVP based on what he's done in the minors as a kid a never-been-done before longterm extension isn't splashy enough for you? Compared to 95 percent of the rest of MLB, the Brewers have been making plenty of moves this offseason. Just because the Brewers don't give massive contracts to players on the verge of onfield decline as they become free agents doesn't mean they aren't actively improving a roster that won 92 regular season games last year.

Not sure on actual numbers, but the best player in CFB this season (Harrison Jr.) is sitting because he's set to be a top 5 draft pick and their starting QB transferred, then their primary backup got knocked out early with injury. Mizzou has some guys out as well - any player with eyes on the NFL would be foolish to play in the bowl game the way this system is set up, and even the guys who suit up aren't invested in the outcome of this game despite it being one of the marquee non-CFP bowls. OSU was within 1 score of being the top ranked team in the CFB playoff, and they had a better resume with 1 loss than Alabama did, IMO.

OSU vs Mizzou, without any motivation and the current transfer portal climate...looks like a mid level high school JV game. And these are a pair of top 10 teams! College football is really screwing up their product

I'm not expecting Santana to be more than he has shown to be the past few seasons, which would still be a big upgrade at 1B, and he wouldn't require a platoon mate on the roster to have competent offensive production from a corner IF position. plus he's still a quality defender over there. The past few seasons, it seems like the Brewers have been chasing their tails trying to set up platoon options at 1B and 3B plus DH, often taking up 3-4 or even 5 roster spots and wind up getting below average offensive production to show for it from all 3 of those everyday lineup spots. To me, there's value in plugging Santana in as the primary 1B and dedicating 1 roster spot to that position, then rolling the dice with Black at 3rd and signing a veteran DH to give your roster flexibility/depth elsewhere. DH, IMO, should be a bigger priority in free agency for a team like the Brewers than 1B...if their model is defensive versatility to build the position player roster, I'd be much more ok with that if they would view the DH as more than an afterthought/bench role when Yelich or Contreras isn't occupying that spot in the lineup. Even if the Brewers hold onto Burnes to start the season instead of trading him (and I hope that is the case), they have plenty of budget available to sign Santana and one of the more sought after DHs...particularly if they let Black open the season at 3B making league minimum.

Instead of spending $18-20M a season for at least 2-3 years to add Hoskins via free agency to play first, coming off a knee surgery, I'd prefer the Brewers sign Santana to a 1-yr (~$7-8M) deal to play 1st, then also make another free agent splash in adding either Jorge Soler (3-4 yr deal) or JD Martinez (1-2 yr deal) to be their everyday DH...Yelich could still get plenty of DH ab's against righty starters if there's a need to keep his bat in the lineup, and Contreras could actually get legit days off instead of DH-ing when he isn't catching a game. This type of approach would allocate a similar dollar amount and actually bolster the lineup at two spots with veteran RH hitters with pop (Santana is a switch hitter) instead of one.

Stefanski should be coach of the year...and that defense could carry them in the playoffs

If they want a washed up veteran quarterback, sure.

No, there isn't a realistic number that makes sense for the Brewers to offer Hader that he would actually sign and return as a free agent, where both sides would be happy with the contract terms. Frankly, I'm ok with not having a reliever signed to what will likely be a 9 figure contract to pitch into his mid-late 30s that pays him like he's going to remain an all-time great, when Hader has been fortunate to avoid significant arm injuries thus far in his career.

They also have a highly questionable quarterback situation heading into next year, and not the greatest salary cap situation when your best player (Jefferson) is likely to demand a WR market-setting contract in the offseason and their best lineman (Darrisaw) is also in line for a big payday to avoid holdouts/trade demands. Their GM has gotten mixed reviews - kudos for some adept free agent pickups and trades to add productive pieces to the roster, but his first couple of drafts are being widely panned despite having a bunch of picks to work with. The Vikes are a roster in limbo, and their arrow is either pointing sideways or down for the next few seasons because of it despite having what appears to be good coaches on both sides of the ball.

Statement win for the Ravens last night

It's because baseball is a young man's game more than ever, and organizations can continue churning out and cycling through good young and much cheaper players to put together winning clubs and avoid even playing in the marquee free agent sandbox that at this point really only includes a small handful of teams consistently. Well run organizations can establish a consistent mid-tier payroll and still win enough games to be in playoff contention every season, regardless of the division they play in. The expanded playoffs is a check on runaway huge market teams and their spending, because it doesn't let them just dictate regular season success into a ws shot with a small group of playoff teams. I for one dislike the expanded playoffs and its wonky format - but if mlb doesn't change the financial structure of the sport it's the only way to try and even out the playing field in terms of which teams win titles.

For as maddening as it is for the Dodgers to seemingly have anyone they want on their MLB team along with producing a steady stream of impact talent from their minor league system, it is really refreshing to know that besides a COVID-shortened season, they haven't won squat during this period when they make even the Yankees look poor.

Santana is a switch -hitting, really good defensive 1B that gives the roster a much-needed veteran presence, and he can still provide some pop hitting in the 5-7 range in the lineup of a good ballclub. Knowing he won't cost $15M plus a season for multiple years to sign, he makes alot of sense for the Brewers in 2024. If the team falls on its face, he'd also be a viable deadline trade candidate if the full fledged fire sale is on come July.

Because the website is run by a Twins fan and many key writers are Cub fans. I'm convinced many of these "articles" are geared towards intentional clickbait for regular posters on the Brewers/Twins/Cubs boards to wind up clicking all over the sites just to help with generating ad revenue. The Twins are looking to shed payroll - I really doubt they'd be interested in acquiring Burnes for 1 year at a similar cost to retaining Polanco, plus having to ship an actual package of legit prospect talent in order to do so. Much more likely they find a team to take what amounts to a salary dump trade in Polanco for a couple of low level minor league lotto tickets or young - pre arbitration OF. In that regard, the Brewers are actually a decent trade fit for Polanco....but not with sending Burnes to the Twins.

I hear this argument alot about not getting a good enough player or package back - I'm interested in specifically what you feel would be appropriate trade compensation for either Taylor or Houser based on their age, established roles as bottom of a MLB roster depth, years left of team control, and cost. Especially considering these guys are borderline non-tender candidates. With how the current arbitration process works, it's not just as simple as saying "so and so makes $10M a season after he signed a free agent deal to give you the same pitching value as Houser" without also adding the numerous pre arbitration or minor league free agent arms who provided equal to better value than Houser did on the mound last season, to the calculus, too (all who which would have much longer team control remaining). Same goes for Taylor, who was injured/terrible during the 1st half of last season and game back with a good two months of play to get his offensive numbers more in line with career averages - which are exactly that for a reserve OF....meh. The Brewers very likely got the best years of Taylor and Houser's careers given their ages playing for them in Milwaukee - these aren't the type of guys you want hanging around on your roster well into their 30s, good organizations have more talented and cheaper options to take their spots (or plan to acquire players from outside the organization to do so), and this appears to be the case in Milwaukee.

Well, Quero is on the 40 man roster...longterm I can see Contreras as a pretty darn good DH assuming Quero is in their longterm plans at catcher. Contreras is a decent defensive catcher, don't get me wrong - but by all accounts Quero is a stud defensively.

When you are going into the season with FOUR young outfielders all more than capable of playing CF along with the other OF positions, with one of them signed to an 8 year pre-mlb contract extension and just added to the 40 man roster, and your current franchise player based on contract size also will likely play more than half the time in LF, your 30 yr old 5th/6th OF on the 40 man roster is pretty much expendable, especially once he starts making more than league minimum as he works through salary arbitration. My mistake before thinking Taylor is further along in his years of MLB service time at 30 yrs old. At his age, it's alot more likely he'll get nontendered in the next offseason or two and maybe the Brewers can bring him back to be that super 4th OF again for a couple months a season.