DuWayne Steurer

The wild thing is, the batter had both feet in the box, and the pitcher wasn't set, and the catcher was still standing up. The batter wasn't "Looking" at the pitcher, so he wasn't set I guess? This is dumb, and MLB needs to figure it out. It does seem like a great opportunity for umps to bully-flex on the players in a new, creative way though, so we do have that.

With the deadline to file closing on Friday, the Brewers and ten arbitration-eligible players agreed to contract terms. Image courtesy of © Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports With the deadline to file closing on Friday, the Brewers and ten arbitration-eligible players agreed to contract terms. The Brewers agreed to terms with several pending arbitration-eligible players on Friday, the deadline for filing for the 2023 season. As of the filing deadline, starting pitcher, Corbin Burnes remained the only eligible player who did not agree to the terms of a new deal. The Brewers and Burnes can still agree on a one-year or multi-year deal before his arbitration hearing. Left-handed reliever Hoby Milner, who was a mainstay for the Brewer bullpen for most of 2022, agreed to a $1.025 million deal for the upcoming season. Backup catcher Victor Caratini earned a raise to $2.8 million. Keston Hiura signed for $2.2 million, so if he's used as a trade chip at this point, there's a little more cost certainty for anyone looking to acquire him. He may still be in the Brewers 2023 plans, but it's hard to see where he fits into the lineup with any regularity. Slugging first baseman, Rowdy Tellez saw his pay bumped to $4.95 million, which may very well make this season his last in Milwaukee. With Tellez being roughly a 1 WAR player, it's hard to picture the cost-conscious Brewers paying much more than this at a premium production position. Eric Lauer gets a pay bump to $5.075 million on the back of his strong 2022 campaign. Depending on how they view the rotation after the Wade Miley acquisition, Lauer's best value to the Brewers might be as a trade chip to fill in other areas of need. Likely closer, Devin Williams agreed to a $3.35 million contract. Despite the rumors of extension talk, nothing has materialized yet, and the Brewers and Willy Adames agreed to a one-year contract for $8.7 million. Of course, this doesn't preclude the Brewers and Adames from continuing to try to hammer out a multi-year deal, but with the mega-deals that have been handed out this off-season, it's become difficult to imagine the Brewers and Adames coming to terms. Infielder Luis Urias secured a $4.7 million contract. Today, Urias looks like he'll be the third baseman on opening day. With a 3.1 bWAR each of the past two seasons and entering his age 26 season, Urias is a solid bet to recreate that number. Newly acquired infielder Abraham Toro agreed to a $1.25 million contract for 2023. Lastly, starting pitcher, Brandon Woodruff agreed with the Brewers to a one-year deal for $10.8 million. With just two more years of team control, it will be interesting to see where things go from here with Woodruff, whether the team tries to extend him, deal with him and maximize their return on him, or ride him until next season. With only Corbin Burnes yet to sign now, the Brewers payroll situation comes more into focus. While it's doubtful that we'll see Burnes sign any multi-year deal, it wouldn't be unrealistic for the team and Burnes to figure out a deal before his hearing date. For payroll purposes, it would be helpful for Matt Arnold to know what kind of flexibility he might have going into the tail end of free agency while looking at any remaining nuggets. What do you think, Brewer fanatics? Arbitration signings aren't usually exciting, but sometimes we see some interesting contract numbers or last-minute multi-year deals. Did the Brewers overpay this year? What's the next move of the off-season? Let us know what you think in the comments. View full article

Can't ever just try for a first down. Does Rodgers know he sucks at the deep ball now?

If Walker is that fragile that a training staff member touching his arm (to attend to an injured guy) warrants a shove, he's got major issues. This team is soft. Charmin soft.

bucks blew a 21 point lead with under 4 minutes to go. I know they're short handed and all, but that's awful. awful. awful basketball. somehow got into OT and stole the win but what a putrid performance. you almost have to be trying to lose to give up 21 points in 4 minutes, let alone blow a 21 point lead in that amount of time.

Paul Allen going "oh my goodness interception" in that flat dead disgusted voice is like a beautiful symphony

Vikings winning 12 games with a trash defense and Kirk cousins at QB is mystifying.

Jim Leonards getting worried right now lol

that makes up for walker being a dumb a..

walker thinks this is the wwe now. idiot

49ers have been pretty dang solid since their 3-3 start. flawless? no. but they're probably the team I'd be most leery of.

Sold low on? Wong's coming off back to back 3+ WAR seasons, even with his defense taking a bit of a down-turn. Winker had a trash season, and Toro hasn't been able to hit his way out of a wet paper bag. I know we tend to look at trades with rose colored glasses, but saying the Mariners sold low isn't fair. They got a guy who should still be a 2-3 WAR guy for them this season for a guy who may or may not bounce back from an injury plagued season and a former prospect who hasn't hit a lick yet.

Yeah, I'm not generally a fan of owners getting involved in specific deals. It's obviously his team, and he's (obviously) well within his rights to do so. You hire baseball guys to run your baseball business. I think the owners should lay out their expectations and guidelines and budgets and by all means, be involved, but let the baseball guys do their baseball things. Maybe it's more common than we're made aware of, but I can't imagine a general manager likes an owner stepping in and throwing paprika in the brownie batter.

seems like 1/4 the players from each team are either in the portal or not playing because they're going pro. what is even the point of these games anymore?

The Brewers' bullpen had its share of ups and downs in 2022. With the midseason trade of closer Josh Hader, the entire group saw a change in roles, and the 2023 bullpen will look a bit different. We'll take a look at the Steamer projections and more today. Image courtesy of © Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports The Brewers' bullpen had its share of ups and downs in 2022. With the midseason trade of closer Josh Hader, the entire group saw a change in roles, and the 2023 bullpen will look a bit different. We'll take a look at the Steamer projections and more today. The Brewer bullpen took on a new look at the trade deadline in July of 2022 when All-Star closer and fan favorite Josh Hader was sent to the Padres for a package of players, including Padres closer Taylor Rogers. The Brewers pen struggled at times down the stretch, with Rogers never regaining his previous form and Matt Bush (acquired from the Texas Rangers) giving up six home runs in only 23 innings pitched. The Brewer relief corps still had its share of bright spots in 2022. Devin Williams was a dominant force after a rocky first month, posting an ERA of 1.93 and striking out 96 in just 60 2/3 innings. Hoby Milner became a useful middle-inning reliever and should figure into the Brewers' plans again in 2023. Peter Strzelecki, a 27-year-old rookie, pitched well in limited use, with an ERA under three and punching out just over ten batters per nine innings pitched. Looking ahead, however, the Brewers' pen is going to have a very different look next year. Gone (obviously) is Hader, as are Taylor Rogers. Brad Boxberger, Brent Suter, and Trevor Gott who have signed free-agent contracts elsewhere. As we stand near the end of December, what does this leave the Brewers relief corps looking like? And what do the Steamer projections think of the arms they currently have? Name Team GS G IP W L QS SV HLD H ER HR SO BB WHIP K/9 BB/9 ERA FIP WAR RA9-WAR ADP Devin Williams MIL 0 65 65.0 4 3 0 28 2 49 22 6 84 29 1.20 11.69 4.07 3.12 3.20 0.8 0.9 999.0 Matt Bush MIL 0 63 63.0 3 3 0 2 12 52 25 8 77 23 1.19 10.93 3.22 3.53 3.46 0.6 0.6 999.0 Jake Cousins MIL 0 58 58.0 3 3 0 0 10 49 24 7 67 26 1.29 10.34 4.07 3.72 3.80 0.3 0.4 999.0 Hoby Milner MIL 0 62 62.0 3 3 0 1 12 60 27 8 58 19 1.27 8.48 2.70 3.88 3.96 0.2 0.3 999.0 Joel Payamps MIL 0 54 54.0 3 3 0 0 6 53 25 7 46 18 1.31 7.72 3.03 4.11 4.23 0.2 0.1 999.0 Peter Strzelecki MIL 0 63 63.0 3 3 0 1 14 56 28 8 67 25 1.29 9.55 3.60 4.03 4.07 0.1 0.3 999.0 Jason Alexander MIL 5 43 65.0 3 4 2 0 1 70 32 8 46 21 1.39 6.32 2.90 4.40 4.47 0.1 0.1 999.0 Ethan Small MIL 3 37 52.0 3 3 1 0 1 49 25 7 48 25 1.42 8.35 4.40 4.33 4.61 0.0 0.2 999.0 Janson Junk MIL 2 14 21.0 1 1 1 0 1 21 10 3 18 6 1.29 7.55 2.54 4.39 4.44 0.0 0.1 999.0 Elvis Peguero MIL 0 20 20.0 1 1 0 0 1 19 9 2 18 8 1.34 8.09 3.38 4.01 4.08 0.0 0.0 999.0 As always, it's important to remember that these projections are middle-ground models, Devin Williams, "The Last Airbender," as affectionately named by fans, looks to slot into the closer role, as he did down the stretch in 2022. While understanding how projections work, I'm a bit surprised at the projected K/9 rate, as he's been at 14.5/9 and 14.2/9 each of the previous two seasons. It's unlikely the Brewers will spend whatever budget they have left on a closer, so it's a solid bet that Williams takes this role. Despite the relative volatility of relievers, I think the Brewers have seen enough dominance from Williams to hand him the role and expect results. Hoby Milner pitched well for the first half of 2022 but struggled a bit down the stretch. A high 80's sidearm lefty, Milner had struggled in the majors before last year but found success on the Brewers' staff. Steamer's projections for Milner see a return to form, but it remains to be seen if Milner's season was marred by wearing down or if the league has seen his offerings enough not to be fooled by his sidearm delivery. Steamer's projections for Matt Bush look solid enough, and if he can punch out 10.9/9ip and post an ERA in the mid three's, he could vie for the seventh or eighth-inning role. He'll need to get the home runs under control, as he gave up eleven in under 60 innings between Texas and Milwaukee. Jake Cousins has been very good for the Brewers when he's healthy but comes into 2023 with less than 50 major league innings under his belt. Steamer projects him conservatively for an ERA just under four but also projects 58 innings pitched. If Cousins can stay on the field and pitch well, he may also contend for a late-inning role. Newly acquired Joel Payamps should figure strongly into the mix in a middle-inning role. Payamps has been effective in the previous two seasons as a heavy ground ball pitcher, striking out less than seven per nine but having an over 2-1 ground ball to fly out ratio. Steamer projects Payamps to take a bit of a jump in his strikeout rate but conservatively projects him to have an ERA over four this season. I don't know if Steamer projections are taking the ban on the shift into account, but that definitely will hurt groundball pitchers like Payamps. Peter Strzelecki was brought up to the big club in June and pitched effectively out of the pen for the Crew, pinning down an ERA of 2.83 and striking out ten per nine innings. Strzelecki should be in the club's bullpen blueprint for 2023. Steamer projects him for an ERA just a shade over four while maintaining his strikeout rate. Depending on how he continues to develop, he could slot into a long or middle-inning role. There are other players, of course, and the Brewers will likely end up with fifteen or more players contributing in the pen. These are the guys they have now who are the most prominent contributors. As it stands, one of the more pressing needs for the Brewers for the rest of the off-season is a front-end bullpen piece. Aside from Devin Williams, there appear to be only a few who project to be dominating, a shut-down reliever who can reliably nail down a late-inning role. The Brewers' bullpens recently have had fairly well-defined roles, with Josh Hader, Devin Williams, and Brad Boxberger handling those duties. Despite these projections being "regression to the mean," nobody here stands out (and I even feel that Williams' projection is overly conservative). But it may be that someone like Cousins or Strzelecki takes a step forward and becomes that next dominant eighth-inning reliever that Williams did in 2020. What do you think, Brewer Fanatics? Is the bullpen ready to tackle 2023? How do the Steamer projections look? How do you think the roles will shake out in the coming season? Let us know in the comment section! View full article

A stop!

That's the difference between this being a 3 score game and being tied right now.

Marcedes Lewis running a deep route down the sideline is not the one I thought we'd finally hit big.

Get ready for a 40 yard incompletion.

Corner had Lazard beat by 3 steps and Rodgers is like "yeah, I can sneak it in there"

Doubs. Why.

The only thing Alexander should be celebrating is cashing his check. This defense has been trash today. Don't be celebrating making a tackle during this debacle.

I think they're trying to win, but they're being hampered by a decided lack of critical decision making skills, and a lack of talent.