Harold Hutchison

Harper - Nationals retain him. Machado - Phillies. They're dumb enough to. Keuchel - Yankees. They're not done just yet. Kimbral - Padres. Moustakas - Mariners. Becomes insurance for Seager and a DH. Marwin Gonzalez - Brewers. Becomes 2B, then joins bench. Gio Gonzalez - Mets. Joins Thor and DeGrom. Miley - Brewers. Returns to where he found new life. Jones - Miami. Becomes mentor to/insurance for Brinson. Harrison - Pirates. Returns to be a thorn in the Crew's side. Iglesias - Orioles. Becomes a flip candidate at the deadline.

About 1 year ago he was still in the conversation for going 1st overall in last June's draft. He profiles as yelich did at the plate without as much power, and he will be a mlb ss. I think he is underrated, actually. That is some serious helium for Hiura at no. 6, can't wait to lock up all the threads about 2b options once he gets to milwaukee! 1 thing to remember about Ray's and other AA prospects numbers from 2018 - the southern league is full of pitcher friendly parks and Biloxi might be one of the most pitcher friendly. The Shucks '145 team HR is the most in the southern league since at least 2005. I expect Ray to remind more of us why he was a top 5 pick this year in San Antonio My take on Turang: A young Paul Molitor - the one who had speed, good OBP skills, had the ability to hit doubles and triples, and could hit for average. Ray, Erceg, Gatewood, and Stokes could very well vault high up. Erceg's worried me - started off well, but since then... meh.

It is clear that the Brewers having been working over the FA 2B market very hard this offseason. If Keston is the plan it's Plan Z. If they were working the 2B position hard, they would have signed one. I think they are fine with Perez and Spangenberg sharing the position to start the year. If those two aren't producing and Hiura gets off to a hot start in SA, there will be pressure to bring him up. But Perez and Spangenberg are solid major league players who combined should hit 20 HR and hit .260. I think they looked over the free agent market hard, and made the decisions that gave them upgrades, but also realized they have in-house options. They have Dubon as an option at second. They have a Perez/Spangenberg platoon as an option at second. They have Shaw as an option at second (with Aguilar or Moustakas at third). They have Saladino as an option at second. They have Hager as an option at second. They have Hiura as the eventual option at second.

They let Gaylord Perry in... and Perry flaunted his use of the spitter. So... really the integrity is a joke. Let Rose, Bonds, and Clemens in.

From ages 30-39, he only had one season below an .800 OPS. Much of it was probably shifting to being primarily a designated hitter.

How is that deferred money spread? Maybe the Brewers ought to take it on, if it isn't that much per year. It either lowers what the Brewers would have to send to Arizona, it would allow the Brewers to get a couple of prospects back, or some combo of both...

Here's what I'd push for: Diamondbacks get: RHP Chase Anderson OF Trent Grisham C Mario Feliciano Brewers get: RHP Zach Greinke (and take on ALL salary) LHP Alex Young 1B Pavin Smith C Andy Yerzy

Mark A could happily pay money... and make the D-Backs pay in other ways (prospects). I see no problem with taking on Greinke's full salary, provided Arizona hands over C Andy Yerzy, 1B Pavin Smith, LHP Alex Young, and OF Jake McCarthy.

Are you hoping or predicting? Re: the bolded above, Clancy, while I admire your zeal, as my wife says to a couple of our kids, I think you're just plain stuck on a couple things that aren't going to happen (though it's at least nice to see Braun at the very bottom of your 3B list this time...). Aguilar not screwing up in his 14.1 career Brewers innings (and his 2 career Cleveland innings) consisting of 4 total chances at 3B isn't a peek into "what might be," only some sheer good fortune at avoiding the total disaster that could've been. I do think he's more athletic than many give him credit for, but I believe firmly that suggesting he's an everyday 3B is just plain folly -- well, that may be too strong, and I get that it may be fun to consider, but it's just not at all realistic without a slew of injuries, and even then I'd think they'd find other options to plug an everyday hole. Stearns and Counsell have said repeatedly that Hiura's not starting the season in MIL, which would negate any likelihood of your #1 2B option happening, either. So many here would love to see it happen, and there's no guarantee it won't happen this year, but when the Boss Man says it's not happening, is asked again and says it has a "0% chance of happening," it's just not happening. The list was in no particular order. But the fact is, the Brewers have a lot of options in-house. Some more fanciful than others, some better than others offensively. Some trade defense for offense. Right now, if I were Stearns, I'd sign Walker to a two-year $6 million deal with a team option.

While not overly likely to happen, how much fun would it be to see Starlin absolutely mashing against the Cubs left-handed starters while in a Brewers uniform. My understanding was that Castro wanted to be traded form Miami. I always wondered if the Crew couldn't have taken Castro off Miami's hands - and maybe have kept one of Diaz or Harrison (say dealing the Marlins Dubon instead).

Here's a summary of the in-house 2B/3B options I see the Brewers having for Opening Day: In-House 2B 1. Keston Hirua on Opening Day 2. Travis Shaw on Opening Day 3. Perez/Spangenberg platoon 4. Mauricio Dubon 5. Tyler Saladino 6. Jake Hager In-House 3B 1. Travis Shaw 2. Jesus Aguilar 3. Hernan Perez 4. Tyler Saladino 5. Jake Hager 6. Lucas Erceg 7. Spangenberg 8. Ryan Braun I'm not as familiar with some of the external options. Moustakas at third is one, and there's Harrison, Gonzales, and Dietrich at second on the free-agent side. Of course, a trade could come and scramble that entire picture.

I would be surprised if you could get both Lowe and their #7 player in the Rays system that had an impressive .832OPS last year at 20 yrs old. I know Pina is on two years of an extraordinarily friendly team deal. I think that two time defensive Ray of the year Ciuffo would be more to their liking...they would be more likely to pull that trigger since Ciuffo already has two suspensions for a drug of abuse. He can be optioned and Kratz could stay up north for another year. Regardless of the catcher of choice...if Lowe comes to MKE then Hiura could be involved in a deal for a true #1 Pina for Tampa young C, BLowe (and therefore Kratz by addition) moreover a guess here... CRay, Hiura, Supak for Kluber, lottery ticket Ciuffo's off-field problems are a red flag to me. Not real interested in adding a Bickford behind the plate. As for the deal, I'd go Nottingham, Erceg for Bauer.

They may be okay with it, but I'm sure their pursuit of several other FA 2Bs is a clear indication they felt they could do much better, too, with the key being desired target(s) needing to be okay with $$ & term that fit the Brewers' liking, which obviously hasn't happened yet. I still think Aguilar at third, Shaw at second, Thames at first is a decent option if they can't get a free agent. Hear me out: Looking over the fielding stats (keeping in mind a small sample), Aguilar's overall RF/9 at third in 2018 was a little above average, and he seemed to be okay. It did show 20 Rtot/yr (or 20 runs above average per year), but again, small sample. It does mean keeping what flexibility the Crew currently has on payroll. Plus, if Thames and Aguilar both have hot starts, the Brewers could get a better return for one of them in a trade when Hirua finally forces the issue. Plus, it makes the Crew's bench Pina, Perez, Spangenberg, Gamel, Taylor - a much stronger proposition.

Not to derail the thread further, but he never threw anybody under the bus. That guy created legitimate chain-of-custody issues which is why Braun successfully fought the test on procedural grounds. Too bad MLB decided to fire the arbitrator who ruled correctly on that matter - even as they changed the procedures in question.

Weston's made starts at all three OF and all four IF positions, and rebounded to a .759 OPS between Biloxi and Carolina. Tack on an excellent stint at the AFL, and I think he is a future bench asset. He's missing some mop-up time on the mound, so he's not a complete Perez replacement, but that can always be remedied.

Ditto for the Harvard pitcher acquired in the Santana trade as a replacement for the pick dealt in the Claudio trade.

Nelson has an option left, and I see him in AAA to start - using a month or two to get him back into game shape beyond spring training.

I think their data is also helping them find good players later in the draft. We're all excited about Clayton Andrews - a 17th round pick in 2018. Quintin Torres-Costa, who looked ready to join the Crew this year before he needed a Tommy John - 35th round, 2015 Brent Suter, a solid part of the rotation until his Tommy John - 31st round pick 2012 Weston Wilson, looking like a replacement for Hernan Perez - 17th round, 2016 Jon Olczak, potential bullpen ace - 21st round, 2015 Scott Sunitsch, starting pitcher who did well in Wisconsin - 18th round, 2018 Conor Harbor, another good SP prospect - 16th round, 2015 Cooper Hummel, a very good C/OF prospect - 18th round, 2016 I know you like to move guys around like video games, but isn't that a bit optimistic? Perez plays solid at SS, 3b, 2b, and OF. Wilson is a 1b, 3b, corner OF. In 2018, Wilson played 42 games at first, 26 at third, 25 in left field, 13 at second base, 9 in right field, and 2 at shortstop. Over his pro career, Wilson's seen 100 games at third, 98 at first, 31 at second, 30 in left field, 14 in right field, 3 at shortstop, and one in center field. In no case is his fielding percentage below .944. https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=wilson001wes

I think their data is also helping them find good players later in the draft. We're all excited about Clayton Andrews - a 17th round pick in 2018. Quintin Torres-Costa, who looked ready to join the Crew this year before he needed a Tommy John - 35th round, 2015 Brent Suter, a solid part of the rotation until his Tommy John - 31st round pick 2012 Weston Wilson, looking like a replacement for Hernan Perez - 17th round, 2016 Jon Olczak, potential bullpen ace - 21st round, 2015 Scott Sunitsch, starting pitcher who did well in Wisconsin - 18th round, 2018 Conor Harbor, another good SP prospect - 16th round, 2015 Cooper Hummel, a very good C/OF prospect - 18th round, 2016

Sheesh... they're overpaying. Knebel, Hader, Jeffress, Claudio, Taylor Williams, Barnes, and Guerra will be as good, if not better, and will cost about as much as Ottavino alone.

Well technically, Walker is a RH bat against lefties... He's been a bit iffy from year to year vs. LHP, but adding Walker does add the option to play him at 2B and Perez at 3rd against lefties. It's more of a depth/flexibility move, but I do think it's a worthwhile improvement to the roster if he can be had for the right price. I think ideally everyone would love an impact bat that can both solidify 2B to start the year and also crush lefties in place of Shaw at 3B, but I don't know if that's realistically an option within the team's budget at this point. Add in that our two best middle infield prospects coming up are RH bats, I think you could do a lot worse than adding a flexible, switch hitting, veteran player like Walker to round out the roster. [pre]Rnk Player (Age, Positions) vsRHP vsLHP Total vsRHP vsLHP Total 3YR Def --------------------------- ----------------- ----------------- ------- Travis Shaw* (28, 3B/1B/2B) .850 / .668 / .807 120 / 74 / 110 7.5 Neil Walker^ (33, 1B/RF/2B/3B) .780 / .724 / .767 111 / 98 / 107 4.8 Cory Spangenberg* (28, 3B/2B/LF) .757 / .512 / .696 105 / 37 / 88 -5.5 Hernan Perez (27, 3B/OF/2B/SS) .666 / .786 / .706 73 / 103 / 83 1.1[/pre] He's also played at third base and first base over his career, and last season saw time in left field and right field. He's also a switch-hitter. While his average dropped. he still had good OBP skills (42 BB vs. 367 ABs) and had plenty of pop. For the right price - I think he'd be a big help to the Brewers. Go for two years, $5.5 million - add an option year. What does the Crew have to lose? Walker makes a ton of sense at this point.

I liked Walker in 2017, I wish the Crew had been able to retain him in that offseason. I'd be cool with Walker again, both as a stopgap for Hiura and as depth. Say $2.5 million for 2019, a team option for 2020 at $3 million, and a mutual option for 2021 for $3 million. If not, then the current 40-man roster has a number of options across the infield (I also noted where Walker adds depth): 1b: Aguilar/Thames/Braun/Gamel/Perez (Walker) 2b: Shaw/Perez/Spangenberg/Dubon/Saladino (Walker) ss: Arcia/Dubon/Perez/Saladino 3b: Shaw/Aguilar/Perez/Saladino/Spangenberg/Braun (Walker) So, either way, I think the Crew is in good shape.

I don't think it hurts to listen to offers. That said, if I were Stearns, I'd need to be blown away by an offer to pull the trigger. This is the type of deal I'd want for Pina: Tampa Bay gets: C Manny Pina Milwaukee gets: 2B/OF Brandon Lowe C Ronaldo Hernandez

Nottingham is on the 40-man.

It's nice to listen, and maybe to figure out what that market is. After all, using Nottingham as the #2 catcher is an option - just have Grandal be the mentor.