Harold Hutchison

For whatever reason, he was effectively shut down after Sept. 1 of this season. If Gio hadn't been hurt, I doubt he pitches any in the post-season. Something was obviously up...

Right now, my inclination is to try to get Kikuchi via the posting system, and bring Wade Miley back. For the bullpen, I think there is a high-level arm in Quintin Torres-Costa, who won't cost the Crew anything but a minimum salary for three years.

Trade One Mets get: RHP Chase Anderson OF/1B Eric Thames Brewers get: IF Jeff McNeil SS/2B Gavin Cecchini C Patrick Mazeika RHP Bobby Wahl Trade Two Twins get: 2B/SS Jonathan Schoop OF Keon Broxton Brewers get: RHP Bryant Perez LHP Erik Cha UT Ruben Santana Trade Three Marlins get: 1B Jesus Aguilar C Jacob Nottingham RHP Adrian Houser SS/2B Maurico Dubon RHP Marcos Diplan Brewers get: C JT Realmuto OF Tristan Pompey McNeil is acquired to be a cheap stopgap at second base, and he can provide a high-average bat that puts the ball in play. He addresses the weakness that became apparent during the NLCS. Cecchini and Mazeiki also do so, and could be valuable reserves. Wahl is a late-inning relief type. If the Crew keeps Moustakas, then McNeil joins Perez on the bench. McNeil has minor-league experience at SS, 3B, and the OF as well. The Twins deal is for lottery tickets. With McNeil and Cecchini, plus Hiura, the Crew can deal Schoop to the Twins and try to get something for him. I picked a starter, a reliever, and a utility player. For the Marlins, I go for the catcher upgrade in Realmuto, and add Pompey as a lottery pick, since the Crew is giving up five players. Opening day 2019 lineup: cf: Cain 1b: Braun lf: Yelich c: Realmuto 2b: Shaw 3b: Moustakas rf: Santana ss: Arcia bench: Pina, McNeil, Perez, Granderson, Taylor rotation: Kikuchi, Burnes, Woodruff, Miley, Chacin bullpen: Jeffress, Knebel, Hader, Peralta, Barnes, QTC, Guerra

The Brewers were bullpenning a lot in 2018 because they had to. Take a look at starters from the start of this season: Chacin was the only one who didn't miss time. Suter - 20 appearances, Tommy John surgery Davies - Missed three months with back injury Anderson - Missed five starts with injuries Miley - Out half the season with injury Nelson - Never appeared due to 2017 shoulder injury Guerra - Rebounded from 2017, but spent time in minors moved to pen in Sept. Peralta - For all intents and purposes was shut down after Sept. 1. Burnes and Woodruff were turned into relievers as well.

I think they move Aguilar and Anderson, if not for a top-flight catcher, for more prospects. Replenishing the system after the deals that were made for 2018 is a smart move.

Hader's lack of a third pitch means he is an elite reliever. I think he and Peralta can team up as a pair of relief aces for 2019, to go with Knebel and Jeffress in the pen. The Crew's likely to add Quintin Torres-Costa to the bullpen mix (no need for a free-agent reliever). Then there is a host of other options for the future - Suter, Olczak, Clayton Andrews, etc. A constant pipeline, flowing to the majors.

I think the big difference between 2018 and 2011 is there isn't this hanging cloud of doom over the likelihood someone important was going to walk. There was this sense that the Brewers had to somehow either keep Prince Fielder, or accept he'd walk. When he walked, it was the end, really. That dread isn't hanging over the Brewers now.

It's easy to say "if batters did x,y,z, they would be more successful", well of course. If Ryan Braun would just hit homers every time up, he'd be the MVP, and break Barry Bonds record. Not choking up with two strikes, trying to elevate the ball, going for maximum exit velocity, this is not just stuff batters are deciding on their own, that is something all the data suggests maximizes potential for success. And yes, it increases strikeout rates quite a bit. Guys don't want to go up there and hit a weak grounder to 2nd base, they just don't. This is how they are being trained and taught to hit now. This is how baseball is being played now. Guys like Rizzo, or Ben Zobrist, or a handful of players in the league might have a different approach, but by and large, guys are going up there, and swinging as hard as they can until they hit the ball fair, or they strike out. That is coached. This is the game. It's not entirely aesthetically pleasing to a lot of fans. This year saw more strikeouts in MLB than any other season. It's not just Brewer hitters. NL teams struck out on average, 1400 times. 8.6 K's per game, per team. One can argue that this isn't the way baseball should be played, but it is how it is played. And it sucks when you're on the losing end of it. But guys just aren't going to go up there and give up at bats to move runners. That isn't even hardly part of the lexicon anymore. The paradigm has completely shifted. More like the metrics are useful most of the time, but the real genius is knowing when to discard them, and go with the more traditional approaches. Build a team, play the metrics, but be willing to do the small ball stuff. Steal the bases. Make the bunts against the shifts. Good lord, why not give Perez or Cain, or some of the faster players green light to steal?

Chacin matches up talent-wise with Hill and maybe Ryu. Not Buehler or Kershaw. He was put in a tough situation tonight where he would have to pretty much be perfect. He wasn't, and a monkey wrench was thrown in the plan for tonight. You can have the best pen in the world, but you still have to start someone. Freddy Peralta did match up talent-wise, and was red-hot. But he was, for all intents and purposes, shut down after September 1. At the very least use him in more than Game 4. He was at least as effective as Hader, The non-use of Peralta, to me, is the most inexcusable decision by Counsell, especially when it was clear JJ was gassed.

My thinking is the Crew does what it takes to get Kikuchi in the fold, and they bring back Wade Miley. Burnes, Kikuchi, Woodruff, Chacin, Miley is the rotation I'd want to see - with Davies and Nelson on the outside looking in at this point.

Furthermore, it's not like we're gonna have an irreplacable component of the team (Prince Fielder) walk away after this season.

The Crew may well have their "power lefty" in Quintin Torres-Costa, who I wish they had given a shot this year.

Catcher: Look for a reasonable improvement in free agency to pair with Nottingham/Pina. First base: Commit to Braun at first for 2019, with Thames as the backup there and in left. Second base: Stick with Shaw, keep Schoop for use against lefties. Shortstop: Arcia gets a shot based on the post-season, but if he slumps, Schoop goes in. Third base: Keep Moustakas on for one season - buy time for Erceg to develop. Left field: Yelich. Center field: Cain Right field: Santana Bench: Granderson becomes the 4th outfielder, Perez is the super-sub, Thames is the backup 1B/LF/RF, Schoop backup IF, and there is a catcher Rotation: Re-sign Miley, then go for Kikuchi to go with three of the Davies/Burnes/Woodruff/Nelson. Bullpen: Build around Jeffress, Knebel, Hader, and Peralta. I'd give Quintin Torres-Costa a long look, then look at Lyles and Guerra to round it out. My thinking is to use Aguilar and Anderson to replenish the system or as the centerpieces of a deal to bring in a top-flight catcher.

Nelson out all year, Suter lost for the season (and most of 2019) with a Tommy John at around the all-star break, Davies done for most the season, Anderson missed time, Miley missed time... Yes, the bullpen was amazing. Yes, the bullpenning got the Crew to the NLCS. But by the NLCS, Johnny Wholestaff was gassed, Jeffress in particular. He thrown 83.1 innings, counting the post-season - his previous career high was 68.

He did win Game 1 of the NLDS for the Crew...

Schoop panned out enough with that slam off Baumgartner. There is also 2019 - the Crew still has a year of control.

For all the frustration that we're feeling, this was a team that never had Jimmy Nelson all year, lost Chase Anderson for a month, lost Zach Davies for two-thirds of the season, had Wade Miley out for half the season, and lost Brent Suter for the last two-fifths of the season... They had a gutted rotation, they had to patch one together, and they still took the Dodgers to seven games. This is a team that had one hell of a good season.

Probably the most depressing part of the series. I get that we don’t have great hitting. What I don’t get is our mediocre hitters can’t even bunt when they shift in a must win game. It is something the team will have to work on. The good news is that it will be quite easy to keep this team together for 2019. This experience will make this Brewers team better through the rest of the 2019-2021 window.

Now, the Crew is toast.

Until the Crew wins the World Series.

Or maybe the Red Sox run into a blue and gold buzzsaw. :D

Must win? [sarcasm]I'm sure they can afford to lose Game 7 of the NLCS...[/sarcasm]

Knebel, Jeffress, and Burnes all 25 pitches or less. The Crew lit up Bueler in Game 3 at Dodger Stadium... Miller Park should be just as easy.

I'm thinking Moustakas-Schoop-Hiura-Shaw would not be bad (I think Schoop rebounds next year). Nice to have the problem of figuring out where to put all the talent.

And the young guns of Woodruff, Burnes, and Peralta will only get better, with Roegner, Supak, and Brown on the way. Even if they fall in this series, they have seen playoffs, they will be better for it down the road.