Harold Hutchison

Don't fret. Suter still is a near lock to make the team as a long reliever and has an excellent shot to take the 5th starter spot if Hader stays in the pen. The Crew spending $16 million over two years to get numbers that could have come from one of Suter, Jungmann, Hader, Ventura, Burnes, Ortiz, or Derby for a grand total of about $1.5 million. This guy pitched half his games in one of the most pitcher-friendly parks in the majors. Lucroy or Neil Walker would have been a far better use of the money.

This is the kind of deal I was hoping NOT to see over the off-season.

I've had some mild frustration, but only mild. Ohtani was one I wanted, but his UCL issue has me feeling the Crew dodged a big disappointment. He may be available sooner than we think, and reasonably cheap. Shopping Santana is somewhat surprising (I think Aguilar or Thames is a better option to shop), but with Stokes, Brinson, and Phillips, if Santana brings a TOR piece, the Crew has the OF depth in the system to adjust. Would feel better if the Crew had re-signed Michael Reed instead of seeing him go to ATL. Gallardo looks like a low-risk deal, and again, he's more of buying time for one of Burnes/Ortiz/Ventura/Derby or he becomes a multi-inning bullpen arm. I am content to use 2018 to see what young players can do. Suter, Woodruff, Santana, Phillips, Arcia, Villar, Perez, Knebel, and some others have really flashed potential. I think it's not a bad idea to see if they're for real. I'd love to have the "problem" of deciding between Villar in 2016 form and Keston Hiura. If the Brent Suter of June and July 2017 is the real Suter, that's arguably a #2/#3 starter. I'll take a regression of 5 to 10 wins if it helps answer some of the questions about the guys on the farm. So, I'm not looking for the blockbuster. I'm looking to maybe clear space for some of the young players. EDIT: My off-season plan DID include going for Lucroy - and I still would, if only to improve catcher. Lucroy/Pina beats Pina/Vogt hands-down, IMO.

Agreed. The Brewers can get a farm system that avoids re-builds, but it will take very savvy drafting. Two areas: 1. Hitting more between rounds 2-10 in the draft (I ran through 2000 to 2016, and it looked abysmal in terms of percentage). I am very optimistic about some of the recent drafts notching a higher percentage between Burnes, Stokes, Erceg, and Ponce. 2. Finding sleepers from the 11th round on, like Corey Hart, Brent Suter, Jason Rogers, and Lorenzo Cain. In 2017, Cody Beckman looks to be a good one with a VERY low walk rate, and a lot of Ks. Thinking another Hader there... while Gabriel Garcia could be a good catcher/IF.

In terms of someone bouncing back, Gallardo is arguably a better bet than Sabathia, albeit, I think Sabathia has the higher floor. In any case, if he slumps, or if the last two years are where he is now, plenty of young options.

Breakout OF Trent Clark/Grisham The walk rate is very good, he has improved power, he has speed. He was healthy for the first time in 2017. Runners Up: 3B Lucas Erceg, C KJ Harrison, OF Tristan Lutz Bounce Back 1B Ronnie Gideon Huge numbers in Helena last year, but had his first full-season of pro ball. Did have flashes in 2017, so I think that after adjustments, he could rebound back to a power prospect. Runners Up: RHP Jon Perrin, RHP Cody Ponce Sleepers 1B Ernest Wilson Martinez and OF Jay Feliciano Martinez is a first baseman, had a very good walk rate, and he flashed power. Hasn't made the US yet, but was here for instructionals. Jay Feliciano is a corner OF who had 13 HR in 63 games at Helena. Runners Up: UT Weston Wilson, C/IF Gabriel Garcia, RHP Jordan Yamamoto Bust RHP Phil Bickford The drug tests raise a huge question about his judgment. Runners Up: C Jacob Nottingham, OF Demi Orimoloye,

The Crew does have Jesus Aguilar as a 1B option as well... For Thames: LHP Justus Sheffield OF/2B Nick Solak OF Jake Cave

Is that a good thing? Don't get me wrong. I'm pulling for a guy like Suter because he's just a fireball of energy and spirit but Doug Davis was just a meh pitcher. He had a nice long career but looking through his numbers it's a shock he lasted so long. Must be that left-handed thing again. Suter flashed some real signs last summer, before the rotator cuff thing. I think that having a spot in the rotation, and being stretched out - and not doing the bullpen/rotation and Milwaukee/AAA shuffles might help in that regard. Why knows, maybe he can learn a cutter. But I think Suter, for the next two to four years, is at worst, a nice back-end of the rotation guy at worst.

If the Crew can't get a Sabathia/Otani type for the rotation, then perhaps both Suter and Hader go in the rotation. Best case, both do well, and the Crew has plenty of options. Suter's got that Doug Davis vibe.

Flip Suter and Hader, and I think you're right for 2018. That said, I think if Suter doesn't do the dual-shuttle he did in 2016/2017 (Milwaukee to AAA to Milwaukee/starter to bullpen and back), I think he could stretch out and be a quality pitcher. He had some flashes before that rotator cuff strain. He averaged six innings a start in the month of July, and against the Cubs on the 28th, he went seven innings on 82 pitches.

If Bickford gets on a hot streak, I'm not opposed to trying to "sell high" on him, if you'll pardon the expression.

One guy I'd love to see the Crew get (via trade) is James Pazos. Power lefty arm in the Seattle pen. I think he could be had on his own for a relative song (Jungmann?). When I put together my off-season plan, I did package Aguilar, Broxton, and Jungmann for Pazos and prospects. Still would do that deal, especially if the Crew could sign Otani or Sabathia.

With Milwaukee, Jeffress has been lights out in late relief. Career ERA with the Brewers, counting 2017: 2.56, 1.301 WHIP, 2.57 K/BB ratio. I think this is a very good,in-house solution for that 7th inning guy.

Switch-hitter with power? I like that a lot. I think switch-hitters in general are undervalued, and to get one with power... that would be very good.

They become free agents, kinda like that Boston situation. Get Maitan, get Gutierrez...

This is one point. Santana and Phillips are both going to be assets. Maybe they face some adjustments in 2018. With Nelson out, it's time to see if Anderson is for real and if Suter and Woodruff can be rotation contributors for the Crew. The fact is, 2018 is a season to give these guys a shot, and see what happens. A step back in the W-L may happen, but for the long term, it will do the Crew good.

My thinking has been along this line. With Nelson's injury, use 2018 to give Suter and Woodruff long looks as starters. If they falter, bring up Ortiz/Burnes/Derby to give them a look. Or, if the Crew can pull off getting Otani via posting, throw him in the mix. If Suter/Woodruff hold up, and Burnes/Ortiz are also ready, the Crew will have a big problem in 2019 - figuring out how to choose only five of Nelson/Anderson/Davies/Sabathia/Woodruff/Suter/Ortiz/Burnes/Derby to fill out a rotation, and deciding who to trade. It means being will to take a step back in terms of won-loss record, but to get a clear picture of the state of the rotation would be worth it.

My problem comes from the drug suspension and injuries. I think he could be helpful out of the bullpen, but he could just as easily be out of baseball. Honestly, I think that Drake Owenby and Cody Beckman are more likely to be MLB contributors than Bickford.

Part of this is Nelson is coming in at an injury discount. My assumption in this exercise is that he doesn't see action in 2018. Much of what he does is rehab work. He may come back in September, he may not. Knebel's had the one year. Here, I'll give him a bit over what MLBTR thinks he will get, but try to lock that in as a controlled cost. Honestly, I think the biggest stretch is the Seattle deal. Part of me was tempted to toss in Josh Nottingham to get another pitcher - and simply bank on the lower-minors catchers, some of whom are showing good OBP skills.

Some of Suter's major-league starts came after he was on the DL late in August, so he probably had to work back up. Prior to the injury, he pitched 44.1 innings, and threw 687 pitches. That's an average of 5.5 innings and just under 86 pitches a start. In that last start, prior to his injury and DL stint, he threw 100 pitches. In his last three starts, he averaged 5 innings and just under 70 pitches a game. It doesn't hurt to try Suter in the rotation as well... if he's stretched out from the start of the year, and there's none of this bullpen-rotation/AAA-MLB stuff, I think he could easily give the Crew a quality start most of the time. He's certainly earned a shot. EDIT: By comparison, Davies threw 3089 pitches over 33 starts, an average of 93.6 per game. Nelson averaged just under 95 pitches a game (2,752 over 29 starts).

Seeing as BrewCrewBall is asking their readers for offseason plans, I figured I'd just throw mine out here. Arbitration-eligible: Jared Hughes - NON-TENDER Jeremy Jeffress - TENDER Stephen Vogt - NON-TENDER Jonathan Villar - TENDER Jimmy Nelson - TENDER (sign to 5-year, $25 million extension) Hernan Perez - TENDER (sign to 6-year, $21 million extension) Corey Knebel - TENDER (sign to 4-year, $18 million extension) Impending free agents Neil Walker - RE-SIGN (3 years, $36 million) Anthony Swarzak - LET GO (Jeffress will not be a bad set-up guy and can be had much cheaper) Matt Garza - LET GO Free agent signings C Jonathan Lucroy - SIGN (4 years, $50 million, team option for 2022 for $15 million and a $6 million buyout) - Lucroy has a superb bat, but more importantly, he is one of the best pitch-framers in the majors. This will help the young starters the Brewers have coming up. LHP CC Sabathia - SIGN (2 years, $15 million, team option for 2020 for $12.5 million and a $2 million buyout) - He may not be the CC of 2008, but he can still be a reliable inning eater. Trades 1B Jesus Aguilar, OF Keon Broxton, and RHP Taylor Jungmann to Seattle for LHP James Pazos, RHP Nick Neidert, OF Anthony Jiminez, and IF Gianfranco Wawoe Part of this is clearing room for acquisitions/youth, and part is adding prospects. Seattle needs a 1B/DH (Valenia had a .725 OPS, making Aguilar an upgrade), and a CF (their CF's OPS was .674). Jungmann, outofoptions and unlikely to make the 25-man due to signing Sabathia, will give them a cheap back-of-the rotation option. Pazos becomes a set-up option alongside Hader and Jeffress who is cheaper than Swarzak. Neidert becomes a rotation prospect alongside the Burnes/Ortiz wave. Wawoe could be groomed as an eventual Perez/Villar replacement. Jiminez could be an OF/1B bat. 2018 25-man roster 2b: Walker c: Lucroy lf: Braun 3b: Shaw rf: Santana 1b: Thames cf: Phillips/Brinson ss: Arcia p: Pitcher bench: Pina, Villar, Sogard, Perez, Phillips/Brinson rotation: Anderson, Davies, Sabathia, Woodruff, Suter bullpen: Knebel, Hader, Jeffress, Pazos, Barnes, T. Williams, Guerra Notes: if necessary, Lucroy or Perez can be used at first to give Thames a day off or to handle a tough left-handed pitcher. Pina can move to be a #2. Lucroy's biggest benefit, more than the bat, will be framing. Hope the Cub cherish their playoff memories from 2015-2017, `cause this Brewers team will be dishing out that heartbroken feelin' to the Wrigley faithful. And that's a good thing.

I'll go against the grain and say, bring Luc back for four years, $50 million. Not only does he have a very good bat, but he is one of the best pitch framers in MLB. I'd have no problem letting him catch 110-120 games, and use Pina as the #2. For a team that will have young pitchers, Luc makes a ton of sense.

I can't speak for the previous poster, but my thinking is that I don't want to tank, but I still think the Brewers are far enough away that 2018 is a good season to try to stretch out Hader and Suter, and to see if those two along with Jungmann and Woodruff can be contributors in the rotation. This also buys a year for Burnes/Ortiz/Peralta/Ponce/Derby to develop. I will admit, I am torn with Hader. Part of me wants to keep him where he excelled, and give the Crew a Knebel/Hader/Jeffress/Williams "Nasty Boys" bullpen, with a rotation of Anderson, Davies, Woodruff, Suter, and Jungmann. Even if these are back-end of the rotation types, it's better to develop them in-house than to spend $10-12 million a year for a Matt Garza, Kyle Lohse, Jeff Suppan, or Randy Wolf, or to trade top prospects for them.

I'm okay with this. I am assuming that the Brewers would pay about $8.2 million/year over the first five years (while Phoenix provides the $2 million/year), and then the last $22 million goes for the purchase. Just improving the rehab and spring training facilities could help the team and help re-coup the investment over the years.

A free-agent signing or dealing prospects for a pitcher is bad news. I am hoping for the 2018 rotation to be: Anderson Davies Suter Woodruff Hader/Jungmann/Derby (one in rotation, one as LR, one in AAA) Suter and Woodruff showed flashes in 2017 that they could be rotation contributors, and I think giving them a full-season look in the rotation will answer a lot of questions definitively. Suter could very well be what Sharpie was for the Crew from 2003-2005. Woodruff could be a solid 3/4. Both have control, both come cheap. If they have to go to the pen, or someone like Burnes/Ortiz/Derby forces the issue, they can be valuable trade chips (or allow the trading of a prospect). I think it is worth it to try to use the 2018 season to stretch Hader into a starter. If he can get those other pitches to work, great. As is the case with Suter and Woodruff, having Hader in the rotation (at least until Nelson returns) is a chance to answer some questions as definitively as possible. Is Hader a TOR fixture, or Andrew Miller? I'm okay with seeing the Brewers drop from 86-76 to 76-86 if we get those answers. Of course, if Suter, Woodruff, and Hader excel... I think we'll see another run for the playoffs AT WORST.