Harold Hutchison

We'll move on from catcher to first base. There are some great players and seasons to contend with here... and I wouldn't be surprise for some controversy, so here goes... 1. Prince Fielder - He put up two of the biggest seasons offensively in Brewers history. Posted 230 homers with the Crew, along with 656 RBI. Easily a dominant force in the lineup. Since his departure after 2011, the Brewers have had a revolving door at first. 2. Richie Sexson - He was the primary starter for three and a half years at first - and just dominated, twice tying the Crew's single-season home run record, and matching the then-single season RBI record Cecil Cooper set in 1980. When traded after 2003, the return included a starting rotation mainstay for a while (Capuano), a solid bench player and future manager (Counsell), a first baseman who later was flipped for another solid rotation piece (Overbay), and a pitcher flipped for a utility player (De LaRosa). 3. Cecil Cooper - He had very high marks over his career, and the longevity (10 seasons as the primary 1B) also cannot be ignored. He was steady for most but faded from 1984-1987. Honorable mentions: Greg Brock had four seasons as the Crew's first baseman, and showed remarkable OBP skills, walking more than he struck out over his tenure as a Brewer... George Scott had five years at first, then was traded for Cooper... John Jaha had some great years, but also had trouble staying healthy... Lyle Overbay had two very good seasons in 2004 and 2005, then was traded because of Prince's arrival.

It's an interesting case... I did have Nilsson almost bump Surhoff on the bat alone, but Surhoff had not just a decent bat, but all or part of eight seasons (1987-1993, 1995) where he was playing catcher. On the other hand, utility players may come up later... and Nilsson is a contender there.

So... let's get another discussion going: The top three players at each position over Brewers' history. We'll start with those who don the tools of ignorance. My picks for the top 3: 1. Jonathan Lucroy - Easily the best the Crew has had. Was the primary starter for seven seasons, and two All-Star selections. Had a .779 OPS in his tenure with the Crew. 2. Darrell Porter - Had four years behind the plate, and notched third place as Rookie of the Year and an All-Start Game appearance. Still, it can be said he had a consistently good run for the Crew. 3. B.J. Surhoff - This is arguably more for longevity (six seasons as primary starter, plus significant time in 1993 and 1995), but Surhoff had some good moments for the Crew. Did bring some speed to the position, stealing 102 bases as a Brewer. Honorable mention: Ted Simmons was in the Hall of Fame, but had only really two good years (1982/1983) behind the plate and was a DH for the last two...and his 1981 was not that great. Dave Nilsson arguably had the best bat behind the plate (aside from Yasmani Grandal's 2019), but was constantly moved. Charlie Moore was there for a long time... but that's really all he offered. Mike Matheny had three years as the starter, was so-so, but after he left, racked up four Gold Gloves.

Was Rollie involved in multiple PED scandals that I'm unaware of? I'll be absolutely shocked if Braun's number is retired. The evidence on Braun was dubious, if you ask me. The arbitrator threw the suspension out prior to 2012 (and then got fired for siding not just with Braun, but at least one other player in similar circumstances, Eliezer Alfonso, IIRC). A mishandled test, and then MLB firing the arbitrator who voided a suspension on the basis of the mishandled test, kinda raises the question in my mind as to whether Braun was guilty. It should be noted after the Braun and Alfonso cases, MLB did change their procedures.

Rickie Weeks? Are you serious? Sheets/Cooper will never happen either and I was a huge Cooper fan. The fact that he got like one HOF vote and then disappeared from the ballot was a joke. I thought he was one of the top 5 hitters in the game from 79 to 83. Had he been able to extend that excellence for a couple more seasons, he would have been HOF worthy and also worthy of number retirement. He kind of got overshadowed by Yount, but Coop was the best hitter on those great teams. Retiring numbers is reserved for the all time greats. Otherwise eventually you'll have no numbers available for current players. The next number to be retired will be #22. As for Simmons, his best years were with the Cardinals. Hank Aaron had two years in Milwaukee, neither of which matched his earlier dominance, and his #44 was retired... and was the only retired number for a long time. In the case of Braun, I'd argue he has had long-term impact. Won't make the HOF, but the retired number for the face of the franchise in the 2010s is easily defensible, IMO. The Cooper/Sheets retirement for #15 is similarly warranted, IMO. The former was dominant from 1977-1983, while the latter arguably was a co-face of the franchise in the 2000s (alongside Geoff Jenkins). If you're retiring #23 for Simmons (given that they retired Aaron's #44 for a shorter, less productive tenure), it also makes sense to honor Weeks, who was arguably the best 2B in franchise history (why the DraftKings Dream Team picked Gantner over Weeks is beyond me), and who was hampered by injuries, but still was a force on the field when healthy. If we want to look to the future, Yelich's #22 and Hiura's #18 could very well be up for discussion ten years from now.

That is sort of oddly awesome and depressing at the same time. 17 K and 3 BB... must have been an absurdly high pitch count...

Given the talk about Ted Simmons being in the Hall of Fame, there is one interesting question: What numbers should be the next ones retired for the Brewers? I can think of two easy calls, and one on the bubble: #8 - For Ryan Braun. Franchise's all-time leader in homers, and will be in the top three of most offensive categories whether his tenure ends after 2020 or 2021 (depending on the options). Face of the franchise for the 2010s, and has been on more playoff teams than any other Brewer (2008, 2011, 2018, 2019), with two other near-misses (2007, 2017). #15 - For Ben Sheets/Cecil Cooper. The former was arguably the face of the franchise in the 2000s, even as injury shortened seasons. He's 2nd all-time in strikeouts and WAR among pitchers. The latter was the first baseman from 1977-1987, and in those 11 seasons was an offensive force until 1986. On the bubble: #23 - For Rickie Weeks/Ted Simmons. I consider Weeks, and not Jim Gantner, to be the team's best second baseman of all time. Put some outstanding offense, and was always able to draw walks and was a threat on the basepaths. Ted Simmons is in the Hall of Fame, and was part of the 1982 Brewers, but was clearly on the downside of his career in 1984-1985.

It is debatable. He is in the HOF, so some sort of recognition is due. That said, over five years in Milwaukee (1981-1985), he posted a .711 OPS, and in two of those years (1981 and 1984), he was simply dreadful. He was a DH for the last two years (1984-1985). His #23 is arguably more memorably associated with Rickie Weeks (2003-2014) and Greg Vaughn (1990-1996), so really, do you retire that number? Honestly, Weeks did more for the Crew than Simmons... and Vaughn was better, so I have to vote no on that. The Walk of Fame might be warranted, though, given his spot on the 1982 team, and his HOF status.

This is interesting... given that Yelich has a no-trade clause and an option year through 2029. I would want to get Hiura to a long-term deal of some sort should 2020 be anything like the 2019 numbers (or better). Keep him here through 2029 at least. Beyond that, maybe look at extending Hader through 2026 as well, while seeing what Narvaez, Suter, Lauer, Woodruff, and Houser do. If Woodruff, Lauer, Burnes, and/or Hauser take steps forward, I'd try to lock one or two of them up as well, while seeing what one or two of the others could fetch in a trade.

Even if you look at the trade as a whole, I think the Brewers have been clear winners: Hader - Do we really have to say why? Santana - Solid 2017, slump in 2018, dealt for Ben Gamel (solid bench option) and Noah Zavolas (good SP prospect - 2019 Pitcher of the Year for the Carolina League) Phillips - Cup of coffee with Crew, dealt for Moustakas (decent 2B/3B for 2018/2019) Houser - Possible key component in Brewers intial out getters for 2020. Fiers is a solid pitcher - and honestly, the last time he was a FA, I wanted to bring him back. But the return for Fiers/Gomez has been outstanding.

I'd view it as: Hader/Santana for Gomez Houser/Phillips for Fiers The Gomez part is an easy win for the Crew just on Hader's key role in the bullpen over the last three years. The indirect return of Moustakas for Phillips makes the Fiers part a win as well. Oddly enough, this becoming a huge win for the Crew is still TBD... Santana was dealt for Ben Gamel/Zavolas, annd depending on how Zavolas develops, the Gomez part could really become a fleecing. The Fiers part is also TBD, because Houser is just now starting in MLB... and as such, if he becomes a rotation mainstay (or even a solid back-end type for 2-3 years), he could net the Crew a nice haul (ala Davies) or be extended (if he is a #1/#2 type).

Yep https://www.forbes.com/sites/maurybrown/2020/04/01/coronavirus-crisis-could-see-many-minor-league-teams-shut-down-for-good/?subId3=xid:fr1585742685521hhd#5aaf352664e4 If so, then Manfred is cackling at MLB's eventual doom. The fact of the matter is, Major League Baseball is increasingly inaccessible to the average fan. Going to the ballpark is almost prohibitively expensive for the average family. They need the minor leagues to keep the sport accessible to the average family, if only for MLB's own survival 30-40 years down the road.

Don't forget baseball mogul... I may simulate the season when I get that.

Wonder if he'll be looking for a "prove it" deal in 2022...

I think Feliciano would be more comparable to Surhoff than Schroeder. Surhoff in 1987 rookie numbers: .299/.350/.423 The one weakness I'm seeing in Feliciano's game is he doesn't quite draw a ton of walks. He had 29 in 440 ABs during his breakout 2019 season against 143 strikeouts - or almost a 5:1 K/BB ratio. Great for a pitcher, not so good for a hitter. Same went for his 2018 in Carolina - almost a 5:1 K/BB ratio. But plenty of power, and that was very much Bill Schroeder.

I have to agree here. What is worse is that, if you believe the Financial Times, Taiwan was trying to sound the warning in December, but the WHO didn't listen. China has a LOT of explaining to do, IMO.

Just to kill time due to the delay in baseball... Pick five Brewers prospects from the position player group. Pick any offensive season you think they would post in their rookie years in MLB from stats posted by past Brewers (to include the 1969 Seattle Pilots) with the AVG/OBP/SLG for the prediction, and list the past Brewer who is the "muse" for the prediction. So, for example, I might pick Mario Feliciano, using Bill Schroeder's 1984 season as inspiration - it would look like this: 1. Mario Feliciano - .257/.288/.486 - Bill Schroeder (1984) Here are my five: 1. David Fry - .299/.371/.423 - Greg Brock (1987) 2. Cooper Hummel - .232/.336/.494 - Rob Deer (1986) 3. Mario Feliciano - .257/.288/.486 - Bill Schroeder (1984) 4. Corey Ray - .260/.305/.463 - Carlos Gomez (2012) 5. Thomas Dillard - .247/.359/.518 - Eric Thames (2018)

Decided to update that for the current situation, and to reflect Holt and Gyorko coming aboard. And Arcia did look like he had the offense put together to a degree before things got put on pause...

If Arcia's offensive turnaround is for real, then Seagar is someone I'm willing to pass on now. Of course, we have no idea what the postponement of the season will do for offensive performance or pitching performance. Maybe a lot of time to review tape...

For the right price... yes. It may well be that the right price is that the most Colorado gets will be one or two lottery tickets from the DSL/Rookie League levels if they expect the Crew to pick up the entire contract.

Wait, WHAT? Let me get this straight. You are making the case that if the COLLECTIVE of your team is on the fringe of the playoffs, its makes your best players WAR more expensive? What QB agent made that line of thinking up? Yelich is a 6 WAR guy. He's an 8 mil per WAR guy. WAR is an attempt to put a players individual impact in a vacuum and calculate their cost. He gets zero boost from the collective. I'm seeing the details of Yelich at a 7 year 182 mil extension. Mutual option unlikely. First 2 years basically untouched. 7 years added. 182 mil with 28 of it deferred in 4 mil chunks from 2029-2035. 182 mil is 22.75 WAR. The 1st 2 years do not count as they were original. 2022 is 6 WAR, 2023 is 5.5, 2024 is 5. (31-32 -.5 WAR per year) 2025 is 4 2026 is 3 2027 is 2 and 2028 is 1 (over 32 -1 WAR per year) 26.5 WAR in total so it's positive on WAR total. The more accurate look comes about if you have a sliding scale. I do have a sliding scale. (Joe and I disagree here) PER WAR 4 mil up to 1, 5 mil up to 2, 6 mil up to 3, 7 mil up to 5, 8 mil up to 7, 9 mil above. 2022 is 48 mil, 2023 is 44, 2024 is 35 2025 is 28, 2026 is 18, 2027 is 10, 2028 is 4. Oddly this comes to 187 and the 7 year extension value is 188.5. It is fair to predict Yelich will be a sizable value for the 1st 5 years of these 9. 6th is a small value, 7th is a small loss. 8 and 9 is where things get rough. This is right on the nuts. Dead on FAIR deal and you don't see FAIR on superstars very often. I didn't expect to see this and Thank You Yelich. Only $28 million deferred? I was hoping for a bit more... something more along the lines of Bonilla territory.

After this offseason, go for eight years, $100 million. A $12.5 million AAV, keeps him in Milwaukee with Yelich.

High floor guys are worthless or end up in AAAA. For instance, Arcia last year was a high floor guy by farm standards. The word is they are going to give Rasmussen a SP gig again this year. No idea why. If they come from the farm, you're paying them the minimum. Beats having to get them at twice the price in free agency.

Some players are prospects with a high ceiling. The DSL signees, for instance. Others, like Taylor, are prospects because they have either a high floor or have closer proximity to the majors. In my ballot, I voted Drew Rasmussen #1 because I felt he could be an impact multi-inning reliever with the Brewers bullpen this year. He reached AA last year.

I remember somewhere on here that its been the Brewers M.O. to fast track certain players once they seem to have "found it" and dont really have time to be on the top 100 list. Sure we dont have players in the minors with great pedigrees, but it does seem like we can churn out serviceable players pretty effectively. The Brewers can get prospects up quickly, and a lot are people who haven't been heard of. Brent Suter, for one. This was a 31st-round pick who didn't have "stuff," but who got results. I'll just note that the Brewers seem to have added a few other "no-stuff/good-results" pitchers since Suter made the majors. Dylan File and Max Lazar were all taken in 2017 - right after Suter's debut year in 2016. Both look to be serviceable starters - albeit I think they could both be TOR arms.