Brewcrewin07

The amount of excitement trades like this bring a lot of posters on Brewerfan.net, tells you all you need to know, really. Trades like this aren't needle movers in the least. No wonder Stearns is so desired in baseball circles, when he's making franchise changing moves like this. Someone wake me when he acquires some actual talent via trade or signs a Castellanos or something.

Tom @Haudricourt · 16m Asked about the speculation that the New York Mets are willing to wait a year to hire him to run their baseball ops, #Brewers president David Stearns said, "I'm gonna steer clear of that. I think everyone, myself included, prefers keeping the attention on the players."

From the Athletic tonight: New York has bigger plans for its head of baseball operations. Sources say the Mets’ primary target remains Milwaukee president of baseball operations David Stearns, even if they have to wait another season to land him. The Mets have pursued Stearns each of the last two winters to be their president of baseball operations, only to be denied permission to interview the 36-year-old by Brewers owner Mark Attanasio. But New York is operating under the belief that Stearns’ contract runs out after the 2022 season, and sources indicate that Stearns has serious interest in the position. Stearns is from Manhattan and grew up a Mets fan. (He once wrote for his college newspaper, the Harvard Crimson, that attending the Mets-Braves game on September 21, 2001 at Shea Stadium left him “convinced of the power of sports.”) Stearns served as an intern with the Mets in 2008, and he also worked in the commissioner’s office, with Cleveland and with Houston before landing the Brewers’ GM gig in 2015. He was promoted to president of baseball operations in Milwaukee ahead of the 2019 season, when he signed his most recent contract.

You guys worry way too much about defense. For that matter, so do the Brewers. You know how you overcome slightly bad defense?? A. Outslug the other team. That covers it up real quick.

Only if they choose to be handcuffed by it Ah yes, your belief that Milw works with NY and LADodger money to sign any and all they please to sign. I mean I suppose they can sign Castellanos to a 4 year deal but then when Arb awards all the Brewers biggest 3 we can just trade Woodruff or Burnes and move forward from great pitching for aging, defensively bad FAs. You know because large inappropriate contracts are easy to get away from. We'll just toss in 20Mil one year if/when Castellanos looks toast because we have that history doing such like NY and LADodgers. Just so you know, the Spotrac estimated payroll amount for 2022, is INCLUDING Arbitration figures. Assuming they are accurate(or close), total estimated payroll for 2022, is expected to be Slighty over 100 million. So if they can't add a substantial contract to that, then trade guys and rebuild. Period. Again, if you assume those numbers to be accurate, and you signed Castellanos to say 22 mill/yr aav, that still only puts payroll at 123 million for next year, and goes down the year after when Cain's 17 million comes off the books, and not only that, they can buy out JBJ's contract for 8 million as well, freeing up even more $$. So just like that, you already have two years of Castellanos's contract covered without adding to the payroll significantly beyond next year. So tell me again why they couldn't do that??

This is so easy it's not even funny...for a year the Brewers can boost the payroll..give Castellanos 3yrs 60 mill(I go 66 mill if I need to to get it done). Next year Cain comes off the books...that's 17 mill of that amount right there. So essentially they raise payroll by 5 million. Sportrac has them at 105 million for next year, if they can't raise it another 20-22 million for ONE year(essentially) then they might as well just start trading guys and punt. Except the Brewers will be hurting from Arbitration numbers. I don't know what projection was but obviously many Brewers in Arb will be getting the max on the projection or even higher when winning their case. I expect Castellanos to be signed well before Milw can make a play for him. Milw will be handcuffed awaiting the final tally on the Arb costs. Didn't Hader have a 6mil ask before losing? BRef has Burnes at approximately 4Mil. I would think that is light. Say he asks for 6.5Mil. They take it to the panel and Burnes wins? That is a whole different payroll moving forward for him. Same applies to Woodruff and Adames. If they don't come to an agreement that's typically a 2+Mil spread. Thats adding not just for 2022 but then 2-5Mil on 2023. 4-10Mil in in 2024. Brewers have legit 3 players that ark may occur. And whats the new CBA going to bring? Only if they choose to be handcuffed by it

So you are going to severely downgrade the team's starting pitching talent for an offensive improvement. That seems like it would be cutting off the head despite the face. Hardly "easy peasey". Unless you think that Ashby and/or Lauer can step in and replicate Freddy's production. They have Ashby/Lauer...I didn't think Freddy was THAT great anyway. Particularly after he came back from his injury. I mean hell yeah, I'll take Olson, if they will take emptying the farm, I'd rather do that if I don't have to touch the MLB team. My whole point is, fixing this lineup should NOT be that hard, I just showed you two ways it can be done. there are others that don't involve trading anyone. But people here are already having wincing over the idea that I wanted to increase the payroll by 20 mill for a season or two I can't imagine the horror if I were to suggest raising it even more(and sign another guy).

That's fine, if he wants 4 years, you give him four years. And, thank you to all who are finally starting to realize that payroll NEEDS to be raised for a season or two while the pitching is still controllable. As turborickey said "if not now, then when"?? I can fix this team with two moves..Signing Castellanos(as I said) and then trading Freddy and Rowdy(gotta give to get) to the A's for Matt Olson. Done and done. Now look at the lineup and how much better it is, just by adding two guys. All you gave up was some $$ and a player at a position where you have some depth. Easy peasey

This is so easy it's not even funny...for a year the Brewers can boost the payroll..give Castellanos 3yrs 60 mill(I go 66 mill if I need to to get it done). Next year Cain comes off the books...that's 17 mill of that amount right there. So essentially they raise payroll by 5 million. Sportrac has them at 105 million for next year, if they can't raise it another 20-22 million for ONE year(essentially) then they might as well just start trading guys and punt.

There is a specific person who posts on here who would of called that dumpster diving as they are not a big named player. Two of the 4 OF's that the Braves acquired the Brewers tried acquiring during the off season also. Wrong, that's not at all dumpster diving, in my book. You know what it is?? It's being aggressive. Look what happened because the Braves decided to get aggressive. They are still playing. John Curtiss and Daniel Norris, is NOT being aggressive. They were nothing moves, other than to add some depth to the bullpen. Very Meh moves. How'd they work out??

Sure, it's not that easy, everyone knows that. But in any walk of life, whether it's business, sports, whatever it is, isn't the idea to maximize your opportunity when it presents itself and put yourself in the BEST possible position to be the best in the end?? You invest in the opportunity to be great, not the guarantee you will be(there is no guarantee). It can only go one of two ways...it will either work, or it won't. It's that simple. But I can tell you this, when you DON'T do everything that you possibly can to even put yourself in that position, the opportunity to be the best, the odds that you'll become the best in the end are...minimal at best. How is what you are describing different from the way the Brewers currently operate? This is literally their plan. They are the most opportunistic team in MLB. They have gone against the mold more often than not with generally successful results. Your beef starts and ends with the amount of money that Mark Attanasio is willing to spend. That's a completely separate topic from what's being done from Stearns/Arnold and down. No, I disagree, I don't think they do everything they possibly can to put themselves in the best position to win a title. Is some of it about spending more, yes...sure, of course it is. But that's not the only thing it's about. For example(and this is just one example), they still have all their top prospects. DS seems extremely hesitant to trade any of them, let alone emptying the farm, I'm not necessarily saying he should empty the farm, but let's be honest, trading top prospects(for major league pieces) theoretically puts you in a better position for the current year that you do it in. I think that's indisputable. Again, it's not guaranteed to work, but I think it does at least on the surface "maximize" or takes a step towards minimizing the need for "everything to go right", in order to win a WS.

Sure, it's not that easy, everyone knows that. But in any walk of life, whether it's business, sports, whatever it is, isn't the idea to maximize your opportunity when it presents itself and put yourself in the BEST possible position to be the best in the end?? You invest in the opportunity to be great, not the guarantee you will be(there is no guarantee). It can only go one of two ways...it will either work, or it won't. It's that simple. But I can tell you this, when you DON'T do everything that you possibly can to even put yourself in that position, the opportunity to be the best, the odds that you'll become the best in the end are...minimal at best. How is what you are describing different from the way the Brewers currently operate? This is literally their plan. They are the most opportunistic team in MLB. They have gone against the mold more often than not with generally successful results. Your beef starts and ends with the amount of money that Mark Attanasio is willing to spend. That's a completely separate topic from what's being done from Stearns/Arnold and down. I'm sure I will get push back on this, But I just have a feeling Mark A would be willing to spend more, but DS, always thinking he's the smartest man in the room, is being more frugal then necessary. That would totally fit his personality. Of course I have no proof of this, other than a strong hunch

Sure, it's not that easy, everyone knows that. But in any walk of life, whether it's business, sports, whatever it is, isn't the idea to maximize your opportunity when it presents itself and put yourself in the BEST possible position to be the best in the end?? You invest in the opportunity to be great, not the guarantee you will be(there is no guarantee). It can only go one of two ways...it will either work, or it won't. It's that simple. But I can tell you this, when you DON'T do everything that you possibly can to even put yourself in that position, the opportunity to be the best, the odds that you'll become the best in the end are...minimal at best.

By having their season end in the NLDS the Brewers gained more than 22 other teams (12 of which had higher opening payrolls for whatever that is or isn't worth), gained about the same as 3 other teams & gained less than 4 teams. There's certainly a lot more room for downward mobility that there is for upward mobility. So this is reason to celebrate?? That the Brewers gained more than 22 other teams, 12 of which had a higher payroll?? THAT'S what we celebrate around here?? I always love how people use the "compared to this team or that team" no matter the sport. Who gives a crap what other teams did or didn't do?? It has ZERO relevance on what the team you root for did. I personally think it's used by sports fans as a crutch when their team doesn't reach the ultimate goal as a way of saying "ah hell, it could have been much worse, look what team A did". Instead the proper way to look at it SHOULD be...the brewers are at home with those other 22 teams right now, and that's the bottom line. No different if the Packers lose the NFC championship game...so what, they made it to the NFC championship game, and you know what, they were at home watching the Super Bowl along with 29 other teams who's season just happened to end sooner than theirs did, but they all ended up in the same place in the end, didn't they??

His "aggressiveness" left them flailing in limbo, signing over-the-hill "name" players for a few years while sitting around .500 and out of the playoffs until the final collapse, which left Attanasio sitting in an interview with Bill & Brian with a dumbfounded look on his face saying "I don't know what happened, but something has to change." Along came Stearns and after a very short "rebuild/retooling," we've been back in the playoffs for four straight years. Melvin took over a system with a great judge of talent in Jack Z., and some really good prospects in the system. He added some talent and got them a couple of playoff appearances, but he drained the farm in some "go for it" moves that I think cost them more playoff appearances than they made during his tenure. It could be argued that with the prospect talent he inherited and the amount of excess payroll room he had to play with, they should have gotten more playoff berths than they did. Heck, the Royals went to two World Series, winning one of them, with much of the roster being built from Melvin's "aggressive" Greinke trade. He left the team in a mess, and I strongly believe that we would have had a long run of futility if he had stayed on as GM. To his credit, I do think that Attanasio was a different (more hands-on) owner during Melvin's tenure, and in listening to some of Melvin's interviews in his later years, I think there was a disagreement in the direction the organization should take. It's hard to say what, if anything, Melvin would have done differently if he had "today's Attanasio." I am glad that Attanasio had his epiphany, and I think Stearns and his team have done a great job as is evidenced by the team's performance during his time here. It probably sounds like I hate Melvin. I don't. After decades of futility, it was wonderful to see the team become relevant again, and Melvin had a lot to do with that. However, he didn't have as much success in his 13 years at the helm as Stearns has had in half that amount of time. So, as I suspected by most posts on Brewerfan.net, the consensus are happy with just making the playoffs. Now, we'll get people like RonRobinson and others coming along to shoot that down immediately, saying "we all want to win the WS". The problem with that is, it doesn't come through that way in the downright giddyness of most fans here when the Brewers simply make the playoffs. Has making the playoffs been fun, sure...but when their season ends before the NLCS, what was really gained. Is that something to really be excited for?? "Ah well, they gave it the old college try, let's go get em again next year". As the great Ron Wolf once said "we were nothing more than a fart in the wind". I mean, sure, different sport, different system, but same basic principal applies..does anyone need to look any further than to Green Bay to see what eventually happens when you have a "passive" GM?? You get star players that are upset, and with good reason. You have three young stud pitchers under control...the window keeps shrinking every year that goes by...I mean, if not now(as far as being really bold and aggressive), then when?? I suspect that if Melvin were still GM, he would have been far more aggressive at the trade deadline as far as getting big bats than Stearns has been. He wouldn't have been afraid to deal Turang, or Small or Mitchell to go get someone(s), he thought might put them over the top. Sure, it may not have worked, but that's the chance you take for a shot at greatness. You think about the prospects Melvin traded to get some of the bigger name guys he did, did any of them really go on to be anything special?? A couple...maybe. I've said it before on this board but "scared money don't make money". There's going to be risks involved without a doubt, but that's the price you sometimes pay for a shot at immortality and to reach the top of the mountain. But I know this...the way Stearns has built his offenses the last couple years is never going to work, I knew that starting last year and told anyone that would listen it wouldn't. It hasn't. So you can either keep doing the same thing over and over again and expect different results and keep using "hope" as your main strategy, or...you can roll the dice, let it rip and take your chances. I know how I'd rather live.

Give me your examples of DS being "aggressive", I could give you more than these obviously, but give me TWO examples of moves that DS has done that can equal or match those that Melvin did in acquiring CC and Greinke. Melvin gave two craps about "prospects" and dealt them to win now at the major league level. I appreciate that in a GM. A guy not afraid to go "all in" even if in the end, it fails. IDC if it's football, or baseball or NBA. It's not worth really debating with you because your mind is already made up, but let's just say there are more ways to be aggressive than shipping away your best prospects for win now players. Everyone defines it differently sure. Some would say just being in on trade conversations for guys like Scherzer etc, means he's being aggressive. Others would say going out and getting Adames as early as he did was/is being "aggressive". Now Scherzer didn't come for reasons out of his control, and sometimes trades don't happen for those reasons. That being said, I'm 99% certain there are some big deals he could have done during his tenure that he was just too afraid to pull the trigger on for whatever reason. Being aggressive to me means making a trade(s) to acquire guys(to win now) where the cost is so high it makes you feel "uncomfortable" to give up what a team is asking for in prospects, and yet you do it anyway because you don't run scared, you don't worry about the future in that moment, because quite frankly it doesn't matter in that moment. It's being bold, That's aggressiveness to me.

Give me your examples of DS being "aggressive", I could give you more than these obviously, but give me TWO examples of moves that DS has done that can equal or match those that Melvin did in acquiring CC and Greinke. Melvin gave two craps about "prospects" and dealt them to win now at the major league level. I appreciate that in a GM. A guy not afraid to go "all in" even if in the end, it fails. IDC if it's football, or baseball or NBA.

The love for DS here(and quite frankly all over this board) is really something. *EDITED* You'll never get me to say he's NOT a good GM, there's zero doubt he is, I just much preferred the far more aggressive style of Doug Melvin. Now if DS would ever acquire some of that trait...now we're talking. Edit - Please refrain from name calling.

I mean I was thinking about this awhile ago already...the Brewers have this state of the art Pitching lab, you would think they make something similar for hitting too, wouldn't you?? And if so, why would they not have one??

Here's the thing...I've never been a Haines fan by any stretch...however, firing the cook when the real problem are the ingredients, is short sighted. You can't expect a gourmet cook to make a masterpiece with crap ingredients. It's an impossible task. Upgrade the ingredients and watch the masterpiece unfold, regardless of who the cook is.

Again, I have repeatedly said...not a consistent $200 million payroll, or even that high at all. All I am advocating for is a larger payroll while the young pitching is still under control, and let it rip...see what happens. If it doesn't work, so be it, at least they gave it an honest shot. That's my take on it. IF it did however work and they won a world series(or two) in that time, and when the time came and they had to severely slash payroll, so be that as well. It is what it is. If they got a WS or two in that time, to me it would be well worth it. Making the playoffs is nice and something we brewer fans haven't had a lot of in franchise history, but at some point, that cannot be good enough. Don't pro sports teams play to win a title?? That's the ultimate goal, right?? It's a lot like the Packers, great regular seasons, in the playoffs every year, but continuously come up short, so really what difference does it make??

No and you do not understand finance at all and that is putting it nicely. So, I will put you down for if baseball had a salary floor of $150 million the Brewers will cease to exist. Got it. I know finance just fine thank you.

So for the people that say "The Brewers could NEVER have a payroll of $150 Million", let's do a hypothetical...let's say baseball had a salary floor(let's call it the anti tanking measure), and that floor was $150 Million. What would Mark A and the Brewers do?? Would they fold up shop as a franchise and cease to exist? Would he sell the team to someone else?? Or...would he continue to be the owner and pay a minimum of $150 million in salary?? I think two of these options are most realistic, because i HIGHLY doubt the Brewers or any other small market franchise would fold up shop and cease to exist. So given that scenario..isn't it then fair to say that the Brewers absolutely COULD pay $150 million in salary they just choose not to?? Look, I'm appreciative of Mark A, way better than Selig ever was as far as spending $$. That being said, if it isn't obvious to him and the Brewers Front office that what they have been doing as far as FA signings offensively, isn't working, then it never will be. Something has to change and again HOPE(ie Hoping Yelich/Hiura turn it around) is NOT a strategy. Most certainly there are no guarantees that anyone you sign would be the magic pill that cures it all, but dammit I'd bet anything there is a FAR better chance that signing say Nick Castellanos and/or say Freddy Freeman(these are Examples people) has a MUCH greater chance of working out the way you hoped/thought than signing guys like JBJ, and Avi(he wasn't terrible) ever would. Mark A has new investment $$(Giannis) now, he also has other businesses, so the people that act like he can't afford to take a loss for a year(or two) because it would financially destroy him just isn't reality.

The fact they don't spend for bats in FA shows they aren't serious about contending. What they are serious about it seems is "hoping" all the breaks go their way when/if they do make the playoffs. If they are truly serious about contending, extend the payroll by a big margin until the stud arms become FA's and after that they can strip the payroll down to nothing. If it gets you a world series it's worth it, it's the best way to do it because using "hope" as their strategy like they have been will continually get them nowhere. Again, this is false. They spent 200+ million on Christian Yelich. Just because he was "already theirs" and you don't personally count that as spending, doesn't mean it doesn't count. Just because he sucks now also doesn't mean it doesn't count. Spending 200+ million on a guy that was, at the time, a premier, top 5 talent is absolutely serious. Just because you don't personally count it because it doesn't meet your very specific, oddly defined criteria, doesn't mean the team isn't serious about contending. You keep bringing this up it seems so you can "beat your chest" that you're right. In a sense you are...but you are PURPOSELY ignoring the whole gist of my posts on this when you KNOW damn well what I'm talking about. Yes they spend $200 million on Yelich...good for them. But the whole point is...we aren't talking TOTAL contracts, it's about YEARLY payroll, and you know this. Now if their YEARLY payroll was $200 million, you'd be spot on. And NO I don't expect them to ever have a payroll that high. Love how you repeatedly cite the "total" amount of his contract like it's the yearly total. Spend 20+ mill on a couple other bats and see what happens. Wanna bet Yelich's contract it would make a HUGE difference?? C'mon bet me..I DARE you. Now you'll say "they can't afford that" I will call total and 100% BS. Add $40 million to the payroll(2 $20 mill bats/avg) payroll is about what $135-$140 million?? And that would be WITH JBJ opting not to decline his option and also Avi NOT declining his option. Wanna tell me again, how it "can't" happen?? Keep beating that drum. You seem to convenietly forgetting that Yelich goes up by $12M plus at least $18 in arby pay already adds $30M to the payroll. Now add your "easily affordable" $40M and their payroll is now in the $175-$180M range. According to this....https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/milwaukee-brewers/payroll/ The Brewers 2022 Payroll is 117 adjusted. However, that includes Avi's option of 12 mill, and also JBJ's option of 9.5 million. I for one happen to think neither exercises their option. That's 21.5 Million right there(there's one $20 mill bat), I also think there's a possibility Cain retires, that frees up another 17 million...OMG there's another 20 million bat. See how easy it is?? Now, you can say "but those things may not happen", true they may not. Let's say they don't...The payroll would then be the stated 117 million next year...add 2-$20 plus million bats and your at $157 million. They CAN do that for a couple of years, especially when you consider that the year after(2023) for sure Cain, Avi and JBJ's salary are all off the books. This isn't really rocket science. So let's say you even add ONE big bat, let's say you have to pay Castellanos 25 mill/yr(that's over market value just for arguments sake), you're telling me they couldn't do that?? I wanted Castellanos the last time he was a FA, assuming he hits the same way he has, how much better would the LU look than it does??