JohnBriggs12

I couldn't disagree more with every aspect of this post. We could trade Brinson for the starting pitching, why try 5 years of santana for 2 years of ozuna? Ozuna as a target makes no sense for this team. It's a good opportunity for another team, but not us. We have a ton of homegrown outfield talent that should be given the opportunity to play and prove their value. And there is no "window" for the brewers. We are being built to compete consistently...that's the goal. No window theory, it's a cardinals style build. The dream is to be in the mix every year and hope to get hot at the right time. Every team has windows. Not recognizing them when the jump up is what leads to years and years of frustration.

The current stage of the Brewers is as a contender for 2018-2019. Beyond that is a crap shoot. An awful lot has to go right. Cubs are somewhat vulnerable right now as are the Cardinals. Surrendering one very good prospect for a productive player in his prime to help lead the team the next two seasons is the right move. If they don't contend for whatever reason either next year or 2019, they can still get a lot by dealing him.

Now Stafford had a very good game. Can't deny that. He was accurate and on time with his throws. But at that level, a lot has to do with confidence that comes with knowing play after play what the defense is doing. Maybe next week against a rookie, Capers schemes might confuse him into some mistakes, but against the savvy veterans they played the last two games, Brees and Stafford, they had zero chance and without Rodgers they can't outscore them. Maybe the Packers need to look down the road at what Jim Leonard is doing in Madison. By all accounts he's got a superior defensive mind and he knows the pro game as well.

Thompson should be fired on bypassing TJ Watt for Kevin King alone. Capers has to go, but the talent needs to be upgraded too. Thompson has been taking defensive players in the early rounds the last several years. None have been difference makers. Some have been complete busts. A quality defense can win some games with very mediocre play at QB as long as the offense takes care of the ball like they did last night, but the offense can't score when the defense can't get off the field.

If he stays at 2B, Hiura is the elite 2B prospect in the system not Diaz. That's not a knock on Diaz, who's still a very solid prospect, but if Hiura can play defensively and that's still a concern, Hiura will be in the big leagues before Diaz. Bank on it.

There's a vast number of options in between paying huge money over 4-5 years to round out a rotation and projecting guys who pitched in AA in 2017 suddenly becoming rotation pieces. There's always guys available (non-tenders, value FA, guys coming off injury) that are out there in January every year. Take Mike Fiers for instance as an example. Likely to be non-tendered, coming off a bad year, but still fanned 8.6 per 9 IP. At 33, his best days behind him, but a slight rebound and he's a viable 5th starter someplace. Selecting guys like that to bring to ST, is where front offices make their money.

An interesting name on the FA list is Logan Morrison should the Brewers get trade offers for Thames or even Braun because he can play LF too. Morrison had a break out year, and is projected by MLBTR to get 3 years and $36 million, a much more reasonable amount than say Hosmer. He profiles fairly similarly to Thames so any team bidding on Morrison might be amenable to dealing for Thames, should the Brewers go all out and grab Hosmer.

Diaz has time on his side but he's going to have to show more than he did in 2016. Middle infielders with high K rates are far from sure things. Diaz has to worry more about Hiura, who'll likely has passed him as 2B of the future already than Dubon, who projects more as utility bench guy. SS is blocked by Arcia anyway but Diaz' glove might not play there anyway.

I'd do that deal in a heart beat, then see if you can get a talented young controllable starter for Santana and a prospect. The reality is there is a window in 2018-2019 as the Cubs and Cards pitching situation is in flux.

While I doubt this happens (from either side), I actually brought up the idea of trading Knebel to ATL this offseason in another thread a few weeks ago. So, with Houston potentially looking at getting a closer this offseason to replace Giles, I wouldn't be opposed to something like this. We could then go out and try to pick up a closer like Wade Davis to replace Knebel - since we have payroll flexibility - and still make a run at the playoffs next year. With this said though - there's nothing stopping the Astros from going out and getting a guy like Wade Davis, and keeping their prospects. But, Knebel would save them quite a bit of money and a controllable piece for a few years. As much as I love what Knebel did this past year, the volatility of relievers really scares me - and I'm all for capitalizing on their value when it is at its highest. I trust Knebel to be able to repeat his 2017 form a lot more than I trust Wade Davis who was on fumes in the playoffs. Knebel's in his prime and is affordable. You ride him.

Maybe if Nelson were healthy keeping Hader in the pen would be a fine idea. But Hader has the chance to be the next Chris Sale, a premier LH starter who first made his mark in the pen on a team and franchise that's almost completely devoid of LH pitching. It's a lot more cost effective to add one or two quality LH relievers than overpay for a FA starter from a crop that's not all that impressive.

Andrew Cashner is projected by MLBTR to get $20 million over two years. He'd be a good fit at that price and length.

I don't think the Brewers have enough arms at this point even when counting the young guys. It's very unlikely that Burnes and Ortiz will start next season in the majors regardless of their minor league numbers or placement on top prospect lists. At best the Brewers do see them as major league contributors but even so will likely want their innings limited early in the season and will want to play the service time game with them and avoid calling them up until a couple months into the season. I'm only counting 8 arms that I have confidence in. Chase Anderson, Zach Davies, Brent Suter, Brandon Woodruff, Jacob Barnes, Josh Hader, Jeremy Jeffress, Corey Knebel. Personally I'm not real big on Jared Hughes but would agree that he is good enough where he could be #9. After that the guys I would classify as insurance would be Junior Guerra (coming off a bad year I'll assume he could get DFA'ed and would accept a spring training invitation), Tyler Webb, Aaron Wilkerson, Taylor Williams. That would put the Brewers up to 9 solid MLB options and 13 total with the "insurance policy" pitchers. But I think a team should be at about 13 MLB options and 16 total when entering spring training. And let's say the Brewers did go into next season with only the 13 pitchers that I named and then had Burnes and Ortiz as options #14 and #15, that would mean 8 of their 15 pitching options would have <1 year of MLB experience and IMO that's banking on the idea that too many young players can get the job done. As for some of the other pitchers on the 40 man roster like Jungmann, Lopez and Wang...their usage last year is a pretty strong indicator of what the Brewers currently think about them (not much) so I think odds are strong that they are out of the mix as MLB options (injuries to other pitchers could change that). I firmly believe if the Brewers want to maintain/improve on that win total from last year that they need to acquire a minimum of 2 and preferably 3 veteran pitchers this off-season. Guerra is certainly not going to get DFA'd with Nelson on the shelf. If they were ready to give up on him, he'd be gone already. Not sure what is role will be (he threw the ball well out of the pen in September) but it wouldn't shock me to see him at the back end of the rotation either. Last year was a lost year in large part because the injury set him back. No reason not to see if he can bounce back. His stuff is still really good and if they DFA'd him, they'd almost certainly lose him and have to go out and sign some other veteran on the cheap.

Unless the prognosis for Nelson is dire, I just can't see spending the money on Arietta. I'd much rather spend that kind of money on a hitter like Hosmer who would allow them to use another hitter in a deal for a younger pitcher with some control. There's a reason the Cubs are going to let him go elsewhere and deal for an arm. The Brewers should do the same thing. Santana's value is high right now. Hosmer would fill his spot in the lineup, and they could make do with a combo of Thames, Phillips and Perez in RF. The other option is dealing for a guy like Samardzija who's overpriced but still extremely useful and would only be a 3 year commitment.

I'll hold my enthusiasm until Drake is gone.

Well he did win his starts in the NLDS and NLCS. Think Roberts will be second guessed the rest of his life for not starting Kershaw?

If they hadn't invested so much, he'd probably be a candidate to be released by now. He'll definitely get another year, but unless he shows improvement, it might be his last. At this point he's not a prospect.

Miami Herald is confirming that Marlins want to unload Gordon (along with Stanton and Prado). He's owed $38 million over next 3 seasons. I would think Walker could be had for those kind of dollars but Gordon has been very productive and is younger. I don't put a whole lot of stock in his OPS, because his net stolen bases (SB-CS) essentially adds 46 total bases. I don't see him slipping in 2018 or 2019, and if he doesn't, he could be traded before 2020. Since it's essentially a salary dump, Miami might take Villar off the Brewers hands in return. Plus is he's been a gold glover.

I'd be more interested in extending Shaw than Santana for several reasons. He's not a defensive liability and in virtually the same amount of PA, Santana fanned 40 more times than Shaw. Going forward I think that makes Shaw the slightly safer bet and because he's a few years older, he'll be cheaper. Besides that their minor league system is more stocked with OF. Erceg could be ready to replace Shaw by 2020 though he's no sure thing, but they'll find plenty of suitors for a LH power hitting 3B on a relatively modest deal with control for 2-3 years beyond that. I can certainly see trying to do both at this point if the price is right.

Don Cooper's been with the White Sox since 2002. He's on his third or fourth manager. Rick Honeycutt's in his 12th season with the Dodgers. He's been through several managers too. If Maddux was so good, teams would have their new managers keep him. He's not.

I don't remember him as being all that. I can remember countless times where he went to the mound to settle down a pitcher and the very next pitch went flying out of the park. He was very overrated. He's competent sure, but so are lots of guys. Some of his Texas staffs were pretty poor too.

Broxton is a very similar type player to Drew Stubbs. Stubbs never figured it out other than a year in Colorado in which his numbers were respectable. Teams kept giving him chances though as he also had a power/speed combo. If Brinson is your number one prospect, it's time to move on from Keon who at 28 is not likely to learn how to make more consistent contact. The return is not going to be significant, but you don't let that prevent clearing room for Brinson. They can find 5th outfielders in abundance. Perez can play there too.

Villar and Broxton are the odd men out. Villar will either be traded or non-tendered, and Broxton is almost sure thing to be dealt. The re-sign of Sogard, a lefty hitter, almost assures they won't deal Hernan. I think Perez is a much better hitter than he showed in 2017 particularly down the stretch. Remember he played a full season of winter ball (where he was a batting champ), then played in the World Baseball Classic then a complete major league season. He simply wore down. He could be a RH platoon partner with either Sogard at 2B, or with Phillips in the CF, assuming Broxton is dealt until Brinson arrives. Anywhere a guy's down with an injury, he can fill in.

If they can't trade Villar, and considering they couldn't trade Gennett last offseason that's more likely scenario than you think, my guess is they just non-tender him.

Might I remind you that the current manager was once paid $5.6 million over 2 seasons by the Brewers at age 36 to essentially fill the same role as Sogard? The good news is I'm relatively confident they aren't paying Sogard $2.4 million and also planning on tendering Villar. Sogard plays both 2B and SS competently. Whether it's Walker, a Perez-Sogard platoon at 2B, or Kinsler or another veteran, my feeling is Villar is gone. That doesn't undue the boneheaded release of Gennett in favor of Villar, but it's an admission it was a mistake.