JohnBriggs12

All true, but with at least part of the fan base not all in on total rebuilds and 3.5 million seats to sell in 2016, when all you get for news on the team is fringe player waiver claims, they're not great PR.

Figures to battle Cecchini for AAA first base job in spring with the other being let go. Can't see him in mix in Milwaukee.

I think these moves guarantees that Davis and/or Lucroy is gone. Claiming a guy out of options isn't for organizational depth when you have 2 established catchers on the big league roster. Agreed. It's just a matter of time before we hear about Lucroy being dealt. Braun will be moved back to LF which is better position. Santana will be moved to RF- his better position. Broxton/Nieuwenhuis will man CF until Phillips arrives in 2017. Davis=Gone. I don't know where you guys are getting those assumptions out of these moves. Santana's not hitting his weight in winter ball and striking out a ton and he's still got an option I believe. Niewenhuis could be starting CF until a better option comes along. Peterson could still stick as 5th OF. Brewers would be foolish not to bring in a catcher that could be better than Maldonado, because even if they keep Lucroy one more year, Maldonado's never going to be the starter.

Good. The worse the better. That's not how you treat paying customers greeg35.

Stearns might want to think about a moratorium on these waiver claims and actually make a move that at least has the appearance of making the 2016 team watchable. These transactions just remind fans how bad it's going to be.

He's Schafer with slightly and I mean slightly more pop. All you need to know is Mets top priority was a CF and they settled on a less than stellar De Aza instead. But if the season starts tomorrow and they were facing a RHP, he'd likely be in the lineup. Sigh. Really they can't get a Venable or any kind of guy with some record of major league success to play CF for a year?

I'll take a passionate guy who cares even if he erupts on occasion over a guy who accepts losing and not performing. He's a modern day Jimmy Piersall. The game could use guys like that. He's not a bad dude, just wired tighter than most guys. Suggest some of you guys read up on Milwaukee icon Johnny Logan or even Eddie Mathews. Johnson is in that same image. Logan was hated by opposing teams and Mathews instigated a few epic brawls in his day also.

Wasn't advocating moving Peralta to pen, just dreaming up scenarios if other arms need rotation spots down the road. First inning woes as a starter don't necessarily translate to troubles in relief either as focus can be the cause and situations dictate focus and late inning relief isn't first inning of a start. By the way it's Nelson who tends to struggle in the first inning.

Latos took some shots at his former team. Big deal. He praised some guys and knocked others. Think Garza's been liked in any clubhouse he's been in? I kind of like that he'd have incentive to beat Reds. He might well take a one year deal packed with incentives because he could turn a solid season into a huge deal next year.

Johnson isn't a guy I'd look at as a 3B option but a guy to replace Rogers lost AB's as RH platoon at 1B and bench bat against LH pitching? Absolutely. The guy's a .314/.350/.436 lifetime hitter against LHP. Cleveland would be on the hook for all but major league minimum. Why not? If he's putting up decent numbers in that role, he'll be easily moved too. An Alvarez/Johnson platoon has plenty of production potential.

Don't you only get so much to spend in that category now? And can't they do both? There are caps but you can blow past them, like the Dodgers or Cubs. They could do both in theory, but not if Mark A only has $X to spend. Considering the current payroll projects to under $60 million, yeah he could spend a bit more. Signing a buy low veteran starter isn't going to set back a youth movement. All the young arms still have options, with most having multiple options left.

With the arms they acquired in the trades being at or near the big leagues, and the emergence of guys like Lopez and Wagner who were already in the system coming off of dominant seasons at AA, the Blazek to the rotation idea seems less a priority though anything is possible. I guess if you are going to experiment, this is the year to do it and it goes both ways. Imagine Peralta as a closer coming in throwing 98 with heavy sink? Or Jungmann throwing 96 with his cross body delivery for an inning?

I think the same things were said about Francisco Liriano before the Pirates grabbed him for a song a few years ago. Latos did have 4 starts last year where he went 7 innings and allowed one run or less so there's still talent there. Liriano had inconsistencies too the year before he landed in Pittsburgh with the occasional dominant start mixed in with a lot of messy ones. Do a thorough physical and watch him throw. The Lee idea isn't bad either and one I've suggested. Lee being lefthanded might help the other Brewer starters because teams facing the Brewers don't get different looks.

Would have rather grabbed Chacin when he was available but Latos definitely fits that same profile of a guy in his late 20's with a prior track record of success that floundered a bit but is still young enough to regain it. I think it's put up or shut up time for Jungmann though who's 26 and wouldn't benefit by going back down to AAA. I can see parking Davies down there though in case Jungmann flounders though. In my world Latos would take Garza's spot who I'd just release regardless of his remaining salary.

If they could get Sox to take Garza that would be great. Sox may eventually just release LaRoche making him available for minimum too. Speaking of minimum, Indians released Chris Johnson who had a year left on his deal. He'd make a decent fill in for the AB's that would have gone to Rogers. Johnson is a lifetime .314 hitter vs. LHP. LaRoche was awful last year but he was a lot less awful vs. RHP.

I wouldn't want Garcia in return for Braun. Carson Fulmer is my starting point in any trade for Braun with the White Sox. I wouldn't want him either, just being real about what they'd offer as evidence of Braun's actual value. Fulmer's as close to untouchable as anyone. No way Braun would get him.

The White Sox are another team that's looking at OF. They've soured on Avisail Garcia who's given them replacement level performance and are kicking tires on Cespedes and Upton. But they just unloaded 3 of their better young prospects to get Frazier, and they don't have a deep system to begin with. You are probably looking at Garcia and a low level arm as a return. Spencer Adams, Jordan Guerrero and Brian Clark are decent arms in their system. Guerrero and Clark are lefties and they are pretty set with lefties at major league level, so they might well be expendable.

I still think they'll bring in a veteran like Will Venable on a one year deal. Venable has had great success in Miller Park: .352/.398/.604 and he won't cost a whole lot. Played well at places like STL, PIT, and CIN as well. They'll have to convince a guy like Venable (or any other veteran) that their best chance to get to the postseason is to put up decent numbers playing a lot for a team like Brewers, and then get traded to a contender in July or August.

Agree almost 100%. Problem is the Houston model will never work in Milwaukee. Houston's a major market with big time local media revenue. Milwaukee isn't. There best hope is a KC like build which will be tougher in a division with a Cub team that appears dangerous for next 5-7 years and a Cardinal team that are perennial contenders. Also Middlebrooks and Cecchini are failed prospects who've had multiple chances. They have no residual prospect value other than a little name recognition having come up with Boston.

I still think they'll bring in a veteran like Will Venable on a one year deal. Venable has had great success in Miller Park: .352/.398/.604 and he won't cost a whole lot.

Where do you see this team in 2018? Still unloading veteran talent for what 2023? The Cubs could lose both Arietta and Lackey opening a slight window of opportunity that's likely to close quickly. Cole might become too expensive for Bucs. Arcia should be established by then. Phillips figures to be here, and Davis and Braun could still be around banging. If you are expecting us to compete with the majority of your best players being either rookies or 2nd year players you will likely be greatly disappointed come 2018. It took our last wave (Prince, Braun, Hardy, Hart, Weeks etc) almost 3 years just to reach the playoffs. Albeit mostly on the back of Sabathia who was a beast after being acquired. I don't see us making the playoffs until 2020 at the soonest. It took the last wave for the Cubs to swing and miss on guys like Zambrano, Soriano and Ted Lilly, all of whom got big money deals handcuffing the prior ownership who's parent company was in bankruptcy court to the point they had to sell, and the Astros to get old and have to rebuild. That last Brewer wave benefitted from a weak division with a perennial loser in the Pirates and two teams on a fast downward track in Chicago and Houston. Don't kid yourself, unless the Cubs unexpectedly crumble and the Cardinals go through a rare down period, the Brewers have only an outside chance at a division no matter how many prospects they acquire. That's why tanking to me is such a futile exercise. This franchise by it's nature will always be long shots with some years they have a chance and most they don't regardless of strategies. This one will be painful with no likely payoff. That's why I'm annoyed by it.

This signing is as they say what it is. Middlebrooks is just here so they can field a major league roster. His one time prospect status gives the casual fan some hope the team is trying to win at the MLB level when we all know the goal is to draft very high the next few years. Oh, and he is cheap. His signing is nothing to get excited about and certainly being so low risk, its nothing to be upset about. If by some change of scenery he has a decent first half of 2016, he can be flipped at the deadline. Nothing wrong with that. If we want the first pick in the draft in 17 and 18, and that is clearly Stearn's goal, these are guys we are going to sign. Besides the fact that the first pick in the draft should never be the goal, the problem with Middlebrooks is he's worse than the guys who were already in the system that would compete for the major league 3B job namely Villar and Perez who are both young players with a bit of upside. Even accepting the rebuilding mode that the Brewers are in, I find it disconcerting for a constant revolving door of players who after a while become nameless and faceless. Even losing teams have players that fans root for. Rogers was one of those guys especially having come through the system as a low round pick. Now we're deprived of seeing what he could do with four or five hundred AB's and from his standpoint though he's going to a winner, he may never get an opportunity to show what he's capable of with regular playing time.

Lets see what the market is after guys like Cespedes, Upton and Gordon are signed. Anyone that would like Braun for his price can pay those guys, get similar production, and not give up anything other than a draft pick in the case of Upton or Gordon. I personally don't see a strong market for Braun until he puts up a 30 HR, 100+ RBI and close to .300 BA again. He was close to that last year. If he does it in 2016 surrounded by this outfit, and has one fewer year on his deal, they'll be plenty of suitors a year from now.

Where do you see this team in 2018? Still unloading veteran talent for what 2023? The Cubs could lose both Arietta and Lackey opening a slight window of opportunity that's likely to close quickly. Cole might become too expensive for Bucs. Arcia should be established by then. Phillips figures to be here, and Davis and Braun could still be around banging.

More than would be worth it. We have no reason to go after a mid rotation starter right now with Nelson, Peralta, Davies, Jungmann, Lopez, Pena, Houser, Hader and Garza either in MLB or close to MLB ready. Odorizzi's a proven starter who's controllable through 2019. At some point this team is going to have to compete. I'd be fine trading for Odorizzi and dealing Peralta. I'd view that as an upgrade.