JohnBriggs12

Rosario's 230+ games at 2B in the minors suggest he'd be able to transition to 1B fairly easily, but without the DH where does that put Vogelbach? Still I like the idea.

Pederson's career numbers and his 2020 numbers are incredibly similar to Schwarber's. It's almost scary how close they are. Yet Schwarber got $3 million more. I'd say a very good deal for Cubs. In B-R similarity scores, Schwarber is number one most similar to Pederson, and Pederson is number 2 most similar to Schwarber. They're essentially the same guy.

He'd be a nice fit if they wanted to move Hiura to 1B. Of course that's not likely if they don't have the DH. He hits lefties well enough too that he could stay in the lineup against some lefties. He's a much better option than Jace Peterson.

Was wondering why he didn't pitch at all last year. Pretty shrewd move though. He wasn't signed for AAA depth. I'm sure he's viewed as a guy to replace Alex Claudio. May need a month at AAA to get his groove.

I still say Cain to the outfield short Mariners for Kyle Seager might make sense for both teams and it's an exchange of big shorter term salaries. Mariners have a replacement for Seager in France, and Brewers could replace Cain if they sign an outfielder.

They could move all the teams to Florida where the infection rate is about half of Arizona and where they are way ahead of Arizona in vaccines being administered. With it just being major leaguers in camps, they should have room too.

That's about money too. They could sell tickets to anyone who's been vaccinated and there's a lot of people in Arizona and Florida over 65 that will have been a month from now. Florida's been vaccinating all 65 and over for a month already.

Right, but our opening day roster would have an eight-digit free agent signing (Ozuna or Garcia) sitting on the bench while we run Vogelbach out there at first base and Urias as our starting third baseman and Arcia at Shortstop. I don't get signing an expensive fourth outfielder to cover our starters' off days when our obvious areas of need are at the corner infield positions. I also don't like throwing someone in a position they don't play just to keep their bat in the lineup. Our defense will be bad enough this year, especially if we sign Ozuna. We can't just randomly put outfielders at first base. If we spend money on Ozuna, we'd better have a DH. Even then, it means Vogelbach is our everyday first baseman. Our pitchers better get a lot of strikeouts if he's at first, Hiura's at second and Ozuna is anywhere in the outfield. The bright spot to this for me (if it's true) is that Ozuna was projected by MLBTraderumors to get a 4 year / $72M contract. If we're even mildly interested in Ozuna, it means that there is money to sign some players. I'd just prefer we focus on our needs rather than signing a shiny new square peg and cramming it into a round hole. Sure they could divvy up that money for lesser hitters that fill positions of need, but the real need is for better offense regardless of where it comes from. When you pay journeymen who's best years are average for their position are you really boosting the total team offense? If they don't all have close to their best years, probably not. They tried that last year. I'd have no problem with Garcia being a backup despite his salary or working on a position switch to first base. He's certainly built more like a first baseman than a center fielder. Further the Brewers probably know more about the DH returning than they are letting on.

Ozuna had arm or shoulder issue that limited him defensively when he went to Cardinals. But he might be the best bat out there regardless of position and would immediately boost the Brewers lineup. Garcia is a decent enough athlete to handle the switch to first base though I would not rule out dealing Cain and taking on an equally hefty salary back. Maybe Cain for Kyle Seager?

The first time I saw Aaron play was the first baseball game I ever attended. Thanks to the miracle of the internet and the great Baseball Refence site, decades later I traced the date to June 27, 1958, a Friday night. I was 2 and a half months short of my 6th birthday. I still remember my family had seats in the upper deck on the first base side. Aaron homered in that game off none other than Sandy Koufax himself. It was number 122 of his career. Unfortunately the Braves lost 3-1 despite a nice effort by a young Joey Jay who went 7 strong innings allowing 1 earned run. Koufax in those days was maddingly inconsistent but that night he showed a glimpse of what he would become about 3 years later, going the distance and fanning 8. It wasn't the last time, but the last game I remember seeing him play was 18 years later on a hot Sunday afternoon, July 11, 1976 which a scheduled doubleheader that was the final games leading up to that year's All Star break.. I remember it being hot (according to B-R, the game time temp was 94). The Brewers had rallied to win the first of the doubleheader that afternoon 6-3 with a 5 run 7th inning off of Bert Blyleven. My sister and I stuck around for the entire game 2, a game which Aaron was in the lineup as DH. Down 4-2, the Brewers rallied in the bottom of the 9th tying the game on another future HOFer Robin Yount's single. Tired and hot after 6 hours of baseball, we debated leaving but decided to stay one more inning since Aaron was due up 2nd in the 10th. After Scott made an out, Aaron lifted a deep fly over the left field wall to win the game for the Brewers and send what was left of 28.149 fans into delirium. We knew completely that we had just seen something historic. Aaron went into the clubhouse, but we stood and cheered what seemed like an eternity till he popped his head out of the dugout and took a bow. It was HR number 754. It was only mid July so no we didn't figure it was his last. That came about 10 days later, but our guts told us this was the last dramatic one he'd hit and we were there. That's a special memory and perhaps my favorite moment of a lifetime of watching baseball. Aaron even mentioned it in his book "I had a Hammer" as one of the most meaningful and memorable he'd ever hit. I saw Hank play many times first when I was a young kid going with my parents to see the Braves, then when the dream came true and he came back to play in Milwaukee when I was a young man. It's a sad day, but one to reflect on a great player, great man and one who represented Milwaukee baseball magnificently.

I believe Adbert Alzolay is going to get a big shot, and they just signed Shelby Miller. Alzolay has shown he can miss bats. Brewers apparently didn't think enough of Miller to keep him around. There's back end guys out there they can afford. Maybe they'll go with the Andersons, Chase and Brett and have a real Brewer look to their rotation.

LeMahieu is reportedly close to returning to Yankees. What would it take to get Miguel Andujar?

Don't forget they also invested heavily in starting up Marquee Sports Network with little return on that investment to this point.

Filling the DH and 1B spots with proven bats allows them to go with cheap options and try different guys at 3B in the hopes of finding lightening in a bottle.

That's huge and would make finding a full time 1B (say Cron) more critical which might explain the quantity over quality effort at 3B. Also could effect whether Braun chooses to return. Would be a strong DH platoon with him and Vogelbach.

Where are the fringe veteran arms? Right now they have 19 rostered pitchers and one non roster invitee with maybe 10 or 11 with a full season of major league experience. I'm sure they'll add their better prospects to the invite lists, but they are really short on experience in general on this staff.

Seems to me like Stearns is accumulating a bunch of cheap options for 3B and will throw them all against the wall and hope one sticks. Robertson, Green, Urias, Mathias all figure to get looks there in spring. The question is does this mean funds will be used for a more established sign to cover 1B or are they content to let Vogelbach make all the starts there against RHP and go with another cheap platoon player to face tough lefties? will that allow something leftover for a more established 4th starter? Maybe all their resources will be used to bring back Braun and let him be the platoon option at 1B?

Everyone has to remember that no team in baseball relies more on it's gate revenue than the Brewers so they took a huge hit in 2020. I'm sure management would like to be able to get involved with some of the better FA out there, but the fact is they can't and the best they can do is to target a couple guys that can provide some upgrade at positions of most need, and hope they get rebound seasons from the guys who struggled last year. Thankfully the division as a whole has mostly taken steps back. We're a couple weeks away from guys taking contracts in the $4-6 million range and that's where Brewers can get involved. If they do play well in the first half and crowds do come back, perhaps they can make a rental deal to bolster their roster for the stretch.

Well the obvious guy you'd send them would be McKinney who's still could qualify as a young outfielder along with a young arm and have Benintendi as a guy who can spell Cain and platoon some with Garcia.

The Cubs are cash strapped because they invested a ton in improvement around the park to increase their revenue. Covid came at a bad time especially for them. But in a year or two they'll be big players again in FA, so it wouldn't shock me to see some of the parts they deal off or let go end up back there. I certainly don't see them doing what they did from 2011-2014 again.

He deserves a "Joe Mauer" moment. Mauer caught his last inning in the big leagues. If he does return, let him play an inning at 3B on his final day. The Packers getting approval for 6,000 fans in the playoff games is a start. I can't see any reason that by opening day there's not 25% capacity by opening day even if you have to fans entering the park showing proof of being vaccinated.

I think he'll thrive in Washington. He's just one in a large group who should get a mulligan for 2020.

I don't think you bench a promising young RH hitter with control against LH pitching because he struggled some against them in a small sample. That being said, I think the Mariners see him as a core player and his price would be high. I don't see Brewers making that move.

I liked what we saw of Tyrone Taylor. No reason to bring in DeShields who has almost no power and strikes out a lot for a guy with no power. La Stella would be fine but he's probably not a bargain. I wouldn't go higher than $5 million for him. Jake Lamb might be a better value as a LH bat at a lower base and incentives. Marwin Gonzalez doesn't excite me much. Maybe if he's real cheap. I still say a reunion with Guerra makes sense for bullpen depth for $1.6 million or so. If Braun wants to play, Brewers should bring him back even if he busts their budget a bit at around $6-7 million. He deserves that from this franchise and he's still a dangerous hitter.

I think the Brewers will add a veteran starting pitcher but will stick to guys who won't come with $10 million or so in incentives. On paper, the Brewers have a one and a two, and in this market a solid 3 or 4 should come at a relatively modest price.