JohnBriggs12

I was on Dozier as the logical move early on. He's got the biggest upside as an impact bat and at 31 going on 32, isn't a huge risk provided he's healthy. Plus he has incentive to take a short term deal and re-establish his value. Can't believe it's taken this long for even a hint of interest.

Brewers deal Braun to Dodgers to free up cash to sign Harper. That's the only scenario I can see where Braun is dealt and it's a huge long shot.

Johnson wasn't the Oakland pitching coach in 2015 when Gray finished 3rd in the CY voting was he? Did the Yankees employ one pitching coach on the road and one at home resulting in huge home/road splits? Gray's a veteran major league pitcher who can figure out things on his own without a pitching coach making a huge difference.

There's definitely reasons to doubt Gray, but the fact is for two seasons, 2014 and 2015 he was a true ace. But 2 of the last 3 years he's been pedestrian though in 2017 his numbers were quite good. They won't have to pay ace-like price for a guy who's been one. That's maybe a shot worth taking. If he just turns out to be a serviceable 3-4 starter, so be it.

This is one of those under the radar moves with some real upside. Spangenberg is not without some pedigree. He was a 10th overall pick, and a consensus top 100 prospect at one time. In Miller Park, his bat may play.

I think how hard the Brewers go after Gray will say a lot about what they think Nelson's capable of doing. All reports are that he's going through a normal off season preparation for ST. Nelson's the wild card. A guy like Gray would be insurance.

At most I'd give them Thames and Taylor Williams.

Caldwell is 63. That's the same age as John Fox. How'd that work for the Bears? Sorry but I think they need someone at least under 60 and I'd prefer someone under 50 myself.

Shaw's the perfect example of the type of hitter that suffers most from shifting. To his credit, he'll occasionally try to push a bunt the opposite way but he's not very good at it. So I'd say it's not so much tough luck as positioning taking away a lot of balls that would be hits against conventional defenses. That being said, he's got such a beautiful power stroke, I wouldn't want him messing with it.

Well, there's a guy who came up as a 3B who kills LHP and is said to be on the market. That's Nick Castellanos. Okay, I realize his defense at 3B is an issue as it is in the OF, but it's hard to ignore his splits vs. LH (.381/.432/.571 in 2018) and having his bat in the lineup against teams like the Cubs with all their LH starting pitching makes him very intriguing and insurance if Aguilar falls off the cliff.

Forget the few spots in the draft. It's far more important to get Rodgers head on straight feeling confident heading into the offseason regardless of who is coaching. A win like yesterday coupled with a good performance against the Lions next week could help a lot. I think a lot of the uneasiness going into this season for Rodgers was the result of missing most of 2017 due to injury and him feeling not quite as invincible nor confident heading into a year when he had to deal with a bunch of new receivers. Then came the knee issue. For this team to rebound to a playoff team next year, it's going to take Rodgers being back at or close to the top of his game, and that starts between the ears.

I could see the Reds hanging in there. They were above .500 from May through July. If they do that again but start out 6 or 7 games better in March and April than they did in their 7-22 start last year, they'll likely be buyers, not sellers at the deadline. Their infield might be the best in the division, and now they've solidified their OF. I'm sure they'll still add a couple arms too.

Why is everyone bringing up reclamation projects as comparisons to Chacin? Chacin was good in 2017 with the Pads. He was underappreciated for sure, but his numbers were fine. A guy who might fit as a comparison is James Shields. 7-16 and a 4.53 ERA doesn't sound very good, but he was a huge innings eater and his WHIP was his best since 2014.

Personally, while I'd like to see an upgrade at 2B, I'm not that freaked out by having Perez as the main guy there for a few months. One, I think Perez playing regularly mainly at one position will result in better offense. Knowing he's going to be in the lineup, he'll be less anxious at the plate and when he gets in a groove, he'll maximize it. He's a talented player all around and very underrated.

Davis was emerging as one of the top power bats in all of baseball in the second half of 2015, his last year as a Brewer. His success with Oakland was foreseeable. I don't see Santana anywhere near that, and yet Brewers got back more for Santana.

Arcia has been a quality RH at least for parts of the last 2 seasons. He's ready to put a full season together. No reason he can't. The talent is there.

Being able to spray to all fields negates shifts. That's a nice trait to have as Yelich showed. He's also hit lefties pretty well so is still useful in PH role.

Interesting that in Zavolas' first pro season he was very tough on LH hitters. They went just 7 for 51 with a lone double the only extra base hit. He could be a useful bullpen arm down the road.

Everyone remembers the Santana of 2017 and the one we saw after his return trip from the minors, but lest we forget when he was sent down in June he had a line of .249/.313/.354 with just 3 HR. Plus it took him a while to get it going in AAA and he struck out a Broxton like 152 times in under 400 AB's between Milwaukee and Colorado Springs. Let's not get carried away about his value. With his combo of speed and defense, Broxton might be more valuable off the bench. Gamel profiles as an okay 4th outfielder. He might show a bit more pop in Miller Park too. I'm guessing he's not a pure pull hitter so maybe he won't be hitting into shifts.

Brewers need to get all their players out of Venezuela for their safety. The entire country is a powder keg. Was a big brawl in game there last night as well. One of the teams involved included Junior Guerra.

I think the playing of Kratz had more to do with keeping Pina healthy than anything else. My guess was Pina wasn't totally healthy all year. He is 31 and plays a demanding position. That and the fact that Kratz' offense was at least passable. He hit a fair amount of balls hard that ended up as outs. Which brings me to the Sogard comparison. I think they stuck with Sogard because early on though he wasn't getting hits, he was hitting in some real bad luck. Because he was coming off a good year, they figured eventually those well struck balls would fall in. Eventually though, likely because he started pressing, he stopped hitting balls hard too.

I would have much preferred Solarte in the same role of insurance for Thames being moved. Spangenburg is just another strikeout machine. Might as well have signed Matt Davidson. At least he provides plus power. Spangenberg is Brad Miller all over again.

Harvey wasn't bad as a Red. He had a 4 to 1 K to BB ratio, a solid WHIP of 1.250. Big Red flag (pun intended) was he was prone to the long ball, not uncommon pitching in Cincy. 13 of his 21 HR allowed were in Great American Ballpark. 11 Million seems high to the Brewers because they have depth in their rotation but for a team lacking rotation depth, it's a very reasonable amount with no long term commitment and reasonable expectation he'll be serviceable at worst. If he rebounds into a solid 2 or 3 starter, they'll have QO rights. They also could use him as deadline trade piece.

Descalso was signed to replace La Stella in 2019, and maybe help make up for loss of Zobrist beyond that. He's a solid bench, utility guy coming off his best year so they didn't get him particularly cheap. He also gives them some protection if they deal either Happ or Schwarber for their critical area of need, relief pitching. As for his utility value, he's not as versatile as Perez. He can't play SS and has very limited OF experience. He does work AB's better but I'm not sure he's any better a hitter than Hernan who has higher career BA (.256 to .240) and SP (.388 to .370).

Sure there are, but how many of them are really good - a significant upgrade on what a team already has as their starter? Exactly. Lots of catchers doesn't mean good catchers. Looking at Fangraphs, last year there were only 24 catchers in all of baseball to put up a WAR of 1.0 or better. Only 12 guys had a WAR over 2.0 or higher. Only three guys had a WAR over 3.0. There are lot of below average catchers in this league. That's why getting one of the good catchers (or a couple of average ones) is so valuable. Realmuto had a 4.8 WAR last year. Pina and Kratz had a 1.2 WAR combined. Realmuto and a backup improve the team by four wins. Even having two solid platoon guys is really valuable. The Braves had Tyler Flowers and Kurt Suzuki last year - 3.2 WAR total. Again, two full wins above our catchers. The free agent market for catchers is really getting tapped out of decent players. Only Grandal is left of the guys who had a WAR of 1.0 or above (Ramos, Suzuki, and Chirinos have signed). Even the trade market is getting tapped (Gomes and Zunino), leaving Realmuto and Cervelli as the two guys rumored to be available. If we want someone very mediocre - there's a ton of options. Young guys, veterans, defense first guys, offensive minded -- all of these guys are available. Just don't expect anyone who is well rounded (outside of Grandal, Realmuto and Cervelli). If you're limiting yourself to 2018 WAR numbers, it's true the market is thin. But there are guys who have done it in the past out there. We all know about Lucroy, who averaged over 3 WAR per season from 2012-2016. A rebound season at age 33 in familiar surroundings isn't out of the question. Then there's the guy nobody mentions, Devin Mesoraco. He's a lot of tough injuries removed from his All Star 2014 season when he posted a 4.7 WAR. But very quietly he managed a 0.7 WAR per BA in 244 AB's (most since 2014) with the Reds and Mets last year. Mesoraco's still only 30. He also caught a lot of deGrom's starts so we know he can call a game.