nate82

I would bring him back. Will need some veteran leadership for some of the younger pitchers that will be coming up soon. I am not sure the Brewers have an Adames type of a leader on the team right now. Yelich has always been like a Braun type to me more of a guy and not really a leader of a team.

Brewers ranked 23rd best front office in the four major sports in the US. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6007317/2024/12/30/nba-nhl-nfl-mlb-front-office-rankings/

I am guessing you have never worked a corporate job. This is called a yearly evaluation and they can be brutal at times. What Burnes went through is nothing compared to what I know some colleagues have gone through during the yearly evaluation. What Burnes went through would be considered neutral and almost positive.

April is a good month to come to Phoenix not too hot yet so expect it to be around 85-90 during the afternoons. It will drop to low 60's to mid 50's at night though so bring a sweatshirt or something if you plan on going out at night. Depending on the type of food you want to eat Phoenix basically has it all and if you don't want to stay near downtown Tempe and Scottsdale have a lot to offer food wise. If you like spicy southern style chicken then Monroe's Chicken is good. If you like more upscale food then Hanny's is also good. Something more traditional your style then Cornish Pastry Co is also good. You want some pizza? Then Ziggys Magic Pizza Shop is a great place to grab some slices. Want some Mexican food then try La Canasta Capitolio, Taco Boys or Tacos Calafia. Another expensive option is Culinary Dropout or The Arrogant Butcher. A good BBQ option is Little Miss BBQ but get there early as they tend to have long lines. http://monroeshotchicken.com/ https://hannys.net/ https://www.cornishpastyco.com/ https://ziggyspizzaphx.com/ http://www.lacanastacapitolio.com/ https://tacoscalafia.com/ https://littlemissbbq.com/ The stadium is horrible it is like you are an in warehouse/hangar and watching a baseball game. There are a lot of restaurants in the stadium but I can't recommend any of them as I believe they have changed them since I last went. The only minor league teams would be in Tucson and Las Vegas and both are long drives. If you want to do a long drive I would suggest Las Vegas over Tucson. Plus if you go up to Las Vegas you could hit the Hoover dam and the Grand Canyon. Plus I like the drive up to Las Vegas over the drive down to Tucson. Hiking is probably your biggest thing in Phoenix to do at this time but remember to bring along a lot of water more than you think you will need. If it is going to be all adults and you haven't done Top Golf yet there are two Top Golf locations in Phoenix one in Scottsdale and one in Glendale. There is also a PopStroke next to the Top Golf in Scottsdale. There are also a bunch of golf courses but this is going to be the popular part of the year so expect long wait times at the more popular courses and even some of the lesser popular ones. There is also Arizona Falls which is neat I guess. If you want to adventure out a bit you could go to Tortilla Flat there is a restaurant out there that is rather unique. Lake Pleasant isn't a bad place to visit either and they have a boat that goes around the lake daily. There is also the Dolly steam boat you can ride and have dinner on over at Tortilla Flat. https://www.tortillaflataz.com/saloon https://www.srpnet.com/grid-water-management/water-recreation/canal-trails/arizona-falls https://dollysteamboat.com/ https://www.lakepleasantcruises.com/

February 15th for the Brewers others as soon as February 10th. So about 7 or so weeks until the Brewers report to spring training. Probably going to be hotter than normal. So if anyone is coming to spring training expect it to be a bit warmer. We haven’t had many days below 40 so far this winter in Phoenix. https://reviewingthebrew.com/posts/when-do-brewers-pitchers-and-catchers-report-to-2024-spring-training#:~:text=Brewers pitchers and catchers will,by as Thursday%2C February 15th.

Basketball- Michael Jordan Football - Deion Sanders Baseball - it is a tie between Griffey Jr., Rickey Henderson, Frank Thomas and Nolan Ryan. Deion is my absolute favorite player overall. Deion doesn’t get enough praise on how smart he was and knowing what he could do on the field. Majority of his interceptions were by baiting QB’s into throwing the ball when they thought a WR was wide open. His INT against Farve in Lambeau was classic Deion he bated Farve into throwing a pass that looked wide open and he took it for a TD. By far Deion is the greatest CB to ever play in the NFL and no one has come close to him.

The WNBA still exists?

I think the only way there will be a salary cap is if the local TV revenue dries up. Which is possible and I think the only team that is not impacted by this would be the Yankees as they own their TV broadcasting and channel. If for example the Dodgers next TV deal is less than what they are getting now then I could see a salary cap happening. You would have one of the biggest TV markets losing revenue it would basically force the large market teams to put in a salary cap. This isn't even the biggest hurdle for MLB to get over. The revenue sharing that the MLBPA will want in exchange for a salary cap is what will kill the salary cap talks again. The MLBPA wanted revenue sharing last time the salary cap was brought up in 1994. The owners didn't want to share any of the revenue with the players and the talks basically died. A salary floor has been brought up by the owners in the previous CBA but the owners never defined what the floor would be or if there would be any consequences for a team being below the floor. Will MLB come up with an actual defined floor for the next CBA? I don't believe they will.

Mettauer will enter the transfer portal now. Not really a surprise here with the two incoming transfers plus the hyped freshman coming in. Also may mean another transfer is coming in. https://www.buckys5thquarter.com/2024/12/21/24326919/breaking-wisconsin-badgers-2024-four-star-freshman-qb-mabrey-mettauer-to-enter-the-transfer-portal

You are really discounting Trech's talent. He is a very good WR who just happened to be mismanaged by the Badgers. He has the talent of someone like D.J. Moore who went 24th in the 2018 draft. Trech will definitely be picked higher than Wohler even if he doesn't pan out. A WR with the skill set that Trech has will get drafted and at a higher spot than someone like Wohler who isn't really all that gifted athletically. Ashcraft is probably the closest to Wohler in terms of draft stock. But I think Ashcraft being a TE will be picked in the 5th or 6th round while I don't believe Wohler will be picked at all. Wohler grades out to be a 6th or 7th round pick while Trech is probably a 4th round pick right now with Ashcraft being a 5th or 6th round pick grade. Both Trech and Ashcraft have at least two more years and possibly three to showcase what they have.

Arenado has killed a deal that would have sent him to the Astros.

I don’t think Wohler was the best player on the team let alone on defense. He was probably the most complete player on the defensive side of the team. Overall he was far from the best player. Trech and Ashcraft are far better players. I would put both of them as the best players on the team over Wohler.

I think if you want to take a gamble on a recovering pitcher Alcantara would be a better option but I believe the Marlins have stated they won’t trade him this offseason. He isn’t a FA until 2028 the only thing is he is owed about $55mm from his contract extension in 2022. The contract is back loaded so $17mm in 2025-2026 and then $21mm with a $2mm buyout in 2027. If he returns to what he was pre injury that is an under pay. The Marlins would probably want what he would have demanded before the injury. He would be worth it but not sure what kind of a pitcher he will be post injury. Probably would have to start with Quero and Misio plus more and that is just not worth it with the injury concerns.

Pauling developed the drops this season and Williams just never did anything. Vinny Anthony passed him by and never looked back. I think Trech coming back sealed Pauling’s fate. I would rather have Trech going forward than Pauling for one more year.

I think he goes undrafted but talent wise probably a 6th or 7th round projection with maybe a 5th round if he does extremely well at the combine.

Inevitable yes but the two recent transfers coming in plus Carter Smith probably had more to do with it. Plus the younger Locke had a torn ACL so he was unlikely to even play this year and was probably going to be limited in practice. Not much of a path to starting for the younger Locke. I wonder if Mettauer will now transfer. He looks like he will behind both of the transfers.

Both Lockes won’t be at UW in 2025. One uncommitted and the other entered the transfer portal. I am assuming both were told they didn’t have a position on the team.

The Badgers also got Tanner Koziol. TE is looking to be a plus for next year. https://www.buckys5thquarter.com/2024/12/14/24321134/breaking-wisconsin-badgers-land-commitment-from-ball-state-tight-end-tanner-koziol-transfer-portal

Apparently the Cubs turned down Montgomery for Bellinger.

The one thing I worry about with Marquette this year is that they don’t play a ranked team until they play UCONN. They have to run the tables the rest of the season. They can’t really lose more than two or three games in conference if they want a #1 seed. Hopefully they don’t lay a few eggs during conference play. The conference looks really weak this year.

Durbin doesn’t have the arm to play 3B. His best position is 2B. I believe the thought with the Brewers brass is to move Turang to SS and keep Ortiz at 3B. I wouldn’t rule out a Frelick trade for another starting pitcher.

I am glad Cam Smith is no longer with the Cubs. He was someone I wanted the Brewers to draft. He is a solid piece going back to the Astros.

The Burnes piece was my own opinion. I thought he had already met with the Mets earlier. I do see that the Giants and Blue Jays have recently met with him so they may have outbid the Mets. The Red Sox are also a possible destination. It is weird that the Orioles haven't been linked at all to Burnes though. I wouldn't count the Mets or Orioles out on signing Burnes.

Essentially it was a 1 year deal but there was a mutual option for a second year with a buyout which is basically just a 1 year deal. Mutual options are very rarely ever picked up. The persons that I talked to they said it was an unlikely scenario but something that looks like it could happen as Alonso’s market is basically dead right now. The Mets have been the only team that has any serious connection with him right now. It is possible Alonso may have to take a 1 year deal if the Mets sign Burnes. Right now it looks like the Mets have the strongest offer out to Burnes.

Basically Alonso's market would have to be very similar to what happened to Grandal. I fully expect the Mets to resign Alonso either to a short term deal one year plus player options or to what they offered him previously. Though the market for Alonso right now is just the Mets and I don't think Stearns will bid against himself so a one year plus player options type of a contract sounds what Alonso is looking at right now. The question then becomes does he want to return to the Mets on a one year plus player options or does he want to go somewhere else on just a one year deal?