Roderick

His two halves of last season are such total opposites I don't think you can really take anything he did last year as a projection going forward. I am thinking that he is closer to that second half batter than the first half guy who started slow so and it just snowballed on him (not quite Brad Nelson style). After starting anew with 47 games in Colorado (I know) he was a .924 OPS there. Which is much closer to his post all star game .937 in the majors. Pre all star game MLB ops was .441

He had a pair of back surgeries and hip surgery in his past. Very hard to overcome that. Brewers could afford to sign Wellington Castillo and upgrade their catching situation immediately as well as have a future trading chip. I'm for a flip candidate for a position we don't have any prospects at (Thames). But, we have two 27 year old (and Pina 29+y.o.) guys at catcher and I would spend 2017 playing them and seeing if any are a future core of the team.

brewcrewball.com I could see where his arby number was headed, which would mean less interest after the season, and was surprised when they didn't move him for a little something. Which makes me wonder exactly how pitifully lowball offers did they get that they didn't bother to move him during the season last year.

Not necessarily I could see Peralta or Garza starting in the pen or DFA'd in the spring I can see Peralta to the pen right off the bat, depending on pitching mix. But I can't see Garza to the pen, even if he has an awful spring. Unless he is traded, I think it would take a bad spring and maybe four bad ML outings to start out before he is moved to pen or cut.

There is still plenty of time for KRod to somehow end up on our roster.

Why not shelve him for two years and then bring him up to the majors. He won't have any wear and tear.

Anyone else get the reference besides me? Yes, I am old enough to have watched Three's Company. Some days I feel more like Mr. Roper, then I should.

I'm not against it, but would really wait to be able to drive the price down on the veteran. And if none end up left that we are intrigued by, then you still have at least twelve options (from 40 man roster) for the eight slots. Barnes, Blazek, Marinez, Cravy, Knebel, Torres, Suter, Scahill, Parker, Magnifico and 2 of: Nelson, Anderson, Peralta, Jungmann.

It may be in the Gennett signing thread, but someone noted his arm strength. And I agree, I don't see him being able to play those other positions.

http://thechive.com/2016/11/15/good-guy-indians-pitcher-helps-fan-with-math-homework-on-twitter-8-photos/ Pretty cool Bauer takes the time to help on homework on twitter

Yeah, but how many teams play 81 games in Miller Park? His .460 OPS outside of Miller Park, may not have as many teams knocking down his door to sign him as you may think. I guess conversely, he didn't get the benefit of hitting Brewers pitching either. That aside, I think the Brewers are at that time in the rebuild that we should still be saving 40 man spots for the guy with the higher upside in the minors versus the 29 year old decent 4th OF. Percentages are the minor leaguer is never as good as KN, but you want to shoot for that upside - because if you protect/find the guy that ends up being a major league average player for years that just has so much more value.

If you feel a need to have a veteran reclamation project on the roster to build up their value, then consider Garza as exactly that. And he is even cheaper, because as a sunk cost, he is free. We don't need two of them on the roster when we should be evaluating and moving on the other starting pitchers on the staff. And if you want Morton for the bullpen, fine, you better sign him at bullpen dollars then.

But who are these younger players that need a shot next year (and I know you used quotation marks)? Chase Anderson will be 29. Aaron Wilkerson will be 28 (he's only a few weeks younger than Peralta). Nelson will be 28 (he's only a few weeks younger than Wilkerson). Nelson and Peralta both have pretty clear MLB track records at this point. Davies I'm all for having in the rotation. Hader has the ability to push his way into the rotation, should he pitch to his potential. Taylor Jungmann, in my humble opinion, sucks. And will be 27. Ditto for Suter. I don't think you plan around Wei-Chung Wang. Woodruff/Lopez/Ortiz/Bickford are not realistic 2017 options at this point. That could change during the year, but then again look at what happened to Lopez this season. It's easier to go backward than it is to go forward in this game. Signing a guy like Morton doesn't need to a pivot towards contention. The Brewers are still in a position, much like last year, where if they can grab talent at a value, they should do it. And if Morton doesn't make the rotation, his stuff probably plays up in the bullpen a little bit. Yes, I put quote marks to indicate not necessarily actually young. Young in that I don't know what you will get from them. If the Brewers mgmt thinks Anderson, Nelson and Peralta have pitched the last 2-3 years what they are basically can, then I agree there is not great loss by not saving a spot for them. In fact, they should actually let Peralta go before arbitration as he isn't going to deserve what he will get. But I think the Brewers would like to see if they can find something to push these #5/#6 type pitchers to a #3 pitcher. It isn't like they haven't shown flashes. I'm not advocating bringing up anyone like Hader before their time. I think Suter and the loser of the Nelson/Perlta/Anderson will be the emergency starters in the bullpen. I can be done with Jungmann also, I am of the same opinion. If he doesn't cost us a player to rule 5, then fine we can see what he comes to spring training with.

All are true if we are in competition for a playoff spot in 2017. But we aren't. I would much rather use that spot to find out if the "younger" players are either not good enough, or are bullpen guys, or are true MLB starters going forward into 2018.

Obviously not every single contract. But he does bring up the point since this topic came up. What positive value does he have above his contract. So if Cincy doesn't eat a penny what would they be able to get in a trade for Votto?

Ricky Vaughn offered to do a first pitch, but Cleveland said no. No telling how many goddesses would have been on hand with him.

Assuming after a player is drafted that the team gets to protect another X amount of players from the draft. I would leave the catchers unprotected and then protect them when our first player is drafted. If that isn't the case, then keep Susac over Diplan. P: Davies, Guerra, Thornburg, Hader, Woodruff, Ortiz, Bickford, Diplan IF: Arcia, Villar, Diaz OF: Braun (have to), Broxton, Santana, Brinson, Edit: If don't have to protect Bickford, then I will protect Phillips.

http://www.csnbayarea.com/athletics/mlb-revenue-sharing-problem-raiders I thought the revenue sharing was from the mlb.com, channel and internet. But I was wrong, 34% of the net local revenue. I stress net, as that could pretty much mean anything with good bookkeeping. I assume it is basically the gross local revenue though.

This wouldn't work at all, in fact it would hurt the Brewers. It is the only sport with a real minor league system which makes the idea not tenable regardless. If you have a hard cap, then there has to be a hard floor - as the union is going to bargain based on total wage spending. You would have to give away quite a bit even with a floor that is high, to get that language, as wage inflation has been crazy, and they won't want to stop that trend. As for shared TV revenue, assuming you are talking about the local broadcasts, which are the big dollars - that is a total non-starter. There is no way the Dodgers are going to give the Brewers a share of their local tv money and give up all their advantages. I don't think the owners would even agree to put even 1% of their local tv revenue into a sharing formula. It would have change too much. Budgets and franchise values and debt , etc, etc are based off from current agreements. Plus I don't think owners would give 1% even after agreements were over and renegotiated as then some would want 2% and then 3%.....

Which means that you are using cash flow basis for your spreadsheet, right? If so, I believe you need to add $2.33M for Lohse for his 2016 deferred payment.

That's because it's not the case. The Brewers' payroll decisions this year have little to no effect on their payroll decisions a few years from now, obviously except for anyone that's signed to a multi-year contract. That's the beauty of arbitration and non-guaranteed contracts. I don't agree. Every owner is different. I think MA is willing to run the Brewers in a fashion that he isn't trying to make money currently, just cash flow enough. You make your money when you sell the franchise. He realizes that the more surplus you generate in 2017, you can then use to pay down your acquisition debt or acquire revenue generating assets, or a host of ways that will allow you to spend more in 2019 when you are competing for a postseason spot. I think we already have seen that he is willing to deficit spend when the team has postseason chances. He couldn't have made money in the couple of highest payroll years a few years back.

I don't see a trade market for Nieuwenhuis at $1.6M. That would be pretty much his value, so maybe you get a low, low level prospect for him, but why bother. If you are signing him it is because you want him on the team, not to set up a future flip. If we non-tender Carter because we don't want to go to arbitration and possibly have to pay $8M, do we have the same chance to sign him as everyone else? For some reason, (and I am probably mixing up the sport or something) I thought there was a window where the Brewers couldn't negotiate for him when everyone else could - if they don't offer arby. I would not go to arby if there is the probability that Carter costs $8M. I would rather risk losing him. I would probably go $6M.

1. Brinson 2. I. Diaz 3. Hader 4. Ray 5. L.Ortiz 6. Woodruff 7. Bickford 8. Diplan 9. Phillips 10. Clark 11. Erceg 12. Suter 13. Cordell 14. J. Lopez 15. Ponce 16. Lara 17. J. Barnes 18. F. Peralta 19. Stokes 20. Nottingham 21. Kirby 22. Medeiros 23. C. Burnes 24. Yamamoto 25. Supak 26. Wang 27. Magnifico Still fine tuning.....

I agree, don't make this out to be a big deal and then come at us with revamped signage for the food stand. Sounds like there is some agreement to buy some ownership stake of the Carolina team, so that was good to hear.

I agree with this. While Garza may end up with slightly higher value at the trading deadline, we need to move someone to free up a spot. I don't want to sell low on Nelson or Peralta, I want to see what Anderson can do next year, we won't get full value for Guerra without more MLB starter innnings under his belt, and being young, good, and inexpensive Davies is as close to untouchable we have. I am not concerned about freeing up a spot for Hader as he could spend a few more months at AAA. But it wouldn't hurt to give Suter a shot or Jungmann his last shot. I don't know the club's thoughts on Burgos, but if they offer a true shot at the team in spring training, he could be an option also.