Warning Track Power

Dave Bush?

This is my preferred way to build a consistently competitive small market baseball team. The Brewers have never had an issue with drafting or finding hitting. Focus your draft on SP so you don't have to buy Suppan, Lohse or Garza. I am all for buying RP to shorten the back end of the game as I think the Brewers can compete with the financials for RP much easier than SP. A pen full of Knebel, Hader, Swarzak and say Brandon Morrow is the start to an elite bullpen.

Arrieta 4 years @ $100m Walker 2 years @ $20m Swarzak 2 years @ $14m The latter two I would definitely do, the first one is difficult for me to swallow. Would the Brewers be better getting Lynn for 4 years @ $56 AND/OR Cobb 4 years @ $48? Maybe it would be better to sign Morrow for 3 years @ $24 and really try to shorten the game with a Swarzak-Morrow-Knebel 7-8-9? Arrieta, while certainly in excellent shape, could be an albatross in year 4. Flip side, Arietta could head a very above average rotation with the return of Nelson (Arietta-Anderson-Nelson-Davies-Woodruff sure looks strong). In Stearns we trust...

I always forget...is it the GM Meetings in November or the Winter Meetings in December where a majority of trades occur?

I believe a Villar for Gordon straight up deal, with the Brewers covering Gordon's entire salary, should get it done. Villar has every bit of the speed that Gordon has but has even more power. If I am Miami, I am very interested in that deal.

Broxton may be able to solve some SP problems, but that would likely come with taking on a bloated contract. Since the title of the thread is Broxton to SF, you may be looking at taking on a good portion of the 4 years ~$92m owed to Cueto or 3 years ~$59m owed to Samardzija.

I like the idea of trying to build an elite bullpen to couple with the current starting pitching the Brewers have. Assuming Jimmy Nelson comes back mid-season and is close to what he showed last year, a rotation of Nelson-Anderson-Davies-Woodruff, while not elite, could certainly be above average. Keeping Hader as a Andrew Miller type and Knebel as the closer, if the Brewers can find elite relieving (maybe Swarzak is resigned and is for real) via a deal for Betances may be the best way to improve the pitching in the offseason. I would definitely be open to a deal here depending on what the Yankees view their want is.

With the resigning of Eric Sogard, the at-the-moment presence of Jonathan Villar and Keon Broxton, the emergence of Brett Phillips, the impending arrival of Lewis Brinson and Ryan Braun not going anywhere, what is Hernan Perez's role on this team moving forward? As I look at the team today, it appears C, 3B, SS, 1B and the OF are covered by 10-11ish players depending on the breakdown and that excludes 2B. Granted Perez could fill the hole at 2B but him as an everyday player is not my idea of a good idea. Sogard, Villar and Perez appear to be in a battle for roster spots given the need to carry at least 2 of Phillips/Broxton/Brinson. So that brings us to the roster as constructed today: C: Pina, Vogt/Bandy 1B: Thames/Aguilar 2B: SS: Arcia 3B: Shaw OF: Braun, Santana, Phillips, Broxton/Brinson Hernan Perez the past two years, in 836 ABs has produced the following: AVG: .266 OBP: .296 OPS: .717 HR: 27 RBI: 107 SB: 47 While not starting material, certainly a useful player, even if the OBP is low. The tricky part for me becomes where his role is moving forward. Playing in the OF should be a non-starter at this point. With Braun, Santana, Phillips likely starting there and Broxton or Brinson being the fourth, barring injuries, there really is no reason Perez should ever see the OF. 1B should be out with Thames and Aguilar. SS is not really his strong suit either. Which leaves him as a backup to Shaw or a potential timeshare at 2B. Is Perez the backup at 2B, 3B, SS, emergency 5th OF and 25th man? If Villar is the 2B to begin the year and Sogard is the backup does Perez get squeezed out? Tough choice here but today it appears the choice is between Sogard and Perez.

If the Brewers are dead set on spending significant money on a pitcher, Arrieta would be my choice as well. Not my ideal choice but I like him more than the other options out there.

CAREER 162 GAME AVERAGE Player #1: .245/.313/.638, 3 HR, 38 RBI, 10 SB, OPS+ 78 Player #2: .255/.342/.686, 4 HR, 39 RBI, 10 SB, OPS+ 79 Player #1 is Sogard. Player #2 is Counsell. Perhaps Craig sees a lot of himself in Nerd Power.

I hope not (to the end of the Walker era). While I would prefer the athleticism of Villar to Walker, Walker sure does bring a lot to the table in terms of a major league bat. Would love to see him back with a 3 year $30 million deal as I think that is the extent of his worth at this point. Sogard is more of an insurance policy if the Brewers deal Villar or Walker isn't resigned. Sogard also can remain the backup at SS. My real question will be what happens to Hernan Perez?

I don't want any part of Lance Lynn. While 86 wins is 86 wins, we are still rebuilding and I am fine going into next season with a rotation of Anderson, Davies, Woodruff, Suter/Jungmann/Wilkerson/Guerra until Nelson comes back. I am fine with dealing a non-consequential prospect for a SP (Samardzija-type) in the offseason if we have to take on some salary (Samardzija is making $58.4 over the next three years) but not Lance Lynn if it will cost upwards of $20m per season. If the Giants threw in, $15-$20 million, and all it cost was a C prospect, I much prefer that route.

I think you have the pieces here but not the right name. I think the Cubs move Schwarber to an AL team for that pitcher. Yankees-Cubs match up too well to not have a deal for Schwarber and I wouldn't be too terribly surprised if the Yankees offered Gray for him. Happ/Jay-Heyward-Almora in the OF, Happ/Zobrist at 2B with Gray, Lester, Hendricks as the top 3. Not necessarily dominant but fills the role.

I won't be surprised in the least if that pitcher is Jeff Samardzija and the cost is Keon Broxton.

This is totally going off the lack of news surrounding the future long term home of the Brewers Spring Training I have to imagine the lack of a clear path as to where the Brewers will be playing their future spring training games is beginning to get annoying to the front office. First it was Peoria, then Gila River, then Gilbert, then Tucson...then potentially Florida. While only a month in the beginning of the season for the MLB club, the unsettled nature of where the minor league operation will be in the future has to cause some consternation. OR Perhaps it's just me that would like some clarity on the subject. Please stay in Arizona.

The Brewers need to deal Keon before the beginning of next season. His value is probably peaking as I don't ever see him increasing his average or cutting down on his Ks. He is what he is... a .220-.240 hitting, 20 HR, 25 SB, 175-200 K hitter who plays average to above average CF. With Braun aging, and possibly willing to go to 1B, he will require days off in LF. Platooning Phillips and Brinson in CF, with one starting in LF when Braun needs a day or is at 1B, will certainly ensure both Brinson and Phillips receive 400+ PAs and not linger on the bench for a week at a time. In the rest of my post, I did say we were probably going to trade an OF, with Broxton being the most likely to be traded. We're not all the way there yet, but Stearns is getting us into the enviable position of having a talented MLB team with a lot of talented prospects forcing their way onto the MLB roster. In most instances, I hope that we opt to trade away the vet for a big return, opening a space for the talented prospect to play while adding a lot more talented players to the franchise. Since I look at Braun as untradable, that would mean trading Broxton for the biggest return we can get and opening up a spot for the younger, more talented guys. I just wouldn't close my eyes to the possibility of using Brinson as the headliner that would bring back a young, talented starter with a lot of team control. There are a lot of possibilities, so I trust Stearns to work his magic. Amen to this post, especially the bold part. For the small market Brewers, we need to do exactly this even as the annual trips to the playoffs become reality. While it may stink to not have as many career Brewers due to them becoming expensive, I would rather be competitive yearly and have a World Series or two rather than a few more retired numbers in Miller Park.

The Brewers need to deal Keon before the beginning of next season. His value is probably peaking as I don't ever see him increasing his average or cutting down on his Ks. He is what he is... a .220-.240 hitting, 20 HR, 25 SB, 175-200 K hitter who plays average to above average CF. With Braun aging, and possibly willing to go to 1B, he will require days off in LF. Platooning Phillips and Brinson in CF, with one starting in LF when Braun needs a day or is at 1B, will certainly ensure both Brinson and Phillips receive 400+ PAs and not linger on the bench for a week at a time.

While I agree with this post, I wonder if this is the type of player the Brewers could get for Keon Broxton. In a vacuum, an Odorizzi-Broxton deal would maybe make some sense. However, the Rays do not need an OF.

I couldn't agree more with the idea of a Broxton-Will Smith deal. The Giants seem to be of the mindset that they do not need a full rebuild and acquiring a starting caliber CF in that cavern of an OF would be worth a reliever coming off an ACL tear. You can win with a top 3 of Bumgarner, Cueto and the Shark. What you can't win with is an OF composed of Jarrett Parker, Gorkys Hernandez, and an aging Hunter Pence and Denard Span. I like the move for both teams.

Good point Nate. My point remains though that any idea of adding teams to the east coast prior to adding to Portland, Vancouver, Vegas, etc...seems to be a little shortsighted if one of the main issues is travel. Adding a natural rival for Seattle, who is so distant from any other team, in Portland would be excellent, assuming the desire for baseball and the economics work out.

You're going to the game and want to wear a jersey of a current or former Brewer. You don't want to wear one of the typical fan favorites, Yount, Molitor and Braun, but everyone else in team history is up for grabs. Sure there were other great Brewers, Aaron, Fingers, Cooper, Vuckovich, Sheets, Fielder, Gomez, as well as cult favorites in Gorman, Branyan, and Nyjer and they can be chosen. So whose jersey are you wearing and why? Me personally, I am going with Rob Deer. Deer was not my prototypical favorite player (too low of an average and too many strikeouts) but he couldn't have been cooler to me as a kid and was just as cool as an adult when we interacted a few times on Twitter. Give me a #45 pinstripe pullover any day of the week.

I think MLB is looking at the west coast heavily in order to balance out the leagues and cut down on the travel time. In the Pacific time zone, you essentially have Seattle, Oakland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Los Angeles and San Diego. 6 teams out of 30. The other teams in the west, Arizona, Colorado, Houston and Texas are all either in the Mountain or Central time zone. Without knowing the political issues involved or status of stadiums, I would have to believe one of (and maybe two of the following) would ABSOLUTELY have to be in any expansion. Portland, Vancouver, Salt Lake City and Las Vegas. Because the closest team to Seattle is over 600 miles away, Portland does make all the sense in the world logistically.

http://www.wtmj.com/shows/sports-central/everyone-realizedwe-should-stay-in-it-says-ryan-braun-on-the-17-brewers Given this interview, I think we can put to bed any notion of Braun going anywhere but the Dodgers.

http://www.wtmj.com/shows/sports-central/everyone-realizedwe-should-stay-in-it-says-ryan-braun-on-the-17-brewers A few good items in this interview: 1. It's the Dodgers or bust for a possible trade...and I definitely do not seeing that happening given the Dodgers depth with Bellinger, Puig, Taylor, Pederson, Verdugo, etc... While I am surprised he wouldn't approve a deal to the Angels, as Anaheim is relatively close to Los Angeles (traffic is always awful but still), I am happy to hear this as I like the idea of Ryan finishing his career with the Brewers. 2. He is open to the idea of a move to 1B. Brinson, Phillips and Santana in the OF and Braun at 1B is a great thing, assuming he can play 1B better than he did 3B.