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It really all comes down to what Mark A values more. Making more profits or winning a World Series. Sometimes I feel like Mark A is PT Barnum, and I'm the sucker who is born every minute. The profits that Attanasio and the other owners have been getting each year is like crack to them... They are hooked and they aren't giving it up for anything... Where did the $30M for the sale of MLBAM go? Did any go into the salary pot? There is no reason the team can't have a $120-$140M payroll with current revenues/revenue sharing... All the Brewers owners need to do is kick part of their habit... I'm not holding my breath...

I don’t think there are any players left from the time Braun held his infamous press conference. While some fans (me included) have issues with him, I doubt anyone in the current clubhouse has an issue with him.

I like the idea of a multi-year option (such as Gonzalez) in that 1) he can play all over the diamond; and 2) once Hiura is up, he becomes the super-utility guy and they let Perez and/or spankenburg go (or option spankenburg to AAA and wait for Thames to go off contract next year and bring spankenburg back for the final positional spot). That gives them the ability to have a 12 position player/13 pitcher roster which is much more suitable to the Brewers pitching approach. Gonzalez has added value due to being better than our current options and very versatile.

All of the current rules that are part of the CBA are meant by the Union to maximize the % of revenues that goes to player salaries (P%) and for the owners to set in place a structure to minimize the % of revenues that the owners have to pay (O%). To me the issue comes down to the two parties agreeing on a hard % of revenues to be dedicated to player salaries (P% = O%). Once that is decided for a CBA, each year baseball goes about it's business and at the end of the year when Revenues are finalized and player salaries are known then the percentage of revenues that is player salaries (PS%) can be calculated. If PS% is less than O% then the owners will disburse the difference to the players based on the unions instructions/guidelines. If PS% is greater than O% then owners would adjust final player paychecks to deduct salary based on union guidelines. The owners decide how they will apportion costs if they have to pay the players or how they reclaim revenue if players are paid too much. The players/union decides how to disperse salary or how players would be taxed to make up the difference. These guidelines could even change year to year, but would need to be fixed by opening day to give plenty of time to make adjustments at the end of the year. Both the owners and players get a known % of revenues towards player salaries that is fixed throughout the contract. The only future negotiations would be what % of revenues are fixed for player salaries. Most of the remainder of the current process can be retained to help small market teams compete with large market teams. I would change one part of the process: players have three options, the first option cost the team nothing, the second and third options reduce the years of minimum salary by 1 for each option and increase the years of arbitration by 1 for each option such that players with the indicated options used have the indicated years of Minimum salary and arbitration: 0-1 options used --> 3 years minimum salary, 3 years arbitration 2 options used --> 2 years minimum salary, 4 years arbitration 3 options used --> 1 year minimum salary, 5 years arbitration For many of the fringe prospects, there wouldn't be any real impact as they aren't going to earn huge arbitration salaries or may be let go from an organization sooner if their 3 options are used. For real high-ceiling prospects it reduces a teams ability to stash them in the minors for as long as possible and if a team decides to go that route then the player will ultimately benefit by getting to arbitration faster. Another change I would install is the ability of teams to offer a proportion of a free agent contract as not guaranteed (75% max any year, max of 50% of total contract). So if a team releases a player who signed a FA contract he only receives the guaranteed amount. While the players union would scream at this under the current CBA, if the next CBA has the fixed revenue sharing % for player salaries then there really isn't an issue as any lost salary because of the non guaranteed part of the contract will come back if player salaries don't reach the agreed upon %. Teams would likely be much more willing to hand over bigger/longer contracts if they had some ability to end their commitment and recoup some savings. Owners and players should just agree on a fixed % of revenues going for salary and most of the issues that come about are mitigated by that agreement and the silly negotiation over each of these rules aren't necessary as they don't impact total dollars. Forgot: As part of the change to options, you would need to adjust the requirements of adding players to the 40-man (the Rule V eligibility would have to be adjusted to give teams more time before requiring them to be added to the 40-man)

Top Free Agent Second basemen: Jed Lowrie (35 years old, 4.9 WAR) Asdrubal Cabrera (33, 2.7) Ian Kinsler (37, 2.3) -- Signed 2-year deal with SD (12/20). DJ LeMahieu (30, 2.0) Marwin Gonzalez (30, 1.6) Daniel Descalso (32, 1.6) -- Signed 2-year deal with CHC (12/18). Brian Dozier (32, 0.8) -- Agreed to 1-year deal with WSH (1/10). Daniel Murphy (34, 0.8) -- Signed 2-year deal with COL (12/21). Derek Dietrich (29, 0.8) Cory Spangenberg (28, 0.6) -- Signed 1-year deal with MIL (1/4). Jonathan Schoop (27, 0.5) -- Signed 1-year deal with MIN (12/6). Ronald Torreyes (26, 0.4) -- Signed 1-year deal with MIN (12/6). Josh Harrison (31, 0.3) Andrew Romine (33, 0.1) Neil Walker (33, 0.1) Sean Rodriguez (34, 0.0) Gordon Beckham (32, -0.1) Logan Forsythe (32, -0.2) Brandon Phillips (38, -0.3) Yangervis Solarte (31, -1.3) Top Free Agent Third basemen: Eduardo Escobar (30 years old, 3.5 WAR) -- Signed 3-year deal with ARI (10/22). Mike Moustakas (30, 2.4) Josh Donaldson (33, 1.3) -- Signed 1-year deal with ATL (11/26). Jung Ho Kang (32, 0.0) -- Signed 1-year deal with PIT (11/8). Chase Headley (35, -0.4) Ryan Flaherty (32, -0.4) Danny Valencia (34, -0.4) Jose Reyes (36, -0.9)

crap. I was really hoping Stearns target was Lowrie . I understand if we don't have the $ to commit to $24M, but he was my preferred option. There are still a few good options (well one, Gonzalez, so we still have hope)... or not...

It was after a Chacin start and I also remember he said it and my reaction was the same as yours. Why would he fix a number of outs without knowing the game situation/history. But I remember it too and the 17 stuck in my head.

deadspin.com? I don't even need to respond...

Search the list of playoff wins for coaches. You don’t get to 10 wins on pure luck. Do I think McCarthy came up short one time too many times? Absolutely. Do I think he’s a bad coach? Absolutely not. I’m ready for a change, but I wish him the best (unless he somehow winds up coaching the Vikings in 2020). Absolutely. I do hope he lands on his feet with a good team. I think he needs to do a little reassessment of his offensive approach and his big game planning. I think what hurt him the most are actually favorable assets to have - loyalty to his hires. The problem was that he was too loyal. Winston Moss should have been gone as soon as he pulled that crap and Dom Capers should have been given a home in the same facility that TT will end up... It's great to be a manager and have your staff's back, when that staff runs off the rails or is past their sell-by-date and you hold onto them then you are doing a disservice to your employer and in this case fans...

Context matters. If a coach is often running the last team to qualify for the playoffs then it would be likely that they would have a poorer record. If you could normalize the results against expected results you could get a better idea. The packers being 1/2 seed and losing multiple home games in the conference championship doesn't look good. Personally without looking at the numbers, but knowing the Packers position and talent (HOF quarterback for his playoff stretch) plus the debacle in Seattle I would say that his record is below what it should be for playoffs. Especially as he was started out 3-0 and had arguably better teams 2 years after the SB win...

I agree. Fine yes, but we want more than fine... We've tasted game 7 of the championship series and we want the World Series. I think Spangenburg might be a "replacement" for Perez if they sign another 2B. There's no guarantee they keep Perez even if he's Counsell's precious... I also think that Perez and someone like Harrison are so overlapping that we wouldn't keep both. At this point we go for someone better than Spang/Perez and keep only 1 of the 2 or we just stand pat with Spang/Perez. I also wouldn't be surprised if they add a short term FA 2B, keep Perez and option Spangenburg with the idea that in 2020 Hiura is the 2B and Spang/Perez are backups.

I am crazy! Lowrie wants a multiyear deal in the Zobert ballpark. Will he get it, I doubt it. If he is willing to take a 1 year deal @ the QO offer price, I bet Stearns has the flexibility to get it done. Bumgarner will cost more than he's worth - the Giants can't afford the PR of trading the face of the organization for what he is worth on today's market and Stearns doesn't overpay. Grandall only costs money and a #100ish pick. Neither is a big price (just money and a chance). I will go out on a limb and state emphatically that Grandall will have a MVP like year for the Brewers.... I think you read it here first.... Mark it down and bring it up next fall...

The Padres didn't learn anything from signing Hosmer? They're going to be in on Realmuto for 2 years? Do they really think that's their window. It's one thing to shred money, it's another to trade prospects from a pool they need to rebuild for 2 years of 78 wins instead of 74...

You're absolutely correct, if the Marlins or Twins default and are sold to SEARS the Twins would only owe $300,000 to the guaranteed contract. That hasn't happened since 1969 so not likely to happen anytime soon... But sure, there's a infinitesimally small chance the Twins don't make it to 2020... I'm not usually a conspiracy theorist, but their are way too many articles by "sportswriters" who are connected to agents that always understates a teams salary, etc. They like to go with the smallest number possible to make an impact and the impact is always the players are being short changed. What the Twins are only on the line for $300,000 and the Brewers are spending $100M!!!! Twins fans storm Target field and revolt! Actually the Twins deserve it as they are in a much larger market than the Brewers and have often spent less than the Brewers on salary so their fans should be unhappy with the teams ownership, but the fact they only are projected to have a payroll around $30M for 2020 is still pretty bad (even though it doesn't look as dramatic as $300K)... /rant I guess this is just my "GET OFF MY LAWN" topic...

financial obligations = financial obligations. Minimum salary is a financial obligation. Name 1 team that doesn't have to pay a player at least the minimum salary. The Yankees have to pay tulowitski the minimum even though he's got a guaranteed salary from Toronto. Details matter... "Near the bottom of the spenders, the Minnesota Twins have financial obligations of just $300,000 over the minimum salary requirements after 2019." Accurate? yes. Sorry, got to take a break after adding those 37 characters... winded... must sit down....

Very nice article on Stearns... However, just poor attention to detail: Sorry, but you can't field a team without paying 25 players the minimum so they have to have at least $13.875M invested in payroll. That's an obligation...

Was traded to the Mets fan forum as part of the Broxton deal?

I thought Moustakas did it several times last year with the Brewers...

Didn't they sign Descalso with the idea of him splitting time there with Zobrist? I imagine Baez would move there if they hang on to Russell after his suspension as well. Plus it sounds from various sources that ownership has put in a hard cap on spending. They would need to unload a salary to take on more... At least from several reports...

Thames, Ray and Woodruff to the Marlins for Realmuto... We overbought OF last year and we'll overbuy C this year!

I always thought Dozier was a backup plan for 2B as he has pretty much no flexibility and Stearns values that... I just don't want anything to do with this guy. +1

MLB, NFL, NHL, and NBA all have about 50% of revenues going to player salaries. Any posturing about the FA market is THAT, posturing. The Agents want more money. No need to change anything. It would help if the media wasn't in the pocket of the agents (mlb.com is no longer owned by MLB). Do you think "The Athletic" and other sources aren't doing quid pro quo with the agents for leaking info to them? I'm sure Ken Rosenthal has deals with all the agents/agencies that for early access to info he will beat the drum about players getting stiffed by Billionaire owners. Except when you look at the data it is right in line with all other major sports. Don't buy the propaganda from the agents/their mouthpieces...

Nice 1 year deal for the best FA catcher. Hopefully, Stearns didn't use up all his bubblegum in that wad.... An addition of Lowrie or Marwin Gonzalez would be a perfect next addition... Maybe Mark A realized we needed more talent to get to the World Series and is opening the bank-book... This would obviously fix things. There's nothing to fix. MLB, NFL, NHL, and NBA all have about 50% of revenues going to player salaries. Any posturing about the FA market is THAT, posturing. The Agents want more money. They aren't going to get it and there's a pretty good argument that they are just a bunch of ********. No need to change anything, just more pushback from MLB that they are being treated just as other sports treat their players.

I thought Kratz career year was in 2012. I agree that there is concern about Kratz offensive regression, but I think his defense still is quite good and shouldn't drop off dramatically. I think the Brewers really value that contribution as they could have just given Nottingham the shot to win the backup out of ST (who knows they might still go that route). I think Pina will perform better this year and Steamer tends to also view his 2018 as the outlier. In total (with Pina better and dropoff from Kratz/Nottingham) I expect our catching to be about the same next year if not a little bit better. As I stated previously I am much more concerned about getting upgrade at 2B from last year and a fallback plan if Arcia continues to suck as the Brewers were a 500 team when we had poor hitting from C/2B/SS. It would be great if Hiura steps in and gives us close to average 2B, but if he struggles and Arcia struggles and we get regression from Aguilar/Yelich then we will need some midseason moves to right the ship.

That Trevor Bauer situation over the last four five days is weird as heck. Things I learned from the situation: 1) some people are just one witty comeback from Twitter stardom. If she had only responded to his tweets about 'learn how twitter works' with "learn how drones work" she could have been a star. 2) Trevor Bauer can multitask - while he plays baseball hero by day he can also play Twitter stalker/dick without missing a beat... 3) Twitter still is a platform for the least honorable people to have a voice... and by implication, the internet in general gives a voice to people who really need to go back under their rocks...