Eye Black

From Jon Morosi regarding David Dahl getting a change of scenery (Link): With Dahl, health is obviously an issue. When he's on the field, though, he's a dynamic player. He's intriguing to me. Playing the outfield at Coors is one of the more rigorous jobs in baseball, which is a bad fit for a player who's had trouble staying healthy. Put Dahl in an easier travel/altitude situation, and he could thrive.

From former Brewers beat writer Robert Murray’s article on the non-tender deadline... A last-minute Corey Knebel trade 10 minutes before the non-tender deadline, a Brewers executive with direct knowledge of the situation said that it was “looking like Corey Knebel won’t get (a deal) done” and that a non-tender appeared imminent. Five minutes before the deadline, the Brewers reached an agreement to send Knebel to the Los Angeles Dodgers for a player to be named later or cash considerations. The deal came at the eleventh hour and sent one of the Brewers’ best relievers to the defending World Series champions. Had Knebel been non-tendered, his market in free agency would have been strong, with one high-ranking National League official saying his team was “salivating” when reports surfaced that he would reach free agency. Instead, Knebel heads to a Dodgers team that is uniquely positioned to take on his $5 million salary. When healthy, he has established himself as one of baseball’s best relievers. But he is 20 months removed from Tommy John surgery and put up a 6.08 ERA in 15 appearances with his fastball velocity dropping from 96.9 mph in 2018 to 94.3 in 2020. Knebel, however, showed glimpses of his pre-injury form late in the season, highlighted by a six-strikeout performance against the Cardinals on Sept. 15. The Dodgers have had recent success adding pitchers coming off injury, such as Brandon Morrow and Blake Treinen, and are hoping for similar results for Knebel. “He has a chance to be really productive again,” one Brewers executive said. “Once he gets far enough removed from surgery, watch out. His stuff was there in flashes.” Said one teammate of Knebel’s in Milwaukee: “He’s not done by any stretch.”

Yes, good memory (Article Link): Pina, who was not on Detroit's 40-man roster, was not added to the Brewers' 40-man roster but has received an invitation to spring training. Milwaukee's acquisition of Pina completes last month's deal for Rodriguez, who was traded to Detroit in exchange for infield prospect Javier Betancourt and a player to be named later. Major League Baseball has explicitly stated that any PTBNL must be eligible to be traded at the time the trade is agreed upon. The Brewers did not disclose who they would acquire as a PTBNL until the completion of Thursday's Rule 5 Draft.

I think the logic is that if the Brewers took someone who is eligible for the draft, then they could lose him in the draft. If they wait until after the draft, they'll know if he's gone, and they can have him in the organization and not need to add him to the 40-man until next offseason. Yeah, it’s a pretty common practice for a PTBNL to not be announced until after the Rule 5 draft for those exact reasons. In those cases cash is often the backup alternative if the agreed upon player is drafted by another organization.

One non-tendered player to keep an eye on is OF Brian Goodwin. The Brewers reportedly were close to acquiring him at this past deadline. He is a 4th outfielder that is an above average fielder in left and can play a passable CF if needed. Goodwin bats from the left side and seems like a possibility as a cheap option to replace Ben Gamel. Obviously the Brewers may just prefer to give Tyrone Taylor an opportunity, especially since Goodwin wouldn't be able to be optioned.

I think that’s a possibility as well. If it is the case then it’s likely someone on the list below. Dodgers minor leaguers that are Rule 5 eligible: Donovan Casey OF/RHP Brett de Geus RHP Omar Estevez SS/2B Marshall Kasowski RHP Jeren Kendall OF Logan Salow LHP Justin Yurchak 1B/3B Guillermo Zuniga RHP Cody Thomas OF Parker Curry RHP Nolan Long RHP Brayan Morales OF Carlos Rincon OF/DH Errol Robinson SS/2B/3B Cristian Santana 3B/1B/SS Jordan Sheffield RHP Shea Spitzbarth RHP Leonel Valera SS/3B/2B Nick Yarnall 1B/OF

Brewers have signed 3B Zach Green to a minor league deal with an invite to major league Spring Training camp.

Here is the quote from David Stearns on the catching situation: "It will give us time through the coming months to sort through all of that. ... We're happy we have that level of depth at the catching position." My best guess is that either Nottingham or Freitas gets moved at some point this offseason.

My thoughts? I need to follow a different team because the Brewers are not interested in being a serious World Series contender. I'm sick and damn tired of this. And don't give me, "the team has made the playoffs three years in a row." 2020 was a joke of a year and the Brewers were in the playoffs due to a cash grab expanded playoffs. And now the team is moving backwards. Was there someone specific out of Knebel, Claudio, Gamel, or Peterson that you’re upset they parted ways with? If not, it seems a little premature to be outraged over the payroll until we see who they add to the roster over the remainder of the offseason. None of the players they non-tendered yesterday are likely going to make the difference on determining whether they can compete for a World Series.

One possibility is the PTBNL may be someone eligible for the Rule 5 draft next week. In that scenario if the PTBNL gets selected the Brewers would likely receive cash instead. Here are the Dodgers top 30 prospects according to MLB Pipeline that are Rule 5 draft eligible: 21) Omar Estevez, 2B/SS 27) Brett de Geus, RHP 30) Cody Thomas, OF Another possibility is the Dodgers provided a list of possible PTBNL and the Brewers needed more than a few hours to decide. Of course another possibility is still that this all ends as a cash transaction.

Bring Jeren Kendall home. In all seriousness it isn’t going to be much, so it would be great to take a shot on a talented player who hasn’t put it together yet.

His stats away from Coors are just .248/.302/.420/.722. Not sure he'd really qualify as a superstar hitter. Injuries have probably taken a serious toll as well. Still a worthy gamble for some team at a reasonable salary. Yeah I know his home/road splits are wide, but I wasn’t necessarily referring to his previous track record (he only has 1,000 MLB plate appearances), but rather pointing out that the talent is there (if healthy) to develop into a true impact hitter if he were to get anywhere near his perceived ceiling.

From Will Sammon: For clarity, Knebel was traded prior to the deadline, per Brewers president David Stearns. Added that, "this was something that popped up today. ... Corey had a tremendous career as a Brewer."

Yep, the reporting that he was non-tendered appears to have been inaccurate.

A Brewers closer traded to the Dodgers just like we suspected all along.

From Will Sammon... Brewers moves, per team: Non-tendered: Corey Knebel, Ben Gamel, Alex Claudio, Jace Peterson. Tendered: Hader, Woodruff Agreed to 1-year deals avoiding arbitration: Narvaez, Arcia, Vogelbach, Pina

No doubt that Dahl has been hampered by injuries, but he’s young enough and talented enough that he should garner plenty of interest. He’s one of the few players on the market (for a reasonable cost) whose >90th percentile outcome is a superstar hitter. He has a very high ceiling that could still be reached if he were able to stay healthy.

The Rockies non-tendered OF David Dahl and I have no idea why. He’s becoming a free agent at 26 after being an All Star in 2019. Seems a bit baffling.

From Ballpark Digest: Word now is that we won’t get a list of the 120 until December 8 at the earliest. Yow.

Well there goes one of my offseason moves... Per Ken Rosenthal: Angels have acquired Jose Iglesias from the Orioles, source tells The Athletic.

I obviously don’t know exactly what Schwarber at 1B would look like, but based on the fact he used to be a decent college catcher and began his professional career at the position I at least have hope he’s athletic enough to handle first base competently.

Per Jon Heyman (Link)

As some expected, 3B Maikel Franco is reportedly getting non-tendered by the Royals. He could be a realistic entrant into the Brewers search for a third basemen this offseason.

It’s Bob Nightengale, so take it for what it’s worth, but he’s reporting the Cubs will non-tender Kyle Schwarber. Schwarber has always seemed like a shaky outfielder, but if he was able to play a passable 1B he’d be an intriguing corner infield option for the Brewers.

I think he's in the "sound the alarm" category because the optics of a large market team non-tendering a former MVP, three-time All-Star, and long perceived franchise cornerstone player before he's even turned 29 years old would be pretty shocking on the surface. If you dig into it deeper, as many here have done, it makes a lot more sense and wouldn't be considered overly shocking.