Eye Black

I have been thinking of this as well. What players out there would be potential targets in trades where we would take on a large salary? I have seen Mookie Betts and Francisco Lindor being thrown around in rumors. Any others? A few that come to mind that shouldn’t cost much in terms of trade value if a team were willing to take on their remaining contracts... Corey Kluber (1 year at $17.5 million with a team option for $18 million in 2021 or a $1 million buyout) Jean Segura (4 years and $45.5 million) Kyle Seager (3 years and $54 million)

The Hader rumors from Rosenthal might not come to fruition, but this reminds me of the offseason before the 2018 season when he was also the first to report the Brewers were interested in Lorenzo Cain nearly three weeks before he signed with the Brewers. That same offseason he was also the first to indicate the Brewers had interest in Mike Moustakas even though they had Travis Shaw on the roster, they then traded for Moose six months later before the trade deadline.

I would be surprised if the front office’s valuation of Thames worth has changed much over the past month. They seem pretty disciplined when it comes to that sort of thing.

Do you by chance remember last offseason when Haudricourt repeatedly stated the Brewers payroll was stretched to its limits? That was before they signed Yasmani Grandal and Moustakas, and I would consider Haudricourt an infinitely more reputable source for Brewers information than Bob Nightengale. Nightengale’s report should not be taken as fact or proof of anything at this point. Also, “several rival executives” have no idea what the Brewers are planning to spend on payroll.

Pretty crazy (via Robert Murray) when put into this context... Putting Brewers roster changes into perspective: 13 of 25 players that made up Oct. 1 wild-card roster are now gone. That number could increase with potential Orlando Arcia trade, losing Jordan Lyles in free agency.

No, actually just visiting. Headed back home to Crazy Town next week.

You didn’t rule out Cole... what do you know?

A big free agent signing or two may be in the works, but one thing I wouldn’t completely rule out with the payroll flexibility is the Brewers taking on a larger contract in a trade (or even a bad contract in order to get more overall value). Not something we are used to as Brewers fans, but they certainly have money to spend in one form or another to improve the roster.

I give Stearns credit for that. He's not one to stick by a guy he acquired and missed on. It's all about value. Agreed, we saw it with Schoop, and now with Claudio. He doesn’t compound a problem by doubling down if they don’t believe in the player’s present value.

The Reds are a weird organization.

This would be the perfect offseason, IMO. I would be ecstatic if these were ultimately all the moves made when the dust settles.

I'd do that in a heartbeat. Solves two of the biggest holes on the current roster for minimum salary. Frees up $4-5m to spend on pitching (or a catcher) to go with the $40-50m already there. Whatever Peterson ends up doing is just icing on the cake. But I also think that's an unrealistically good trade, one that not even the Mets would make. The ideal trade partner, as needs match up, would probably be the Dodgers. The issue there is that they've not shown any kind of willingness to trade any young player they believe in. But let's imagine they're flexible on that for the sake or argument. With Urias here Gavin Lux is probably not an option anymore. But they have pitchers May or Gonsolin (Wouldn't be the headliner, but a useful addition to a better prospect), catchers like Will Smith (Probably untouchable though) and Keibert Ruiz. Makes a lot of sense on paper. Generally I'm very much in favor of checking out the market for Hader. With a high asking price of course. Hader is one of the best relievers in the game, but relievers are volatile and they impact at most 5% of innings pitched (Even if those innings tend to be high-leverage ones). That's not to say they're not important, but it should still be the last area you focus on. If you can use a reliever, even a really good one, to fill two immediate needs elsewhere, you do it. However I think it'll be a struggle to find a partner that matches up. Dodgers were discussed above. Astros kind of fit the same mould. But beyond that? Would the Mets really do that kind of deal again? Yankees seem to be collecting every reliever they can and they have the ammunition, but at some point even they will say enough is enough. Anyone else seems like a real long shot. Braves? Padres? If the White Sox really are serious this year? I think ultimately no team meets the asking price, and Hader remains a Brewer. I would also be thrilled if the Brewers were able to get that package from the Mets. In my opinion, it would be the perfect pairing of position players (McNeil and Smith) which would allow the Brewers to allocate their freed up financial resources towards pitching. It also seems too good to be true as I think the Mets view McNeil as one of the cornerstones of their lineup for the foreseeable future. Somewhat related, I do wonder if part of the Mets plan in acquiring Marcus Stroman last season is to actively take offers on Syndergaard this offseason. I agree that finding a suitable trade partner for Hader is going to be challenging. If the Brewers weren’t in the middle of a win cycle there are additional teams not mentioned that could put together an enticing package of players 1-2 years away from the majors. The Twins are the primary example that comes to mind (i.e. Kirilloff, Graterol, Larnach, Lewis). Based on the fact a trade of Hader likely requires that the Brewers receive impact major league talent in return I can’t think of any teams not mentioned above that I would include as viable trade candidates. The Dodgers still seems to be the best fit, but they also haven’t shown a willingness to trade away key young pieces previously. I don’t think they would consider moving Lux at this point, but there is a slightly better (albeit maybe still small) chance they would move Seager in a Hader swap. The Yankees were mentioned above and it seems like they are willing to move Miguel Andujar and Clint Frazier this offseason, but even if Andujar were paired with a MLB ready pitcher like Jonathan Loiasiga I don’t think those are the types of players that would improve the Brewers roster enough in the near term to justify moving Hader. I guess one unexplored option is a three team trade could be an option in a situation like this where the Brewers don’t matchup with many teams one-on-one for trade possibilities.

La Stella is currently projected as a starter on an Angels team that is desperately trying to piece together a playoff caliber squad during Mike Trout’s prime (now 28 years old). I don’t think they would move La Stella unless they were adding value to their major league roster.

Not likely a realistic target for the Brewers, but there appears to be increasing smoke around the idea of the Cubs possibly trading Willson Contreras this offseason. If they do, I will be curious to see what they are able to land for him, and if they seek mostly major league talent or use it as an opportunity to give their farm system a boost. The latter seems a little crazy considering where they are in their current win cycle.

Unless they were going to flip Claudio in another deal, I can’t imagine the Mariners being motivated to move any of their assets for a middle reliever with just two years of control remaining.

Looking back at this year’s Baseball America Prospect Handbook (published last February) they had Urías as the #3 overall prospect in the Padres system (a farm system they had ranked as #1 in baseball). They had him ranked as the second best 2B prospect in baseball behind only Keston Hiura. Below is their scouting report for Urías.

Well it was written by a former member of the Brewers’ front office. Thanks for sharing.

I’m still bummed they hired Dave Cameron and took him out of the public sphere.

If Logan Morrison is playing meaningful innings for the Brewers in 2020 at least I can take solace in the fact that it undoubtedly means they built the ultimate “Stars and Scrubs” roster by spending all of their money on some extremely pricey contracts via trades and free agency in the offseason.

I thought the Braves moved a 3B prospect to the OF last season due to Donaldson?? Yes, Austin Riley. He is expected to be the Braves 3B this year and a middle of the order bat.

Let me preface with this before offering a counter argument, I think the odds of the Brewers signing Rendon as well as the odds that he actually takes a shorter term, higher AAV deal both remain extreme long shots. Now if we were discussing any other superstar hitter turning 30 years old and entering free agency I would agree with you at an almost 100% certainty. Rendon seems like he could be a slightly different story in terms of motivation. He is the same guy that once said he doesn’t watch baseball on TV because it’s too boring, and more recently when asked what he was going to be doing at age 36 (the current age of teammate Howie Kendrick) he answered, “Hopefully not playing baseball. Probably sitting on the couch hanging out with my kids. [Kendrick is] probably going to play another 20 years.” Now I am sure he was just joking, but it also isn’t exactly the answer of a guy that is eyeing up some crazy decade long commitment. Now that being said, he is a Boras client. Ultimately I think Rendon will probably re-sign with the Nationals for something like 7 years for $240-$250 million. If I was a team convinced he was the difference making piece that was needed for a serious WS run I would consider offering him the following contract terms: Year 1: $42.5 million Year 2: $42.5 million *Player Opt Out* Year 3: $40 million *Player Opt Out* Year 4: $35 million Year 5: $35 million Year 6: Mutual Option for $35 million or $5 million buyout. That guarantees him $85 million over two years before having the option to seek a new contract if he wishes. It gives him another option to look around after 3 years (and $125 million guaranteed). The full contract with the buyout guarantees him a minimum of $200 million over 5 years if he chooses not to take the player opt outs. I think that might appeal to him over a 7 year and $250 million deal with no player opt outs.

So far the Brewers offseason plan seems to be to shed as much salary as possible from role players in order to create a significant amount of financial flexibility. I know we’re conditioned to believe the Brewers won’t swim in the deep end of the Free Agent pool, but they at least have some money to spend this offseason. Monday will be another round of tender/non-tender decisions with Arcia and Shaw being the most anticipated possibilities that could go either way. Below are the players from 2019 that already won’t be on the roster in 2020 (unless of course some of the free agents re-sign). Anderson (Blue Jays) Grisham (Padres) Davies (Padres) Grandal (White Sox) Pomeranz (Padres) Moustakas (FA) Thames (FA) Lyles (FA) Gonzalez (FA) J. Guerra (reportedly non-tendered)

Here is sort of a fun highlight because it incorporates both Urías hitting a 98.6-mph Ray Black fastball to the gap and because Grisham holds him to a single on a nice play to cut it off: Luis Urias singles on a sharp line drive to center fielder Trent Grisham. As a reminder you can use Statcast to watch every pitch an MLB player faces, for instance here is the 2019 Luis Urías Statcast search results. Click on his name at the bottom of the page to expand the search results table. Video links of each pitch faced are on the right side of the expanded table.

Well he’s already checked that box ...

Here is the Baseball Trade Values article regarding the trade: Making sense of the Padres/Brewers trade