Thurston Fluff

I JUST happened to read an article on how much the Nationals had to spend this season and how the Lerner family did not want to come close to the luxury tax for a 3rd straight year(that was before the Corbin signing, just laying out what the article stated) and they said that they use the average annual value of the contract for the competitive balance tax. So I guess they money all counts against the luxury tax cap. At least that was what this article said and that was my best understanding of it. The figures used in the article were 140 million for money committed to contracts heading into this off-season, but 152 regarding the luxury tax. I was under the impression that Sherzer had even more money deferred per year and Strausburg had money deferred as well that would be more than 12 million, but I could be wrong on that. Thanks. I assumed that was the case. It would be to easy to game the system otherwise but it doesn't hurt to ask.

Does anybody know how deferred money works with regard to the luxury tax?

$10 million doesn't get you a middle of the order bat these days and hasn't for a while now.

I think the worries about how high the payroll is now might be overblown somewhat. Payrolls go up over time so it being higher now than in the past should be expected. We can't be comparing it to years past. If we are going to be competitive now it is going to be higher than the last time we had a competitive team.

Couldn't agree more. I think guys like him are fairly easy to get and he was probably more interested in being here than anywhere else. It's more the timing of it than anything. Why not let him look for a major league deal somewhere and come back on a minor league deal if or, more likely, when he can't get one. We could even let him know we would sign him to one if there was nothing out there for him so he'd know there was a place for him here.

From everything I've read or heard about him is his defense is well above average. I know he graded out as one of the best pitch framers in the league last season and threw out 30% of base stealers and four passed balls in just under 500 innings.

I don't think you can get a average major league middle infielder for 1-2 million in the free agent market. If we can, I am all for it. If we can't, then we have to look at trades, be willing to trust in house help or scrap heap guys. That can be done. There are times and places to do just that. But it is a crapshoot. The time and place is more fitting for a team not in a position to win next season than one that is. Schoop isn't guaranteed to be a success, but I think his less than stellar performance with us so far has tainted our view of him somewhat. He is an average, albeit erratic, middle infielder. He would be overpaid next season in all likelihood. Normally I am against that. I do think one year overapys are sometimes worthwhile. I think this is one of those times.

The problem is they would need two or three year deals. That is a roster spot being used on someone who may only start for half a season. Using that spot on someone to play the same role as Perez or Dubon means losing a spot to protect someone on the 40 man roster next year. Or to risk losing someone who is out of options and equally valuable for less money. For me Schoop's main value is that it is only a one year commitment. I wouldn't pay Schoop the money. We could do more with it- either get another 2B or use it for raises elsewhere and by time for Hiura. Also, I'm all for someone better taking over for Perez. I don't think we could realistically do more with it. Obviously you think it is possible to pay someone of better value than Schoop or Perez for one year who would be fine with a bench role on a couple months at bench player salary but who are these people? Can you name a single guy you think would be willing to do that? Keep in mind you have to know that guy is out there before the arby tender deadline. You can't just wait out the market if you really want to make sure there isn't a black hole at second again next season. Well, you can, but I am not in favor or it for the one year $10 million it would cost. That really isn't a whole lot of money in the big picture. Realistically I don't think anyone better than Perez is going to settle for a bench role for one year and less than $10 million. Certainly not one willing to commit before the Brewers have to make a decision on Schoop. I would be all for it if there is mind you. In theory if there was someone who was going to do that I would be happy to have him and say goodbye to Schoop. I just don't think that is something free agents of any value would go for at this point of the offseason.

The problem is they would need two or three year deals. That is a roster spot being used on someone who may only start for half a season. Using that spot on someone to play the same role as Perez or Dubon means losing a spot to protect someone on the 40 man roster next year. Or to risk losing someone who is out of options and equally valuable for less money. For me Schoop's main value is that it is only a one year commitment.

Maybe I'm wrong but I think hitting coaches help fix mechanics or change the type of swing somewhat but strike zone judgement is more on the player than the coach. I just can't see many coaches teaching them to swing at garbage.

Well played. Probably the most interesting thing about this news.

No it was Bf.net. I was here back then and only ever knew this as .net. That was back when Jim Powell used to pimp the site on the radio which is how I found it.

All of them were holdovers from the last regime. They may have been perfectly fine at their job but the people in charge want to go with people they are more comfortable with for whatever reason. For all we know they may have been to similar to others and the team wanted more diverse opinions so more players had someone they could relate to. All I know is Counsell and Stearns have their name attached to how things pan out so they should be allowed to chose who to work with regardless of how competent the current guys are.

That was both hilarious and sad. Dude was a major jerk and some of the stuff he posted here was quite funny for how petty they were. However I felt bad his ex wife felt the need to come on here and apologize for him. I also felt the way the posters here handled her was pretty nice. I'd say classy but that word is ruined forever.

I would agree with you if it was like mid-August when there is no other option. Right now the world is out oyster and we can improve quite easily for not too much money (or prospects). For example lets say we could get Marwin Gonzalez at 3/$24mil and he gives us an OPS+ of 115. Hiura comes up and shows some flashes, but his OPS+ is 85...that is a pretty big drop off before even considering defense. And yes defensive shifting helps, but you will not hide his poor arm and overall questionable defensive skills. Shaw has a strong arm making him pretty good on defensive shifts...that will be a long throw for Hiura out there if it isn't smoked right at him. You can't just ignore all the potential scenarios we could do this offense and just compare Hiura to what we had last year...that's just not right. I'm not even saying Hiura can't come up and be great. All I am saying is why not getting a better back-up plan if you are going to spend 8 figures? Where are you getting the Hiura is a bad defender from? I know he had surgery on his shoulder so there was questions about it holding up but I never heard anything bad about his defense outside of that. If there is something other than questions about a weak arm I would love to see it but if his arm strength is all that you are basing it off of I don't think it's much of an issue at second.

With both of these guys, Schoop especially, the Hiura factor has to be considered. Barring injury or struggles at AAA, he'll be up at some point in 2019. If you're a free agent with options, why would you come to a team where you have a real chance to be benched by mid-season? Conversely, is the player who's willing to sign with Milwaukee knowing their top prospect is on the horizon at the same position likely to be better than your former All-Star? Given Shaw's positional flexibility, I think there's a decent chance the Brewers will try to hold on to one of Schoop / Moose. Signing a stopgap to a multi-year deal would actually end up being more expensive than an additional 1-year for either player. Bingo. Schoop brings as much as anyone willing to play the role the Brewers are offering. The other possibility is he starts to hit better and becomes trade bait next year. If we could get something out of him until either Hiura or Dubon, maybe both, are ready we could get something for him to boot.

Shoring up the catching position would be nice. I think it's time to put Braun in a reserve role and go with Santana. I wouldn't mind them getting a second baseman but think we have some options in the minors that may be ready midseason so I wouldn't spend too much for one. If they stick with Schoop I wouldn't mind because of that. The one thing I hope is Stearns doesn't get carried away and trade the future for the proverbial missing piece next year. The best part about this team is it's sustainable for while.

This feels like the beginning not the end.

I can’t tell anyone else how to fan but just enjoy this moment, enjoy this season... it’s been magical. And you never know, it may be another 36 years before you can do this again. The one thing that makes this run more enjoyable is it feels like the beginning of something instead of the culmination of years of building to this one moment. In 2011 we went all in and knew it was a do or die year, maybe two at most. This time around basically everyone is coming back for several years and more talent is on the way to supplement what we already have.

I've been watching the playoff games online at MLB tv for free. I don't have a subscription, don't have cable, dish, directtv, sling or anything. All I did was google how can I get the Brewers game for free and it came up as one of the choices. Weird thing is I miss the commercials. They just have a message saying commercial break with no background noise at all. I've started to hum theme songs from old sitcoms just to have some background noise. Other than that it comes in well with no issues.

I get less nervous/annoyed when I'm outside playing with the dog and listening to the game than if I just sit and watch. I think it has to do with pent up energy or something.

I think what is missing in this is how much easier it is to find and develop several pitchers who can go through the lineup once than it is to find those who can go through it three times. If we happen to find a Sherzer fine. But to rely on finding that guy when it is far easier to find and develop several Jeffess's seems a waste of time and resources to me. That said, I don't think the way the Brewers are doing it now is because of some sort of system they think will work in perpetuity. They just happened to have the sort of talent that lends itself to this style of play. I would be disappointed if they suddenly had a workhorse sort of ace pop up in their system but decided to make him fit the mold they are using this season simply because that is the way they do it. So far they seem averse to fitting square pegs in round holes. I hope they continue adapting to what they have over what they want.

I think the compensation will be there for the pitchers no matter what. Even now relievers are paid well above what they used to. Look at how much the Red Sox paid in players to get Thornburg. Does anybody think they would be less afraid to spend a lot of money for Hader in free agency? The good thing about the Brewers being ahead of the curve on this is they get these soon to be unaffordable players on the cheap until the Yankees of the world start paying top dollar for them. Then we'll be forced to move onto the next undervalued thing.

Interesting theory. My uneducated guess is that BABIP doesn't fluctuate much for guys with low K rates (like Miley) but maybe more their rate of hard contact gets worse as games go on. That is an intersting theory igor67. I think if the hard hit rate goes up BABIP is likely to do so as well.

Back in the 90's I used to go bear hunting up north near the UP border and the Brewers game was always on in bars all summer long. I haven't been up there since then but if the mid 90's teams were on I'd have to imagine there would be even higher interest now.