Playing Catch

I think Joe Ryan would be an excellent target to trade a good prospect for, as you would have him under team control next season as well.

MLB has to change the rules again, cause it looks awful for the sport, that apparently, there is such a shortage of pitching talent in the world, that there's just no arms left. It's really, really dumb. Just add two, tree pitching taxi spots on the roster. Daily activation can switch out fresh arms for tired arms, or have dedicated legacy pitchers on the roster. Recent retirees or something... Or at least make position players throw real pitches. It has to change.

It's true. They will be needing as many dollars as possible to keep the next core around during their pricier arbitration years.

Who is going to take over the Yelich contract in 2030? What about Woody's next season? That's what a lot of Brewers should be asking themselves, considering the upcoming CBA could help the Brewers hang onto a respected veteran star. I think they are probably too old to consider for a THAT big of a deal, but it seems like either Turang or Contreras would fit the bill. (And it would be hilarious if the Crew signed Freddy this offseason). I agree with Jopal's whole take. They won't trade Wild Bill now. They might trade him this offseason, but I doubt it. The upcoming CBA will determine a lot of things with how things go. That may mean a rather static trade deadline, or a wild one, who knows.

Thanks for sharing this. I think it makes great sense, and makes it easier to understand those numbers.

I agree that it's pretty unlikely, for all of the well-discussed ideas above. I don't, however, agree with those that think it would be impossible that neither one could be a better offensive option in September than any player Fisher or Made could be traded for. Their ceilings make them difficult for a small-budget team to trade, for that reason. They're really legit prospects. It would be aggressive to promote them, of course, but those kinds of moves have been happening more often across the league with prospects of their caliber.

I love it. One could make a decent argument that those numbers tell a more significant story about the Brewers organization than anything individual prospects accomplish.

If Vaughn started everyday would it help or hurt him? While the IGT may not like Vaughn's starting the game on the bench, it sure is a dangerous bat to bring in against a lefty late. I think Vaughn's role is really valuable for a team that wins on all the margins. I kinda feel like he's more valuable in his role than a typical RH masher, as it pertains to wins/losses, but that his platoon-role could cost him in terms of market-value.

Good comp

Good article. He's really hard to comp, I think. Particularly with his observed numbers. If a guy is hard to comp, that usually means that all the players like them failed to make it in the big leagues. We don't remember the lesser players. So, with that said, when I watch him hit, he reminds me of some combination of the following successful players... Kyle Seager Ben Rice Phil Plantier J.D. Drew Jeff Bagwell Barry Bonds Joey Votto But NONE of those guys struck out like Fisher does. If Fisher is ever successful carrying a +30% K-rate in MLB he's going to be wild to watch. It would most likely be Oneil Cruz-like, w/o the carrying physical tools.

It's crazy enough that those trades don't happen very often. I think that it's hard to find motivated trading partners. If you are the Rockies, trading for say, Blake Perkins and Tyler Black might make sense, as the Rockies likely need guys to play in the big leagues, but for a team like that, aren't they trying to stockpile prospects? Why would they send prospects back? I suppose if you wanted to trade Luke Adams for 2 A-ball pitchers or something, that could make sense for both sides. You would basically be finding trade partners that could use some more 40-man/AAAA depth right now and are willing to trade future assets for that depth. Or perhaps teams believe so much in prospects like Adams, that they are banking he can be a regular with playing time.

So what you are saying is, is that Sveum's stat-slinging will never find a sample stone big enough to convince a giant to change their mind?

I think the power-requirement against good pitchers maxim is the same as the power-requirement for scoring runs in the regular season. There's a positive correlation, no doubt. But it's pure silliness to suggest a team can't outhomer another team in a seven game series and lose, or vice-versa. It happens all the time during the regular season. But like anything that positively contributes to scoring runs, it is good to do more of it. So duh, it's better to outhomer your opponent. As I will always say during this argument --- The Brewers outhomered the Mets in the 2024 series they lost to the Mets. Also, one reason that truism has been emphasized forever is because hitting HRs in the playoffs is how the Yankees win games in the playoffs. I know that if it's Game 7 and the Brewers are looking at a one-run deficit against the Yankees and peak Mariano Rivera, I like David Hamilton's chances of a bunt single, followed by three opportunities to get him over and get him in, than I do of one of your 7-8-9 guys just taking their hacks at homering on a cutter. It might be likelier, statistically, that a random hitter hits a HR off Rivera. But you don't get random hitters in the bottom of the 9th down by a run. You get the hitters you got. The Brewers aren't going to trade for any guys good enough to just take their hacks in that situation, and frankly, I don't think if the Brewers trade for 2024 trade-deadline Eugenio Suarez, that he is batting 7-8-9 anyway.

Bravo to all of their teachers. I used to marvel at 18-year old basketball players becoming millionaires overnight and still being able to keep their heads enough that they became KG, King James, or Black Mamba. In baseball --- as neurotic a sport that there is --- I'm amazed that these Latin kids (and every prospect, really, regardless of where they are from), are able to perform with the sheer volume of attention they get as 18-year olds that look up to 21-year olds. The language side of things is one part of it, but also just the cultural whiplash it must be for them. The pressures of capitalizing on their fame. The Brewers must have excellent, excellent staffing at every level, and must truly value the persons beyond the players. If people push for their maximum, in the hyper-competitive space of pro sports, it requires incredible support for them when they inevitably fail or struggle on their journey. Obviously, family and friends play the most important role of support, and I'm sure there are examples of players being dissatisfied with how the team treated them, but from an outsider view, it sure looks like they are doing a lot right to help players reach their career goals, while managing all of the off-the-field stuff that comes with the job.

We've been anticipating this log-jam for months. I think most of us just figured that due to trade, injury, or performance, the hypothetical log-jam would straighten itself out. But here we are, on the cusp of the mid-season acquisition window, and there haven't been any significant changes to the situation except for the oodles of performance the players are providing. The proverbial good place to be, with good problems to sort out. There's a hypothetical limit to acquiring the best players where all of the good players are already on your team, so any addition is really just a subtraction from the whole. While I'm not suggesting the Brewers are at THAT point, I think that improving the 26-man will necessarily diminish the overall talent/value in the organization, which just doesn't seem to fit the Brewers' worldview. But I've said it before, this organization has never stopped evolving. Perhaps trading a bunch of prospects could be a new twist in that evolution. But I doubt it. I think they are looking at all of those 40-man spots in 2027-2030 and they know they will want much of those spots to be filled with cheap, controllable talent. I think that with the looming CBA, and with this current 26-man, the Brewers see this being a "peak" season for picking/biting apples. I think whatever moves are made are made with the idea that there will be a different team on the field in 2027. I think they move on from the bottom-half of the 26-man, and truly commit to Pratt, Lara, Quero and a number of the AA guys by June '27. I think that if the Brewers make a "big" trade, it won't be for a rental like Skubal, but it will be some kind of suprise acquisition of a controllable guy, like when they traded for Contreras or Adames.