Playing Catch

I think that, if Murph had it to do over again, he may do things differently, instead of yanking a rookie after a base hit. But as is suggested with some of the other comments here, I don't think these types of things are done in a vacuum. Murphy is with these guys all of the time. He sees a lot. The whole thing looked a little unfair to me, sure. But IF Murphy is good at this, and I happen to think he's really good at this, he knows who he could do this to and who he couldn't (or shouldn't, IMO. You don't bench and embarrass Contreras the same way. Dude puts it on the line day after day and is a two-time all-star). And as someone mentioned, this was clearly more of a mentality check than an effort check. If Cooper Pratt is going to be the best option at shortstop in the playoffs as a 22-year old, he's going to need to squeeze every last drop of his focus, aggressiveness, and competitiveness that he's got. Because I guarantee that Andrew Vaughn can't wait to play more third base, and he's a player that doesn't seem to lack for concentration and in-game focus. Would Pratt have gotten the bunt down? I don't know. Would he have made it to 2nd on the blooper? I don't know. But should he have tried?

We all knew at the time of the deal that there was a high liklihood that the last couple of years of the deal could be "painful". I think it's important, as a marketable enterprise, to have strong brand recognition. Yelich has served in that role with distinction. He's humble, hard-working, and by all accounts a pretty good human being. Like so many of the contributors to this organization, I like to appreciate him for all of the things that he is and has been, rather than disappointed about all of the things he is not and may never be.

If a GM wanted to add more pitching, the GM could get it w/o trading one of your top 7 or 8 most valuable players in the organization. Made should be kept. You don't trade guys like him.

I believe the Brewers are arguably the most well-run franchise in pro sports. That doesn't happen by accident.

The topic and article were good. The headline was provacative.

I think Sal has been hurt all season. Dude was walking around like an old man in April. If he comes back healthy, he could really provide a little spark (holistically) at the end of the season. He's performed in big moments, and he could provide the whole team with a sense of confident determination.

Contreras for [fill in Yankees package here], Fischer+ for Salas. Love it.

Fun topic. Admittedly, I thought you were asking for how we think their big-league careers will pan out, rather than how the Brewers will handle things. But fun topic either way. Because all of the Rule-5 stuff is in such flux, I'm just going to ignore all of those implications for this response. Additionally, how the Brewers decide to do things, and how an average MLB team would decide to do things could be two very different things due to the competitive position the Brewers are in, and expect to be in going forward. Fischer being the easiest example... Fischer - Perhaps it's the kool-aid talking, but I have this weird sense that he's gunna be a star --- despite all of my rational instincts telling me he'll flop. We're just seeing more and more of these guys carry big K-numbers into MLB and having success, and I love that he's been completely split-neutral this season. I thought Eldridge would flop, just to name one. I had no idea what to expect from Murakami, but here we are. I have no idea what the Brewers will do with such an unusual profile for them, but I think they should trade him, or play him at 1st due to defense, development risk, and current value in a trade. If he played in a different org, I think it would be better for him to get promoted before June '27 and have him play every single game at third base (thus the high trade value). Burke - Like many here, I've loved him since they drafted him, and I was so excited to see him obliterate this season. I'm a little concerned about his splits, but that could be said about many a slugger, and they weren't quite so pronounced in 2025, so I think one can hope for it to improve. I think he's a sure-fire platoon power threat in the big leagues, and I think he'll play for 10 years in that role. I think the Brewers will give him a chance out of spring to win a roster spot, and I think he'll play for them in '27, and get about 175 ABs. Adams - I think Adams will play through his arby-years in the show. Time will tell if he can maintain the athleticism and profile to get free-agent deals after that. I think he'll debut in '27 for someone other than the Brewers. Bitonti - I have never completely bought into Bitonti, but I think it's because of how excited I'd be if I did. I wouldn't dare. I think the Brewers should, and will, slow play his development as long as possible. And I think that would be a wise path for the player to follow as well, due to the frame. With that said, I acknowledge that the speed of player develoment these days is remarkable, so players can find their ceilings pretty quickly, the Miz being the perfect example. I won't include Wilkin or Boeve as this has already gotten too long.

Good article, @Matthew Trueblood, While I take issue with some of your comments ("colossal disappointment"? Sheesh.), You seem to focus on Hamilton's development, rather than his play on the field. And I agree with your suggestion that his defense has been more inconsistent, rather than straight bad. I've stated this before, but I think the Brewers considered Hamilton a better player than Durbin (playing at AmFam, not Fenway), in their roles. That is, they didn't love Durbin as their primary 3rd baseman as much as they loved Hamilton as their primary bench IFer. I think they are still searching for their primary 3rd baseman, and we all know that Ortiz is simply keeping the seat warm for one of their prospects. In many ways, Hamilton is the prototypical bench infielder. He can play effectively enough at all three spots, he is left-handed and lightning-fast. He can ACTUALLY BUNT (leading to the IGT's loving, backhanded sobriquet), he can make pitchers work. I kinda love Hamilton this season, despite his deficiencies.

I couldn't believe some article manufacturing concern about the height of our 2nd 1st baseman got to 2 pages, but I see this thread is mostly about next year's first base options. Bauers' free agency will be fascinating. He seems like a perfect candidate to get vastly overpaid by some team in the AL West. I will always be a huge Bauers fan --- even before his career year. Just like other guys that have recently left the team (Adames, Tobias Myers, Tyrone Taylor, Adrian Houser, Blake Perkins, etc.), Bauers has been a model teammate and pro that a manager can count on to be ready and to give his best that day. I hope the Angels give him a 10-year deal. As Rick says above, Vaughn is kinda perfect for the Crew next year, whatever he costs in arbitration. Burke is a great candidate to offer as a platoon, if the Brewers decide to use a roster spot for a part-time 1B/DH only. But I think that question belongs in a Yelich thread.

Agreed. I look at most trade acquisitions this way. In such small samples, the player has a new opportunity to perform each time they go out. If May stinks for all of his regular season starts, but throws ~8 total innings of good pitching in the playoffs, the Brewers will most likely get what they wanted to get out of May. For the remainder of the regular season, his value is tied mostly to his innings pitched, but I'm sure the Crew are hoping to get him pitching great by the time the playoffs roll around. In terms of the return, and the future performance of those traded away, I'm not sure what there is to say, it was a hefty return, but it was the deadline. I think Ragsdale/Frias were meant to go to Detroit for Skubal, when that didn't happen, they pivoted to other options. The Cubs paid hefty prices for their pitching, too, so getting a solid lefty reliever AND May seemed commensurate with the high prices at the deadline. The Brewers overpaid for May and Romero, but that was the going rate based on my assessment, and I'm glad they got two pitchers that are clearly better than their internal options, even for Frias/Ragsdale.

I have this "fear" that if the Brewers win a World Series, that I'll forever be less enthused about next year. I still remember fondly the last two Packer Super Bowl wins, but those wins mean little compared to the Badgers Final 4 runs or Rose Bowls. There's just nothing like winning when the odds are stacked against you. Anyone in the NFL can win a Super Bowl any season. If the Mariners go on an amazing run and lose a heartbreaking 7th game to the Dodgers in the World Series, will they remember the destination or the journey? I'll bet they'd remember it far more fondly than Sam Darnold's masterclass last season. But perhaps that's part of the distinction. The journey or the destination? I'm definitely a "journey" > "destination" guy.

Pena could be such an important prospect-piece for the Crew going forward. As right-handed hitters go, they have Adams and Jett, but both have quirky profiles. If Pena goes to the AFL and mashes, and plays a cromulent 3B, I don't see why he couldn't be an option to be a big-leaguer by next June for the big club. There just aren't many players that can hit from the right side w/o serious flaws in their hitting profiles. Too many good right-handed pitchers in the big leagues.

The combo of signing Chourio, Pratt, and Lara with the slow-playing of their non-40-man prospects tells me that they want to maintain as much flexibility with their roster not knowing how the CBA shakes out. Personally, I think a salary cap would be bad for baseball, and particularly bad for the Brewers. All that money that the Dodgers, Mets, Yankees, etc. are currently spending on players would either add to billionaire portfolios, or go back into the league to support teams that are comparatively poor at running an organization, thus flattening out the competitive landscape. In my humble opinion, baseball is too volatile from season-to-season for it to be run like the NBA or NFL. I also see how multi-billion-dollar, international conglomerations have damaged soccer, with its caving to those interests. MLB should just keep doing what is working for fans AND owners AND players. Just tweak it. Cap free-agent spending to encourage more monster contracts going to middle-class teams, and systemitize incentives for bringing up 20-year-olds when they are ready to perform, and let the smaller teams like the Brewers, Rays, Guardians continue to capitalize on young rosters. Seeing teams win in different ways is fun. I don't like a salary floor, either. Just add roster spots for both the 26-man, and the 40-man and up financial incentives for young and middle-class players.

He may hit 40 doubles, though, and won't hit into many double-plays.

Why are we supposed to be disappointed with Eichorst?

Oh, and to get back on topic, I love Frelick. But I think Lara is better than Frelick right now, AND later, including in this season's playoffs. I think that for anything that he gives up with his inexperience/youth, he will make up for with his precocious ability to do things other guys can't. He's gunna win some games with sheer "playmaking" ability, whether that's lining soft-stuff into the corners, hard-stuff into the gaps, or taking a mazy path to the wall before making a spectacular catch. I think he's more skilled, in every facet than Frelick, except for perhaps throwing --- but that's just because Frelick is really good, and I haven't seen enough of Lara to form an opinion. One could argue that Frelick would be better than Lara in two-strike situations, as he'd rather get a Catcher interference or foul tip than take a close pitch, but that's a wash for me, as I think Lara will take far more 2-strike walks than Frelick. I also disagree with those that think Lara has be scuffling any more than anyone else in the last couple of weeks, based on my eye test. He's hit some hard balls into outs, and has been learning that MLB pitchers can hit the edge of the zone much more effectively than in AAA. But I still see a disciplined, elite swing-decider who has enough power to keep pitchers honest in-zone. (Sidenote for all the haters of their offense: the Brewers last 7 games have been @SD and @LAD. Did we really expect that they'd be tearing it up on such a roadtrip?).

I don't remember which game it was, but Lara successfully challenged a high pitch this last week or so. I, too, think that kid's eye is elite and believe he should lead the team in coming seasons in batter-challenges. When I see guys that aren't challenging "obvious" errors, I used to jump to the conclusion that the player isn't "allowed", or that they lack the confidence/conviction. However, as this season has progressed, I think it has more to do with how hard it is to identify ball/strike for anyone, and that each player has their own "effective range" when contemplating a challenge, so that everyone is guessing. Some are just better at it. I know how much stick Sanchez gets for his challenges, but I think that typically (not always) his challenges are pretty good. They are often (not always) on important pitches, and they are almost universally really close. I think Sanchez is merely "average" at the skill of challenging, so I'm not defending his record as much as contesting the assertion that he needs to stop what he's doing. It's super-easy to look back and believe that the team should "redistribute" challenges away from Sanchez in order to provide "more" challenges to others, but I don't see any of the hitters challenging more effectively than Sanchez. They all stink except for Bauers and maybe Yelich, but neither of them have had nearly enough attempts to find any meaningful information about it.

I'm with those that just think the team is driven this season. They look calm and determined. A lot of these guys have been little more than kids in recent seasons, and they just look more mature. Even during their struggles I haven't noticed much, if any of throwing bats/helmets or what-have-you. Not that I've seen a lot of that from any Brewers over the last decade or so. I thought it was telling early in the season when you realize that they don't do anything goofy on HRs or anything, including just mugging for the camera. And there was an early season series (I can't remember which one), were Yelich seemed particularly animated, in a competitive way, and I raised an eyebrow wondering if he and some of the other vets were trying to send a message to the youngsters a little bit. I've also noticed some minor production issues with Brewers.TV this season, and wonder if their production team just isn't getting the right smiling faces on camera at the right time.

It's kind of the essense of baseball, really. Fail 7/10 times and all that. Winning teams, like in every sport, hustle, endure, they are tough. They pick themselves up. They win at the margins. I get all the reasons why Murph can be annoying, but I happen to believe in that competitive, hardnosed, "football" mentality, and believe that without it, this team would merely be decent, instead of really good.

I wasn't as confident with his being able to make the big-league jump as other pitchers (2-pitches), but he's essentially matched/exceeded his minor league numbers, which were consistently really, really good. Now that he's throwing a more complete starter's arsenal, and continuing to pepper the zone... I mean it's only been 16 big-league starts, but maybe this is just who he is. In interviews he just oozes ease and self-belief. It makes me wonder if he's just gunna be really really good for a long time.

My first rxn was "Whoa! That's so bad!" Which it is, so I'm not disputing he's comparatively poor at playing SS at the MLB level. But I believe those shaders are percentage-ranks based among all innings played at SS, so that whomever is the "worst" MLB SS is in the 1st percentile, which hypothetically, could still mean that he's the 30th best defensive SS in the world, rather than, "Of 100 major league shortstops, he would rank 100th"*. After all, a "bad" shortstop would never accrue enough innings there to get to -17. Again, If I were the Nats, I would've moved him a long time ago, because I happen to think having a good defensive shortstop is really important for winning teams, but I think those shaders sometimes give us a false impression of just HOW bad/good players are. Unlike say, Misiorowski's shaders, which I am sure has a lot of 99s, because he is truly that kind of outlier. *I acknowledge I could have this wrong

IMHO, that draft is an A. I would guess the Brewers' 2021 Draft has accrued more MLB WAR than any other team that drafted behind them, and probably a lot more than most teams that drafted ahead of them. Based on a few cursory prompt responses from Google's AI, the Brewers currently have accrued about the 6th most WAR of that draft, although most of that is due to Frelick, of course, however I think that any draft that produces a legitimate starting CFer and a legitimate 3rd or 4th starting pitcher on a championship-caliber team is beyond what teams should "expect" from a draft. At the less valuable picks, they also drafted two starting caliber corners in Peters and Tyler Black, and throw in a guy that was a tradeable asset, like Alex Binelas (not mentioned above), and other AAAA-guys, like Rodriguez, or Wes Clarke, and the Brewers drafted some "advanced" organizational depth as well, to fill out a very successful, albeit "ordinary" draft. Obviously as time goes on, the WAR totals will certianly shift, and perhaps this draft becomes more/less successful due to those shifts, but as of right now, I think it was an A.

Things aren't looking good. Guys are underperforming. Guys are banged up. Winning with depth has been their recipe all season, having a deeper bench, a deeper staff, a deeper bullpen has allowed them to keep winning series all season. But much of that depth has been sucked dry, and the Brewers, on August 12th, are a shell of the team they were designed to be, and now we're left knowing what it's like to try and field a winning team without any shortstops. Right now, on August 12th, I don't believe the Brewers will be able to hold off the Cubs for the division. But if they can tread water for the next two weeks, and be in a healthier position come Aug 31 for that series at Wrigley, I think they can right the ship. But they will need to bunt and bullpen, and Murph their way to scratch out wins. It's going to be an absolute bear to watch, and if I were to make bets, I don't think they can "tread water". I think they will go something like 7-10 in the next 17 games, and I could see it being worse, particularly because they are having to try and monitor pitcher workloads at the same time. As impossible as it is to believe, the Brewers have basically been an average MLB offense since the deadline, and they've been winning. But they've played the Marlins, Mets, Rockies, Giants, Angels, Pirates, and Twins. I agree with the IGT's consensus, that they will need to play better in order to beat the teams coming up on the schedule. If that is to come about, I think the two main keys will be our Venezuelans. Coming into the season, I think most of us felt like Contreras and Chourio were our two best position-players (Turang has since surpassed them both, despite his platoon splits). They will need to play like that for the Brewers to win the division+. We can blame all the other players all we want, but those two are the two most important bats to wake up. Not Yelich, who, due to his role as a DH, can simply ride the pine, and be a pinch-hitting threat. Not Hamilton or Bae, or whoever else is batting 7, 8, 9, or starting the game on the bench. Chourio and Contreras MUST be hitting in the middle of that lineup every day and performing in their roles if the Brewers are going anywhere. This has been true all season.

Or, alternatively, they believed that adding more offense would be at the expense of the league's best run prevention, or even its run-scoring, if the player acquired strikes out a lot, or is a clogger on the basepaths thus ending innings before being able to scratch one across.