Playing Catch

This is a great idea. But with their injury-issues, and their being in first place, they really need Dubon's versatility. Probably more than they need pitching.

Those Dodgers and Padres teams are going to get old quick. Padres already on the hook for $133,000,000 in guaranteed contracts in... 2030. Of course, no Dodger or Padres fan cares so long as they have a shot at the title, but with those aging rosters, I'll be curious how they unravel the knot. Miller goes to his first of four arbitration seasons in 2026. He'll still have a ton of value for the next year or two before his salary catches up to his talent.

I think this is a reasonable beginning hypothetical in terms of on-field value/team control, but Marte's contract and 5-team no-trade clause would be significant hurdles. In addition, the Diamondbacks are a well-run organization that wants to compete every season and Marte is MVP-caliber. I think the Diamondbacks would need more than that in order to try and convince "their" guy to waive a no-trade clause. And I just don't see that organization doing that, as it really upsets their applecart.

I was listening to an MLB podcast yesterday, and the two hosts were laughing about how the Brewers were not only the best team in baseball, but that after studying the Brewers these last few weeks, they were extremely impressed the Brewers didn't have any holes they needed to fix. They were taken aback a little bit. I love the deadline as much as the next baseball fan, but many of the narratives are media-driven. Regional, or team-specific media, as much as national media. I think that within the baseball world, the acquisitions of Priester, Vaughn, and Jansen, along with guys like Big Woo and Misiorowski really do represent additions, and that objectively, the Brewers, when compared to the other contenders, are in really good shape. Can they add? Should they? That depends on one's point-of-view, of course, and everyone's opinions are valid, but at least from the outside, the Brewers are considered an outlier in terms of their "completeness".

I guess I will always think of you when I think of Areinamo, as you were one of the first to identify him as an underrated prospect. I appreciate that. Sorry to lump you in with the trade-naysayers.

They must still be onboarding him to his catching responsibilities.

Tobias Myers is also available to piggy-back.

I just don't think that would be enough to motivate them. I mean, the 25-year-old Garcia is a borderline all-star in today's extremely thin 3B position. In order to replace that value for a team that wants to win, they would need A LOT. Otherwise, they'd be like every other contender that is looking for a third baseman. Henderson is a great guy to have in your organization, but I'm not sure he represents the sure thing that the Royals would need to get back. I think if the Brewers went to the Royals and were willing to give up Durbin, then maybe. There's a reason that controllable assets are so expensive, in terms of prospect-value.

I don't disagree with either of those statements. But many of the "prospect-huggers," (and I'll put myself in that category, to a degree), see value in the prospects in two ways... (1) players that represent talent difficult for the Brewers to acquire in FA or in trades, and (2) players that represent MLB value in terms of team control. For prospects in that first category, like Letson, many of us are wary of trading them for any return. For prospects in the second category, like Carlos Rodriguez, (or like Jadher Areinamo in the Jansen trade), it can be a challenge to find another team that values that team control, like the Brewers do.

I just don't see the Royals trading Maikel Garcia. For a team that wants to compete as early as 2026, they would have no motivation to move him.

I think most of us that follow the minors would balk at Letson being used in any deal involving a rental. ONLY Boeve, or ONLY Carlos Rodriguez is closer. Letson has a pretty high ceiling. Boeve and C-Rod represent higher floor prospects.

I shouldn't speak for @TURBO, but I think his acknowledged bias is, in part, due to going to a lot of T-Rats games and liking what he sees. I think that's a credit to him. In my humble opinion, Areinamo for Jansen doesn't represent an overpay, no matter how much Turbo and @Joseph Zarr love him. He projects as a good utility player. Those types of players are awesome (e.g. Perkins, Collins, Seigler, etc.), but they aren't rare or hard to acquire. Jansen's skills are MUCH tougher to acquire. With THAT said, I don't know that finding an average corner-lefty-bat should be any tougher to find than a good glove, average bat catcher. I don't think O'Hearn is worth even an Areinamo.

Just for posterity's sake, the "plus," in that deal was Michael Brantley.

His career wRC+ is a cool 100. Great for the Turangs and Ortizes of the world. Not good enough for a slow-footed, okay-gloved first base only guy. In this context, I would consider a wRC+ in the 120 range as "mashing," which probably fits into your parameters as well.

I think Jansen will start behind the dish today, with Freddy pitching, instead of one of the young guys.

I agree. Which is why I think there is room to imagine a resurgent Vaughn as a candidate to buy out a year of free agency in his last arbitration year. After spending the first few years as a professional playing for the Sox, he might just feel like the Brewers are a good place to be, and the Brewers may see him as a guy they want to hang onto. Obviously, there's a long way to go from now until February.

The Dalai Lama could be the manager of the Cubs, and I would boo him. Whenever CC moves on from Chicago, I will remember him fondly and respectfully... unless he's managing the Cardinals.

Firstly, my 12-year-old brain is dreaming about Andrew Vaughn blossoming into a stud that signs a long-term deal and bats cleanup to the tune of .310/.370/.490 like many here. But his underlying skillset has inoperable flaws, namely defense and baserunning. He's not going to win any gold-gloves, and he has 3 stolen bases in 625 major league games. For him to be a true, first-division regular at first base, he'll need to mash. With that said, perhaps Andrew Vaughn, the 3rd overall pick, can actually mash. I think that most of us, with confidence, see the White Sox as a moribund franchise. A comparatively lousy, old stadium in the other half of a big city that invested in a bunch of talent without any baseball character. Now I don't know Vaughn, or what makes him tick, but it's quite possible that he hates losing so much that his big-league dreams were DOA in the Southside. It's possible that the organization and Vaughn were never on the same page with how he should develop. Perhaps he was being pressured to produce RBI in Chicago and encouraged to swing at bad pitches? Perhaps he never had the confidence in their development to listen to his coaches over there and therefore he was sent a reality check that hit home. His draft profile was remarkable to me at the time, in terms of his hitting ability. I couldn't believe that a DH was going to be drafted top 3. But that's what nearly every scouting outfit said... that his bat was that special.

I think this row between Manfred and Harper will end up being a good thing for all parties. It's usually pretty typical for owners and players to begin the media-phase of negotiations with the hottest of buttons. Manfred talking salary cap (and a lockout of doom) is exactly what they should be doing right now... "Hey everyone! Look over here! We're baseball and we don't even HAVE a salary cap, like other sports! Look how unequal the payrolls are!" And Harper screaming, "Never! We'll NEVER accept a salary cap! Don't even use those words!!" It allows for both owners and players to compromise and come together in the middle. Fans and players get to brush up on, and take stock of, the current situation, and formulate an opinion, which for most people probably lies somewhere in the middle... "As an average player on an average team, I sometimes get frustrated my team won't sign me to a longer-term extension with guarantees... wait, HOW much more does Harper make than me??" The mechanisms for a healthier landscape are already in place. They probably just need to make some adjustments with those current mechanisms. - Improve payroll tax revenue sharing in some capacity to help teams with the ability to compete for free agents - Adjust arbitration system in some capacity to help mid-tier teams hang on to players AND give more money to those players. - "Unused" shared revenue goes back to the players in the form of benefits for 40-man roster/minors/improved minors infrastructure. The game is really, really healthy in myriad ways, and I think all sides will come together to adjust what is working instead of getting into some kind of protracted labor fight.

My exact reaction.

I will predict that it will be a 5-man rotation, but with 3 piggy-backs (Hall, Ashby, Cortes). You can mitigate innings with your right-handed rotation, particularly Misiorowski and the guys coming back, like Big Woo and Myers. I don't think they want to trade from this depth, as what you'd get in return isn't worth giving up the depth. Cortes and Quintana are super-valuable, in this way, and for this team. In the event of injury or poor performance, they've got options. And speaking of options, they can stash a number of guys in AAA. I have this feeling that Myers is going to be big for the Crew down the stretch.

Wow, I clearly have not had Quantrill on my radar. I just looked him up to see how his minor league numbers have looked recently... Dude's 30 and hasn't seen the minors in years! I must've confused him with one of the other sons/nephews pitching. Leiter, maybe.

I wasn't aware of this, and yes... it does scare me off of wanting him that bad. I still think he'd be a valuable guy to have on the 26-man, but not as valuable as the prospects that would be going the other way.

I don't think any details have been made public on this. I would imagine teams might be more inclined to share information following the trade deadline. It doesn't behoove the Brewers to let teams know what they are thinking, in terms of their pitchers and their availability.