Playing Catch

Many of us felt the same way last offseason. "We relied on pitching! But it's gone!" "We HAVE to sign Hoskins!" "We can't rely on rookies!" "Hitting HRs is all that matters in the playoffs, and this team can't do that!" (The Brewers out-homered the Mets 5-1 in this recent series).

Thanks for sharing for those of us not in attendance.

I liked how the guy on the left mentioned that he typically is the one to "quash," DSL hype, before outlining all of the reasons why Made is "different". I, too, prefer to quash my own excitement about rookie-leaguers, but Made really does seem different. He really does seem to check ALL of the boxes, except that he may need to move to a corner from short, and that's mostly due to development risk rather than skillset. A question for our "scouts," but I imagine that the DSL hasn't been recording exit velocities until recently? Because it's the exit velocities that make Made stand out. I really enjoy imagining a Chourio-like ascent for Made... I just love this idea of him being incredible, playing shortstop, switch-hitting next to Chourio in the order... oh man, that would be amazing.

Bichette has been so poor his last season and a half. His bat was REALLY strong before then, and for an established amount of time. Certainly strong enough to have value at 3rd. Who knows what's going on in his head, but maybe he would relish the chance at a fresh opportunity, re-gaining his stick, and adding versatility? It always comes down to the cost, but I'm guessing his arby numbers would remain high, despite his issues lately. I definitely think he's the type of player the Brewers should be targeting.

Yes to all of this. It's also why teams are willing to play chicken with Boras in free agency. They are getting smarter about fielding a winning team. Why pay $35M for a player worth $10M? It doesn't make sense. And I agree, too, that the Rays/Brewers/Guardians success will not continue without more strident competitive balance mandates.

It's true that Freddy's value is probably at his career peak. I just don't see a team offloading enough talent to make it make sense. If the Brewers were doing a full rebuild, then that would be different, as the team would be kicking the value can down the road. But the Brewers want to win. They would need to net players that can help in 2025.

I'm struck by just how unathletic and poor a lot of the retro clips are. The defense is often horrible. I rewatched that '82 Angels-Brewers tilt, and could not believe how bad the defense was.

I'm not usually one for rumor-mongering, and I would assume that whatever was "going-on," was probably nothing earth-shattering. Probably just challenges of bringing outsiders into a pretty insular group of decision-makers. I'm new and naive to the thread, but I have an unrelated question for those that are bigger football guys than me... Isn't the difference between Tressel and Leonhard just a difference in defensive philosophy? I don't mean scheme or anything, which I realize plays a part, but isn't Tressel more of a "bend-don't-break," philosophy, whereas Leonhard's (and all of the previous 3-4 guys), ultra-aggressive defenses? If the above is accurate, it's insane to witness the pole-shifting changes in philosophies on both sides of the ball. Also, I would think that the two philosophies don't pair very well. If everything works well, wouldn't the other team dominate time of possession to such a degree as to wear down your defense?

I think this kind of advanced scouting is a real problem for all pitchers. Unless you have a singularly unhittable pitch (Mariano Rivera) where it doesn't matter if the batter knows it's coming or not, NOT tipping your pitches is hard. I can imagine a lot of pitchers experimenting with hiding their glove behind their hip, or doing the Ryan Dempster flap. I know that last night, I wanted Devin to throw more well-located fastballs.

My thread post-mortem thoughts/responses... In response to repeated pain and torment from Brewers and any other teams we love... success's strange bedfellow is tragic, painful, tortuous losses. Chicago White Sox fans were not disappointed by their last loss of the season. The reason we've collectively experienced these losses is because our team was in a GREAT position in the first place. In response to the playoff format... The playoff format giveth/taketh in equal measure. It certainly makes it easier to get into the playoffs, and a 3-game series is much easier to win for the lesser team than a longer series. The observation that the richest teams in the sport have an advantage is universally true both in the regular season and the playoffs. The frustration that the Brewers may "never win a world series in our lifetime," is a legitimate concern. The competitive balance in baseball between rich and poor has perhaps never been so tenuous, and I believe will actually be the crux of the next CBA (along with all of the Bally-related stuff). But the current playoff format does crack the window open just enough to give us hope each season. In response to all Devin comments specific to last night... I think we try to equate and compare the reasons and causes of regular world events to the events in competitive sports, but that is folly. In the regular world, when failures happen, we often can apply hindsight and logic to reflect and demonstrate the mistakes that were made. But in competitive sports, Devin may not have failed, perhaps he was merely beaten. This is WHY it is so hard to win championships --- especially in baseball with its inherent imbalances. But just MAYBE, then, as Brewers fans, we SHOULD celebrate division championships, and that ANY playoff win is gravy. In response to Devin's probable trade this offseason... I think great closers like Devin have a lot of value. However, I think we've seen in recent trade cycles that (non-A.J. Preller) teams are reluctant to part with top prospects for great players. Maybe that changes with Devin, but I don't think he'll net a top 75 prospect. I think the only way the Brewers get a good player for 2025 with multiple years of control is if they package him. They might be able to get good players that are not as advanced in their development.

Perhaps? But the playoffs are filled with distractions. If we wanted to break down to truly discover the "why," it may have contributed a little bit.

I agree with 82Brewcrew82. I just have this feeling that the era of small-market teams fleecing the big boys of their prospects for one-year rental closers is over. Most teams' scouting and development is improving rapidly. Why pay for a reliever (in cash, or in prospects), when you can promote some 28-year-old fireballer for pennies? If the Brewers can get one contributing regular with a few years of control, great! If they can get two or three prospects in a team's top 10-30 range, great! But I'd be really surprised to get a top 50 prospect in baseball. As LouisEly just stated, if the Brewers want to get back a GOOD player, packaging Williams is probably the play.

Not really. Other than Bregman, who will most likely get a contract similar to what Matt Chapman just signed, there aren't any players that are a combination of decent bat, decent glove. Most are pretty flawed, OR they are unlikely to actually hit free agency (e.g. Eugenio Suarez). I mentioned in another thread that of the free agent options, my pick would be a one-year deal for Gleyber Torres. He's bad a shortstop, and a sub-par 2nd baseman, but has never played 3rd. His bat, believe it or not, isn't far off from Bregman's recent production. 2024-25 Free Agents By Position

Chourio is gunna get drilled today. Not out of malice, but they are NOT gunna throw him anything on the outside of the plate. He'll get a HBP tonight, and he'll also rip a 110 mph double straight down the 3rd base line off of a low-inside breaking ball, to go with 2 Ks and a BB. Brewers need to be really patient, try to get into that burned out bullpen as soon as possible. Diaz, even after a couple of days off is gunna give up a run, so let's not get all nervous about needing runs late, if they so need them. Myers is going to give up a 2-run HR in the first. Murphy will need to make a tough decision with him early. He needs to stick with him, because he's going to finish 5 IP. One of the outfielders are going to make an incredible catch to take away extra bases.

His 2nd opposite field screamer. His power to the opposite field is... I dunno, the best I've ever seen from a player of his stature? Every time one tries to describe what he's doing, they struggle to not sound hyperbolic.

He won't make many lists, but Josh Adamczewski should be an option.

The Brewers had six regulars that were either rookies this year, or have just recently completed 162 big league games. They got a ROY-level performance from Tobias Myers. They shuttled SPs and RPs all season. Naturally, Fangraphs projections were way off for the Brewers. This was what many posters stated at the beginning of the season. Not that their systems hate the Brewers, or that they just suck, but that when the system has little to no data from players coming in, it naturally spits out data that has limited value.

I wonder if the Brewers just don't want to mess with what has been a very good season for Misiorowski. Putting him in the bullpen this last month or so was probably always in the cards to try and limit innings. And if they needed him to pitch in September and the playoffs, he'd be ready to do so. I would be concerned for his long-term success if he came up and got knocked around, or walked the bases loaded in the playoffs or something like that. In some ways, it's not fair to bring him up now. Had they brought him up a month ago, then great, but to make one's debut at this point would be tough.

I'm sure it will be available to stream somewhere soon.

I'll bet he plays in Venezuela.

That's a fun group to follow! It wouldn't be the worst thing to get Wilken out of Biloxi for a month and see if he can find some consistency. Who knows? If he performs like Clarke did last year, perhaps he'd still be an option at 3rd out of Spring Training. That would be awesome!

It seems to me that the Brewers look at the International Signing Period the same as the draft. They have a budget, and they try to maximize the budget. This means going under slot in the early rounds (or not signing a top 15 international), in order to get 2 or 3 "2nd round picks". It just seems like they believe in having multiple good prospects rather than fewer top prospects.

Is City going to be punished? If so, how significant will the punishment be? Would that be good or bad for the league? I'll say,.. Yes... Not significant enough... and neither, it will be significant enough so that many teams don't do it, but not significant enough for a handful of the richest teams. Edit to add-- What I WANT to have happen is for City to be docked ~40 points per year for the next two or three years. I don't think relegating them to the Championship is fair to the teams in the Championship, and I think the punishment needs to all but eliminate their chances as securing Champion's League for the next couple of years.

I've appreciated what Christopher Russo has been saying lately on his show about how the '62 Mets were a loveable expansion franchise. He talks about how the New York market just appreciated having National League baseball again. This White Sox franchise... where to begin? where to end? They really need to clean house and fumigate. How does that happen in Chicago?

I hope it's Patrick. I'm not sure that I feel really strongly about his future as a Brewer, but goodness, has he deserved the chance.