Playing Catch

Whoa! Joey put in some WORK to get his swing to look, dare I say, smooth? pretty? simple? I sure hope it feels comfortable for him, because I still think his ceiling is the highest of all the OFers not named Jackson.

I think not having Blackwell available to inspire Storr to play better defense has also been an issue. I think they'd be a better team with those two trading their minutes totals.

In 2023, the Cardinals starters were 19th in WAR, 27th in xFIP, and 26th in ERA. They have absolutely improved their rotation, even though all of those guys are old, and could implode. But really most of them will probably bring close to league average numbers, or better, and a lot of innings. Similar to how the Brewers offense only needed to be "league average," to really improve the ol' W/L record, the Cardinals merely need to be league average from the bump to make a big difference.

I echo all of the thoughts here. One of my favorites, so I'm happy. But I'm not really counting on anything, other than him being a leader in the clubhouse and in the trainer's room. Him being a player-coach for all of the young guys coming up. An overall positive influencer on the organization. In terms of the money, I suspect that this is one of those deals where Attanasio says to Arnold, "If that's what it costs to get him, go ahead. This contract won't "count" to your player budget. He hasn't merely been an important player for us, but an important part of the organization, and I want to keep good people in this organization." I truly believe that this deal wasn't merely a, "we need another pitcher" decision.

Ha! I too, thought the "tier 1" thing was ridiculous.

How are we viewing the other teams in our division? I was looking at the Cardinals projected rotation, and while it looks underwhelming and old at first, Most of those guys have been able to provide a lot of innings, so I don't think there's any doubt that while they aren't any younger this year, they will probably be a good deal better. Jordan Walker could be a real x-factor if he blossoms. I thought the Cubs were pretty good last year, and while they aren't that much different, they did add Busch and Imanaga. If they sign Bellinger, they would probably be my pick to win the division, even with the weak bullpen. In addition, their farm is probably just as strong as the Brewers. The Reds are the team a lot of people are excited to see, mostly due to their amazing youth. But youth can cut both ways, Most of their young studs are probably still in that window of development where they could still take a step back, or plateau as simply average ballplayers -- although I wouldn't predict that. Their pitching is probably still the primary question-mark, even with the modest additions. Montas seems to be a guy who could end up being really good, or merely fine. The Pirates just aren't very good. There isn't much more to say about them. It should be a tight division the whole season. Admittedly, I'm not feeling very confident that the Brewers can best the Cardinals and Cubs, and it kind of makes me think they should trade Willy and Devin, and look to the future.

At the same time, if you were to take Woody's name out of the article, this move wouldn't bother me at all.

I would be bitterly disappointed with this trade. There are a LOT of paths Zavala, the prospect could take that would make this a bad trade. There is only one path Zavala the prospect could take that would make this work, and that would be if he was able to hit with enough power to validate his average corner-OF defense, which is not what scouts are expecting from him.

The thing about clearing a 40 man spot is that if you clear roster-filler, you lose the value (as little as that may be), for nothing. When you clear a guy like Clayton Andrews, who, with his AAA performance and options, has tradeable value, and the move announces to teams, "we're dealing him, so if you want him, we'll need your best offer."

I like this timetable. It's hard for me to imagine MLB not doing something to change this. Manfred acknowledged that part of the desire to condense the timetable is to appeal to media attention. It's not ONLY for teams to try and force players' hands.

I know it's just my bias, but it sure seems like the Badgers don't enjoy home court officiating like it seems every opponent does.

It looks to me like Misiorowski has tightened up that delivery a bit. Great to have Ashby back. He's kind of an x-factor for this pitching staff.

WHA??? I really didn't see this happening.

This is my fear as well.

Iriarte seems to fit the Brewers style of prospect. Similar to Misiorowski, kinda (he's also Venezuelan). If the Padres are trying to make their 2024 team better, this would certainly help them. While I'm sure that a "proven" MLB player, in Frelick has a lot of trade value, I'm not sure that it wouldn't be a straight-up trade -- or nearly so. If the Brewers don't see Frelick as anything more than a platoon corner this season, than it may be worth it to them.

Ed O'bannon et. al ruined all that we love (not arguing the merits/demerits of athlete compensation). Can't wait for this. Of course, the first thing I'll do is change the Badgers back to a power-run/pro-style offense and the defense back to an attacking 3-4.

For all we know, the Yankees really wanted Andrews, the Brewers said "No, we really like Andrews, too," and then the Yankees said, "Yeah? Well what if we give you Quezada?" And the Brewers chuckled to themselves, "OMG, They willing to give us QUEZADA! WE HAVE TO DO THIS!" Edit: I'm dumb... I forgot the waivers part -- missed the total point of the thread. NM.

It seemed to me that Ohio State's defense was either going off-script from the scouting report, or their effort was so poor that they were always out of position, so that the Badgers were always expecting them to be where they weren't. Like the Badgers are thinking, "I know I'm supposed to go post entry here, but that defender isn't in the right spot to make that pass." I've noticed this phenomenon before in other sports, where you use ball movement to move the defenders to the spots the scouting report tells you they should be, in order to open up the play, but instead the defense just stands there.

I think that's correct. I just meant to say that there was no reason to roster him until necessary. His arm could fall off during Spring Training. No reason to use a 40-man spot + an option until the club is committed.

I don't buy any service time manipulation for Gasser, either. What I DO buy, however, is that there's no reason to put him on the 40-man until he's Rule 5 eligible in December, unless the brass are convinced he's decidedly better than what they already have.

I'm a little surprised that Clayton Andrews was interesting enough that the Yankees wanted him that bad.

Maybe it's to avoid the hottest months of the year?

What's exciting is that he turned 26 a couple of months ago. It is probably better than 50/50 that we have yet to see his best season with the bat. So there's no reason not to expect big things from our star catcher.

Also former farmhand, Alex Binelas, on biggest losses to projections. His 35% K% in his 2nd go around in AA, probably the primary culprit.

I prefer the idea that he comes back this season and claims an everyday middle infield job improving in every facet of his game, hitting a decent 90 wRC+ (projected to hit 89 wRC+), and putting himself in position to win his first of many gold-gloves. I think there's enough strange-ness in his numbers from last season, to believe he will bounce back, and put to rest all of our concerns with his bat from last year's rookie season. A .268 BABIP? A guy with his speed? Even accounting for his lack of hard hit balls, that is bound to improve. Most of his hard hit numbers are in-line with guys that we hope he ends up becoming with the bat (Kwan, Arraez, Jeff McNeil). He was really bad last year, there's no doubt. And if he repeats that level of performance, well, he may never become anything but a bench specialist. But I, for one, believe that if the anecdotal reports of his professionalism and maturity can be believed, that he's going to become a mainstay on Brewer's scorecards for a long time.