Playing Catch

I believe Alonso was worth a Quero or a Black. BUT, I think the difference between Alonso>Santana isn't as big as the difference between Black>Jhonny Severino, so I'm happy with how it worked out.

I think they meant, "one of Quero/Frelick/Black along with Rodriguez."

Tink Hence? Griff McGrarry? C'mon, you're just making these names up, aren't you?

Trying to balance the value of Adames is tricky. He's a good defender, He has some power, a positive in the clubhouse/leader (presumably). His on-field dollar value is probably around $8M/season, but he'll probably get about $20M/season in FA. There are enough big-spenders that would be happy to have him (Yankees, Dodgers, Braves), but will they be motivated to trade for him? Does he boost your SS production enough for 1 season to give up a good prospect for him? I mean, maybe. My guess is that his offensive production in that Braves lineup would be really, really good (The Braves 8/9 hitters, batting ahead of Acuna are batting a cool .279). So, yes, he has some value. Then for the Brewers... are you only willing to trade for MLB contributors, or are you willing to take teenagers in exchange? If you're requiring contributors in exchange, you're probably looking at 40-man roster filler, rather than high ceiling guys, and those guys won't fill the WAR void that they're losing with Adames. I think this goes for all of Burnes/Woody/Adames. I think the Brewers will either keep them through free agency, or trade them for high-ceiling teenagers. The only teams in the market for those 3 players will be competitive teams, so unless the Brewers are able to pluck a prospect that is perhaps, blocked, and/or up against rule-5 roster rules, they won't be getting back a big-league contributor for 2024. I think next season will really test their organizational strategy. Do they "go for it," keeping their core and adding a FA stick (Rhys Hoskins? He'd probably cost $20M/season). Or do they stay with their organizational strategy, take a half-step back, trading those guys for A-ballers, still trying to "compete" in 2024? I suppose they could still choose option C: package Adames with a guy like Wiemer for a guy with a couple of seasons of control (e.g. Ty France, Josh Naylor, WhiteSoxGuys) They are in a tough spot, but an enviable one. Even as a fan, I'm not sure which strategy I would prefer. Before this season, I would predict that they would trade 'em and take a step back, but with the strength of the farm right now, I wonder if they feel comfortable enough with 2025+ that they can envision letting those guys walk in free agency.

I agree with this, and I believe, too, that it is a reflection of ownership. Attanasio is one of the best owners the Brewers could hope for. Despite being one of, if not the smallest media markets in MLB, and him being comparatively less wealthy than most professional sports team owners, and responsible to the other investors in the club, they've managed to win on the field and at the same time, invest in a competitive infrastructure (minors/scouting/PHX complex/front office) that will help the team stay competitive going forward. The guy's barely took a bad step since taking over the team. It baffles me when people don't respect what he's done. (I reserve the right to hate him forever if he moves the team)

I've wondered about this as well. We get plenty of info/stories about the pitching lab and the genius that is Charlie Greene, but on the hitting side, I've only seen things about taking hit-first profiles and adding power. Adames' first season (including minors) with an ISO above .200 was in 2020 with the Rays, where he struck out 36% of the time. I feel like the club may have messed up Hiura indefinitely, taking a hit-first player and trying to add loft and power to a swing (but I don't have any evidence this happened, maybe he had the same swing in college). I tend to prefer higher-average, lower power production simply due to the propensity for MLB pitchers to pitch differently with RISP, so the swing-and-miss that we've seen over the last decade hasn't been my preference, even if it seems to help produce winning teams. I also think the league, as a whole, has adjusted to 3TO on the pitching front, which is why no one can seem to produce great DH/1Bmen without significant platoon-splits. I mean, even uber-hitting prospects like Vlad and Spencer Torkelson have okay-to-bad production rather than the Miggy/Goldy-level production both guys were promised to provide. (edit: probably way too early to write off Vlad as an underperforming player)

If the only beef that posters have around here is not bringing up Hiura, then the organization is in a good spot. Let's all go back in time and pretend the Brewers had given Hiura 600 PAs this season. Do ANY of the Hiura-posters really think that he would have "bolstered the first base position" in any meaningful way so that the same posters wouldn't be frustrated by the lack of first base production?

Who should they have signed/traded for? What would you have been willing to give up?

I was just looking at FanGraphs' Roster Resource and was surprised to find that both Tampa Bay and the Brewers have fewer (10) homegrown players on the 40-man than most of the league, including the big spenders. The Astros and Guardians have a whopping 22 homegrown players; the Dodgers have 18. Even the Yankees have 13. I suppose it's partially a reflection of teams being able to re-sign their homegrown guys.

I love Counsell and hope he stays forever. With that said, is it possible that this gnashing of teeth is just Derek Johnson all over again? We (myself included) like to think that he's been working with bad rosters for his entire term, but is this a fallacy? He's benefitted from having lights-out bullpens for the last 6 seasons. He's had 2 MVP caliber seasons from Yelich. He's had Cy Young+ with Burnes/Woodruff with good, quality depth in pitching. Perhaps Counsell is looking at a minor re-build the next couple of seasons and isn't looking forward to that kind of grind. Why not take a couple years in a cushy FO role, and take over again in 2026? Baseball is littered with great managers that take a couple years to do something different only to return later.

Yep. I missed this while on vacation, but you guys are the best!

Purely looking at stats, I suspect that Chourio has been taking feedback all season about how to improve his swing/approach, not to mention defense, baserunning, locker room presence, media familiarity, making adult decisions, English, etc. I have no doubt that he was hoping for/expecting a promotion, but I'd bet he's still swimming with plenty of ways to mature and improve before inevitably being promoted to MLB. I suspect the Brewers will strike the right balance between challenging the future face-of-the-franchise, as well as trying to give him a "soft" landing in the heart of the big-league order, not to mention planning for service time and roster implications of his move. With this said, if Monte Harrison is the guy keeping the AAA roster spot, I certainly hope the Brewers promote him this season, if for no other reason than to let him acclimate to living/working in Nashville. But there is no rush, unless the team feels that he needs to be on the playoff roster. Although if Mitchell returns, that probably won't happen.

I think this is really an underrated aspect to the organization right now. Of the top farm systems, the Brewers have several top prospects in AA/AAA, and that's without including Contreras, Ashby, Turang, Wiemer, Mitchell, Monasterio, Peguero, Perkins, and the other AAAA pitchers like Junk and McKendry. The doubley-nice thing is that when those top guys graduate, there are a number of players in the lower ranks ready to take their spots. The franchise is really, really setting itself up to not need to pay free agents to fill roster spots in the coming years, which is super important with the Yelich contract, and hopefully one or two other "premium" salary spots (e.g. Woodruff extension, LoCain-type signing). It would be a fun thread idea to predict the Brewers top-15 prospect list in say, June 2025.

Jackson ChourioJacob MisiorowskiJeferson QueroSal FrelickTyler BlackEric Brown JrBrock WilkenRobert GasserAbner UribeCarlos F RodriguezLuke AdamsMike BoeveLogan HendersonLuis LaraCooper PrattEdwin JimenezBradley BlalockYophery RodriguezJosh KnothEric Bitonti Wow, this is just a really fun farm to follow right now.

When you look at the minors stats for good MLB players, they rarely have any growing pains or hiccups with the bat (over the course of a full season). I'm thrilled with all of the hot starts. I've absolutely fallen in love with Wilken, even though I was dubious on draft day. His swing is sooooo quiet and smooth. I hadn't really considered this fact. It's incredible. Most strong farms are due to the two factors you mentioned. They're doing a lot right.

Luke Adams now 2nd across all of A-ball in wRC+. At 19, he's gotta start getting some national attention, right? (also sorry about the false alarm on Black at 2nd. I must've just looked at it wrong)

Black starts for Biloxi at 2B.

Those Statcast numbers are nuts. He must have really short fingers.

Where's Tyler Black? No listed transaction. Not in Biloxi's lineup yesterday. Did I miss something? Perhaps he's en route to MKE?

I think this is a fair observation toward my own views of Urias. But Urias is making $4.7M this season. Would someone really want to pay him nearly $5M next season? I mean, Brian Anderson is only making $3.5M. Additionally, I don't view Blalock as "... anything we can get." I think the Brewers see a guy who is destined to pitch in the big leagues sooner rather than later, and that he's got good upside. Anytime you can get a cheap guy that can contribute to the big league club in a trade for an expensive guy that can't, that's probably a good trade. (Edit to add: "Basically what LouisEly said.)

Gotta expect a number of promotions coming soon. If not today/tomorrow, Then maybe not until Tuesday?

In a word, no. I don't necessarily enjoy watching it. But I do enjoy that there is a strategy that lesser teams employ to combat being so outmatched. I like that soccer features David versus Goliath situations. I like the idea of these huge clubs going to play in some 5,000-seat stadium in the middle of nowhere, England, and have to decide whether or not to even play their best players, but risk bowing out of the tourney early. The fact that there are opportunities for huge upsets is fun for me. I prefer college football/basketball to NFL/NBA for the same reason. I like that fans for most soccer clubs seem to have their own definition of what a successful result is, or a successful season looks like, which doesn't have to end in victory or a championship. Historically, I like the limited substitutions as it puts a real emphasis on being able to run that much in 90 minutes. But there's no doubt that having more substitutions makes for a better viewing experience. As for the USWNT, it seems clear to me that Rapinoe and, perhaps to a lesser degree, Morgan, are washed up and shouldn't get much time from here on out. I haven't seen enough of Rodman, Smith, and Thompson to have an opinion on their quality, but if they aren't better than Rapinoe and Morgan, the US isn't going to advance that far in this tournament. I don't mind that Rapinoe and Morgan are on the roster, but they shouldn't be playing much more than as late-match substitutes.

Wow, when I logged on this morning, I really didn't think this was going to be the trade-thread with all the bickering! I like to think that I put posters "on ignore" in my mind. Once I've done that, it's easier to not take them so seriously. Heck, Jeffrey Leonard probably has a healthier relationship to baseball than I do, as it clearly is only something that brings him some casual entertainment, including being able to post his opinions here. I, on the other hand, am an obsessive; I'm probably close to the fringes of unhealthy, LOL. If Jeffrey doesn't mind mortgaging the future of the franchise because they won't miss winning baseball when it's gone, well, that's the kind of fan they are, which is fine. Who among us don't enjoy the idea of the "big score," putting all one's betting budget on the longshot to win?

I expect the Brewers to keep Miller on the 40 until he runs out of options. He's performed admirably for the team this season as a guy that can play pretty good defense at multiple positions, hold his own with the stick, and add some baserunning moxie to the lineup. He's performed his role as a depth infielder with aplomb.

Very happy with this trade. Urias has been getting squeezed for playing time, and his limitations are kind of irritating limitations (e.g. speed, baserunning, contact, arm, inability to play SS). You trade 2.5 years of control of a UTL for 6 years of a guy with backend bullpen upside. I had higher expectations for Urias coming into the season. I was on record not believing that there was much difference between him and other options, but I really liked what Anderson brought to the team with his skillset and ability to play really, really good defense at two positions (it's really nice from a roster-perspective to have a guy that can play IF AND OF). I hope they re-sign Anderson for next season, allowing Black to get some more reps at 3rd next season in the minors as well as better gauge the timetables for Adams, Wilken and Boeve.