Playing Catch

I think they are giving up a lot of ball-fakes, once a staple of Bo's teams. Sometimes I get pissed at some of the seemingly sloppy perimeter passing, but I think there's such an onus on quick ball movement, that they have to do without the pass-fakes, and just do a better job of spacing, and making better catches to give the passer more to work with. But I think they've been doing a much better job of that lately. Rohde, in particular, has looked better to me in this regard, I think his cuts have been much better and on-time, and I'm also not seeing him turn the ball over on the pass as much, perhaps other guys, too are doing a better job receiving? I fear, though, that this simply reflects the level of defensive play they've been seeing lately. Penn State was particularly pathetic, defensively.

Yeah. The Brewers are churning out some elite stuff to pair with that defense. Whether you're talking about elite FB quality, like Miz or Uribe, changeup quality (Henderson/Yoho), or movement (Ashby), or deception and location (Patrick's 3 FBs); we could keep going. I suspect that they've simply committed to having good teachers up and down the system along with the new wave of tech. Now what's correct, I think, is that there are a lot of teams (I dunno, eight? ten?) that are developing nasty pitchers these days, so I get that's not what makes the Brewers unique. The sheer commitment to defense is probably unrivaled in the sport.

Regarding the club's decision to seemingly make the 2026 team, or pitching-staff, weaker after this trade... In order to develop guys like Freddy Peralta, they have to play. And if they're really good, they need to play early. I just wonder if the org felt they really needed to commit innings to the younger, deeper guys in the rotation this season. They need to continue to develop at the big-league level, and they can only do that if they play. Misiorowski, Priester, Patrick, Henderson, (Zerpa?) all need to pitch, but so do Sproat and Gasser, and Coleman Crow and Carlos Rodriguez. And who knows, maybe even those deeper-depth guys at AAA (Brett Wichrowski, Tate Keuhner, and KC Hunt) and AA (an absolutely loaded staff), may themselves need to be pushed in order to develop, or they are closer to big-league ready than we typically imagine for that set of guys.

I think the likeliest scenario is that they are both in Nashville. There is enough depth on the 40-man that they don't HAVE to use them until everyone feels comfortable. I don't think service time considerations are nearly as impactful, malicious, or damaging to the player's career/development, that others do, but I can imagine the organization wanting to stash and store value wherever they can, so no need to start clocks that don't need to be started. Sproat's already on the 40-man, but it's impossible for me to think he won't spend time a fair amount of time in Nashville, regardless of if he's on the opening day roster, unless he really hits the ground running, but even then, he has 3 options. If they are going to use lots of short-starts, piggy-backs and openers, they'll need guys that can go back and forth. I think the only way Williams makes the opening day roster is IF... - He is the near-equal to Monasterio defensively at shortstop (Monasterio is merely fine, so that's possible). AND - His bat justifies taking ABs from the lefties in soft platoons (Frelick, Turang, Yelich, Mitchell, Bauers/Black/Siegler), so that he continues to develop.

1. I loved Freddy. A consummate pro. A Brewer-for-life. I will never forget his debut. 2. I loved Tobias Myers. I think he was good enough to be included in the thread title, and was just an awesome hedge for injuries to the staff. I will never forget his start against the Mets in 2024. 3. I think the trade was as it has been described. A fair trade where the Brewers gain in total value, but that they give up a little '26 value. 4. I think Sproat's prospect-profile is better than Priester's, but I think comparing him to Priester is fair. He's got starter written all over him, and should be looking at 150+ IPs this season. I'm not predicting it, but I think it's possible (Maybe 12% chance?) Sproat outperforms Peralta as soon as this season. Peralta had a career-year last season, and Sproat had a mid-season slump in AAA last season that blunted his prospect profile. He pitched 20 big-league innings for the Mets in September (2.80 FIP), so he's been blooded. My hope is that he was working on getting outs early with soft contact on secondary stuff (improved ground-ball rate in AAA last season), because he already had strong K/BB peripherals. 5. I think the hope is that Jett becomes a slightly better hitter than Durbin* (although Durbin is better than many believe). But I think anyone expecting him to take over at shortstop are mistaken. If he's on the roster by June, I think the Brewers look at him as a Collins' replacement, who can also cover Monasterio's innings at shortstop. And going forward, I think they view him as an outfielder that can spot innings in the infield, not the other way around. More like a Zobrist-role. But the hidden advantage there, is having an "additional" bench bat. You can cover BOTH Collins and Monasterio's roles with one player. So theoretically, the Brewers could add a thumper to the roster, or add a 3rd catcher to support having Quero on the roster. 6. In terms of how this impacts 2026, I think this improves their 2026 playoff roster. YES, you lose Freddy. But I believe that nearly the entire roster could be expected to meaningfully improve from last season, including Sproat and Jett. I think they are both on that '26 playoff roster, and making contributions. I don't think Freddy repeats last season's excellence, and replacing his starts with more innings from the Brewers pitching machine-magic, I think makes the team better. Freddy and Tobias's contributions, in my opinion, were greater as reliable regular-season guys rather than playoff-perfomers, even though they both DID perform in the playoffs. *I think short players are a deliberate strategy to combat the high-strike in the ABS-challenge-system world. I think we're beyond it being a coincidence of acquiring speed/defense/contact guys.

Three-peat, then bust? How do you roster an entire team made up of old guys way past their primes in 2027-2030?;

I think baseball should use more four-team round-robin in-season tournaments that mean something (points applied to wild-card eligibility). We know that playoff baseball is so much more fun. Just add a couple more teams to the Bristol Speedway Classic and have the winner earn "wild-card" points. Maybe these points can be directed toward wild-card eligibility, or maybe draft-pick considerations or something? I know the odds of my watching a Cubs-White Sox game in July would be MUCH higher, if I knew the White Sox could prevent the Cubs from earning any extra "wild-card points". This is merely one hare-brained idea. I just think they need to add some juice to regular season baseball to add rooting interest for casual and hard-core fans alike.

You didn't like that he was often used as the Brewers Longman?

I found this interesting. wOBA by Barrels has steadily declined. Sounds like OFers are basically playing deeper. https://blogs.fangraphs.com/they-dont-make-barrels-like-they-used-to/

Looks like fewer batted ground balls were on the off-season menu.

MiLB will necessarily expand with MLB expansion, which mitagates contracting teams/leagues. I think the Brewers have invested in AZ, Wisconsin, Carolina, and the DR. I doubt any of those sites can maintain a AAA team in the event Nashville wins an MLB bid (Wisconsin?)? None of us want to play musical chairs again with AAA, I don't think, but it may be necessary. Also, while fewer affiliated leagues necessarily contracts the number of affiliated players, it also then, allows for college/independent leagues to cater toward development, and gives players greater flexibility to direct the course of their careers.

I think I'm in the same boat as most posters, here, as I am pretty ambivalent regarding a Freddy trade. But I do think the circumstances are different, now. The overall organizational roster was still being built up when they made trades in the past. They were still plugging holes. They are now the belle of the baseball world, returning most of their roster from a 97-win team. They've always continued to build from the bottom up, but they are nearing the stage of organizational progress where they can "afford" to hang onto luxury players --- players with surplus value for the future, but maximum value for 2026.

Also... Greg Gard. Outcoached Dusty May today. He adjusted on BOTH offense and defense. The Blackwell inbound off Mara's leg on the inbound in order to save a timeout/make subs. 3 consecutive victories for an unranked Badger team on the road, against a top 2 team. That's coaching and culture.

Just a wonderful feeling, winning in Ann Arbor. The Badgers' effort/concentration/attention to detail in this game never wavered. All 5 guys on the court were active and aggressive defensively, and on the glass; their closeouts were crisp. The depth really showed up in all of those effort plays. As mentioned from everyone here, Bieliauskas and Carrington were great today. Aleksas was the 5th option at every point of the game, and UM wanted him shooting those shots. They just fell. He and Carrington should probably take most of Rapp's minutes, as it allows Winter to play the 4 a lot more. And speaking of Winter, he had a quietly excellent game. Michigan took him away, and he had to body their bigs the whole game, but his focus was excellent, going 3-4 from deep, and with some key hustle plays. And Boyd. Wow. Blackwell, excellent. That Rohde 3 late. Just a complete performance. Michigan has a higher gear, but the Badgers wouldn't let them hit the turbo, playing much better defensively than 88 points allowed would suggest.

I could've sworn Tim Brando told me that Bieliauskas had a great game, contributing to the vaunted swing offense. This team isn't playing well. Very inconsistent on both ends. Wildly so, at times. Boyd is really skilled, but it looks like he's struggling with a lot of the responsibilities of playing the point for Bo/Gard, and I worry he's too slight to be able to have success against the big, bad guards of the B1G if he's having to play in the half-court. He's great in transition, but that requires the Badgers defense to get more long rebounds and live-ball turnovers, which they've struggled to do against disciplined offenses. I don't like what I see, possession-by-possession, but I believe in both the talent and coaching. There's been many years where they've muddled through the mid-season only to blossom late.

Based on Fangraphs' prospect tiers (updated '25, as they haven't yet updated Baltimore system), the return for Baz was something along the lines of Dinges, Ebel, Lara, and CRod. Seems like a lot, but Baz is controllable for 3 seasons. If he's merely a solid mid-rotation guy, it probably works out except for the always-present risk that one of the prospects becomes a stud. The trade values for Freddy and Baz are wildly different, depending on how much people like the present and future value of the two. Freddy's been healthy, Baz has been broke, Freddy is an inexpensive pending FA coming off a career year, Baz is a still-developing guy that had really inconsistent results --- much of which was driven by home/road splits. They both have value, but they are hard to compare due to those differences.

That's a lot. Baz has enough team control that they could recoup some of that later, but still. For Baz? He isn't a sure-thing, although his xFIP would suggest some regression, particularly not having to pitch at Stienbrenner Field.

It would be a fun addition, at least. It always comes down to the price tag, but he's kinda the archetype of what they need on the roster. Although, [pauses to consider blue font], is he that much different from Seigler?

Yeah, I mean how many of us were confident in Patrick or Henderson at this point a year ago? Or Priester nine months ago? If the worst-case scenario is that Zerpa is what he is, the Brewers very well could "lose" the trade. But I doubt any of us are concerned that Collins or Mears will perform to such a level that we are gnashing our teeth about the trade years from now. But if they DO make Zerpa into something more, even if it is just as a high-leverage lefty? Well, Zerpa could just turn into the next Arnold masterstroke. But as Roderick said, this isn't some guarantee that it will work.

I just mentioned this in the Transactions Forum, but I'll repeat it here. I would love to acquire another clear starting-caliber outfielder. But I don't think it is important to acquire one before July. It may be the easiest position to acquire at the deadline, and the Brewers could use a couple more months to decide which prospects to promote/keep/trade away.

I think these are two different thresholds. You are stating that they are one starter short in the OF. I happen to agree, although that will come with a cost, which is kind of a separate thing. I think they can be patient. But in terms of bench-injury-replacement-level guys, the Brewers are "deep" with guys that can put together a professional AB, with a professional approach; they stay within themselves, and maximize their talents and advantages (e.g. minor league options). I'd prefer they acquire another bat. But I don't think it's a big deal if they don't do it during the off-season. Left-field may be the easiest position to acquire at the trade deadline, and the Brewers will have a couple of months to decide which prospects to trade away.

It's pretty hard to say who will benefit and who will "lose" by this move. If this was couched as "revenue sharing," where the Pirates and the Rays are provided the same equipment at their stadiums as what the Dodgers have in theirs, I don't think many people would care that much. This also means that road data will now be available to all the teams. So presumably, the Brewers will now have more information with which to outsmart the competition. Unless I'm misunderstanding, this just seems to be about bringing all affiliated ball into the 21st century.

At the time of the trade, I wondered about this possibility. That the Brewers were, in part, motivated to establish a relationship with him. I think it just makes great sense for both player and team. There was a reason he once signed a big deal. He was good. He's a big lefty. Turns 33 in a couple of weeks.

I agree with that. I would also say, though, that Durbin's short levers*, and lefties' desire to pitch him in with sliders/sweepers, make him a different hitter than 2025 Bryce, who's power is out over the plate. Bryce should be taking inside fastballs. Durbin knows that his power is on pitches up and in. If he's gunna make it as a big leaguer, he MUST have that in his toolkit, and therefore be aggressive in that part of the zone. These are just my impressions, mind you. I haven't looked into any of the data to back it up. *no armor! Edit to add... That K% comparison between Bohm and Durbin is also more significant than it looks. Durbin fouls off tough pitches away.

I'm beginning to wonder if they need a 3rd team. Brewers get an experienced MLB player (kind of like acquiring Cortes last year). Contending trade partner gets Freddy. A THIRD team gets prospects from both. I could see this happening with a guy like Neto, or some other good player on a non-contender. Obviously, there could/would be other players involved that could be important factors. Thats where giving up Freddy AND Megill could net a much more significant return in terms of quality.