SRB

Randal Grichuk has a guaranteed contract through 2023 which actually pays him more money than Bradley is owed over the same time. Once the Brewers found out they could trade their garbage for another team's cheaper garbage, that was likely the end of any talks about Grichuk. With JD Martinez, Alex Verdugo, Kiki Hernandez already on the roster, the outfield is already full and Boston surely wants to resign Kyle Schwarber. The Red Sox were able to get something in exchange for Renfroe, a player they didn't need or want. Likewise, with JBJ the Brewers were able to gain some salary relief and unload a player they no longer wanted. Hunter Renfroe is "another team's cheaper garbage"? This is the most insanely negative fan forum in existence!!! Really exhausting. But whatever, I've said my piece.

We are far from the point where we should be desperate to unload Yelich's contract, especially considering the kind of contracts that are being handed out this offseason (which show where the free agent market is headed, even before possible changes to the CBA). Yelich being so-so in 2020-21 (not a large sample size) does not negate the kind of upside that he has. He's basically only costing us $22 million per year. That is not a lot in today's market.

I'm just curious, what would be the upside in just keeping him? Bradley badly underperformed in 2021 and overperformed in 2020. He was pretty consistent with the bat from 2017-2019, slashing .234/.318/.409/.727 over those three years. His average bWAR/fWAR over those three years was 2.4 WAR. Renfroe just came off a season where his OBP was nearly 20 points higher than his career average (2021 = .315, career = .297) and nearly 35 points higher than it was in the previous 2 seasons (in 2019 and 2020 he posted a .281 OBP). Despite the .315 OBP and 31 home runs, his bWAR/fWAR for the season was 2.1. So if Bradley returns to be the player he was from 2017-2019, throwing out the plus and negative performances of the last two years, chances are pretty good that he will be a better player than Renfroe in terms of WAR. The more and more I looked at this deal and the historical numbers between Bradley and Renfroe, I'd be pretty surprised if Stearns sees Renfroe as a better player than Bradley. Now if Bradley went to Stearns and said he hated Milwaukee and asked him to do anything he could do to get him out of Milwaukee, that would change things. But it looks like Stearns wanted nothing more than to dump this contract, and the best deal he could find was swapping a player with a comparable WAR and then giving up two prospects to make for the fact that Bradley will have guaranteed money coming in 2023 while Renfroe does not. Come on man, I was probably one of the most optimistic people on here about a JBJ rebound, but he just came off literally one of the worst, most inept offensive seasons in MLB history. Penciling him in to be a 2+ WAR player is extreeeeeemely optimistic (or, in this case, pessimistic about a genius move that Stearns pulled off). Anyway, even if we assume that both JBJ and Renfroe are roughly 2 WAR players, this is still a genius move, because JBJ is significantly more expensive (if you include the binding 2023 option), and Renfroe fits our needs far better as an offensive-minded corner OF with power who mashes LHP. Suggesting that this was merely a contract dump is inaccurate.

I'm pretty excited about Dahl actually, glad he is officially back. He was a perennial breakout candidate (as in, breaking out as a genuine stud) up until very recently. The only question would be if injuries permanently ruined him, but after we gave him a minors deal last fall he did very well at AAA. That's encouraging. Is it fair to just throw away his 2020-21 stats? Maybe not, but let's be optimistic and do it anyway From 2016-2019 he hit a combined: 921 PA, .297/.346/.521/.867, .363 wOBA!

Maybe not this spring training, but perhaps in spring training 2025... Binelas did flash a lot of good things this year. He looked to be, at worst, an Eric Thames type, and if he put up the numbers Thames did in Milwaukee, that would be very nice at the major-league minimum. Others hoped he could be a power bat at third base. Hamilton had a definite "steal bases" tool, good OBP skills, and flashed some power. I was hoping the Crew would move him over the diamond and use him as a Hernan Perez-type. Well, to make the JBJ salary dump, the Crew parted with two prospects. Maybe they were throw-ins, but when we go back through Top 25 discussions, or looking to see who made big contributions... anyone remember Brent Suter, a 31st-round pick who very few thought would do much for the Crew? Or how about Manny Pina, an unexciting catching prospect... who will now deliver Pineapple bombs for the Braves and will be missed? Hernan Perez, a nonescript waiver wire pickup... who only proved to be a valuable bench asset on two Brewers playoff teams. Nate Orf, an undrafted free agent who later came up with a big hit or two in a brief tenure. So, it's not about "prospect hugging" to me. It's more about maximizing the Milwaukee Brewers' chances for consistent long-term competitiveness. Yes, Renfroe helps the competiiveness in 2022-2023 with his power bat, but there was a significant chance that Hamilton and Binelas would be key contibutors for the Brewers in the late 2020s that has bene given up. If you're not willing to trade mid-tier prospects (low minors players ranked in the teens in a mediocre system) for an everyday piece (such as a 2+ WAR corner OF) because of dreams about what they could be if everything breaks right, then the Brewers would finish 50-122 every season in perpetuity. There's waaaaay too much homerism about Brewers prospects on here, because we all follow the team very closely and thus fall in love with dream scenarios about obscure prospects. I distinctly remember convincing myself that Jacob Gatewood was going to be the next Bryce Harper, to cite as an example the last guy I remember who had huge power and was allegedly "supposed to be a top of the first round pick" before a bunch of teams passed on him (...because he wasn't actually that good). A mid-to-low payroll team like the Brewers has to be willing to constantly cycle though these kinds of prospects. We will draft multiple guys as "valuable" as Binelas (a recently drafted third-rounder who had a decent but not spectacular season against overmatched low-A pitching) in the next amateur draft. Does that mean there's a 0% chance Binelas could turn into a starting 1B? Of course not, but you can't run a team that way. I would have had zero qualms about trading Binelas and Hamilton for a player of Renfroe's caliber straight up. The fact that we managed to throw in JBJ as well, with zero money included, is miraculous. (I would have also gladly traded Suter or Pina for Renfroe straight up, FWIW).

I didn't even realize Dahl was in our system. He's actually been useful vs rhp for his career and young enough to have a tinge of upside yet. Massive upside if he can stay healthy. Still only 27 years old and I didn't realize how well he did for us in AAA: 120 PA, .327/.375/.536, .394 wOBA, 142 wRC+. That's quite encouraging give his talent and former performance.

On paper, there's reason to be optimistic about Hiura and (drum roll)... Mike Brosseau at DH. Across the last three seasons (2019-2021) they have put up nice platoon numbers: Hiura vs. RHP: .253/.329/.505/.834, .350 wOBA, 116 wRC+ Brosseau vs. LHP: .277/.336/.515/.851, .357 wOBA, 131 wRC+ We'd be betting on a rebound from both, but it's impressive that Hiura's three-year numbers are still so good despite how bad he was last year, and I'm confident that letting him DH full time without having to worry about defense (or learning an entirely new position in the majors!) will do wonders for him. I think the Opening Day outfield will be Yelich-Cain-Renfroe, but between time off for Cain and rest days against RHP for Renfroe and inevitable injuries, it's pretty clear that all four of our top OF are going to get close to regular playing time.

Did the team ever actually announce this signing? Seems like if it wasn't finalized before the lockout it is at least in limbo if not in jeopardy.

I think the part people aren't excited about is a) it's more or less a wash with Garcia gone and b) we had to do it to undo signing JBJ in the first place. But that's over and done, you have to move forward and improve the team. And yeah, sometimes that's correcting your mistake. Understandable, but that's why I am so baffled by the reaction to this trade. When I saw the trade news I almost fell out of my chair and expected this to be the most celebratory thread in Brewers history, because we did not simply eat Bradley's salary, but somehow got rid of him for a solid everyday OF who will likely hit 30+ HR for us while miraculously saving money! It's incredible. There's no reason to be mad about the Bradley contract anymore, because Stearns managed to get rid of it. Disappointment that Bradley was ever signed in the first place has little relevance to this trade/thread, in my opinion.

Any suggestion that Renfroe alone is not enough of an offensive upgrade makes little sense in the context of this thread/trade. The alternative, who we traded away, was Jackie Bradley Jr.! Unless you were hoping for Binelas to become the everyday DH out of spring training and hit .300/.400/.500 to win RoY, as it sounds like many on here were. This has no effect on other potential moves. If anything it makes another addition more likely by actually saving us money.

Perhaps subjectively. The fact remains despite having a power bar Renfroe is going to his 4th different organization in as many years and still has two years of control left. There is a reason San Diego, Tampa and Boston were willing to move on from him, and the Brewers are going to find out why. He was traded for Jake Cronenworth and Tommy Pham and then had a bad Covid season in arguably the deepest organization in baseball and so was let go.......

Also worth emphasizing that offensive vs. LHP is arguably our biggest area of need this offseason, since we were fourth worst in MLB last season. Not going to find a better weapon in that regard than Renfroe, with the added bonus that he is not just a platoon guy.

The arrow was pointing up for both Binelas and Hamilton. Both have a chance to become solid major leaguers. The Brewers used good prospects to buy their way out of a bad deal. Both positives and negatives can be gleaned from the situation. "Buying their way out of a bad deal" would be if they packaged Binelas and Hamilton with JBJ to get nothing in return. We got multiple years of an everyday RF.

His line against RHP last season was better than Yelich's overall line and similar to Tyrone Taylor's overall line. I imagine he will be getting the bulk of the OF starts with Yelich and Cain.

Renfroe is a weak side platoon bat that we had to trade two decent prospects for because Stearns made an atrocious signing the year before. Yay! The #16 and #17 prospect in a weak farm system and an untradeable contract for a guy who is better than Avisail Garcia, Trey Mancini, Jeff McNeil, take your pick of trade target darlings on here. The negativity on this forum is really draining. I don't get it.

No offense, but what is wrong with some posters on this forum. People are complaining about a MIRACLE TRADE?? Renfroe is projected to out-hit Avisail Garcia next year and we just landed him for an untradeable player.

Stroman is alright, but an overpay by the Cubs in my opinion. Not that it matters to them, given their payroll capacity and the fact that they are rebuilding.

Another guy I would target on a cheap deal, who was just non-tendered by the Braves: Johan Camargo. He looked like a future everyday starter from 2017-18 when he put up 4.3 fWAR over 216 G with sterling defense at 3B. Things have not gone well since in limited playing time, but the projection systems still like him. Steamer projects a .265/.328/.448/.776, .332 wOBA line. As mentioned, he's a plus defender at 3B and capable at 2B. Has played SS/OF a bit with worse results. Would be a great second utility guy to complement Jace Peterson (who strongly favors RHP) and Kolten Wong (who also favors RHP). Camargo's career splits vs LHP: .282/.333/.500/.833, .349 wOBA, 115 wRC+

Can anyone explain why they non-tendered Curtiss? The cost of paying him a 40-man salary and rehabbing him for a year seems negligible if they thought highly enough of him pre-injury to trade a decent prospect. Maybe they've got a deal worked out to sign him right away on a new minors contract so this way they can get him off the 40-man?

He's a decent defender in LF/CF, so I have no reason to think Pham couldn't play RF, but his inability to do so would merely be an added bonus: [sarcasm]Yelich mainly played RF during his two MVP campaigns and only turned back into a mortal after they let him move back to LF. Coincidence?[/sarcasm]

Residual anti-Cubs bias? Despite an early rebound in Milwaukee (before fading a bit), Tellez was below replacement level in 2021 as a whole, and he has a career .769 OPS/.322 wOBA. Rizzo at his absolute worst has put up better numbers that that, and prior to two abnormally low BABIP seasons in 2020=2021, he was an elite hitter as recently as 2019. (.925 OPS, .390 wOBA). From 2014-2019, he was one of the most consistent middle-of-the-order hitters in baseball. The projections systems actually seem to like Tellez a lot, and the front office might as well, so I don't disagree that they might not consider 1B a priority or want to spend any money there, but suggesting that Rizzo is not a clear upgrade on paper seems far-fetched.

Yeah he was my only hope for a higher profile bat on the free agent market. Not gonna happen though. It’ll have to come via trade. I'm not getting my hopes up, but Rizzo seems like a much better fit for us than Bryant in terms of high-profile bats. Much cheaper and could end up being just as good for us. I bet Rizzo is going to be one of the later major signings though, since he will probably wait for the 1B market to resolve around him (Freeman signing, Olson possibly traded, etc)

I can easily understand #2, but not #1.

I'd be posting more random thoughts but I never feel they warrant standalone threads. I guess this can just be a general free agency thread? One guy I would love for the front office to target is Tommy Pham. Not projected to get a huge contract due to underperforming in 2021 and in the 2020 Covid season, but advanced metrics suggest he was extremely unlucky: 2020 = .284 wOBA, .350 xwOBA 2021 = .318 wOBA, .354 xwOBA Prior to that he had been one of the most underrated players in the game. A combined 13.8 fWAR from 2017-2019. No real reason to think the decline in production will continue going forward. He hit the ball as hard as ever in 2021, in fact his Barrel% and HardHit% were better in 2021 than in 2019 and 2017.