JosephC

Phillies get: RHSP-Corbin Burnes (from Milwaukee) OF-Christian Yelich (from Milwaukee) Brewers get: DH-Nick Castellanos (from Philadelphia) C-Danny Jansen (from Toronto) LHRP-Erik Miller (from Philadelphia) Blue Jays get: RHRP-Connor Brodgon (from Philadelphia) OF-Garrett Mitchell (from Milwaukee) No way do I see the Brewers moving Burnes in a Yelich swap, and then including Mitchell on top of it. But for someone looking for what a Yelich deal could look like, this is the best I can do. At least Milwaukee gets a proven big bat coming off ONE bad season who could be a serious bounce-back candidate and a good controllable catcher for the next few seasons. Castellanos due 20 million over each of the next four years for 80 million total, Yelich guaranteed another 162.5 million, so the Brewers save over 80 million in the swap.

Jeff Potrykus (Journal-Sentinel) is reporting it's likely the Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers Coach Mike Tressel and Co-Defensive Coordinator/Safeties Coach Colin Hitschler will come with Fickell. Hard to see Leonhard fitting in if that's the case. Also talks about how Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach Gino Guidugli could come, but could end up the Head Coach at Cincinnati. Also calls Wide Receivers Coach/Passing Game Coordinator Mike Brown a candidate. Cincinnati had another decommit yesterday, a 6-2, 180 lb safety out of Ohio named Braedyn Moore.

I thought that whole Dilfer thing was a joke/PR thing, but his resume is pretty impressive. 3 state championship games in 4 years in Tennessee, and there is generally pretty good talent in that state. Certainly not a resume that would earn a head coaching job at a school like Auburn, but looks good enough for a school like UAB.

I really don't see any reason for Leonhard wanting to stick around or UW wanting him to stick around. He was obviously hurt by not getting the head coaching job. Prior to this I only thought he would leave for a head coaching job, now I think he'd jump at any "decent" defensive coordinator job that would pop up. McIntosh is probably praying that Leonhard does not go to Nebraska. With as bad as Nebraska has been, coupled with the fact that Bucky keeps getting win after win against them, if Leonhard goes there and with Ruhle improves them to the point where they are better than Wisconsin...McIntosh might get run right out of Madison.

TE-Khamari Anderson has decommitted from Cincinnati. He was considered to be one of the 3 or 4 best prospect in their class prior to all the decommits happening. He'd be a nice grab for Bucky.

So I'm just going to steal this from the Baseball Trade Values site. Bottom five contracts in terms of surplus value (and there is a pretty sizable gap between #5 and #6) are Strasburg, Rendon, Yelich, Stanton and Bryant. The Brewers are not going to trade Burnes or any prospect(s) to get rid of Yelich. The only realistic way of getting Yelich off the roster is to take one of these bad contracts back. It would make perfect sense for the Angels to do a Rendon/Yelich swap. But Yelich has 162.5 million left on his deal and it's more spread out (no more than 26 million in a single season and part of that is deferred), whereas Rendon has 152 million left on his deal and that's all crammed into 4 seasons. Imagine saving 10 million in the long-term but actually losing 12+ million in "payroll space" each of the next 4 years, and in the swap you pick up a player who probably projects at a lower WAR than Yelich does. Stanton has a full no-trade clause and...well, he's not likely to waive that to go from the Yankees to Milwaukee. Oh, that no-trade clause was in effect when he was with the Marlins...didn't stop him from going to the Yankees when he got the chance. The remainder of Bryant's contract is actually very similar to Yelich, but he has that messed up foot that probably makes him a bigger risk than Yelich going forward. Has Strasburg retired yet? Looking likely that his contract will go down in history as being even worse than the Chris Davis deal, and that is saying something! Don't see any scenario at this point that moves Yelich off of the Brewer's roster.

People put a lot in the no trade clause. For some reason I don't see Yelich killing any deal that would send him to a California team outside of the A's. Really think Yelich would rather play for the Brewers instead of the Yankees or Mets? How about the Astros, Red Sox, Braves, Phillies? He'd have to be head-over-heels in love with finishing 7th every year, or has no real interest in having a good chance of winning a World Series, or be a complete no-brain MLBPA lackey that MAY ask him to put his "below average contract in a big market" concept ahead of his own self-interest (which is the one realistic possibility that I can see, but even don't think that is likely since Yelich doesn't appear to be a star-level player anymore).

People put a lot in the no trade clause. For some reason I don't see Yelich killing any deal that would send him to a California team outside of the A's. Really think Yelich would rather play for the Brewers instead of the Yankees or Mets? How about the Astros, Red Sox, Braves, Phillies? He'd have to be head-over-heels in love with finishing 7th every year, or has no real interest in having a good chance of winning a World Series, or be a complete no-brain MLBPA lackey that MAY ask him to put his "below average contract in a big market" concept ahead of his own self-interest (which is the one realistic possibility that I can see, but even don't think that is likely since Yelich doesn't appear to be a star-level player anymore).

Well the recruiting turnover is fully on now. Chris Terek, a guard who had probably been the consensus top recruit for the Badgers, has decommitted. And Terek is a hard decommit with little to no chance of a return, as he appears to be fully committed to Notre Dame. Also decommitting is DT-Roderick Pierce. The following players have decommitted from Cincinnati: WR-Ayden Greene, CB-Jonas Duclona, CB-Amare Snowden. Cincinnati also had a decommit a few days ago, ATH-Jason Hewlett, but that happened well before the Fickell announcement and appears completely unrelated to the coaching carousel. Most think he is headed to Michigan.

The Journal-Sentinel is reporting that the list included Jim Leonhard, Luke Fickell, Lance Leipold and Dave Aranda. Leipold was never offered the job, and Aranda "was intrigued by the idea of running UW"s program but is happy at Baylor." Worth noting that Aranda makes 6 million a year at Baylor, likely just about the same as UW money (actually UW money becomes about 450k less after factoring in the state income tax). Sounds like Leonhard would have gotten the job if Fickell hadn't accepted it. Also reported that Leonhard was "blindsided and devastated" by the news.

Fickell was Ohio State's interim head coach and then they passed on him. Fickell was 4-8 in year one at Cincinnati and then went 11-2 in year two and Ohio State passed on him again. Day is 43 years old and Fickell is 49 years old. I don't see Fickell as a likely candidate to replace Day. Only way that happens is if Fickell goes on a 33-6 run over 3 season with a couple of those wins against Ohio State. If Fickell comes here and does something like 29-8 with a 1-2 record against Ohio State and Michigan, neither the Ohio State powers-that-be nor the Ohio State fanbase will want anything to do with him. After all, Day has a 45-5 record so far at Ohio State and a big chunk of their fanbase don't think that's good enough. By no means do I think Fickell is forever married to the Badgers. But if he leaves, I think it's much more likely a Bielema type situation where an SEC school comes with way more money for him and his staff.

I was pretty skeptical that Leonhard would get the job after recruits started dropping. It would be pretty foolish to watch those recruits go...and put the current players through the uncertainty of who the coach will be if you are just going to hire the current interim. I was hoping for Leonhard, but am happy with Fickell. I had some concerns that McIntosh might go out and hire a sketchy character like Tom Herman, Hopefully Fickell will bring 6-8 of Cincy's recruits along with him, because the Badgers sure could use them. Rivals has Cincinnati's class currently ranked 26th which is a bit higher than what Wisconsin does in most seasons. Looks like the headliner is a TE named Anderson...Bucky sure could use one of those. Fickell's recruiting has roughly run from Michigan through Maryland with a few Florida guys mixed in over the last couple of seasons. That seems like a good fit for Wisconsin. The defense he's been using is a 3-3-5, not sure if the Badgers have someone that will fit in that "big safety/small linebacker" role which tends to be a real key spot in that defense. Currently coordinators are Gino Guidugli and Mike Tressel. Wouldn't mind seeing both of those guys on the Badger's staff. I can remember when Guidugli was Cincinnati's QB, I wonder if he'll get the head coaching job since there are some strong ties there. Guidugli is also from Cincinnati (actually Fort Thomas, Kentucky, which is right across the river from Cincinnati).

Pretty much knew they were toast with Allen out of the ballgame. The only thing the Mertz/Mellusi combo can be relied on is not enough points. Then there is the Wolf debacle at the end of the game, everyone in the entire midwest figured out years ago that this guy isn't Big 10 backup material, but there he is yet again.

In 1995 the Packers drafted an offensive guard out of Mississippi named Jeff Miller. When Ron Wolf had his retirement press conference, he was asked what the worst draft pick he ever made was. He immediately said Jeff Miller and said it took him one practice to know that he had made a mistake.

Those who assume that Perkins is depth behind guys like Frelick might have a big surprise coming in March. This move scream warm body to keep the top prospects in the minors through May in order to play the Super Two game.

I don't see anything in this return to get excited about. Junk, nearly 27 years old, 24 2/3 MLB innings, 4.74 ERA, 5.22 FIP, 1.42 WHIP, 7.7 K/9, 4.2 K/BB (OK, the K/BB is good), AAA numbers = 76 innings, 4.86 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 8.4 K/9, 3.9 K/BB Peguero, 25 years old, 19 2/3 MLB innings, 9.15 ERA, 5.92 FIP, 1.93 WHIP, 6.2 K/9, 2.4 K/BB, AAA numbers = 52 1/3 innings, 3.44 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 9.8 K/9, 3.8 K/BB Seminaris, 24 years old, AAA numbers = 34 1/3 innings, 5.24 ERA, 1.72 WHIP, 7.1 K/9, 1.7 K/BB, AA numbers = 30 2/3 innings, 4.70 ERA, 1.66 WHIP, 7.9 K/9, 1.9 K/BB MLB data on Junk obviously is limited, but it's interesting that in 2021 he threw a slider 21.3% of the time and a curveball 21.9% of the time, but in 2022 the slider went up to 45.3% of the time and the curveball dropped to 8.2% of the time. Could be the Angels were already looking to transition him to full-time relief. His fastball averages 92.7 MPH, and so far in the majors, only his slider has been a positive pitch for him (throws fastball, slider, curveball and occasional change-up). Peguero is fastball/slider. Fastball is at 96.4 MPH but MLB hitters have had no problem with it as it has been a pretty significant negative by Pitch Value numbers. The slider also is in negative territory. The 2021 Baseball America Prospect Handbook noted that Seminaris has somewhat of a cross-fire delivery, so I'm thinking a funky delivery which the Brewers just seem to love. But after viewing video on YouTube, I didn't see anything that looked overly deceptive to me. Sets on the first base side of the rubber and does not have an exaggerated stride towards first...I didn't see anything that would indicate he could be a "death on lefties" type pitcher. If anything, there is a pretty decent fading change that makes it look like he might actually be better against righties (based on one video that lasts only a few minutes, so not much information). Just not a lot to get excited about. Also not thrilled that two of these guys are on the 40-man roster immediately and neither of them seem like sure-fire bets for the 2023 26-man roster. I also believe Seminaris is Rule V eligible after this season, but that probably isn't that big of a deal because his performance in 2023 very likely determines if the Brewers and the rest of MLB views him as a future big-leaguer or not.

If Leonhard gets the job, then it's as it should be. But now I have to wonder what took McIntosh so long? He really needed that ugly win against a bad Nebraska team to prove that Leonhard was the right man for the job?

Wong's value should be higher than what is listed on the Trade Values site, but he's on a one-year deal at 10 million and while his numbers with the bat were way up last year, the defensive numbers were way down (actually a negative in both DRS and UZR/150). My guess is that Wong has something like 6-8 million of surplus value on my board, and if going to the Mariners, the return would be something like RHP-Michael Morales (#23 on the MLB pipeline, 3rd round pick in 2021) and SS-Josh Hood (#29 on the MLB pipeline, 6th round pick in 2022). As reilly already pointed out, they also save 2 million from not having to pay the buyout.

At least Terek is still on board, who many speculated would be one of the first to jump ship. Certainly get the feeling there will be at least another 1 or 2 current commits that elect to go elsewhere. The DT that left, opened the door for another DT to come on as there are a couple interested. But overall, what's left of the high school candidates...it's looking pretty barren. Wouldn't be crazy to think that upwards of 40% of the 2023 recruiting class will coming from the transfer portal. Either that or the Badgers will be settling for a lot of MAC level high school recruits (which may not be a bad thing considering how many of their recent top-tier recruits have been busts).

It was targeting, but to suggest it's a completely different game if that is called is pure nonsense. The guy who posted that definitely was not paying attention to everything that happened before and after that play occured.

Mertz is good at looking adequate against cream-puff competition. How anyone could have expected a good performance out of him against this Iowa defense just hasn't been paying any attention over the last couple of years.

It's a shame that Benton is graduating, because I think guys like Johnson and Njongmeta have stepped up and played pretty well the last few weeks. I thought, for the most part, the defensive front seven looked really weak at the beginning of this season, but now I'd really like their outlook for next year if Benton was returning.

I sure am getting the vibe that the interim part of Leonhard's title is either removed in the next couple of days or he is not getting the job. Not this past week, but during the preceding week there was an interview with Leonhard where he made it pretty obvious that he was growing impatient with the process. They just lost one of their WR commits and other schools are really going to ramp up their poaching efforts the longer this goes on. If McIntosh is going to do a complete break and go with someone totally different, then losing players is a part of the process. But it is a bit foolish to drag this out if the thought is that Leonhard will probably be the best candidate after they take a look around.

How much can the Brewers spend? Probably not nearly enough. 2022 opening day payrolls- Yankees = 245 million Phillies = 228 million Padres = 211 million Astros = 174 million So if the goal is to finish about 7th in a 30 team league and claim that to be a big success, the Brewers can likely spend enough for that. But if you want to run with the big boys, might as well forget about that until MLB and MLBPA fixes the CBA or the owner decides he wants to spend like the Padres spend.

How much can the Brewers spend? Probably not nearly enough. 2022 opening day payrolls- Yankees = 245 million Phillies = 228 million Padres = 211 million Astros = 174 million So if the goal is to finish about 7th in a 30 team league and claim that to be a big success, the Brewers can likely spend enough for that. But if you want to run with the big boys, might as well forget about that until MLB and MLBPA fixes the CBA or the owner decides he wants to spend like the Padres spend.