JosephC

I agree. I am a big fan of Madrigal but he doesn't make any sense when looking at the Brewer's roster. When matching up the Brewer's needs with what the White Sox have to offer, it seems like Vaughn is the one necessary piece needed to get a deal done. For the record, I'm not in favor of trading Burnes but, as a small market team, I don't believe there is ever a situation where a player is just automatically removed from the table. If the offer is right, trading Burnes could be a big benefit to the team depending on what Burnes does in the future and the return from a trade partner. As good as Burnes was last year, just two years ago he was so bad that he was getting shelled in AAA. Maybe he's turned the corner, but maybe not. I'm not in favor of trading him, but if it would happen it could very well be the case of Stearns hitting the jackpot and selling Burnes when he had reached his top peak value. Nobody know for sure what the future holds. I don't think there is enough credibility to these rumors to make me want to crank surplus values on rumored names involved. But just looking at the baseballtradevalues site- White Sox get- RHP-Corbin Burnes Brewers get- 1B-Andrew Vaughn RHP-Codi Heuer RHP-Jared Kelley + one more prospect, likely in the 15-30 area of the White Sox top prospect list If Vaughn turns into a legitimate plus MLB everyday player, it's very likely this would be a good deal for Milwaukee because you are getting 6 years (3 cheap) of an everyday plus starting lineup regular versus 4 years (1 cheap) of a potentially star starting pitcher. So the quality you would lose from Burnes would likely be made up by the two extra cheap years of the everyday player. Add in that you get a relief pitcher that has been pretty much dominant since changing his release point and pretty much owned major league hitters last year. Then you get the White Sox second round pick who has big, big upside (probably grades a big higher than Antoine Kelly and would likely land on most Brewer top prospect lists at #4). And then there would probably be a fourth piece, probably a high upside youngster that hasn't gotten past rookie ball yet. Sometimes I just laugh the combinations that can be achieved using the baseballtradevalues site, but this one doesn't seem at that ridiculous at face value. Personally, I wouldn't be in favor of that deal, but wouldn't be moaning and groaning if that deal was made. That is a trade that seems to make pretty good sense for the Brewers.

LOL, Steven Cohen lecturing about integrity. What a joke! Hey now, Steve Cohen didn't get 14 billion buckaroo banzais by acting without integrity. Every single one of his dollars was ethically sourced & now lives a peaceful free range lifestyle. Don't forget about these- https://www.wsj.com/articles/steve-cohens-point72-settles-with-female-employee-in-gender-discrimination-arbitration-11600375911 https://sports.yahoo.com/mets-owner-steve-cohen-accused-using-vulgar-sexist-language-at-hedge-fund-in-discrimination-suit-020202167.html

LOL, Steven Cohen lecturing about integrity. What a joke!

I just ordered a Jet's pizza. It is a bit different than Rocky's as they prepare the crust so it becomes crispy when it's baked. So about the same thickness as Rocky's, but the bottom of Rocky's crust is softer while the bottom layer of Jet's crust is more crispy/crunchy. I think I prefer Rocky's whole wheat crust, but I'd take the Jet's crust if it's being compared to Rocky's normal white crust. The other thing with Jet's is they run the cheese right to the end of the pizza so it caramelizes against the baking pan. Seems like lots of people really love this. Jet's offers an 8-corner pizza which I've had before and it looks like they just throw two small pizzas in the same box. But if you like the caramelized cheese on the edge, the 8-corner pizza results in every piece being a corner piece so the customer gets two edges on every slice. Jet's is pretty good but I'd probably still lean Rocky's just because I think their actual toppings are still the best among the chains. I've a sausage, mushroom, onion guy and I think Rocky's has the best sausage, mushrooms and onions of all the chains. They get a lot of complaints about the "doughy" crust and I agree with that but that problem seems to be minimalized if the customer gets a whole pie and orders it on the whole wheat crust. I'd go as far as saying that Rocky's whole wheat crust is a necessity. But a note to anyone who wants to try Jet's because they want to try a real Detroit-style pizza. While Jet's has the Detroit style crust, they do not put the sauce on top as is standard with Detroit style pizza (just like the deep dish Chicago style). Also, many traditional Detroit style joints put the sauce on top but don't spread it evenly, they just put 4 or 5 big gobs of sauce on there so the customer can spread it how they like and have the option to easily remove excess sauce if it's too much for them. Personally, I like this because I really like a Chicago style every now and then but sometimes the amount of sauce can just be overwhelming. It's nice to be able to remove some of the sauce without having to dig back through it to reclaim some of the toppings to put back on the pizza. Jet's is good, definitely worth a try to see if you like it. I very much doubt there would be many people out there who are so turned off by it that it would immediately find it's way in the garbage can.

Seems like the Brewers strategy for international guys is more of a quantity approach, give 2 or 3 prospects a bit over 1 million dollars and then sign a bunch of other guys. I was kind of surprised to see a 1.9 million dollar bonus. Is this the second highest international prospect bonus the Brewers have ever given out (behind Gilbert Lara)?

Alex Wood could be a great signing for the Giants if he stays healthy. That park is great for lefties as it is, I could see Wood posting some pretty impressive numbers there. Just have to question if he can stay healthy. But a 3 million dollar gamble for a big-market team like San Francisco, seems like a good move to me.

I think a Bryant for Davis/Szapucki and more would be a big get for the Cubs. I just don't see Bryant having that much value on the trade market. Projecting 2020 out to a full season, and surprisingly Bryant has only been a 2.4 bWAR/fWAR player per season over the last three years. Very good year in 2019, but not that great in 2018 and wasn't that great in a shortened 2020. The number I've pulled out of my rear end for him in 2021 is a 2.9 WAR, and considering only one year of control plus a huge arbitration number, I only have his surplus value at +7.5 million. I'm not even a J.D. Davis fan but would still put his surplus value at roughly twice that of Bryant. Add in three more players going to Chicago, and I think this would be a great deal for the Cubs.

The one area where unfounded rumors has some worth is that it can prompt people to take a closer look at some of the names involved. Is that release point unique enough for Stearns to be interested? The guy does have pretty good movement on those pitches, especially at 98 MPH. Also a big fan of Nick Madrigal, but can he play anywhere other than second base? He and Hiura don't fit on the same roster unless there is a guaranteed DH.

Benintendi's bWAR/fWAR has fallen dramatically over the last three years. 4.45 to 1.9 to -0.95 (very small sample size pro-rated over a full season). There have also been reports of the significant drop in timed speed over that same time period. Add in that he is coming off an injury, and I don't think he is all that attractive a candidate. Taking a completely unbiased approach, his average bWAR/fWAR over the last three seasons is 1.8 and if you project him at that going forward, then a Benintendi/Peralta straight up deal would favor the Red Sox but it wouldn't be unreasonable. However, I think a safe project for each player would be to credit Benintendi as being worth 3 WAR total over the next two years (remaining control) and Peralta as being worth 4 WAR total over the next four years and if those are the numbers you go with, then Peralta's surplus value is +22.25 million and Benintendi's surplus value is +11.4 million. Personally I would not do a straight up Benintendi/Peralta swap.

I had cranked the numbers on Smith a couple weeks ago. Needless to say he's one of the hardest guys to assign numbers to because of playing time, DH or no DH, etc, etc, etc. Pro-rate out 2020 to a full season and he's averaged 1.8 WAR over the last three years. But that number includes a full 2020, which in the grand scheme probably really over-estimates his value. However, there are what would qualify as partial seasons earlier which definitely under-estimates his value when looking at 3 year numbers. He's been credited with 2.85 years of service time (2 years, 146 days) and has only been a 1.9 bWAR player and a 1.6 fWAR player...so looking at those numbers, has really only been a 0.6 WAR player per season during his MLB career. But again, for much of those 2.85 years he was stuck on the bench, and I'd bet 30/30 MLB GMs would project him as being significantly higher than a 0.6 WAR per season player moving forward. This is a guy who has slashed .299/.366/.571/.937 over his last 396 plate appearances. I ended up projecting him as a 1.8 WAR player per season over the next few years and that number is the midpoint of what he's actually done over the last two seasons and the projections for 2021 (which seem really low to me). It's worth noting that he is a super two guy so that knocks down his surplus value significantly. I came up with a surplus value for Smith of 33.2 million. I've projected Hader as a 2.2 WAR player per season over the next three years and also have his surplus value in the 30-35 million range. IMO a straight-up swap of the two would be a pretty fair deal.

Kind of disappointed by the defensive numbers. 2 innings as a pitcher, 2 innings at 1B, 2 innings at RF...not enough data for any of those spots. 2B = 778 2/3 innings, +5 DRS, +4.1 UZR/150 3B = 526 1/3 innings, -5 DRS, -2.8 UZR/150 SS = 511 2/3 innings, -1 DRS, -10.4 UZR/150 LF = 36 1/3 innings, 0 DRS, +54.7 UZR/150 (small sample size) It's pretty unlikely he'd see many LF innings unless Yelich has a significant injury. So considering the guy will probably be a high .600's OPS guy, or maybe be in the very low .700's, it looks like he's only a real asset playing 2B (solid late game defensive replacement for Hiura). Kind of surprised it took a major league deal in order to sign him.

Speaking of playing centerfield, Victor Robles better get himself a whole bunch of new running shoes because he's gonna need 'em. Soto and Schwarber in the same outfield. Have to think the Nationals are 100% convinced there will be a NL DH in 2021. Or else they think their pitchers are going to strike out >35% of the batters that they will face. The Nationals are going to be playing Schwarber at 1B and not in the OF so not sure why this would be an issue. LOL, if you believe defensive metrics that's even worse. Bell played a total of 108 1/3 innings for the Pirates in right field in 2016 and had a -5 DRS (which is just awful for only 108 innings) and a -43.7 UZR/150. The eyeball test probably matched the numbers considering the Pirates never put him in the outfield again.

Think Yelich would like to play in Boston and would waive his no-trade? I don't like Benintendi because he has the look of a rapid dropper, but I'd still take a couple years of him in exchange for unloading the Yelich contract.

Speaking of playing centerfield, Victor Robles better get himself a whole bunch of new running shoes because he's gonna need 'em. Soto and Schwarber in the same outfield. Have to think the Nationals are 100% convinced there will be a NL DH in 2021. Or else they think their pitchers are going to strike out >35% of the batters that they will face.

And if working for just a medium sized business....there is a pretty good chance the average person goes to into a workplace 240 times during the year and risks spreading the virus in an environment where there are people from 50 different households present. That is opposed to a few family gatherings a year, where a person goes into a home 3-5 times a year and risks spreading the virus in an environment where there are maybe people from 5 or 6 different households present. That's a big difference when considering what the government says you shouldn't do and what behavior is considered perfectly fine.

I’m assuming you have links to show that anyone is actually saying this? What? I need a link to show that pretty much every government official, elected or appointed bureaucrat, is saying that getting together for a family gathering is a really bad idea. But on the other hand, there isn't one peep from them saying that piling into a workplace, with 100 people from 100 different households, could be a significant risk? I really need a link for that? Last night on the way home from work I drove past one of the local steakhouses and the parking lot was jammed packed. So if I get together with 15 relatives from 5 different households for a Christmas dinner, that is a completely unnecessary risk, but the 100 people from 50 different households that were in the steakhouse last night does not present an unnecessary public risk? Best part is that the people who make up all these rules are the first people to ignore their own rules. Now shut up and get back to work, we need that tax revenue and you need to generate that revenue to line the pockets of the fat cats!

Not sure if anyone has done anything with game logs, but I'm pretty sure Trevor Bauer pointed out some teams that had numerous pitchers with spin rates that magically increased by 10-15% from one season to the next. It's been pretty obvious that this has been going on for awhile now and I have to admit that I hope it blows up in MLB's face. Seems to be a case where all teams are doing it to some extent so everyone is just willing to look the other way. If....say....27 out of 30 MLB teams are doing it then why not just change the rule and make it legal to use "grip mixtures." What would be the motivation to just ignore it and hope people don't talk about it? Latest question. MLB said they couldn't suspend any Astros player in the electronic sign stealing scandal because they weren't notified that was illegal (which is ridiculous). So now with this, if several witnesses step forth and say Yankee star Gerrit Cole is a definite cheater, does MLB do anything about Gerrit Cole or does the Angels (+MLB) just fire some nobody named Brian Harkins and just move on and pretend that nothing is happening here? I know what I would put my money on. Would be hard for anyone on the planet to believe that Gerrit Cole was not aware that using a foreign substance was against the rules.

That is kind of what it boils down to. Masks and distancing are so we can get out and do some normal things. Any gathering of people for an extend amount of time is a roll of the dice hoping no one is there to pass it on. That's right. You guys just remember that piling into a house with all your relatives for a celebration is near insane risk that very well could have catastrophic results. However, if you pile into a workplace with a whole bunch of other people (from literally hundreds of different households if the workplace if big enough) then there is no risk because you are generating revenue to pay for some jerk's million dollar salary AND generating tax dollars for your elected leaders. At least that's what the science says!

Lindor is top, top value but has minimal surplus value IMO. Only one year of control left with a big, big arbitration number....and even if they tried to get a bidding war going, the big market teams were going to low-ball them because they know it's either take one of our packages as a return or get left with one compensation pick (which would be similar to what Stearns gave up to get Alex Claudio). If I'm an Indian's fan, I'd be kind of glad that the Lindor thing is over and they got a pretty good shortstop prospect they can stick in there right away. However, I would not be happy that they got rid of Carrasco. I agree with the idea that age is a consideration. But Carrasco showed pretty well last year. Really the reason I hate it is because how their rotation stacks up. Bieber is a stud and Plesac has looked good so far...not really convince with Civale but time will tell. Have to wonder if they are just going to throw McKenzie, Allen, Quantrill right in there and sink-or-swim. I would have preferred to keep the veteran around for one more year...but at least for Cleveland fans it will be exciting to see all those young guys in there. There is always a chance that maybe I think too much of Carrasco because it seems like he really puts a real beat-down on Milwaukee whenever he pitches against them. Couldn't help but look up the numbers and in 3 starts the Brewers have a .244/.286/.269/.555 slash line against him.

I just glanced at the polls and there must be some sort of misprint there. Impossible to think this could happen when just 11 months ago the program's future was completely ruined due to the defection of one player.

Hiura has to be a hold. Trading him now seems to be a pretty dramatic situation of selling low. Has to go back in the starting lineup and try to improve on last year's .212/.297/.410/.707 which seems like a really safe and easy bet.

With all of the recent graduations, it just doesn't seem like the Dodger's system is all that great anymore (and the Brewers won't be getting Lux or Mays in a Hader deal). There had been the rumors that the Blue Jays may be getting pretty aggressive with player moves. That's a team that I would love to be in the Hader mix. They seem really rich in the prospect tier that would likely be available in a Hader deal (Groshans, Woods Richardson, Manoah, etc).

Probably because back in the spring people were genuinely scared of the virus. Now I'd guess about 47% of the population sees it as a "bad flu" and another 47% of the population doesn't worry about it because they wear their masks. There is probably only about 5% of the population that is worried about it and those would be the older people in the high risk groups.

I can understand why Stearns might think he rolled the dice and got Gyorko's last big offensive season in 2020 and now wants to move on. However, Gyorko seems like such a great fit with needing third base help and a right-handed bat to fill in some at first base...now it just makes perfect sense to bring him back. So I'm really surprised that there is no chatter regarding him. Just wonder if the Brewers aren't all that interested or if Gyroko now thinks he's a 2 year, 12 million dollar player (which he might be in a normal market, but very likely not in a COVID-19 market).

If Ohio State (Big 10 associated with FOX) upsets Alabama (SEC associated with ESPN), get ready for at least a month of non-stop talk about how Ohio State only had to play 7 cupcake games, mostly against a very weak Big 10 with Michigan and Penn State being down, while Alabama had to play 12 games in the brutal SEC and how unfair the entire system was.