Cool Hand Lucroy

Only saw the score tonight, but looking forward to watching later in the year. Not sure there's much to tell from the opener, but would be interesting in hearing folks' thoughts if they've got them. Denver has been an up and down (but generally legit) program in recent years, so I'm not freaked out the Badgers only won by 7, but you also hope for a better showing. Still, lots of teams have struggled from the little I've seen so far, so probably not a reason to worry.

I like Sanchez too, but it sounds like the mutual option was for 8.5 million? That's way too much, and it's the MLB Trade Rumors figure. I think that's an easy decline in that case. Brewers pay a 250k buyout, meaning Gary effectively made $2 mil in 2026. His walk alone might have been worth that much. But much cheaper options available in-house, even if we're not super confident in Quero or Naylor.

Giving Bill the money is smart. It also MAYBE suggests they want to try and sign him long-term, given that, if they were set on trading him, they might try to keep the 2027 salary suppressed just for maximum flexibility. That's all marginal and minor stuff, but what other tea leaves are left to read on November 2nd?

This is kind of a no-lose situation for the team and Bauers. Either the guy makes 20+ mil and the team gets a very solid, lefty 1B at a position of relative weakness system-wide (while we wait and hope on Fischer), or you save the money and can spend it elsewhere while Bauers gets generational wealth money. I think the Brewers are slightly better off if he accepts, but it's an easy QO, I think.

The point about Braun and Yeli being MVPs is a good one, but we'll have to agree to disagree. I think both Braun and Yeli also had big question marks (Yeli coming off a pretty significant injury, for one) and were signed much past their age 33 seasons. Also, William has a top-5 MVP finish as a Brewer, too and been massively consistent even when he was struggling at the plate. He's basically a guaranteed 2-3 win player, with the potential to be worth 5 or 6. Will they sign him? No idea. But I think the odds are better than you're implying, and I don't think anyone should be that worried about spending Mark A's money on a premium position with very good offensive production and a World Series MVP to his ledger through his early 30s at a time when the NL has the DH.

They operated this way with BOTH Yeli and Braun. And neither of them were playing premium positions.

I don't know that offering now is necessarily emotional. Bill makes 14.5 next year. You could add 5 or 10 to that number, roll it into the overall value of the contract, and it helps both parties. We keep talking about this as being expensive and risky for the Brewers, but there's also a risk that you wait, and Bill increases his value even more. He was only a 3 bWAR guy this past year, which was very nearly a career low (2.6 in 2022). Would anyone bet heavily against him putting together an MVP season? He was a top 5 finisher as recently as 2024. It can go a lot of ways. But I'd have no issue offering a big, big number. 5 years. 120 or 130. Take him through age 33 and solve a position where we don't have a lot in the pipeline for the next few seasons. If he says no (which he might!), at least you gave it a shot, and at the time where I think he'd be most likely to say yes.

I know baseball is not sentimental, especially small-market baseball. We're going to have to make some tough choices. I expect Bauers will get a reasonably big money offer, simply because the lefty bat plays, and he has some positional flexibility, at least for the next couple years. I'd make the QO. He might take it, but one year isn't going to hurt anyone, and I suspect he'd be more tempted by a multi-year offer elsewhere. Bill seems like the guy who should get the Braun, Yelich, Brewer-for-life deal. Yelich has a $20 million mutual option in 2029, so you could give Contreras something like 5/130 and go 20, 25, 25, 30, 30 or something like that, buying out his current 2027 14.5 number. That just take him through his age 33 season, which is really not that bad. You figure the bat plays even if he's not catching as much. I think the math works, is what I'm saying. We've locked in Chourio, Lara, and Pratt at very reasonable rates. The pitching is young, and there are depth options on the 40-man and coming up. The revenue boost we're going to get is big. The Brewers have shown a willingness to do this kind of deal in the past, and I think Bill is the best guy to get the next one. Ultimately, I think Turang is probably out in 2030 if you do it, but that's probably the case anyway. I'd choose Contreras. Catcher matters, and premium production there, even for just a few years, is incredibly valuable. If someone offers Bill a deal like 7/190 or even broaches 200? Okay, he'll bolt, and we'll go from there. I'd just come in with a strong offer this offseason because it can work for both parties.

I think Contreras is absolutely worth 5/110 or 6/140 or something like that. You could do a lot worse than spending some extra playoff revenue on a catcher who should at least be good for the first half to two-thirds of that contract.

Since 2000? This has to be a top 5 or so team, all things considered. 2016 Cubs, 2018 Red Sox, 2009 Yankees, 2022 Astros, and us. I'd have us ahead of the 2 Dodger teams. This team was excellent all year. We'll have lots of offseason to delve into the stats, but I think the run will absolutely hold up.

Reflecting on Game 5 and wondering how much Cash starting Ras in Game 2 was a forced choice. Was Ras too gassed to go Game 1? If not, it sure seems like that, along with not going to the higher leverage bullpen arms in the 7th, was the mistake of the series. Hindsight, obviously. And it does seem more like Martinez might have been the only available option. But that worked out for the Brewers for sure.

Thank you! This is great. Loved reading it.

Wouldn't say I was disappointed in Levering, but I get the sentiment. These calls are so hard. We're going to be hearing his pennant call forever, and it's all part of the story. I think Davis also has it a little easier. He can rehearse because he's calling for a national audience. Nobody's too worried it'll feel canned. The local guys have to be both natural and memorable, and it's really just a tough needle to thread. Honestly, one of my favorite parts of the last couple of weeks has been BA showing how much he loves this team. You can just feel it in his voice and his emotions. He's a Brewer, man. And I think, if Cotroneo ends up on PxP in some capacity, he'll be just as good. We're lucky. So lucky, and it also speaks to the way the organization keeps people involved and committed and feeling good. You could tell Megill didn't want to leave.

If you're up for it, I'm interested in reading about your experience. The television feeds are obviously curated and focused on the front rows and the rally, so I'd love to get a sense of what it was like just to be in the city more generally, or at the parade in the less visible locations!

Perfect closer!!