KeithStone53151

In addition to all the reasons noted above, I think Santana rebounds in a big way this year. He's clearly a talented guy, and losing playing time like he did has a way of motivating people to put in the work. See Wade Miley's 2018 season, and every guy that has a big year in a contract year.

In the playoffs, I felt like we were a bit exposed against LHP with 2 of our better sluggers(Shaw/Moose) LHB. That dynamic changes a bit with Moose leaving, but I still like the idea of an extra bat that mashes lefties. I know Arcia and Pina actually have reverse splits and hit RHP better than LHP, doesn't leave much for guys that are better against LHP. Braun, Cain, Aguilar is about it...unless Perez is playing.

Him being this available hurts Santana's trade value. I'd be more interested in him if Braun was moving to 1b or we had a need. But we really don't, Garcia isn't the type of guy you want as a 4th OF. He'll probably end up in Miami or Baltimore or some 2nd division team on the cheap.

Hiura doesn't really profile as the type of hitter that would significantly struggle upon callup. He doesn't have glaring holes in his swing like a Brinson that will need time to adjust to MLB pitching. There are plenty of examples of elite prospects making an impact from day 1 at the mlb level. I wouldn't say it's unlikely. My issue with Whit is primarily his age...and how reliant he is on speed. Shave those 45 steals down to 20 and shave 10 points off that batting average for beating out grounders with speed, still decent numbers but certainly not looking at an all-star anymore. That's what I'm seeing 2 years from now when he only has 90% of his current speed and is why I don't want to trade any of the big 3 arms or Hiura for him.

Nonsense, Bartolo will get there.

To me, this felt more like an error by CC. I think they liked Kratz in there calling games and for his veteran presence. Stearns should absolutely punt Kratz for the sole purpose of not giving CC an opportunity to make stupid decisions again.

Oh yeah, from who? Dumped on may not be the right terminology, but considering all the threads talking about upgrading from a league average backstop with plus defense...

I think we'd be able to rotate enough with Whit and Hiura up that it would be ok. Whit has enough positional flexibility, maybe by that point Braun is dealing with a nagging injury and needs a few days. Or maybe the general plan is to make Braun's move to 1b more of a priority and get him more reps over the offseason. Clear a spot for Domingo/Ray...or Whit. There's a lot we can do with a guy that has positional flexbility.

I've been extremely negative on Whit, but if he costed Ray plus a couple throw-ins...I'd do that deal. My opinion is, I don't think Whit maintains this level of production for more than a 2-3 years...and then he'll have expensive arbitration years of mediocre production at best. That's part of why I wouldn't want to trade one of those pitchers for him, but someone like Ray would be fine with me. I think there are half a dozen teams that would give up that caliber of a prospect for Whit though.

Interesting that without Hiura, the Cubs would have a better farm than ours according to this breakout. But as noted above, I think our depth is much better than theirs. Most of their upper level arms come off very mediocre based on scouting reports and stats over the last couple years...and I still don't believe that catcher is ranked properly and is as good of a prospect Callis and co.

Thanks for the info. 10 day processing time is ridiculous, but probably not exactly their fault. I have not received mine either but I'll anticipate it soon. My billing cycle runs through the 11/12th and I have a credit balance from the WS tickets anyway, so at this point it's whatever. It will certainly be weird not having to actually pay anything for a credit card bill for a few months.

I personally chalk all that up to small sample. Luck can drive that pretty significantly over 100 or less PA. If you look at his career SP stats, he actually allowed the same number of XBH 1st and 2nd time through and less of those were HR his 2nd time through. A few more singles and a few more walks. I don't believe it's as extreme as is implied, and no less extreme than the average drop a starter will see. Also worth noting, 3rd time through his numbers are actually better than 1st time through...which I think adds credibility to my sample size theory. If you were to combine 2nd and 3rd time through into one stat, you are looking at roughly 780ish OPS against anyone he's seen more than once...whether it be 2, 3, or 4 times. Not great, but less extreme than going from 635 to 909 or whatever the number was. I don't know how to isolate the numbers better, but I suspect Woodruff was much better 2nd time through in September and October than he was earlier in the year. I believe he simply improved over the 3-4 months in AAA and brought those improvements to the MLB level...especially fastball command(and HR hitting ability).

Packers have a tough schedule this year. I would love to see the Bears play a tough road game but they don't until Minnesota. They get the Rams, Patriots, and Seattle at home. Any game against the Rams and Patriots is going to be incredibly tough. It's seriously fortunate that our special teams was exposed in this game versus a closer game. Hopefully adjustments are made going forward, because it was pretty bad. It seemed like we emphasized the run on the first couple drives specifically, and then shifted a bit more pass heavy after that. Which was surprising considering Jones ran for 100 yards in the first half alone. Williams should basically be the 3rd down back, with Jones handling all other situations. He's clearly the superior runner and it isn't close.

Regarding Peralta, it could just be that his mechanics aren't quite as sound...resulting in a more variation. I'll agree that it looks like more than 1 pitch, but I would think a 4 seam fastball and cut fastball would have 2 tighter clusters...versus a giant ball of outcomes that you don't really know what pitch was a cutter and what pitch was a 4 seam.

Most of the comments relate more to deception in his delivery and release point than movement. Guys see it too late and can't react. Guys will figure out how to pick up his pitches quicker as they see him more, deception won't last forever.

https://www.fangraphs.com/fantasy/freddy-peraltas-fastballs/ This is the article I believe you are referring to with Peralta. He throws a mostly straight 4 seam, and a cut fastball that comes in a couple MPH below the 4 seam. The cut fastball has significant cutting movement, while the 4 seam is pretty straight. The 4 seam doesn't really break as far arm side as you seam to imply. This is somewhat the type of repetoire that Kluber uses, except he actually does have 2(possibly 3) fastballs that break the opposite direction(the 3rd would be 4 seam/straight), along with a breaking pitch. Kluber throws most of his fastballs in the 92-95 range and commands it all very well. Kluber is much moreso the exception than the rule, it's not common for starting pitchers to be so dominant with a number of different fastballs and a good breaking pitch. Unless his changeup comes around(which he's young, it absolutely still can), he'll have to become more of a fastball artist like Kluber to find consistent success as a starter. Another example I can think of is Jake Arrieta. Throws a sinker/slider, curve, and occasional changeup. The slider is has more movement and is a bit more of a change of pace from the sinker than Peralta at this point...but it's pretty close. The basically 3 offerings(excluding changeup) worked for Arrieta for a bit, but once his velocity dipped he had to adapt and started throwing more changeups. I guess my point in outlining that, yes he does technically have 3 pitches...4 if you want to count the changeup. But those 3 pitches might not be enough as the 2 fastballs aren't quite as different as other similar examples. You need a better way to keep guys off balance...the changeup is probably the key for him.

See I tend to disagree, I view Paxton as the more valuable player of the two. Clearly you have some solid, measureable support for your argument, I'm not going to try to dispute that. It's honestly kind of shocking how differently we view the return on this guy. I feel like I tend to be fairly objective, but if anything run on the side favorable to the Brewers. In this case though, I'm way way on the other end of the spectrum from both of you. Hopefully there are some moves and this ends up being a fun winter.

Couldn't agree more. He's the most untouchable prospect(or just graduated) that we have in my opinion, I think he's more valuable than Hiura personally...though I'm probably in the minority there.

If the Mariners would make that move, I'd do that for sure. It probably makes us "out" on any Realmuto situation, but having an arm like Paxton lead our rotation would add way more value than Realmuto in my opinion. That said, I feel like Mariners will want and be able to get a bit more than that offer.

If I remember right, Taylor got into some really bad habits in 2015/2016 that sapped almost all of his power. His mechanics were basically a disaster if I remember right. He was hurt most of 2017 and yes has shown more power in 2018. As has been noted, he was a multi-sport guy that still has development left and could be a very useful player. I think the Brewers adding him to the 40 man so early in the offseason says a lot about the impact they think he could make. Hopefully he can make some more strides in 2019 and maybe find his way into a 4th OF spot.

Woodruff started 4 games this year on 19 appearances, he was a reliever at the mlb level most of the year. At what point are you trying to claim he abandoned his changeup as he was shifted to relief? What's far more likely is you are just making stuff up. Just like his fastball having no movement is made up, most of us watch these game...if you try to make stuff up to drive your point home, others will catch it and call you on it. I've seen Woodruff throw plenty of changeups in September and the post season, I've also seen him throw a fastball generally with arm-side movement...as in not straight. The only thing I've noted that wasn't simply made up, is that he had a bit of a bump in fastball velocity out of the bullpen. Fangraphs had him at 94.7 in 2017(when he only started) and 95.8 in 2018 which he was mostly a reliever. You could probably say he's 94-96 as a starter and 95-98 as a reliever. Those couple ticks matter, but his ability to locate was far more important though than that extra 1-2 ticks.

Woodruff has significantly improved between his 1st stint at the mlb level last year and his 2nd. I wouldn't read to much into 2nd time through stats for him. Especially considering how few starts he's made at the mlb level

First off, both pitchers have a 3rd offering. Woodruff's is currently a usable mlb offering that he threw 12% off the time and is a solid pitch. Peraltas changeup needs refinement. Add in the age difference and i think woodruff opening in the rotation with peralta in aaa makes sense. Both pitchers are still young and will likely improve their offspeed offerings going forward, especially peralta at age 22.

It completely depends on how clubs analyze and evaluate him. Every club in mlb looks past the fact that he was highly drafted and had a down year at a high level for his age. That said, yeah there's a wide gap between his lutz at his best and hiura

I feel like his best case scenario is Hernan Perez, probably won't be that good though.