KeithStone53151

Agreed big time, I also like it at $2.5 much better than $5. Makes it easier to move on from him if he's ineffective or if young guys outplay him. Adding him makes me want a really solid defender at 3b that much more than before. That makes 4 likely opening rotation SP with very high GB rates.

I've always felt he's a bit underrated and I think that would be a solid target. Obviously cost would determine whether the trade is feasible or not

Certainly possible, most bullpens have a couple spots at the bottom that can be won by someone that really impresses in camp. Boxberger is one of probably close to a dozen or so dudes that have a real shot at winning a spot with a good camp. And this move in my opinion doesn't really signal anything regarding Hader or anyone else in the bullpen.

No risk camp competition and depth. Always good to have. There's still time to add a starter before and/or during camp.

Not really to be honest. They have quite the core of younger, home grown players. Seager, bellinger, lux, smith, ruiz, beuhler, may, urias...all home grown and under 30...many significantly younger. That doesn't include betts who is 28 and will be there for a long time. You're probably thinking of kershaw, jansen, and turner who yes...are pretty old. When those guys move on, they'll still be very very good.

I was going to post something to this effect. You hear the 40-50 year old ex-players talk all the time about the massive cuts dudes take today in 2 strike counts. There would be less strikeouts if guys shortened up with 2 strikes like they should. Deadening the baseball a little bit might make it a bit more likely that people shorten up on 2 strike counts because hitting a hr is harder. I'd also like to see them go back to calling more low strikes and less high strikes. Low strikes can turn into ground balls that have some level of action, where as a high strike is more likely to be missed.

I think we all know who the refs want to win this game...

What are you all basing these predictions on? I mean I guess you can make educated guess based on age, level to end 2019, and talent level based on what we knew in 2019. Is there anything else? Do you guys have any info on what they did since September 2019?

Aside from last year, he was an 800 ops bad defensive LF only. Comparing to cain is a bit silly because they are on complete opposite ends of the spectrum on defense. They must reeeeeally believe in his 2020 to give him that contract.

Wow, why? That's frankly hilarious

The deferral helps obviously, but it more or less is deferring money to other players that has already been deferred. Obviously we have a buyout for Braun, but we probably have other money going to players not playing for us this year. I really have a hard time believing we are going to add much more payroll. I know we have a glaring hole at 3b but I kinda think they are just gonna roll Urias there, deal with the lackluster offense at the spot, and have plus defense at all 3 key infield spots. Then cross your fingers and hope accruate throws make Hiura's life real easy at 1b.

I'm a 20 pack fans choice for around 10 years now. I received an email a few days ago that I may end up getting a credit and a presale opportunity for certain high demand games instead of direct tickets. I believe they specifically referenced opening day in the email as well. Point is, if as a 20 pack holder I may have to compete with other 20 pack holders for tickets to opening day...hard to imagine the general public getting any tickets.

Regarding hiura, I don't know that he's destined for first base...but his problems in the field tend to be errant throws more than anything. Bad at 2b does not automatically mean bad at 1b. He has a better chance of making the transition than an outfielder as he has more familiarity in the infield.

Gotta love having him and Arcia on defense. Our run prevention could be insane with the potential of our pitching.

I view this as good, not great signing. I think it would be closer to fair value if it was 2/12 or 1/8, at most it's a slight overpay. I think the comments of Wong having a noodle bat are pretty fair. I believe 2019 was the juiced ball year iirc, and he hit only 11 in 550 at bats. So power is a bit of a weakness but he's plus defense, plus speed, plus bat...overall a pretty good package. We have a good number of big power hitters in the lineup, it just doesn't hurt to have a guy that hits for average and gets on base in the lineup. Sidenote, I know he hasn't in the majors but is there any thinking that Wong could play SS or 3b? His offense doesn't really play at 3b, but just wondering if he might be an option there on double shifts or whatever. Also this definitely doesn't mean we are for sure trading Hiura. There are ways to fit both these guys. A few years ago we thought for sure we had to trade Santana as we didn't have a spot for him to play with Yelich/Cain signings, and said trade never happened. There might be a trade out there that makes sense but it won't be forced and this isn't necessarily a precursor to anything.

I've kinda fallen off putting a lot of focus into minor leagues since there was no game action last year. Does anyone have any insight as to what our minor league players did last year? I would like to assume they didn't just sit home on the couch and play video games. Were there games at extended ST? Did they play in non-affiliated ball? I haven't seen any bigger names in winter leagues. One thought I had heading into this MLB season, there could potentially be players that took massive jumps last year...that nobody really knows about because there wasn't any affiliated game action. At least my assumption is that nobody knows, at least not fans and probably quite a few sports writers. I'm sure teams have a pretty good idea of which of their players improved. We had a good contingent of young talent in the high a/AA range that I'm wondering if maybe they took a big step. Maybe guys like Ethan Small or Tristen Lutz or Brice Turang are more MLB ready than any of us realize.

Exhibit A for why this site needs a "like" feature...

This pretty much sums up my feelings on the situation. Every player has a price, Burnes included. However, it is imperative for small market teams like the Brewers to develop homegrown Aces because they simply aren't available to them in FA. Because of this fact alone, trading Burnes and the potential that he becomes an Ace, would require such a ridiculous overpay from another team that it becomes extremely unlikely, nearly impossible. Vaughn, Madrigal, and Kopech would be mandatory if I were Stearns and that isn't happening. I agree with you in general, but I would say moreso that trading Burnes only happens if a package is offered that values him as if he'll be 2020 Burnes going forward. Obviously that would place a massive value on Burnes, and a fair price based on that valuation would be a pretty insane package. If a team tries to look at his career numbers and offer a package based on that...use it as toilet paper. One thing I'll add, I saw Robert mentioned earlier in here. Even the very highest possible valuation for Burnes...and Robert isn't happening. There's just no way, he's way too good and too valuable. He's a guy that if I was the White Sox, I would firmly pull him off the table.

I'd rather do it this way. I also haven't gotten this letter. Was it mailed or emailed? There is also a refund option mentioned within this letter. The team processed refunds for last year. You got options. The anger over this has been odd to me from day one. I'm with you on this one. They aren't shining a giant spotlight on the refund option as they obviously prefer not to process refunds. Overall, the Brewers have generally been fair and have offered very reasonable common sense options on dealing with any restrictions or potential restrictions.

I agree with this. It only makes sense to trade him if someone values him as a young ace or close to it. Which is why as you noted, it makes little sense to move him and he probably wont move

When Chris Sale was traded, he had finished in the top 6 in Cy Young voting for 5 consecutive years and had 3 years of team control at a bargain price of 39.5 million. Just 2 years ago Burnes was getting bombed in AAA. They are not the same thing. Chris Sale at time of trade = 27 years old, 1110 major league innings, 3.00 ERA, 3.06 FIP, 1.07 WHIP, 4.8 K/BB, 30.1 bWAR, 27.1 fWAR Corbin Burnes as of today = 26 years old, 146 2/3 innings, 4.48 ERA, 3.85 FIP, 1.29 WHIP, 3.5 K/BB, 0.5 bWAR, 2.2 fWAR It's different, but it also isn't different. The white sox can't exactly go to the table and say "we like burnes, we want to trade for him...but these are the reasons we should get a discount". If the white sox come to the table wanting to trade for burnes, it's going to be because they think he's much more likely to be 2020 burnes going forward than 2019 burnes. The established value of sale is why we would merely get a great package in trade and not an other worldly package like the red Sox gave up. The likelihood of sale continuing to be a top 10 pitcher in the league for 3 seasons was about as high as it gets for a pitcher. Whereas with burnes there is more risk, but considering his stuff probably a small bit more upside.

Shelby Miller had an arguably better and longer track record at the time of his trade to the Diamondbacks (than Burnes does currently), but he was 25 years old and had 3 years of control remaining when the trade occurred (Burnes is 26 and has 4 years of control). Edit: Shelby Miller was also initially traded by the Cardinals at age 24 (and four years of control) for a return that primarily included one season of Jason Heyward. Good call, also note Miller was traded from the Braves to the Dbacks for quite a haul. I know the haul included Dansby swanson. So i guess those 3 trades. I'll note though, Miller's stuff was not as good as what Burnes is currently throwing. Stuff does matter. Burnes stuff is closer to the caliber of Sale than Miller.

Wow, I just spent way too much time trolling through twitter/reddit/white sox boards. What a waste of minutes of my life. The primary "leaks" from wannabe twitter insiders seem to be a trade centered around madrigal or vaughn with a few other top 10 types included. Madrigal only makes sense if we've completely given up on hiura's defense at 2b, or if a third team gets included that takes madrigal for a position that's a better fit for us. Vaughn of course would be a good fit, but then you're talking about trading a 25 year old cy young finalist with 4 years of team control for an undersized rh 1b only. I just can't see Stearns doing that, Vaughn is basically the completely opposite of a Stearns guy. The closest comparable trade I can find is actually the Chris Sale trade. Sale was much more established at the time, had 3 years of control, and was 27. It's safe to say Sale had more established value while Burnes clearly has the higher ceiling/ability to accumulate the most WAR/$ and probably WAR/season. Considering the differences, Sale netted Moncada and Kopech and 2 other pieces. Moncada was literally the number 1 prospect in baseball at the time, and Kopech had an arm to drool over and just got done wrecking high A at age 20. It looks like pipeline had him 30th overall to end 2016 season. Vaughn currently ranks the number 11 prospect and Madrigal the number 30 prospect in baseball according to pipeline. I get that prospect lists are not how teams value players, but based on these listings...I think it's pretty easy to see the packages being discussed are much lower for Burnes in comparison to Sale. Also worth noting, i think most would generally agree that the Sale trade ended up being a win for both sides. My hunch is this is just nonsense and gets nowhere close to happening. If it does, I'd bet heavily that we have 2 serious headliners in the trade similar to the Sale trade. My guess would be Vaughn and a pitcher(Cease/Kopech). If that's the offer, I think I prefer to keep the 25 year old cy young favorite.

Off the bat, oh man I thought we tied the game...

This is one of those things that teams only call out other teams for if it's super egregious. Maybe technically they are breaking the rules but nobody really cares.