wildcat83

Out of curiosity, what type of stat lines do you feel he will post over the next three years?

Adding 25 to this years payroll would have limited us at the deadline when we will know what holes we have to fill. I'm glad we did not do this, would much rather have payroll flexibility later.

3 years is odd for him to take unless there are opt outs. I would have thought he would be looking for 5 or 2. Long term or just avoid next years huge FA class.

I posted at the start of ST that I thought the 4/5 were two of Suter, Guerra, and Woodruff. Miley has sort of pitched his way into the conversation. Right now I would have to say Suter 4 and toss up between Miley and Guerra for 5.

I think Villar will be much closer to the Villar of 2016. There are a LOT of regression candidates though as well.

Can't wait to see what literary genius is contained in page 70.... That being said, I hate this thread and still can't stop reading it.

When Braun goes on the DL and we have an outfield of Yelich/Cain/Santana with Phillips or Broxton up as the 4th it won't seem like a log jam anymore. We are at the point of his career that it's not even an "if" it a "when". They signed Cain because they get high contact, low strike out rate, good base running, and good defense player that fits what their vision is. Everyone is looking at the log jam that we will have on opening day, but it would most likely play itself out over the course of the year that someone is spending time on the DL. We have a great amount of depth and flexibility now that we did not have before. Even if we don't move anyone I think this will play out just fine. If we do move someone and we stack up a couple injuries during the season and are playing a 5th/6th/7th outfielder like we did last year at times we might end up wishing we had the depth back.

Votto and Cano both go through 2023. Maybe Votto hangs on to a decent level of productivity until then. That is a big maybe, and they are paying him through a complete rebuild so any production really isn't valuable in those years. Cano has zero chance of being productive that long and also is being paid to be a good hitter on a rebuilding team.

Drake getting shelled makes me happy... Less chance he ends up on the roster.

I've seen a lot of posts about piggy backing starters. Is this something that is complete speculation or wishful thinking from fans, or has Counsel or Sterns actually discussed this being a possibility?

To me trial and error alone should drive down the price of the top contracts, or at least stall it out. The following is a list of the top 20 contracts in MLB from Baseball Prospectus. HOW MANY ARE WORTH IT? It's not collusion or the owners just trying to get richer. It's the owners and GM's realizing how few of these contracts have ever paid off. Next year will be different as there are a few FA who will get paid, they are just that good, but even those guys will have probably a 30% chance of living up to the contract at best. Small market teams can't take that risk. If they do and it fails they are doomed for 6-8 years minimum. If they had a chance to do it over, how many of these deals would get done again? Maybe 4 out of 20. A couple are too early to know how bad they are just yet. 1. Giancarlo Stanton, $325,000,000 (2015-27) 2. Alex Rodriguez, $275,000,000 (2008-17) 3. Alex Rodriguez, $252,000,000 (2001-10) 4. Miguel Cabrera, $248,000,000 (2016-23) 5. Albert Pujols, $240,000,000 (2012-21) … Robinson Cano, $240,000,000 (2014-23) 7. Joey Votto, $225,000,000 (2014-23) 8. David Price, $217,000,000 (2016-22) 9. Clayton Kershaw, $215,000,000 (2014-20) 10. Prince Fielder, $214,000,000 (2012-20) 11. Max Scherzer, $210,000,000 (2015-21) 12. Zack Greinke, $206,500,000 (2016-21) 13. Derek Jeter, $189,000,000 (2001-10) 14. Joe Mauer, $184,000,000 (2011-18) . . . Jason Heyward, $184,000,000 (2016-23) 16. Mark Teixeira, $180,000,000 (2009-16) . . . Justin Verlander, $180,000,000 (2013-19) 18. Felix Hernandez, $175,000,000 (2013-19) . . . Stephen Strasburg, $175,000,000 (2017-23) 20. Buster Posey, $167,000,000 (2013-21) Full Link: http://legacy.baseballprospectus.com/compensation/cots/league-info/highest-paid-players/

The fact that we were not supposed to contend probably played a big role in Milone being on the roster. This year the expectations are vastly different, so I don't believe that the front office will put the roster together in the same fashion. You would think you would put the best possible 25 out there from day 1, but the season expectations play roles in deciding who stays. I trust that we will not keep a veteran, just to keep a veteran, this season. Gallardo or Miley will have to pitch their way onto this roster, whether that is in ST games or bull pens, practice, whatever it may be. I still feel like we keep two of Guerra, Suter, Woodruff to begin the season, and Gallardo is an option in the pen possibly.

Gross. You can sell me on short starts from guerra and maybe redeption #5 miley but Gallardo actually looks bad. Why are we hell bent on having a milone on the roster. Careers of Gallardo and Millone are vastly different. Far too early in Spring to care about this when you have no idea what he's been working on or how he's "looked" doing what the pitching coaches are asking him to change. The results right now for veterans mean nothing.

The longer this goes the more I'm becoming ok with 2 of Suter, Guerra, Woodruff and the odd man out being the first call up. Gallardo to the pen. Not spending now leaves more flexibility at the deadline. This team has so many regression and bounce back candidates that it's impossible to know what we will actually need. I'm willing to go into the season with what we got and see how it plays out, then fix what needs fixing.

I really don't see any reason why anyone would think he would be a high 4's ERA for a season as a starter. He's never performed at that level at any point in his entire career. He's a 3.5 ERA in the majors through 16 starts, granted limited innings in some. If he's the 4/5 starter they aren't expecting him to go past 5 more than maybe 1/3 of the time, which he does. There's no evidence at all to back up projecting a high 4's ERA. I honestly think he's going to be a bright spot this year.

I've seen a couple others say he's looked good. I haven't seen his every AB but of the 4 or 5 I have seen he hasn't even fouled a pitch off yet. Just looks super overmatched with no approach other than "swing at every pitch and hope I hit it." Even though the results this spring have been less than stellar, watching him last year with the T-Rats I have no doubt his ability at the plate is the real deal. What results have been bad? He's hitting a touch over .450 after today, granted both hits were infield singles. How much better do you expect him to hit??? Are you referring to weak contact, or empty swings? The stats add up, but I've only seen one game so far.

Certainly doesn't have a lot of flash. But that screams "Craig Counsell rotation" to me. In a perfect world, the Brewers hold off on signing Cobb for a couple weeks, and Woodruff and Burnes pitch so well in Spring Training and the Brewers are forced to bring them north. Chacin definitely has the stuff to be a dominant set-up guy with his slider if the team finds itself with a surplus of quality rotation candidates. Wouldn't the Brewers gain a year by keeping Burnes down till June? If so I would think there's zero chance he starts the year in the rotation.

Where do you see Cain and Yellich if Villar hits lead off, 2/3? If not Cain at 6? How about: Villar Cain Yelich Braun Shaw Santana It’s not like Shaw is a given to repeat. Yea, but Braun is not playing first base everyday either. You won't ever see Yellich, Thames, Shaw stacked together. To me if you have Santana in the lineup for his bat he hits no lower than 5th. I don't think you tolerate poor defense for your 6 hole hitter. Lots of possible lineups going to make for a very interesting spring and start to the season.

Where do you see Cain and Yellich if Villar hits lead off, 2/3? If not Cain at 6?

I'm not even sure why I believe this, but I think we get close to the 16 version of Villar. That being said I think if Cain and Yellich are in the line up in a reg season game they will be hitting 1/2

Don't worry guys, it's very windy today.... As a 120' high infield single falls in.

Is it possible that we only still have Santana because brass believes there's a good chance of DH next year? I know it's ST game 1 but opposite field double followed by a miss played can of corn in RF pretty much sums it up, lol.

The only way this actually works is to remove loopholes and make it same as coach visits, any extras and the pitcher needs to be replaced. I've already heard 10 different scenarios that won't necessarily count and players saying they won't abide. MLB opening themselves up for issues being vague and not having significant ramifications.

Been waiting for this thread. Usually get some great pictures and posts from guys who are down there. Have a friend of mine going down this year and am jealous. It's a bucket list item, but haven't got down there yet.

FIXED LOL - Hate when that happens. DOUBLE WHOOPS It's crazy to read back through this thread and see how much changed in about an hour yesterday. For the lineup, I still think CC likes alternating R/L which leads me to think as it stands now: Cain Yelich Braun Shaw