Boomer5

Very interesting. I wonder if this hasn’t been in the works for a while with the two IF taken out of a game recently. Now with our lack of starting pitching it makes sense to expand a deal.

The only thing I kind of disagree with is the "pretty happy" thing. I think people should be ecstatic considering where this club and farm system were when he got the job. His success rate on moves and non-moves is unbelievable. I compared it to Ted Williams hitting .406 - it just doesn't make sense to ask if he's getting a "free pass" for the times he wasn't successful. Of course you're going to make some outs, but holy cow. It also seems like people are acting like the team would be better off if they had gotten their way. Like, "OMG I would have kept Scooter, what a terrible decision!!" Yeah, and what else would those people have done? Would the team have Aguilar, Thames, Shaw, Jeffress, Chacin, Cain, Yelich, Peralta, and Guerra? Think of all the trades he's made, all the other players he could have chosen to trade instead, and all the other prospects he could have acquired instead of the ones he did. Think of all the other prospects he could have traded for Yelich, instead of the ones whose value has plummeted since the trade. It's amazing that he got so much value out of those trades. Now do the same exercise with his free agents, like Chacin, Thames, Jeffress, Albers, and Cain. Out of all the myriad possibilities, he literally chose some of the best values on the entire market and otherwise stayed out of it. It's downright incredible. I guess I don't see the point of being at all unhappy with him. Ted Williams surely chased a bad pitch and struck out a few times when he hit .406, but it would have been obnoxious to complain about him. Did you really just compare a GM whose career high in wins is 86 to Ted Williams?

I know that I probably am like a broken record with either Colorado Springs reminders or starting pitcher discussions, but unless we're willing to pay up for deGrom, our "playoff stopper" will be using our bullpen heavily. I don't know if there are really many pitchers that I'd have as a clear upgrade over a Guerra or Chacin on the market that aren't named deGrom, Thor, or the like. The Royals and Cardinals WS runs say it’s possible but I’d sure like to see 2017 Knebel before I follow that model. I do need to point out that Peraltas innings limits will happen and we are actually starting Wade Miley now. I love the Gray pick up because of DJ though I am not sure we match up well with NY since we don’t have anything we can spare that they would want.

We definitely need a starter especially factoring in Peraltas innings limits.

With the Davies news and the likelihood that Nelson can’t be counted on, we do need a starter that can be expected to be a playoff caliber stopper.

Rentals are going for pretty solid returns.

Unless we think our farm system has the next 90's Braves rotation it would be wreckless to not try and win big when you are 12 over 500 and in the WC in late July. Albers is fine i suppose but his injury is hardly what is hurting us. I'm far more interested in a healthy Davies.

Woodruff and Orf sent down

I'm going with Molitor Yount Cooper Oglivie Simmons Thomas Gantner Moore Vuke

I agree. Phillips and Ortiz seem like obvious trade chips. Obviously they weren’t enough for a Machado but they should be enough for lesser pick ups.

12 over 500 and very much in the WC. A playoff push seems more than reasonable.

What i think this shows is that there is also luck which factors in for every GM. Sure Stearns and his staff had to like Aguilar enough to grab him off waivers, but even Stearns would admit that he couldn't have predicted getting a .987 OPS season, anymore than the Reds could have envisioned Scooter Gennett turning into Robinson Cano after claiming him off waivers. With Segura at least, there is a concrete explanation. A coach in winter ball the year after we traded him got Segura to significantly alter his batting stance and he hasn't stopped hitting since. Granted, blame could be placed on our coaching staff for not making a similar suggestion to Segura, but Stearns isn't a hitting coach. Sports are both a mix of being predictable and unpredictable. Odd stuff happens though to players around the league. Hell, Beane waives Muncy and suddenly with the Dodgers he's a hitting beast. On the flip side Bryce Harper has a .218 batting average. There are tons more examples. Any GM will do well so long as he makes more good moves than bad overall, but mixed in will inevitably be some players that far exceed what he could have envisioned and others who do much worse than he could have envisioned because it's a volatile sport. Stearns isn’t the hitting coach but that is also why I suggest that he isn’t a true baseball man or talent evaluator. But to your post, Volatile is a great word. It wasn’t long ago that Arcia was hitting 15 HRs, Santana was a beast, Anderson and Nelson formed a true 1-2, and Kneble had the best closer year I’ve seen here. Stearns seems to judged on the small sample size alert. I’d like to see what his 5 year plan looks like when he has had the job for 5 years.

Who is complaining about the Yelich trade?

Had Samtana hit anywhere near what he did last season, keeping him would have been a great thing for the team given the massive trouble the lineup has had scoring runs. The lineup has been so lacking run producing bats the last few weeks, Tyler friggin Saladino has often been hitting 5th in the order. If instead we had Santana of last year or something close to that, he'd be ideal batting 5th after Aguilar or Shaw. There is no way though that Stearns could have predicted Santana would go from a 30 HR/.875 OPS guy to someone with a slap hitting .354 SLG percentage. Sports are volatile. For every good surprise like Aguilar in a season, there are bound to also have a Santana who inexplicably loses all of his power. Here’s is part of my issue with the Stearns love and this is no reflection of this poster, just this seemed like a good time to respond. With Stearns, the excuse is he couldn’t be expected to predict Scooter and Segura would become All Stars and he couldn’t predict Santana would fall apart yet he is given all the credit for predicting Aguilar and Shaw would become mashers. I find that selective. I see Stearns as an excellent spreadsheet guy. Able to balance value with control and payroll. I do not see him as a “baseball man” who truly understands what makes a team able to make it to the next level and the skill set and composition of a team. So far he has picked up a number of 2 WAR types on the cheap and 4 WAR types at full retail. The team is a mix of 30 something’s playing key roles who won’t be here in a year or two and young guys who are struggling to build off their past success. How that mix is viewed as a 4-5 year window is something I don’t visualize. I’m definitely not saying he is a bad GM at all. Just that the praise on him and him alone seems unusual. Melvin did just fine building this team once Mark A gave him the go ahead to tear it down instead of following the Kohl model. Ultimately Stearns is very fortunate to have CC and DJ.

We need a like button.

A high value, because they can. Hard pass, this guy just isn't that good. I certainly wouldn’t pay a big price for him but if you think Yelich is a star, then I’d think you’d feel the same way about Merrifield.

Broxton would immediately step in as a starter for Baltimore, his numbers are better than Brinson's in Miami, he'd likely start in San Diego, Kansas City, Texas, Chicago A.L., Detroit and possibly in MN given Buxton's problems and in Cincy if not a division rival. You're correct, he's likely never going to be a star player, but its not as though the Brewers are going to release him as worthless either. He's a cost-controlled plus defender with speed and power and has already proven he can play in the majors, he wouldn't be just throw in garbage. If he doesn’t have star potential, he won’t headline a trade for someone in demand. 28 year olds who are hitting 170 just aren’t going to get a lot of love. While he “may” start now for the teams you mentioned, those same teams aren’t looking for stopgap guys to start in a lost year in exchange for a legitimate trade asset. They are looking for young guys who could be building blocks. He is probably worth more to us as a Cain CF handcuff than he would in a trade. One side note, Brinson had a 840 OPS in June before he went on the DL.

This last part is why I like the idea of Dozier so much. Not the best OBP, but he can hit and for power. He'd likely slot in 5th or 6th depending on whether Thames or Braun is playing that day. I haven't seen the numbers but I bet that Villar/Perez types hitting 6th have left a ridiculous amount of runners on base. I personally am very excited for the day that Perez gets permanently glued to the bench. Dozier is exactly what we need

Broxton is not a key trade chip for a meaningful acquisition. For one he is a 28 year old with his service clock running, for another he is not good enough or consistent enough.

What if they don't get that top 10 type and they wait, and then Degrom pitches more like a low 3s era(which is his career norm) rather than cy young caliber season...while the Mets still suck. I highly highly doubt both Burnes and Peralta would be on the table around this time next year in that case. Partially because Degroms value is in the tank and partially because they'll both probably be in our MLB rotation. This is likely peak value for Degrom. Far more often than not, holding your player because you don't like the offers yields a much lower return...just ask the Rays and the likely offers they are now fielding for Archer. Here’s why our typical lowball offers on here don’t work: 1. Low supply, in DeGroms case nearly one like him; a true ace with lots of control who is actually on the market. 2. Super High demand 3. Most teams want a headliner, not a volume package in a return for an ace. 4. We, like most fanbases, tend to value our prospects way higher than their likely outcome.

I would tend to agree. This is not a talented MLB roster. But they are in the chase so why not build off that and add the talent now? I do think the 2015 Royals are a viable model. Why not try? It’s not like we are in the playoffs so often that can afford to retool.

Hiura is going in a DeGrom trade. They need an elite headliner and volume won’t be a viable substitute. They are probably looking for a top 10 type anyhow so we might not have enough.

No. His production doesn’t match his strike out numbers. I’d go for a Harvey type instead since we have a potential rotation in 2019 of Davies, Chacin, Nelson, Burnes, and Peralta.

I play a ton of golf and I can say that even with all the reps my swing needs a tune up every few weeks so the pro gets me back on track. I am thinking the offense needs a better hitting coach or a bat that can be a true run producer like Braun used to be. So it’s either a trade for a difference maker or change hitting coaches if we can find someone better who also happens to be available, which isn’t likely in the middle of the season.

Gonna hear the Brewers connected to anyone and everyone over the next week. Playoff-caliber team with obvious holes to fill, and a deep and talented minor league system. Plus being in on Machado till the end shows other teams that they have prospects that are available in the right deal. I wouldn't mind both of these guys, provided the cost is not astronomical. Considering what the A's got Familia for, Britton shouldn't cost a fortune. Archer is going to be more expensive, but obviously has multiple years of control. I just posted it since I hadn’t seen that tweet here. We have been linked to both pitchers. I did find it interesting that our pitching staff is currently 3rd in the NL in runs allowed. Sure doesn’t feel that way.