BrewBalls

Marte is the only everyday CF free agent this offseason. After his strong season, I think he will get a big contract from the Mets or Phillies or another team needing a CF. I’m hoping there will be a team in need of a starting CF who is willing to trade for Cain this offseason. The Brewers might have to pay a portion of his remaining salary to make him more appealing but it would be worth it if we can use the additional savings to sign a middle of the order bat like Kris Bryant or Nick Castellanos, I would then be comfortable starting Taylor in CF with JBJ being his primary back up.

I think there are many reason for Stearns & Co to consider trading Hader this offseason. He will be making 8 figures next season which will hinder their ability to attract a big bat in free agency. I also think Garcia will likely opt out which leads me to target someone like Nick Castellanos to replace him. If we can flip Hader for some cheap MLB ready players or upper minors prospects we would basically be adding little to our existing payroll to acquire a middle of the order bar like mentioned above. I also feel we have several quality arms besides Williams who are capable of pitching in high leverage situations out of the pen. I guess only time will tell if there is a team willing to pony up for Hader and the Brewers are willing to part ways with arguably the best closer in baseball while their window is still wide open.

- I like the money management side of what you put together, and I'd gladly go for all those signings. - Hader AND Houser for Smith & Baty feels like an overpay... or at least a big gamble moving 2 proven MLB arms, one being 2x Reliever of the Year and still one of baseball's best. Hader is by far the Brewers' best tradable asset. - If the Brewers trade Hader, I hope Stearns is going after David Phelps again in his next breath. The back end of the BP needs a little more proven/veteran presence than Suter & Peralta, who are hardly BP ace types (based on their performance to date). They can both be dynamite but can also be at least a bit inconsistent. - I agree with moving Nottingham, but I want to see if the Vogelbach of MIL 2020 is the guy we still have, and it's not worth a part-time starting middle IF if Vogelbach is still something close to that guy (or better). - Who is T. Flores? Did you mean Tim Lopes? 1. I was wavering between including Houser or Lauer as the second piece in the Mets trade but went with the former since I wasn't sure how much positive value Lauer has after his poor 2020 season but could easily swap out Houser for Lauer. 2. I think bringing in a David Phelps or Joakim Soria on a 1yr/$3MM deal is a great idea. 3. As for Vogelbach, I'm leaning towards his 2020 production to be an outlier similar to Jesus Aguilar's All-Star season so I'm looking to sell high on him. I am also a big fan of Wilmer Flores and think his solid numbers in 2020 are a sign on things to come. 4. Finally, yes, I meant Tim Lopes not Flores thank you for the correction.

My offseason plan would be to make two trades to add cheap talent. Then fill out the roster via free agency. 1. Trade Josh Hader and Adrian Houser to the Mets for Dominic Smith and Brett Baty. 2. Trade Jacob Nottingham and Daniel Vogelbach for Wilmer Flores 3. Sign Tommy La Stella (3yrs/$27MM) 4. Sign James Paxton (2yrs/$16MM+incentives) 5. Sign Shelby Miller and Chasen Shreve to minor league deals Payroll ($87.2MM) Rotation: Woodruff, Burnes, Paxton, Lindblom and Lauer ($14.1MM) Bullpen: Williams, Yardley, Suter, Topa, Peralta, Rasmussen, Black, Shreve/Wahl ($6.6MM) Lineup: Cain, La Stella, Yelich, Hiura, Smith, Garcia, Narvaez, Arcia ($59.5MM) Bench: Pina, Urias, W. Flores, Reyes, Taylor, Mathias/T. Lopes ($7MM)

I hope you don't really think the Brewers would be in on any Turner talk, especially if it would blow up the payroll by $12-14M. It would take more than Hader/Pina to get D. Smith. Plus the Mets just signed McCann to a big contract and I doubt that would want another catcher in a trade. Dominic Smith was lucky the NL had a DH last season or he wouldn’t have seen many ABs last season. Relievers are much more valuable than a young 1B unless he’s an elite offensive talent which Smith is not. We also could still wind up with a payroll around $80-85MM since most of our rotation is still pre-arbitration eligible. Rotation: Woodruff, Burnes, Houser, Lindblom, Lauer Bullpen: D. Williams, Peralta, Yardley, Suter, Topa, Rasmussen, Black, Wahl/Feyereisen/Bickford Lineup: Cain, Yelich, Hiura, Smith, Turner, Garcia, Narvaez, Arcia Bench: Pina, Vogelbach, Urias, Mathias/Reyes, Taylor, T. Flores/Ray Add a couple veterans for $2-3MM total and the payroll is still sitting around $81-82MM

I would prefer someone like James Paxton if both sign for $10MM or less.

I see the Mets as our best trade partner with so many options at the corner IF spots and an owner who is looking to swing for the fences with the Lindor trade. Something like D. Smith and Brett Baty for Hader and one of our catchers (Pina/Nottingham) makes sense for both sides. We can then look to sign a stop gap 3B like Justin Turner (2yrs/$24MM) until Baty is ready to take over. Cain, Yelich, Hiura, Smith, Turner, Garcia, Narvaez, Arcia/Urias is a solid lineup.

Can’t complain with paying him $22MM for his age 30-36 years.

I feel the same way. I can't believe how much money Yelich is potentially leaving on the table. He clearly loves playing in Milwaukee and trusts what the front office is doing.

Pitchers: Woodruff, Anderson, Lindblom, Lauer, Houser, Hader, Suter, Peralta, Phillips, Claudio, Black, Yardley, Perdomo Position: Narvaez, Pina, Smoak, Hiura, Arcia, Sogard, Holt, Gyorko, Yelich, Cain, Braun, Garcia, Gamel Two places where things could pan out differently are obviously the last few bullpen spots and possibly our 5th OF since Gamel has one remaining option. Black seems like a lock to make the roster if he doesn’t implode in ST since he’s out of options. Wahl seems destined to start out in AAA since he’s just coming back from injury. Then it’s basically a crap shoot between Yardley, Perdomo, Feyereisen and D. Williams since I’m not convinced Morin or Grimm will revive their careers. I could see a scenario where Broxton shows enough in camp to earn the final spot. Having Gamel start the season in AAA only makes our deeper.

I for one was convinced last Spring that Burnes was the best pitcher of our young trio and just as confident Woodruff was the one we should use as trade bait. Man was I wrong. That being said, Burnes has down right filthy stuff and my hope is he can get his head straightened out with our new pitching lab and find his groove again. But like others have said, I’m not optimistic he will go from dud to stud in one season. If he can find his way back into the rotation before the All Star break is be optimistic by the time he reaches arbitration he will be considered our #2-3 starter for the foreseeable future. On a side note, I’m extremely high on Drew Rasmussen and feel he will wind up in the rotation sometime in 2021.

ok, doubleheaders? how many of those will we play in 2020? It seems like you are backtracking a bit here... I’m not backtracking just clarifying my original point since I it was fairly broad. And doubleheader was more of an example than the end all be all. Doubleheaders, night/afternoon games, longer road trips, etc... Basically anytime when the turnaround is minimal and players might benefit from a little time off. I believe Keston will be our second best offensive producer in 2020 so I’m not looking to bench him because he’s a poor defender.

God, I hope not... His bat needs to stay in the line-up, outside of the OCCASIONAL day or rest anyway... I don't expect Anderson to make more than a few starts based on his history (dude is like glass), so it's probably a moot point. I’m not saying Keston will be getting scheduled days off but if there is a double header I could see him sitting out the game if Anderson is pitching. Again not that it will be every 5th game, but just something Counsell will have to consider when figuring out lineups.

Ummm, well, if that were the case, why don't we have Strasburg and Rendon on the roster then? Why didn't we resign Grandal? Not saying those were smart decisions for a team like us (they were not good decisions) , but if cost is never a factor, then why do we not sign guys like that? All those players would give us more wins, right? I'm just not buying any of it. They lost money, doubtful. Cost is not a factor when making contract decisions, highly doubtful. Because these types of offers which are obviously either an overpay or come with multiple years of almost guaranteed declining value aren't good business and are shot down before ever reaching the owner. There it is also very likely some if not the majority of these players simply are not interested in playing in Milwaukee when they have more attractive destinations bidding for their services. This was something Doug Melvin had previously stated was a consistent barrier/hurdle he faced in negotiations.

Ummm, well, if that were the case, why don't we have Strasburg and Rendon on the roster then? Why didn't we resign Grandal? Not saying those were smart decisions for a team like us (they were not good decisions) , but if cost is never a factor, then why do we not sign guys like that? All those players would give us more wins, right? I'm just not buying any of it. They lost money, doubtful. Cost is not a factor when making contract decisions, highly doubtful. Because these types of offers which are obviously either an overpay or come with multiple years of almost guaranteed declining value aren't good business and are shot down before ever reaching the owner. There it is also very likely some if not the majority of these players simply are not interested in playing in Milwaukee when they have more attractive destinations bidding for their services. This was something Doug Melvin had previously stated was a consistent barrier/hurdle he faced in negotiations.