MrTPlush

That was one of the rewards you could pick last year...it isn't one of the rewards this year. You do get the free MLB.TV subscription but can't use it in market.

Would it though? What exactly is so special about Gard that would be a risk to lose? There isn't anything about him that seems above-average.

I think those two good years back to back have made Badgers fans slightly wishful about their potential. Before those two years they made the Elite 8 once and the Final Four once. 10 and 20 years prior to that 2 year run. The difference is, they used to have quite a few Sweet 16 appearances and consistently made the tourney…now they don’t. It is a recruiting issue. They simply don’t go after athletic guys nor do they get very large defensive presence’s to make the paint a nightmare. You can win games all year with gritty guys…but come the tourney, you are going to get smoked sooner rather than later. Is it hard to attract better talent to Wisconsin…has NIL made that worse? Maybe Feels Wisconsin has always played it the safe route for their players and coaches. Want guys to fit the perfect mold that never changes and a coach who would never leave. However, with NIL, I don’t think it is even worth worrying about keeping guys 4 years. Just can’t bank on it like you could before. Especially when impact Wisconsin players typically aren’t exactly NBA lottery picks. Those guys are going to be much more likely to jump ship and seek a NIL payday.

If you look at Greg Gard’s tourney resume when it was more so his team with at least some of his recruits. 1) Got crushed 1st round by a #12 seed 2) Lost second round as a #9 seed 3) Narrowly escaped the #13 seed just to fail to score 50 points in a round 2 loss 4) Got dominated 1st round by a #12 seed It has been a really long time since Greg Gard did anything in March despite being a Top 5 seed three times.

UW fans after laughing at Kentucky’s loss all day.

21 points off 13 turnovers. Wisconsin has 4 points off 5 turnovers. They have been dominated in just about every other facet of the game too though.

If the Packers were actually geniuses that could be reliably copied...it would have happened already. Reality is, it isn't that simple. The most important thing is scouting and development. Where you end up drafting them and how much you pay won't matter in the end as long as you actually make them good. Heck, even the Packers weren't patient to get Love. They traded up to get him, and in most eyes, drafted him way earlier than he ever would have been otherwise. The problem isn't these teams trading up or drafting guys Top 5. It is the fact their scouting is either terrible or they suck at developing....and of course, guys don't pan out up and down the draft. If you are actually drafting Top 5, it took a lot of dumb within the organization to get there. So, the odds you make a smart decision drafting is an uphill battle from the start. If we took a collection of guys drafted Top 5 that failed the last 10 years and instead placed them on competent teams(and probably with more talent/supporting cast)...how many of them have dramatically different career trajectories? Arguably the two best QBs in history (Mahomes/Rodgers) weren't drafted insanely high and sat for multiple years, yes. However, they both got dropped into perfect situations: good coaches, good teams, competent front offices.

Guessing they want to backtrack and try to throw the dude no one cares about under a bus and hope no one cares. If Ohtani helped him pay of sports betting and that of which with an illegal bookie....I have to imagine somewhere in that tangled mess Ohtani did something either illegal or against MLB rules.

Again, you have to consider how much don't really make that much money. It is like the saying "1% of college athletes go pro"...well, "1% of pro athletes actually trip into more money than they can imagine spending'. There was a study long ago that had 3/4 basically going broke within 3 years. I imagine players are somewhat smarter now...but it probably still isn't pretty. Just look at the players parking lot and look at what they all drive. Pre-arby dudes are rolling around in $80k+ cars. Considering they could have a career ending injury or become a AAAA player tomorrow, that is pretty idiotic. Unless they went to college and got their degree, they have same education as the guy helping you pick out bolts at Home Depot. Their car is probably more than the salary they could manage if their career ended tomorrow. For international guys they would need to work a decade to pay off the car.

I am sure it is well over 50% of all pro athletes because, yah, most of them don't last long and don't make insane amounts of money. Retiring before 40 requires some smart moves even if you have quite a few millions. My point wasn't that Blake Snell is going to go broke, it is the reality that pro athletes aren't exactly on the smartest side of the spectrum when it comes to financial literacy and making good decisions. In no way shape or form is it a good idea to pass up on $90mil to gamble on physical health and the randomness of athletic performance over one season. He is basically taking $90mil to the casino. But he is rich, so he can do it and potentially it means nothing to him in the end. It doesn't make sense and it doesn't really need to. You could tell him his odds this is a bad idea are 70% and he would probably still do it. He is a gambler.

I mean, it is more than plausible that Boras preferred him to take the $150mil. Boras found him the best long-term deal possible and the best short term 'bet'. Snell then ended up going with the short term bet. Boras clients aren't really ones to take deals perceived as under market rate. They want the maximum amount of money and to set the market. $150mil for a two-time Cy Young winner is pretty embarrassing at face value. I get why it was the peak offer...but still, it doesn't look right on paper. I am guessing Snell isn't going to fire Boras, therefor a good sign he didn't have any problem with how Boras went about this offseason. Unless I am missing it, I don't see where some team offered $200mil and they declined it. Why would they have egg on their face if they only got offered a measly $150mil? If that is what the market was willing to pay...it is what it is. If he is elite and healthy....he will probably get offered $200mil+. He has already made $50mil+ and is assured another $60mil regardless of performance. Rich athletes are often willing to gamble versus playing on a potential bargain contract that will damage their fragile egos. Is that dumb? Well...there is a reason most of them go broke after retirement.

I love how people always run out to blame Boras. Snell, the pitcher, signs the contract at the end of the day. Snell must be pretty confident in himself and want to take that risk. This isn't a Boras issue...greedy high ego players seek out for him to represent them. The way Boras is, is a mirror image of the guys he represents. They are gamblers that would rather take a huge AAV with opt-outs versus taking a measly $150mil after a second Cy Young award. People always get mad when a player has Boras as their agent and they know the guy won't take an early extension or avoid FA in general, news flash, the players don't want to....that is why they have Boras as their agent.

I would sure rather have a guy who always outperforms his advanced stats versus the guy who always underperforms them. I remember when Chris Archer was the prize on the trade market despite his 4+ ERA for multiple years in a row. Thankfully the Pirates were the ones wasting capital on a bum. I wouldn't mind Clevinger....but at the same time, if we were veteran chasing I would want someone reliable for our very unreliable/unexperienced rotation. He really isn't that.

Yup, this seems to get glossed over a bit. Not only was he limited on carries in many games, but he also got injured midgame seemingly half the time he did end up playing. I am glad Aaron Jones went on a tear the last 5 games, but it also took him till the day before Christmas to manage 100 yards on the ground. At his age depending on production or health is a bit to ask for...let alone at the same time. He is getting older, likely more fragile, and will see less and less carries even when healthy. Just the Packers trying to part ways on-time/too early versus when it is too late and suddenly we depend on AJ Dillon all year long. Hopefully it works out. They did what the entire fanbase would have done prior to Christmas. In the long run, we will come out ahead not basing the last month of production on what we are going to do in the offseason.

I like me some upsets and some cinderellas....but I hope it isn't like last year. I personally didn't care for 4+ seed Final Four that featured a bunch of schools people didn't care about. All fun and games until upsets peg FAU and SDSU against each other...a game any other time of year you would be lucky to find on ESPN+, let alone national TV.

Yup, pushing 30 and he was injured more often than not last year. That’s just not a good trend to depend on. When healthy, I’d take him over Jacob’s…but his days will quickly be numbered. Jacob’s can give long term stability too…Jones would have just put us in the same problem a year from now.

I would imagine Aaron Jones is good as gone. He isn't that different than Jacobs...and is certainly not as young and probably worse for injuries. Why spend the money on him at this point, honestly?

Considering he has all six years left of control, no, he isn't very young. That puts him at reaching FA at 29, with a contract starting at age 30. That is an okay age to hit FA...but if he signed an extension his next potential FA time is dramatically worse. If Quero got to debut this year and start his clock, an extension would be a lot more mutually beneficial because he could give up 8 years of control and still hit FA at 30. He would get the safety net contract and still have time to get a massive payday if he pans out. Hardly a loss at that point. The fact central American players seem to sign early extensions probably has a lot to do with the fact their careers start so early. Having the ability to get into MiLB ball at a younger age (and the camps in their early-mid teen years) is an insane benefit over US players. Chourio signed a massive contract and will still easily hit FA at 30 years old, with a chance at another massive payday. If Sal Frelick signed the same extension he would hit FA at 34, big payday opportunity will never exist. It makes no sense to sign Frelick for anything less than 8 years, but to him, anything more than 6 years is really unattractive to him.

The rotation is awful. 1) The ace is Freddy Peralta...a guy we hope can give us a lengthy healthy season with maybe a mid 3 ERA. Past that it nosedives into inexperienced guys that have basically never had a real full season of being a starter at the MLB level. 2) We would dearly need a healthy season from Miley that continues to defy age. Yet, here we are, already hurt. 3) Ashby needs to be healthy and take a big step forward. 4 and 5) If the above three could happen then we could afford some middling performance here. Think 2023 Colin Rea output level. Health would be ideal...we probably can't afford spot starters repping 5-6 ERA stuff. I doubt this rotation will be very pretty. Gotta hope the offense is dramatically better than last year, which is a lot more likely than this rotation impressing.

The difference is, Lucroy was kinda a nothing burger back then. They extended him because they figured he was at worst a average-ish catcher. Something nice to have locked up so you aren’t shopping for a catcher each offseason at the cost of your pitchers learning a new guy each year. There was virtually no risk because the extension was so brutally cheap. I think they only ended up buying out a single FA year. It was kinda a no brainer for Lucroy as he had a LONG way to go to even hit arbitration and his track record was so minimal it would take very little poor play to potentially never see MLB play again. Contreras is only a year away from arbitration now and put up a full season of elite play at the plate and dramatically improved his defense…the later of which is largely how we managed to acquire him so cheaply. Regardless of his performance this year, he will make a few million in arby next year and even regardless of his 2025 play we (or someone else) will pay him millions again. He already has financial security…not a ton, but definitely pretty risk free millions ahead. Would he take a tiny extension to bank tens of millions? Possibly, probably the last offseason with a chance to do it. The problem is, I’m sure he and his agent know how catchers age. Getting to FA at 29 versus 31 is a dramatic difference. Not only is it a smaller payday…but that is a long two years to keep producing as a catcher. And for the Brewers, if you were going to do an extension, why would it be Contreras? You have Quero right behind him, wouldn’t it be better for us to try and lock up someone else? It doesn’t seem like either side would be highly motivated to make it happen.

I mean, is he going to take $25mil over 8 years? Just to hit FA in his 30s?

He will be 29 when he hits FA. Actually, I think the first year of a new contract would be his age 30 season. William Contreras is a classic example of the kind of player the Brewers have wisely just flat out refused to even entertain an extension for. Lucroy was never offered a contract, nor was Hader. We don't need to be handing out big contracts to 30+ year old catchers/relievers.

Depends on what the extension is. He has a high floor, but his odds of being at his floor versus an All-Star are WAY higher than it is for a guy in the OF. Not to mention catcher salaries are notably less than most positions. At the start of last year there were only 4 catchers in baseball set to make north of $10mil. Without looking I would have to guess a 'meh' starting catcher propped up by his defense doesn't fair very well in arbitration, hypothetically. 8/$35mil? Plus, two generous option years like Chourio? Even $35mil guaranteed feels like a bit too much for a catcher. Problem with Abner Uribe is the fact he isn't very young...he is pretty old honestly. Any extension would spill into his 30s... relievers are already fickle as it is...let alone at 30+. It would have to be a pretty darn cheap extension with the goal really just hoping to avoid $10mil+ reliever salaries in his arby years.

Do you know how many of MLB's premier players come from poor central American backgrounds? Yet almost all of them never sign a cheap extension before or very very early in their MLB careers. I'm actually not sure this logic is as sound as it appears on paper. The average monthly salary is $175 in Venezuela, a guy from there would have more money than he would ever need before he hit arbitration. Even at 3x the average salary, that $200k bonus would last a guy two decades. If Quero's floor is a MLB back-up catcher due to his defense (probably accurate assuming he can at least get near a .700 OPS), then he is already set for life and the next two generations behind him. These early extensions honestly make more sense for someone in the US because a $200k bonus would last you a few years, it would last a few decades in Venezuela.

Why does Quero have extension potential? Am I missing some news? I love Quero and I was on the Quero bandwagon way before most...but catching prospects can be pretty darn fickle. There have been plenty of massively hyped can't miss bats from catching prospects that were massive flops. Mike Zunio, Jesus Montero, and Fransisco Mejia come to mind. Just a brutally rough position to make the majors and excel offensively getting beat up day after day. That being said, I can't imagine a trade scenario where I would ship him off. Would have to be much like the Yelich trade.