MrTPlush

Are we sure that doesn't already account for a move to 1B? They have Cain/Yelich playing daily and Braun/Grisham are both around 130 games. I know the projections don't always take this kind of stuff into consideration, but usually isn't ignored where Grisham is an essential starter in a full OF already. I don't see how Braun is suddenly going to be 2x worse on defense than last year. Being -10+ is getting pretty horrendous. He isn't pretty out there...but jeez.

Either you find the technology to track each hitter independently or it is a waste of time. In a perfect world each batter has a consistent stance and you could use averages of data in MiLB or spring training to give them a strike zone. Problem is players aren't consistent and change their stances all the time. Just another sign it is dumb and a waste of time. If a good idea is just adding another umpire and not fixing the problem what is even the point? All you will have in a new way for the calls to be questionable.

Ken Giles was traded with 5 years of control and two were going to cost pennies. Hader gives you 4 years of control and is going to be expensive from day one. The Super-Two announcement knocks an incredible amount of surplus value off. Probably in the neighborhood of $12mil+ that the fourth year will cost. Of course that is if he is even elite at that point. Other teams aren't dumb either. They watched Hader this year and they know how fickle a relief pitcher is. Generally speaking Hader is not worth the mega prospects people are wishing for. Could some team desperately decide they need an elite reliever, maybe, but I would not hope too hard for that. The only thing going for the Brewers is the fact there is essentially no way to get a Hader without trading for one. I would guess most offers for Hader would be real underwhelming to the masses. You just need one team to get desperate though.

Hiura with -3.6 defense and Yelich with -6.6 LOL...Hiura was worthy of -7.1 defense last year in 84 games.

Early basketball season is so meaningless. Having an experienced team is usually a ticket to success for obvious reasons. Freshman are a shell of what they will actually be by mid season and especially March. Typically I treat it all like preseason until conference play. Then I start to care about results. Non conference games before then are a tune up and get the team to gel. From a major conference perspective, I agree completely. It is way different for a school like SMC, though. Even A-10 schools play their most meaningful games in November and December. Without wins against the few Power 7 schools that will schedule them, those teams have no shot. My least favorite part of the CBK structure... The college basketball structure is about as good as it gets realistically. The system these days definitely gives you a chance without the power conference wins. Does it make it harder? Maybe, but it should if you play crap competition all year. You always have a chance because winning your conference championship gets you in. If your resume isn’t good enough without that and you can’t win your championship do you really deserve in? These games are great for them. They get to play power conference teams at their worst and are typically ranked based on where they should end up, not where they start. I don’t want to say they are cheap resume wins...but they don’t really reflect anything about a team come March. I do agree they mean way more to those teams than they do the power conference team. At least usually...in this case it gave Wisconsin a good chance at a Top 25 win on the road. Arguably a more important game for Wisconsin with the formulas they use to strengthen big road wins.

Early basketball season is so meaningless. Having an experienced team is usually a ticket to success for obvious reasons. Freshman are a shell of what they will actually be by mid season and especially March. Typically I treat it all like preseason until conference play. Then I start to care about results. Non conference games before then are a tune up and get the team to gel.

He'll get 4 years of arb instead of 3. We still control Hader for 4 more years. Thanks. That's what I thought. 4 arb years will be expensive but maybe it would motivate the Brewers to work out an extension since they will have to pay him quite a bit in his last two years of arby anyways. I don't think dropping $50mil+ on Hader is really a move a small market should be doing. Take him year by year...if he is incredibly productive for the next 4 years just be friggen pumped that happened. Relief pitchers are much to fickle for us to hand them mega contracts.

You realize last year we spent nearly $20mil on one year of Grandal, who had a QO, right? It is a negative, but if we actually like Abreu I doubt it is a major roadblock.

This could be the slogan for the forum. That is what it is, silly discussions because we have zero control over anything, know very little in the grand scheme, and 99% of the stuff we talk about never happens.

He doesn't have the saves so quite unlikely, last I knew the arbitration process still heavily favors the saves stat.

No doubt he is a target. I mean at this stage anyone is a target, even if not an obvious position of need. Didi is probably a big target just based on position of need. Price may get high for the Brewers or they may spend it on Moose/Grandal instead. Most contenders are pretty well set at SS, so his market might not be all that strong and coming off his worst year, he may want a one year deal to re-establish his value. At this point, the Brewers don't have a heck of a lot committed for 2020 with the trade of Anderson and not picking up Thames' option. I still think Pomeranz is a high priority for the Brewers in addition to Grandal/Moustakas and he's going to get at least what they'd have paid Chase. If he starts getting contract offers topping out at $30mil or slight higher I could see him being this years Grandal. At $40mil+ like predicted I don't think he will take that risk. You gotta figure on a one year deal with no draft pick compensation the Brewers would offer a solid $15mil+. It will be something to watch if/when the Grandal bidding gets stupid high.

Not necessarily my plan per say, but I thought of two possible ways to fill out the roster for next years on offense. Plan #1 Mike Moustakas - 2/$20mil ($10mil avg) Orlando Arcia - 1/$3mil ($3mil avg) Yasmani Grandal - 4/$68mil ($17mil avg) First Baseman - 1/$4mil ($4mil avg) Total: $95mil / 7.2 WAR / $13.19 per WAR Plan #2 Mike Moustakas - 2/$20mil ($10mil avg) Didi Gregorious - 3/$42mil ($14mil avg) Travis d'Arnaud - 2/$14mil ($7mil avg) First Baseman - 1/$4mil ($4mil avg) Total: $80mil / 8.2 WAR / $9.75mil per WAR I took MLBTR predictions...at least one guy on this list will surely get dramatically less than expected. So basically the person the Brewers sign. I also just took last years WAR for the most part, I did give Didi a bump up to 2.5 WAR. Before last year he averaged over 3.5 WAR per season. You could take his 2019 (0.6 WAR) and it is still a better deal per WAR...so spare me the nitpicking. Additionally I assumed they would spend $4mil for a first baseman...Thames put up 1.5 WAR and that is what I gave each side. d'Arnaud seemed like a logical choice at catcher, but there are many similar options out there we could nab. The big things to take away about the second option is A) we aren't giving $68 to a single 30+ year old player B) we aren't giving a massive 4 year deal to any player let alone a 30+ year old catcher C) it is overall less money committed and D) we are subtracting a black hole off the offense and being a bit more balanced in that sense. The downside is you subtract a .850 OPS bat in exchange for that overall balance. I figure Didi is good for a .750 OPS, good...but not .850 OPS nice. Of course asking a 30+ year old catcher to continue to bat .850 for an OPS is a lofty expectation waiting to disappoint sooner rather than later. He could, but he may not stay elite for his position long. On paper I think these two options are pretty close, but I would probably lean the second option is less risky. EDIT: If anyone is curious Plan #1 adds $34mil to next years payroll and Plan #2 would add $35mil to next years payroll. That's making the contract even across the board for each year of it, so basically a wash.

I wonder what I have a better chance at before I die, Packers season tickets or getting the batting practice reward. Brewers should release an estimated time to get that reward.

Who cares about PI rules, that black cat was the greatest thing I have seen all year.

Yah, he did what every other classy player says when leaving...says the team has a bright future and said something nicely about the pitching staff he is not good enough for. It is just nothing more than that. I also didn’t exaggerate anything. You thought I was so comically wrong you had nothing more to say than just that...I was 100% wrong. To know that you must have been in the room with one of them with the phone on speaker. You couldn’t even say why I was wrong...kinda lame, but probably because there is no factual evidence out there to support why you think that. If you want to over analyze simple comments that are made like clockwork go ahead...I just think there is nothing being hinted.

No doubt he is a target. I mean at this stage anyone is a target, even if not an obvious position of need. Didi is probably a big target just based on position of need. Price may get high for the Brewers or they may spend it on Moose/Grandal instead.

I don't know a better way to put this other than to simply say that you're wrong. How high in the Brewers front office did you have to get before you got to sit in on major personnel decisions? I really don’t see how you would have any idea how they talk to departing players. Especially when Anderson already said he knew nothing until today when he got called. Yet today they had a lengthy conversation about the Brewers plans...idk doesn’t add up to me I guess.

My guess is that this is a sign of other moves this offseason. I’d guess pitching and offense. We aren’t done yet. This may sound like inside information, but it is just a guess.

The amount of assumption in your post is boiling over all over the stove. Literally no one knows how the Brewers go about talking to departing players. Anderson said himself he literally knew nothing about their plan with him until today, not a single thing. Where is it that he even talked to Stearns, period? I’m sure he did, but you make some lofty assumptions about their conversation...I must be missing something. It’s a business, neither side cares about what the other does after they depart...nothing.

Anderson comments mean nothing. He didn’t have a lengthy conversation with Stearns. Why the heck would he care?

Far be it from me to tell people how to spend their money but me personally I could think of literally 10,000 causes more worthy than big time college sports to donate my money. They have more money than they know what to do with.

Except the current team is not competitive, it may not even be a .500 baseball team. We have financial flexibility because half our team is gone or due for raises in arbitration if we give it to them. They really don't have a ton of flexibility after arby raises and if they were to sign Lyles/Pomeranz/Moose/Grandal. All that and you really haven't improved the team. It is nice we could decide to redistribute that to different needs...but I don't know if it is truly what most call financial flexibility. Usually that means you have a good roster and money to spend to make it better. Most of our money will be needed to hopefully give us a similar team on paper.

That looks real pull happy to me. Looks more like he can't hit to LF to save his life.

They aren't going to rebuild... After the comments by Stearns it sounds like he might be seeking payroll flexibility until some dominos start to fall and we know who we may or may not be able to get. The problem with Thames (and Anderson to some extent) is once you accept that option that salary is locked in. It isn't like arbitration where you could release them if you go a different direction at that spot on the roster. By declining the option we have freed up the money for now. The free agency market will be littered with competent offensive first basemen. So worst comes to worst we can grab someone later on if we don't want to roll with Braun/Shaw. The fact he said they could offer Thames a different deal tells me A) they are seeking the payroll flexibility right now and B) they won't be sad if Thames moves on and they have to go with someone else.

Which doesn't start till 2022, ends in his age 47 season. Garza on the books two more years.