QuevedosTongue

One of my most vivid Brewer memories. I was 20 and was outside at a park, alone, shooting baskets with the game on the radio. When it happened I had nobody to share it with, nobody else was around. I finally ran into my apartment and told my roommate, who could not have cared less and was furious that I woke him up. Good times!

That's just not true about Thompson. He is always changing the bottom of the roster, especially the practice squad. I think stearns is pretty much exactly like Ted Thompson so far. He has used free agency judiciously by shopping the bargain basement isle and uses the bottom of the roster to cycle possible players through on a regular basis. He has not gone after players you have to pay a lot to because they are a recognized name like Lohse or Garza preferring instead to look for guys who are cheap with some potential like Guera or Thames. Most importantly I think they both have an eye for talent and are not afraid to trust their eye and make deals that others might not have seen. Thames to me is a perfect example of that. Setting aside the age factor- which to me is more about the differences in the systems in place in each sport than anything- he is the equivalent of all the NFL rookie free agents Ted is willing to give a roster spot to. Thompson barely churns his roster, Stearns does considerably more. I like what Stearns does, as I liked what Ron Wolf did when he was the Packers GM. Stearns has the benefit, as did Wolf when he started with GB, of not having pressure for results like Thompson does. Once that pressure ratchets up Stearns won't do nearly as much churning as he does now, but, until then, he's doing exactly what he should be doing with the back end of the 40.

I think it's pretty clear he's changed physically since he was in Toronto. I mean, his beard is w-a-a-a-y bigger now.

Baseball Prospectus has Martin as a 'negative framer'; he costs his pitchers strikes. I think it is a generalization with catchers that can't hit and can throw. People assume they are good defensively. Also, managers tend to get really comfortable with certain backup catchers for some reason.

Generally, 1B is considered the last stop on the defensive spectrum before DH. The only 'requirement' to play 1B is generally some length, as a taller, longer person can reach further for errant throws. That said, if you can hit like Prince Fielder, that's not a big deal either.

A desire for those things makes him a bad person, or not a class act? I don't understand. Lucroy made a statement during the offseason because he is interested in his own future. After that he did everything a team would want out of a starting catcher, as far as I saw. Again, I just don't understand how anything he did makes him less than a class act. As far as the newspaper ad, he certainly gained nothing but good will from paying for that. It was a nice gesture from him and, as someone who ponies up money to watch MLB games, I appreciate that. Maybe he's a big jerk and is just really good at putting on a face when it suits him, but I don't believe that right now.

I love Toral, but Stearns has shown a clear affinity for up the middle players, so I don't see that. 2017 is really deep for pitching, I'll be surprised if the Brewers don't go that route with their #1.

Maybe they have, but they cannot go the Milwaukee route and rebuild. They make more money than any other team and they have to spend it. This off-season is a weak free agent class, so I doubt anyone will be big players in the market, but teams like NY are trying to clear space and ready themselves for the 2018 free agent bonanza. That is also when a team like Milwaukee can strike a nice bargain in the market if things break their way. The class is deep and there will likely be good players who wait things out and don't have a lot of options after all the big names get signed.

Stearns has tried to stockpile bullpen arms all year. He's brought in players that are free and potentially useful. Same applies here. He might not even see Milwaukee, but if there are personnel moves or injuries to the pitching staff, they have players who can step in and fill spots. If any of the pitchers he's brought in pitch well, they can be kept as a useful piece or flipped for something later, or both. Remember, Jeffress was a free acquisition in 2014.

I don't think the Braves were interested in Braun as much as they were interested in a usable player with a relatively large contract that a team might want to rid themselves of. Because the Braves wanted no part of Hector Olivera any more. That's why he was flipped for Matt Kemp, who isn't any good any more, but he's not Hector Olivera. Now, instead of paying Olivera $32 millions to stay away, they pay Kemp $60 million to play, even if it isn't very well. Bottom line is that I just don't see anybody claiming Braun.

At this point I think it's pretty clear the Brewers won this trade.

I think there are a fair number of catchers who can't hit, so people think they are good defensively, because why else would teams play them? That said, both Baseball Prospectus and Fangraphs grade him as a reasonably good, and the eyeball test tells me he's pretty good, so I'll go with that.

Atlanta I could see, as they seem to be the team most likely to look at a Braun claim as potential to spend some money to flip for prospects. That said, claiming Braun would put them at $70 million committed for next year, but only 7 players taking up that amount. Seems like they'd lose a lot of financial flexibility by making a move like that and be looking at an OF of Markakis, Kemp, and Braun. Granted, they could simply eat a chunk of money and dump 1 of them, but bringing in Braun at nearly $20 million, then dumping Markakis and eating $11 million wouldn't make a lot of sense financially. Or maybe they're going to move Kemp back to CF. Anyway, I just really doubt Braun gets claimed by anyone.

Maldonado will get the bulk of the starts right now, but Susac will be up and catching a lot by September 1 at the latest. I don't think Pina really factors into this unless the Brewers think they have something in him that nobody else thinks they have. I don't know that Maldonado is much of a trade candidate, he seems to be like a lot of other backup catchers out there who can't really hit but can play pretty good defense. The team may also think it's beneficial to have Maldonado around so there is someone with more familiarity with the pitching staff, as opposed to going with Susac and somebody else next year.

I don't see this being done in any way to appease any fans. I don't think the average fan knows much, if anything, about Arcia and they aren't trying to sell tickets this year, as that is basically done already. Seeing Arcia is not going to drive any walk-ups. I've heard a couple reports on Arcia this year that talked about him having bad body language and not acting very engaged in the games in Colorado Springs. So, if true, maybe the Brewers just felt it was time to challenge him, give him a couple months around the big league group, and get him more engaged in the game again. (For those wanting sources for the reports, I don't have them. I think I read one on Baseball Prospectus, another was definitely a Baseball America podcast)