Devinep

Anyone who thinks Wagner shouldn’t be in the HOF thinks that relievers have to be Mariano Rivera or not in the hall.

I do think the Cubs sign Bellinger or Chapman. With the trade for Bush, if they get one of those 2 then the most obvious fit becomes the Brewers for Hoskins. I’d think he’d prefer to be on a good team with more playing time at 1B than DH and a hitters park to establish a higher value next offseason. The Brewers are really the only team than offers all 3 of those with a 1B opening. Sure he could go to Arizona, the Mets, Angels, or Washington. But I don’t think those teams would be ideal fits. plus with all the salary dumping the Brewers have done, they can easily afford to pay Hoskins.

I’d be interested in Josh Bell if the Marlins kick in a bit.

Yes Hoskins may sign with someone else, but the Brewwrs do have the $ if they want. Plus, it isn’t like after Hoskins there are no prions other than Santana. free agency: Justin Turner, Brandon Belt. trades: Isaac Paredes, Harold Ramirez, Ryan Mountcastle. No offense to Santana, who would be fine. That’s just another “meh” in a lineup full of “meh” already and pretty much to be consistently a threat

I’m glad the Brewers haven’t signed Carlos Santana because I think if they were looking to settle for him, he’d be signed already. So hopefully they’re trying for a big bat and not yet another mediocre bat. Not that I’d be too upset if he ends up being the 1B as a fallback. in terms of the overall offense, they need 1 anchor bat and IMO a 2nd good bat because the middle of the lineup is weak right now. And one needs to be a lefty masher. Those spots are 1B for sure. But the 2nd bat could be some combo of DH/1B/2B/3B. I’d be pumped with a Rhys Hoskins signing and a Jorge Polanco trade. Turang is a black hole offensively yet and Polanco can play 3B/DH also. or just sign 2 olds to 1 year deals to mash and move on. Justin Turner/Brandon Belt. A surprise trade I’d look at is getting Isaac Paredes for a package starting with Quero. Rays have everything but catching, Contreras is under control for like 4 years, and it saves TB $

Sean berry or marquis Grissom

In the “just baseball” podcast, they played mock GM for the Giants and signed Jordan Montgomery and Giolito (and traded for Kyle Farmer), which is a still a pretty good offseason

In a vacuum this is a bad deal. And it only makes sense if the money is invested to sing some quality talent. I’m not holding my breath

I offer the twins their choice of Mitchell or Weimer for Polanco. With the Twins having a lefty-heavy OF (and Buxton being always hurt or DH) Weimer is a more direct Taylor replacement so they may prefer him even with the need to fix his swing. Polanco would help this weak hitting infield quite a bit too

The need for a big bat (or 2) is there, but that would be better served coming from an infielder, not a DH/bad OF

Yes. If that happened it would be disguisting

At first I thought the same, but playing Turang is already pointing offense at an infield position. IKF makes little sense in a vacuum, but if they trade Adames for a good package and separately get Brandon Lowe or Jorge Polanco to play 2B, maybe a Turang/IKF SS would be ok.

Polanco makes sense to upgrade 2B and give turang the chance to learn how to hit in AAA/be depth. The twins also make some sense as a trade target with Polanco being somewhat expendable due to their infield surplus. Plus, maybe Weimer would Interest them in a trade as a Michael A Taylor replacement with their lefty-heavy OF

I hope not Santana. The Brewers don’t need another mediocre bat. They need 2 things: some middle of the order anchor power and a 1B. Might as well do both at once with Hoskins if reasonable

Hoskins is precisely what the team needs, but costs money so they won’t get him. Although they should with the loss of Woodruff, 1B open, and the need for a bat. I’d be ok with Belt too, or Coby Mayo in a Burnes trade.

My expert analysis of this: gross

Disagree on the OF non/surplus even with a trade because younger guys need playing time, Weimer opening the year in AAA doesn’t mean he won’t be on the big league team, and Taylor May be a reserve but hit well last year and deserves playing time. Even with a trade, Churionwull create a (good) problem of too many OF. Plus, DH will help rest guys and keep Yeli a bit healthier possibly. You found one thing about each guy I recommended as a negative as somehow proof they shouldn’t be signed, as if you can’t sign a guy for 1 year if he’s 36 or tore an ACL early last year. Yet you didn’t mention that signing Soler is buying high and, unlike Soler, Belt and Hoskins are consistently good (in addition to playing a position the Brewers need to fill). 2023 was the first time in awhile Soler has been even good enough of a hitter to be worthy of taking up the DH spot. JD Martinez, on the other hand, would be an intriguing DH only bat to me though

They desperately need hitting, not necessarily a DH. Soler would plug the DH spit, Leaving Yelich as a full time LF. That leaves 2 positions for Frelick, Mitchell, Taylor, Weimer, and Churio, who should be mostly, if not completely, playing almost every day by mid-2024. instead of spending limited resources (they’re not going on a FA spending spree I’m safely assuming) on a position of surplus, why not just get a Soler-quality hitter at a position of need on the infield? Sign Hoskins, Candelario, or Belt. And/or trade for Brandon Lowe or Jorge polanco.

I agree they really need hitting. But they don’t need a DH/OF since that’s already crowded and Churio is coming soon. The infield makes more sense, even at 2B (Turing at utility or learning how to hit for awhile in AAA is fine with me) That’s why I want them to sign Hoskins for 1B as well as trade for Brandon Lowe or Eduardo Escobar to play 2B

Oh yeah, add some to the budget because I’d sign Woodruff To a 2 year deal

Thought process: maintain contention while embracing the core of prospects about to make the big league team. All free agent signings are 1-2 year deals. trades: Corbin Burnes to Bal for Coby Mayo. He competed with Tyler Black to be the opening day 3B. Mayo will end up at 1B and Hoskins is there only for a year. trade Joey Weimer for Brandon Lowe. TB is overloaded with IF and will get rid id one or both of Ramirez and Margot so they could use an OF. Lowe improved 2B dramatically and gives Turang time to work on hitting in AAA. lineup: 1: Yelich-DH 2:Contreras-C 3-Lowe-2B 4-Hoskins-1B 5-Adames-SS 6-Frelick-RF 7-Taylor-LF 8-Black-3B-Beats out Mayo 9-Churio-cf -incentive for possible ROY on opening day roster C: William Contreras ($0.77M) 1B: Rhys Hoskins ($19M) 2B: Brandon Lowe ($8.75M) 3B: Coby Mayo ($0.77M) SS: Willy Adames ($12.40M) LF: Tyrone Taylor ($1.7M) CF: Jackson Churio ($0.77M) RF: Sal Frelick ($.77M) DH: Christian Yelich ($26M) Bench OF: Garrett Mitchell ($0.77M) Utility: Abraham Toro ($.77M) Utility: Andruw Monasterio ($0.77M) Backup C: Victor Caratini ($2.5M) SP1: Freddy Peralta ($5.5M) SP2: Kenta Maeda ($12M) SP3: Hyun Jin Ryu ($9M) SP4: Adrian Houser ($5.60M) SP5: Colin Rea ($3.50M) CL: Devin Williams ($6.50M) RP: Abner Uribe ($0.77M) RP: Hoby Milner ($1.70M) RP: Bryse Wilson ($1.30M) RP: Joel Payamps ($1.70M) RP: Trevor Megill ($0.77M) RP: Elvis Peguero ($0.77M) RP: Brent Suter ($2.5M) Payroll is 9.04% under budget

Pitching Chafin and now not bunting Turang are 2 pathetic decisions that look like they’ll probably cost the Brewers the game

Canha because the Brewers don’t need another long term DH/OF. Or a high strikeout guy who has only been good for a couple months in his whole career

The Brewers think 1B and DH are so easy to find that they never need to invest anything in them. Now that they have trash for those positions, maybe do the “easy” thing and go get a bat or 2 for those spots. And between Urias, Monostsrio, Turang, and Miller (with some of them not playing 3B as much when Anderson returns) leave 2B