MadThinker88

I completely agree with MKE81. Felix is a good pickup if it can be finalized and at a reasonable cost. It helps with internal competition and development. Assuming Felix is doing a solid job during the first 4 months, he could be a trade chip at the deadline (if the return is good). Thumbs up on this.

Guys, Figure out a new target. Michael Kopech was part of the package Boston sent to Chicago for Chris Sale.

When I saw the money for Peralta, my eyeballs popped. Wily is getting almost $4.3 MM while 2 other starters Trevor Bauer ($3.55 MM) & Danny Salazar ($3.4 MM) are arguably better and getting less.

Relief pitching has been bringing back boatloads of talent in trades over the past year. If the Brewers can bring in a couple of functional veteran relievers, the value of those arms at the trade deadline might be worth it, even if only one is worthwhile and dealt away. Last season there were 3 arms in the pen that helped the team win games that are no longer around (Jeffries, Smith, Thornburg). Their collective absence will be felt if no move is made. I made the point over in the Drew Storen thread- nothing sucks the life out of a young club more then late game/ blown save defeats. Perhaps one or two of the internal options will pan out and be functional/ good/ very good in the bullpen. I hope a few will be. I'd rather have more options added from the outside in case those in house options prove to be not ready and end up with a mix of veterans & kids in the bullpen. Holland is a possibility although I have a sneaky feeling that Washington will try to land him. Jeff Manship is another option to look at. Storen would have been an interesting addition but Cinci sign him already.

Yes, I am sure on that one. It was a major discussion point among Tribe fans as we awaited the decision of Edwin E. Here are some reference links for all. I hope they help. From a quick google search and a Dodger website page: http://dodgerblue.com/new-mlb-cba-luxury-tax-thresholds-qualifying-offers-roster-size-disabled-list-change-complete-details/2016/12/01/ Players can no longer be extended a qualifying offer more than one time, which draft pick(s) a club loses by signing a player who rejected the one-year pact is based on luxury tax thresholds, and a barometer must be crossed in order for a team to receive compensation for losing their free agent, via Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports: Follow Ken Rosenthal ✔ @Ken_Rosenthal Some additional details on new CBA coming, starting with this: A player no longer can receive a qualifying offer more than once. 10:41 PM - 30 Nov 2016 -- --- ---- ---- --- --- ---- ----- ----- From a Fan-Sided site with the Cardinals: http://redbirdrants.com/2016/12/01/st-louis-cardinals-new-cba-reached/ There was one huge unexpected change. Starting next offseason, there will be no loss of a first round selection when signing a free agent with a qualifying offer. However, there will still be compensation though that will depend largely on the luxury tax. Teams over the luxury tax will forfeit a second and fifth round pick. Teams under the tax will lose a third rounder. In addition, no player can receive a qualifying offer more than once. -- --- ---- ---- --- --- ---- ----- ----- And from one of the favorites: MLB Trade Rumors http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2016/12/mlb-mlbpa-agree-to-new-collective-bargaining-agreement.html - Importantly, players will no longer be able to receive more than a single qualifying offer, Rosenthal reports (Twitter links). Players now will have ten days, instead of seven, to consider the offer, according to the AP duo. All told, the above changes (not all that I copied over from MLBTR -MT88) promise to represent a rather monumental shift in the function of the qualifying offer system. It will clearly hurt free agents less, and the reduced draft compensation will likely make it slightly more likely that veterans end up being traded in the season before they hit the open market. Whether less players will be tagged with QOs remains to be seen; though there’s less to be gained for teams, there’s also less of a disincentive for players to enter free agency.

I am not a fan of the opt out after year 1 in a deal either, BUT if he opts out, you could still put a QO on him at this point. Its just not worth as much in return to the team as this off season or previous years. One thing to consider moving forward, players can only get 1 QO IN THEIR CAREER with this new CBA. That will change the some of the thinking moving forward. I'd rather have a guy now (that hasn't had the QO yet in his career), then play around with that decision process later with an opt out...

I think he just moved his list around a little bit He only had x (be it 20 or 24 or whatever) number of teams to block trade too. To add one to that list, meant one already on the list would be removed.

Color me surprised. Figured there would be a handful of teams (including some contenders) seeking his services http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2017/01/athletics-to-sign-trevor-plouffe.html

I think your forgetting that Detroit is still looking to shed payroll. Considering Rasmus signed for $5 MM and can get another $2 MM in incentives, its clear Detroit did not want spend much (if any money) on this type of move...

From a Brewer perspective, I will always have an interest in learning 2 things that were impacted by Lucroy blocking the trade to Cleveland: 1) What was the best offer DS got for Will Smith from SF or another team that did not have a catcher coming back in return? 2) What was the best offer DS got for Jeffries (alone) from Texas or another team? With the cost of relief pitching being so high, I suspect the Brewers would have had a haul of talent for those two (Smith & Jeffries) in separate trades. Coupled with the 4 prospects from Cleveland (in the Lucroy deal) it would have been an impressive package & one I believe that is better then what the Brewers eventually ended up with (and that is a good mix on its own merits)..

Considering the rest of the NL Central, I would be surprised (more like stunned) with a .500 plus record in 2018. - Chicago appears poised for a multi year run at the top of the division. - St. Louis is still St. Louis. Until they are dead, buried and mathematically eliminated, you should not count them out of contending. - Pittsburgh is adjusting/ retooling on the fly. While the Crew seems to have their number, that can change to the surprise of many. See the previous 5 season records between Detroit & Cleveland for example.. 2016 Clev 14 Detroit 4 2015 Clev 7 Detroit 11 2014 Clev 8 Detroit 11 2013 Clev 4 Detroit 15 2012 Clev 10 Detroit 8 - Cincinnati is also rebuilding. I was stunned they did not lose 110 games last season so there is still some talent and fight on the northern banks of the Ohio River. 76 games are played within the division. Until your winning 38 or more of those battles, I highly doubt the Crew gets to a .500 plus record. The Brewers are rebuilding, from the ground up and I believe DS is doing it right. It is key not to rush the process and try to not jump ahead early pursuing a long shot to contend (ie fool's gold).

I like the move from a couple of view points: 1 - Storen is betting on himself to rebound and if successful he likely lands a multi year/ multi million per year deal next off season 2 - Reds pick up an arm that has late inning experience & if he does very well they have a trade chip for the deadline 3 - Reds bolster their pen to minimize/ reduce the number of late inning meltdowns that really suck the life out of a ball club, especially one rebuilding and trying to avoid another 95+ loss season. Avoiding those life draining heartbreaks really helps a rebuilding ball club grow.

A very interesting viewpoint & rankings. I will be curious to see how he ranks players in various other organizations and if he will rank the organizations themselves..

Overall not a bad idea, but even if the club/ MA was interested in doing that (there are various hurdles/ issues on that), the politics of the PCL losing the location in Colorado still needs to be addressed. Somewhere earlier in this thread (or in the newspaper links embedded) it was noted how the PCL wishes to keep a club there for scheduling and traveling purposes.

The Rockies, maybe? It would closely mimic the dynamics of Coors Field. To the Rockies credit, they spent 20 years there before departing. IMHO, no other franchise wants to be in Colorado Springs, looking upon it as the very bottom of the AAA affiliate locations.

Perhaps a trade market for Scooter will develop after Dozier gets moved/ the Twins shut down trade talks (FWIW: I think Dozier gets dealt) but I doubt it.

June 11, 2016: Released by the Los Angeles Dodgers. Played 30 games in the Mexican League after that. I would think he is available. He is 2nd year arbitration eligible as the Pirates contract has finally ended...

Two more years until the Crew can try moving to another location (& I highly recommend they do move). It will be interesting to watch numerous AAA relationships and see if ANYONE will be interested in leaving their current slot for Colorado Springs while the Crew affiliate moves to another location..

Nice idea, don't see it happening. Rumor has it the Rangers will bring Napoli back after missing out on EE.. Fewer years, less of a cost than Braun, and they keep their prosepcts for other needs/ usage.

Merry Xmas Cleveland. I can only hope this ends the "Dolan (owner) is cheap" BS.. Nearly fell off bar stool when I saw the announcement scroll on ESPN. Screamed it to the bar and we just erupted...

Can only happen once without player consent. Can be done a dozen times IF the player agrees to it. I believe that other times will expose the player to waivers and if unclaimed, the player then gets the option to agree to it or not.

Interesting note via MLB Trade Rumors (about Boston perspective) For Boston, the move came now in large part because the organization wasn’t sure whether there would be a market for Buchholz (and his $13.5MM salary) if it waited until the spring, as Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald was among those to report. While holding onto the depth or seeking a greater return could’ve been pursued, Dombrowski explains that the team “had to be a little bit conservative.” With what he views as adequate depth in the potential MLB rotation and upper levels of the minors, he felt comfortable striking a deal. The organization intends to “sort through” its final back-of-the-rotation mix this spring, per Dombrowski (via Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald, on Twitter). Consider the part I put in bold... Trade opportunities open & close all the time. An interested trade partner one week might not have interest the next week. This is important to remember regarding not only Garza, but Braun and any other Brewer trade chips.

Pretty much exactly my thoughts, good read. This is why I feel Braun's value relative to his contract is basically zero, which sounds horrible, but I'm not saying negative, just zero. It just means I think Braun's remaining contract is about exactly what his current open market value is. So to get anything of real value back will likely require us to eat a substantial portion of the remaining contract. I think the Dodgers are probably getting cold feet on the August deal and I think those 20 minutes we missed a deal by will be regrettable. Fangraphs had a separate article related to Tyler Naquin of Cleveland. In the analysis, some info related to Braun was pointed out. http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/tyler-naquin-pulled-a-bryce-harper/ "... This is about Naquin! Naquin just ranked 49th in average air-ball exit velocity. That’s a strong ranking, especially for a rookie — it put him around Buster Posey and Matt Carpenter. But Naquin also ranked first, very first, extremely first, in air-ball slugging percentage. We know it’s not all just about average batted-ball speed. There are most certainly other factors. But the average is hugely important, and, compared to what you would’ve expected of Naquin, his air-ball slugging over-achieved by 312 points. It’s much easier to see graphically. Here are all the players with at least 100 tracked air balls from 2016, and Naquin is highlighted in red. (Chart here) I didn’t have to pick on Naquin, and you know why? That point right next to him is Ryan Braun. Braun’s air-ball slugging over-achieved by 333 points. Bigger than Naquin’s number! Could’ve been a Braun piece. But Naquin is newer and therefore more interesting, and there’s another Braun piece being written right now for the website, anyway. Be wary of Braun, but also, be wary of Naquin. Something doesn’t feel right."

When was Josh a FA sign?? I see he was drafted and traded twice. via Baseball Reference: June 7, 2007: Drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 1st round (48th pick) of the 2007 amateur draft. Player signed June 24, 2007. July 8, 2008: Traded by the Chicago Cubs with Sean Gallagher, Matt Murton and Eric Patterson to the Oakland Athletics for Chad Gaudin and Rich Harden. November 28, 2014: Traded by the Oakland Athletics to the Toronto Blue Jays for Franklin Barreto (minors), Kendall Graveman, Brett Lawrie and Sean Nolin.

A note from another BA article posted today.. DOWN ON THE FARM: After the farm system had a big year in 2015, Milwaukee stumbled in ’16, with its domestic affiliates going just 302-379 (.443), second-worst in baseball. Prospects such as Arcia, righthander Jorge Lopez (3-11, 5.78 overall) and outfielder Brett Phillips (.229/.332/.397) faltered, while high Class A Brevard County lost a minor league-worst 97 games. Shortstop Isan Diaz led the low Class A Midwest League with 20 homers, while righthander Brandon Woodruff went 14-9, 2.68 and led the minors with 173 strikeouts. http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/2017-milwaukee-brewers-top-10-insider/#iUEXHrKeqDFJ8yAo.97 Getting the minor league squads on track & more successful should produce a culture of success, more development opportunities (in form of playoff races and playoff games) and most importantly prospects more ready to contribute once they get to the majors...