82brewcrew82

Guerra's "ability" produced a 4 WAR in 2016 which was good enough to earn the opening day starter in 2017. Suter produced a 1.8 WAR in basically half a year's innings in 2017. Brewers won the last 6 games Suter started in the heat of a playoff race and were 9-5 overall in his starts. In 2016, the Brewers were 14-6 in the games Guerra started. Dismissing either as simply "filler" doesn't do them justice. I'd say both are useful, either in the rotation or the pen and quite possibly more than that. Woodruff showed flashes but he's not established. He's definitely in the mix but it's not a disaster if he starts the year in AAA either because the other two beat him out in spring. Those two are the definition of rotation filler. Starting the season with those two in the rotation is a horrible decision. If you're going to point back to 2016 in defense of Guerra then you have not problem with Villar starting at second, right? No way I expend the resources they have this off season and then point to a pitchers stats from two years ago and say, "yeah, that should work". Suter is a nice guy to have, maybe a good swingman/depth guy. He is not a starting pitcher.

Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports reports that the Dodgers were in the bidding on Yu Darvish right until he decided to sign with the Cubs. That could mean that the Dodgers will still be in the market for pitching help and will turn to one of the lesser names available on the free agent market. Source: Jon Heyman on TwitterFeb 10 - 3:10 PM They would still have to clear salary though if we are being fair. If they couldn't do that for Darvish I'm not sure they can do it for Arietta.

Oddly the Nationals have been linked to him too Dodgers

I was thinking 3/65. I wonder if the landscape doesn't get more crowded though at those prices.

I'm on record that I think they end up with Odorizzi and Arietta.

yeah I have a feeling there's going to be a flurry of signings and trades this week. I thought it'd be this weekend. I think things happen quickly now. The crew was behind before this, they are going to need to get serious about picking up pitching.

Maybe things start to shake out now.

Exactly.

Suter and Guerra are back end filler. Woodruff has a chance to be more. If the plan is to "hope" that Suter or Guerra way overperforms their ability then this is a lost cause anyway.

Watching him pitch is painful I agree. He literally - No I mean literally - throws like a left handed position player brought in to pitch in a blow out game. Still the guys has always been effective and let's face it he was pretty darn good last year. I can't say I would bet the mortgage that he will have yet another good year in 2018 but he certainly wouldn't be the first crafty lefty to succeed in MLB. They guy has a hard time getting through an order more than once. Give him 30 starts and watch that nightmare happen.

If Suter is anywhere near the starting rotation at the beginning of the year this team simply is not interested in contending this year.

I'll go with Odorizzi and Arietta. I think that is who they end up with. I think Salazar is a legit option too but I think it comes down to Odorizzi and Arietta. Darvish has to decide first though.

I won't, this team isn't making the playoffs with a bunch of 4 ERA guys. There were only five teams last season who had their starting pitching staffs under a 4 ERA: 1: LAD- 3.39 2: CLE- 3.52 3: ARI- 3.61 4: WAS- 3.63 5: NYY- 3.98 #10: Brewers were at 4.10 So there are what, four or five NL teams with better starting pitching ......and we lost our best pitcher?

Here are a couple articles I found searching quickly. I believe there is a Counsel quote out there somewhere too. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2018/01/nl-notes-braves-brewers-braun-marlins.html "Thanks in part to their acquisitions of star outfielders Lorenzo Cain and Christian Yelich, the Brewers will attempt to work around their OF surplus by occasionally using Ryan Braun at first base in 2018." https://www.mlb.com/brewers/news/brewers-ryan-braun-could-play-first-base/c-265420296 With the Brewers suddenly flush with outfielders, Ryan Braun might be moving back to the infield -- at least on an occasional basis.

Lucroy as the primary and Pina as the backup would be an upgrade at catcher. Think about it this way: * Lucroy catches 100 games, Pina 60 * Lucroy plays 10-15 games at first as Braun DHs * Braun plays 110 games at first * Santana in RF, Yelich LF * Thames kept as backup 1B/LF/RF, 30-40 starts at first, maybe 10-15 in left, 10-15 in right * Aguilar on the move somewhere for a pitcher * OK * There is already a log jam at first. There are no at bats for Luc at first. * People are taking the Braun to first thing and running with it. They said they want to try and play him there occasionally. He won't get anywhere near 110 games at first. * OK * Not happen, at least not by himself.

Perfect post on this. You summed it up much better than I did.

Last year Hiura was in college and Burnes was just some recently-drafted college pitcher in Low A ball. They'll have prospects that break out this year, just like Burnes did. This is not a top-heavy system like it was during most of the Melvin years. And if you want high-ceiling prospects, keep an eye on Lutz. You'll think he has "actual value" by the end of the summer. I don't look at Burnes "as just some recently-drafted college pitcher". He was a fourth round pick who had very good success in college and showed lots of promise since the day he was drafted. In every stop in the minors he has been more than impressive. He does have a chance to be special. I don't feel that way with very many minor leaguers an I bet Tampa Bay feels the way I do and that is why they want him. I do not think Archer is worth what Burnes (plus the others) would cost the Brewers. Are you basing this on just his numbers? The reports on Burnes coming out as a fourth round pick were that the Brewers got an absolute steal at that spot. So yes, i agree he is not exactly a diamond in the rough fourth round pick. He is and was a talented college pitcher. Having said that, being a good college pitcher I would expect him to have the results he did in the lower levels. His success in AA opened my eyes a bit more. However, when you start reading the scouting reports, his stuff may not be TOR stuff. You can't base that decision on just his numbers alone. Perhaps the Brewers scouts don't think Burnes will ever reach the same level that Archer is at right now, maybe they do. This is why Stearns makes the big bucks and I trust his decision making.

I'm guessing the Brewers have a pretty good idea what it will take to sign any one of those players. Likewise, they probably have a darn good idea what it will take in terms of the trade targets. This is mostly politics at this point. Who is going to blink first? Besides, it was reported by someone, don't remember who, that the Brewers had already made an ultimatum offer and were flatly rejected. If they did in fact go groveling back with another offer then their power to do so again, with anyone, has to be almost nil. Then you agree we should move on with it? I don't. I don't think ultimatum offers are going to work given the position the Brewers are in. They can put the offers out there but they have play this game of chicken that this off-season has turned into.

I'm guessing the Brewers have a pretty good idea what it will take to sign any one of those players. Likewise, they probably have a darn good idea what it will take in terms of the trade targets. This is mostly politics at this point. Who is going to blink first? Besides, it was reported by someone, don't remember who, that the Brewers had already made an ultimatum offer and were flatly rejected. If they did in fact go groveling back with another offer then their power to do so again, with anyone, has to be almost nil.

Got a link? I see a retweet from Brewers Farm saying that the team has the top offer, but that "it will take a lot to lure him to Milwaukee." I know we are probably talking about semantics, but that doesn't appear as absolute as you make it out to be. Yeah, that's the one.

Seeing on twitter that the Brewers have the best offer out to Darvish but it isn't enough.

I am convinced now more than ever that the GM's of the given teams are the only ones that have any actual insight. I would also guess that there is a significantly better chance than 5% that Archer could be a Brewer. At this point, I don't think I even want Archer. The idea of giving up so many prospects for a player that we could just give some money too (those free agents are probably just as good as Archer, except Lynn), makes me upset. Phillips is such an amazing compliment to this roster, he fits so perfectly. I would be very upset if we managed to give him up. I agree with you on Phillips. I'm not sure what the right move is but they need at least one pitcher.

I honestly don't know what I'd prefer anymore. Is there such a thing as rumor fatigue?

I am convinced now more than ever that the GM's of the given teams are the only ones that have any actual insight. I would also guess that there is a significantly better chance than 5% that Archer could be a Brewer.

It's not totally for past performance, but my point was that the system as it's set up pays players far less than they're worth production-wise when they're younger, so that when they reach FA and get their first big contract, often times it's the start of their career decline. So in essence they're recouping the surplus value of their first few years when they were underpaid in regards to their overall production. At the end of the day the issue is that he economics are changing in a way the MLBPA didn't anticipate despite this being a larger economic trend in general. Unless they can prove collusion, and I doubt they can, then they are worth what the market says they are worth.