OnTheBlack

I go to about 20 a year..maybe 30. I like going on Tuesday nights or Wednesday games when it's not too crowded. The rest I tape and watch about one third of the games in real time...the rest I go back and will skim. Watch a couple players I'm interested in. I really like watching Aquilar and Broxton among the less obvious players. I think both could end up being really good players for us. Aquilar just has such an easy swing and can turn around a 98 MPH fastball or take a hanging slider the other way. Point is, if I'm watching it after the fact, I'm just watching some of the young guys who intrigue me.

I wouldn't say I expected this by any means...didn't know what to expect. But I knew he was capable of this. This is a guy who's been a good pitcher throughout his career. Pitched his team to the WS when he was...what, 22, 23 years old? He always had good stuff. Has always been extremely aggressive and competitive. Never been a lazy guy who doesn't seem to keep himself in shape. Of course his last two years in Milwaukee he was injured, threw 250 innings with a ERA over 5(though a FIP was half a run lower) and a whip over 1.5. Still, he was an extremely reliable guy prior to that with an ERA of 3.74 before that and was always kinda a bulldog. So this certainly isn't the craziest turnaround...and having a proven starter who you can bring back for just 5 million dollars next year certainly has to look enticing to a team like...say New York who has just nothing but question marks in their rotation(CC looks like he's on his last leg, Tanaka's elbow, Pineda always injured...the young horse who's name eludes me, but he's a guy in his early 20's and Montgomery is young as well). They have a deep farm system.....especially with young guys who may not be highly rated, but have huge upsides. They have a few guys not ranked in their top 10 who throw in the upper 90's and have ace or elite reliever upside...even a guy like Dillon Tate. This seems to be the type of trade where we could get back 3 prospects who the team acquiring Garza doesn't project to be future contributors, but who could be lottery type players for us. I guess we'll see.

Normally they have a plan though. I had heard the plan was to get him two rehab starts and then activate him. Of course these are always tentative plans, but that's what I've heard them say on broadcasts on a couple occasions.

And if someone DOES want to talk about bringing them up? LOL...c'mon. Hader threw 84 pitches and is pitching in the worst possible place in the minor leagues for a young pitcher. Yes, his walks have been a problem, but he's a lefty who throws in the mid 90's and is a top 50 prospect. He's gonna get the call. And I wouldn't give how many innings they throw a second thought. They're just no good reasons to have a guy like Hader(or Lopez for that matter) to be throwing 110 pitches in the minors. The only thing that Hader needs to worry about is not walking as many people and he may need to be about 5,000 feet lower in elevation before he feels confident enough throwing his secondary stuff in certain counts. And obviously Woodruff is looking like a great young pitcher, but Espino is a 30 year old who's never pitched at the big league level and who at the age of 30 and not being a real prospect isn't exacly going 8 every time out. He's averaging less than 6 innings per start himself. Heck, the same can be said for Woodruff. You're just not going to see minor leaguers going 8 innings very often. There's just no reason to push them in the minor leagues. Don't get me wrong, I like both....just not the philosophy that has you demanding that nobody calls for Hader or Lopez over Espino because of how deep he can go into a game. Not to mention with Hader's big loopy curve/slider, I'm sure pitching in Colorado Springs has hurt his development or at least confidence in that pitch. But nonetheless, he still has as much potential as any starting pitcher the Brewers have and I think a move to Milwaukee might actually help him.

I know there have been several times I've been watching...and Bandy has done it as well, but Pina more so...he moves the glove immediately after a close call to transfer and throw the ball back. There was a pitch that was inside over the weekend series where both the catcher and pitcher thought it was a strike and both started to walk off. This was a ball I believe Luc would have gotten a K on. Pina was set up inside, he caught the ball without moving his glove much, but as soon as he caught it he dropped his glove and stopped up and got ready to walk off the field. They don't have to be Lucroy...but man,I think both really struggle in this area of the game. They loook pretty damn good in other area's thus far, but poor when it comes to recieving the ball. Plus Pina is reaching too often when he doesn't need to.

I'm curious. Why would you have Anderson be the next up for demotion after Peralta, when he has basically been the Brewers best starter overall this year? I get that his secondary stats are pretty similar to Nelson's, so it seems he's been a little bit lucky, but if Davies doesn't start putting things together soon, I think he would have to be next in line for demotion after Peralta. The only downside of a team that APPEARS to be a year ahead of schedule in their rebuilding process. Peralta and Nelson have smaller window's to prove their should/could be part of the future rotations. I think if either becomes a reliever it's a pretty huge disappointment...especially given how the Brewers are pumping out really good hard throwing relievers like Barnes and Knebel right now. But I would keep Anderson in the rotation as he looks like his improvement is legitimate and he might yield a nice prospect in return. Garza hopefully only makes another 8-9 starts for this team and hopefully they're similar to the first 4. And Anderson looks like he's genuinely improved his cutter which is resulting in more swings out of the zone for him than last year by a significant margin. Both guys could bring back a couple lower level guys who aren't a teams top 5-8 prospects but who have the stuff or tools to potentially become big time prospects. Just wish both of these guys could string together some consistent starts. We've already seen both pitch reallywell in the big leagues, so we know the ability is there...just no consistency.

Has there been more than the one issue of him oversleeping and being late to the game that I'm not aware of? Not gonna argue the garbage part because...it doean't really warrant an argument, but he's not exactly a Dez Bryant like personality as far as I know.

Well, that's kinda putting the proverbial cart before the horse. First of all, that's almost 3 years away. So even if he was good, we really have no idea if he'd be signable. But more importantly...we have no idea if he'd be worth signing. I look at a guy like this as the Brewers basically hoping for a Jake Arietta type situation....the exact scenarios differ, but a guy with a history of success who is now treading water and may just need a change of scenery. I doubt Harvey turns it around, but he is still just 28, had an FIP of 3.47 last year..so not as bad as his overall numbers would suggest, and he's throwing just as hard as he was early. On top of that, his GB pct is up and he has a fluky HR pct. Of course his K rate has plummeted, his walks are up and he's probably all but done. But I'd gladly take a chance that he can turn it around depending on the ask. Maybe a talented former 1st rounder like Clint Coulter? I loved Coulter, but he's stalled and we are crazy loaded with OF'ers throughout the system. Maybe as part of a bigger deal...as long as he's the "Travis Shaw," of the deal.

No he can't. Feel free to expand on your point rather than drive by snark. Thanks. Not that I completely agree with the manner in which it was delivered, but I think the point is this isn't nearly big enough of an issue to make possibly the second most popular team in baseball into the "bag guys." Have you heard anything about this on the national level since the day or two after Lackey initially made his comments? The Cubs were the lovable losers, now they're coming off a dominant season and a WS win and poised to contend for another. You really think a couple relatively subtle digs in May against a small market player is going to changed millions of peoples point of view in regards to the Cubs? Hell, most people didn't even look at the Cardinals as the bag guys when they were just insufferable with Chris Carpenter and his screaming after getting a K in the WS after whining incessantly including the infamous "how will I explain this to my 8 year old son," comment. Though...while I hate to do this, that comment was taken a tiny bit out of context when he said it. Nevertheless.....it's just not a big enough deal. Nobody cares anymore.

No, they aren't, unless they think he's still going to be as productive in 2020. They are, more likely than not, trading for Braun's production over the next year or two and are fully aware he probably won't be the same player in 2020. Who should pay for 2020 Braun may well be why he hasn't been traded. That part can be negotiated. But production 4 years down the line is not what teams are trading for. So in a way it doesn't really matter what his WAR will be 2020. That is the problem though. They don't want to trade for 2020 Braun...but they would have to. Unless you think the Brewers would pick up that much money, but I really doubt it. Not to mention it sounds like most teams wish it was 2 years after this...not 4. So that is a near $40mil problem. And right now Theo Epstien is really wishing that Jake Arrieta would be willing to take a 4 year contract rather than the 7 year deal he's was talking about last off-season. I'm sure the M's wish they could have gotten Cano for 7 years instead of 10....and on and on. But teams make concessions. They understand they're going to have to pay in the back end for production up front that may help them win a World Series. I also don't think his 17 million when he's 37 in 2020 is going to look like nearly as much in MLB in another 3 years. Heck, its not now. Again, look at 40 year old Carlos Beltran making 16 million. Again, .900 OPS players are very rare. We're fixated on his WAR whereas I think the teams we're trading him to are most likely more interested in how he fits into their lineup this year and next. Then of course there is the issue of using his WAR from the year he was suspended and only played in 60 games and then the following year when he dealt with a thumb injury that APPEARS to have been rectified. Now it's mainly precautionary games off, a pulled muscle once or twice a year that leads to a week off. Out of the 15 guys who posted OPS's of .900 plus last year, other than Nelson Cruz, you're talking about almost exclusively franchise type players or young superstars who aren't going anywhere unless it's part of a blockbuster type deal involving multiple top 50 prospects. So I hardly see it as a reach that the Brewers could expect to get a guy like Yadier Alvarez, a top 45 prospect and two more lower rated prospects. It's also worth pointing out that the Dodgers are a heavily left handed team with between 5 and 6 of their regulars hitting from the left side of the plate as well as the fact that their best run producer is out indefinitely. So I'm still missing how those of us who believe we can flip him for an elite prospect are not "realistic."

So you mean to tell me the D-backs were signing Grienke for 35 million dollars for the 2022 season when he be going on 38 because they were confident he was going to be a great pitcher in 2022? Of course not. What's more, while WAR may be a valuable tool to evaluate how good a player is, it's not like it literally translates into wins, not do projections from Fangraphs or other sites nearly as much as some would suggest on here. The guy can hit .300 with 25-35 HR's and still steal 20+ bags while posting a wRC+ of 130 to 140. I think you're going a bit too far into the weeds on this one. Teams are looking to win now. Braun can most certainly help them do that. I also frankly have not heard or seen all these rumors that the biggest hurdle has been them not liking the length of his deal. I've seen it written as a purely speculative statement by many writers...and that's their job, to examine things from all angles. I haven't heard any trades were falling apart because of his years or salary. The rumors I'VE heard were that Stearns was simply looking for a massive return for him and the Dodgers weren't willing to meet that. But it must not have been so outrageous to the Dodgers as they've continually checked in on his availability.

I don't agree with that at all(other than the fact that he's getting older...I'm still looking for a guy who can hit 30 HR's who's getting younger). Braun misses 15-20 games or so a year and produces every year. He's "injury prone" so to speak, yet he plays through that and puts up very good numbers. He'd have been the best offensive player on either LA or SF last year. There aren't a lot of .900 OPS guys available in season and while he's certainly not cheap, it's not like he's Vernon Wells. 4 years and what..76 million dollars really isn't that much for a contender. Not when a guy like Carlos Beltran is still getting 16 million a year at 40 years old.

He hasn't been the same because he's been hurt. He's healthy now and throwing harder than he ever has(so far). If he keeps throwing well I think it's perfectly reasonable to expect the Brewers to get something of consequence for him. High leverage power arms are in high demand around the trade deadline. As for getting him easy outs, I don't think that's a realistic approach. You often see relievers giving up runs in games that are blowouts. Especially pitchers who are used to pitching in tight spots. I would just hope he can stay healthy. If he does that I'm sure there will be some teams that are interested. And if he can have a Zac Britton like 3 months until then...all the better.

Niese was absolutely terrible when traded. I thought we were all assuming Garza kept up what he has done so far(obviously some regression). Garza is likelier to put up better advanced stats and has a potentially attractive option for next year. If Garza keeps it up I would expect notably more than Niese got. Take a team like the Yankees who are out to a 18-9 start and may well look to add multiple starters. I don't like their chances to get through 162 games with CC, Pineda and Tanaka. Garza is exactly the type of pitcher I could see them adding. And then to have the option to bring him back for 5 million next year? Maybe we try and play the lottery and see if we can get a guy like James Kaprielian from the Yanks. He's a guy who won't be pitching this year and likely very little next year, but also a potential future ace. Unlikely, but...if Garza can give us a really good stretch here...he's worth asking about IMO. Ace stuff when healthy.

Especially when you think about the fact that he first pitched for the Brewers when Ben Sheets was still pitching(and pitching really well) for the Brewers back in '08. Gotta root for a guy who has struck with it for that long.

Thornburg seemed to have stretches where he looked like he was in that elite league of relievers....then he'd have a poor stretch, injury, rinse and repeat. I'm glad they were able to get rid of him when they did(obviously). And Shaw WAS almost as throw in as mentioned in the clip that Hass posted.

That's a real classy way to refer to the passing of a guy at a relatively young age who spent nearly 20 years with the organization......

.......I think the answer is kinda in your title

I would be on board with most of these moves if this was May 2018, but not right now. Peralta and Nelson are two guys who wouldn't be given the chances to prove themselves if they were on better teams, but the fact remains they're not and both of them still have a lot of upside. I'm not saying I'm confident either will become a #2 type starter, but I think both have the stuff to do so and as long as we're not a legitimate contender right now, why not give them a longer leash? It's rare to find a guy like Peralta who can still throw in the mid to upper 90s deep into games(or at least through 100 pitches as he doesn't go deep often enough as it stands now. #3-We'll be swapping relievers out all year. Since nobody you're citing is a real prospect...meh...I don't know if that would end up being a upgrade or not. Though Mariñez was pretty effective for us last year. #4-I'd still like to see if Franklin(and for that matter Aguilar) can adjust to their roles and live up to the potential they both seem to have. I think Aguilar has 30 HR's in his bat...but that would obviously have to come with regular AB's which we can't give him. His swing is just so easy when he can get on top of it...this I guess is the downside to Thames hot start. But Reed and Cordell both fit the profile of guys I'd be fine with calling up now. Neither is a elite prospect, so the clock isn't as important(moreso for Cordell as I think he's much more of a prospect than Reed) as obviously guys like Brinson or Woodruff. #5-As much as I'd like to see Woodruff, I'd rather wait and hope Garza can give us 8-10 good starts and bring back something by August. And more importantly, I'd like to wait on Woodruff. No reason to start his clock for another month either.

I agree with this 100%. Bullpen help is not cheap. That's why the price was so high for Thornburg, Smith, and to an extent Jeffress. Sadly, IMHO the bullpen help will need to come from within. Maybe Hader(ala Andrew Miller), maybe Woodruff, maybe Jorge Lopez, maybe Kodi Meideros, maybe Luis Ortiz, etc. Why sadly? Obviously it wouldn't be ideal if Woodruff ends up being a reliever, but the one thing the Brewers have been able to do really well the last few years is keep churning out good, hard throwing relievers...and then turning them around. Given that we're still a couple years from being a realistic contender I wouldn't even be looking for any BP help. Relievers are the last piece of the puzzle and we aren't all that close to having the 1st two pieces filled yet. We have an idea who they'll be....but just an idea. I do know I hope of all the players listed the Brewers don't do anything with Broxton. He may continue to struggle and end up doing nothing, but I doubt we'd have gotten anything for him after a hot stretch last year and he'd be worth next to nothing now. But we have seen first hand just how talented he is and how good he can be. I think as soon as he stops pressing and relaxes...he'll get in a grove, start drawing walks and then start driving the ball. It may not be logical, but he might be my favorite younger guy on the team right now...and he could allow us to trade one of the many talented young OF'ers in the future for a starter.