Jopal78

If Boxberger is hurt so much for the vaunted bullpen depth it’s all rookies and journeymen after Hader, Suter, Strickland Also sort of ironic, the Reds bullpen is terrible and they traded of Iglesias in a salary dump before the season

Sure, for Ethan Small etc. they could have him tomorrow. Otherwise why would a rebuilding club trade, as you point out, a productive cost controlled player.

Right, I get it- he has an option; but they gave up a lot for a guy who’s seemingly third on the depth chart behind Hiura and his .600 OPS and now Peterson

In his last two starts Mahle went 11 innings total, allowed 9 hits and 8 walks, a homerun and a hit by pitch. More the same please.

Ehh, there's still so much talent on the roster though. They also have the farm to add some better pieces, they also have one or two pretty darn good outfield prospects in the minors. Not trying to say they are Acuna but they could get lucky and call up one of those guys that is really good off the rip until teams figure him out. The latter part sucks but it usually takes at least a month if not more. They have plenty of hitting talent, their pitching is why they are a .500 team: Smyly and Max Fried haven't been very good and they've cycled through arms at the back end of their rotation due to injuries and ineffectiveness. Charlie Morton has been good, then again the BABIP against him is 30 points lower than his career average, and the slugging percentage against him is 80 points lower than his career mark suggesting he's in line for some regression. The Atlanta bullpen hasn't been too good either: Tomlin and Edgar Santana have had trouble keeping the ball in the park, Matzek and Luke Jackson have trouble with free passes. Their first six games out of the break are against Tampa and San Diego. Those six games will be huge because immediately before the deadline they have five games against the Mets. In fact, if they don't gain any ground this week they probably have to make up their mind what to do before that Mets series.

Keith Law with a lukewarm take on the Brewers draft: The Brewers went for value at pick 15, taking Boston College centerfielder Sal Frelick (1), a high-contact hitter with strength to drive the ball but no real power, hitting just three homers in ACC play this spring. He’s a plus defender in center who has a short left-handed stroke and plus speed, with a good leadoff profile. He may have been a victim of some primacy bias — he came out hot, hitting 3 homers before conference play began, and the possibility that he’d added a grade or more of power changed the industry view of him. When he settled in as a very good player without power, it seemed like a letdown. Wright State infielder Tyler Black (1A) was, like Frelick, one of the best pure bats in the draft class this year, showing well in non-conference games early this season against strong clubs like Vanderbilt and Alabama, and went 5 for 9 with a homer in the regional against Tennessee and Duke. The first Canadian-born player drafted this year, Black has great plate discipline and scouts love how hard and intelligent his play is. He’s played all over the infield but profiles best at second or possibly third. TCU lefty Russell Smith (2) is a giant at 6-9, and despite an awkward-looking delivery, he throws a lot of strikes, walking 6 percent of batters this year. He pitches backwards, using his mid-80s changeup and low-80s slider both more than he uses his 91-94 mph fastball, but nothing here is plus. His size gives him natural deception and his command and control help his stuff play up. I don’t think there’s more than a back-end starter here, though. Alex Binelas (3) came into the year as a possible late first-rounder but got off to a miserable start, and as a bat-first — maybe a bat-only — prospect, it doomed his chances to go that high. He ended up with 19 homers and a .621 slugging percentage, but hit just .256 with 21 walks and 51 punchouts. The power is at least a 70, and while this might be a round high for someone with his profile, lacking any position at the moment, there’s regular upside too. Right-hander Logan Henderson (4) led JUCO pitchers in strikeouts this year, but he’s under 6′ with a ton of effort in his delivery, including some real head violence at release, a straight reliever look even though he has the three pitches to try to start. Duke shortstop Ethan Murray (5) feels like a player the model liked more than scouts would; he had a solid OBP this year but he has no power, a 45 hit tool at best, and struck out more than he walked. South Carolina first baseman Wes Clarke (10) has huge power but below-average bat speed and no position. He’s a poor man’s Daniel Vogelbach. The Brewers did take SoCal high school infielder Roc Riggio (11) and could try to sign him with money left over from their bonus pool, since they didn’t take anyone who seems like he’ll require over slot before that. Riggio’s a bat-first high school position player, the kind of kid who often benefits from college because teams can better track and measure his performance while seeing how it holds up against better competition. He might end up in left field, lacking the speed for the middle, and it’ll remain to be seen if he can continue to show power as a 5-9 hitter when using the wood bat. He’d be a nice bow on the draft for Milwaukee.

Keith Law with a lukewarm take on the Brewers draft: The Brewers went for value at pick 15, taking Boston College centerfielder Sal Frelick (1), a high-contact hitter with strength to drive the ball but no real power, hitting just three homers in ACC play this spring. He’s a plus defender in center who has a short left-handed stroke and plus speed, with a good leadoff profile. He may have been a victim of some primacy bias — he came out hot, hitting 3 homers before conference play began, and the possibility that he’d added a grade or more of power changed the industry view of him. When he settled in as a very good player without power, it seemed like a letdown. Wright State infielder Tyler Black (1A) was, like Frelick, one of the best pure bats in the draft class this year, showing well in non-conference games early this season against strong clubs like Vanderbilt and Alabama, and went 5 for 9 with a homer in the regional against Tennessee and Duke. The first Canadian-born player drafted this year, Black has great plate discipline and scouts love how hard and intelligent his play is. He’s played all over the infield but profiles best at second or possibly third. TCU lefty Russell Smith (2) is a giant at 6-9, and despite an awkward-looking delivery, he throws a lot of strikes, walking 6 percent of batters this year. He pitches backwards, using his mid-80s changeup and low-80s slider both more than he uses his 91-94 mph fastball, but nothing here is plus. His size gives him natural deception and his command and control help his stuff play up. I don’t think there’s more than a back-end starter here, though. Alex Binelas (3) came into the year as a possible late first-rounder but got off to a miserable start, and as a bat-first — maybe a bat-only — prospect, it doomed his chances to go that high. He ended up with 19 homers and a .621 slugging percentage, but hit just .256 with 21 walks and 51 punchouts. The power is at least a 70, and while this might be a round high for someone with his profile, lacking any position at the moment, there’s regular upside too. Right-hander Logan Henderson (4) led JUCO pitchers in strikeouts this year, but he’s under 6′ with a ton of effort in his delivery, including some real head violence at release, a straight reliever look even though he has the three pitches to try to start. Duke shortstop Ethan Murray (5) feels like a player the model liked more than scouts would; he had a solid OBP this year but he has no power, a 45 hit tool at best, and struck out more than he walked. South Carolina first baseman Wes Clarke (10) has huge power but below-average bat speed and no position. He’s a poor man’s Daniel Vogelbach. The Brewers did take SoCal high school infielder Roc Riggio (11) and could try to sign him with money left over from their bonus pool, since they didn’t take anyone who seems like he’ll require over slot before that. Riggio’s a bat-first high school position player, the kind of kid who often benefits from college because teams can better track and measure his performance while seeing how it holds up against better competition. He might end up in left field, lacking the speed for the middle, and it’ll remain to be seen if he can continue to show power as a 5-9 hitter when using the wood bat. He’d be a nice bow on the draft for Milwaukee.

Bingo. Arenado, O’Neill, Winker, Castellanos, Bryant, Baez etc aren’t in AAA.

Gives an idea of value. Braves 12th best prospect I highly doubt he'd be a 12th ranked prospect today. A former 24th round draftee, 23 years old hitting .207 in A+ ball. Baseball America had him at #18 before the season. Wouldn't be surprised if he was in the 25 range right now. Probably no different than Lutz in the Brewers system. Intriguing power bat, needs a lot of refinement in other areas.

Goes to show you; will be a sellers market

Gives an idea of value. Braves 12th best prospect

How the Brewers play is nearly immaterial to the Cubs at this point. Zach Davies has a FIP of 4.87 and averages less than 5 innings per start, Trevor Williams has a FIP of 4.90 and averages less than 5 innings per start, Arrieta (DL) has a FIP of 5.98 and averages less than 5 innings per start. Alzolay has a FIP of 5.10 but averages 5 and 2/3 innings per start, however he's at 77 innings this year after pitching 22 last year and 83 in 2019. By August they will probably be trying to limit his innings. They don't have the pitching to hang, unless all of their starters besides Hendricks start pitching much better and deeper into games.

I believe Bryant has stated his intention to elect free agency and is not going to consider an extension before declaring free agency; thus if they don’t trade him they’ll be left with only a draft pick somewhere between #75-80 overall when he rejects the QO and goes elsewhere. They’ll trade him and the only fan blowback will be the realization they’re tossing in the towel on 2021. As for the others, I don’t think Jed Hoyer is dumb and will just let tons of talent walk in free agency. And ownership with their entertainment district now surrounding Wrigley most likely will put some degree of pressure on the front office to field a winning team so cash continues to flow into the entertainment district. (Kind of makes you wonder what will happen to the entertainment district around Lambeau when their golden age of quarterback play eventually ends)

You have a stat sheet, professional baseball teams have scouting reports and extensive video. There is a reason after all that Milner is a 9 year professional with his fourth organization and has less than 70 innings in the majors.

He gets the $2mil buyout regardless of who declines it….so he would only need $10mil to match what he would get accepting (and the Brewers also accepted). Guessing he’s probably takes that risk with the chance to get a multi year contract. Another way to look at it is, if Garcia and the Brewers each exercise their option, he gets a 12 million dollar guarantee for 2022. If he declines or the Brewers decline he gets the 2 million dollars, but then will be going out to find employment in a crowded market of players with similar skill sets. In fact, similar players like Joc Pederson, Mark Canha, Corey Dickerson, Eddie Rosario, Kyle Schwarber all of whom made less than 12 million in 2021 will be free agents; not to mention aging but more accomplished outfield free agents like McCutcheon, Tommy Pham etc. Short of an extended hot streak to boost his numbers, I'm not sure Avi Garcia gets a multi-year deal from another club, nor that he tops 10-12 million dollars in pay for the 2022 season. Time will tell, but historically 2nd tier free agents in their 30s haven't done very well for themselves the last few offseasons.

Even if it becomes a mutual option; I’m not so sure a corner outfielder coming off a .782 OPS declines a 12 million dollar guarantee. It is only because Milwaukee’s other hitters are so bad that his numbers seem better than mediocre.

It cannot be misleading because it’s true, the Padres are in 3rd place. Moreover it is the whole point why they would have potential interest Rizzo. They went “all in” expecting to compete for the NL West; but if the season ended today they’d be playing a do or die game at Dodger Stadium against the reigning champions. I agree 100% they’re more talented than a typical 3rd place team, but certain players (like Hosmer) haven’t met expectations and they didn’t anticipate a strong Giants team so they are what they are: a team expecting to be in first place, sitting in the 2nd wild card spot, looking up at two other teams in their division.

Nothing? Is there anything that drives clicks and views more than controversy?

Just because this is true doesn't AUTOMATICALLY mean those teams would have interest. San Diego is paying Hosmer gobs of money, and I'd be astounded if they chose to push him to the bench. Doesn't mean it won't happen, just that I think it's exceptionally unlikely. Well, his no-trade clause likely limited that possibility in a lot of ways. Then again there is not a team more "ALL IN" than San Diego this year, yet they find themselves in 3rd place in their Division with Hosmer's play having been awful. I suppose it comes down to how badly they want to win and only the ownership and GM can answer that question. As for no trade clauses, they are nothing more than tools to give players leverage. Players don't want to work where they are not wanted, in fact the only player I can think of who exercised his no trade clause was Lucroy, and they still traded him anyways

Rizzo is having a better year than Hosmer (SD), Bobby Dalbec (BOS), Yandy Diaz (TB), plus anyone Milwaukee has. That's half the contenders right there. Depending on how you want to define contenders Rizzo would be a significant upgrade at first base for the Yankees, Indians and Mariners as well. Let's be honest, the Cubs aren't any good because their starting pitching and middle relief isn't any good. However, nearly all their hitters 1-8 are better than their counter part on the Brewers this year with the exception of Heyward v. Garcia, and with Contreras (defense) v. Narvaez being close. (Adames with Milwaukee has been better than Baez but in 120 fewer at bats as well). Anyways, if Chicago decides to break up their team there will be plenty of interest in these hitters. In a town where the '85 Bears are still worshipped; it will take an owner and GM with some real stones to jettison their world series heroes and take the roster down to the studs. Not even the Brewers did it electing to hang on to their MVP Braun during their recent rebuild.

Not to hijack this thread, but man the Mariners are their own worst enemy: From that list they traded: Alex Jackson (#6 overall) late bloomer but reached the Majors and is on the DL for Atlanta, Seattle got two players both of whom have been out of baseball for several years. Tyler O'Neill traded to St. Louis for Marco Gonzalez (not a bad pitcher but they traded away the better player in the deal). Ketel Marte --traded to Arizona they did receive Mitch Haniger and Segura but included Taijuan Walker. Segura was flipped in another salary dump. Haniger isn't bad but they traded away the best player in the deal. Ryan Yarbrough--traded to Tampa Bay with Mallex Smith for Drew Smyly. A complete flop as Smyly never pitched for Seattle, and they then traded Mike Zunino to TB to reacquire Smith Edwin Diaz --They did get Kelenic who has superstar potential....but Diaz has been terrific the last two years and has team control remaining. Cano is a knucklehead but when he has played he has been productive. But besides the players they gave up to get Kelenic they gave the Mets 20 million dollars and took back Jay Bruce's and Anthony Swarzak's contracts. They then paid the Phillies 18 million dollars to take Jay Bruce and paid Atlanta 2 million to take Swarzak. So they are one star player, Cano and 40 million dollars into Kelenic. That's an insanely high price. Obviously, Freddy Peralta for Lind is a bust as well. Hard to believe all the nice talent they drafted/signed then peddled away for diminishing returns.

From a pure baseball standpoint you’re right, but reality is a little bit in between. When the team owns a hotel across the street where they book at $700/ night on weekends during the season, it would likely hurt their occupancy rate to have a bunch of no names getting killed every night for the rest of the year and into next. Not to mention their rooftops, bar, restaurant etc. Which doesn’t mean to say the Cubs will pay Rizzo and Baez whatever it takes. If that were so both would be resigned already given prior comments about preferring to stay in Chicago vs. free agency. Obviously, if a team blows their Front Office away with an offer they’d move all of their “Big 3”. However with a realistic chance at resigning those two and their intrinsic value to the franchise I think they may go the way of the Nationals with Harper, let them play out their contract, make the Q.O. and take the draft pick if they can’t work out an extension.

Lind had an .820 OPS for Milwaukee in 2015, better than his career norm certainly an improvement over the Mark Reynolds, Lyle Overbay disaster in '14. Lind just also happened to be on that 2015 team which flopped out of the gate and cost Roenicke and Melvin their jobs, and sent the Brewers into a rebuild. Credit aboslutely goes to whomever had the positive scouting report on Peralta, but probably a substantial amount of luck plays a role in obtaining a international teenaged A-ball pitcher and having them ultimately be an All-Star

Altuve is a little guy (5'6") and never hit more than 10 homers in a season in the minor leagues, yet nobody would argue now he doesn't have adequate power

The Cubs are a losing team, 8 games back and buried in the Wild Card which all occurred before Hoyer talked about selling. They do have the hotel and rooftop bookings and subscription TV service to consider, which means they probably won’t trade all their World Series heroes. However, Kris Bryant has expressed his desire to elect free agency. As mentioned previously he’ll bring back quality talent so I’d expect him to be traded. Kimbrel’s trade value won’t ever be higher especially with a club option for 2022 so he’ll most likely be traded. Chafin, Tepera, Joc Pederson and Jake Marisnick are all on expiring deals and there’s no reason to keep them. They probably will trade poor Zach Davies if someone will have him. Both Rizzo and Baez have stated they’d prefer to stay with Chicago but the money hasn’t been right, so I’d expect them to hang on to those players through the 2021 season.