Jopal78

Hader ($32 Million) and Arcia ($6 million) to the Phillies for Alec Bohm ($38 million). Done. The Phillies certainly have a need for a elite reliver and are in "win now" mode. However, depsite what some website says, Orlando Arcia has negative trade value. First, there is a significant chance the Brewers simply non-tender him. Second more probably true than not, many players with similar skill sets will also be non-tendered which makes Arcia worthless to acquire in a trade.

I stand corrected, since 2019... SS Orlando Arcia: The Brewers had Arcia on the trade market all offseason and again at the Aug. 31 deadline.... Journal Sentinel

It's this mentality that would have lead the impatient and misguided to toss away the likes of Burnes (25), Woodruff (27), D Williams(26), etc. Not many players take the league by storm at the age of 23. Woodruff made his leap at age 26. Here is a list of Brewers on the 40 man roster aged 25 and under, any of whom could make a similar leap in years to come... Peralta - 24 Lauer - 25 Rasmussen - 25 Bickford - 25 Nottingham - 25 Hiura - 24 Urias - 23 That is a false equivalency. First of all, Freddy Peralta was 21 when he debuted for the Brewers and put up quality results. Devin Williams was 24 when he debuted (and had missed a year and a half with injuries). Nearly every other player you mention, Burnes, Woodruff, Lauer, Rasmussen, Bickford, and Hiura were college players. "Patience" has nothing to do with those players, rather they were all 22 or 23 when they turned professional. Nottingham is going to turn 26 and is a fringe starter/back up caliber catcher. He may not be at his ceiling but more probably true than not he's likely close to it. Which of course brings us back to Urias (and this topic). Only bad teams plug prospects in as regulars before they're close to ready. Thus, when trading for Urias the Brewers likely viewed him more as a finished product than raw talent. Yet, he couldn't beat out Arcia, a player they've been trying to replace since 2018. With legitimate questions about his offensive ability, Urias only profiles at SS, so Milwaukee seems set at that position. Maybe they hope Urias can give them what Arcia does albeit at a pre-arbitration price, but that means they traded major league players away to "stand pat" in terms of production. The future is unknown, maybe he adds 20 lbs of muscle to his 5'9" frame and comes back ripping the ball all over the ballpark, it seems like the odds are against it though.

I guess there's the indication of what a flop the Urias/Lauer trade was. He couldn't supplant Arcia as the everyday shortstop despite them being terrible at the position overall. He's 23 and has played in 124 games. He could be 20 and have played in 300 games, it’s irrelevant. When you trade away talent from your major league roster to acquire a player, and he subsequently can’t beat out the player he was specifically brought in to replace, I don’t know what else to call it besides a flop. I’ll grant you maybe it’s the 2020 season, but so far Urias has done nothing but legitimize the questions about his ability to hit in the majors.

Nobody is going to trade for Manny Pina. He's had some memorable hits/homers for the Brewers over the years, but they've been trying to replace him for 2 seasons. Additionally, Pina will turn 34 next year, not an age where the majority of catchers continue to thrive. Meanwhile Narvaez is 28 and Nottingham is 25. Finally, Pina will seek a raise from his 1.8 million dollar salary in 2020. On a team that is likely to proceed as if "strapped for cash" he's likely to be non-tendered. Given they gave up a low-level prospect and the 64th overall pick in the draft to get Narvaez, its unlikely they option him to the minors. Similar deal with Nottingham. He has has close to 600 games in the minors, its time to see if the wind up with anything from the Khris Davis trade. Also, Nottingham is seemingly the personal catcher of Burnes bolstering his chances for a roster spot in 2021. Even if Pina is offered arbitration, they'd likely release him before breaking camp and his salary becoming guaranteed.

I guess there's the indication of what a flop the Urias/Lauer trade was. He couldn't supplant Arcia as the everyday shortstop despite them being terrible at the position overall.

I'd pass on KBO players; its an inferior league talent-wise compared to the majors. Thames had a significantly better slash line in the KBO, his OPS since returning to America is 300 points below what he put up in the KBO.

Cubs sending Glyber Torres, Billy McKinney, Rashad Crawford and Adam Warren to the Yankees for Aroldis Chapman? Baseball America's 2016 list of Cubs top prospects: Torres (#1), McKinney (#7), Indians sending Justus Sheffield, Clint Frazier, JP Feyereisen, and Ben Heller to Yankees for Andrew Miller? Sheffield and Frazier were consensus top 100 MLB prospects. Nationals sending Jesus Lazardo, Blake Treinen and Sheldon Neuse to Oakland for Sean Doolittle and Ryan Madson. Big time relieves get traded all the time, its just usually during the season when a team in the hunt is looking to shore up a bullpen.

The Dodger organization is one of the best in the league at talent evaluation and their GM is under zero pressure from ownership. Why give up their next generation of players for Hader, when they can sign Liam Hendriks or Colome, or resign Treinen if they decide they don't have an MLB caliber closer in house? If the Brewers trade Hader it would only be if there was a monster return coming back. The Dodgers simply have no reason to pay a seller's market price for Hader. Teams that may have an interest in paying a high cost in young talent for a relief ace would be teams like the White Sox, Houston Astros, or the Braves. Teams that are full of young talent, and where Hader would immediately slot into the #1 spot in the bullpen depth chart.

The Mets have Edwin Diaz as a closer, under team control for three more years. McNeil, Davis and Smith are every day players for the Mets. It doesn't really make any sense for them to trade away an everyday hitter for a closer when they already have one of the best in the game. The Mets need starting pitching, if in fact the Brewers were able to pry away one of the Mets regular hitters, it is going to cost starting pitching from the Brewers. And of course, Milwaukee is probably better suited to hang on to their starting pitching and look for hitters as a value buy.

Name 3 starting caliber corner infielder free agents that could be signed for 5 million dollars/season. For comparison, Sogard and Smoak, were set to make 5 million in 2020. Hell, Ryan Braun probably wouldn't come back for 5 million dollars anyways. Given the ever escalating salaries in MLB, 5 million dollars isn't much.

Lux did make the Dodgers’ NLDS roster, sort of curious to see how much he plays in this series. I still think the Dodgers hold onto him long-term, but he did struggle in a limited sample this season (69 plate appearances). Just because the Dodgers have lots of young position players, doesn't mean they are a potential landing spot for Hader. Jansen is entrenched as the closer and has a 21 million dollar contract for 2021. Graterol is the heir apparent and is pre-arbitration eligible. Dylan Floro and Caleb Ferguson are relief pitchers for the Dodgers who remain under team control for multiple seasons. Victor Gonzalez was a rookie out of the Dodger pen with great numbers. With the talent they have in the bullpen there is no reason for them to give up a player like Gavin Lux. Hader will not make that much of an improvement to an already strong bullpen to warrant giving up hitters they have earmarked to step in for players like Kiki Hernandez when they reach free agency.

If Braun retires.... pick up option on Gyorko resign Brett Anderson sign Jurickson Profar sign Rick Porcello Profar has the versatility the Brewers covet and at 27 years old still has some upside in his game. Porcello is a groundball pitcher, of which the Brewers also covet, 3.33 FIP for the Mets in 2020, struck out nearly a batter an inning and 3:1 K:BB ratio. Anderson and Gyorko earned their money in 2020 and warrant returning for 2021. C: Narvaez/Nottingham 1B: Vogelbach/Gyorko/Profar/McKinney 2B: Hiura/Profar/Urias 3B: Profar/Urias/Gyorko SS: Arcia/Urias LF: Yelich/McKinney CF: Cain/Garcia/Taylor RF: Garcia/McKinney SP: Woodruff SP: Burnes SP: Porcello SP: Anderson SP: Lindblom RP: Peralta RP: Houser RP: Topa/Rasmussen RP: Suter RP: Yardley RP: Knebel RP: Williams RP: Hader No real weak spots in the rotation, almost every arm in the pen is a power arm with a couple having multiple inning capability. Lineup still a little short on fire power, but I don't think the resources will be there to land a huge bat, nor the ability to trade for a hitter without weakening the rotation or pen by trading players from away from those areas of strength.

The Brewers almost never include cash in a trade. While Garcia was a disappointment, he played out of position for the Brewers, played hurt, etc., demonstrating he's a team first player; no reason to pay another team to take him. Gamel's club option probably gets declined for the reasons you cite above: Taylor and McKinney are on the roster at lesser salaries. All three players profile as back up outfielders. If Braun decides to play and is resigned, Counsell will find room for him resting his outfielders not named Yelich, etc.

Whoa, Nellie. I woulda let it slide if at least you had said the best "hitter" the franchise ever had, although I would still disagree. It's true. Braun is a better offensive player than Yount. Molitor may be a better pure hitter, but Braun has approximately 150 more extra base hits than Molitor in 900 fewer at bats. It's difficult to draw a conclusion on stolen bases as they don't have the emphasis they had 30+ years ago. As for Defense, neither Molitor or Braun are known for defense. Yount played a couple of different defensive positions, but the last 9 years of his career his defense became average or slightly below average. Also with Yount, you take the good and the bad. He "hit the wall" when he turned 34 and his offensive game collapsed. Braun, on the other hand, is still a good hitter at 36.

The Autopsy is pretty simple: for the first time in franchise history the team has developed some really nice pitching which nearly was enough to overcome a poor offensive showing. As a Brewers fan its hard to fathom that Brandon Woodruff is 27 years old, and has already pitched in six playoff games for the Milwaukee, and may not even be the best starting pitcher on the team. The emergence of Burnes and Woodruff as a formidable 1-2 punch means the Brewers should be competitive year in and year out for the next four years not to mention the quality home grown bullpen arms Williams, Hader (sort of), Suter, and Peralta. Their amateur scouting deserves some recognition for finds like Justin Topa and Drew Rasmussen who both look like major league pitchers. The pro personnel department was hit and miss in 2020. Eric Yardley, Dan Vogelbach, were nice finds and both could have roles with the team going forward. Brett Anderson delivered on expectations. David Phelps and Jedd Gyorko were also nice pick ups. However, Avisail Garcia and Lindblom failed to meet expectations, while Smoak, Sogard, Holt and Morrison were disasters. The two trades the team made for 2020 acquiring Narvaez then Urias and Lauer were also disasters. Bottom-line: The Brewers were one arm short from having a formidable rotation. (Houser and Lauer were pounded by opponents with a combined 1-8 with a 6.62 ERA and WHIP of 1.64, which one could argue had they been able to split those 9 games even at 4-5 they would have been in the hunt for the division title). On offense, with Yelich in a season long slump, there wasn't enough other production to keep the offense working.

Yes, Braun seemingly always has some nagging injury but that perception isn't the whole story. Since Counsell's first full season as manager (where he started a specific plan for keeping him healthy) Braun has played in 547 of the teams 708 games. Which translates out to 77.2%. Exclude the crazy 2020 season and he played in 78.3% of the regular season games across the 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 seasons. Over the same time period '16-'20 his OPS is .839, throw out to oddball 2020 season, and its .844. His talent has not eroded significantly with age, he's still very productive and he's the best player the franchise has ever had. I assume if Braun intends to play in 2021 he will be back with the Brewers. If MLB decides to add the DH for 2021, all the better.

Sure, teams do their due diligence and they contact everyone, which I'm assuming is the case with Stearns. As it stands, he's 35 years old and has already taken one of the most moribund franchises in the league to the post season 3 straight times. I could see enticement if there was a franchise inherently better positioned to win a championship than Milwaukee, where he'd be running the entire show. However, the soon to be owner of the Mets has indicated Sandy Alderson will be at the top of the organizational chart. With so few front office jobs available at the major league level, it's not the best career move to take jump organizations for an inferior position. Unless, of course, there is a strong desire to return out East that is larger than baseball.

team president Then it's probably not much of a rumor. Unless living in New York City is what is most important, it would be a step backwards to go from calling all the shots in Milwaukee, to being the second in command for the Mets.

I thought the new Mets owner had indicated he was bringing back Sandy Alderson as GM once the sale was completed?

Well, the Phillies might can their GM. Creating a dysfunctional situation with a manager the GM didn’t hire and an underachieving roster

Agree on that. There were definitely a couple head scratchers last offseason. I personally didn't hate the Smoak signing as much as Healy, Sogard and Gyorko. Gyorko has been quite good, but the other 2......yikes. I think signing Healy was a good move. Career .750 OPS hitter plays both corner infield spots, has 3 years of team control and minor league options. There's no way Stearns would know the player would end up contributing next to nothing in 2020, and he'll probably be back to compete for a roster spot next year. Gyorko might be the best move of the offseason, another player who was a .735 OPS hitter, competent at all the infield spots. He went out and put up a career year for the Brewrs. I don't see a reason why they wouldn't exercise his option so ultimately he was signed to a 2 year/5.5 million dollar contract. With Sogard, sometimes there are just players an organization likes. Doug Melvin like Craig Counsell as a player and acquired him multiple times and kept him around for years. Hopefully, the GM and front office have seen enough of Sogard and can finally quit him.

Was sort of fun having baseball in a mad dash to the finish line with wacky rules. Too bad the Brewers took a step backwards in 2020. Haha, posted to wrong thread

Oh no, he must really be terrible. All, I’m saying is the guy struck out 26% of the time in the minors where there aren’t pitchers like Scherzer, Bauer, Darvish etc. it’s no surprise he’s up to 36% in the majors. We’ll find out soon enough, he’ll either fix his approach or he won’t stick long term In the majors with anyone team being terrible in the field and struggling to get the bat on the ball

His value is already shot. Teams saw how he had no chance against Scherzer in the WC game last year and he’s proven he can’t/won’t lay off high heat nor hit it, plus he has poor overall strike zone judgment and is a butcher in the field. Best hope now is he realizes he’s needs to become better and is capable of making the necessary adjustments to be a plus hitter. Otherwise with his D and alarming strike out rate, he’ll be non-tendered in two more years.