Jopal78

Gonzalez isn’t big (6’ 205lbs), doesn’t throw real hard, and is in his mid-30s with a lot of major league innings on his arm. He’s a good pitcher but his demographics as an aging small, finesse pitcher make him risky.

I’m just skeptical of Sogard. Sure, there are players who have a late career renaissance but there’s twice as many players who have one big year and then a bunch of mediocrity. I’m hoping Sogard is the former but my gut tells me it’s probably the latter

I’m just skeptical of Sogard. Sure, there are players who have a late career renaissance but there’s twice as many players who have one big year and then a bunch of mediocrity. I’m hoping Sogard is the former but my gut tells me it’s probably the latter

Arenado is a .799 OPS player outside of Coors Field. Nobody is playing a player 30 million per for a .799 OPS. Moreover, the Rockies have no reason to eat any salary because he’s a monster in their home park. Both of which mean a trade involving Arenado is extremely unlikely.

Don’t lose sight of the fact that maybe Thames doesn’t want to come back. It’s not a given that he’s willing to come back to a place where they force him to take a pay cut.

I think the opposite seems to be true around here. Everyone seems to say "let's see... how can I find a way to convince myself that this is a really, brilliant move?" See Anderson, Brett. Anderson was a 2.7 WAR player last year. They signed him for 5 million dollars. If he's hurt next year or sucks both of which are fairly probable, the team is out $5 million dollars and moves on. If Anderson delivers at even a 2.0 WAR they come out like a bandit. If he pitches well while the rest of the team sucks they can flip him at the deadline for something. It's not Cole or Strasburg but he's a bonafide major league pitcher on a short term contract. Whats not to like.

Unfortunately the current Brewerfan is criticizing = griping. And of course another thread with condescending posts by mods reminding us of the date. Thanks, if I only knew how to read a calendar I would be so much happier... This offseason is different from the last 2: 1) there is very little midl-evel talent to be had. 2) more FA are signing early and especially in the mid category where the Moustakasis and the Grandals of the world reside. There aren't going to be "deals" to be had in mid-January and after. Osuna and Castellanos are going to get head scratching deals when they finally sign as each previous signing makes the sellers market even better... Having said that, my only real complaints so far this offseason is them walking away from Grandal at the price he was signed for. You don't get 4WAR players for $18M AAV often and declining Thames thinking they will get him cheaper when they very well could pay more for similar production. I guess my point is the Brewers could invent a time machine and bring back Mickey Mantle to play for them and somebody would criticize saying there was a waste of the time machine because they didn’t get Babe Ruth. Grandal, Moustakas, Avi Garcia, Brett Anderson.... All I know is it beats Wayne Franklin and John Vanderwal.

Furthermore, isn’t Stearns running the team exactly how a small market GM should? He could signed Grandal to a multi-year deal with an AAV of 18 million any time from last winter through this November and he decided not to, taking advantage of the fact Grandal would sign a one year deal because of the QO he received. He knows who his core guys are and he also knows the only way he can remain competitive is having a pipeline of young talent to replace the core as they leave as free agents, and finding a revolving cast of affordable veterans or players willing to sign a short term deal to supplement that core. For years folks around here clamored for a GM more like Beane and when they finally get one, they gripe that he’s not more like the old school baseball GMs. You can’t please everyone all the time I suppose.

I think youre looking for Narvaez at catcher. Also, there is about a 0% chance Arcia starts at SS over Urias. Urias in his very short stint in the MLB did not hit very well, but still hit much better than Arcia. Sure there is a possibility that Urias turns out to be unplayable at SS due to defense (though scouts didnt believe his D to be that poor), but if that happens, we are in trouble. That is why I wrote depending on the plan for Urias. It's possible he breaks camp going to AAA. It's also possible that he doesn't hit for enough power to be an everyday major leaguer. Too early to tell, and to unpredictable to not have a contingency plan and let Urias's play force the issue.

We know the Brewers aren't going to be players for top free agents and they still lack players to fill the corner infield positions. I could see them signing: Wilmer Flores- 28 yrs old. Since 2016 he's batted .278/.325/.462. 1294 at bats but only 175 Ks. Starlin Castro-30 years old. Can play 2B, 3B, SS. Career numbers of .280/.319/.414, averages 15+ HR per 162. Eric Thames--if he's willing to return after a paycut Daniel Hudson-32 years old. Solid career numbers, still averaged over 95 mph on his fastball last year None of these players would break the bank, all would like sign one or two year deals, and all feature things the Brewers front office values: power, defensive versatility, velocity. Depending on the plan with Urias, they could have an infield look of: C: Navarro/Pina 1B: Thames/Flores 2B: Hiura SS: Arcia 3B: Castro/Flores In this scenario Flores would play 1B against left handed pitching against whom he has very good career numbers, against RH pitching he and Castro would split time at 3B as well as back up the other infield positions. While there would be no big 30+ homer bat like Moustakas, excepting Arcia all of them should hit 20+ homeruns and bat around .270 or better. Additionally, Flores doesn't strike out much at all, and Castro struck out only once every 5.72 at bats in 2019 which is superior ratio to anyone on the 2019 Brewers. Next, out of the pen they would potentially have nice combinations of players who throw multiple innings: Peralta, Suter, Faria, Hader as well as a stable of pitchers who's fastball averages 95 MPH or better Wahl (96.1), Black (98.3), Hudson (96.4), Hader (95.9) and Knebel (97.4). I wouldn't rule out bringing back Jimmy Nelson on some sort of incentive laden deal either.

You’ve been watching the other signings around the league, right? Clearly MLB Trade Rumors has been off the mark because it has been a sellers market. García has warts but has been an everyday player since 2013. $10 million per season seems pretty in line with what other players have gotten so far. Good for García.

Jon Lester-- 74W 41L 159GS, 1.24WHIP 3.27SO/W ratio with the Cubs Zack Greinke--55W 29L, 1.09WHIP, 3.33SO/W ratio with D'Backs 8 wins, 1.06WHIP, 5.78SO/W ratio with Astros Contract ultimately didn't work out for the D'Backs, but hard to argue Greinke's performance wasn't worth every penny David Price has been worth the money to Boston so far... (46W 24L, 1.20WHIP, 3.90SO/W ratio) I think its the remaining 96 million which will define his contract.

If a contract with Avisail Garcia happens, I'm fine with it. Avisail Garcia was the main piece the White Sox received when trading away Jake Peavy in 2013. He was initially rushed to the major leagues from AA, and has only a little over a month's worth of game in AAA. Garcia is a better offensive player now then Ben Gamel, he's got more experience in RF and CF than Gamel, and has also played some left field in the major leagues. Most importantly at 28 years old he may still have some upside to his game. With the Brewers regularly resting Cain and Braun they're better of with Garcia getting those those 350-400 at bats this year that went to Gamel last year. The real question is how much more are they going to end up paying Garcia and for how long.

Anyone not named Turang, Lutz or Small. I bet Zack Brown would get Dipoto’s attention. Apparently not, Dipoto could have had Zack Brown for nothing in the Rule 5 draft and passed as did all the other teams meaning his potential upside isn’t even worth carrying him on a 26 man roster

I believe others have mentioned this before in other threads but Stearns doesn’t build his rosters with a traditional thought process of the corner IF and OF positions need to all hit for above average power. If Narvaez and Hiura both provide significantly above average power why can’t you put someone at 3B who gets on base at a high clip and provides excellent defense? Don’t these two things offset one another in the overall production of your offense? As for the players I would target to play first and third; one of Eric Thames or Dominic Smith along with Kyle Seager (SEA pays $10MM) or Asdrubel Cabrera. Who are you giving up to get Seager? He didn’t exactly suck last year and to throw in ten million in cash the Mariners would be looking to get real talent in return.

Is Garcia/Braun better than Braun/Thames. The Brewers haven’t played Braun at first base in forever and my recollection is he wasn’t all that good at 1B to begin with. With a chronically bad back, Braun is seemingly more susceptible to injury at 1B where there is more bending and extending to field balls. Besides, it’s not like Braun has years of play at 1B. More like 40 games or so why not play Garcia at 1B. Or Corey Dickerson, or even resign Thames, is possible?

Not to hijack the thread but can we mention Scooter Gennett? Tough luck for him, from the penthouse as an all-star to the outhouse getting released by the Giants and most likely looking for a contract as a non-roster invitee

Hiura is a butcher in the field. Even if Castellanos played first base that would be an awful right side of the infield. Of the Brewers were still an A.L. he’d be a perfect fit but there’s not an OF spot for him in Milwaukee this year, not to mention the Brewers probably aren’t handing out a 75-90 million dollar free agent contract.

Andujar, Frazier, JA Happ and cash for Hader. None of those players is overwhelming but it would allow the Brewers to field a lineup mostly of players with high ceilings and under the age of 26 and all controlled for multiple seasons. Happ would be veteran depth for the rotation. C: Navarez 27 1B/3B Andujar 25 2B Hiura 23 SS Arcia 25 3B Andujar/Urias 23 LF Braun/Frazier 36/25 CF Cain/Frazier 34/25 RF Yelich 28 UTL Gamel 27 SP Woodruff 27 SP Houser 27 SP Happ 37 SP Lauer 24 SP Peralta/Burnes,Lindblom 23/25/32

Not to go too far off topic, but this has to be addressed. It is pure insanity to view Hiura's bat as a question mark and not include him in any quality hitters group. I agreed with most of the rest of your post, but Hiura's bat is elite and that isn't debatable. He struck out as many times as Arcia in 200 fewer at bats. He’s awesome when he hits it, but it’s a legit question. The GM doesn’t keep players around who strike out 160+ times

I never thought a Hader trade would happen, but looking over the current roster it very well could happen. Reason one: The major-league lineup is pretty thin on quality hitters there’s Yelich, Braun (if healthy) Navarez and a bunch of question marks. Will Hiura be able to cut down on the Ks, will Arcia finally play up to his talent level. Will Urias hit with enough power to be an everyday player. Reason 2: The starting rotation has talent but outside of woodruff lacks consistent Results major-league level. The minor-league teams affiliated with Milwaukee are light on talent that is close to major-league ready. Trading Hader could result in the Brewers remodeling their team into a collection of younger talented players starting to get experience with the potential to be contenders, as opposed to a club of veterans with significant playoff experience trying to stay on top. In the long run the Brewers are likely better off with the younger set of players who haven’t quite reached their potential yet rather than the veterans club trying to hang on for one more run

Tom writes for Gannett newspapers which published rag sheets all throughout the state of Wisconsin. I don’t think his intended audience is for hard-core baseball nuts rather The goal of the content Is to satisfy the general interest of a very broad audience. I’m sure doing the Twitter account is a condition of the job and I wouldn’t blame somebody for blocking Folks Who offered nothing but an constructive criticism and incivility

I don’t know what ‘negative value’ player means. Take a look around at what’s happening in Major League Baseball. Jordan Lyles a 30 year old journey man with a negative career WAR just got a multi year guarantee with an AAV of 8 million. Kevin Gausman gets released by Atlanta, picked up by Cincy then non-tendered by the Reds only to sign a 1 year deal for 10 million dollars. Happ has been a consistent quality starting pitcher in the major leagues for a long time. Like Sonny Gray he didn’t pitch well for the Yankees (although he was fine on the road in 2019 with a 1.19 whip and 3:1 k:bb ratio). His ‘value’ is likely in the 8-10 million dollar per year window. The Yankees would have plenty of interest in Happ if they’re including 7-8 million dollars in cash, their return won’t be great but that’s not the point. If they send 7 million dollars to a team along with Happ they saved themselves 10 million towards the luxury tax. The complication is the beating option. The Yankees can simply not pitch Happ enough and render his option moot. Such a move doesn’t make sense for an acquiring team so that detail likely has to be worked out before Happ will be traded. It would basically need to be the same situation as what the Angels did with Zach Cozart yesterday. The Angels gave the Giants their 2019 1st round SS (their #3 overall prospect) just so the Giants would take on Cozart's deal. They are getting next to nothing in return. Yeah, if the Yankees eat some of Happ's contract, then that increases his value. But as it stands, he's set to make $17 million this year, is 38 years old, and has an easily attainable option that will pay him a lot in 2021 as a 39-year-old. He's coming off a terrible season. He has negative value. The Yankees would have to add something of significant value to get a team to take on Happ's contract. Yeah, money. Starting pitching is different than mediocre middle infielders. There’s not enough of the former and too much of the latter. I agree with you that Happ wouldn’t get an AAV or 17 million as a free agent right now. But would he get 8, 9, 10? Probably. The Yankees are only moving him to save money and the return doesn’t matter. There’s no reason for them to include players, only money because teams will become interested in acquiring a starting pitcher the cheaper Happ gets.

I don’t know what ‘negative value’ player means. Take a look around at what’s happening in Major League Baseball. Jordan Lyles a 30 year old journey man with a negative career WAR just got a multi year guarantee with an AAV of 8 million. Kevin Gausman gets released by Atlanta, picked up by Cincy then non-tendered by the Reds only to sign a 1 year deal for 10 million dollars. Happ has been a consistent quality starting pitcher in the major leagues for a long time. Like Sonny Gray he didn’t pitch well for the Yankees (although he was fine on the road in 2019 with a 1.19 whip and 3:1 k:bb ratio). His ‘value’ is likely in the 8-10 million dollar per year window. The Yankees would have plenty of interest in Happ if they’re including 7-8 million dollars in cash, their return won’t be great but that’s not the point. If they send 7 million dollars to a team along with Happ they saved themselves 10 million towards the luxury tax. The complication is the vesting option. The Yankees can simply not pitch Happ enough and render his option moot. Such a move doesn’t make sense for an acquiring team so that detail likely has to be worked out before Happ will be traded.

The Yankees would probably give Happ away if Milwaukee picked up the freight in terms of salary. however I don’t see the Brewers taking on a $17 million player. The only realistic scenario would be the Yankees kick in cash which also means more likely than not they would want talent in return dependent on the amount of cash they are kicking in which means Milwaukee and New York aren’t a good match