Jump to content
Brewer Fanatic

Jopal78

Verified Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    4,211

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Profiles

Forums

Blogs

Events

News

2026 Milwaukee Brewers Top Prospects Ranking

Milwaukee Brewers Videos

2022 Milwaukee Brewers Draft Picks

Milwaukee Brewers Free Agent & Trade Rumors, Notes, & Tidbits

Guides & Resources

2023 Milwaukee Brewers Draft Picks

2024 Milwaukee Brewers Draft Picks

The Milwaukee Brewers Players Project

2025 Milwaukee Brewers Draft Pick Tracker

Store

Downloads

Gallery

Everything posted by Jopal78

  1. Jopal78
    They’ll be alright. The talent level is better than when the rotation was filled with Paul Rigdon, Allen Levrault, Jimmy Haynes and Jamey Wright with pitching prospects Rueben Quevedo and Kyle Peterson knocking on the doors.
  2. Jopal78
    Look around the league at the guarantees players are getting as free agents. You may be able to extend some foreign born pre-arbitration eligible players, but the American born players, and veterans simply don’t do extensions very often anymore unless they’re at “market rate” prices.
  3. Jopal78
    No, Yelich was already under contract through ‘21 with a club option for ‘22. The way he played in ‘20-‘22 along with the injuries, he would not have done better as a free agent. Plus, his AAV at the time he signed his extension in ‘20 (27 mil/season) placed him amongst the highest paid position players. In the hypothetical world of internet arguing had he become a free agent after the ‘20 season he probably would’ve shot the moon. Same deal with Braun, his second extension with Milwaukee paid him 21 million AAV beginning in ‘15 which put him in the top 20 in salary. Ball players are paid to perform, most have careers lasting less than 10 years, and have the right to sell themselves to the highest bidder. With those circumstances it’s is going to be extremely rare when a player does anything but take the largest pay check. Counsell was a ball player too, and was a union rep to IIRC. Those threads run even stronger through him, so it should not be a surprise he took the largest paycheck, then throws some PR spin to not seem like someone who doesn’t care where he plies his trade as long as the dollars are right.
  4. Jopal78
    Oh, so the world of speculation then. Like I said, journalists like to throw other people’s money around but it sure seems Bellinger‘s injury history and metrics from ‘23 probably made a top free agent contract a pipe dream. Nonetheless , Boras got him an AAV of $30 million in ‘24 which places him in the top 25 or so of highest paid players by AAV, and if he plays well and stays healthy he can be a free agent again next winter. If he turns into a pumpkin in ‘24 he still gets another 30 million in ‘25. Good deal for Bellinger
  5. Jopal78
    Bellinger hit 111 homeruns, was a two time all star, won a gold glove and was an MVP before he turned 24. What incentive was there for him to take a long term deal, he looked like a Hall of Fame player his first three years? I doubt many players, “play it safe” and take an extension because they’re afraid of getting hurt, or don’t believe they can keep it up. Bellinger was clearly betting on himself and he rolled snake eyes. I’m not so sure what Boras has to do with that. With his injury history and unflattering metrics in 2023 the journalists who predicted a 200 million dollar contract got it wrong, to the Cubs’ delight.
  6. Jopal78
    Hitting is what got him to the majors, I don’t think playing a different spot in the field is going to change his approach at the plate or his swing, etc.
  7. Jopal78
    The buyout on mutual options are nothing more than a tool to spread a guarantee out over multiple seasons. If Woodruff declines his half of the mutual option he gets $10 million from the Brewers and becomes a free agent. if he accepts his half, and the Brewers decline theirs he gets the 10 mil and is a free agent.
  8. Jopal78
    Aramis Ramirez’s 4th season with the Brewers was a mutual option which both sides exercised.
  9. Jopal78
    The Brewers have Austin Nola on a NRI too,
  10. Jopal78
    White Sox NRI
  11. Jopal78
    You have it backwards. They kept Jimmy Nelson for all of ‘18 when he was rehabbing and then all of ‘19 when he was injured/ineffective/rehabbing, then cut bait. Knebel missed all of 2019 with Tommy John. In ‘20 Knebel pitched 15 of the 60 games in Covid Ball and was traded to LA after stinking it up. Then, he missed three 3+ months with the Dodgers after suffering another injury. If anything, the past it shows the Brewers are patient with their premium arms and have generally known when to cut them loose.
  12. Jopal78
    That’s the thing, nobody knows. but a career WHIP of 1.04 gives a lot of room for his performance to backslide
  13. Jopal78
    I don’t know what you want me to tell you. Look at the comps, he was amongst the best in the game when healthy. Then look at the trash that trots out there for most teams in that 4 spot: Drew Smyly, Jameson Taillon, Stephen Matz, Jack Flaherty, Luis Severino, etc etc. I think you either under appreciate how good Woodruff is or don’t realize the crap that 25+ teams fill the back half of their rotation with.
  14. Jopal78
    Sure, and Woodruff healthy was a #1, multi-year All Star who got Cy Young votes. If he comes back 50% of what he was that probably still makes him a #3-#4. For sure, the Brewers are taking a gamble, and they even got burned the last time when they paid Jimmy Nelson for two years after he ostensibly suffered a career ending injury. BUT since the new CBA even bad pitchers like Jack Flaherty are getting $15 million per season now, so there isn’t a whole lot of downside in rolling the bones on Woodruff
  15. Jopal78
    I would say this is “his shot”. He was DFA’d and nobody wanted him, the Brewers couldn’t unload him at the deadline in ‘23 for anything, he couldn’t get a major league guarantee for ‘24, and had to wait until ST started to sign a minor league deal, where a rebuilding club is hoping to buck the odds and catch lightning in a bottle
  16. Jopal78
    For what it’s worth, here’s Keith Law’s take on Robert Gasser, might be time to tap the brakes on his ‘24 potential in the rotation unless they let him learn at the MLB level. Gasser had a rough start to 2023, his first full year in the Brewers’ organization after they acquired him in the Josh Hader trade, but he came on strong in the second half and looks once again like a solid fourth starter. He dominates lefties but continues to have a platoon split, with all 12 homers he allowed last year coming to right-handed batters. He has an average or even above-average changeup, but he doesn’t use it enough, preferring his cutter in those situations even though that pitch only seems to get chase swing rather than swings in the zone. His fastball has average velocity with good arm-side run and his sweeper actually sweeps, hard and down away from lefties, generating a lot of swings right over the top. He does have to change his pitching plan against righties to get to that starter ceiling.
  17. Jopal78
    I don’t think the league is tough on pitchers, rather the pitchers in AAA are nearly all depth/organization soldier type players instead of “prospects”. There may be a point with Gasser too. None of Woodruff, Burnes or Peralta pitched more than 78 innings at AAA before debuting in the majors. Zach Davies pitched 128 AAA innings before seeing the majors. Gasser is already at 161 innings and that is even when the major league club was turning to Julio Teheran, Rea, etc for starts
  18. Jopal78
    It’s the Brewers; if he makes the team for Opening Day, they’ll break Gasser in as a spot starter/ multi-inning reliever this year, and have him move to the rotation full time in ‘25. That’s how they managed the early years of Peralta, Burnes, Ashby, Woodruff. If he doesn’t make the team, it can only mean the Brewers have 6-7 guys they like more for the rotation/multi-inning reliever which would be a good thing .
  19. Jopal78
    Once you realize 97% of pro baseball players (and their agents) do not care where they ply their trade, as long as the money is right, none of this matters. Fans might be dumb and refuse to believe, but every MLB player who stacks success at a young age like Hader, likely has the date they can file for free agency circled on their calendar. Obviously the one exception is some Latin players who signed as teenagers for Pennies on the dollar compared to what top draft picks born in America get. The simple truth is Hader plays a game for money, and his career as a player will most assuredly be over in ten years or less. He’d be foolish to not try to secure as much guaranteed money as he can while he has incredible earning capacity.
  20. Jopal78
    Wouldn’t Garrett Mitchell have to stay healthy for a season before he has any real trade value? The most games he’s ever played in a season as a pro is 68. No team is going to trade much if anything for a player who so far has been injured most of the time as a pro.
  21. Jopal78
    Don’t let the facts get in the way, Brebbia had a 0.2 WAR and spent half the year injured-facts-. I don’t have an opinion if Junis is a good signing or not for the Brewers, I do know, however, that in 2023 if you’re shopping for free agents for 3-4 million or less per season you’re shopping in the junk bin where most players are in their late 30s, or coming off injuries or just had bad seasons. I think you know that too but want to ignore it in order to double down on a point (you don’t like Junis/Junis sucks) that’s subjective,
  22. Jopal78
    The same Brebbia who missed 2.5 months with a lat strain and barely had a positive WAR 0.2. 37 year old Kirby Yates who has pitched 71 innings total the last four years, or 38 year old Ottavino. I get it you don’t like Junis but your examples of old, injured and ineffective pitchers is arguing against your point.
  23. Jopal78
    Look around the league since the latest CBA went into effect I think you’ll be surprised at what a 3-4 million dollar or less guarantee gets you: Luke Weaver, Jorge Lopez, Carlos Carrasco guys coming of 6.00 era seasons. Rowdy Tellez, Kevin Pillar, Joey Wendle, Nick Senzel guys who had negative or Zero WAR in ‘23. Even ancient players like Carlos Santana and Andrew McCutchen are getting 5 million dollar guarantees. Maybe you’re right and Junis isn’t worth 7 million dollars, but that’s certainly the going rate for the type of pitcher he profiles as (back end starter, swingman), and I’m not sure who you can realistically expect them to get for the same or similar dollars that makes more of a difference.
  24. Jopal78
    I’d be surprised if they truly have Junis in the rotation, and not the swingman it would be playing against his strengths. As for the salary, 7 million dollars is nothing in today’s game. You can’t get a SP, high leverage reliever of quality position player for that kind of money. You get exactly the Junis type of player: mediocre career numbers coming off a decent season.
  25. Jopal78
    Players go where the money is. I’m sure Martinez (and Soler) are holding out for multi-year deals. If/when they decide they’ll accept a one year contract they will have no lack of suitors. Given the Brewers M.O. to be active in free agency late with one year guarantees, I’d bet they have open offers to both Martinez and Soler. It’s somewhat out of character for Milwaukee to hand out a major league deal to Haase and now sign Sanchez. Gary is not really the kind of guy you want to DH every day, and if he’s going to play some catcher than there’s no need to carry Haase on the 26 man at all, and it’s essentially eating a million dollars .
×
×
  • Create New...