Jopal78

The Brewers could be doing what the Dodgers do as well. I don’t mean carrying a $300M payroll. But look at Zyhir Hope who they just traded away for Skubal. The Dodgers were looking to clear 40 man roster spots and traded Michael Busch to Chicago for Hope. The Dodgers obviously had identified him as a player they could coach up. Their farm system is littered with players acquired from other organizations who they have coached up. The Dodgers are not afraid to take a risk, be it guaranteeing hundreds of millions of dollars to a player in his 30s confident they won’t be under water on the contract, or trading away prospects for a premium rental knowing they can replenish the farm system easily. The Brewers are handicapped by being in MLB’s worst market, but they also are extremely risk averse. Which is why they’ll probably wind up with the same club tonight as they had this morning

Brewers traded Lucroy to Cleveland only to have him nix it, and they pivoted to Texas. A front office is going to make the best deal for their club, if a player has a right to refuse they simply move on to the next best. It would be a good way to get fired to not try to get the best deal because a player simply had a no trade clause.

I can already hear Arnold saying they got Hall, Harrison and Frelick back from the IL, and that’s as good as anyone is going to add at the deadline.

Not to quibble, but Preller traded for Juan Soto, Mason Miller, Dylan Cease, Hader, Snell, Darvish, etc all with years of team control remaining. He’s kind of the exact opposite of Arnold. He’s aggressive with his farm system to add controllable pieces to his major league roster to add significant talent. while Arnold is confident in who they already have and conservatively will pick at the edges of his roster for role players and depth to raise the floor.

I think the Dodgers acquiring Skubal shows you the advantage of their scouting and coaching machine. In 2024 Michael Busch was blocked with the Dodgers so they shipped to the Cubs for Zyhir Hope who was 19 years in A ball at the time. The Padres wanted Matt Beaty as a left handed utility player and traded River Ryan to the Dodgers who was a hitter and 11th round pick at the time. The Padres dropped Beaty after one year The Dodgers coached both Hope and Ryan into big time prospects then cashed them in for Skubal along with only one player that was their own draft pick. The Brewers are likely trying to build their own system like that which is why it’s unlikely they trade any of their routes minor leaguers

Sec 107, Row B. Pretty close to the field but had to turn head to the right to see the mound/plate.

Right, my point was “knows” varies. The jersey numbers of the lefties in the opponents bullpen and what they throw, of course he knows. And what information is on the advance reports they get, but the names of all the players on every team in the major leagues, probably not.

You really think he knows/or should know every player in MLB? Give me a break

You really think he knows/or should know every player in MLB? Give me a break

Before cranking up the outrage machine. Pay closer attention to what’s going on around MLB. Catching depth is scarce, and teams that have it are able to trade it away for value. Detroit was able to get a AA pitcher with a chance from Baltimore for Jake Rodgers a rental catcher playing on a $3M contract who was just DFA’d. A little harder to isolate but Logan O’Hoppe was traded from the Angels to Texas for a 19 year old with promise.

Naylor is almost a younger version of Sanchez. Low average, Low OBP some homers. Adequate not great behind the plate. I get the allure. Left handed hitting catcher who has already shown MLB power. They must believe they can coach him up further.

Change up artist with spotty command of other pitches. Low ceiling

Those comments are stupid. Like in any negotiation the initial demand is huge and the initial offer is tiny. There’s zero chance they keep Skubal if they’re planning to sell Mize. So it’s all just nonsense until they pull the trigger on Monday.

No doubt, but the concept of winning and losing trades based on surplus value is all guess work. The Addison Russell, McKinney and Straily for Samardzija, and Hammel trade is a good example. It looked great for Oakland in 2014, Samardzija (16 starts 111+ innings, 0.937 WHIP) was a bear for the A’s. Hammel not so much but was a serviceable back of the rotation arm. By 2016 the trade looked great for the Cubs. Russell was an All Star and Hammel resigned as a FA. In 2026, when all the players are long gone, it was probably fair for both sides.

Yes, Russell had a big season when the Cubs won the World Series (they all did), but absolutely incorrect (career average .240, career OBP .312) on the perennial All-Star (Seager, Turner, B. Crawford, etc). The suspension absolutely hurt his career and a glove for a shortstop with a diminishing bat isn’t all that valuable the commodity to begin with. But to your larger point, I don’t know how anyone can look at these type of trades besides through hindsight. There is no player in the minor leagues who is better today, than Skubal, Mason Miller, etc. so it is all guess work as to how much any minor leaguer will contribute vis a vis a major leaguer for 2 months.

That’s also a good counter example too. Addison Russell was a glove first shortstop who played parts of 5 seasons then was non-tendered (His non-tender occurring over a year after his domestic violence suspension). The other two players sent to Chicago from Oakland were Billy McKinney (Oakland’s #2 prospect) and Dan Straily a 24 year old starter who already had a 10 win season and a career 1.26 WHIP and 2:1 K:BB ratio. McKinney never appeared in the majors for the Cubs and played for 8 different teams across 8 years. Straily pitched 7 games for the Cubs and suited up for 4 different team in 5 seasons post trade. There is risk for a team like the Brewers to trade prospects when they will never be big players in free agency. But obviously the above trade included Oakland’s #1, #2 prospects and a major league starting pitcher, and while Oakland may not have gained much with the acquisitions, the loss of the 3 players they traded didn’t amount to much either. You’re misleading on Lester’s impact to try to make a point though. He pitched like an ace for Oakland down the stretch going 6-4 in 11 starts (76 2/3 innings!!) with a 1.07 whip. To be clear in the 2014 AL Wild Card game, Lester did give up 6 runs, but pitched 7 1/3 innings and left the game with Oakland ahead. They ended up losing 9-8 in 12 innings. What more could a team ask of a rental ace than to pitch 7 innings per start in the regular season, then pitch into the 8th inning of an elimination game and leave with the team in the lead?

That’s actually an interesting idea. With potentially three years left in his contract Ashby is a controllable reliever which is always in demand Further his guarantee for next year is $8.7M, I doubt the Brewers intend to carry that kind of salary in 2027 for a non-elite reliever anyway.

Really? Being 22 or 23 in Triple A isn’t the point. The best prospects barely play there anymore. Chourio, Lara and Pratt all reached AAA before turning 22 and spent minimal time there. Focusing on age misses the broader trend. More importantly, I never said Williams has “minimal trade value”. But rebuilding clubs want certainty not question marks. The “young for Triple A” argument is beside the point— elite prospects barely stay there anymore, and Williams has 500+ AAA plate appearances. That’s enough of a sample to take the lingering power concerns seriously. That’s not “height is destiny” it’s acknowledging the risk that is still present in a substantial sample. And despite my apparently trademark “collegial self-effacing” style, you’re overstating how much “young for Triple A” moves the needle in a trade valuation discussion. Is he trade-able? Sure. Is he the type of minor leaguer who headlines a deal for a marquee veteran? The evidence to date does not seem to support it.

No, he’s a two time Cy Young award winner who averages more than 6 innings per start, with impeccable control giving up less than a baserunner per inning over his last 550 innings. Henderson is terrific, but he’s got 70 major league innings in his career and has never thrown 110 innings since turning pro in 2021. I agree with you it does not make sense to trade from the major league rotation to get rental starting pitchers, i just disagreed with the magnitude Skubal brings. If he pitched to his norms, just the length he’d add would make the entire staff better whereas Henderson and Drohan present some real serious innings issues in the next couple weeks.

Who cares about his age compared to league average age? He’s not going to grow any taller at 23. Odds are he’s not going to pack on 20 lbs of muscle either. Is simply getting older going to allow him to drive the ball more consistently? Williams has 500+ PAs in AAA, that is significant experience especially considering in today’s game the best minor league talent barely plays in AAA at all (Caminero 236 PAs, McGonigle 0 PAs, Konnor Griffin 21 PAs, Witt Jr. 285 PAs, PCA 275 PAs, Chourio 54 PAs, Pratt 261 PAs). What is it about his current game that suggests he has a clear path to being an impact player (besides he was a first round pick and was on some prospect list)? My point is, when Jett Williams was drafted the people who scout players for a living, had concerns if his size would allow him to generate enough power to be a meaningful player in the major leagues. In the low levels of the minor leagues he was able to do it. Now, in a significant number of plate appearances against advanced pitching in AAA he hasn’t. His on base skills which have always been his calling card have deteriorated to merely average against advanced pitching as well. Williams has some tools, so you might be right and he’s not a finished product, but he’s certainly validated the skepticism about his game, and would not be considered amongst the elite prospects in the game.

Certainly Detroit’s front office is noticing how Boston got back in the race and how Minnesota has gotten back in the race. Cleveland came back from the dead in ‘25. It’s not as though their roster lacks the talent to compete with anyone in the AL, they simply have under achieved all season. I’m starting to think their GM won’t have the nerve to throw in the towel on 2026 and break up the 200M payroll team. .

I don’t disagree. That’s my whole point, the chance of Yelich ever being DFA’d before his contract expires is about 5% and maybe less i pushed back on the notion being DFA’d is some sort of humiliation for a pro baseball player. To the contrary there might be a brief ego sting, but they get paid anyways and have a chance to for a fresh start somewhere else.

They’re not in the context you’re using them though. If you want to spin it as tools, Williams is even more at a cross roads. Little guys rarely hit with enough pop to be meaningful, and like Frelick, Jett Williams isn’t suddenly going to grow 4 inches and he probably isn’t going to pack on 20 additional pounds of muscle either. But more importantly his speed and eye haven’t helped him get on base at the same rate against advanced competition as they did when he was in the low minor leagues. Like I said, he’s trade-able but rebuilding clubs want players with impact upside and Jett Williams hasn’t shown any evidence of that in a significant amount of experience in AAA, and his small size gives him little margin for error. If the shoe is on the other foot, and the Brewers were rebuilding would you be excited about shipping out a veteran player for a minor leaguer who is probably close to major league ready but is small, and might be a defense first CFer or 2B with doubles power?

Of course they can, you can even trade for major league players who are currently on the injured list