Jopal78

Just like with Miley, I’m sure the Brewers have lots of offers on players in the bargain bin, and at this point those players are probably choosing which deal to take based on best guaranteed cash, best playing time, etc.

Does it matter who they sell their tickets to? I'm sure brokers sell 30-40% of the tickets at Lambeau every weekend too.

I believe they've sold out all their home games in Vegas so far, and they're amongst the most expensive ticket on the secondary market. Raider merch is always amongst the best selling in the game, thus I would disagree they need to "drum up excitement for the fanbase." I do think its debatable as to the amount of skill they truly have (6-11 last year). They were not good last season even before a bunch of their players were injured and went on IR. The Raiders are also the text book example of a dysfunctional franchise. Who knows, but Rodgers seems too wise to get stuck in that kind of mess voluntarily. But most importantly, Tom Brady is a free agent and if he decides to play, the Raiders could potentially sign him for just money, whereas Rodgers would cost picks and cash and they would still need to know if he was going to play for them.

Not really. I do agree with you I don't think it's likely he will walk away from the guarantee he has next year. On the other hand, he has been paid close to half a billion dollars in just NFL salary alone, so anything is certainly possible in an individual with that magnitude of wealth. What is more, the Packers absolutely believed he might have walked away after the '20 season and that was a situation where he would have had to pay back part of his signing bonus to do so. Under his current contract, he doesn't have to pay anything back if he walks because most of the remaining money is all roster bonuses, meaning he only gets it if he's on the roster. Rodgers has all the leverage. It's actually the exact opposite of your statement: it is now painful for the Packers to walk away from Aaron Rodgers. Even if Rodgers wants out of Green Bay it would probably be still difficult to put together a trade with a significant return for the Packers. No GM going to put his career on the line trading for a mercurial Aaron Rodgers without first getting a commitment that he's "in" for multiple seasons, and I assume Rodgers isn't going to give up the leverage his contract affords him. Would some team take a chance thinking they could talk Rodgers into playing for them? Sure, but it certainly wouldn't be a First or Second coming back to Green Bay in that situation. As to the notion of a team being interested in acquiring Rodgers to drive revenue; it probably means said team isn't competitive so they wouldn't be a match in the first place. Honestly a trade of Aaron Rodgers, would be very similar to when the Mariners traded Ken Griffey Jr. He demanded from out and with 10/5 rights dictated where he was willing to go to. As a result the Mariners got bits and pieces back for a once in a generation hall of fame talent.

I wonder how many other players the Brewers have offers on they’re just content to wait them out. As a “buy low” player, they have nothing to lose. He bounces back and it works out, or he’s washed and they DFA him at some point. At the very least, the less they have to count on Singleton, Toro, Hiura, Owen Miller and the AAA OFer from the Yankees the better

Ok, but why do the Brewers bother with it then? They absorb the potential risk of injury without gaining additional time or a financial discount. I just don’t see it with Burnes. It’s the business of baseball. Financially, he really has zero incentive to do anything other than bide his time with the Brewers while pushing for the most money the system will pay him, then become a free agent and sell himself to the highest bidder.

He’s not going to take a discount, so there’s really no reason for the Brewers to want to do a two year deal. Corbin Burnes is wealthy already, whenever he signs this year he’ll become fantastically wealthy. So he doesn’t need the security at the cost of selling himself short. I know Fielder did a 2 year deal covering his final two arbitration years, but the money players are getting since the new CBA insane, and as such there is zero reason for Burnes not to go year to year and bet on himself, he’ll do way better money wise.

Joe Ricketts alone is worth 3 billion dollars, and the family business Ameritrade has over 9 billion in equity. Any “debt” to build their entertainment district around Wrigley is likely nothing more than accounting tactics, and if not it’s certainly not anything keeping them awake at night wondering where they’re going to get the money from.

I think that's a cop out answer. The Brewers certainly had higher expectations and more fan enthusiasm than the Cubs in 2022, yet they drew a couple hundred thousand less fans. Using your numbers, on average Wrigley was 78% full on game days, whereas Miller Park was less than 3/4 on average. It's hard to accept the premise of signing "name" free agents to drive revenue when the Cubs nearly were 80% full on average. Such a premise would be akin to spending $6.50 to make 5.

Luke Voit remains unsigned. RH hitter could split time at 1B and DH with Tellez and Winker. Pretty good on-base skills, decent (20+ HR) power. He's likely looking at a one year deal if not a NRI.

I would dispute your theory the Cubs are signing "name" players to give fans something to cheer for while maximizing revenue. This is because your argument leaves out the key element that Wrigley Field between May 1st and August 31st they usually have 30,000 plus for every game regardless of the talent level of the home team. When they're selling out the weekends and games against marquee opponents anyways, the don't need to sign "names" to generate revenue. Customers turn out for games at Wrigley during the summer no matter what. Even the people who don't go into Wrigley for the games but eat and drink in the bars/restaurants around the stadium, at Gallagher way, and watch from the rooftops are also pumping their money into the Cub machine (no wonder the Packers with their similar built in attendance constructed an entertainment district....((revenue machine)) around their stadium). More likely. Jed Hoyer knows exactly who his opponents are in a relatively weak Division: Two teams that are not even trying to compete. The Brewers have difference making pitching talent, but have already started to break up that pitching talent and will likely continue to do so. The Cardinals starting pitching depth is going to rely on both old and injured pitchers to carry them. Meanwhile, the Cubs have put together a team without a bunch of superstars, but also without a lot of black holes either. With a little luck will be able to compete in their Division, but if they stumble, they still could have pieces to sell off with an eye on the future, Given the new anti-tanking measures, it's probably the smartest play for a rebuilding club.

Nobody is going to trade for Aaron Rodgers. He would necessarily have to commit to playing for more than a year to even make it plausible for Green Bay to deal him; something he hasn't done the last three seasons.

The two sides cannot even agree on a value for '23 when he's obligated to play for the Brewers, thus the idea of an extension already has a few holes below the water line. Besides, it's the nature of the business for Front Office personnel to generally know where players and their agents are at. As pointed out already, most likely Burnes' camp has made clear he's not looking for a short term contract, or a below market AAV, which makes formal discussions pointless.

Everyone wants to dump on the Cubs, yet after June 30th last year they had the same record as the Brewers the rest of the way. Yes, the Brewers were a huge disappointment in ‘22, but the Cubs were projected to be trash and played .500 baseball for more than half a season. They've added more total talent this offseason than Milwaukee or St. Louis. Probably still won’t be able to hang with Los Angeles, New York Atlanta, and San Diego but they could potentially give St. Louis in Milwaukee run for their money in the division.

Trading Renfroe wasn’t a salary dump though. It’s a reallocation of resources.

Angels did not reach an agreement with Renfroe and could be headed to a hearing.

Will Smith (LHP) is still looking for a job, Jurickson Profar has played every position where the Brewer still need help.

What he did (invite someone to his house for an intimate encounter then choke her unconscious in his bedroom) isn’t really in dispute. It was only whether or not it was agreed upon conduct. Anyways, why the outrage? There’s no collusion here; this is the way it is everywhere in corporate America (and baseball teams are multimillion dollar corporations). Simply stated Bauer isn’t worth the magnitude of negative PR that comes with him. Certainly that negative PR will dissipate in time and he’ll likely be back.

Don’t be so naive. You think Bauer is the rare case of a pro-athlete using fame and fortune to get gratification? He’s a dumbass plain and simple, and a scumbag to boot. That’s why he’s not signed right now. Baseball sells its self as family entertainment. Right now it’s impossible to defend providing “family entertainment” while featuring a guy who made national headlines for choking a woman unconscious in his bedroom. Like I said, Ray Lewis went on trial for murder, and is in the Hall of Fame. Matt Bush was drunk driving, ran over a man’s head with a car, went to prison and is on the Brewers. In time Bauer will be fine.

Guys like Kieth Law? That Harvard educated economist slash sports journalist who never played baseball? You know, the guy who published an article in September titled “Guys I was Wrong About” If it was a science or required a specific skill not everyone could do it. Yet literally anyone can compile a list of baseball players and argue until they’re blue in the face how awesome they are or how dumb anyone who questions them may be.

Nope. I’ve got a calculator and baseball reference bookmarked. You too with a little time and effort could calculate Singleton’s PAs and OPS through age 20, and then even determine exactly how much offensive production Chourio will have to generate in the next two seasons to match it. Singleton wasn’t a slouch in the low levels of the minors.

Who says they're comparable? Sportswriters looking for clicks? And "Actual Comparables" is based on what; other players who had big minor league seasons as kids in the low level minors? None of the prospect game is scientific, it's heartstrings and hopes and making educated guesses. To illustrate further: Singleton-Low A at 18: 872 OPS (450 ABs), High A at 19 : .834 OPS(530 ABs), AA at 20: .893 (555 ABs). Chourio-Low A at 18: 973 OPS (250 ABs) High A at 18: .805 OPS (127 ABs), AA at 18: .284 OPS (23 ABs). Chourio will have to be on top of his game for the next two years, just to match what Singleton did in the minors through age 20, yet they're not comparable prospects for some reason? When someone has made their mind up and won't consider alternative possibilities, there's no real point in further discussion. However, I'm sure you didn't realize but it is worth noting anyways, Chourio did play for the Brewers rookie ball team in '21 in the Dominican Rookie Summer League. It's really splitting hairs to assert he "skipped rookie ball entirely".

It is a blind guess because for every Tatis Jr. there’s a Jon Singleton. He looks promising I hope it turns out that way, but it’s still just guessing on future production based on past performance. As for timing, never say never, but in the last 25 years the Brewers haven’t really skipped any of their prospects through the upper minors to the major leagues, so it likely will be sometime before Chourio is a major league regular even if he continues to rake. Prince Fielder the best high school prospect they previously had; put up a 921 OPS in the minors yet played most of a season at each level.

Not a chance. Major league league starting pitching brings more every time. Chourio doesn’t have as much value to other clubs as one would think. 1.) Elite prospect for elite prospect trades rarely if ever happen. 2.) Teams trying to compete now, aren’t going to trade key veterans for Chourio as it’s counter intuitive. 3.) Given where the Brewers competitive window is, they can’t really afford to trade too many young players for veterans from the non-contenders. As for his internal value to the Brewers, Chourio could very well be the next Ryan Braun, but nobody is going to have more than blind guess (ex. check out his winter league stats… they’re not good) if that’s true (best case scenario) at least for another year or possibly more, by which that time most of the current 25 man roster will either be gone or almost out the door. It would be a different story if he blew the doors off of AA last year and was ticketed for AAA, he’s still a ways away.

I suppose, but how can 1-4 be anything but Burnes, Woodruff, Peralta, Lauer? Then Adames and Contreras at 5-6, then you have to figure Houser and Ashby around 7-8 as they both are bonafide major leaguers who can start and relieve with better than average results. Add in Urias, Devin Williams, that's 10 right there. As highly touted minor leaguers at the cusp of the majors you'd have to have Frelick, Mitchell, and Wiemer somewhere near there. Then, Tyrone Taylor (not my favorite player) but plays all three OF spots and remains pre-arbitration eligible. Now we'd be getting into the flawed players area where I think Winker, Tellez fit. Yelich is the great unknown too. I doubt he ever "finds it" again, but if he did he would be #1 or #2 with a bullet.