RollieTime

The Brewers take on $38 million for this season alone in that deal. I don’t see it worth pushing the payroll that high unless there is additional prospects coming back to the Brewers. It would eliminate any chance of signing or trading for a quality starting pitcher this season since the payroll would be roughly $110 million.

Acquiring Kemp would be an interesting move. Over the next three years, Braun is owed $19 million, $18 million, and $16 million respectively, for a total of $53 million. Kemp is owed $21.5 million the next two years for a total of $43 million. The main reason for this type of trade would be to clear that $16 million off the books after the 2019 season. It would allow the Brewers to make another significant move with that money one year earlier than if they still had Braun. It is a move that would allow Stearns to bring an important piece to the Brewers while still having 3 years of control of Cain and Yelich compared to only 2 years.

I’m totally on board with you. Cobb wouldn’t have the shock value of an Arrieta, but I think there’s a good chance he ends up being the better pitcher over the course of the next 4-5 years. I would love to add Cobb and make a trade for an arm as well. Signing Cobb makes the most sense to me as well. He only has 700 innings on his arm and will be heading into his 2nd season back from Tommy John. It is important to note that when Cobb struggled toward the end of the 2016 season, those were the first 5 starts he made after not pitching for 2 years. He also had to adapt to using his number one pitch much less often; split-change. He had to reinvent himself to put less stress on his arm and that can take an extended amount of time, especially facing MLB hitters. I think Cobb would sign a 4 year, $60 million contract and in my opinion will be better than Darvish over the life of the contract. Cobb moving to the NL should also help bring his ERA down to ace level in the 3.00-3.30 range. Him pitching in his 2nd season back from Tommy John will also have him going into 2018 more confident than any other point in his career since he was able to stay healthy and gain confidence in his adjusted pitch usage.

I am assuming that Santana will be on the way out in the next couple days. This trade hurts right now, but Santana should recoup a couple top 100 prospects back. This will not be the last trade. My opinion is that Stearns will go out and sign Alex Cobb in the next couple weeks. Looking forward to an exciting season!

One avenue to think about is what if the Brewers acquire Yelich, but decide to keep Santana? What if they decided to keep Santana and move him or Braun to first base? Braun may become more open to moving to first base the older he gets and the more competitive the Brewers get. This would allow a smooth transfer of inserting Yelich in left since he has a below average arm. The second option (and my opinion least likely to occur) is moving Santana to first. This would allow Yelich to either play right field or switching Braun back over to right and inserting Yelich in left. Yelich has never played right field in the majors and has only played one game in right field in the minors. I don’t see Yelich playing in right field this season. The third option is an interesting one. What if Yelich was acquired and inserted as the starting first baseman? Hear me out. Yelich did play first base in high school, but transitioned into the outfield when the Marlins drafted him. He was most likely pretty solid at first base if he played there throughout high school being as highly regarded as he was and not moved to a different position such as centerfield or shortstop. Also, this allows Braun and Santana to remain in left and right respectively. The only transition is Yelich becoming acclimated to first base again. He is 6’3” and would be a tall body over at first. This third option would only be to start the season and it could be adjusted accordingly. When an inevitable injury occurs between one of our 3 outfielders, Yelich can take their spot until they return. If Phillips/Brinson (whichever is not traded) struggle in center or there is an injury, Yelich can move back out into the outfield. This would push Aguilar into the starting role at first, with Perez as the emergency backup. This would also put the Brewers in a position to trade Thames and Broxton. Yelich could play 40 games at first or 130, depending on injuries and performances in the outfield. It is an idea that would create a fun lineup to watch to begin the season: CF Phillips/Brinson 1B Yelich LF Braun 3B Shaw RF Santana C Pina/Vogt 2B Villar SS Arcia P I am not sure how I would feel about doing the third option, but it is one way that the offense could remain intact while adding a big impact bat to the lineup.

2018 Opening Day Lineup: CF Phillips LF Braun 1B Abreu 3B Shaw RF Santana C Pina 2B Villar SS Arcia P Darvish

That’s what signing Ji-Man Choi was for. I think they would trade Thames, and possibly Aguilar, and bring up Choi to back up Abreu. Stearns would replenish the farm system from the Abreu trade by trading Aguilar and Thames.

Damn Rollie, I hope you're right! I'd trade Santana to get Abreu. Adding Abreu and Darvish would be insane. I believe we were in on Jose when he was eligible to be signed, correct? Correct, the Brewers and White Sox were the two finalists for Abreu.

What would be a realistic trade for 2 years of Jose Abreu? Brewers get: Jose Abreu White Sox get: Keon Broxton Monte Harrison Lottery Ticket

On a different note, HighHeat has mentioned that Darvish is in “sit down mode” with the Brewers. He has also made it known that Move A needs to happen to lead to Move B. Could it be possible that Stearn’s is proving the direction of the franchise by making a trade for someone like Archer or Jose Abreu from the White Sox? Abreu has not been linked to the Brewers and would be a significant acquisition that would push the Brewers into one of the top offenses with the middle of their lineup featuring Santana (if not traded), Braun, Shaw, and Abreu. Abreu is a career .301 hitter and can be penciled in for 30 homers and 100 RBI. He has remained healthy for his first 4 years in the MLB and will come with a reasonable $13 million contract for this season and is arbitration eligible next offseason before becoming a free agent after the 2019 season. Jerry Crasnick has made it known that the White Sox may be interested in acquiring one of the Brewers’ outfielders. The White Sox are still in rebuilding mode after finishing 2017 at 67-95. Signing Darvish would be huge in and of itself, but following that up with the addition of Abreu would be unbelievable. It could just be the move Stearns has up his sleeve to help convince Darvish to come to Milwaukee.

Please be Archer!

Take the contract get more prospects in return? Taking on his $21 million contract for 3 years would hinder the Brewers’ spending for 3 years. Yankees would have to include a large portion of his contract to make it worth while.

https://www.brewcrewball.com/2018/1/18/16907898/wei-chung-wang-will-pitch-in-korea-in-2018-per-report On the bottom of the article, there is a section where Stearns was asked if there would be a signicant move prior to the start of Spring Training. In a recent interview on 105.7 FM in Milwaukee, David Stearns was asked: “What are the chances that between now and Spring Training, there will be a roster move that moves the needle in a big way for Brewers fans? One way or the other?” Stearns: “Boy, I am not good at handicapping these things but I will say that we are certainly talking about moves that we think would meaningfully impact our team. Some of them have been, maybe overly exaggerated in the press. And then there are some things we are working on that haven’t been discussed publicly at all. So we’ll keep you guys guessing for a little while longer, but we are certainly working on things and I will say this: it would not surprise me if we make a substantive move between now and Spring Training”. It appears that Stearns is working on a significant acquisition that will propel the Brewers into serious playoff contenders this season. The next few weeks will be an exciting time to see what moves Stearns will do to make a big impact on the upcoming season.

Pineapple Express!

This umpire is very one sided. It's been a poor strike zone all game. Lots of pitches off the plate that are called strikes for Pirates pitchers. At the same time, Nelson hits the corners and they are balls. Frustrating zone to say the least.

Why not call Yuni Betancourt? In theory, he could also "get hot." DeJesus has been performing well all season in Triple A. It is worth giving him a shot at this point in the season with how Villar has been producing all year. He would likely regress quite a bit, but even if he hit .250-.260, it would be a big upgrade over Villar. Best case scenario, DeJesus provides a much needed spark to the offense. Worst case scenario, he produces similar to Villar and strikes out less.

They brought Sogard up and he caught fire for a while, try it with DeJesus. I'm open to it. Plus it would be basically impossible to be as bad as Villar If DeJesus came up and continued to rake, he could help jump start the offense that has been struggling for a few weeks now. Even if he performs to his career average of .242, it would be an improvement over Villar's average of .214 this season. DeJesus' ability to strike out less could also help advance runners and manufacture more runs. DeJesus is not the second baseman of the future, but he would be the stopgap for the rest of the season that could help spark the offense if he performs as well as he has in Triple A. Villar can go into the offseason, refine his approach, and hopefully return to his 2016 form next season.