Ron Robinsons Beard

I don't expect Goff to be effective at all in those cold conditions, but it won't matter if the Packers let Akers go all "Raheem Mostert" on them. The Packers are going to have to stack the line and make Goff beat them. You're right that Harrison stands to be a huge part of the defensive gameplan. They are going to need Barnes and Martin to have the games of their lives too.

Their defense was so good the first half of the season. They've completely gone off the rails on that side of the ball. The offense has always been pretty hit-and-miss. They don't have much of a running game, so if they don't hit on several big passes every game, they are in trouble.

Grimm and Morin were back of the pen junk, as I alluded to before. I don't think they are proof of anything. My definition of a reclamation project is signing a guy to a cheap deal who was once an MLB stand-out but fell on hard times, and is looking to find "it" again. I don't think Lindblom qualifies, as he never had an "it" to find, at least in MLB. Smoak also wasn't a guy who fell on hard times. He was a pretty consistent performer prior to signing with the Brewers. But whatever, guess we'll have to agree to disagree. I still say Gyorko was the only true "reclamation" signing, as he was utterly terrible in 2019, but had previous success to fall back on. I suppose Grimm could qualify under the way I described it, but he was a minor league signing that never did much of anything in a Brewer uniform. He was more hope and prayer signing I guess.

I've heard players off the record complain about him. I've never complained about either. If you look at both sites, they write virtually the same articles each day. Neither is better or worse than the other. McCalvy does fan mailbags which might reveal some nuggets, but they also present speculation. Haudricourt treats his job more as a journalist...that means not publishing unsubstantiated things, not giving opinions, etc. In this modern age, the general public is having their appetites fed by rumor mongering and speculation, not actual journalists reporting news. That's true in both sports and general (especially political news, where more people trust social media and forwarded email lies rather than truth). Let's be honest, Haudricourt is a good journalist, but bad a rumor mongering, speculation, and breaking news. Yep, his gamers and player/organization features are fine, and often good. I think a lot of people are basing their thoughts on him off of his Twitter persona. He's a curmudgeon, but then, a lot of baseball beat guys are like that. You are correct ... he doesn't go into rumors and rarely gives opinions on the team, which I actually appreciate. A beat writer shouldn't be giving his opinions on the team.

Speaking of playing centerfield, Victor Robles better get himself a whole bunch of new running shoes because he's gonna need 'em. Soto and Schwarber in the same outfield. Have to think the Nationals are 100% convinced there will be a NL DH in 2021. Or else they think their pitchers are going to strike out >35% of the batters that they will face. The Nationals are going to be playing Schwarber at 1B and not in the OF so not sure why this would be an issue. Uhh, if Schwarber is playing 1B, where is Josh Bell gonna play? No DH in the NL yet.

Garcia is only 21 months older than Schwarber. Schwarber isn't young. I don't know if I'd necessarily consider him a difference-maker, either. I think he's a guy who has been pretty significantly overrated playing in a large market. He's a 3TO guy who is going to hit homers in bunches, strike out a lot, walk a fair share, and hit sub-.250. Also play terrible corner OF defense. That the Cubs couldn't find a trade for him is pretty telling in my opinion. That said, I do agree that Garcia is getting paid to put up at least the numbers he put up in 2019, if not what he did in 2017. If he can't get that .OPS up near or exceeding .800, it's going to be disappointing.

I hope you don't really think the Brewers would be in on any Turner talk, especially if it would blow up the payroll by $12-14M. It would take more than Hader/Pina to get D. Smith. Plus the Mets just signed McCann to a big contract and I doubt that would want another catcher in a trade. You really think a 1B bat is worth that much in this current market? There seems to be a lot of those types of bats out there, and they don't necessarily seem to be very expensive, at least to me. Yes, Smith brings some youth and cheap control years, but "take more than Hader/Pina"? Really? If that's the case (which I think I disagree with), NO thanks!

I don't know. An actual major league team just paid Kyle Schwarber $10 million, after he was downright terrible in 2020. Garcia is a year older, but their 3-year splits prior to 2020 compare pretty favorably. Garcia is also a premium corner OF defender, while Schwarber might be one of the worst OF defenders in the majors. I think you are reading WAY too much into 2020 numbers, when by all appearances judging by Schwarber's deal, MLB teams are willing to write them off. Either that, or the Nationals just made a terrible personnel move. At this point in time, you would clearly have to believe that Garcia would have his option declined. That would leave him making $12.5 million this year. If you extrapolate 2020 for a full season, Schwarber would have a 4-year average fWAR of about 2.5 and Garcia right around 2.0. I clearly believe Garcia's number is inflated badly by the 2017 season making that a suspect average. I'd say fWAR of 1.5 would be more accurate if even that. Using Schwarber's contract as a guide, that would put Garcia's value in the $6 to maybe $8 million range. Either way, Garcia would have to be viewed as a major liability and would have absolutely no trade value. You have several good points here, and I think you are probably right. That said, I don't think that Schwarber's deal is good at all for the Nationals.

You're correct ... but I would say pretty close after Return of the Jedi ... like within a few years, not later in the roughly 30-40-year time lag between Return of the Jedi and Force Awakens.

There would have been a terrible NFC East team in this year's playoffs whether there were 6 or 7 teams. I don't think that the Bears are a legit playoff team, but it isn't going to matter much after they get trounced this weekend.

I don't know. An actual major league team just paid Kyle Schwarber $10 million, after he was downright terrible in 2020. Garcia is a year older, but their 3-year splits prior to 2020 compare pretty favorably. Garcia is also a premium corner OF defender, while Schwarber might be one of the worst OF defenders in the majors. I think you are reading WAY too much into 2020 numbers, when by all appearances judging by Schwarber's deal, MLB teams are willing to write them off. Either that, or the Nationals just made a terrible personnel move. 3 year splits will compare favorably, but that is because it will grab Garcia’s massive outlier year of 2017. Garcia has never hit for an .800 OPS outside of that year. Take 2-year splits and you have a much different story. I am guessing most teams would project an OPS sub .750 for Garcia and an OPS of .800+ for Schwarber. Offensively, that just aren’t on the same planet for projections. Here is BF.net: Garcia: .736 OPS Schwarber: .808 OPS Also I am not taking 2020 into consideration at all...Garcia really hasn’t been a good hitter for most of his MLB career. Like many I didn’t like the signing from the get-go. So a 3-year split should be tossed, yet a 2-year split is viable? Not sure I can agree on that one. Garcia had a .796 OPS in 2019, so the argument that he only had one year of +.800 is kinda semantics. But if you don't like the guy, you simply don't like the guy, and actual statistics aren't going to change your mind. Plus you aren't even mentioning the fact that Schwarber is a butcher in the OF, and as of now at least the NL doesn't have a DH. I'm not arguing that Garcia is some sort of great player, but I think that .736 projection, while projecting an .808 from Schwarber, makes 0 sense to me. That is expecting that the Garcia we saw in 2020 is who he is, while Schwarber's crappy 2020 is an aberration. I certainly hope for the Brewers sake that isn't the case, and I don't believe it will be. I don't expect Garcia to be a superstar, but I expect a solid corner OF bat.

I don't know. An actual major league team just paid Kyle Schwarber $10 million, after he was downright terrible in 2020. Garcia is a year older, but their 3-year splits prior to 2020 compare pretty favorably. Garcia is also a premium corner OF defender, while Schwarber might be one of the worst OF defenders in the majors. I think you are reading WAY too much into 2020 numbers, when by all appearances judging by Schwarber's deal, MLB teams are willing to write them off. Either that, or the Nationals just made a terrible personnel move.

Plus Garcia was coming off a MUCH better season, and can play defense. So out of curiosity... What would the Brewers be looking for if they wanted to move Garcia (& reallocate resources)?? No idea what his trade value is now. It depends on how teams are viewing the numbers players put up in the pandemic year. It is obvious that the Nationals didn't care that Schwarber was terrible in 2020. I wonder if Garcia would be treated in a similar light?

Plus Garcia was coming off a MUCH better season, and can play defense.

Gyorko was the only "reclamation project" type signing last year (and he ended up being good). Every other signing was coming off either their career-best or close to career-best year. The idea that that Brewers filled their roster with a bunch of reclamation projects last season has simply turned into a much larger assumption than it actually was. You are beating this to death, but when you really look at it, you simply are not correct. What do you consider Logan Morrison, Justin Smoak, Josh Lindblom, Justin Grimm and Mike Morin, if not reclamation projects? Including Gyorko, that's 20% of the active roster. Morrison was a minor league signing that made the team on the back of strong 2019 minor league numbers and a strong spring. Smoak was coming off a consistent 3-year stretch averaging over an .800 OPS. Lindblom was coming off a Korean League Cy Young. Grimm and Morin were back-end pen arms. They were insignificant. In Morin's case, in particular, there really wasn't much of anything in his career numbers to reclaim. I suppose, by the definition of the idea of a reclamation project, Morrison probably qualifies. But he certainly didn't last longer than a cup of coffee before the Brewers cut bait.

Gyorko was the only "reclamation project" type signing last year (and he ended up being good). Every other signing was coming off either their career-best or close to career-best year. The idea that that Brewers filled their roster with a bunch of reclamation projects last season has simply turned into a much larger assumption than it actually was. You are beating this to death, but when you really look at it, you simply are not correct.

Which brings me back to my earlier point. If you go into every offseason expecting a large free agent signing, the Brewers are most definitely not the right team for you to put your energy behind. I suspect that even if payroll wasn't tight, they still wouldn't be going out and spending "stupid" money on free agents. That's just the way this front office operates. They are all about value as it relates to performance, and there just aren't many high-end free agents out there who are going to provide that proper bang for the buck. Fortunately there are several teams who spend money is stupid ways, and for the most part, that doesn't work out.

It's an opinion, just because you don't agree with it, doesn't make it wrong... Correct. I never once told him it was wrong. Perhaps I didn't state my rebuttal as eloquently as I should have, but I was attempting to point out a couple teams that have made big, splashy moves the last two seasons who he was welcome to become a fan of since he seems to appreciate they way they construct their rosters compared to the Brewers. Those teams, however, haven't had the level of success that the Brewers have had in that time.

Still two terms. The VP can serve up to two years of the outgoing president's term, and still qualify for two four-year terms ... so in essence, in a perfect-storm scenario, someone could serve nearly 10 years as U.S. President.

Well, there is plenty of room for you on the Mets bandwagon, just like there was plenty of room on the Reds bandwagon last year, and the Phillies bandwagon the year before that. Really, is the snarkiness warranted here? Dude is a Brewers fan obviously, this comment is just a bit over the top. He's telling a group of Brewer fans that "this is sickening and a terrible time to be a brewers fan" on a site literally called Brewerfan.net, and I'm the one who's over the top? Gotcha. Back to Lindor ... he's a great piece, but let's not discount what the Mets are giving up. The three prospects would be rated #1-3 in our system.

You very likely would have contracted it at your parents' house, then got on the plane to go home. Then who knows?

Well, there is plenty of room for you on the Mets bandwagon, just like there was plenty of room on the Reds bandwagon last year, and the Phillies bandwagon the year before that.

Garret Anderson spent the majority of his career in left field. And he's 48 years old.

This reminds me of when Packers season is over, two days later all practice squad players are signed to futures contracts (a completely procedural move), yet the packers will officially announce it on facebook, twitter, etc. It just leads to fifty comments saying "Hur dur, why don't we sign real free agents?" or "Who is that guy?" or "Why don't we fire (head coach, GM, defensive coordinator, etc) instead?" Correct ... and those are always extremely juvenile, ill-thought-out arguments put out by people who just want to complain.

AA or AAA depth at a position of need. Nothing more.