Ron Robinsons Beard

How is it not promising? The Brewers are asking for a ton for the best reliever in the game with 4 remaining years of control, as they should be. If a team truly values him, they'll pay up. Otherwise, the Brewers simply keep him. The Yankees system is pretty gross to look at if you're looking for immediate MLB contributors. Deivi Garcia is a talented arm, but probably profiles as a reliever. He's very similar to Freddy Peralta. Albert Abreu is a talented arm, but struggled in AA last year. Chance Adams has been a hyped pitcher, but hasn't shown much at the MLB level. Clarke Schmidt might be the closest starting pitcher, but he's at least a year away, and probably profiles as a #3-4. Miguel Andujar and Clint Frazier may be position player targets, although each has his red flags as well.

And it's signings like this that make me embarrassed for factions of our fan base. LOOK AROUND! Roark got 12 mil AAV. Lyles got 8 mil AAV. Gausman got 9-10. Treinen got 10 coming off an awful year. Would any of those guys make you feel warm and fuzzy? Are any of those sure things? It's like a huge number of people have never had to be strategic about anything in their lives. MKE can't afford to be strong everywhere and pitching is often highly inflated in cost. MKE can not afford top end ace pitchers. Can not. I've pointed to the .9 to 1.1 run diff for well over a year now and that there is an easy way to achieve it if you can simply find 1 starting pitcher solidly sub 4 (3.5 range) and then keep the rest under 4.2. Nothing world beating. If your 5 starters can sit at a 4 ERA the pen can drop you dramatically under 4. That's a great staff. There are 30 teams in this league. 6... SIX... were sub 4 era. What's the cheapest way to do that? Guys like this! Guys like Miley, Gio, Chacin, Anderson, Davies and trading next to nothing for a nobody like Lyles. How many times have they pulled serviceable out of thin air. This team was 1 game from the WS one season ago. ONE. In the last 2 years they were in the playoffs twice and NLCS 1 time. I mean I'd understand if you never saw it work but you just watched it work to the tune of 1 game from the WS. I somehow remember they were leading the team that won the WS this year. Leading in an elimination game, without Yelich. Who was on MKE's staff? Strasburg Cole Verlander Kershaw and Darvish right? RIGHT? 3 mil a year. 6 mil if he pitches as a starter. Cheaper than all the other nobodies we've seen sign deals. Low risk, upside, and a guy who can be a 3mil pen piece if it doesn't pan out. Will Roark give back half his money if he flops? Guy started 30 games last year and was at 6.5 IP per start. This is a brilliant signing. It might not work out, but the idea is brilliant. Yet, factions of this fan base complain. There is nothing to complain about with this signing. Welcome the KBO Cy Young to the roster and hope DS did it again. I have nothing to add to this post, other than to say it is tremendous. I agree 100%. I don't see how anyone could logically poo-poo this signing. Yeah, he's ticketed for the rotation. But with what he's being paid, he isn't going to have a long leash if he falters.

So Rendon is going to be making more than double what Moose got in AAV. This year's market is insane. The majority of the Brewers' acquisitions may just come via trade. Of course, there are still a lot of middle and lower level free agents out there, and with all the high-dollar deals going around, and teams already looking to make cuts to get under the luxury tax, there will likely be value deals out there to be had as we get into January and February.

He may have seen the Brewers uncertainty in the starting rotation as a more fruitful opportunity as well. The Brewers stand a shot of competing for a playoff spot as well. The Blue Jays do not.

The way this market is looking, Donaldson may be looking at 3 years/$75 million. It's not a major leap, IMO, to say that the Brewers wouldn't be interested in that.

He would be a fun get. Would pretty much assure that Thames would not be back, though, I imagine. Smith would be an ideal platoon-mate with Braun at 1B, and could fill in in the OK if necessary as well.

Someone can definitely be upset with it. They are pegging a spot in the rotation for him. A rotation that has Woodruff and Lauer, the later of the two has been a 4.50 ERA starter in his career. The other three (and the reserves) are all highly questionable with rough pasts starting. The risk here is he sucks as a starter and we are screwed until July when we can fix it...a huge negative on the 2020 team if it happened. I look at the current rotation and it is getting built very similar to the 2019 that wasn’t that good. One or two of the unknowns may impress and exceed expectations, but overall the odds are not great. We will see how it goes, but a lot of unproven talent didn’t work last year. THAT BEING SAID, personally I’m not upset with this move. I would really like to see another solid option with more of a track record though. Then we would at least have Woodruff/Lauer/(insert FA) that provide something stability. Still not great, but at least not asking for trouble like it currently stands. Thankfully Stearns admitted earlier this evening that the Brewers are not done acquiring starting pitching this offseason. I predict a Miley type.

I was initally in the same boat when I heard he wanted to come back stateside. I encourage you to do some reading up on Lindblom. https://theathletic.com/1359416/2019/11/08/how-josh-lindblom-and-his-family-found-hope-in-korea-this-is-not-the-place-to-come-end-your-career/ https://calltothepen.com/2019/11/05/josh-lindblom-back-mlb-free-agency-radar/ https://www.dallasnews.com/sports/rangers/2018/11/07/traded-for-michael-young-former-ranger-lindblom-top-pitcher-in-korea/ https://notanotherbaseballblog.wordpress.com/2019/08/21/an-interesting-off-season-awaits-josh-lindblom/ Also multiple reports that teams like the Astros, Dodgers and Rays were interested in signing him. This isn't a dumpster dive like signing a guy like, say, Chris Tillman. Sure, it may not work out, but this has the potential to be a very nice move.

Well, I missed on Lyles, but hit on Lindblom so far Keuchel would still be nice.

I vaguely remember the Brewers slapping him around a bit while he was a Pirate reliever. But after reading about the changes he made during his time overseas, and how he completely remade himself as a pitcher, he was a guy I hoped they'd target. It's really a very low-risk signing and could potentially pay HUGE dividends. I love it.

Awesome ... our resident troll poster has given his thoughts. Thanks!

Melvin did do it with Greinke and CC, and between those and other short-sighted trades, it put this franchise into the dark ages both at the major and minor league levels for several years. But that 2008 run was pretty cool. The Brewers minor league system, as currently constructed, doesn't have the horses to trade for a proven, controllable top end starter. It just isn't gonna happen.

They've made it work to the tune of two playoff appearances the last two seasons, after finishing a game out in 2017. Don't you think that it just might be possible that these guys know a little bit more than we as fan do about how to build a successful pitching staff?

In the end, it doesn't matter what we think. We're fans. It can certainly be argued that the Dodgers' failure to make their pen a top priority has cost them a shot at a World Series title. Lindor would no doubt make them a stronger team offensively and perhaps defensively (although Seager is no slouch as a defender). It would then be a matter of whether the Dodgers believe that the upgrade from Seager to Lindor is more significant than the upgrade from whoever is pitching a crucial late playoff inning, be it Kelly, Jansen or even Kershaw, to the guy who has been recognized as the top relief pitcher in the majors two years running.

I read that as apparent that he has no interest whatsoever in playing in the field. DH only.

Michael Wacha to the Mets as their Wheeler replacement. Probably not a terrible buy-low guy, as he's young and has good stuff. Starting to see the mid-level pitching market move a bit now with Gausman and Wacha going. I'm going to predict we see a 1-year, $8 million deal with Miley.

Why would that philosophy apply to Hader and not Lindor? Has offense really been the issue that has kept the Dodgers from a WS title?

I'm going to guess that Cristian Santana (Dodgers 3B/1B) might be an option as well. Nice numbers at AA last year, and very good power numbers at A+ the year prior.

That's fair. At the same time, I'd be surprised if the Brewers were asking for both Lux and May in a package for Hader. But who knows? It's all guesswork at this point, and the only thing we've heard concrete on the Brewers' ask for Hader is that its' "massive". Probably as it should be.

Yes. Rhetorical question, and debatable. That said ... looks like those special prospects perhaps aren't untradable after all

@BNightengale · 1m The Los Angeles #Dodgers and Cleveland #Indians continue to be engaged in serious trade talks for Cleveland All-Star shortstop Francisco Lindor, with Cleveland seeking a package of Dodgers prospects including Gavin Lux and Dustin May. Hmm ... but I've been told repeatedly that there is no way that the Dodgers would go out and trade their high-end prospects for a superstar player. Are two seasons of Lindor worth more than four seasons of Hader?

It's too bad Justin Bour signed with an Asian team. he would have been an interesting bounceback candidate.

Don't understand why they'd be looking at Calhoun and not Corey Dickerson. Dickerson had some nice power years with the Rays, hits for a decent average, and has a good OBP.

Not really a fan of Calhoun. Low average and a ton of strikeouts. He is a really good defender in the OF despite kinda being shaped like a pear.

Boy, that's a really depressing list of names, isn't it! I know we've won with similar guys in our rotation the past couple of years, but if we were to just add a couple of guys from this grouping it would feel pretty bleak heading into the 2020 season. Especially when you consider that it's very likely that our offensive production takes a hit after losing two of our key cogs from '19 in Grandal and Moose (and it's not looking very optimistic that we will be able to make up near that production with the way the F/A market is shaping out for us this winter). No, it's not depressing. Not at all. There is a lot of potential there. It's really hard for me to understand this doom and gloom stuff on Dec. 11. This team has made the playoffs two years in a row, and was one game away the year before that, by following the same philosophy they are now ... finding underappreciated value. I expect them to do that again this offseason. Might the bottom fall out? Yes, of course. But this front office has done absolutely nothing to make me not trust them when they say they are committed to putting a competitive team on the field.