Ron Robinsons Beard

Your idea of "best case" is odd.

Definite "stud" arms right there! They would lead them to the World Series...one of the most feared rotations in all of baseball. Stearns must be waiting for the "blow out sale"...Everything must go! no reasonable offer refused! You need to chill out. You are absolutely not giving anyone a good look right now.

That's right. I'm happy that the free agent market is moving faster this year. I'm also not freaked out that the Brewers haven't jumped in yet. Because I have faith that they have a plan, and am taking them at their word that they will once again put a competitive team on the field in 2020. Perhaps you should try having a little trust for the guys that have given us a run of success as well. They haven't batted 1.000, but they also haven't given us any reason not to trust them, either.

viewtopic.php?f=63&t=39276 ICYMI. Point being, I'm certain they're working on stuff. Like what?? They are sitting on all this cash(that supposedly everyone here thinks they will spend and NOT cut payroll, even though there has been several reports they are), and who are they going to spend it on?? Who out there is worth it, that's left?? Strasburg, Cole, Rendon, none of them are coming here, after that, it seems most would be happy with what are basically dart throws(like Chacin was) to fix the pitching staff and other "bargains" that may or may not work out for a year to replace the two all stars that left the Brewers lineup with GAPING holes in it. They will sign someone like Dallas Kuechel and everyone will rejoice that they got a TOR arm...except all he really is is a "dart throw" as well. Hope he has a good year or two. I see threads about Dominic Smith being the 1B of the future and how excited people are at that possibility...really?? In order for the Brewers to not take a step back(or improve) from last year they need to replace the two all star bats that walked out the door, with equal too or better all star bats. The pitching staff NEEDS improvement...re signing Jordan Lyles and signing someone like Kuechel may help a little, but it's still not much different than last year. The names might be, but the talent equivalency won't be much different. To date, the Brewers have been rumored with exactly ZERO players...they weren't in on Wheeler, they aren't in on Starsburg or Cole or rendon, which means there will be NO major headliner signings coming. So one can safely assume they ARE cutting payroll, even though so many here scoff at the notion that "several executives" would be privvy to the Brewers financial/payroll plans for this year, only we have message board fans that are INSISTENT that's false(that they are cutting payroll) as if they are privvy to the Brewers plans. Now I ask you who is more likely to know what they are doing?? Other people involved in baseball or posters on Brewerfan.net?? Again, they are sitting on at least 40-50 million +(to match last years payroll), so if they aren't cutting payroll, who are they spending it on?? Because it's pretty obvious DS is doing his Christmas(free agent) shopping at Walmart(low prices) this year. You almost always get what you pay for, when you shop at Walmart...you might get lucky once in awhile, but more often then not...price=quality. It is abundantly clear that you are cheering for the wrong team.

Once one of those idiot talking heads says something like that, it can spread like wildfire ... especially when no one from the organization comes out to dispute it. And guaranteed that none of that scuttle actually came from Stearns himself. It is 100% speculation, and bad speculation at that. Could it happen? Yeah, I suppose. But it is likely coming from big market idiots who are incredulous that a little market like the Brewers dare compete with their big wallet teams.

Next season is 2020. 2015 performance is not relevant Is there something about "minor league deal with a spring training invite" that was confusing to you? These are the exact type of guys you give a chance to.

I was sorta hoping the Brewers would make a play for Bundy as a buy-low guy. Oh well.

The issue with Castellanos is what is his worth? He's likely looking at very similar money to what Moose signed for (4 years/$64 million). Moose just turned 31, and is a solid if unspectacular fielder at 3B, and capable but below average at 2B. I'm sure Moose would be fine at 1B. Offensively, Moose doesn't have super drastic splits, but is decidedly much better against right-handed pitching. Castellanos will be 28 in March (so 3 1/2 years younger than Moose). He's a hack as a fielder at 3B, so he likely wouldn't/couldn't be the answer there, other than in spots. He doesn't have a ton of range in the corner OF, but can handle it. He'd also likely be fine at 1B. He has been pretty solid against both righties and lefties throughout his career, with a slight edge against lefties. Both bring similar power numbers. If he were to sign with the Brewers, I see him as a guy who would likely see time in both left field and at 1B, and probably some limited time at 3B as well. He'd be a prototypical #3 hitter behind Yelich. Given his youth and hitting ability, I'd be willing to give him a similar deal to what Moose signed for. I think there is a much better chance that Castellanos stays productive throughout the life of that deal, and he'd have another bite at the apple as a 32-year-old. Would you be comfortable doing a 6/$84 million contract (AAV $14 million)? I’m thinking that might be what he’s going to be approaching in this market. If he’s a first baseman, is he worth that? If he could just be below average in right and not be a total butcher, I think we would be okay. Of course he could fill in a handful of games at third as needed, but that definitely isn’t something they would do regularly. I would, with the hope that the NL will eventually adopt the DH for the last part of that deal. Castellanos played a lot of RF with the Cubs, and while he wasn't great, he also wasn't a huge liability out there. As a 1B, I think it is important to remember that even though he would have a high salary for that position, he isn't a guy who would need to be platoon, which provides more flexibility to the team. That is pretty valuable.

The market is certainly more robust, which is great for the players, but perhaps not as great for a team like the Brewers, who took advantage of a slow market to make a couple huge value signings last year. Stearns was able to read the market quite well last year, and the Brewers reaped the benefits. I assure you that he's got a good pulse on this year's market as well.

Yep, those are basically my thoughts as well. David Stearns hasn't been perfect, but I think he deserves the benefit of the doubt.

That's a lot of pessimistic "what ifs" LOL If we get to February, or the free agent market moves at lightning speed and things get picked over by January, then you worry. Now? Nope.

Same exact post, two different threads within an hour, both relevant and accurate.... Not sure if I should feel good about the active FA market early in the off season, or start to feel the doom and gloom of being a small market team.... Gerrit Cole (29 years old, 7.4 WAR) Pipe dream Stephen Strasburg (31, 5.7) Pipe dream Hyun-Jin Ryu (33, 4.8) Madison Bumgarner (30, 3.2) Michael Pineda (30, 2.7) Tanner Roark (33, 2.0) Wade Miley (33, 2.0) Brett Anderson (32, 2.0) Iván Nova (33, 2.0) Martín Pérez (29, 1.9) Rick Porcello (31, 1.8) Kevin Gausman (29, 1.6) Julio Teheran (29, 1.6) Jordan Lyles (29, 1.6) Gio Gonzalez (34, 1.4) Rich Hill (40, 0.9) Aaron Sanchez (27, 0.8) Dallas Keuchel (32, 0.8) Matt Moore (31, 0.5) Michael Wacha (28, -0.2) Alex Wood (29, -0.2) Tyler Anderson (30, -0.3) Josh Lindblom (32, N/A) Kendall Graveman (29, N/A) Shun Yamaguchi (32, N/A) Kwang-Hyun Kim (31, N/A) Obviously those first two aren't gonna happen, but there is still a ton of pitching available.

When you lose 1/3 of the starters on your team there is going to be doubt as to the credibility and competitiveness of the future of your beloved team. I get it we are a small market team but the fans have supported this team through attendance and apparel etc as if it was one of the Largest markets in baseball. I think it should be noted, yet again, that it is still extremely early in the offseason. I think a little patience is certainly in order.

He was a stud a few years ago for the Cubs. Not real sure what happened, but he's bounced around since. Not a terrible guy to take a flyer on.

$120 million. They are going to sign a front line starter this offseason with that kind of coin. Well, they already threw a lot of $$$ at Grandal. Kinda making up for being shut out of the market last year it appears.

I like this MLB offseason substantially better than last year's offseason. Starting to move at a pretty good pace, and we're only in early December!

We had that guy. Last year. One Mr. Cory Spangenberg.

$136 million. Not sure why you keep changing the number to suit the narrative, but it's not a good look.

I'm still waiting for all those vaunted Braves "can't miss" pitching prospects to bring that team to the World Series ...

Stop bringing logic to a false narrative fight!

Come on! Take off the Brewers colored glasses. Hamels has been a top tier starting pitcher in the major leagues for over a decade. Not only does he have the track record Hamels had the better season last year under any objective standard. I would say that Lyles' ceiling is probably what Hamels did last year. That is best case, though, and there's obviously a pretty low floor. But, given the likely cost when compared to potential production, I don't think think KeithStone's thought is abnormally out of line.

Wisconsin didn't play Penn State this year. Penn State's two losses are to Minnesota and Ohio State.

Per Jeff Passan: Kinda what I figured he'd go for ... a short big money deal. I can't imagine Keuchel will be back in Atlanta now, though.

The issue with Castellanos is what is his worth? He's likely looking at very similar money to what Moose signed for (4 years/$64 million). Moose just turned 31, and is a solid if unspectacular fielder at 3B, and capable but below average at 2B. I'm sure Moose would be fine at 1B. Offensively, Moose doesn't have super drastic splits, but is decidedly much better against right-handed pitching. Castellanos will be 28 in March (so 3 1/2 years younger than Moose). He's a hack as a fielder at 3B, so he likely wouldn't/couldn't be the answer there, other than in spots. He doesn't have a ton of range in the corner OF, but can handle it. He'd also likely be fine at 1B. He has been pretty solid against both righties and lefties throughout his career, with a slight edge against lefties. Both bring similar power numbers. If he were to sign with the Brewers, I see him as a guy who would likely see time in both left field and at 1B, and probably some limited time at 3B as well. He'd be a prototypical #3 hitter behind Yelich. Given his youth and hitting ability, I'd be willing to give him a similar deal to what Moose signed for. I think there is a much better chance that Castellanos stays productive throughout the life of that deal, and he'd have another bite at the apple as a 32-year-old.

Wouldn't surprise me in the least to see Lyles come back on something like a 2-year/$10-12 million deal. I'd love to see it, actually. In my opinion, it was a pretty big mistake not picking up his option last offseason. That said, if he's their biggest starting pitching move this offseason, fans might show up at Brewers On Deck in January with torches and pitchforks.