Ron Robinsons Beard

It says that their foreign (read Latin American) recruitment has been a joke for the last decade, and now they are paying the price for it. It has improved over the last year or so, but they won't see the fruits of that for several years.

If they call up Supak and two of Perdomo/Ponce/Devin Williams/Griep/Rasmussen, I think they could do well enough to make the playoffs and win. Rotation: Davies, Gio, Anderson, Houser, Supak Bullpen: Hader, Jeffress, Peralta, Rasmussen, Jackson, Claudio, Ponce, Guerra When Woodruff returns, it's Houser to the pen, Jackson optioned. Supak, Ponce, Williams and Rasmussen have never thrown a pitch above AA, and Griep had a cup of coffee there before inexplicably being send back to Biloxi. Perdomo is pretty rarely used in AAA. It's obvious that they have no interest in giving these young guys a chance, and instead prefer to cycle through retreads and AAAA types. I don't see this changing, unfortunately.

Fixed my error on Lynn, and added Dylan Bundy. He might be a fun buy low guy.

Kennedy is signed for $16.5 million next year. That is super pricey for a relief arm. But if the Royals would eat some of that, then maybe.

I think Chacin likely would have made his next start. The well is getting pretty dry as far as viable starting pitching options. I like Supak as well, but there has to be a reason why they haven't even promoted him to AAA yet. For a guy who is taking a 40-man spot and has been near dominant in AA, that doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I want Houser to stay in the pen, but I think they are going to be forced to put him back in the rotation. I get the feeling he's ahead of Peralta in the rotation pecking order currently, as he was just moved back to the pen last week. He should have no problem taking starts again, as only one turn has been missed. Honestly, I know it isn't inspiring, but it wouldn't surprise me to see Houser and Burch Smith take Woody and Chacin's spots in the rotation. Smith has been bleh as a mop-up reliever, but he was pretty dominant in his time as a starter at AAA. Otherwise Wilkerson, Shelby Miller, Derby, Zach Brown and Thomas Jankins are currently holding down AAA rotation spots. I think if Nelson comes back up, it will be exclusively as a reliever. So what's the deal with Wilkerson. Is he hurt? This guy is lights out in AAA but gets yanked off Brewers squad like weather changes here. Jason Vargas is available for trade from the Mets. He has one of the best change ups in the majors and he knows post season play. Also, Ian Kennedy can be picked up from the Royals for next to nothing. Two veteran arms that the Brewers need. One starter and one reliever. They need both. I think the Brewers brass has recognized Wilkerson for what he is, which is a AAAA arm. His command allows him to get away with his sub-optimal stuff against AAA hitters, but he gets exposed against MLB hitting. He got slapped around pretty good in his last MLB appearance, and was promptly sent packing. Textbook AAAA guy. I'm not a Vargas fan, but I agree that he'd eat innings and probably keep them in most games. He also would cost next to nothing. Kennedy would be a solid add, but he has a huge salary and a contract that runs through next year. If you can get the Royals to eat some of that deal, then maybe.

You're right ... i forgot that his deal with the Rangers was 3 years. I assumed it was a 1-year deal, but I got his deals with the Rangers this past spring and with the Twins last year confused. Good point on Gray as well. That would be one heck of a talented arm to grab. I think Freeland could be classified as that as well, but I doubt the Rockies sell him at such a low point.

I think Chacin likely would have made his next start. The well is getting pretty dry as far as viable starting pitching options. I like Supak as well, but there has to be a reason why they haven't even promoted him to AAA yet. For a guy who is taking a 40-man spot and has been near dominant in AA, that doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I want Houser to stay in the pen, but I think they are going to be forced to put him back in the rotation. I get the feeling he's ahead of Peralta in the rotation pecking order currently, as he was just moved back to the pen last week. He should have no problem taking starts again, as only one turn has been missed. Honestly, I know it isn't inspiring, but it wouldn't surprise me to see Houser and Burch Smith take Woody and Chacin's spots in the rotation. Smith has been bleh as a mop-up reliever, but he was pretty dominant in his time as a starter at AAA. Otherwise Wilkerson, Shelby Miller, Derby, Zach Brown and Thomas Jankins are currently holding down AAA rotation spots. I think if Nelson comes back up, it will be exclusively as a reliever.

Just out of curiosity, how did you decide your tiers? I like several of the guys in tier 3 more than the ones in tier 2, so I’m wondering if you set up the tiers based on expected cost to acquire, or quality of arms, or how much you would desire that particular player? Basically cost/benefit analysis for 2019. I personally like several of the Tier 3 guys more than Tier 2 as well (Minor, Smith and Richards), but the prospect cost on those guys I imagine will be significantly higher. Also Roark is a rental, so I adjusted my list, while adding Danny Duffy, who I neglected to throw in. I suppose Homer Bailey could be added to the rental pile as well.

OK, obviously with Woodruff and Chacin nursing injuries that are going to keep them out for 4-6 weeks, the Brewers need to grab at least one starter. There are several solid trade candidates out there. Tier 1 (controllable upper-level arms): 1. Noah Syndergaard 2. Marcus Stroman 3. Trevor Bauer 4. Robbie Ray 5. Matthew Boyd Tier 2 (innings-eating rentals): 6. Madison Bumgarner 7. Zach Wheeler 8. Jason Vargas 9. Ivan Nova 10. Tanner Roark 11. Homer Bailey Tier 3 (innings-eating controllable starters): 12. Mike Minor 13. Caleb Smith 14. Trevor Richards 15. Lance Lynn 16. Dylan Bundy 17. Alex Wood 18. Danny Duffy 19. Mike Leake 20. Jordan Lyles Free Agent options: 21. Matt Harvey 22. Chris Tillman 23. James Shields Minors possibilities: 24. Shelby Miller 25. Trey Supak 26. Aaron Wilkerson 27. Burch Smith (I know he's on the MLB roster right now) 28. Thomas Jankins 29. Bubba Derby 30. Zach Brown I kinda would like one from Tier 2 and one from Tier 3. Of course, what will probably happen is Houser will be moved to the rotation, and they'll either move Burch Smith there as well, or purchase Shelby Miller's contract.

For 5 million you wouldn't have wanted to bring back Cobb? Sure, he's injury prone and he's not likely to ever have a 1300 yard season again, but that's a helluva value for Cobb. Wanting them gone when they were grossly overpaid is one thing, but wanting them gone just regardless makes little sense to me. Matthews, I wouldn't pay what the Rams paid, but I'd have tried to bring him back. He's also just 28 years old and only 3 years older than Allison, a guy who's been banged up 2 of the 3 seasons he'd played and who is not nearly as good of a fit in the slot as Cobb. I mean, I love St. Brown and MVS, just their physical attributes, but Cobb was a proven slot receiver and he was probably one of the best bargain signings of the off-season and is a perfect fit in Dallas with that OL, Zeke and Cooper. Matthews I just wanted back because of his versatility and again, not at the price the Rams paid. Not that it's too high, but too high for us for protection at multiple positions. But, they're both gone now, as is Mike Daniels and the Packers are doing things differently. I suspect they'll find fewer guys who take hometown discounts, but that's fine. As long as they're aggressive in solving problems like they did on the edge and safety this past off-season. No, I wouldn't. They plateaued long ago and I would rather see kids on the field. Adams plus the rest of the guys who have a couple seasons under the belt should be the crew now. Cobb misses time every year or plays badly banged up. He's a great guy, nice rapport with Rodgers on busted plays, but was the poster child for time to move on. Matthews is the same. They both might still be decent players but I'd rather someone else roll that dice. Plus if Cobb were on the team, he'd be Rodgers' security blanket. Getting rid of him (and Nelson last year) forces Rodgers to depend on the young up-and-comers instead of giving those guys the cold shoulder in favor of the guys he trusts more or is more familiar with. You saw it last year as his trust in Valdes-Scantling improved, he began looking his way more. Valdes-Scantling likely wouldn't have had much playing time at all if Nelson were back and Cobb and Allison weren't hurt last year. Now he's a prime break-out candidate, and could turn out to be the game-breaker type this team has been searching for for years.

Drew Smyly would sure look nice to have in the rotation right now. Funny how things change in a week's time.

Because they won. And it isn’t as bad as you guys make it out to be. From my very short time on here everything is civil. No one is chasing others around calling them douchebags etc. pretty much all the criticism is fair and reasonable. And all the debate to the criticism is fair and reasonable too. It’s not toxic at all People should just relax and have fun. It’s a game with a bunch of guys making a crap load of money. It’s not anyone’s children (at least I don’t think so] They were losing for a large portion of the game, yet the "this game is over" posts just weren't around today. It was nice. Perhaps it was because it was a day game? In any case, it was a fun game to follow here.

Arcia put together four nice ABs today. Showed a lot of patience. No qualms with his game today.

Peralta seems like the logical choice to replace him, but man has he been dealing from the pen lately. I doubt they go down that road again. I think Houser for sure will go back to the rotation (which is kinda unfortunate). It wouldn't surprise me to see Wilkerson (ugh) take starts as well. They've already said Nelson isn't going to be stretched out again as a starter this year. My choice would be Supak, but they seem hesitant to even promote him from AA. Matt Harvey (big gulp) just passed through waivers unclaimed, and is a free agent. They liked him last year.

I noticed the same thing. Fun afternoon. Get a room you two crazy kids Just happy the toxicity was gone, at least for a day.

Salami honeymoon was sure short.

Big win today! This may be the dawn of the closer Freddy era. That was dang impressive. His lack of secondary stuff plays so much better at the back end of the pen.

Yeah, that was just ... weird.

I noticed the same thing. Fun afternoon.

If they can install Peralta as the closer, and move Hader back to his match-up multi-inning role, that could be a huge development for this team's fortunes moving forward.

Well, that was some uninspiring offense. Credit to Derek Johnson.

Bases loaded nobody out is kinda kryponite for this team.

Puig shaved between innings. What a weird dude.

Nice inning! Now lets put up a crooked number and get Hader out of there and rested up for Friday.

Wow, Thames looks like he's in pain up there. Could be a bad thing that Aguilar has already been used. Could be seeing Moose take over there ... or I guess Saladino if Moose goes to 3rd.