Ron Robinsons Beard

You say you disagree, then said the exact same thing I did, LOL. They offered him a contact while he was here, the way I read it, he asked for more, he left without a contract, then, the Packers contacted him a few days later and matched his ask. Story (https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/nfl/packers/2019/01/29/packers-eyeing-vanderbilt-special-teams-coach-shawn-mennenga/2711911002/) says he "left without the offer he thought was forthcoming", which to me means the offer wasn't what he wanted. Later they met his offer. I know I read somewhere that he pulled out due to family concerns because he didn't want to relocate his family from Miami, and the flight back and forth was too far. That makes perfect sense to me. Could they have thrown a godfather offer at him as soon as he landed in Green Bay? Maybe. But I think it's also important to have coaches that actually want to be here. He ended up with the Saints, which is about a 35 minute flight from Miami, so good for him. Worked out well for him. I'm willing to give Mennenga the benefit of the doubt. If anything, hopefully he at least wants to be here.

While I wasn't a fan of seeing the Patriots yet again in the big game, you can't help but be in awe. The NFL breeds parity more than any other professional sport, so a team making the championship game 9 times in 20 years is crazy. Perhaps instead of chasing the flavor of the week in these McVay appendages, teams need to study and emulate what the Patriots are doing. Even more than they already do. The Pats weren't even close to the most talented team this season.

I love Jeffress, but not a chance. I wouldn't extend any reliever.

No one is advocating any of these guys replacing what we have. Miley was a depth signing last year that ended up pitching like a near ace. These would be depth signings as well. Not a lot of risk.

It was in a recent JS story, maybe from Thursday. Kinda what I suspected. The Packers initial offer wasn’t what he wanted, but then they contacted him a day or so later and matched his ask. It was then he pulled his name out. Silverstein’s complaints were off base (implied Packers were being cheap and making a mistake). Packers did what they needed to. Still don't understand Silverstein's hard-on for the guy.

You need to operate that way to be a successful GM, especially when you work for a small market. The Brewers should be signing several of these types every season. The chances of it working are slim, but if it does, that can be the difference between making the playoffs or not. Having success with Miley should be more reason to do this, not less. It’s hard proof that their research and analytics work.

You need to operate that way to be a successful GM, especially when you work for a small market. The Brewers should be signing several of these types every season. The chances of it working are slim, but if it does, that can be the difference between making the playoffs or not. Having success with Miley should be more reason to do this, not less. It’s hard proof that their research and analytics work.

I think that is really short-sighted. So many people said the same thing about Miley last year, me included. His performance told me not to write off anyone. It also told me that I should be happy that none of us at GMs, because we're all idiots when it comes to personnel.

I said the same thing about Miley last year. Repeatedly. The only thing it proved is that I'm an idiot, and often these guys know more than me. I don't think we'll see Guerra starting this year, though. He's said as much, and he looked much better in relief. Let him settle in there.

He was the team's best pitcher, when available. Pretty big caveat. I would have preferred to resign him, but who knows if he would have even resigned with the Brewers for that kind of price? I'm ok with the team moving on, as I think they have a plan in place.

I wouldn't. Relievers are so volatile. The chance that Knebel is out of the league in 4 years is probably just as high as the chance he's still performing at a high level.

Yeah that thing seems odd. My guess is Rizzi threw some number out there and once he got it he thought he could do better. Apparently, he got along really well with LaFleur. Apparently Rizzi didn't want to uproot his family from Miami, and the distance between Green Bay and Miami was just too much. Green Bay definitely met his asking price, so money wasn't the issue. He was just hired as the special teams coach for the Saints, so mission accomplished on his part.

1) Guerra was quoted last month saying that the Brewers have already informed him that he'll be in the pen in 2019. He was electric there, so that makes a lot of sense in my opinion. I think he's done as a starter with the Brewers, though, barring the unforeseen. If nothing changes roster-wise, Burnes slides into that spot. 2) I agree on Houser. I predict he looks strong in Spring Training and makes the team as a reliever. He's going to have to pitch well to maintain his spot, though. I just hate to give up on that kind of arm. 3) I also agree on Peralta heading to AAA. There's just no room at the inn, especially if they have to keep Houser up full time. I predict he'll make a big contribution to the 2019 MLB squad, though. Just maybe not in April. 4) Its really cool having power arms like Williams, Wahl and Petricka at their disposal at AAA. That shuttle is gonna get a lot of work. 5) Predictions - a) One of Davies or Anderson is dealt before the start of the season. b) Trey Supak is a breakout star in AAA, and makes an impact at the ML level.

yeah, Dylan Moore signed a deal with Seattle back in November. I think Gatewood will be back at some point this spring, but it will probably take him some time to get back into the swing. My guess is he's playing in games sometime in June. I look for the Brewers to ink an insurance 1B to a minors deal like thwy did with Choi last year. Someone like Tommy Joseph makes sense. I too believe that both Supak and Brown will get bumped to AAA. Those two really have nothing to prove repeating in Biloxi. Derby, Wilkerson and Ponce could all be bumped to the pen. Houser is out of options, so its Milwaukee or bust for him.

I would love to be able to grab Fulmer on the cheap, and hope for a rebound. That stuff, when right, is legit. Stroman also has a ton of talent, but a rough injury history lately.

Last year the Brewers signed Wade Miley and Yovani Gallardo to cheap deals (a cheap non-guaranteed MLB deal for Yo and a minors deal with opt-out for Miley). In 2017 they inked Tommy Milone to a similar deal. While their starting pitching depth now is arguably better, I still think there's a good chance that they'll grab one or two of these types with the hope of catching lightning in a bottle like they did with Miley. So ... who's out there that falls into the category of a guy who either has unfulfilled potential or has had good success in the past, but as fallen on hard times? Looking at the list of who is still available, a few names caught my eye. Chris Tillman - RHP - Put up some great numbers for several years with the Orioles pitching in the AL East. The last two years were decidedly horrible, but maybe there is something still there? Doug Fister - RHP - Older, but did some solid work for Detroit, Washington and Houston before the wheels came off in Texas last year. Solid track record, though. Francisco Liriano - LHP - Another older guy, but he's been durable. Not really a power guy, so he really shouldn't be losing it yet. Plus ....LEFTY! If the Brewers really want a lefty in the rotation, Liriano would come cheap. James Shields - RHP - Not even close to the ace he was with the Rays years ago, but if you are looking for a veteran who will willingly take the ball every 5 days, and likely keep you in the game, he's your guy. Brett Anderson - LHP - Lefty alert, lefty alert! Anderson has battled injuries pretty much his whole career, but he's also had periods of effectiveness, and isn't old at only 31. Jeremy Hellickson - RHP - I've always like the idea of Jeremy Hellickson much more than Hellickson's results. He was supposed to be Tampa Bay's next big ace after Shields, but has never put it together consistently. Still, he's actually been pretty solid while bouncing around to a few teams the last couple years. Clay Buchholz - RHP - The former Red Sox phenom is 34! (man that makes me feel old) He was actually really, really good for the DBacks last year. I had to do a double take at his numbers. He might be a little more pricey. Homer Bailey - RHP - Hell, why not? On a minor league deal, there is nothing to lose. Maybe I'm a sucker for former high draft pick phenoms? All these guys (except maybe Hellickson and Buchholz) should be available for either minor league deals or cheap non-guaranteed MLB deals.

I too would have signed him at the price the Astros got him at. Who knows if that was even an option for the Brewers, though? Negotiations don't happen in a vacuum. Still, solid signing for the Astros. Pretty cheap insurance in case Keuchel signs elsewhere. While Keuchel has obviously had a ton more success and is much more durable than Miley, they are similar style pitchers. And I'm happy for Wade, as he seemed like a pretty cool, laid back dude who was a good fit personality wise in the clubhouse. I also appreciate that he worked with the Brewers to stay in the organization instead of opting out of his deal after getting hurt in Spring Training. His presence in the rotation in August and September may have been the difference between making the playoffs and not. That said, I think the Brewers will go hard after Keuchel now, and perhaps Gio as a fallback. They could always make a trade play for MadBum or Kluber as well. They could also sign a few rebound candidates like they did last year with Miley and Gallardo. A lot of starting pitching options are still on the table if the team wants to go down that road. Even with Miley's loss, I still feel much better about the starting pitching going into the season.

Miley was great for the Brewers last year. But a big part of being an important member of a rotation for a World Series-contending team is durability, and at Miley's age, the chances of him avoiding injury aren't going to increase. Heck, he already missed a huge chunk of the 2018 season. I'm guessing his durability is a big reason why he isn't back this year.

Personally I think it will be hard for Stearns to ever find a #1 starter or so to his liking price wise. He seems to be following the recent trend to spend big, whether that be draft/FA/trade, on positional players that are less risky investments and get pitching by more creative means. It is much easier to take a Chacin/Miley and tweak them to have success you would not expect. Hitters are more face value. What you see is what you get. I totally get what you are saying, as that is exactly the way they have operated. At the same time, though, while some of the talk may be just smoke, there's so much of it that there has to be some fire there. Perhaps position players are simply easier to acquire via trade? Perhaps the Brewers just have a different value system on pitchers than the other teams in the league do, and that explains why they haven't been able to make a deal for one. Obviously every GM in the league would like to acquire a top arm at his price. Who knows? Maybe Stearns is on someone no one s even thinking about.

I'm really starting to get an Ahab/White Whale vibe from Stearns and his pursuit of a #1 starter. The Brewers have literally been linked to every decent starter who has theoretically come onto the market for the last 1 1/2 years. Stearns doesn't seem to have any issue acquiring top players at other positions, but just hasn't been able to pull the trigger on a top starter, despite being linked to so many. Will this be the offseason that it finally happens?

Can we please stop the Braun steroids discussion right here? Seriously, it's like the song that never ends. That horse has decomposed to dust by now.

The Rizzi situation is just odd. There has to be something underlying that we don't know. It doesn't help that Silverstein seems to have a hard-on for the guy, and is letting that bias show.

I just don't know. We saw some leaks with the Melvin regime, but Stearns seems to really keep things close to the vest, with only a very small circle of people privy to what is going on. The Grandal news came pretty much out of nowhere, and the fact that the team was able to keep that completely quiet speaks volumes for how they choose to do business. If Paul Crane has an actual source that pins the Brewers as one of the finalists for Keuchel, I can guarantee that source isn't from the Brewers. My guess is Crane knows someone in Atlanta's front office, or Keuchel's agent.

I still think the Brewers are slow-playing Marwin. He's such a perfect fit for this roster ... I can't believe he isn't being linked to the Brewers more. Perhaps that is right in Stearns' wheelhouse though.

Why must every potential pitching acquisition be compared to Jeff Suppan? Are we seriously that traumatized that we have pitching free agent-induced PTSD? Keuchel is not even close to same pitcher that Suppan was.