Ron Robinsons Beard

I love Luc, but he's not going to want to be in a timeshare with Manny, and Manny doesn't deserve to get benched. But if he continues to languish on the market, and will sign a cheap contract, maybe ...

No you are not. But there are people that believe that every player who had a good season last year is suddenly going to regress.

Exactly! This isn't trading Torres plus other top prospects for a couple months of Chapman. This is trading a potential future for a much more sure future.

If its the difference between making the playoffs and not, between having a chance at the World Series or not, you're damn right I am. If we have to go into another rebuild in 5-6 years, so be it. That's the economics of small market baseball.

No one is advocating going full on Chicago Cubs and selling off every decent prospect in the system. Like I mentioned before, its a tightrope. You build with prospects, but can't be afraid to pull the trigger or selling them off to improve the big club. I think the biggest thing here is a disagreement on the value of Archer. I think pitching in the NL Central, he's a stud. Obviously you don't all think so. But the team hasn't had a pitcher with his type of stuff since Greinke or Sheets.

That isn't entirely correct, either. Other than Darvish, the top free agent pitchers have draft pick compensation attached to them. High draft pick compensation. Plus the huge contact you are paying. If you can get that same type of pitcher on a more affordable contract, but have to give up more prospect capital to do it, I do that every time.

That is why they "HAVE to hit on their draft picks" I mean, he answered you already! Continue to build through the draft and international free agency so you continue to have currency to build and maintain a contender.

Or wait on the very realistic possibility of those prospects flaming out or getting hurt, so they never make an impact with the Brewers. They've had plenty over the years. Yes, it is correct that it is a tightrope act deciding which prospects are expendable in a trade, and which you decide to build your team around. There are plenty of former Brewer prospects that I wish the team had back ... and Cain was probably #1 on the list. There are many many more, though, that rocketed up the ladder and the prospect ranks, only to flame out. If I can trade a few of those "maybes" for legit major league talent, I do that nearly every time.

Guys like Harrison, Gatewood and Peralta were afterthoughts going into 2017, while Diaz's value was sky high. One season, and suddenly the roles are reversed. Yes, you trade guys when their value is high. If the team has done well stocking the system, other players can and will step up. Also, the draft will help restock the system with talent to partially take the place of the talent traded off. Management and the farm system as a whole is in a much better place than it was 10 years ago.

Corbin Burnes Freddy Peralta Jake Gatewood Jacob Nottingham As noted above, the Rays don't really have a need for Santana, unless it was to flip him later. I think he goes to a contender. The four above are tough to give up, but I think it's a fair deal. All 4 are high upside players. Dude, that is whacko, bananas crazy talk... You scare me. Burnes, Peralta and Gatewood broke out last year, which means their value is sky high. That's why other teams are going to target them too. Burnes and Peralta profile as #4s or 3s, while Gatewood and Nottingham may not even make the show. Archer is under affordable team control for several seasons, and is a solid #2. Yep I do that deal. Can't overvalue prospects.

You've been preaching to no end in every post that the team needs to acquire another pitcher, now it's if they don't sign a free agent, roll with what we have? Yep, I feel like I'm being messed with.

Dude, you are obsessed with getting a pitcher, but don't want to trade a lot for Archer. Who do you want?

Corbin Burnes Freddy Peralta Jake Gatewood Jacob Nottingham As noted above, the Rays don't really have a need for Santana, unless it was to flip him later. I think he goes to a contender. The four above are tough to give up, but I think it's a fair deal. All 4 are high upside players.

Or other teams have shown interest since the moves last week, causing Stearns to reconsider. Cheap, young power-hitting corner outfielders don't come up on the market very often. Having guys like J.D. Martinez and Carlos Gonzales still out there probably doesn't help. Santana is kind of a "poor man's version" of them.

This would seem to be locked in. So what happens if Guerra (as an example, not a prediction) looks unhittable in the spring? 80% of the time they have 8 relievers in the pen, but not to start the season. There are also guys like Taylor Williams and Adrian Houser that factor into the bullpen mix at some point in 2018. For that matter, Bubby Derby Nick Ramirez and even Luis Ortiz and Freddy Peralta could end up pitching meaningful innings. Nice to have some depth there.

Dude, it's January. There's still time.

Then what, sign Moustakas?

Well, Reed signed for 2 years at $16.75 million guaranteed. Even if you doubled Albers's money, that's 2 years at $10 million, not counting incentives.

My guess is the smaller deal is Broxton or perhaps one of our 1B if Braun is moving there.

Not a huge fan of mid-30s relievers, but man did he have a great year last year! Low cost as well. I like it.

Darvish Arrieta Greinke Based on age alone. Pitchers in their late 30s who continue to get good results are very, very rare. Yes, Greinke is very smart and ultra-competitive, but I just have a feeling his age coupled with the innings load on his arm over the years is going to catch up with him. Granted it isn't like Arrieta and Darvish don't have wear on their arms, too, but I'm taking the younger guy every time. If we're talking about only 2018-19, though, I'd probably pick Greinke.

I think that's a HUGE overvalue for McKenzie. He's a good prospect to be sure, but value-wise, he isn't far off of what Woodruff is. I get the feeling reading this thread that we are substantially undervaluing our own guys, while overvaluing Cleveland's. Santana straight up for McKenzie would be a steal for Cleveland.

Not even close. If Archer is coming to Milwaukee, Santana plus likely at least one top 100 prospect are going to Tampa Bay. I'd do Santana and Broxton for Archer in a heartbeat. I'd think about Santana and Woodruff, but that would be tough. If they need a starter, I'd much rather trade one of our higher upside guys in the lower minors. I have a feeling Woodruff is going to be very valuable and needed this year, and in years to come.

Because it's a board and people like speculate. Almost all of these trade offers are treating Mejia like a throw-in. I am higher on Mejia than Brinson, but they are I believe the #19 and #20 prospects right now in baseball. I think Mejia climbs higher by this time next year, but let's treat them the same. People are just acting like we'd have thrown in Lewis Brinson as the tiebreaker in a very close trade. It's kinda absurd. "You think that Broxton for [insert moderate-ceiling AAA reliever here] is slightly in the Brewers favor but very close? OK, we'll throw in Brinson to smooth that out." Someone just posted Mejia for Santana. I think that is somewhat closer to a reality, but I still think Cleveland hangs up the phone and waits for a few more pieces to be added before they even start thinking about it. My speculative offer is FAR from treating Mejia as a throw-in. Santana is a 30 HR middle of the order bat who is very cheap and cost-controlled for several more years. While he doesn't have the value Yelich brings to the table, he isn't far off. The Brewers just traded a top 30 prospect (Brinson), a top 50 (Harrison) a borderline top 100 (Diaz) and a valuable flyer (Yamamoto) for Yelich. Santana for Mejia straight-up is a big overpay on the Brewers' end. Santana and Nottingham for Mejia is robbery. I think if there is a trade with Cleveland, pitching is coming back. It all depends on how Santana and Salazar compare value-wise. I say when looking at salary and years of control, Santana has quite a bit more value than Salazar. Mejia and Brinson are likely rated close to similar value-wise. Nottingham's value falls between Diaz and Yamamoto, but would give Cleveland a ready-made catcher to take Mejia's spot in the upper minors. Perhaps the Brewers would need to throw in another mid-level prospect, but the deal works.

I think Phillips's skillset screams "rightfielder of the future". Developing power, decent contact skills, good speed, fiery mentality. It's funny that he and Santana came to the team in the same deal, because they seem to be close to polar opposites in a lot of ways. Santana is definitely a player Doug Melvin would have loved - athletic, hulking and powerful. Phillips's all-around skills, defensive prowess and all-out attitude I believe makes him more of a Stearns-type player. A prospective outfield of Yelich in LF, Cain in CF and Phillips in RF would likely be one of the best defensively in baseball. He's why I think the Braun to 1B thing is going to happen.