Brew Crew Buster

I'm interested in hiring a personal chef --- at the right cost.

It does seem wise to keep Thames. The trade value is minimal and he provides some insurance against Aguilar regressing. The Brewers could always cut him at some point during the year if things don't work out. It isn't worth subtracting Thames and not getting anything back right now.

I don't know that Thames has any value. He is likely to be the Santana of the Brewers 2018/2019 off season but with substantially higher $$$ around his neck holding him back from being moved. Gray has some value so this trade likely doesn't get done unless of course the Brewers want to add in a little something something like maybe Hernan Perez.

Is there the potential that the Brewers have been saving Peralta for such a start? I know this is a long shot considering he is a young rookie. I could see the majority of Brewer post season starts lasting about 2 or 4 innings or 1 to 2 times through the line up.

Considering Moose and Shaw occupy the same position, both bat left handed and profile to be similar players, I don't think it is likely they keep both of them and Schoop. Moustakas costs more and isn't as good of a hitter as Shaw so he is likely gone. I also don't see the Brewers signing Santana. I don't believe he has anyj0re options available and doesn't seem to be good as a bench bat. They may try signing him and keeping him through spring training to create some value and then trade him. But they weren't able to get value back last time.

Yeah. The Aguilar for McKenzie trade is probably crazy. Although the Indians did just give up one of the top catching prospects in baseball for not a whole lot. The larger point of the post was that Thames doesn't hold any value to other teams and if the Brewers actually want to trade a first baseman it has to be Aguilar.

The reality is there isn't much to trade if the Brewers want to compete next year. They don't have prospects that they want to give up and the bad contracts that they may have going into next year are not items that other teams may want. I am more interested in whom they keep or discard. Santana will be arbitration eligible. As will Broxton. Do they make an offer to either of them? A big question is Schoop? He is in his last year of arbitration and likely will make around 10M. Jennings? Knebel? Should they say good bye to all of them in hopes of signing a pitcher with the money?

Erich Thames is not a viable trade candidate at this point: 2019 Contract details by year $6,000,000 2020 Contract details by year $7,500,000 The 2020 contract does include a $1 M buy out. There is no market for a left handed hitting first baseman/designated hitter with a stat line of .224 .305 .491 .796. There may be a market for Aguilar though. And something like Aguilar for the Triston Mckenzie from the Indian's system could possibly work. Probably less than 1 year away from the majors. A top ten pitching prospect.

So Rodgers is 35 and signed for the next two years at $21 M. After that the team can franchise him for this annual amount plus 20% for a year. That would bring him through his age 38 season. Think about that: He is essentially signed through his age 38 season. The Green Bay Packers added years and boosted his average annual salary to an average of $33M a year. So for the next couple of years the Packers are paying $12 more a year and in year three it is $8 M more a year. So that is an additional $32 M over the next three years. After that, the 39 year old quarterback will be a free agent. I don't care who you are, your skills as a quarterback will be diminishing by age 39. He won't warrant a $33M a year contract on a 2 year contract at that point. And even if he does, The Packers could use the savings from the previous 3 years to pay the guy. The Packers are doing some smart pre-loading which may alleviate some of the pain but these are real world dollars. [/The Packers seem to be spending $32 M which they don't need to spend over the next 3 years. Or am I missing something? color]

And also Phillips blocking him.

The reason someone like Stokes is more available is: 1. the 40 man roster crunch is coming and he is going to be part of it. I could see a Miami taking him in Rule 5 if he isn't protected and then the Brewers lose him for nothing. 2. He is really blocked. Aside from Santana and Broxton which will both likely be given away at the end of the season, Stokes is blocked by 4 MLB outfielders signed through 2020 ( You have to include Thames in this at this point.) and Ray in front of him and Lutz coming up from behind him. Stokes is very, very available.

Ray is the third most valuable outfielder in the system, and that includes the MLB club, behind Yelich and Cain. if the Brewers are looking to trade him they should value him as such. He has slightly more value than Phillips and is much more valuable than Santana or Braun at this point. (I don't really consider Thames an outfielder, he is a first baseman that can fill a void where an outfielder typically stands.) This is somewhat based on production and scouting reports; but also based upon potential future control.

Well, at some point Stearns is going to leave. GMs rarely retire from their one and only job as a GM. Either they get fired or resign and move to another market. Stearns is what? 26? 27? Ok, he just looks that young. But the point is, I can't imagine that being the GM of the Milwaukee Brewers will be David Stearns last job. And considering he is successful, I would guess that larger market teams are going to come sniffing around. So much like a player approaching free agency the question for ownership is, "Do you attempt to get something for him before his contract ends or do you take the chance of resigning him?" And then from there are the questions about his value and timelines. The difference is that with a GM, you can't just trade him. He has to want to go someplace. Hopefully, if Stearns has an interest in the NY Mets job than owner and GM will have a conversation about it. I don't think there has ever been a trade of a player for the releasing of a GM from a contract to sign with the player's former team but I don't believe there is anything that precludes this from happening. And the case of David Stearns may be the perfect first example.

Considering how the Brewers would use him, for the rest of this year, I don't see what Hand provides the Brewers that Zack Duke doesn't? If you look at there stats so far this year, other than the irrelevant saves number, Hand isn't performing any better. There are questions as to how each will perform in the future but I think it is wise to not plan a bullpen to far ahead of time. The marginal value of a Hand long term doesn't warrant what will likely be very different asking prices.

Easy. Quality. Familiarity. LOOGY. Get it done.