jonescm128

Rowdy has absolutely earned a roster spot for 2022 with his play in 2021. That said, he has a career WAR of 0.7 in over 900 MLB PAs, and even with a nice 2nd half in Milwaukee had a WAR of -0.5 in 2021. To this point in his career, he is Daniel Vogelbach with better defense. Not to say he can't improve, he's still early in his career and absolutely has shown encouraging stretches. If he's all we can afford given the glut of bad contracts in the outfield...I get it and I wouldn't be terribly upset about it. But I would be actively looking to upgrade the position if possible. I'd be much happier with him as a bench bat than as an everyday starter. I know this is a 1B thread but I would still be inclined to upgrade our OF, even with all the money tied up there. Do we really want to rely on a Yelich and JBJ rebound and a productive season from a 36 year old Cain?

Forgot about Garcia. We have to replace - or pony up some serious cash to keep - him. I don't know if I am in the minority but I'd rather he walk. Is he worth $12M? A career year that he may never replicate for a guy with a career .756 OPS. I'd rather give Tyrone Taylor the ABs to see what he can do with regular playing time. Use that money to help cover the arbitration raises.

Our offense was not nearly good enough. Take a look at every other postseason teams lineup and you will see that the Brewers easily had the worst of them all. Exactly. This team had WS caliber pitching but it was always going to be if the offense could produce, and they could not. Over the course of a 162 game season you can hide some flaws when you have dominant pitching but in a playoff series where pitching is great, you need impact bats. Anyone trying to pin their exit on anything else is just being naïve.

I would not be trading any of them. Pitching is the most difficult thing to get right for teams and we have elite, young, cheap pitchers. That was our strength this year and it will be our strength for the next few years. I understand the need for improving the offense but you don't want to weaken what made you a force this year. Stearns reportedly made a "big time offer" for Bryan Reynolds so I think he will make a push for an impact bat in the offseason but I doubt it will be from our ML pitching staff. Maybe you can deal a Houser or Small but I wouldnt be getting rid of Woody, Burnes, Peralta, Lauer or Ashby. If there is a year to dig into the FA market for a bat, this is it. Class is loaded with talent and I think if you can get some 2/3/4 year deals and backload it a bit after Cain and JBJ are off the books after this year you might have something.

Bryant I would understand, and get on board with. But Schwarber to me is the exact type of steaky, slump-finding bat that we should be trying to get away from. I don't agree with that. Since 2018 he has a .243/.349/.502 line and that is with a terrible 2020. He really took it to another level this year .266/.374/.554 Not to mention he is a postseason stud. Over 100 PAs he is currently .294/.406/.588

I understand the thought process here, but if the Brewers are in a playoff chase at the trade deadline and they trade Hader, out stud closer, that will be a shocking development. no way a contending team trades away the best closer in baseball at the deadline if they are still competing for a playoff spot. Exactly this. It's either off-season trade or not at all and we get a comp pick...most likely the latter because they should be postseason contenders for the next two years.

Anyone blaming anything else but the offense in this series is just reaching for excuses Wong: 1-15 (.067/.176/.067) Adames: 5-17 (.294/.294/.353) Yelich: 3-15 (.200/.294/.200) Garcia: 2-15 (.133/.188/.133) Their collective stat lines: 11-62, 3 BB, 30 Ks, 1 XBH for a slash line of .177/.239/.179 Absolutely no way you can win when your top 4 hitters are doing that.

That is a legitimate concern, probably the one hole in Stearns' track record with the Brewers. Not sure why a big time hitter hasn't been found via the draft. Not doing so also hampers the payroll a bit, since the team has to spend on free agents to buy offense. That doesn't always pan out, either. There is some hope that Hiura could bounce back to become that big homegrown hitter in the lineup. Shouldn't write him off yet, just as Burnes wasn't written off after the 2019 season. And there are some potential bats in AA and High-A, but they are a few seasons away from reaching the majors with plenty left to prove in the minors. But the lack of developing hitters in house means that trading from the position of strength--the pitching depth--will likely be the method of acquiring bats for the 2022 and 2023 seasons. Definitely. Would love to know what the "big time offer" was to acquire Bryan Reynolds. Man, that would have been amazing. Love watching that dude hit.

I think there is room if a deal is more backloaded. Cain and JBJ and their $30m come off the books in 2023. Banking on a bounce back season from JBJ, Yelich and Hiura and a productive season from Cain at 36 years old is a lot of "ifs".

The point is there is not infinite gobs of money to throw around. You only get so many bites at the free agency apple unless you are a team like the Dodgers or Yankees. So when you sign players to big free agent deals, you are taking a huge risk that they will continue to perform at the same level that earned them that deal to begin with. Yelich is a prime example of this. They signed him to a huge extension, and his performance has tanked ever since. That's the risk. They've signed guys like Garcia, Wong and JBJ to what wouldn't be classified as huge deals, but large enough deals that they make an impact on the team's financial flexibility, and those contracts have varied from being downright bad so far (JBJ) to partially working out (Garcia bad in 2020, better in 2021, but non-existent in the playoffs), to mostly working out (Wong was very good in the regular season, but somewhat disappeared in the playoffs). Sure, we could sign Kris Bryant to a huge multi-year offer, but you really don't know if you are getting the MVP level Bryant of a few years ago and what he did pre-trade, or the injured, terrible version we saw in 2020. If you get the bad version, it's a sunk cost that is nearly impossible to fix. That doesn't mean that it is prudent to live in fear and sit on your hands in free agency. But just that there is plenty of inherent risk in free agency that simply is more complex than just throwing gobs of money at to fix. The JBJ deal never really made sense to me. I almost feel like it was a rebound after missing out on Justin Turner.

The point is there is not infinite gobs of money to throw around. You only get so many bites at the free agency apple unless you are a team like the Dodgers or Yankees. So when you sign players to big free agent deals, you are taking a huge risk that they will continue to perform at the same level that earned them that deal to begin with. Yelich is a prime example of this. They signed him to a huge extension, and his performance has tanked ever since. That's the risk. They've signed guys like Garcia, Wong and JBJ to what wouldn't be classified as huge deals, but large enough deals that they make an impact on the team's financial flexibility, and those contracts have varied from being downright bad to far (JBJ) to partially working out (Garcia bad in 2020, better in 2021, but non-existent in the playoffs), to mostly working out (Wong was very good in the regular season, but somewhat disappeared in the playoffs). Sure, we could sign Kris Bryant to a huge multi-year offer, but you really don't know if you are getting the MVP level Bryant of a few years ago and what he did pre-trade, or the injured, terrible version we saw in 2020. If you get the bad version, it's a sunk cost that is nearly impossible to fix. Well, sure. There is always a risk when signing free agents. And I don't mean gobs of money in the terms of New York or LA gobs of money. But if we have identified any trends from Stearns years in Milwaukee its that he is more willing to spend on bats than he is on arms. He isn't going to go high years high dollars with Yelich on the books but an impact bat on a 2/3 year deal still gives you financial flexibility. If what we heard about Justin Turner is true then our offer was very similar to the Dodgers 2yr/$34 million deal he took. Those are the types of deals I am referring too. Higher dollars, short years. The trouble is finding players who are willing to take that. They usually want security. Different when its for a 36 year old Justin Turner... Then there are the deals like Grandal and Marcus Semien took. 1yr/$18m. Those are the types of FA deals that are in our wheelhouse.

What? They can be the same thing if you throw gobs of money at the right guys. Trade Hader. As much as no one wants to, one of Burnes or Woodruff will need to be traded at some point too. Neither of those involve giving bloated contracts to aging free agents. I think he definitely gets traded but not sure it happens now. I dont think trading the best reliever in the game with two more years of control is the smart thing to do with the window we have to compete now. But if you want the biggest haul for him it will have to be for a year or more of control. Id guess it happens after next year. Not sure you can just let him walk for a comp pick.

Totally agree. If I had to choose I would rather have great pitching development as that keeps you competitive for longer. We lived through the opposite. We have some promising talent in the lower minors but thats still a few years away.

What? They can be the same thing if you throw gobs of money at the right guys. How'd that work out for the Mets? How 'bout the Phillies? Or the Reds? Okay what is your angle here? Bryce Harper and Nick Castellanos have been great. Lindor hasn't lived up to that contract yet. I can cherry pick good contracts and bad contracts across the entire league for arguments sake but I'm not sure what your argument is. I said it can be the same thing if you throw a lot of money at the right guys. If we got Kris Bryant on a multi year deal and he consistently gives you .850 -.900 OPS seasons then how is that not worth it?

What? They can be the same thing if you throw gobs of money at the right guys.

I think Stearns is getting way too much blame here. In terms of money, he only has what the owner is willing to spend. Nobody foresaw the seasons from Yelich, Hiura and JBJ that they had this year. Those guys were supposed to be key contributors to our offense. In addition, Stearns did make a "big time offer" for Bryan Reynolds at the deadline so he recognizes where this team had issues. If he was willing to do it mid-season, he will be willing to do it in the off-season. Let us not forget that he did acquire Adames, Tellez and Urias. All who played key roles this year and who will be expected to be key contributors next year. Whether we make runs at guys like Kris Bryant, Kyle Schwarber or Marcus Semien (a wider range of available players if NL DH is implemented) or if we make a big trade acquisition, Stearns knows where this team needs help. I am hopeful Antanassio allows that payroll to extend a bit after the loss I'm sure they took last year and I think they have the ability to do it. After 2022 we clear about $30m with Cain and JBJ's contracts ending so backloading some of these deals might make sense. The most difficult part of building a team is constructing a quality pitching staff. We have that covered and then some. Time to go get it!

I think its also important to remember that Stearns made a "big time offer" for Bryan Reynolds. He knew this clubs limitations and was willing to make a big acquisition to help. If he was willing to do it at mid-season I expect him to make a push for an impact player this offseason.

I would love to see a Kris Bryant or Kyle Schwarber with a backloaded deal after Cain and JBJ are off the books in 2023. They are both versatile and can move around the field which is what Stearns loves in his players. The possible addition of the DH in the NL would open up more opportunities as well.

Also really excited for Urias's continued growth

Having that entire pitching staff together next year (with full years from Ashby and maybe Ethan Small) keeps our window open for a few years.

But then you are also getting rid of an integral piece of your pitching staff, arguably the best reliever in the game, while you are in win-now mode.

I'm pretty new to the board so will defer to other posters...but I have to imagine this is up there with one of the worst hot takes ever seen around here. By all means then, keep being satisfied with just "playoff appearances" under Stearns. The bottom line is this...he keeps doing the same thing over and over again and expects different results. As I have said...when you shop at Walmart in the off season(as DS typically does), you're going to get Walmart quality, to expect anything else is fool hardy. For some reason, he doesn't seem to understand that, and every year he keeps doing it, is another year the window gets smaller with the three stud arms. Be mad at the owner not the GM. He can only spend what he is allowed to spend.

Well, time to look ahead. Our window is open for a few more years. We should have a top notch pitching staff once again with Burnes, Woodruff, Peralta, Lauer, Houser, Ashby, Williams and Hader. We were able to acquire a star in Adames and saw growth from Urias where he can be an everyday third basemen. Let’s hope the off-season allows Yelich, Hiura and JBJ to reset and get back to the players we need them to be.

As good as our pitching was we all knew the offense was the weakest part of the team. Having truly terrible years from guys you expected to anchor the offense (Yelich and Hiura) really set this team back. However, we were able to acquire a star in Adames and saw Urias grow into a solid player so we can build on those.

Just makes our RISP numbers look worse too