HarveysWBs

Team goals: Long balls on offense, fly balls on defense. I was just warming up to the idea of Arcia sticking as the defensive glue of the infield, but if he’s giving up meaningful innings at SS to Schoop... Buckle up. Every game is going to be a white knuckle ride!

I believe Schoop isn't a FA until 2020, so one more season of control Correct. He has an arby year left next season.

Arbitration next year. FA 2020. Hiura delayed...?

Yanks still need an OF. We still need a SP. Sonny Gray and Domingo Santana could maybe benefit from a change of scenery. <30 mins to get it done.

In this market, I could endorse that plan.

Yep, no reason to give him up for Archer. 43.2IP 22hits! 11.8k/9 Any improvement on walks and this kid is in Ace territory higher than Archer ever achieved/came close to. The only thing Archer will have on Peralta this season is that he can pitch through the end of the season and playoffs. Archer's Fip is on account of his Ks and BB/9. He's still getting pounded hard, allowing more hits. He's a 1-1.5WAR pitcher being sold off as if a 4WAR pitcher. I’m not an Archer fan, but I’m curbing my Peralta enthusiasm a bit more than that. By improving his walk rate, he’d have to throw nearer the strike zone more often, thus inviting more hits. His K and swinging strike rates are already very high, so I doubt those get better to compensate being in the zone more. It’s possible (though I hate to think this) that we’ve seen his best starts as a pro already.

Reading all these tea leaves feels like a fool’s errand today. Plus, I’m not sure these NL East GMs know what the situation really is on the ground. The Phillies are kind of a paper tiger (barring some big FA signings, which could come this winter), and the Braves are young and untested. On one hand, I’m sure the Mets and Nationals have good reason to think they can get back in competition in relatively short order, hence the hesitation to strip their operations to the studs. But their recent track records of on-field performance and front office decision-making wouldn’t inspire a lot of confidence if I was a fan of either club.

Certainly has been more effective in recent seasons. Of the rentals out there, he might be the best one left. But that isn't saying much. I doubt he takes Miley's rotation spot, though. Wouldn't surprise me if they shifted Peralta to the pen. Guess I was hoping for a little more splash. Gio isn't the "needle mover" Stearns spoke of a couple weeks ago. Of course, that was pre Suter injury. Not a splash play, by any means, but he could replace Wade Miley as our lefty starter down the stretch. I have to imagine they’re hoping Davies comes back and is effective—just in time to shut Peralta down. He’s looking a little worn out, as others have mentioned.

CC knew Black would press to make a perfect pitch to Perez that the likelihood of a wild pitch increases 6.7%, thus allowing an easy run across. Quite the chess player, that Counsell.

Sometimes, the old school diehards with their talk of "chemistry" and "momentum" and "energy" just might be on to something. There are more things in heaven and earth, TPlush, than are contained in your philosophy... Yep these things are all true except when they aren't. If a move works it gets called chemistry and if it doesn't you just don't talk about it. The teams chemistry has not changed because of Moustakas, that is simply absurd to say after half a game. If the clubhouse believes it, then maybe they can make it so. Baseball games, like all great human pursuits, are completed first between the ears.

Sometimes, the old school diehards with their talk of "chemistry" and "momentum" and "energy" just might be on to something. There are more things in heaven and earth, TPlush, than are contained in your philosophy...

Watching Chacin tonight reminded me of Dave Bush flirting with No-No’s in ‘08 and ‘09. It’s always even more fun when it’s a pitcher who has no earthly business doing it (although maybe I only say that because for my entire life, the Brewers have only ever had those kinds of pitchers, it seems...)

That kinda sucks

This ^ There were comparable players out there who could play 2B instead of this mess of an infield we have now. Maybe the Mets did not want any of the Brewers prospects. We may never know, but it seemed like this value was as good if not better than what the mets got for Asdrubal. By some metrics, Moustakas is well above average defensively at 3B, won’t have to be a gold glover with Arcia ranging over from short, 1B is average defensively, and our current rotation of second basemen butchered their share of plays while our defense was still among the league’s best. I’m not sure how a below-average second baseman in the field makes that infield a mess. It was solid before, and Shaw would have to be an all-time butcher to turn it into “a mess.” But if you’re that embarrassed, I can see why you’re in the closet...

Well that terribly overrated player still has 20 bombs and 62 RBI for a terrible team. * shrug * And hits in one of the best pitcher friendly parks in all of baseball. I'm stoked to see him hit at Miller Park. For what it’s worth, for his career and this season in isolation, Moustakas is better in Kauffman than away from it, which is not what I expected. In 4 games at Miller, though, he has hit .400 with two HRs, so...we’ve got that going for us.

Guess we can close the book on this...

Yeah, I forgot to mention that. There has been speculation to that effect, but if I’m Donaldson, I’m pushing hard to get on the field and prove I can play defense so as to avoid that very scenario. Unless the Jays believe the future is now, I don’t see much reason for them to want him back, when Vlad the Younger is going to need ABs and DH production isn’t exactly hard to find, especially at the level needed for a club in a soft rebuild. And, of course, trading him does not preclude his return in free agency.

Josh Donaldson To be clear, this post is entirely of my own speculation; it is based on no news, whispers, or even a vague hint. Since this is silly season, however, I thought I might try and connect a couple dots (even if they are, admittedly, very far apart). Let’s imagine, for a moment, that despite turning over every rock and looking behind every locker room door, the Brewers are unable to add a bat before the end of the month… What I know: Josh Donaldson is on the last year of his contract for a team that isn’t going anywhere right now, but has a bright future ahead. That future includes Vladimir Guerrero Jr., perhaps the most-anticipated player in recent memory, in the sense that his hit tool is receiving higher scouting grades than pretty much anyone in history, and he has Hall of Fame bloodlines to boot. Guerrero plays third base, which also happens to be Donaldson’s only position. I also know the Brewers could use a bat in the middle of their lineup. Their (by all accounts serious) pursuit of Manny Machado demonstrates that they know it, too. An upgrade at the middle infield position would also be nice. What’s that? I just said Donaldson plays only third? Stay with me. What I think: The Brewers are a creative bunch. They are willing to take chances on guys who are overlooked, miscast, and underutilized. The example of Jesus Aguilar stands out strongly in this case, and there is no need for me to rehash that here. We could also include Travis Shaw in this discussion, as a corner infielder who is overlooked in a bigger organization with better-known prospects surrounding him. The Brewers took a chance, and for their trouble, they got a middle of the order mainstay who also happens to be quite the organizational “good soldier,” doing plenty of media work for the club and gutting it out on the field despite some nagging injuries. By all accounts, he seems to be a great teammate and someone who is willing to go the extra mile. The Brewers are also a team that uses their players rather creatively on defense. Jesus Aguilar gets some innings at 3B, Ryan Braun became a 1B this year, Eric Thames gets corner outfield duty from time to time. Oh, and they shift their infield a lot, which isn’t exactly news in this day and age, but it is interesting to note the Crew were relatively early adopters of the strategy, and it has been a part of the organizational ethos for some time. Interesting for our purposes here, because who ends up seeing considerable time on the right side of the infield during these shifts? Your Mayor of Ding Dong City. I also think the Brewers might already be playing around with the idea of having Shaw see time at 2B on a more full-time basis. There was the much-ballyhooed news that Shaw got practice reps there semi-regularly (which was, in Stearns and Counsell fashion, dismissed by referencing his role in defensive shifts). This speculation is harder to dismiss, perhaps, in light of suggestions that Brewers scouts have been sniffing around Mike Moustakas, another player who is a seemingly-exclusive third baseman. What I don’t think: I don’t think the Brewers would trade for Moustakas. Recent reports indicate their interest was minimal and perfunctory, and if the Royals are asking the Brewers to pay a premium for Moustakas’ career highs last year, that doesn’t strike me as the type of thing David Stearns is interested in. What I worry about: Let’s take these in order of significance. 1) Donaldson isn’t exactly, you know…playing baseball right now. He’s been fighting nagging injuries for the better part of the last two years, and this year is the worst of all. Shoulder problems delayed his start to the year, and now his lower body is hurting, and there isn’t much of a timetable for his return, beyond the hope of an early-August timeframe. If there is one thing that evaporates my castle in the clouds the fastest, it is the idea that Donaldson never gets on the field this year, which would obviously preclude any sort of trade. 2) He doesn’t clear waivers. Donaldson is making good money on the last year of his deal, but it would be prorated for rest of season, so many contending clubs would have no problem ponying up the roughly $8 mil he would be owed ROS (I’m open to being corrected on the math here). If other contenders aren’t scared off by his injury history or his contract, the Crew may be out of luck when the Jays are forced to pull him back due to a claim. Heck, if the Brewers are still hanging around the Central race in a few weeks, why wouldn’t Theo Epstein throw in a claim for him, just to wreck the Brewers’ chances? 3) He craters—if he comes off the injury swinging a hot bat, he could entice Stearns to make this move, and I wouldn’t be terribly surprised if he re-injured his calf Or, since we only have him for a month and a half (and, God-willing, some postseason baseball), a cold spell from a notoriously streaky hitter would suddenly make this deal look bad, depending on what we are forced to give up. I’ll leave it to better minds to speculate on a fair return (waiver deals are rare, so comparables are difficult, especially with such varying examples as last year’s Verlander trade involving some considerable prospects on the one hand, and the Larry Walker to the Cardinals trade in 2004 that was completed for a song, if I recall). Bottom line, if you were disappointed about not getting to see Machado in a Brewers uniform this summer, I’d say the closest alternative that is even remotely within the realm of possibility is Donaldson, who had a .300 average and 22 HRs in August and September last year. Those numbers would sure as heck play in the middle of our lineup, and if Shaw moves successfully to 2B, immediately upgrades our lineup to: Cain Yelich Donaldson Aguilar Shaw Braun/Thames Arcia (assuming call-up in the next week or two) Pina Pitcher Yes, please. You heard it here, first!

[sarcasm]When it rains, it pours...[/sarcasm]

He pitched 145 innings last year. Make him the 5th starter and assume the absolute best case scenario where he goes 7 innings in all of his 12 starts. That would give him 84 innings on top of the 82.2 he's pitched this year. That gives him 166.2 innings, not exactly a drastic increase and you could also skip a start or two in September if necessary. This has nothing to do with my post. The starters barely going 5 innings (5.3 average from the starters this year) is a problem because it forces the bullpen to cover at minimum 3 innings per game on average which leads to a lot of overuse which limits the effectiveness of one of the team's biggest strengths. I’ll half concede point number one in light of the innings pitched figures you cited, yet I’m still not convinced Burnes would be as effective in 5 (and certainly not your proposed 7) innings every 5 days as he is in one or two innings every two or three days. He certainly wasn’t more effective starting this year in AAA (and sure, tougher environment but easier opponents than he’ll see down the stretch). On point two, I cited the pitching market because you mentioned Stearns, and assumed you meant we wouldn’t be in this predicament (although I wouldn’t characterize it that way) had Stearns built a better rotation. My fault for apparently misreading your point. On point three, I’m not sure how anyone can conclude the offense isn’t the team’s biggest problem, but you don’t seem to dispute that, and instead reiterated your original point that the starters need to log more innings to avoid bullpen burnout. To this I say, maybe. It remains to be seen if the bullpen will crack, as of yet, the sample size is too small. I, too, have seen how bad Barnes et al have looked lately and would prefer they not get high-leverage innings for a while, but I still seriously doubt Barnes starting is the solution. And the ones who (theoretically) in the best position to judge that—namely CC, Stearns, and DJ—have apparently the same doubts.

If Counsell is keeping Burnes in the bullpen while the rest of these clowns struggle to make it through 5 innings then Counsell is going to face more criticism, as he and Stearns should. 1) Burnes will likely need innings control, and the bullpen is the best way to do that. He will also impact more games down the stretch this way, as Hader has done so far. 2) Who would you prefer in the rotation that is realistically available now or was this winter? You could argue Chacin is better dollar for dollar than most of the big offseason additions, and the pitching market is barren right now. 3) After another close game loss, this should be clear: the pitching is not the problem in the Cream City.

If Burnes can do that consistently, something tells me CC will see much less criticism for his bullpen usage during close deficits.

Not a bad inning by Burnes. That young man has a bit of an Arsenal he can call on.

Whoa. I love Hiura as much as anyone else, and now that he’s getting prospect ranking bumps for mid-season reports, I know this is going to be a harder argument to make, but the guy has been dinged up, slumping (.264 batting avg at AA), and has only 124 ABs above the A-ball level. He ain’t walking through that door this year. I think we need to accept that Hiura might compete for the 2B job as early as next Spring if everything breaks right, but if we want him to help this year, he’ll have to get shipped out in a trade. I see no other way. Check out that box score from Biloxi last night, he's way above. 264 now. That was a nice box score, which only serves to underscore my last point: he has so few ABs at AA that four straight hits raised his average twenty points! I just think people who expect Hiura to be the answer right now shouldn’t get their hopes up, that’s all.

Whoa. I love Hiura as much as anyone else, and now that he’s getting prospect ranking bumps for mid-season reports, I know this is going to be a harder argument to make, but the guy has been dinged up, slumping (.264 batting avg at AA), and has only 124 ABs above the A-ball level. He ain’t walking through that door this year. I think we need to accept that Hiura might compete for the 2B job as early as next Spring if everything breaks right, but if we want him to help this year, he’ll have to get shipped out in a trade. I see no other way.