brewerhuman

"This is what the Brewers payroll gap from last year was designed for!" brewerhuman said to himself, both head and heart comfortably resting in the clouds.

I'm surprised the Cubs could afford him.

Depends on how low buying low is, but yes, I would be interested.

If he is somehow a piece that gets Lindor to the Reds I am going to vomit on my keyboard

His OPS on the road the last 5 years averages out to .834. I'm not saying that's wonderful but I think it's a little bit helpful when making the case that he's not good away from Coors Field. Not as good, sure, but I don't think anyone would be. You don't know until you get him away from there. Maybe it's hard to adjust to the road games when you play 81 in that altitude. I don't know. I have a hard time buying the framing that he's not productive enough. FWIW, his career OPS at Miller Park is 1.299, second highest of any stadium he's played in.

This is a player I'd trade Hader and Peralta/Burnes in a package for if that's where it has to start. You can feel free to disagree and question my intelligence, but I believe Arenado is the type of talent that you should get a little uncomfortable for if that's what it takes to make your team better. His home/road splits aren't wonderful, but they haven't been gross in 3 of the last 4 years in my quick look at it, if I did it right. I do appreciate what the Brewers are doing, and yes I'd rather be consistently competitive than experience up and down cycles. But it's pretty tough to tell myself right now that acquiring Arenado for whatever the price won't make the team outlook worse going forward than the plan they are currently on. I'll take a two year trial window to make things stick even longer if I have the choice. It's a gamble I'd try to take if it's available.

If the Brewers can steal signs from the Rockies, why not a third baseman? I don't think this can happen with all the offers that are sure to cross, but damn would I love Arenado, worries be damned. Plus, the Rockies GM is from Milwaukee. Gotta think there's a discount to be had!

So how much under last year's OD payroll are the Brewers currently?

Good for the Twins. I'm glad they went for it and got him. Some side-eye is in store for the Brewers.

Outside of the Correa rumblings earlier this winter, I'm not sure the Astros would change course this offseason based on a result from the investigation. Unless there's something additional we are unaware of that fractures the clubhouse, they still have a fantastic team and I'd be surprised if gutted them. If anything, I think they'd want to prove that they're still a WS contender after the results of their title season being brought into question.

$2.725m for Narvaez, avoiding arbitration https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/28457943/2020-mlb-arbitration-tracker-follow-january-10-deadline

As a standalone move this seems fine, but in a bigger picture sense I still have many questions. Guess we'll wait and see.

Major league deal, according to Rosenthal. 278 big league games at third, says McCalvy.

To be clear, in those scenarios Miguel Sano and Austin Riley/Camargo are the potential 3B targets, correct? Obviously there would be more included with prospects, but are those the major league ready talents we’re thinking of?

Yes, in my opinion. Could the Brewers find value at a more comfortable price? Maybe, but Arenado is at worst a top 15 player in baseball. Top tier in the field and behind the plate, even though the h/r splits aren't encouraging. If you can find a way to acquire him, you absolutely bank on that talent playing in your ballpark for 81+ games. Plus, consider the lineup (in a complete guess of the batting order) Urias Yelich Hiura Arenado Braun Smoak Cain Narvaez is filthy. Good heavens.