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Of course the Red Sox fans would love this trade. They get one of the best relief pitchers in the game and a prospect. In return the Brewes get a utility man and a slightly above avg. outfielder with an injury history. How would this help the Crew? A big no thanks.

If Pederson is your starting 1B and Kike Hernandez is your starting 3B, just put your head between your legs and kiss the season good bye. First the Dodgers won't make the deal. Plus the Dodges would never do the deal.

The Mets are getting raked over the coals in that deal. They give up McNeil, Davis, Lowrie Stroman and Smith, and only get back Hader and a couple of overhyped prospects. There's no way they accept that. They send out $75.9 million in surplus value, they get $74.1 million back, but they get Hader for the bullpen, and Mejia slots in nicely for them. Padres sent out $46 million, and get $40.6 back. They get a starter, a #2 catcher, help at LF/1B, and Lutz. The Brewers send out $69.7 million, and get $76.9 million, but they are taking on Lowrie. Surplus value isn't any kind of way to evaluate a trade with prospects included. The "value" of prospects is subjective because it's not against MLB pitching or hitters. It depends on who's evaluation you take. This trade is a good example of the surplus value myth. The Mets give up a ton and get back a great relief pitcher, an OF (Mejia .244/.300) who is a backup and Ray who is still unproven and not anywhere near a top prospect. The Mets are close in surplus value, but in reality they get screwed royally.

I can't imagine what Stearns sees in Ronny Rodriguez. .221/.254, the minors are loaded with this kind of guy. He can play a lot of positions and he has some pop when he makes contact, so I guess it's to fill the San Antonio roster.

You want some power at 1B and 3B. Flores has little pop with the bat and would be a 7-8 type guy. Not the kind you want as a starting 1B ro 3B. I think the Brewers have some decent pop up and down the lineup. He would be a fine option as the everyday first or third baseman if the other spot was covered by one of the remaining big free agent bats or someone like Thames. Hiura, Yelich, and Thames could hit 30+ each, with guys like Narvaez, Flores, and Braun chipping in around 20 each. Not every guy needs to hit 30+ homers. I would rather have a bunch of Flores type guys that hit .275 and hit 15-20 homers than a bunch of .240 hitters like we’ve had recently (Thames, Grandal, Moose to an extent, but not quite the same category). Constructing a lineup to hit 230 home runs with a bunch of low average guys will lead to a lot of games where you hit 3-4 home runs, but then stretches of scoring 12 runs in a week like we’ve been accustomed to the last few years. I do still hold out hope for someone like Rendon or possibly Donaldson, but if you add Thames back to this team and pair him with Flores: CF Cain RF Yelich 2B Hiura 1B Thames C Narvaez 3B Flores LF Braun SS Urias P That’s a very solid lineup. I would still like to see the Brewers do something for a 4 hole hitter though. They just lack that additional big bat in the lineup. I do prefer Yelich in the 3 hole and believe that someone like Hiura would be fine protecting him, but then it would make sense to put someone like Thames in the leadoff spot since he walks a lot and dropping Cain down to second. Why would you want Thames? You said you would rather have a Flores type than a Thames, Moose, or Grandal. I would much rather have a Moustakas (exact same career OBP as Flores .310) who hits HRs and drives in runs at 3B than a Flores. I would much, much rather have an Asdrubal Cabrera over Flores any time.

You want some power at 1B and 3B. Flores has little pop with the bat and would be a 7-8 type guy. Not the kind you want as a starting 1B ro 3B.

What do you see in Cease being a ToR arm. Last year in AAA: 68 IPs - 75 hits allowed - 32 BBs, 3 HBPs - 1.57 WHIP -4.48 ERA. Much worse when he got called up. I don't see that as a #1-2 type guy, much less a decent trade for one of the best in MLB. I think Kopech would have more value around the league, but I think the White Sox want to be competitive next year and they have a serious depth problem in their rotation. Unless I'm reading their situation wrong, I think they'd be more open to trading Kopech rather than Cease. I would imagine you are correct. Kopech is coming off TJ surgery and probably not going to do much in 2020. Sox are not counting on him to be impactful until late if at all.

Look at Nova's last 7 games. 28 IPs - 46 hits - 21 ERs - 9 BBs... You can't cherry pick a few games w/o looking at the befores and afters. Overall: 187 IPs - 225 hits - 30 HRs - 4.72 ERA - 4.98 FIP. He was making $9.2M... IMO he wouldn't be on Stearns' radar for any reason.

What do you see in Cease being a ToR arm. Last year in AAA: 68 IPs - 75 hits allowed - 32 BBs, 3 HBPs - 1.57 WHIP -4.48 ERA. Much worse when he got called up. I don't see that as a #1-2 type guy, much less a decent trade for one of the best in MLB.

Not necessarily. I think what some of us fans are worried about is whether we are making decisions to improve the team or making decisions in order for Mark A. and the rest of the ownership group to hit their profit margins. Obviously payroll is not everything as the Dodgers can attest to but I'd much rather the team sign good players that give us a 5% better chance to win the WS than try to get by on the cheap and hope whoever we find to fill spots can have a career year for us. Look at what the Red Sox are doing with Mookie Betts. He undoubtedly is a top OF in baseball and would make the Red Sox better next year if he stays, but they are shopping him because they're worried paying him what he's worth will impact the "budget." This is an example of a team actively trying to make their team worse in order to save money. This is the stuff that is maddening as a fan. The Dodgers have won how many Div. championships in a row? Their spending keeps them on top every year. Remember when a big spending team plays another big spender, someone has to lose. The Nats are also huge spenders, as are the Yankees and Astros the two finalists in the AL. Big money wins W.S. titles. Even the Royals in 2015 had to up their payroll by around $64M to win the W.S. Then they knew they couldn't sustain that level of finances so they came back to reality. Now they are one of the worst teams in all MLB. Every study done on MLB since 1995 comes to the exact same conclusion. The biggest problem in baseball is the monsterous disparity in money.

Where do you see than Nix is ready to step into the rotation right away? He started 10 games in the minors in 2018 and 9 last year. His minor lg. stats are mediocre at best. More hits than IPs in 5 years in the minors. The Padres looked at him as a possible long man in the pen or a swing man. Not much value. Morejon is coming off a shoulder injury and needs at least another year in the minors. He projects to be a 4-5 type guy. Campusano is a catcher who they are using at 1B and DH. He is at least two maybe 3 years away. Gore would definitely be the big part of the trade. You are trading two big parts of the team for prospects who may or may not turn into anything close to Peralta or Hader. None of those guys will help the Brewers right away. They need MLB ready prospects, not questions in the future.

One of Stearns' driving principles of roster construction is having good depth. Trading Nottingham would seem to go against that idea. I'm not in love with the player Nottingham is right now, but I'm not inclined to rule out the possibility that he could grow into a more productive/useful player over time. . . . Heck, Manny Pina had only 17 plate appearances over 5 games in the majors before the Brewers got him and brought him up when he was 29. As other already noted, Nottingham's only 24. Mario Feliciano has an ETA of 2020 per MLB Pipeline - so Nottingham has some time, but the clock is ticking to a degree. Then there is Payton Henry, David Fry, and Nick Kahle behind Feliciano, not to mention Cooper Hummel and Thomas Dillard. I won't give away Nottingham, but if I can use him to fill holes, I won't object. Feliciano played 3 games at AA last year and is scheduled for Biloxi this year. Earliest ETA maybe 2021. He has to improve his defense at the lower levels before even being considered for the big leagues.

Wacha was horrible last year and declining quickly. Wood and Walker would be very interesting depending on how they have recovered from their injuries. Their asking price woudl also have a lot to do with their signability. I think Stearns could still get Gio for about the same price as last year. He is a vet on the downside of his career and likely a pen/spot 3-4 inning starter where ever he goes. He'd be ahead of Wacha but way behind the other two.

I fairly confident Mancini would cost much more in terms of acquisition value/cost as compared to Dom Smith. Maybe, though the Orioles gave away Villar for nothing and Mancini sort of has a similar offense-only profile to Narvaez who we just got for very little. If Smith is very cheap then I'm all on board with give him a shot. Villar was scheduled to make somewhere around $9-10M. Mancini about $600,000. The O's were cutting costs. They don't come cheaper than Mancini. They absolutely would not give him away. The cost in prospects would be far higher for Mancini than Smith.

Concur. The "third" catcher will likely be someone like Hernan Perez or minor-leaguers like Cooper Hummel and Thomas Dillard, who primarily play other positions, but can catch for a bit if needed. Hummel and Dillard are really exciting offensively. I really like that profile - switch-hitters with power and OBP skills. I saw Dillard play in Appleton 3 times last year. He is a big guy, maybe 5'11"/235-240 lbs. He played 1B for a couple of games then LF for the other one I saw. He's kind of an enigma. He swings and misses a lot, but he also takes walks. Pretty good power when he makes contact. I never saw him catch and the T'Rats didn't have him listed as a catcher.

Just say no. Vogelbach is a DH with a .204 career BA. Hits some HRs, but a PH at best for the Crew. Kelenic is a A ball prospect. Seager is way too expensive. Why not just get the most desirabel player, Narvaez, and keep Hader?

Let's hope it's only Brown or Ray or both. I seriously doubt the M's would be that stupid, but we can always hope.

I want all 3 in the pen badly. Think about the mix of Woodruff RH heavy FB to odd duck Suter. That'll mess you up. I'd love to see Lauer start in the early season Chase Anderson role. Peralta, I see as a no brainer in the pen. Yes, I want 3 FA starters. Nothing big name but 3. While most people point to this new 3 batter minimum rule as a problem, I only see that as a problem for Loogeys. It's far more interesting that NL teams gained an extra PH. More reason (easier) to super pen with double switches that put a guy in for multiple innings. I only want MKE to have 2-3 traditional relievers. Suter Lauer Peralta Hader are a great start to 5-6 multi inning guys. IMO they got Lauer to be the lefty starter they so despirately need. Suter's value is in the pen as is Peralta's. Peralta showed he is great for multiple innings as long as he gets two days rest between appearences.

Great offense against RH pitching. Terrible defense, one of the absolute worst in MLB. With his bat you have to take the bad with the good.

Signing Hernandez is a lot harder to do than you think. He made over $7M last year and his agent isn't going to jump at the first low-ball offer he gets. Hernandez is a desirable player for many teams. Unless he takes a significant cut, his salary may deter many small market teams. Having said that, I'd love to have him.

Familia wasn't bad this last year, he was horrendous. 5.70 ERA - 4.9 FIP - more hits than IPs - 1.75 WHIP and owed $24.5M over the next two years. Much, much more expensive than Lowrie and a disaster waiting to happen. Unless Lowrie is included, no deal.

What about Faria impressed you? Last two years: 5.40/5.08 FIP - 6.75 ERA and FIP. 4 walks per 9 IPs. Nothing he's done says he'll be anything better than what he has been for the last two years. I doubt Stearns keeps him.

Lowe is a butcher in the field and a DH only. No use to the Crew. Roe could help, but he walks a ton of people for a pen guy, 1.58 WHIP. Maybe as a throw-in. Robertson is a dime-a-dozen utility guy that you can find everywhere. Not much value. Frank is a minor leaguer who hit .184/.256 in A ball. He isn't worth much, if anything. Honeywell is a AAA pitcher who did ok, but nothing to write home about. Your package would do nothing to even make the slightest differenct to the Brewers and cost them the best reliever in the NL.

I'd love to see Stearns get Lowrie and Smith for a low level prospect or two in a salary dump by the Mets. I think the Brewers would have Lowrie cleared by medical staff before the trade. He could fill 3B with Smith at 1B. Two huge holes filled for little in return.

The problem is you are again getting two guys that only play 1B. Even with a 5 man bench you want a little versatility. I like Neil Walker for the last spot. Plays 1B-3B and can be an emergency 2B. Cheaper too, maybe $1.5-2M.