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I don't understand the Hart callup. He is a LOOGY at best. He was putrid last year for the Os (31 hits and 12 runs in only 19 IPs). RH hitters hit an unbelievable .390/.457 against him. He stunk in his first callup with Milwaukee (2 hits and 4 walks in 2 IPs), and has been awful at San Antonio (8 hits in only 3.2 IPs, 7.36 ERA, 2.73 WHIP). Claudio has been getting hit hard lately, so maybe Hart is CC's only recourse for another lefty. At least Jackson is getting a shot. He's been doing well at San Antonio and is an improvement over Wilson. Let's hope he can bring some stability to the pen.

Who gets sent down to add Huira? With all the problems CC has with the bullpen, he needs 8 guys out there. With only 4 bench players, Perez is invaluable. Thames is a butcher in the OF so Gamel is needed to replace Braun and Pina is the only other catcher. Stearns isn't going to let Shaw go and Aguilar can't be sent down w/o exposing him to other teams.

I don't know if anything is more frustrating that watching Aguilar right now. He seems to be pressing way too much, trying to hit for power when he doesn't need to try. I completely believe Aguilar was the player he showed last year, but the Brewers can only wait so long. If Aguilar gets it figured out, Thames situation becomes pretty obvious to me. Good year, trade him for whatever, bad year, decline. If Aggie doesn't and Thames has these stretches like he had in 2017, I guess you have to bring him back. You can't go in with only one option...unless you sign a corner OF or you get a lot more out of Ray or Taylor than I believe you'll get. No matter what, I don't see any need to extend Moose. I get he's liked and he is a very competent 3rd basemen when the Brewers went a while without one, but they've got one now who's a very similar player, but with a significantly higher OBP historically. The Aguilar situation is a lot like the Thames situation last year. Hopelessly lost at the plate and CC is unable to send him down to work on his swing and timing. I think Stearns' backup plan at 1B next year is Shaw if both Thames and Aguilar don't work out. He'll re-sign Moose and put Shaw at 1B possibly using Braun as the RH against lefties.

Braun is the typical end-of-a-big-contract MLB player. Washed up and no longer a viable starter. He's getting worse as time goes on. It's time to look for a starting RF (move Yelich back to LF) and let Braun be the RH pinch hitter and occasional LF. That would mean moving Gamel down or trading Aguilar. Corey Ray has played himself out of consideration for big league status. I don't know if Taylor is ready after a short time in AAA.

Exactly. Do people realize Thames actually had a higher OPS than Moose last year, even though it seems widely believed that Moose was good and Thames was garbage in 2018? I am not saying Thames is anything special, but I can't for the life of me understand why people want to kick Thames to the curb and in the same argument want to give Moose a multi-year extension. Thames' problem always has been the whiffs. That's what everybody sees and remembers. He never tries to just make contact. It's always the HR swing no matter what the count or situation. Ks come at an alarming rate. Last year he got on a strikeout binge (July/ 26 Ks/ 65 ABs/8 RBIs -- Aug/ 25 Ks/41 ABs/5 RBIs -- Sept/ 9 Ks/18 ABs/0 RBI) and never recovered. He didn't drive in a run from Aug 15th until the end of the season. Just like every other hitting stat, OPS is over used and not always indicative of the hitter. Moose is a better all around hitter who plays very good D at a tough position - 3B (awful at 2B).

Braun is looking like he is washed-up. Steady decline and now can't hit anything. Aguilar is all screwed up and needs to go down to work on things. Problem is Stearns can't send him down w/o his OK or expose him to other teams. Shaw is also screwed up badly. He's looking at too many pitches and pulling off the ball too often. It sure doesn't seem like the new hitting coach can help any of them. Have to wonder about the new pitching coach too.

Who do you get rid of? Aguilar, Perez, Pina, Braun, Shaw, and Gamel (.375 OBP - great D). To bring Taylor up Gamel would have to go down because of Braun. Pina is the only other catcher. Perez backs up at every position and Shaw is too good to let go. Do you DFA Aguilar?

Ok with Jeffress going down to find out what's his problem with velocity and location. Jackson has pitched well enough at San Antonio to get a look with the big club. He can't do any worse than Wilkerson, Petricka, Hart, Williams, Wilson, Houser, Burnes. Forget about Hart. He is beyond horrible. He stunk last year for the O's and walked 4 in only 2 IPs in his short stint with the Crew. He is a LOOGY who is washed up. Hart is the leading candidate for DFA now that Petricka is gone. Claudio is the quintessential LOOGY. Horrendous against RH hitters (yesterday and today are examples). He's a one-out guy who cannot be out there in the 8-9th innings to face anything but lefties. Not much left for CC to choose from, like today's game showed.

Freitas is an extremly weak hitting catcher. He looks to be either AA or AAA backup material. Actually Freitas isn't a bad hitter at all. He had a .955 OPS in 39 games in AAA last year and has a .996 OPS so far this year between Tacoma and San Antonio. Frietas in MLB: .214/.270. SLG .313. He seems like an AAAA type. Good in minors, bad in majors.

Shields: 8 runs in 7.2 IPs. 4 BBs and an 8.22 ERA. He is pitching his way off the Brewers 40 man roster.

I agree with your assessment. We don’t have enough quality arms in the pen YET to replace Barnes. I’m hoping/expecting that to happen at the very latest at the trade deadline. Until such time, mop up it is. It's scarey watching Claudio facing RH. Last night a monster HR and today a tie-breaking single. Bottom of the pen type guy. Stearns has to start looking for pen help immeidately. Jackson at AAA is doing well and certainly can't be any worse than Wilson, Albers, etc.... Maybe try to use Aguilar as a throw-in on a trade for a RP.

Wait a second, I remember you just bashing Segura because he was great early and then struggled as a young player, yet with Thames you ignore the fact that he got off to a ridiculously hot start for the Brewers and use his full-season numbers, dismiss last years numbers and advocate picking up his extension when? Doesn't seem consistent. Thames is going to be 33 in Nov. He is in his 5th year in the majors and spent 6 years in Japan. He is an all-or-nothing type hitter who whiffs 35-40% of the time. Not a great fielder. Segura was a young guy just getting started.

An extension to Moose I think means they will move Shaw to 1B and let Thames go. Try to trade Aguilar.

You might want to hold off on dumping Barnes. He's had two bat outings, but put up zero's in his other 10 or so appearances. Given who's still in the pen, I don't think we need to be in a hurry to boot him. Barnes has been in 11 games and given up runs in two of those games (3 runs in 1 IP and 5 runs in 1/3 IP). In the other 9 appearances he has given up 5 total hits in 9 2/3 IPs and no runs, with 12 Ks and 3 BBs. Wilson has been awful and I wonder why he is still on the team. Albers has pitched 11 innings allowing 11 hits and 6 runs including 3 HRs. Jeffress is just a shadow of his old self, Claudio is a LOOGY only, Wilkerson has pitched 5.2 innings allowing 11 hits and a 2.12 WHIP. Petricka finally DFA'd, Williams in the minors because of performance, and Hart is a terrible LOOGY. Guerra continues to shine out of the pen, and Hader. Right now Barnes is one of CC's best options out of a severely under performing pen.

Hart needs DFA’d and Jackson added, then brought up, which I think is imminent. With the way the pen is going, CC might as well try something new. Wilson tonight, HR, single, walk. Claudio comes in and allows another HR and three runs. Hart stinks so why not try Jackson? Can't be any worse than Wilson, Petricka (DFA'd), etc....

I'd argue that David Freitas hangs lower than any of those guys. Jay Jackson for Hart Asap. Need to get this guy pitching for the big club, dominating AAA, yet to give up a run all year. Loads of experience pitching high leverage in Japan, let’s go. Nelson for Petricka Angel Perdomo for David Freitas sometime in the near future. I would argue dominating hitters more than any pitcher we have in our farm system, with command coming around, 97 from the left side, let’s go. Perdomo's drawback is his control. A ton of walks, one BB every two IPs. Big guy with big heat, but control issues. Jackson is 31 and doing well in AAA. I can't see why he isn't on the big club instead of Petricka. Plenty of guys who can be demoted because of performance. Jackson certainly can't be any worse than what's up there now.

Exactly. Forgetting the roster restrictions and all that, it's very difficult to find 13-16 reliable pitchers that would be needed in this type of scenario. Probably a reason why teams have tried to find 4-5 reliable guys to start and then hope for as many good BP guys as possible but usually can only find 2-3. Somehow the perfect storm happened last year for MKE to have incredible depth of reliable guys in the pen. Obviously we're seeing the opposite of that now. As a small market team though it would be a cost efficient creative thing to explore but I'd say the roster rules combined with finding this many reliable guys makes it not tenable. I'd think to even consider a drastic change up you'd need the 26th spot, DH and no restrictions on pitchers on your roster. Probably the most realistic shift could be a middle ground of sorts. Where you do have a couple normal starters but also 1-2 'rotation' spots where you know it's gonna be a team approach that day so you plan your roster moves and reliever usage around it. Still, if your normal starters get beat up you're in big trouble as your bp doesn't get rest then. Could see this working around true top end SPs though, say WAS as an example. You have 3 ace level type guys you can rely on for 6+ almost every time out. Well then get weird those other days instead of trotting out a Tanner Roark for a 5 ERA all year. Reading the comments today after the Gio signing I'm struggling to understand why there has been so much consternation over what I've been expecting / calling for. That is, stacking the 12 man staff with what are traditionally considered starters and having them used all over the weekly 54-65 innings a team pitches. Today I see people glad another starter was added so a we can shift long men to the pen. Well, that's exactly what I've been arguing for. Get rid of the 1 inning and 1 out specialists and have a staff full of guys who can start one day, give you 3-4 good innings out of the gate and then pitch a couple innings three days later. You'd truly be able to play matchups at all times rather than the current model of "it's Davies turn in the rotation". Once again the problem with your scenario is everything has to go perfect in the games so a 4th or even 5th pitcher isn't used. If a guy gets lit up early and more than 3 pitchers are used it turns your system on it's ear. It comes down to would you rather have Hader or Knebel facing the top of somebody's order in the 9th, or Petricka who has already pitched 2 innings?

Of course but they're extremely rare and cost a ton. It doesn't stop you find trying to develop one but at the same time you don't throw your arms up in the air and say we just can't compete because we don't have a horse who can go 7+ every time out. I'd look at what the Yankees have been doing lately. They seem like they've gone with talented starters who don't go deep into games, but they've built an dominant pen. I don't want to see the Brewers spend Chapman type money and I think it's ridiculous, but they look for 5 innings from their starters and then turn it over to a pen that's just ridiculously deep. Before Knebel, JJ and Wahl went down, I really wanted to see the Brewers go after Ottavino or Miller. Miller I thought would bounce back..and we'll see if that's true and Ottavino, I've just been a fan of his since I watched him pitch vs team USA in the WBC for Italy. He was a starter, but he had nasty stuff and then last year he put it together. I'd hoped they'd try to add another arm to that pen and then go with the young guys in the rotation. My idea went out the window a bit with the injuries, but I think the three young guys may have benefited from only having to try to get through 5 and then have Wahl, Claudio, Ottavino, Knebel, Jeffress, Hader and then Barnes, Guerra, or whomever. But....we're .500. When we were 6 games over 8 games ago, I was saying I'd have been happy going .500 through April given the schedule we've faced. I still think things will come together. Nobody was expecting Burnes, Woodruff, Soria to be part of a dominant pen in Sept this time last year. Maybe Brown, Rasmussen, and Sanchez will step up and with the addition of a trade or signing, Stearns will be able to sort things out. I think Ottavino signed for something like 3/$27M and Miller got 3/$35M. Far too rich for the Brewers. (Miller has been horrible so far this year. 4 HRs in only 8 IPs.) Stearns thought he had Knebel and Wahl plus Jeffress and Hadar. Both Ottavino and Miller were out of his price rainge at the time.

You are absolutely correct, but with the pitching failing so miserably and getting worse, CC has no better recourse but to keep throwing the crap and see if anything sticks. Maybe Gio can help (certainly can't hurt) and maybe Nelson can become a viable option sometime soon. Too many maybes, but CC has no other choice but to put the rubber gloves on and fire away.

You would ask for Smoak and Kimbrel. Nevermind the asking price. Well do you want to win it or go 50th year without? Some people here act like we’re the Little sisters of the poor. This team isn’t winning the central, And certainly not getting past the dodgers without an ELITE bullpen. And if we can get the best hi leverage arm in the world for $9 million > whatever If we need help with the 8 mil on smoak, give them a better prospect. Smoak is a FA after this year. The question is what prospects would Stearns be willing to part with to get Smoak for one year. I don't think the money would matter because I'm sure Thames would have to be part of the deal. As for getting Kimbrel (best hi leverage arm in the world) for $9M--not going to happen. He refused almost $18M for one year already.

If they are wondering about Woodruff, they have to be wondering about Peralta and especially Burnes also. Their inability to keep the ball in the park and the opposition off the board is startling. All three have looked much, much better out of the pen rather than starting. Guerra looks better as a long man too. CC is trying to see if any of the young guys are viable options as starters. So far it has been a complete disaster with all three, but Chacin isn't doing any better either. Right now CC doesn't have any options other than to start at least one of the three young guys and hope they don't continue to be horrific.

Both Williams and Houser are AAAA material and no real help. Thames is an all or nothing guy who is worse than Smoak. Supak is a back-end of rotation type prospect and Rodriguez is barley starting out. This trade would be trading money and hot now type players for prospects and throw-ins. I doubt seriously that the Jays would want anything to do with it. Not nearly enough coming back to them for what they are giving up.

Gio certainly can't hurt CC's shell shocked, dinger happy staff. Brewer pitching is allowing HRs at a catastrophic rate. I believe they are now tied with the O's for the worst in all baseball giving up HRs. Chacin has already given up 2 more in 4 innings so far today. Gio isn't what he once was, but right now he is better than anybody not named Davies that CC has available.

You overlook two very important things. First, a pitcher has to stay down for at least 10 days once he is sent down. Second; San Antonio also needs pitching for their games. They can't use guys who have just thrown a number of innings in the big league for at least two days. They too have a limited number of pitchers. Plus some of those guys in San Antonio just are not ready for the big leagues. I could care less if San Antonio is periodically short on arms and has to leave a scrub out there to get shelled once in a while. The AAA team is simply a means to an end. That team's only objective is to get guys ready for major league action. YOU couldn't care less, BUT David Elmore and the Elmore group who own the team care a lot. If THEIR team is continually getting pounded and winning little, their attendance drops and they lose money. People don't want to see a bunch of over matched bums getting killed on a regular basis. The Brewers agreement with Elmore is to put a competitive team there. All minor lg. owners understand that the roster will vary, but they expect to at least have some semblance of a competitive team on display.

You overlook two very important things. First, a pitcher has to stay down for at least 10 days once he is sent down. Second; San Antonio also needs pitching for their games. They can't use guys who have just thrown a number of innings in the big league for at least two days. They too have a limited number of pitchers. Plus some of those guys in San Antonio just are not ready for the big leagues.