Brew crew 92

Cain’s on base 100 points lower than last year, that’s a massive regression. 2 black holes and 1 super massive black hole.

Your ranking system is flawed. Grandal: 105 OPS+ Thames: 126 OPS+ Braun: 103 OPS+ Gamel is 104. Arcia: 83. Ok Thames in the good, so I wrong on him. Grandal, since the first week and half has been bad offensively. Braun outside of one 6 hit game bad Arcia in the last 25 games has been good offensively.

Why is that? I don't really have a rooting interest one way or the other, but it has to be frustrating when your prime years are while you're under organizational control and your salary is up to the team the first three years, then arbitration, then when you're set to become a FA, the landscape has changed and while other lesser pitchers got paid more, you're not getting the deal you want after watching the Chapman's of the world getting mega deals. It makes sense obviously for the owners, but it's still gotta be frustrating. That and watching the piece of the pie the players get continue to shrink. Either way, I don't or won't get any joy out of them failing to sign a reasonable deal this year. If they're not pitching for the Brewers, I really won't care one way or the other. I can't wait until we find out what we actually offered Kimbrel though. I hope we don't find out it was low ball offer for ~ 9 million or something on a one year deal as it was rumored. I'd assume it was probably in the 12-14 million dollar range, otherwise, the conversations were even more pointless than they turned out to be. Milwaukee and Kimbrel really did seem like an ideal match though given the need and opportunity to step right in. Ideal match yes. But let’s wait until there’s no loss off a pick, sign him sometime on or about June 6, so he’d be ready to pitch July 1. To give up zero prospects for 2 1/2 yrs at 15 mil next two and less this year, for another Hader type arm, why not? If the reports are close to accurate and kimbrel asking for 3 for 45 with no one giving him that, I’m thinking it will take close to that to sign him. Can we do it/should we do it? Yes/yes. 26 mil off the books with no moose/Grandal, then every team in baseball getting xtra 9 mil with new Fox deal and another 8-10 mil the following year with the new espn/turner deal, and then there’s the new local tv deal, so yeah that’s 45 mil, and that’s not incl no Braun’s after next year. So I’d say this contract fits our window PERFECTLY. I believe we need to improve this team enough to beat the best team in baseball, the dodgers. Kimbrel would give us, with what we already have, potentially the strongest bullpen in baseball history, not just this year but the next two as well.

Smith pitching better than Soria and for less money, wish you were right, but think it be a higher cost. Soria had a 2.56 ERA and 16 saves at the time of the deal, so he was pitching great. He also had a larger track record as a closer than Smith, and the White Sox sent money the Brewers' way to help offset Soria's remaining salary. If the deal is made earlier in the year, the cost may be more significant, but value wise, they are very close. Smith being a lefty may raise his value a tad, but I don't believe a trade for Smith is going to cost the Brewers a top 5-10 prospect. Cards boards calling for c- mart for Smith, So there’s gonna be more competition for Smith imo. Houser & Stokes & Grisham > Smith or Houser & Lutz > Smith Soria was 34 at the time of trade, Smith 29 with better stuff.

Smith pitching better than Soria and for less money, wish you were right, but think it be a higher cost.

Agree. Only I see it different than most on this site, I believe Peralta will pitch out of the bullpen, and will flourish. We need to get this pen back to a dominant pen sooner rather than later, and he can help get us there.

May 31st seems to be the last day that Jimmy can be optioned, as he'll reach 5 years of service time the next day. This ended up lining up almost exactly with the end of the rehab assignment. So they could, and I guess they will if he's obviously not ready and looks awful, but I agree that I don't believe they will. Breaking stuff looks great, velo is fine, give him a chance to prove that he's back. There's a good chance he makes this team better. So on those grounds alone he should be on the MLB roster. In addition to that, it also doesn't look great to option a player on the last day where you can do so. Even more true for a popular guy (With both fans and players) like Jimmy. After listening to CC, sounds like their plan is to take most of the 30 days then activate. Can’t wait!! Zero doubt he will help.

26% in, and now that we know our weakness is NOT our pitching, but our hitting, what to do if anything? The good: 1.) Yelich 2.) Arcia 3.) Moose 4.) Gamel The bad: 1.) Grandal 2.) Braun 3.) Thames 4.) Peréz The ugly: 1.) Shaw 2.) Aguilar 3.) Cain Can’t have 3 ugly’s. Aguilar is close to the bad category, Cain not so much, and Shaw I have no words. If this team has at some point half good and half bad, with no uglies, we should be in good shape, just not sure we can get there with-out a call-up and or trade.

They pitched Houser yesterday, short the arm to open, Only fresh arm is Barnes, and that not happening.

So by June 1. That would still get jimmy 3 more starts max.

It’s Barnes. We’ll have arrived this year as a pitching staff when We don’t need Barnes to shuttle as a mop up arm. Same with Williams Smith and maybe Houser. When Albers is our mop up arm, we’ll have a staff that can beat the dodgers. 2-3 Quality pitchers from that right now, but with Anderson back this week, and Nelson in June, barring injury we should be there.

Anderson is gonna replace Peralta. Peralta to the pen. when Nelson comes back that one will be more interesting. After listening to CC’s comments on Nelson, that could be first second week of June.

They won’t be anywhere near our pen later in the year.

Thanks for speaking your opinion and defying the gang mentality.

So another 6 days between starts for jimmy. Wondering now, when he’s promoted to the big club, if that will continue, 6 days between, 6 man starting staff? Or back to 5 days with the 5 man?.

I couldn't do that soon enough if I was in charge and it were an option. The Brewers need to worry about a title. No, that doesn't mean trading Hiura for a reliever, but I think it would be stubborn not to part with any prospects. Their staff is stabilizing right now, but they should heed the warning signs we saw last month because there's a recent history of tremendous struggles and volatility for many of the guys who are pitching well right now. I could be underestimating Smith's market too. You just never know. Might take an Erceg or Lutz headliner which would be tougher. I think it would take a lutz+ to land Smith. He pitched lights out last year and is pitching well this year. Love your let’s trade diplan idea. Maybe: Lutz & Houser > Smith. Not sure stearns would do this, zaidi probably would.

Huh, avoid the thread because of an opinion?

So you argue that we have more players who don't like the cold, and your answer to that is "Too bad, gut it out and be colder?" I think you are making way too much of the cooler weather. All players have played in the cold. None of them like it, whether they are from Venezuela or Buffalo. Wind chill in upper 30s isn’t even all that cold, why the ski mask anyhow? It’s a mental handicap, Arcia Aguilar moose look like They trying to keep from getting frostbite.

So you have moved from “slight disadvantage” to “huge disadvantage”. Got it. Any idea how many cubs are from warm weather places? Cubbies play many more game in this weather than the crew, so it’s a huge home field advantage over us. Some teams let the cold bother them more than others and I believe we are one of those teams. He with the most ski masks......

Wind chill in the upper 30s with possible showers. Just about everyone of our players from Southern California or Latin America, sorry, but this brewer team at a huge disadvantage mentally with the cold wet weather. It wasn’t the Cubbies tremendous pitching that stymied our offense yesterday. We have many more ski masked players than they do. If I were Counsell I’d ban the mask and be like Bud Grant.

Rental yes, but still gonna cost us More than Soria did last year, imo. If jeffress continues to improve and Burnes dominates not sure Stearns would want to part with the prospects it would take to land smith.

CC got a good look, he pitched him numerous times in ST. Another potential Claudio with better stuff.

So....after 4 starts in which he was incredibly unlucky with a .452 BABIP and gave up an incredibly high and unstainable HR rate, the ONLY two options that now exist for Corbin Burnes are to either pitch 2 innings a few times a week or "stink it up once every 5 days?" How many ace pitchers would have been relegated to the pen if we used this type of absurd logic using his age, his pedigree, and the absurdly small sample size? Roy Halladay gave up 14 HR's in 60-some innings at roughly the same age and had a 10 ERA. He was a hard thrower. I wonder if he'd have been better in the pen? Greinke struggled early on and moved to the pen. I wonder if he'd have had a better career and been more valuable had they not moved him back to the rotation? And there is still a significant difference between being a starter and being a reliever. Starters are far-far more important. If they weren't, you wouldn't see the top reliever in last years game sign for 3 years and 27 million like we saw with Ottavino. They'd get paid closer to what Patric Corbin got paid, 6/140. And yes, being a starter or a reliever DOES absolutely matter. This is akin to saying, "I don't care if Keston Hiura comes up and is able to start every day at 2nd base," --and then after 10 games of him struggling and being moved to the bench where he starts to thrive--"I just care that he gets us 6 good at-bats a week." It seems because we did such a great job(by we I mean CC managing the pen and Stearns putting it together) or getting through games last year during that relatively short playoff push and then the post-season, despite not having the Walker Buehler, Kershaw-types, some people on here are greatly diminishing the value and importance a reliable starting pitcher brings, much less one who's capable of being a #2/3 or higher if we're just looking at his ceiling. You can't expect to contend if you can't get good innings from your starters, and you sure can't develop starters if you just relegate them to the pen because they struggle a bit in the first two weeks they start. It's great to have relievers like Hader. But if the Brewers thought Hader was closer to Chris Sale, he'd be starting games most likely. And we can still develop them. But you don't turn a guy into one until he fails in the rotation and I need to see him given more than 4 starts before I'll believe he can or cannot succeed there. There were a lot of people who wanted Woodruff to pitch in that multi-inning type of role in the pen, but we're definitely lucky to see him in the rotation. Hopefully, a year from now when we've got a healthy and better stocked BP, Burnes will be pitching as well as Woodruff is. 2 things: 1.) the crew NEEDS a high leverage closer type ARM RIGHT NOW in their bullpen, and Burnes is it. Unless they sign kimbrel(which I would do), but highly unlikely. 2.) the crew will start him next year, when as you say, they should have a stacked pen. I believe he’ll be given ample opportunity to develope as a starting pitcher.

Outside of the brewers signing kimbrel,(not likely imo) or trading for a closer type pen arm(colome,Herrera)again not likely,too much prospect capital required,instead I think the crew believes they have the back end in good shape with Guerra Burnes. Guerra is nails, I would argue better than ANYONE we could get by trade. And Burnes easily could be another lock down late inning arm. Hader Guerra Burnes is our new 3 headed monster, which last year, we never really had all three of Hader jeffress knebel clicking at the same time. Claudio as a Loogy better than what we had last year. Then there’s jeffress, who has been better by the appearance, and even if, isn’t what he was for 5+ mo.last year, could still help the pen big time.

He’s stretched enough to go 90-100 pitches in his next outing. Is it gonna be in AAA or phillie or Atlanta?