brewerfan82

I feel like if the universal DH is brought back, the Brewers will announce Braun's return 5 minutes later.

Here's a nice article from Mike Petriello written after St. Louis' Arenado acquisition with updated NL Central projections: How the NL Central is still a 4-team race The NL Central is projected at (pretty pathetically, lol): And his "Case for the Brewers" is: Doesn't look like anyone in the division will be a serious World Series contender, but a couple key acquisitions and this Brewer team could be in the playoffs for a 4th straight year.

Devil's advocate... but isn't this kind of like saying a male doctor shouldn't have a female patient? Or a human veterinarian shouldn't perform surgery on an animal patient? lol. That's obviously an absurd example, but why couldn't someone without 1st person experience evaluate and instruct what another person is doing with their anatomy that could be improved? The bottom line is no one on here really knows what her qualifications are, so if you think this was possibly just a promotional stunt you probably don't think very highly of the front office. I think it's a pretty smart group, so with that in mind I'll maintain confidence they know what they're doing and congratulate her on her new position! No, it's not like that. This young woman has no experience hitting a baseball, let aline at a professional level. The anology you're looking for is a college history major teaching a thoracic surgeon a new technique. Disagree, this is a college history major teaching someone about history despite the fact she didn't live through the actual history.

Trail Blazers hit 15 3-pointers, but it took 42 attempts to get there. 36.6% 3pt percentage < 43% = BUCKS VICTORY! (Bucks hitting 21 of 42 3pt attempts = BIG BUCKS VICTORY)

I think a lot of people are undervaluing Vogelbach and Robertson. Vogelbach has questions on defense and needs a platoon partner, and Robertson needs to prove what he can do with more playing time, so we definitely should get some extra support at 1st and 3rd still, but both provide some needed OBP and they're not quite the black hole at those positions that many are making them out to be.

It's February 1st and fans are still overlooking the Robertson pickup even though he's likely an above average offense player and arguably better than most of the players they're complaining the Brewers haven't picked up yet. Sorry for the snark, just trying to keep it a "vent-y" response 2018-20:

The past couple years it's been obvious part of their strategy is to play shut down defense at the basket at the expense of giving up more 3-point opportunities. If the opponent shoots three's out of their mind, they have a chance to win and good for them, but it's difficult for opponents to shoot three's at a high enough percentage to win consistently. I was curious to see just how accurately that has played out so far this year, and it's pretty remarkable, lol. (screenshot of my spreadsheet: https://i.imgur.com/4rEf5uk.png) Here are some key findings: - The Bucks have won all but one game where the opponent shot UNDER 43% from 3pt range (with the one exception being a 38.5% effort by the Heat where they still made 15 3-pointers) - The Bucks have lost every game the opponent has shot OVER 43% from 3pt range - The opponent has made AT LEAST 15 3-pointers in every Bucks loss (although the Bucks have also managed to win a couple games where the opponent made 17 and 22 3-pointers) - The Bucks shoot the 3 at a higher rate in their wins than their losses (43% vs. 33%), but the difference isn't as large as it is for their opponents in their wins versus losses (47% vs. 33%) - The team that has the better 3pt percentage has won 15 of the 19 games (with the Bucks winning 3 games where the opponent shot a higher percentage). It's also interesting to note that the Bucks rank 4th in the NBA in opponent 3pt attempts per game. I'm not sure if that has more to do with the lack of defense against the 3 or if opponents are just going into the game knowing their only chance to win is to knock down a ton of 3's, so they come out blazing. But anyways, keep the opponent under 43% from 3-point range and 15 total 3-pointers and the Bucks win. Does that mean they need to do better at defending the 3 (while possibly taking away from their interior defense) or do they just need better luck in their opponents not going nuts from 3-point range against them? *shrugs* But I thought it was interesting none-the-less.

Devil's advocate... but isn't this kind of like saying a male doctor shouldn't have a female patient? Or a human veterinarian shouldn't perform surgery on an animal patient? lol. That's obviously an absurd example, but why couldn't someone without 1st person experience evaluate and instruct what another person is doing with their anatomy that could be improved? The bottom line is no one on here really knows what her qualifications are, so if you think this was possibly just a promotional stunt you probably don't think very highly of the front office. I think it's a pretty smart group, so with that in mind I'll maintain confidence they know what they're doing and congratulate her on her new position!

I'm good going that route as well. Especially if there's a DH coming. If not, it could still make sense if management doesn't think Vogelbach can actually play 1st and decide to drop him. 2018-20 vs. RHP: 2018-20 vs. LHP: If you can throw Braun on top of that to cover DH vs. lefties (if the DH is indeed added), you're looking pretty good. For all the "sky is falling" comments lately, there seems to be quite a few players left that can make this lineup manageable still. These possibilities aren't going to light the world on fire, but we're a small market team the year after a global pandemic wiped out huge sources of revenue. Luckily we're in a division where these kind of moves could still keep us competitive for a playoff spot.

Filling out the lineup with Nunez, Franco, and Braun to compliment Vogelbach, Robertson, and Garcia at 1B, 3B, OF, and DH would provide some insurance in case Vogelbach/Robertson don't work out: 2018-20 vs. RHP: 2018-20 vs. LHP: But I'd prefer Cron over Franco if possible, and Cabrera could be another possibility similar to Nunez: 2018-20 vs. RHP: 2018-20 vs. LHP:

I'm looking forward to an improved Josh Lindblom. From a tweet a couple weeks ago, he's improved his spin efficiency from 82% to 97% this offseason!

YES! LET'S GO!!!

You mean most of the same people freaking out now? Exactly. Meanwhile try to name all the big contracts the Rays hand out each offseason.

And we had most of those guys the previous two years when the team was really good. Yelich, Hiura, Narvaez, Garcia, and Urias all underperformed from their projections last year and are projected to be better this year. I don't think it's likely they'll all underperform again.

I know everyone's bummed that the Brewers haven't made a splash, but this can still be a solid, fun team to watch and will very likely be very competitive in a bad NL Central. We still have a very good core with Yelich, Hiura, Woodruff, Burnes, Hader, and Williams. We have good supporting players around them in Cain, Narvaez, Garcia, Urias. And we have some major question marks at 1st and 3rd. While it would be nice, we don't need those spots filled with Arenado or Turner, we just need to solidify them with a good role player or two. It's fun to "win" the offseason, but despite the weird, shortened, down season last year, I think this team is going to bounce back and be fun to watch again this year.

Going by projected WAR (https://www.fangraphs.com/roster-resource/free-agent-tracker), he'd be 34-40ish. Below La Stella and Cesar Hernandez, equal to Kike Hernandez, Molina, Ramos, and JBJ, and better than Nelson Cruz, Brett Gardner, and Maikel Franco.

I get your viewpoint and it's not invalid, but I'll take him for the price point and hopefully add a couple less-strikeout-y guys around him.

I get that Vogelbach isn't an All-Star everyday first baseman, but he's been consistently good against RHP the past three years and only costs $1.4M this year (and is controlled through 2024). Considering the DH is likely to be in play during that time period, I'm surprised so many people are anxious to drop him. With that said, this offseason's plans definitely hinge on if/how you want to use him on the team, so it definitely explains a lot of the difference in opinions on here. For me, knowing we have a restricted budget, I think holding onto him and finding someone that can spell him against lefties and play other positions on other days could be a cost effective way to cover a that part of the roster. 2020 vs RHP: 2019 vs RHP: 2018 vs RHP:

Cron does look like a nice fit for 1B, especially against lefties, but he would only play 1B and if Vogelbach continues to mash righties, he'd only be a part time player, at which point you would have two guys that can only play first taking up roster spots. I can definitely see the appeal of someone like Rosario who could play first against lefties and then also cover outfield positions against righties. It would open up a ton of flexibility. And if 1st base doesn't work out, hopefully they have a Gyorko/Cabrera-type signing as well that will act as insurance.

The discussion here is based on the possibility of him signing and it sounds like if he signs it's with the understanding that they'd like to play him there to some extent.

If the front office thinks he can play there, and he's up for it, I'm willing to give it a chance. It worked pretty well moving Moustakas to second base. I would like to also grab a Gyorko or Cabrera to help at 3rd and provide a little insurance at 1st, but if Rosario doesn't work out well there, he'd still be a good platoon partner with Garcia in the outfield (and provide days off for Yelich and Cain and maybe even Hiura at 2nd) and while that would be a pricey platoon, that would still be a valuable use of him to the team.

2018-20 vs RHP: 2018-20 vs LHP: If he's able to bounce between 1B and the OF, I think a rotation of Rosario, Garcia, and Vogelbach could be pretty productive.

Ha, JT truly is by far the biggest bat we could grab at this point, but there are some passable combos we could patch together without him still. Tacked on a few more players to the splits... 2018-20 vs RHP: 2018-20 vs LHP: Cron does look like he'd make a really nice partner at 1B and could hold his own vs. RHP still if Vogelbach totally collapses. Cabrera also provides a steady bat vs both RHP and LHP and could spell both 1B and 3B. And Robertson may end up being a bigger pick up than we're giving credit for so far. But I'm with everyone that says they'd be floored if MA can open the pocketbook a little to get Turner in this lineup.

Assuming we don't land Turner or Pederson, we may be able to get away with one of the 1B/3B types available. 2018-20 vs RHP: 2018-20 vs LHP:

For 1B, it looks like: - Joc Pederson (2.4 proj. WAR) - Might be a stretch to play 1st... - Travis Shaw (0.8) - Brad Miller (0.7) - Jake Lamb (0.7) - Marwin Gonzalez (0.6) - Todd Frazier (0.6) - CJ Cron (0.6) - Asdrubel Cabrera (0.6) - Jedd Gyorko (0.5) - Renato Nunez (0.3)