brewerfan82

Interesting. He had a down year last year, but before that he put up a wRC+ of at least 92 in each of the previous 4 seasons. Could be a sign of an upcoming trade, or Frelick actually moving to 3B, or just depth. But could be a good guy to mix and match against lefties: vs. RHP 2022-24: vs. LHP 2022-24:

This has prompted a rollercoaster of emotions: BREWERS BASEBALL IS HERE!!! 😁 Darn the game isn't going to be on TV 🙁 Realizing I'm no longer able to think, "but at least I still get to hear Ueck!" 😢

I tend to agree, and obviously take this with a huge grain of salt, but someone was able to put this trade together on the BTV site... I would definitely consider something like that if other teams value him enough to get someone like Rengifo in return. A guy like Rengifo would be perfect as he can also play all over the field allowing some flexibility to fill in wherever needed as the season progresses and in the case that one of the young guys flops.

You really have to lean into veteran leadership (which I don't know if he even has a reputation as a good teammate, etc.) and the HR and RBI counting stats to make a case for DeJong because he has absolutely nothing else. He's pretty redundant with the guys we already have while also not having any upside at his age. I wouldn't have been upset if they signed him for $1M, but even at that price he's not someone to be disappointed that they didn't get. I think they just would rather leave that roster spot open for a young player to develop than have him take it. His BA, OBP, and K% numbers are absolutely brutal, that may not be the best example for our young guys. 2022-24 Stats: Even with his RBI numbers, he's been bad to awful with runners on base and in scoring position. 2022-24 w/ Runners in Scoring Position: 2022-24 w/ Runners on Base:

They certainly have a lot to say! But I appreciate their enthusiasm and the fact that they create their own threads instead of forcing the same topic into every other thread on the board. Update: I would like to update this post with a simple addition... "Woah" 😆

Maybe my interpretation of his quote is wrong, but the funny thing is he's basically saying he did the Yelich extension, not because it was the best baseball decision, but because it was an opportunity to give the fans a generational player to connect to and root for. Meanwhile the fans that are complaining and think he's cheap and not trying to win a championship are complaining because they want him to do more moves like the one that he's saying was motivated by entertaining fans and not necessarily putting the team in a better position to eventually win that championship, lol

Hooray! Now we don't need to talk about it anymore! 🥳

To be fair he played 831.2 innings at 3B just the year prior. I also had the impression they were kind of writing him off there, but I think it's also quite possible they just/additionally thought his bat was ready and 1B was going to be a more direct route to the big leagues for him last year with Ortiz/Adames/Turang/Monasterio taking up the middle/left side of the infield.

Definitely, but I think at this point we're hoping these three take the reigns anyways. If he comes cheap, happy to have him over what we have now for the veteran leadership and experience, but I'm not losing sleep over missing out on a 31 year old DeJong that can't get on base at a .280 clip and is barely, if at all, an upgrade over younger players already in the system. Joey Ortiz 2025 ZiPS projection: Brice Turang 2025 ZiPS projection: Caleb Durbin 2025 ZiPS projection:

I think he'd be an upgrade, but it's debatable that he'd be much better than those guys. DeJong 2025 ZiPS projection: Dunn 2025 ZiPS projection: Monasterio 2025 ZiPS projection: 2022-24:

For a little more context/conversation fodder, here are the splits for the remaining FAs that FanGraphs has listed for 2B/3B/SS: vs. RHP 2022-24: vs. LHP 2022-24:

@bigred i support your mission to tell everyone your one thing in every single thread! ✊

At this point, I think you see what you've got in Ortiz/Turang/Durbin as the starters (and keep an eye on how the advanced prospects progress), but I'd love to see a veteran with defensive flexibility come in to back them up, mix and match vs. lefties/righties, and provide insurance if anyone completely flops. If there's a clear hole at the deadline, but the team is looking strong otherwise, use the money not spent during the offseason to make a move. But for now, I think our old buddy Luis Urias might actually be a good fit. He's also one of the youngest free agents going into his age 28 season. vs. RHP 2022-24: vs. LHP 2022-24: vs. RHP 2024: vs. LHP 2024:

They have literally had the payroll in that range twice in the past 5 full seasons (2019 and 2022).

Or rename this thread "The Brewers are Lying To Us: A Discussion" and then never bring it up ever in another thread, lol.

I think this is where we just need to agree to disagree. I have seen decades of Brewers teams "not trying" and it looked much different than the way they've operated in the past decade. I would love to see an exciting big trade/free agent acquisition every once in awhile (and I'd argue we still do... ie. Adames, Contreras, even Hoskins, even though he had a down year in his return from injury, many doubted we could sign him this time last year and they got it done). But I also think there is ample evidence that our best opportunity to win a World Series is to be in the playoffs as often as possible, and this administration has done an incredible job with that by feeding the farm system, making shrewd moves, and making responsible decisions when it comes to drawing the line on how much we're going to pay free agents or what we're willing to give up in trade talks. So to continually state as fact that they are lying to the fanbase about trying to win a WS and calling the fans that think they are doing a good job in their efforts as blindly optimistic or supportive of the team without criticism is both frustrating and insulting. I think you have a fair point to be made about dipping into the farm to make some moves if the timing and and price justify it. I'd just rather hear more about specific ideas you have (Who would you have given up for Crochet? Which current prospects do you think we could use to land someone this offseason or at the deadline? Where do you think our biggest current weakness is that we could use and upgrade? Who could we go after? etc.) and stayed away from accusations against the team and fanbase in the process.

So the basis of your claim that information provided by national baseball writers with inside sources with teams, agents, and players that the Brewers were in ongoing talks with the White Sox regarding Garrett Crochet were false and/or if the Brewers were in talks that they must have expected to get him for little or nothing in return was...?

At what point is this just trolling? The pushback from people comes from the fact that you don't back up anything you say with any sources, research, examples, or analysis. Do you have any of this to back up making a statement like this? Did you even bother to read any of the articles? With your standpoint on the subject matter it would seem to like it would be an interesting read for you and it seems very odd for you to have such strong opinions on it if you don't even try to educate yourself on the matter.

I'm sure they're available for the right deal, but not trading those guys is also why we've had this run we're on now. Burnes, Woodruff, Peralta, Hader, Williams, Turang, Mitchell, Chourio, etc., were all prospects we either drafted or traded into our system and could have been used in trades and I'm glad they didn't. Then turning Burnes, Hader, and Williams into Ortiz, Hall, Gasser, Payamps and Contreras (eventually), Cortes, and Durbin are the kinds of moves that keep this cycle of success going. They have been willing to trade the depth of the system for guys like Carlos Santana, Mark Canha, Frankie Montas, Aaron Civale, Willy Adames, etc., as needed or opportunity has presented itself. But they need to be careful with the higher potential guys, which is why you probably haven't seen any "blockbuster" deals since Yelich.

I'm confused by this response. I'm curious what your version of them showing they're trying to win a championship looks like that proves they are lying to the fanbase. My post showed how 5 other similar-payroll teams have made it to the World Series in the past 10 seasons (2 of them winning it). And their "pushes" for the playoffs don't look much different than what the Brewers have done. So it's hard to argue that you can only make it to the World Series using more aggressive strategies. I think the best comparison for what *I think* you are wanting to see are the two Marlin titles. That's a legit alternative strategy, but they've also been an extremely awful team outside those championships because of it (and they could have very easily not even gotten those two titles with that strategy). All that said, I think you've set yourself up for disappointment by misinterpreting what the Brewers have said (long-term sustained success IS a legitimate World Series strategy), having incorrect perceptions of what other teams are doing "to go for it", and pigeon-holing yourself into believing that irresponsibly mortgaging the future is the only way to win a championship, when several recent examples prove that incorrect. There are so many reasons to enjoy this team, the run they've been on the past eight seasons, and to be optimistic about it moving forward. It's such a waste to be so disgruntled about it.

@bigred Do you have an example of a team under similar circumstances as the Brewers (ie. not a megamarket) that operated in a way that you would like to see the Brewers operate? I did some compiling of key free agent and trade acquisitions of the past 5 World Series participants that were in the bottom half of the league in payroll along with the past three Brewer seasons to get a better feel for how we operate in comparison. It ended up pretty lengthy so I put it in an expandable spoiler below. But in summary, we have not been very fruitful in free agency even when we do spend (you could argue that we need to spend a little more to get better results), we have been very effective in pulling off trades in the offseason and early season, and trade deadline deals have been a bit hit or miss but similar to the other teams that went on to have a World Series appearance.

With the way this team has operated the past 10 years or so, ie. no stone left unturned, I would be very surprised if they didn't check in on him. Adam McCalvy wrote an article in December stating he believed they would likely "prepare a pitch" for Sasaki regardless of being a long shot to get him (https://www.mlb.com/news/brewers-chances-of-signing-roki-sasaki). That said, 1.) I'm guessing they likely realized early on they weren't under serious consideration from Sasaki's camp and shifted gears, and 2.) they may have actually preferred to spend their international bonus pool on 20+ players instead of blowing most of it on one guy anyways.

Deferring money doesn't help teams stay under the luxury tax. They take the present day value of the entire contract and divide it evenly across the duration of the contract (not including the deferred years).

You are complaining that the Brewers don't trade more prospects to make moves to help them go deeper into the playoffs and then use the Orioles, who haven't won a single playoff game in 10 years and was just voted as the biggest prospect hoarding team in baseball, and the Tigers, who have 1 winning season in the past 8 years, as examples of who you wish they were more like??