Wahoo Maniac

Who? Besides Woodruff. The Brewers have a bottom 10 farm system right now, they don't have a true game changer outside of Hiura, and he's about to graduate off the list anyway. Too numerous to mention. But I’ll give you a couple, Houser and Rasmussen. Houser’s already making a name for himself on the crew’s big league staff, Rasmussen’s had a meteoric rise up the ladder to AA, and has the arsenal of a Tor or dominant pen arm. Look for Devon Williams at some point later this year to make his debut with the crew in the pen, with his near 100 mph FB. You should get a opportunity to watch him pitch in the futures game coming up. Tremendous depth of pitching all the way from The 2 Arizona rookie league teams thru AAA. Don’t sleep on this pitching. That's not an answer. Anybody in rookie ball is immediately disqualified because they're several years away from knowing what any of them could be. Which leaves us with 4 teams rosters to choose from. There aren't many names you can possibly list and you're choosing not to do it. For me, the only for sure MLB arms in the system are Brown, Wahl, Supak, Rasmussen, Devin, Ponce, Ashby and half of them are pen arms. I think Ponce gets traded this month anyway and Devin very well could as well. Houser is a pen arm (and no longer a prospect). Small hasn't thrown a pro pitch yet. Bickford I'm just happy he's still breathing. Kirby is injured again. Then there's a bunch of dudes at every level we still have no idea how it'll play out - Sanchez, Derby, Webb, File, Marcos Diplan, Lemons, Bettinger, Griep, Barker, Clayton Andrews, Lazar, Hill, etc. Most of these guys will probably never see the MLB level.

Sure there is. Relievers are so volatile. Edwin Diaz was every bit as good as Hader was last year, if not better and now he has an ERA pushing 6 with a FIP of around 4 and is giving up hard contact nearly half the time. Same is true for Blake Treinen and Jose Leclerc and Jose Alvarado and Jeurys Familia and Joakim Soria and Jeremy Jeffress and Dellin Betances. Yup. I suggested trading Knebel the last two offseasons now and it really would of been wise to do so. He was bad most of last season before the final month. He probably regained most of his value back by being so dominant late in the year and in the postseason. Now he is missing all of this season. For the Brewers to have continued success, they need to make moves to keep filtering young talent into the organization. Trading relief pitchers after career years is a fantastic way of doing that. Moving guys like Tyler Thornburg, Knebel, and Hader is something the Brewers should continue exploring each and every offseason. With Hader’s odd throwing motion and how hard he pitches, he is definitely a TJ candidate in his career. If he needs TJ surgery in June of next year and can’t pitch in the postseason for us in 2020 and misses all of 2021 as well, now you’re down to 2 years of control and his value at rock bottom. The window of opportunity to cash in on him would be gone. There’s a lot to consider in regards of what to do with Hader. After Knebel's amazing 2017 why would the Brewers trade him heading into 2018 when he still had 4yrs control with a super competitive team in the hunt for a ring? That's the absolute worst time to trade someone like Knebel. Also, he had some injuries throughout 2018 starting in April but when he was healthy he was dominant like he was in 2017. Thornburg was traded during a time when the Brewers were rebuilding and not capable of making a deep run. It was the perfect time to trade him to add to the org and help build its foundation in the near and distant future (Shaw at MLB level filling 3b spot for years to come and Dubon in the minors). That's what Thornburg brought back with 2yrs control and less success/worst stuff than Knebel and certainly nowhere near the success of Hader. Knebel will be ready for next season with 2yrs control and a still very competitive team capable of that deep run. Even if he's traded before 2021 with 1yr control he'll still bring back a great return (assuming he's solid next year as it usually takes a year after TJ to settle back in) while giving us an excellent performance at the end of 2018 and hopefully helping the team next year as well. It's win/win. The Brewers could also extend him a couple years giving them more time to use him and trade him with more control. Hader also doesn't have an odd throwing motion that makes him susceptible to TJ and he sits between 93-97 depending how rested he is as opposed to someone who consistently throws 98-100. I guess I just don't understand the logic behind pushing for a Hader trade now while remaining silent on Yelich given he'll have 3yrs control after this year for like 42M or something. What if he regresses? What if he tears is ACL like Dubon did? Are we only having this conversation because Hader is a reliever?

The selling high on Hader is NOT being a seller at the deadline. It’s selling high on Hader, AND using the massive prospect haul to better the team immediately, THIS YEAR. Sellers and buyers at the same time. Pen arms no matter how awesome(Hader)can be replaced with pen arms that can still close out the win. Some of the top prospects received can be used to acquire a top player or two to help win THIS year and the future. This eliminates possible injury and even slight regression from Hader being a concern moving forward. That's not how it works though. All these prospects aren't going to help the MLB team immediately. What will happen is we'll lose Hader in the pen making our MLB team much worse while the organziation as a whlole improves its overall quality/depth. Those are two very different things. Best case scenario is we'd get 1 player back in the package who either has some MLB experience or are ready and just need that opportunity (if this is the case it's going to have to be a stud rotation arm or a pen arm - and it took forever to get a stud bat in Hiura at this level as Stearns wants vets for the stretch/playoffs, not rookies unless they're in the pen like Woodruff/Burnes).

Exactly, age matters. If a 20 year old is tearing up AAA, every evaluator is going to be more impressed than if a 26 year old is doing it. Wander Franco isn't the best prospect in baseball because he's hitting .341/.410/.560 between A and A+. He's the best prospect in baseball because he's hitting that well (in addition to being an average at worst defender at the most premium defensive position) as an 18 year old. And putting too much stock in a small sample size of anyone's minor league performance at any level and age is foolhardy, particularly when there is a larger track record tied to a prospect or player that indicates they aren't likely to be as good as a two month stretch of at bats indicates. Guys like Diaz and Harrison have been pretty good this year, but both are coming off relatively poor 2018's, and neither were ever considered even top 25-ish prospects even during their best stretches. And it's not like either are 18 years old. Including wander franco in this conversation to make a point is pointless. This right here proves you don't get it and most likely never will because you're actively choosing to not understand reality. What's pointless is essentially saying that one needs to be a Top 25 overall prospect at some point to validate their success.

Sure there is. Relievers are so volatile. Edwin Diaz was every bit as good as Hader was last year, if not better and now he has an ERA pushing 6 with a FIP of around 4 and is giving up hard contact nearly half the time. Same is true for Blake Treinen and Jose Leclerc and Jose Alvarado and Jeurys Familia and Joakim Soria and Jeremy Jeffress and Dellin Betances. Exactly. That’s why Stearns should trade as high on Hader as he can as quickly as he can. THIS DEADLINE. The haul would be historic and franchise altering. With Stearns & co’s brainpower we could parlay the haul into multiple all star type players at multiple positions, giving this team a better chance to win NOW and during Yelich’s window. Except most of the pitchers mentioned are older or didn't have Hader's pedigree/out of the gate dominant relief profile. When Hader came up everyone knew he was going to dominate out of the pen. He's surprised nobody and guys like him don't regress to the point they're worth mush less or even little. Edwin Diaz is 25 with 3yrs control remaining - if you think his 2019 is how he's going to perform moving forward and his value is dead then you'll believe anything. Hader's value isn't going anywhere unless he suffers a significant injury. This team is in 1st place in their division and will be super competitive for the rest of this year and 2020. Come 2021 is when they need to start discussing when to trade both of them as Yelich will have 2yrs remaining at that point with Hader 3yrs. Until then they're going to help this team win so there's no point in even discussing it further because he's not going to be traded before then. Aroldis Chapman brought back an elite prospect (Torres), another Top 80 (McKinney), MLB pen arm (Warren) + flyer and he only had 2 months control. Trading Hader with 2yrs+ control will still bring an absolute monster haul and in the meantime we'll continue to get dominating performances from him. Same goes for Yelich as no way we're paying him 30-35M annually.

There's a huge difference between a just turned 23 year old putting up big numbers in AAA than an almost 30 year old. Maybe but also maybe not. Time will tell on that one. No, it won't. Age matters as well as position (ie catchers typically take longer to develop than other positions given the defensive side of that role). Diaz is a bat first ex-top 100 prospect who's always had the offensive upside of an AS at the 2b spot. Saladino, like Perez, is what he is. In saying that, not all 25th man players are created equal. AAA offense is up across the board this year but that doesn't mean every player is overachieving.

You're right about Cain and until he can get healthy, Gamel might be a better option. I don't like Hiura at the leadoff because he Ks too much. Right now he's at 35% K rate. I'd rather see Grandal in an RBI spot so right now CC has little to choose from at the leadoff spot. Hiura's K rate was the only negative I could think of with him going to the leadoff spot but I want to roll with it anyway. He's a contact bat and his K rate will drop the more he plays. He's an impact bat and with Yelich being a lefty in the 2 spot I'd like to see Hiura go leadoff dropping Grandal back down to a run producing spot. Plus Hiura has better speed in the leadoff spot than Grandal.

I disagree on 1b and LF being holes. Braun as a LF is 287/338/816 and Gamel as a LF is 305/411/874, where a good chunk of his playing time comes from. Obviously the RF spot leads the team in everything but the LF spot has the 2nd highest BA on team, 3rd highest OBP (3pts behind C) and 4th in OPS (12pts behind 2b and 28pts behind C) - all of those rankings coming directly behind all our AS players. The 3b spot for the team looks poor given Shaw but with Moose there now it's covered. The only other offensive holes are CF, which they'll do nothing about although they absolutely should if Cain's thumb is going to be this way the rest of the season, and SS, which can potentially be upgraded internally with Dubon so no point in spending capital there. Thames as a 1b is 298/389/978 taking more than half the PA at that spot. He actually needs to play more than he is as roughly 70% of games are vs righties and he's been very good in his limited time vs lefties this year. If Aguilar can get his power stroke going this month I think they sit tight otherwise I could see them acquiring someone to handle those lefties in his place. The pen needs an upgrade as well as the rotation (rental) but overall I don't think this team is that far off from being where they need to be from a talent perspective.

Disagree. Houser's a pen arm; he's merely filling in as a rotation arm because he's capable of that.

Braun's option will definitely not be picked up so next year will be his last. As a starting LF this year he's posting a 287/338/816 line and people think he's a backup OF or should just quit? Interesting takes. He had a 10 game stretch in mid-April where he rolled over on everything and looked terrible going 3-34 over that span but even if you factor in his pinch hitting/DH work he's hitting 296 outside of that mid-April stretch. His plate discpline, as someone mentioned above, is noticeably declining but he's plenty productive. I don't see him as being a ring chaser. I think he calls it a career after 14yrs with one team, collects his buy out and 18M deferred during retirement spending his time with his family while maybe being an analyst given he's smart/articulate.

No. Hader has 4.5yrs remaining and this team is tied for first in the division and still has a bunch of talent to compete for the WS over the next couple seasons. Yelich is going to make an absolute killing once his contract is up after 2022 so I'd worry about trading him before Hader. I wouldn't do anything until after 2020 at the very earliest but more closer to the 2021 deadline/after season.

I don't think replacing Pina is an answer. He has 19 starts and we've played 88 games. He has 11 pinch hit attempts this year. Whoever is the backup catcher isn't seeing consistent PT with Grandal, nor should they, so expecting someone at a notoriously bad hitting position to start once per week and barely pinch hit to produce a quality stat line is unrealistic. It's more about defense at that point. Plus the analytics suggest Pina is unlucky this year (barrel and hard hit % up, BB rate up, BABIP significantly down plus the eye test says he's been having quality ABs too). Cain's thumb is clearly an issue, especially given the type of hitter he is, but there's only so many spots to upgrade so you can't do anything about it other than to give Gamel some of his PT or keep him out of the leadoff spot until he figures out a way to be solid playing through it. I'm more than comfortable with Saladino replacing Perez but Dubon should have been up starting for July as if he was performing then Arcia could be moved for a piece that can help the MLB team given he still has plenty of value at his position. Even if Dubon has to replace Saladino so be it but Dubon needs to be up given his plus bat potential. I keep Aguilar too. The biggest issue is his power hasn't been there. Since April 29 he's posted a 260/378 BA/OBP and since May 1 it's been 237/367. He has an excellent BB rate and OBP but he's just not hitting for XB. Hopefully that changes in the 2nd half as he's plenty capable of it. The current problem isn't a lack of offensive talent. They're just slumping as an entire unit at the same time. I think Hiura ends up in the leadoff spot actually with Yelich, Moose, Grandal following (or Braun mixed in between lefties if need to break it up).

This. They're both journeyman mediocre players, comparing the two is splitting hairs. If Saladino is so much better, why was Perez even tendered this year? Why not just roll with Saladino and save the tender on Perez? They likely made the switch because Saladino has more roster flexibility with the option and because he loses that next season I doubt he'll be back. It's not because Saladino is some obviously better option than Perez. I don't recall anybody saying Saladino is head and shoulders significantly better than Perez. To answer your question, nobody knows unless the Brewers say so publicly, which they won't. But I'll give it a shot anyway. Perhaps its as simple as Perez being loved by his teammates and coaches, being a great clubhouse presence, bringing a great attitude every day and playing 7 positions. He did that for several years until Moose was acquired last deadline. Having Gamel (option remaining) covering all 3 OF spots, Pina and Aguilar/Thames splitting 1b/bench it allowed them to carry 1 more player hence Perez given what he's done since he arrived. If Gamel wasn't performing then he could have been optioned with Perez taking that 4th OF spot. Thames is performing well again and Aguilar doesn't have options either but his offensive ability is clearly better than Perez's. So it made sense to have Perez start the year as if he could have improved over his previous 2yrs and got closer to his 2016 performance then all would have been well. But he continued to be the same player he's been the 2yrs prior. Also, if Perez wasn't tendered and wasn't here this year with Saladino taking his place from day one then that only leaves Dubon as a MLB ready SS in this org so depth would have been cut right off the bat. First and foremost, Saladino is a much better IF defender than Perez. Offensively, he's shown to have the ability to be a better bat as well. It doesn't matter if it's slightly or significantly. Better is better. Especially when you factor in the defensive aspect. I agree that Saladino most likely isn't here next year but maybe he is and maybe he's DFA'd like Perez if he doesn't perform well. Either way, the main underlying point I've been trying to make is Perez is very expendable and there's no legitimate reason (performance wise that is) for anybody to be upset he's gone and start complaining about Saladino after 3 games. Perez will be back up later this year anyway and so will Shaw for that matter.

I love Dubon and want him to be our starting MLB SS immediately. Ray is injured so he's difficult to gauage right now after his big AA season but he's close enough to knocking on the MLB door and has that talent. That said, there's no way Boyd is bringing back an elite prospect. The Hiura's and Kyle Tucker's of the world are guys that head trades for 2-3yrs of control for guys like Thor and deGrom. Boyd is nowhere near that talent level nor has he performed at that level at any point over his career. Even if it's 1 prospect for Boyd I just don't see anybody giving that up for 3yrs of him given his past preformance. I like Boyd and think he should be a target but not at the price the Tigers are asking, which they're entitled to.

If it doesn't make a difference then they wouldn't have DFA'd Perez. His lack of production and inability to improve over the past several years speaks volumes. He is who he is and that's fine but it's not going to play well with a team like the Brewers at this point in time. Saladino and Dubon are the only players in the org, after Arcia, that are MLB ready. The next best SS is Turang in A ball as there's nobody in A+/AA who's remotely close to being a MLB talent. Cutting Perez was a blow to the MLB SS depth in this org, which says even more about their thoughts on him as a player (edit: Perez claimed by nobody. Nobody. So he's back in our AAA and adds to our SS depth again so that's a plus...maybe that was the plan all along - the Brewers believing he wouldn't be claimed and they could keep him so it's almost as if they optioned him). Saladino will show, again, that he's better than Perez. He just needs that first hit to get rolling again.

Saladino is getting shafted here as there's no context provided. Perez had 700 PA heading into 2017 and since then he's slashed 253/288/687 spanning around 960 PA. Saladino has 1007 career PA. 254 PA were his rookie season/first exposure to MLB (2015). Another 281 PA (2017) he had that finger/hand injury or whatever it was that literally affected everything he did where he couldn't even feel the ball if I recall correctly so got shut down (28% of his career here resulting in 33 OPS+). That's 53% of his career right there between being a rookie and injured. His 2016 and 2018, when healthy, he's easily outperformed Perez offensively (271/317/751) and is clearly better defensively. I find it odd that people are trying to defend the Perez DFA and calling for Saladino to be replaced after only 3 starts when he's clearly the better player. Replaceable, yes, but better nonetheless as we saw it last year when he, not Perez, was handed the starting SS job when Arcia went to AAA.

I think the decision to DFA Perez was neccessary. He was a great teammate and available every night but also out of options, going on 3yrs straight of declining performance at ages 26-28, lost his most valuable asset (versatility) with Gamel covering the entire OF and now Hiura at 2b/Moose 3b every night plus Saladino/Spangenberg/Dubon performing well in AAA. It was a perfect storm but the writing was on the wall when Moose was resigned (Shaw being there instead of Hiura currently). If Perez performed offensively he'd still be here even with the Brewers being disappointed in Arcia's defense. But given that Saladino/Spangenberg have options, are versatile IF defenders and have MLB experience it makes the decision pretty easy in my eyes. Not to mention they both have already outperformed him at the MLB level, when healthy, so that potential is already there regardless if Saladino starts 0-13. I think Saladino was the chosen one as he's the best defensive SS of the group as that was also intended to light a fire under Arcia as well. I believe Dubon is the SS of the future and the Brewers will package Arcia at the deadline as he's about to turn 25, has 3yrs of relatively cheap control, is a good defender at minimum and has flashed the ability to easily be a top half MLB SS. I think Dubon sits in AAA playing SS every night until he's needed to play every night at the MLB level. I believe Dubon's bat profile is underrated and that he has plus potential. I think it's very realistic for him, as a rookie, to post or exceed Arcia's 2017 line, which is also Arcia's best season to date by far, then improve from there. Dubon/Hiura cost controlled for 6yrs up the middle can provide a signfiicant offensive boost to the team. Outside of a few mental hiccups forcing throws Hiura has shown he can handle 2b just fine. Dubon we haven't seen too much of other than highlights, which obviously make everyone look good, but all reports have forever said he's plenty capable of playing both spots up the middle while having the arm as well.