Brock Beauchamp

I agree that a team would likely view Hiura as a useful piece on their MLB than someone to flip down the road. And the difference between what I’m talking about and a PTBNL is kinda non-existent. Like I said, Hiura won’t fetch much because his upside is so low due to lack of position.

Hiura won’t fetch much but I think a team would give up *something* for him. He’s a pretty good reclamation project for a mediocre A ball prospect. If a team is convinced they can fix Keston, he could turn into a valuable DH or be flipped for better prospects down the road.

It was a wild inaugural year for Brewer Fanatic (née Brewer Fan). Let’s look at the most popular news and editorials of 2022. In our first nine months as a Brewers news and opinion site, we published over 600 stories about the Milwaukee Brewers. Look at the 2022 Brewers season and the stories that drove the year. The Weekly: The End is Near for American Family Field Sports stadiums are a contentious topic for a good reason: they’re often publicly funded - at least partially - while the team often derives almost all of the benefit from its existence. In the case of American Family Field, it’s starting to show its age. While the Brewers’ current lease extends to 2030, stadium planning is rarely less than a decade-long endeavor, which means the city of Milwaukee will have to consider the current stadium's long-term viability soon. Whether that’s a retrofit/refurbishment or a brand new stadium, American Family Field will not last forever in its current state. As an aside, this was our first viral story on Brewer Fanatic, drawing nearly 20,000 Brewers fans to the site in its third month of existence. Three Bad Decisions Sunk the Brewers' Playoff Run Brewer nation was struggling in early October. After four consecutive postseason appearances, the 2022 Brewers struggled down the stretch and ultimately missed out on the new expanded postseason format, narrowly losing the final wild-card spot to the Philadelphia Phillies, who went on to win the National League pennant. In the wake of this disappointing season finish, Tim Muma looks at three of the decisions that helped sink the Milwaukee Brewers’ 2022 season. Time is Running Out for Brewers' Cain By late May, skepticism about the final year of Lorenzo Cain’s contract had turned into full-blown concern over whether he was a playable major league baseball player any longer. Virtually every metric for Cain dropped severely year-over-year, and he wasn’t a viable hitter just as his defensive metrics began to crater. With no easy solutions in front of them, the Brewers were nearing a difficult decision with the fan-favorite veteran who started and ended his career in a Brewers uniform. Brewers Have Decisions to Make on Four Key Potential Free Agents In late September, it was increasingly clear the Brewers would miss the postseason and needed to look toward the offseason and how their roster would change with losing players to free agency. Players that helped the Brewers to the postseason in previous years, such as Jace Peterson, Omar Narvaez, and Brad Boxberger, would become free agents, and, as it turned out, the Brewers retained none of them for 2023 and beyond. Yelich's Decline and the Brewers' Current Offense It wouldn’t be a Brewers season if a Christian Yelich story didn’t appear as one of the year's most-read stories. Every year, there are moments of hope as Yelich “figures it out” for some time and returns to looking like the MVP-caliber player of previous seasons. Inevitably, that hope is dashed upon the rocks as Yelich declines and finishes the season with an OPS+ in the 110 range instead of the 160 or higher OPS+ he posted in 2018 and 2019. Those were the top five most-read stories in the first nine months of Brewer Fanatic and stay tuned later in the week when I compile the top five Brewers discussions within the Brewer Fanatic community. What storylines from 2022 will stick with you for years to come? What storylines will emerge as the dominant narratives of 2023? Comment and leave your opinion below! View full article

Be a below average hitter and fielder for a third consecutive season, apparently. Hard pass on Moose in every capacity.

Very possible but the Reds are virtually guaranteed to flip him in July, too. It just seems like a weird choice to me if more competitive teams were in the mix for my services.

Really impressive research done with this piece, kudos to Matt for putting in all time.

I’d take Urias one-for-one over Esco but that’s not the question I’m asking myself. I think “Urias + Escobar + Turang” is a lot better bet than “Urias + Turang” over 162.

There's a lot of chatter around Twitter but not from what most of us would call the most reputable sources. But that doesn't mean it's necessarily untrue. With the addition of Carlos Correa, there isn't really a reason for the Mets to roster Eduardo Escobar other than "Steve Cohen wants all the players." Personally, I struggle to see Steve Cohen taking a step back talent-wise under any circumstances after the offseason the Mets have had but it's also possible Escobar isn't particularly thrilled about being in New York and shoved into a utility role - he's not a great defender anywhere anymore - behind two players on a legitimate Hall of Fame career arc. What are your thoughts? Is an Escobar reunion possible in Milwaukee? View full rumor

That's certainly possible but it'd be hard to see Myers choose the Reds over the Brewers given the level of competition of each club and the fact it's likely he's flipped to a team he doesn't choose in July. But who knows what drives any individual free agent?

Hmm. I see Wil Myers signed with the Reds for a $7.5m base with incentives. Yet another bat the Brewers could have used... editing the piece to now mention Longoria, one of the only names left that interests me even a little bit.

I’d love a trade for Escobar but it’s hard to see Cohen decreasing payroll or trading off a useful asset. He has made it quite clear he wants to win at ANY cost.

Hopefully they'll both be competent against lefties, like Tellez. But I tend to take MiLB splits with a huge grain of salt, especially for lefties. So few left-handers perform decently against LHP, I tend to assume a prospect will be bad against southpaws until they show me they aren't for a few seasons.

I think the Brewers have a shot to retain one of the three but this looks to be a pretty classic case of letting a conservative approach bite one in the ass (hard). Had the Brewers been less risk-averse 12 months ago, the price for any of these three players in question would have been way lower. Like maybe "half the price" lower.

I'd also target Woodruff, as his price should be more reasonable than Burnes and Corbin will fetch more in trade. Agreed on Adames. I really like watching him play but get too much of a Javy Baez vibe from that OBP to want to extend him at his market value.

I'm hoping the Brewers manage to extend one of them and trade the other in an attempt to maintain the competitive window. I don't see another way through it, really, unless they plan to trade all three of Burnes, Adames, and Woodruff in the next 12 months and do a quick rebuild that way.

It's not surprising to see Steamer that bullish on Ashby but it's also a welcome sight. If he takes a step forward, this rotation. Yowza.

Yes.

I keep forgetting Longoria is even on the market so yeah, he might fall through the cracks and be a nice January signing.

As mentioned in this MLBTR piece, bats have been flying off the free agent market over the past few weeks and now it looks like teams are focusing in on one of the only intriguing bats remaining, utility man Brandon Drury. The 30-year-old can play all over the field but has spent the most time at second and third base. While not an exceptional hitter most years, the journeyman had very nice 2021 (111 OPS+) and 2022 (122 OPS+) seasons. As a right-handed hitter, he could slot into the Brewers' lineup nicely, resting several left-handed hitters throughout the lineup as needed. Drury's splits aren't pronounced (.720 OPS vs righties, .770 OPS vs lefties) but given the current makeup of the Brewers, being able to slot in someone who isn't a black hole against lefties (much less above average, as Drury is) could be a difference maker over 162 games. View full rumor

I find it really interesting how many two-way players and converted position players are mentioned in this piece.

I always had a hard time reconciling projections with my fandom until I rammed it through my head that these are all 50th percentile projections that assume at least a modicum of health. Once I framed it that way, they made a lot more sense to me.

It's very possible they're underrating how often Contreras will play. He was absolutely beastly against LHP in 2022 (1.036 OPS in 116 PAs). If he resembles anything like that player again, he'll be snagging a bunch of DH plate appearances in 2023. And welcome to Brewer Fanatic!