Brock Beauchamp

No way does Lauer get the job done for Arraez. The Twins already have a slew of guys like Lauer, they're looking for a step above him.

Hey, I moved this over to the rumors section and replicated your comments. Please use that functionality when reporting rumors, thanks!

Yeah, they're betting against Father Time in a big way.

Wowza. That's an incredible AAV.

One of the most baffling things is that the Hall eagerly voted in a known PED user, Ortiz, without batting an eye about it.

I think people are over-stating the effect of the RoY rule. It was well-placed mainly due to its proximity to the 2020 Covid season. I think the effect of so many prospects being called up as an effect of this rule is going to be minimal going forward. The rule saw a big benefit from "lost" 2020 prospects being escalated through systems in 2021 and then promoted immediately in the 2022 season because they literally lost a year of development but not physical ability. I don't expect that to happen again.

Exactly... but it should be noted the White Sox gave away Tatis Jr just a few months previous. As I keep repeating, the Brewers were amazing at developing Burnes, Woodruff, Hader, Peralta, Lauer, et al. Can they do it again? That I do not know.

Agreed 100%. Gambling is explicitly pointed out as a non-starter for baseball. BUT with that said, I would have let Rose in before he began his 2000-ish era of just being an ass *yet again*. The guy just can't get out of his own way. Every time baseball comes close to letting him back in, he does just cringe-worthy stuff again. Which is why I believe the personality clause needs to be removed from the Hall. We're in way too sticky of territory to ask the BBWAA to make these delicate decisions over and over again. Remove that clause and base it on performance, then put those issues on the plaque in Cooperstown. Remove the decision from writers and put the best players in the hall, then call out their issues and let viewers decide where they land in historical context. Ty Cobb is in the hall. If we let that guy in (and I know maybe he's not as bad as history portrays), then we need to just let the best players in and sort it all out afterward.

I'd elect Bonds and Clemens before Schilling. If we're going to exclude players based on personal life and/or behavior, give me the PED guys over Schilling any day of the week. PS. I think Bonds and Clemens should be in. I also believe the clause that involves personal character should be removed and as much as I personally dislike the guy, Schilling should be in as well.

Absolutely. Give me Correa at Seager money and deGrom for three years at an incredible AAV. And Semien is fine, I guess, and if a team isn't signing Seager at the same time, I'd be fine with a Semien contract. But, again, it's all about stacking these contracts on top of one another. Remove one and I'm probably 100% on board.

Ditto. Given Cohen's huge personality and willingness to spend, deGrom's life-long career as a Met, I'm a little shocked he didn't give them a chance to beat the offer and stay a Met.

I would have preferred deGrom at $40-45m per for three years. Maybe I'm wrong but that would be my preference over a five year deal with an option.

I actually think the Rangers are being overlooked in a few ways, too. They had a TERRIBLE one-run differential last season, which as we all know have really poor correlation YoY. My problem with the Rangers isn't with any single deal they've made, it's the combination of them all. They could be REALLY potent this season but given the guys they chose to pursue, I think their drop-off could be fast and brutal. Signing one guy in his 30s to long-term deals is fine but when you start stacking those on top of each other (including Seager being a poor long-term choice at short), things can go sideways in a hurry.

It’s the five years that surprises me. I also expected a higher AAV and shorter length.

Oh, I get it but I think they've also made some really bad decisions along the way. I would have signed Correa over Seager because I think Seager will quickly move to second/third while Correa could easily stay at short for another 4-5 years. I would have signed several people over Semien. And no way in hell would I give deGrom that money and years. I'd prefer Rodon over that timeline. Not by a lot but I just feel deGrom's arm is ready to grenade at any moment. I think they could have achieved more roster balance without consistently going for older guys with long contracts.

When looking at that Rangers roster, all I can see is how bad they might be in 3-4 years. They could have $110m a year committed to players in their mid-30s and ineffective. It's fun to see your team sign high profile players but this is not the way I want to see my team build a roster.

Yeah, that part of the roster gets murky, which is why I hope there are still trades coming down the pipeline. Winker is a terrible defender. Yelich appears to be slipping every year. Hiura is a terrible defender. Tellez is a bad defender. And all of these players hit righties better than lefties. There's a lot I don't really like about this roster right now and I hope its current makeup is temporary.

Agreed across the board, even moreso because Winker is a lefty. He's not a great fit for this roster's needs. That doesn't automatically make it a bad trade but it's hard to get too excited about it, either.

It's cute that you put a "2" as the first number.

That's also my hope for Winker but man, it doesn't help that he's left-handed.

Oh, in no way am I saying they'll be worse. And the Winter Meetings haven't even happened yet, there's a lot of offseason left to go. But to this point, we're seeing a lot of lateral movement with payroll in mind first and foremost. If they use that payroll to become substantially better later this month, great.

I feel like the Brewers have made a lot of lateral moves lately but nothing that immediately improves their 2023 product on American Family Field. Which may turn out great in 2024 and beyond but I'm not seeing a lot of upside in the here and now, which is kinda needed given the clock is ticking on Burnes, Woodruff, and Adames.

After picking up Wong's 2023 option for $10m, the Brewers have now traded the second baseman to the Seattle Mariners for left fielder Jesse Winker and third baseman Abraham Toro. Image courtesy of © Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports After picking up Wong's 2023 option for $10m, the Brewers have now traded the second baseman to the Seattle Mariners for left fielder Jesse Winker and third baseman Abraham Toro. Ken Rosenthal reports that the Brewers have traded one year of second baseman Kolten Wong to the Mariners for a pair of underperforming Mariners players, Jesse Winker and Abraham Toro. Wong had his $10m 2023 option picked up by the Brewers last month, which was, in essence, an $8m addition to the roster due to a $2m buyout cost. Jesse Winker, a former standout Reds player who joined Seattle before the 2022 season in a multi-prospect deal, comes back from Seattle, and Abraham Toros, an infielder who has struggled to hit at the Major League level but has several years of team control remaining. Jesse Winker, a 29-year-old left-handed left fielder, was a top 50 global prospect in the Reds system before breaking out in 2017 and 2018, posting a 128 OPS+ over 471 plate appearances. He continued to be a well-above-average bat for the Reds until he was traded to the Mariners last offseason. He regressed offensively last season in Seattle, losing nearly 100 points of batting average and 200 points of slugging percentage. While some of that regression is likely due to leaving the Great American Ballpark and playing instead in the more cavernous Seattle park, it's reasonable to expect some bounce back from a player with good career stats (123 OPS+ in 2070 career plate appearances). Given that Winker played much of his career in the National League Central division, he has played in American Family 32 times, posting an absurd 1.032 OPS. Winker, like Wong, will become a free agent following the 2023 season. Abraham Toro was more intriguing in this trade, drafted by the Houston Astros before being traded to the Mariners during the 2021 season. Toro, like Wong, is viewed as a flexibility infielder, having split his MLB time between second and third base. Toro had a breakout season as a prospect in 2019, posting a .938 OPS split between AA and AAA (note that some of that time was spent in the Pacific Coast League, a hitting haven) but has since faltered with the bat, posting just a 74 OPS+ over 913 career plate appearances. While only 25 years old without even 1,000 career major league plate appearances, there is still upside left in Toro's bat; now it's just a question of whether the Brewers can exploit the potential of the switch-hitting infielder. Which the Brewers will have the time to figure out, as Toro still has four years remaining of team control before becoming a free agent. View full article

We're going to try something a little different this offseason and see how it goes. We're not going to re-rank all the prospects, we're going to plug in the new guys. Here is the current list: https://brewerfanatic.com/milwaukee-brewers-top-prospect-rankings/ So take a look at that list and then come back and list where you'd place the new guys (if you think they're all lower than 20, please post that, as it will impact the overall ranking). Second, remember that if you place a guy at 14, everyone 15-20 shifts down a position. If you then place a guy at 18, factor that shuffle into your lower number. No need to list your entire top 20, just list the new guys and their number in the top 20. I'll give everyone about a week to put together their new lists.