Brock Beauchamp

Yeah. Once I got over the knee-jerk reaction, this trade doesn't look bad. Swap out Rogers for Hader and it's a downgrade but not a huge downgrade. Also, Hader's salary comes off the books while Rogers is being paid by the Twins this season. The Brewers have a little more flexibility going into tomorrow's deadline. The Brewers might be able to get something out of Lament over the next 14 months so maybe that even adds value. Overall, the performance this season could be anything from disastrous to a wash to very good for Milwaukee. A lot rides on how Hader and Rogers finish the season after both looked really bad for a stretch. So we're left with 2023 Hader for Gasser and Ruiz. I'm not over the moon for that return but it's not nearly as lop-sided as it felt initially.

Yeah, the more I look at this trade, the more it makes sense. Losing Hader is hard but Rogers should be a capable replacement this season. And the more I look at the prospects, the more I'm interested in them.

One aspect of this is the cost-savings. Taylor Rogers' salary is being paid by the Twins this season so the Brewers have very little salary coming back. The other aspect of this is that Rogers has seriously underperformed this season. It wouldn't surprise me in the least to see him rebound to close to Hader-esque levels for the rest of the season. Of course, that still doesn't cover Hader's 2023 season and I'm not very impressed with the return on that.

Unfortunately, I'm pretty underwhelmed.

Rumors have circulated that Hader could be dealt but most expected it to occur in the offseason, not during a division race. Image courtesy of © Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports Rumors have circulated that Hader could be dealt but most expected it to occur in the offseason, not during a division race. Per a report from Jeff Passan, Brewers left-handed reliever Josh Hader has been traded to the San Diego Padres in exchange for Taylor Rogers and prospects. More information to come as details unfold. Taylor Rogers, who is a free agent at the end of the season, is also left-handed and after several successful seasons with the Minnesota Twins, was traded to San Diego just before Opening Day. Rogers has struggled in the closer role for the Padres, blowing seven saves and posting a WPA of -0.5. Josh Hader leads MLB with 29 saves. Rogers is second with 28 saves. This marks the third time that Hader has been traded at the July deadline in his career. A 19th-round pick in 2012 by the Orioles, he was traded to the Astros in a deal that sent Bud Norris to Baltimore. Then at the July deadline in 2016, he and three others were traded to the Brewers for right-hander Mike Fiers and Carlos Gomez. Hader made his debut in 2017 and has been named to each All Star team since 2018. In his six seasons with The Crew, he pitched in 269 games, all out of the bullpen. He is 17-17 but has 125 career saves. In 316 1/3 innings, he struck out an incredible 541 batters (15.4 K/9). Robert Gasser is a 23-year-old left-handed pitcher in A-Ball. He is the Padres #7 prospect according to MLB Pipeline. Esteury Ruiz is a 23-year-old outfielder. ranked #28 on the Padres MLB Pipeline rankings. He has spent time with the Padres. Dinelson Lamet, 29, has recently been brought back to the Padres after fighting injuries the last couple of years. He has shown flashes of brilliance recently out of the bullpen, though the sample size is very small and the ERA isn't pretty (9.49 in 12 1/3 innings). If he can harness some control, he could provide depth to the Brewers bullpen. Heading into play on Monday, the Brewers are 57-45, three games ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals atop the NL Central division. The Padres are 57-46 which puts them 12 games behind the NL West-leading Dodgers (68-33). There it is. How do you feel about the Brewers trading Hader, and specifically, how do you feel about the reported return? View full article

Yepppppp. Using IP geolocation is a TERRIBLE solution for this kind of application. Using a mobile device's location-tracking system makes sense for something like MLB.tv, which constantly has to check to make sure the game you're watching is not blacked out locally. But for something like the Bally's app? It's total nonsense.

There are plenty of ways to do this. Authenticating devices and limiting the number of attached devices to any single account is used in many apps.

This is something I worried about. That's not good. We have a cabin in NW Wisconsin, which obviously takes me out of the city (obnoxiously, both the Twins and Brewers are blacked out there so MLB.tv does not work while I'm "relaxing up north"). It's so maddening that MLB teams do everything they can to prevent paying customers from accessing their product.

The crew is looking good over the past several games. They’re on the verge of making the postseason a given.

This is something baseball fans need to keep in mind. There’s no such thing as “blocking” an up the middle player. It’s not a consideration. Literally every up the middle player can fall back to another position.

This is something baseball fans need to keep in mind. There’s no such thing as “blocking” an up the middle player. It’s not a consideration. Literally every up the middle player can fall back to another position.

The state of modern MLB offense makes for a really bad spectator experience, I agree with that.

Jon Heyman of the NY Post wrote that the Brewers have discussed acquiring Ramon Laureano from the Oakland As. Laureano has three more seasons of control so should cost quite a bit in trade. He's not a great defender in center but is above average with the bat. Coming off a PED suspension, Laureano essentially lost a year of free agency and has question marks about performance given his previous substance use. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of pursuing Laureano. If the price is good, sure, have at it. But Laureano lacks on-base ability, which is perhaps the Brewers' greatest need right now. He checks the box for centerfield - sorta, anyway - but doesn't offer a lot of other qualities that make him attractive to me as a player on this roster. Thoughts? Would you pursue Laureano or go with someone more bat-first like Bell? View full trade rumor

Put Hiura second and watch Yelich, Keston, and Tellez be completely taken out of the game in later innings as opposing managers exploit their .689, .491, and .634 OPSes against LHP. It would be ridiculously easy to neutralize the top of the Brewers order and every manager would do it.

Oh, I agree more OBP would be useful - to the team in general, really - I'm just saying there currently isn't a better option in the second slot than Adames. Go pick up Bell and put him there? Sure, absolutely. But as the roster stands right now, Yelich/Adames/Tellez is the best the Brewers got.

Oh yeah, I don't fault Ashby AT ALL for taking life-changing money. I really wish baseball would address how underpaid young players are and how overpaid older players are. It's one of the biggest issues with the sport that bleeds into every aspect of the game right down to how many athletes choose to play baseball versus another sport.

Worrying about Adames' OBP in the second slot is old baseball thinking. Modern thinking says "put your best hitter second" and Adames is the Brewers' best overall hitter. Getting Adames more plate appearances is more valuable than putting a lesser hitter in his place just because he gets on base more often.

They beat the Twins twice in two games. Do you not count two game series as sweeps?

Pitcher wins don't matter one bit but I didn't realize Ashby is 2-8. Yikes.

Yeah, the escalator section... I was trying to edit it while fighting a chest cold and it vexed me. I ultimately threw up my hands and moved on.

By the way, I wrote this and would like feedback. I’m not a professional writer, I’m a tech guy. But I dabble. Thoughts and opinions on this? Be honest, I’m a big kid.

Indeed. I mean occasionally there are really good chest logos. Look at MN United’s Target kit. It’s pretty awesome, clean, and barely feels like a sponsorship while also obviously being a sponsorship. Most teams and corporations aren’t that clever. It’ll be an eyesore far more often than it isn’t.