Brock Beauchamp

Don't attribute to malice what is more likely explained by a simple mistake.

I'm not high on Morel so I'd definitely pass on this from the Brewers' side of things.

It would suck if the Cubs signed Burnes to a long-term deal but that might happen after 2024 anyway.

I think that's close enough that the Brewers may shut down the conversation or eagerly snatch up Horton in equal measure. If the Brewers have Horton as a $40m guy, it's a very different story (and we really have no idea what the Brewers think of him, only that their pitching people are smarter than we are).

Welcome to Brewer Fanatic! I think the Cubs might spend big this offseason and they have a farm system that's very enticing. I'm not one to shy away from divisional trades if the deal is right.

If the Cubs were willing to offer Horton for Burnes straight-up, I'd probably do it (assuming the Brewers like what projection they see in Horton, which is probably the case).

Sure, okay, yeah. Looks like Patrick doesn’t need to be added to the 40-man so huzzah.

I agree there is a lot of "sameness" but I feel the variance on a lot of those "same" players ends up being pretty large. Between the Twins and Brewers, I've seen enough bad first base performances to think there are serious flaws with the strategy.

No, it's a place "smart" teams are often punting on but I think the pendulum may have swung a little too far. First base might actually be a little underrated in the current market.

Yes, please.

Of all the positions on the Brewers roster, first base delivered the most disappointing results in 2023. Whereas teams hope to fill that role with prolific sluggers and menacing bats, Milwaukee struggled to find even league-average production, and it’s one of the spots most due for an upgrade. Image courtesy of Brewer Fanatic & Brock Beauchamp This is an excerpt from the 2024 Brewer Fanatic Offseason Handbook, you can find a link to download the entirety of Week Two of the handbook at the bottom of the article. This publication is funded by Brewer Fanatic Caretakers and future entries will be available exclusively to Caretakers. During the publish period of the handbook, we are offering 25% off all Caretaker packages using the coupon code HANDBOOK. To become a supporter of Brewer Fanatic, click here. Another perk of Caretaking is ad-free browsing across all of Brewer Fanatic. Rowdy Tellez was supposed to be the team’s primary option, but he wasn’t the answer. After a disappointing season that saw him slash .215/.291/.376 and miss time due to injury, he’s unlikely to return in 2024. There were other journeymen like Luke Voit (designated for assignment), Jon Singleton (designated for assignment), and Owen Miller, but ultimately none were impressive enough to stick at the cold corner. Finally, Milwaukee found the answer at the trade deadline, in Carlos Santana. He was slightly better than league-average at the plate, finishing with a slash line of .249/.314/.459 for the Brewers and an OPS+ of 109. Now that Santana has elected free agency, the Brewers probably need to rely on a new face to hold down the fort. Unfortunately, this year’s first base free-agent pickings are like the pumpkins you get after Halloween: pretty rotten and not worth your time. With a lack of great options, here are a few names that still might lead the Crew to a few more wins next season. Rhys Hoskins - .246/.332/.462 (2022) Despite not playing at all this past year due to an injury suffered in spring training, Hoskins is one of the most valuable first basemen available. He’s relatively young (he’ll be 31 when the season starts), has regularly produced above-average offense (career OPS+ of 125) over five years of service time, and isn’t extremely expensive. In 2022, Hoskins was great at the plate, scoring in the top quartile for nearly every Baseball Savant statistic except his strikeout rate (25.1%, 25th percentile), whiff rate (25.7%, 42nd percentile), and expected batting average (xBA, .239, 35th percentile). His annual 25-30 home runs would be a welcome addition to the Brewers, who were 24th in MLB in home runs hit. The only teams lower were the Rockies, Royals, Pirates, Nationals, and Guardians, not exactly elite company. Regardless of your opinions on whether trading home runs for more strikeouts is a worthy exchange, Hoskins would represent a significant improvement over Tellez (when it comes to average and on-base ability) and Santana (with that power). His exceptional plate discipline and walk rate help compensate for a below-average number of balls in play. MLB Trade Rumors projected him to net a two-year, $36-million deal, shortened due to uncertainty surrounding his hitting capabilities after missing an entire year. Tearing an ACL is no laughing matter and can have long-term detrimental effects on an individual’s ability to generate power or have good timing. Still, if Hoskins can prove himself worthy, his offensive contributions could help him become one of the best bats on the team. Two examples of this with different results are Cody Bellinger and Michael Conforto. After an injury-ridden rough patch with the Dodgers over the past few years, Bellinger signed a one-year deal with the Chicago Cubs and rediscovered his old ways, posting his best OPS (.881) since his MVP season in 2019. This will allow him to be in the running for a longer-term, more lucrative deal in his free agency this offseason. Michael Conforto missed the entirety of the 2022 season with a shoulder injury and upon his return in 2023, signed a two-year, $36 million contract with the San Francisco Giants. With an opt-out after the first year, Conforto decided to stay in San Francisco after a lukewarm season where he posted an OPS of .718. Since Hoskins and Conforto are right around the same age, the time needed to return to peak performance may have the same timeline. Brandon Belt - .254/.369/.490 (2023) Belt is by no means a spring chicken; he’ll be 36 next April. But boy, he still packs a punch. He was the best hitter on a competitive Blue Jays squad in 2023 and posted the same rWAR as Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. (this is more a knock on Vlad’s season, but that’s still pretty good!). While he was mostly relegated to serving as a designated hitter, he also accumulated 243 innings at first base... View full article

Possibly. Burnes is definitely better and more reliable. But I think it might cramp Burnes's market a little in the sense a team might go "that ask is crazy, ima go get Glasnow instead".

More directly tied to the Brewers, I wonder how or if this impacts Burnes's market.

Go vote where you think Dunn should be on the BF list!

Well done, you were on this!

Okay so we didn't do this much last offseason but it's pretty fun. I've removed Mendez and Moore from the Brewer Fanatic top 20 list but now I need your votes on where Dunn fits into the top 20, if he does at all. Take a look at the list and give me a number or, if he doesn't rank in your top 20, vote "n/a". Our prospect page: https://brewerfanatic.com/milwaukee-brewers-top-prospect-rankings/

Interesting deal, gonna need to sit on it and think for a bit. But on the surface, trading excess depth for a need is a good thing.

The posts still exist but I had to archive them because the posts table was slowing down the site. Once they were archived, they no longer appear in search queries but you can still get them from Google, as the pages are indexed. Just do something like "brewerfanatic.com + craig counsell" search and set the time range to the appropriate time period.

Oh hey, I just scanned this last night as I was dozing off, I didn't realize Weeks was named bench coach! That's pretty fun, I hope he does well.

I’m fine with this. It’s not a sexy hire but just fine, probably as a bridge guy for 2-3 years assuming the org doesn’t implode in some fashion.

The incestuous nature of the National League Central continues. Bob Nightengale of USA Today has reported the Brewers are interested in Padres third base coach and former Cardinal skipper, Mike Shildt. Shildt has spent the past few years in the Padres organization as a player development assistant and as a part-time third base coach, filling in for Matt Williams in that role. Brewers fan will be far more familiar with Shildt from his time as the Cardinals manager, filling in after the departure of Mike Matheny in 2018. He managed the Cards until he was fired following the 2021 season over "philosophical differences". Given the recent turmoil in the Cardinals front office and coaching, this may not be a black mark on Shildt. The Padres are also considering Shildt for their manager role and given that he is currently in the San Diego organization, they will have first negotiating rights with him. View full rumor

In this week's Caretaker-exclusive handbook, we look at free agent options the Brewers may consider this winter. Will they spend in free agency or are we looking at a quiet winter? Image courtesy of Brewer Fanatic & Brock Beauchamp This is an excerpt from the 2024 Brewer Fanatic Offseason Handbook, you can find a link to download the entirety of Week One of the handbook at the bottom of the article. This publication is funded by Brewer Fanatic Caretakers and future entries will be available exclusively to Caretakers. During the publish period of the handbook, we are offering 25% off all Caretaker packages using the coupon code HANDBOOK. To become a supporter of Brewer Fanatic, click here. If you are a Caretaker, scroll down to the bottom of this story to download this week's Offseason Handbook PDF. In 2023, the Milwaukee Brewers started seven players at third base during the regular season. The hodgepodge of hot corner holders-down included Andruw Monasterio (51 games), Brian Anderson (50), Owen Miller (18), Mike Brosseau (16), Josh Donaldson (15), Luis Urias (10), and Abraham Toro (2). Brewers’ third basemen held their own on defense, finishing in the middle of the pack in the National League in various metrics, and they were okay at the plate. Compare the third basemen for Milwaukee and for the rest of baseball below: Brewers Third Basemen: 17 HR, .245/.312/.388, .700 OPS MLB Third Basemen: 20 HR, .244/.316/.404, .719 OPS Other than hitting for a tad less power, Milwaukee’s septet was comparable to the rest of Major League Baseball. But besides Anderson (.772) and Miller (.753), no one in that Brewers group on the left side of the infield had an OPS above .700. Last year, 11 MLB third basemen played more than 1,000 innings. You would have to drop down to number 29 on that list to find a Brewer: Anderson, with 476 innings. He was followed, three spots back, by Monasterio (456). And you have to go back to 2017 to find a Brewer on the ‘innings played’ leaderboard. His name was Travis Shaw, who ranked ninth with 1,221 innings at the hot corner six seasons ago. Milwaukee is looking for someone like that to man the position next year and for years to come. They hope they have that man in Tyler Black, who starred at Double-A Biloxi and Triple-A Nashville last year. He may break camp with Milwaukee next March, but if not, he will make his big-league debut at some point in 2024. Whether he can stick at third base is an open question, but he’s too good an athlete to shove across the diamond to first base right away. Will the Brewers sign a free agent in the next couple of months to tide them over until Black’s arrival? Or will they stand pat with Monasterio et al. and hope that Black can sand off his rough edges in time to become their long-term answer there without a short-term shortfall? If GM Matt Arnold and his staff decide to go the free-agent route, they have a few quality choices. Matt Chapman Age: 31 2023 Stats: .240/.330/.424, 17 HR, 4.4 WAR Previous Team: Blue Jays Chapman is a four-time Gold Glove winner with some pop, but he’s seen a power decrease after averaging 28 homers per full season from 2018-22. Last year, he only hit 17. He is durable, averaging 149 games per season. He rates highly among the 2023 free agents, so it will cost a few bucks for the Brewers to sign him. Estimated Cost: 6 years, $150 million Justin Turner Age: 38 2023 Stats: .276/.345/.455, 23 HR, 2.1 WAR Previous Team: Red Sox Turner might be a bit long in the tooth for Milwaukee, but on the other hand, a short-term player might fit the club’s needs. By the time Black’s role is clear, Turner would be ready to move along. He’s a Roberto Clemente Award winner and a perennial fan favorite, but it remains to be seen whether Turner’s preferences at this late stage of his career match up with the Brewers’ plans. Estimated Cost: 1 year, $16 million View full article