UpandIn

Dodgers have and will continue to be my guess, but if I could hand pick the package, I'd definitely go all in on the Baltimore trade. I'd even go with a bigger package and would include Ruiz and Williams(they gotta add that Felix Bautista who has a uneven history, but has had a good rookie year).

Yeah, probably should have kept it to the article. I hope you're wrong on 1. On 2, you're probably right. 3, agree obviously. 4...he can be a helluva nice lefty so I hope you're wrong on this one, but I suspect you're not.

Yeah, probably should have kept it to the article. I hope you're wrong on 1. On 2, you're probably right. 3, agree obviously. 4...he can be a helluva nice lefty so I hope you're wrong on this one, but I suspect you're not.

Fair enough, but each situation is different. Those prospects were all in rookie or A ball. In this scenario, we're talking about players several players who've already played at the big league level or who are on the precipice. Also, Seattle was pretty desperate to go for it. Not to say other teams won't be desperate next year, but Baltimore has been pretty patient. And they're genuinely cheap. That market and the Brewers have vastly outspent her the last 10+ years...

I'd gladly give up Ruiz if it meant Grayson Rodriguez and Jackson Holliday. I'd prefer that to the Mets deal as it includes the pitching prospect, but both are nice packages. I'm also assuming in any of these deals, it's assumed we'd also be getting a couple lower rated prospects. And sure, both are probably expecting too much in the way of top tier prospects, but we have that luxury at the moment. We don't have to trade either and we can sit back and wait to see how prospects develop next year or see how we're playing. But one truly elite prospect, one top 50 or higher prospect and then depending on how high that 2nd prospect is, how close they are, that should dictate what else we expect from the other two. But I'd like to get a top pitching prospect, corner IFer and then a couple talented young arms.

Houser? You think there's any chance they'd non-tender Adrian Houser? I hadn't even considered the possibility that he wouldn't be back, but...I guess, he's really only had one solid season. I still like Houser(as a #4/5). Big time GB pitcher, provides you some protection and he shouldn't be more than 4.5 next year, but I kinda see it now. Still think SPers are just too valuable to let go at that price regardless of Burnes. If Gasser(or less likely Small) throw really well in AAA or earn a spot, then I'd like Houser as a multi-inning reliever...and then if you can get a '21 type year from him, flip him. I'd thrown the idea of maybe picking up the Wong option and then dealing him before his 3HR game. Looking at the 2B market, ~6 WAR over the past two seasons and a solid finish to the year to get him to 3 again this year, feels like that's a really good deal for some team. And as I said in another thread, you can even eat 2M if it means getting back a valuable reliever. I'd consider bringing back Narvaez, Peterson or Rogers, but they'd all have to be cheap deals. Narvaez would have to be 1/2.5, Rodgers in the 5M range and Peterson 2/8, maybe 2/10. He's been an important player the last couple years. No reason to bring McCutchen back for next year...literally none. Even if the rookies can't hit better than him...which I think they can, you're saving ~8M and you're getting them valuable experience. I think this team looks largely the same. I expect you'll see a couple smaller trades. Try and bolster that BP with some more power arms. Kinda hope Suter isn't brought back as I think he'd be redundant with Milner and you have too many guys who COULD be good relievers next year like Gott, Gustave, Strezelicki, Cousins, Topa along with Ecreg who looks like he's really turned a corner in AAA. I don't think Attanasio is gonna want to blow this rotation up...even if it may be the better idea long term. I think he wants one more run and he'll take the diminishing returns. And we should also be able to push the payroll up to 150 this year with the new TV money coming in. So take the Cain, Wong(if he's let go), McCutchen contracts, Rosenthal, Rogers or just what we were paying Hader. I'd guess when you factor in money coming off the books with arbitration raises, we should have ~20-25M to spend. It's just hard to see where that money gets spent. 3B there's nobody worth adding. Vazquez at C, maybe Abreu at 1B...though I know he's loved by the CWS, they have too many 1B/DH only players. Maybe it's Josh Bell? Should be an interesting off-season.

Houser? You think there's any chance they'd non-tender Adrian Houser? I hadn't even considered the possibility that he wouldn't be back, but...I guess, he's really only had one solid season. I still like Houser(as a #4/5). Big time GB pitcher, provides you some protection and he shouldn't be more than 4.5 next year, but I kinda see it now. Still think SPers are just too valuable to let go at that price regardless of Burnes. If Gasser(or less likely Small) throw really well in AAA or earn a spot, then I'd like Houser as a multi-inning reliever...and then if you can get a '21 type year from him, flip him. I'd thrown the idea of maybe picking up the Wong option and then dealing him before his 3HR game. Looking at the 2B market, ~6 WAR over the past two seasons and a solid finish to the year to get him to 3 again this year, feels like that's a really good deal for some team. And as I said in another thread, you can even eat 2M if it means getting back a valuable reliever. I'd consider bringing back Narvaez, Peterson or Rogers, but they'd all have to be cheap deals. Narvaez would have to be 1/2.5, Rodgers in the 5M range and Peterson 2/8, maybe 2/10. He's been an important player the last couple years. No reason to bring McCutchen back for next year...literally none. Even if the rookies can't hit better than him...which I think they can, you're saving ~8M and you're getting them valuable experience. I think this team looks largely the same. I expect you'll see a couple smaller trades. Try and bolster that BP with some more power arms. Kinda hope Suter isn't brought back as I think he'd be redundant with Milner and you have too many guys who COULD be good relievers next year like Gott, Gustave, Strezelicki, Cousins, Topa along with Ecreg who looks like he's really turned a corner in AAA. I don't think Attanasio is gonna want to blow this rotation up...even if it may be the better idea long term. I think he wants one more run and he'll take the diminishing returns. And we should also be able to push the payroll up to 150 this year with the new TV money coming in. So take the Cain, Wong(if he's let go), McCutchen contracts, Rosenthal, Rogers or just what we were paying Hader. I'd guess when you factor in money coming off the books with arbitration raises, we should have ~20-25M to spend. It's just hard to see where that money gets spent. 3B there's nobody worth adding. Vazquez at C, maybe Abreu at 1B...though I know he's loved by the CWS, they have too many 1B/DH only players. Maybe it's Josh Bell? Should be an interesting off-season.

There's a lot of teams in that position. Throw Detroit into the mix. They're kinda a mix of Texas and Baltimore. They have a whole bunch of young position players and spent some money and willing to spend money. Baltimore, we could go back to the SD well(though Korey Howell is not their #9 prospect, so...it's a top heavy system). They have some nice young arms. Snelling and Lesko among them. And then about a 10 of the usual contenders and that delusional team that pops up from year to year thinking they're contenders. There's always one or two of them like AZ. Also, Houston. If they lose Verlander, that team is still set up to win. I'd take Forrest Whitley back. See if we could fix him. Course he'd be the 3rd prospect. Hunter Brown, Yainer Diaz, Whitley. There should be a LOT of pitching prospects we could plug into this organization and hopefully come out with some MLB talent...whomever we trade with.

Problem is...Rendon could at least still come back and play 3B at a high level. He did his last full seasons. And when talking about injury issues, I don't know it's a substantial difference. Also, need to consider the Angels have Ward, Trout and it's not all that hard to find an OFer...and they may still not be willing to give up on Adell. So they need pitching. They're really not saving money in this scenario, so they might as well hope Rendon bounces back and then they've got a 3B who has power rather than an OFer who can leadoff. I think if you want to make that trade and then get 50M back, you're sending them Lauer(at least).

If you get offered Grayson Rodriguez and Jackson Holliday, you jump on that. Holliday is a great athlete, probably, as you said, advanced, and if he doesn't stick at SS, he could move over to SS. I think you're going to need almost two SSs with the new shift rule. You're going to be playing one guy just to the right of 2nd and other guy basically like a SS shaded toward the hole vs lefties. So Holliday and Turang, that could make for an outstanding left side of the IF. That's without any idea how Holliday actually progresses. People have him as 2B/3B until recently when apparently they've been more impressed by his arm and his quickness. But that's a ways down the road. I wouldn't be against including Devin Williams into this trade for Felix Bautista from Balt. Throws 100, big strikeout pitcher and I just don't have faith in Williams continuing to dominate as he has. He started with an upper 90s fastball that he didn't have to be perfect with, but jsut the threat of it made the change that much more dangerous. Now at ~93, it feels like we're moving torward K-Rod territory. Post Angels K-Rod. You could take a year to reset. Trade Renfroe for hopefully a nice pitching prospect or two. Guys who are starters, but like Uribe, but hopefully a bit more...refined. I'm skeptical you'd be able to re-sign Woodruff at this point, but if you did, you'd be more than just resetting what you had in '24, you potentially throw out that rotation you mentioned; OF would be Frelick, Mitchell, Wiemer, Yelich and Taylor for another year. IF-I'd prefer to re-sign Jace as well, but for 2 years depending on the price. If he's getting paid of a 2.5 WAR season, then no, but 2/12, sure. 3B-Brosseau/Jace/Urias SS-Adames 2B-Turang 1B-Probably still Tellez, but Cam Devanney has really been impressive. He could also slot in at 3B with Devanney playing some 3rd. DH-Figure it out between the 3B/OF C-Quero? Probably a year too early, but he and Chourio would be close by '24. It's a brilliant trade idea and again, I think it'd cost more than just Burnes to get two top 14 prospects. Maybe a team like SD who trades stupidly, or the Dodgers who'll just have 3 more elite prospects next year. But the premise is rock solid and I'd have preferred to extend Burnes...as I've gotten into an never ending discussion about, but getting rid of Burnes and getting back a guy who in 2 years could be as good a him, PLUS an elite IFer with power and speed...hell, pay Burnes arbitration number next year. Spend the year getting the young guys playing time, looking for your future BP pieces. Maybe we don't take a bite of the able the next year, but it'd certainly set us up for the next 4-5 years. And it'd be one helluva parting gift from Stearns(as Rodriguez was apparently a hold over from the Orioles previous front office).

Woah...Adames? I think Hiura should be getting regular At Bats as well and the whole, "projections say he won't keep doing what he's doing," while he sits 9 games is silly...but you're going in on a GG caliber SS who's actually hitting and really seems like a strange conflation. If Hiura was an elite defender, I've got no doubt he'd be playing regularly.

---Good post and again, I write too much. If you don't want to read it, I'll just summarize by saying, I agree with you. I wouldn't make any knee jerk reactions because this year didn't go as well as hoped, but I'd listen to offers and make a trade if we got a return that made it worth it. The only reason I'd extend Wong at this point, is if you thought you could extend him and that a team would want him for ~10M a year. I think that's a pretty fine line. His defense has been one of those baffling developments this year that...just doesn't make sense. How does he go from such an elite defender to such a poor one? So many of the errors seem to be on just poor throws. With the limited shifting, he may have been worth it, but at this point? I think you try and re-sign Jace Peterson. He's been out standing defensively...minus one particularly bad inning vs the Cards, and he's just good, reliable player. I'd rather spend 12 over 2 on keeping him and then bring up Turang. He's played 3B, 2B, SS, CF. One a quick side note, I wonder if MAYBE this is the season to try and extend Willy Adames? He's had a down season with regard to BA/OBP, but a big part of that is hitting into poor luck. His BABIP last I checked was in the ~.240 range. That's down about 90 points from last year and even more from past years. His walk rate has also dipped to about 8%, but the power he brings, plus the defense? I only suggest that because I think it's a REALLY hard sell to ask him to play 3B 2 years away from Free Agency and I think he might be our best option. Turang plays short, 2B is Urias/Peterson and maybe on occasion Hiura. The shift is going to make IF defense that much more valuable and Adames/Turang/Peterson/Rowdy is a pretty good group. You could obviously do better at 1B, but you have what you have. OF-I'd definitely bring back Renfroe. If the rookies force the issue, great. You have depth. But I really only trust Frelick to step in and produce right out of the gate as a rookie and he brings very little power as of now. Mitchell is ready, but I think he'll take a little bit to full adjust and you can get him plenty of ABs with Yelich in LF. Ruiz...still see him as a trade candidate...and I love Wiemer, but he's too boom or bust to throw him out there next year...I think. So I agree. As for Burnes...I could see one of two things happening. With SO much proven SPing talent available and the Mets having deGrom and Walker(among others) up, the Dodgers down Buehler, Kershaw, Heaney(who's been outstanding)...and I can't foresee Bauer ever pitching again(at least in LA) these teams could just go nuts. I could legitimately see deGrom getting a 3/150 type deal. I know that sounds crazy, but he's healthy and when he's healthy, he's the best I've ever seen personally...and it's hard to imagine a pitcher who has better stuff, Mets, Cohen...not hard to see him setting the market. Verlander could get a Scherzer type deal. He wants to pitch into his mid 40s and the man is back from TJ and should win a Cy Young. Rodon is a guy I'd be a bit Wary of, but he's been outstanding and his velo has ticked up as the season went on this year as opposed to last year. He seems like a Yankees type overpay. Maybe 4/120? In all you've got(copied and pasted from MLB.com) Carlos Rodón (30 years old, 10.3 WAR) -- Can opt out Aaron Nola (30, 9.6) -- Club option-Obviously will be picked up Jacob deGrom (35, 6.8) -- Can opt out Adam Wainwright (41, 6.7)-He's either retiring or staying in STL Nathan Eovaldi (33, 6.4) Chris Bassitt (34, 6.3) -- Mutual option Clayton Kershaw (35, 6.2) Charlie Morton (39, 6.1) -- Club option Tyler Anderson (33, 5.4) Justin Verlander (40, 4.8) -- Player option Sonny Gray (33, 4.6) -- Club option Kyle Gibson (34, 4.5) Sean Manaea (31, 4.2) Corey Kluber (37, 4.0) Martín Pérez (31, 3.9) Chris Flexen (28, 3.6) -- Vesting option Jameson Taillon (31, 3.5) Wade Miley (36, 3.5) José Quintana (33, 3.3) Taijuan Walker(29, 3.2) -- Player option Throw in guys like Sale, and Healey as I said(Dodgers sure nailed that one)...it's either a great off-season to trade for a pitcher who's cost controlled for two more years and who you could sign to an extension now and save some money on the FA years, or there's so much pitching available, he's got less value. I tend to think this is the year his value is going to be at it's highest. I've suggested the Dodgers, but teams like the Rangers who really went all on in Seager and Semien, those mid market teams may not be capable of spending for a legitimate ace, but they have the prospects to trade for one and then sign him. I also think Brandon Woodruff is...SOMEHOW underrated. I guess just being in a rotation with Burnes. Detroit with their young bats, they still have a good system and play in an extremely winnable division. And hell, the Padres still have a LOT of really nice pitching prospects...go back to that well! And that should only be in a light shade of blue. But I'd let the market play out. If you're trading to Texas, ask for 4 prospects and it has to be headlined by Jung or Lieter(I'd actually prefer the later as I prefer a TOR type arm who's closer, but we've struggled to develop 3B). Same with the LAD. Miller, Vargas and then Stone and Pepoit. Do what the Pirates did with Bryan Reynolds(but maybe not QUITE as stringent as they reportedly asked for both Julio Rodgriquez but also AND Marte). Otherwise...hold onto them and I'm fine with playing it out and hoping Adames bounces back and puts up a line closer to his 2021 line with the Brewers(making him an MVP candidate), Turang and Frelick I think can produce right out of the gate and add another component to this team. Renfroe, Rowdy, Yelich...I expect them to produce similar to how they produced this year. We'd all love to see a vintage Yelich season...even if it's Miami-vintage, but solid, reliable contributors who should be more effective with the limited shift(particularly the lefties). And then just play it out. I'm not as down on this team as others are. This same team won 95 last year and could have won 100 if they needed to. The ONE thing I wouldn't do is react to the team "only" wining 85-88 games this year. I'd be proactive with one of the two aces if the trade made it worthwhile, but I wouldn't panic and substantively change how we do things. That can/could wait until next years deadline if it's needed. Oh, one other team I'd look at...the Braves. They have a DEEP and nasty lineup and they're almost all locked up long term...they lose Morton. If you could pry Strider+a couple lower level prospects away for Burnes/Williams, I'd definitely consider that. The only reason I could see them parting with an arm like Strider is because 4 of their 5 top prospects are pitchers, they have Fried and Strider isn't quite an ace just now...and because they've struggled to find a closer and despite all evidence to the contrary, Williams decreasing Velo makes me nervous and makes me think he's on more of a late career Hoffman or KRod type trajectory. A really good reliever...not the guy who's putting up the Hader-esque line he has. It'd also give the Brewers an arm who's upside is limitless. But that's pretty far fetched. The Braves don't need to do anything. They have Riley, Albies, Olson, Harris, Acuna Jr locked up long term, Swanson is a FA but their #1 prospect is a SS who's got an ~840 OPS in roughly 150 PAs at age 21 and they even have d'Arnaud signed for another year, a catcher with an 800 OPS. If there was one team I would try and model the Brewers after...it'd be ATL. Lock up the prospects early when they come up, and just keep developing the pitching. But if they want to keep pace with the Mets and the Dodgers, that may require a slightly out of character trade for them. I'd roll the dice and accomodate.

Yeah, the one I personally loved was Renfroe for Jaison Chourio. I mean...take away his brother and he's just a DSL player who had a solid year in the DSL. Yet...I still want to make that trade. Maybe not Renfroe(I actually like Renfroe and I doubt Cleveland, a team that clutches their wallet far tighter than we are is going to trade for a one year rental who'll cost ~10M next year). But pair the Brothers up...then when they're two versions of Fernando Tatis, you sign of them to long term Ronald Acuna Jr type deals and we've got MVP brothers for a decade. It's fool proof! IF we do trade Burnes and Woodruff though, we'd better get an absolute haul. Still think LAD make sense. They've got a bunch of pitchers who throw in the upper 90s, have one other plus pitch, but are questionable starting pitchers. I wouldn't mind just stacking those players together so we can replicate the Burnes/Woodruff 2018 duo except with an actual starting rotation that's...not Jhoulys Chacin or...Wade Miley who somehow turned into a good pitcher again. Most likely, this lineup will look about 90% the same next year. IF we trade a ace, we'll bring most everyone else back and then just hope whatever pitchers we get back are good and develop. If only we could have locked up Burnes during his disastrous 2019 season...then we could go all in, sign Woodruff to a much bigger deal and just keep this window open. But in Stearns last year, I think we run it back, hope we play better and if we don't, I actually trust him to sell quite a bit. Where he's terrible is trading for mediocre(or just terrible Daniel Norris type) relievers and giving up viable prospects. This team could come back, win 100 games and be a WS contender or come back and be 10 games out at the deadline and need to sell. I have no clue what we've got other than some valuable assets.

Seems like all these proposals are just kinda for fun and the suggestion is to get MLB players back for prospects. NOT to trade our top prospects for more prospects. Also, I remember you throwing out a trade suggestion of something like Ruiz and Small for Bryan Reynolds. I think you had someone else in that deal, but it was...not a significant prospect(Ecerg or Lutz maybe). People are invested in this team and they like throwing around their ideas and proposals(as you do as well). The only way you're getting Bryan Reynolds without giving up 3 of our top 10 prospects is if you are...playing a video game. The Pirates were asking for Julio Rodriguez, they were asking for like 3 top 30 prospects. So Ruiz and Small would be laughed at. Yeah, I think he's doing a little/lot too much. I don't see why the Rangers make that trade, not sure the Mets do(though it's fair-ish) and I don't see the Brewers turning over the roster, but that's what this forum is for. Your ideas on how to move forward.

Yeah...that's pretty radical. Now you're fundamentally changing the game of baseball. Imagine the value SPers like Burnes/Woodruff and then closers like Hader(yeah, still including him) or Clase. The Dodgers would just spend about 160M on 3 starters...like deGrom, Verlander and...IDK, maybe trade for Burnes) to go with Buhler, Kershaw, May Urias and the other 9 home grown guys they've got(just so they're covered) and then trade the other half of their system for Clase and win about 154 games. 7 innings never felt quite right even in AAU or HS. I'm not sure I could ever get used to that one.

But...it won't make them millions more. GMs aren't stupid. There is still a hierarchy offensively...the top players are paid accordingly. Guys who hit for 15 points higher on their BA...if the rest of the league is doing so, it's not going to fundamentally change. If the leagues collective batting average goes back up to ~.265 that won't devalue pitchers and increase the value on hitters. It'll re-allocate how/where resources are spent perhaps. You're not gonna be able to get away with Travis Shaw at 2B. You'll want more athletes all around the IF, particularly up the middle(which has always been a goal, but less of one with the shift). Speed and base running will be a greater priority. But I don't think you'll see salaries shooting up as a result of this shift/rule change.

I suspect Ruiz is going to be traded this off-season and the Brewers don't want to expose him too much. Just a feeling based on the "other trades fell through," and then the fact that we do not lack for OFers. That's really got nothing to do with anything, just throwing that out there. Also hoping they can get Topa into a game tonight after putting a few crooked numbers up early. Sure be nice to get this double header and kick of our delayed start to Craigtember.

I suspect Ruiz is going to be traded this off-season and the Brewers don't want to expose him too much. Just a feeling based on the "other trades fell through," and then the fact that we do not lack for OFers. That's really got nothing to do with anything, just throwing that out there. Also hoping they can get Topa into a game tonight after putting a few crooked numbers up early. Sure be nice to get this double header and kick of our delayed start to Craigtember.

It's also significantly different in that the Brewers were in a rebuild at that time, AND there was no DH at that time. I also believe going into arbitration, Carter, who'd just led the league in HRs and hit 37 two years prior, would have gotten a disproportionate raise in arbitration. Also, just an aside, but Carter had a .822 OPS and an OPS+ of 113 while Tellez is .794 and has a 121 OPS+. Just another sign how much hitting is down across the league...and how this team can be above average offensively and still look so...hapless at times. Finally, I agree with you on Rowdy's personality. The Brewers seem to play better when they have guys who bring energy anda little attitude to the game. The Cards play well when they clutch their pearls, we play well when our players play loose. Rowdy seems like a no-brainer.

.288/.355/.504 .859 OPS road OPS for his career. So I believe a lot of his poor performance prior to this year was just trouble hitting at the Trop. As for this year, I think part of it has been unlucky this year. He's got a .262 BABIP this year, .331 last year, .388 two years ago...that's a big difference. Some of it is just his walk rate is down. But he's still hitting the ball hard, good exit velocity. wOBA of .323. That's a massive difference from .292. I think it's pretty reasonable to expect a ~.260/.335/.465 .800 OPS, plus defender at Short.... Eh...I'm not sure. If they signed Adames right now, I'd expect a 5/70 with maybe a couple options at 16M or so. If he has a bounce back year next year, that number could sky rocket. If he were to put up a season like he did after the trade, he's a 25M a year SS. If we sign him and he doesn't rebound, then it's a terrible signing and we have two "albatross" contracts. It's not hard to see how difficult it'd be to make these calls as a small market team with a limited payroll. That, and we've got Turang and Black coming up, both who look like they're a pretty good keystone combo and I don't know if you should extend him or not. I probably would if that 5/70+option years is realistic, but even that may be underselling what a SS who's put up WAR of 3.9, 1.9 in 2020, 4.2 and 3 WAR in a down year so far this year is really worth. You're not paying Woodruff(most likely) or Burnes(even less likely). I wouldn't pay Williams. Not paying Renfroe as he'd be 33 the first year of an extension as he's locked up next year. I do think the payroll will be going up to the ~150 range in the next couple years...but I think everyone's got more money to spend and we'll still lag just as far(if not further) behind the top teams. Signing guys like Frelick or Chourio in a couple years is always the best way to go. Even those deals come with risk, but it's minimal in comparison to a Yelich type contract.

I stated a fact. An objective fact. Brewers, 10th in OPS, 9th in runs. Top 1/3rd in the league. Unless I missed it, show me where I stated they were "good." It is incredibly easy to change what someone else ACTUALLY said, replace it with a point that's easier to argue against and then argue against that. So AGAIN, are they NOT 9th in runs scored and 10th in OPS? -You're fixated on McCutchen and you've really got no other reasonable response as to what they should have done other than pointing you are in fact, NOT a GM(I was not under the impression you were for the record). Who HAS said he was some great signing? Again, easier to kinda assign a position to someone and then argue against that. I didn't say he was. I asked who they SHOULD have signed and got nothing. I even provided for the benefit of hindsight.

Ok, so you don't know, but just..."someone." They DID trade JBJ and a couple prospects for Hunter Renfroe who's putting up a pretty nice season, but, but I guess we ignore that because he's not having a bad year and still cling to the claim that McCutchen was "the big move." But you kinda got me. I can't really argue with the, 'I don't know who just anyone,' type of logic when talking about who they could or should have acquired. And we do kinda know who was available based on who was traded. But...whatever, go off. This is just tiring. Offense isn't even really the problem. We're top 10 in OPS, in Runs. Adames is a fraction not hitting anything close to what he was last year. Yelich was signed when he was an MVP and there was absolutely no reason to expect him to continue to struggle. Hiura went from top prospect, ROY contender to Russel Branyan basically(though IIRC, he could play a little defense). It really ain't that complicated. For a team like the Brewers to win a World Series, you need a good GM(we kinda got one despite your claims he's not going to care about the future with one foot out the door despite all evidence to the contrary) and you need luck. That includes players having big years...not two of our best hitters to have BABIP's in the .240-260 range. Not arguably the best defensive 2B in the game to just meltdown for a big chunk of the year and become one of the worst defenders. Not Peralta, Ashby, Houser and Woodruff to all go on the IR... And I'd keep going here, but you really seem to think that just signing NOT McCutchen would have magically cured ALL that ails the Brewers...which is a conversation I'd entertain...if you at least suggested WHO that someone should be.

I've asked and I'll ask again, what was the move they could have or should have made? I'm not bothering again, but I went down the list of pretty much all the position players, and the ones that made the most sense...in my estimation...bringing back Escobar(which would have been panned as standing still anyway) wouldn't have helped as he has a negative WAR. Taylor and Turner both went back to LAD and neither has been worth their salary and that's without factoring what they'd have had to actually pay as...just going out on a limb, I'll guess those are more desirable destinations. So...lets use the benefit of hindsight. Who can you make a reasonable argument should have been brought in during the truncated free agency period?

This is totally and utterly without merit. In fact, everything I've read has suggested that the Brewers pay their executives a premium. So I don't know why he'd "cheap out," all the sudden. Because he's a naïve business man and doesn't understand the value of executives? As for Stearns, again, without merit to suggest because he's a lame duck he's not going to do what's in the best interest of this team. If you're arguing that not planning on being part of the future means he's going to make moves that damage the future, then I'd refer you to Robert Gasser. Seems like if he was so dead set on getting out of Milwaukee, he'd have been willing to overpay for the few bats that were available. The Trevor Rosenthal deal never made sense and I didn't like the Matt Bush deal, but neither were short sighted deals. Right...they're certainly not in a position where they have to choose between either or. They could realistically lose both Burnes and Woodruff and remain competitive in 2025 given the pitching they have and the pitching projected to be up by then. That's not to say it's a good idea...it clearly isn't wise to lose two aces for two draft picks. As for the Brewers being overbudget...it's obviously impossible to know exactly where they are, but with the increased National TV money(which sadly is a fraction of how revenue is shared in the other two leagues)...that's going up enough that I think they can pretty comfortably stay in the 130 range or even push it up to 150. The Brewers are getting at a minimum of 110M before attendance or anything else is factored in with the new TBS/ESPN TV deals and the tiny revenue sharing. So I think 130 is kinda the new 100M for this franchise. They won't spend it just to spend it(as they may have done in the past cough*Suppan*cough)...but I believe Attanasio when he says the money is there to add players in the budget. And he was pretty clear, there was no player deal they could have made for this year or the next 2-3 years that wouldn't have fit into their budget before kinda stopping short. It still doesn't make sense to lock yourselves into long term deals like Kris Bryant, but I don't think the Brewers need to take a big step back in terms of payroll.

Makes sense. A bit of a logjam. I've thought I'll be interesting to look back at the 2020-2021 NFL, MLB, NBA drafts and see how they compare to normal years. Will we see more prospects who went later in the draft, guys who...say in the NFL would have risen if they'd have the combine process, or UDFAs from the last year in Baseball(or maybe 4th round picks from Cincinnati) exceed expectations. 2020 is going to have lasting implications for HS kids who didn't get a Sr year of sports, for fringe players who couldn't catch onto a practice squad and prospects who weren't invited to the alternate training site and ended up in independent ball. all stories I'm sure we'll hear about in the future. But it'll be interesting to follow.