UpandIn

He's 21st in their system.

Well, I think this is so overly speculative, it's tough to get too definitive. I know how highly regarded Abreu is in Chicago and how much HE likes playing for Chicago. He's also helped them recruit quite a few Cuban players to that team. But the fact is...they've got a 36 year old 1B/DH and about 4 young players who shouldn't be playing elsewhere. So I came up with Abreu. Not just because I think it's up in the air if the White Sox bring him back(there's a lot of speculation both ways, but they aren't the most sentimental organization)...but because in looking at the FA's, there are very few who I see that both A-Meet the Brewers budget restraints even when pushed...as I think they will be next year and B-Are even worth bringing in. Mitch Haniger, Joc Peterson I guess? Brantley could be an option on a cheaper deal...he hits lefties enough. Very little power, but he can put the ball in place. But I really don't think 10M for 36 year old who should be platooning is worth it. So Haniger as a bridge to Weimer/Mitchell/Ruiz, none of whom I'm convinced as as ready to contribute. Burnes-If he'll sign a 5/140 deal with a team option for a 6th year, I'd make that offer. You've got a whole farm system with a ton of young talent. This would be the best chance we'd have to have an ace pitcher who's just on the front end of his prime. I am keenly aware of the Brewers financial limitations, but some players are worth working around. Arguably the 2nd best pitcher in the game...he's one of them. And hell, if things don't work out or you need to get out of it, you'd certainly be able to trade that deal in 2 years short of a serious injury(and even then, it'd be shoulder as we know TJ is a relatively straightforward recovery at this point). As for the Rangers...the owner seemed pretty pointed in his remarks. They spent big to make the playoffs, Daniels got fired because they haven't. Wouldn't be smart to trade for Woodruff IMO, but throw it out there. If they're willing to trade Jung+White and Roby for Woodruff...even if we have to throw in something like maybe Lauer or Renfroe(again, they're short on OFers and obviously Renfroe would be the preference)...maybe you get lucky. But as I said, I think it's more likely that the Brewers run it back, they make a fairly substantial trade, they push the payroll into the ~150 range for next year. Dosn't make them players for a big time FA, but we could take back a nice player. If only there were more talented players on the Rockies. Getting Arenado for 7/141 and not a single top 100 prospect was just a robbery. Maybe CJ Cron? He could fill a big hole. 1B/DH. Splits are pretty good. He just seems to hit everywhere he goes. And he's signed for one more year and the Rockies aren't close...so why not deal him? There are just so few FA's who fit what we need and the ones who do are mostly coming off years that would make signing them...a poor idea. Josh Bell probably wants 5/85 at least, likely more. Drury is struggling, and I'm not all that eager for a 3B who's up and down as a FA and who's also likely to get more than he's worth coming off what has been a very good year. So you're probably right. A player here or there, nothing that really moves the needle unless one or more of the rookies do and...you just hope maybe Ashby can figure out how to put guys away on 0-2, Freddy can stay healthy, Lauer has another good year. As long as you have 2 viable aces, 2-3 viable #2-3 pitchers and then Adrian Houser, we'll have a shot. I just don't think they're punting on the Burnes/Woodruff era at this point.

Actually...he was the #2 prospect. The #1 prospect that year; https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/seageco01.shtml I don't get the lulz. Isn't the argument merely that he's got nothing more to prove at AAA and that his contract rate and his BP skills and his speed SHOULD help to protect him from being completely overmatched? Trea Turner, Dansby Swanson, Devers, obviously Seager...I'd say there's a fairly wide chasm between Seager and Buxton and it hardly seems like a stretch that Frelick could fall in the middle. Prospects rankings are also less about production than they are tools, so not a shock to see Torkelson stumble out of the gate as he just wasn't real productive at AAA. But I don't see a whole lot to lose. Frelick should be a better defender(at least as good of one) and really the mark we should be aiming for is the .221/.273/.413 line that the guy currently manning CF is sporting. And should he catch lightening in a bottle...which is certainly plausible given just how absurdly hot he is in AAA, he could literally help save our season. I also reject the claim that we only know 10 pct of what goes into promoting a guy. We know about service time manipulation. When a guy is hitting .450, how much left is their to learn? Less than 90%!

I was hoping they'd get him in the 3rd. Then they passed on him...and when he was there in the 4th? No brainer! Gotta get an Edge and he had the highest W/L rate(excluding stunts and slanting) of any FBS edge. And they pass TWICE? Then trade down in the 5th? That was brilliant. He's a 2nd round talent who ran a slow 40. He's long, he's got great hands. He's actually pretty similar in profile to Za'Darius Smith. Walker's on the Non-Football injury list, but I can't imagine even if he came back right now, he'd have any shot at beating out Caleb Jones for that Tackle Spot. He's looked not just massive, but he's also looked light on his feet(relatively speaking). Yosh looked different last night in a good way, Caleb Jones looks like he could be a starter in the future. Preferably RT, but I think he's got a chance to make the 53. Jenkins, Myers, Tom, Rhyan, Newman, Runyan Jr, Nijman, I guess Hanson(smarter people than I are seeing something there that I'm not, so I'll defer to them) and then I think it's Jones vs Van Lannen? I'll take Jones. Use this as a "redshirt" year for Walker. He's too big and talented to just cut bait with. The fact that he seemingly has no discernable injury, but is on the NFI list...I wonder if there's some illness or something? Doesn't matter, if it doesn't take up a roster spot or a 53 man spot, no reason not to I guess.

Right...I'm not one who really believes that Rodgers play was improved because of the Jordan Love pick...I think he was banged up, the team was bad, McCarthy was there and then Yr1 of the Shanahan system, QBs usually don't play great. I get Stafford won the SB, but he also threw a LOT of picks and that team just got hot at the right time. I think it was just as simple as teams thought Love had a ton of upside(the Chargers didn't settle on Love over Herbert until a week before the draft) and they thought he was a unique, special QB. I don't think they made the decision based on much more than "Rodgers is getting older, 1st Rd QB gives you 5 years of control, we think this kid could be great." But whatever the logic was...and there's some revisionist history now. People are talking about the WRers we should have drafted when at the time, it was that defensive front that had gotten absolutely abused by the 49ers when they ran for 200 yards before contact, they just thought Love had the upside to be a franchise QB. Gutekunst has drafted upside over need in pretty much every one of his drafts. Even Eric Stokes, they took the UGA CB who was ranked 2nd by most websites behind Campbell because he was long and freakishly athletic. Gary as you pointed out, he was playing a 3-4 DE and they moved him to OLBer. AND they'd just spent a lot of money on Za'Darius and Preston Smith... Jaire was short and LITERALLY coached by Terrell Buckley...which made some fans skeptical. The safest pick he's made has been Josh Jackson, a guy who was mocked to us in the 1st round and most Packers fans would have been happy with THAT at that time. So I'm good with a GM drafting for upside over need. I get others who want them to address specific positions when we're close, but...when it's 2-3 years later, it kinda feels like it's time to move on and just root for the young kid we picked to be good.

IF Rodgers is coming back, yes, I'd take the 26th pick in next years draft class for Jordan Love. It sounds like we could have gotten a 2nd this past year from ATL for Love and weren't interested, but if Rodgers is going to be back for Love's 4th year, you'll LIKELY have turned down his 5th year option as you won't have seen him actually play much yet. And then I'd use that pick on what as of now appears to be one of the deepest QB classes in a VERY long time. The two locks in Stroud and Young, Tanner, McKee, Will Levis, then like...5-6 more guys with the physical attributes. Van Dyke, Rattler, Hall, Packers legend John Jurkovic's son Phil Jurkovec(It's obviously not his son, but it's be cool if it was). And there's other guys I'm forgetting. There are...10+ QBs who could work their way into the 1st round next year(not saying there will be more than 10 actually picked, but there are that many guys who have the size, arm, talent that they could move up and become 1st round picks). The one I'd really like(in this scenario) is the kid from Florida, Anthony Richardson...he is pretty much exactly what MLF wants in this offense and is kinda what Trey Lance is. He's got a lot of growing to do, but he has that freakish type of arm talent and he has the athletic ability. There's a throw of him rolling out to his left and throwing the ball about 55-60 yards downfield and hitting a WR'er...almost in stride that was incredible. He's also got that mobility that you want from a QB in today's NFL. That's just one guy that comes to mind. Bryce Young and CJ Stroud seem already set as 2 of the top 3 with Will Anderson in the mix. If Rodgers is retiring, then no. I'd take a QB in the 2nd round like we did with Brian Brohm(that could still be Richardson). I will absolutely NOT draft Will Levis even if he's the top rated QB and he falls because any man who mixes mayo with their coffee cannot lead an NFL team and frankly should be shunned from society. But seriously, I'd go with Love. I'd try to make sure Clement stuck around. I think we're seeing the impact he's having with Love, and I'd hope we hit. With Love, with a 2nd Rd QB. People always act like the Packers absolutely knew Rodgers was "that dude," right away and I think they were confident, but they still took Brian Brohm, a guy who went back to school when many thought he was a potential top 10 pick. So I'd absolutely also be using a high pick on protection against him NOT hitting. With the defense the Packers have built, the OL, the scheme, we wouldn't need Love to be a top5 QB right out of the gate. If he becomes that...well, that'd be ideal. If he doesn't, Gutekunst and MLF are building this team differently. They're building it more like the 49ers built their team. So I'd hand it over to Love, grab at least one more young QB, another talented WRer, I'd probably move on from guys like Amos and...I don't know, Crosby and a few others as we re-set the salary cap so we're not in a constant state of handing out contracts with 3-4 void years so we can squeeze under the cap(I'm definitely re-signing Jenkins and Gary though) and try and win another way. So I'd do it, but it has nothing to do with what I think of Jordan Love or this weird obsession people have with him. It'd be strictly because we'd be heading into his 4th year with Rodgers still playing QB and...you'd either have to pick up the 5th year option and kinda hope Rodgers leaves(even then, Rodgers will have a big cap hit the year after he retires) or you'd have to give him a Taysom Hill type extension, but he doesn't provide any of the versatility Hill does.

Is it possible nobody's told Henry that Jacksonville is NOT the Cardinals AAA team, but instead the Marlins?

I was still hoping to see him moved back to the starters role after 2017 when he came up and kinda shook off the Col Springs numbers. I'm guessing his FB velo would have sat in the 92-95 range as a starter, but I always think you let a guy start until he fails at it. Hader never really failed, he was just soo good as a reliever, it was hard to move him back. Then, before you knew it, we had Burnes and Woodruff who looked like starters, plus Peralta(Even if Burnes had that blow up in 2019). I still think Hader's alright, just struggling a bit. But it does make it easier not having to hear Brewers Twitter complaining so much. Especially as Gasser lights it up. ' Still bothered by Lamet. He's killing us as much as possible. We have to DFA him, then he goes to the Rockies, he's dealing...and the first time he gives up a run for Col, it's to cost them a game vs the Cards. Go figure!

Maybe not...which is why I allowed to Jimenez in a trade(and immediately make him a DH). BUT, despite Abreu being the...Godfather to all the Cubans the CWH have signed, and his production, the fact is, that's a team that has terrible, terrible defense and two pieces who are clearly part of their future who should not see any position on the field other than the dirt on the right side of an IF or the bench. Eloy Jimenez is brutal, Vaughn is already their DH. Sheets...they could do away with him, but he's bad. And Abreu is a FA and he's getting older. If they're going to get better, they'll need pitching. So I'd focus in on them for a bat. They re-sign Abreu, fine, I'd go Lauer+1 of Weimer/Ruiz/Mitchell for Jimenez+Reynaldo López. I think the CHW with the way their roster is built, it makes the most sense to part with Abreu and the only reason not to would be loyalty. But they'll either keep losing, or reconstruct their roster in a smarter way at some point. This means moving on from someone who can't play defense, but who can hit. If it's Woody and Lauer, we'll likely get less than just Burnes. But I'd demand Jung, White and Roby as 3 of them. Then a couple lower level guys like Teodo and Church. A cornerstone at 3rd, a good pitching prospect and then 3 "Brewer guys" with great stuff, elite spin rates and command issues. I feel like I can say this with a certain degree of certainty...that's not enough to get Rogers. The Marlins have one of the best young pitchers, a loaded farm system, they've got more pitchers on their way. Why are they trading 5 years of pitcher who was worth 4-5 WAR last year in just 133 IP for 1 year of Renfroe and Urias? I see zero upside for the Marlins here. This is another one, I just...don't see why Seattle does this. You're selling as low on Lewis as you can. ROY, injured in '21, struggles in '22 and you give him away for Rowdy...a nice bat, but not better than Lance. And Taylor does nothing for them. So it's basically Rowdy for a pitching prospect and then Taylor, who you know is pretty much maxed out, vs Lewis, who still has a ton of upside. Someone who COULD break out(Ala Carlos Gomez). Suarez, Crawford, Frazier(maybe), Lance. They have a whole lot of money to spend and a lot of pieces in place. Here's the set back for me in this little exercise. This is a half measure to me. To win a WS without a major overhaul, you need 2 aces. I don't think you can expect several young OFers to click at once, plus Turang. So I'd really do either one of Burnes/Woody or both. Run it back with both of them, or deal both with 2 years remaining, add 7-8 players who are projected to be up by '24 or sooner(maybe a A ball player or two) and go that route. Those are two of those most valuable contracts in baseball. But that lineup, as improved as it may be, won't be elite. That pitching staff, unless Rogers bounces back(good bet, but that's why I don't see Miami trading him)...it's basically an ace, a couple 3s, a wild card in Ashby(he could develop into an ace or he could continue to struggle with the finer points) and then Small...who should be solid. So I'm of the all or nothing mindset at this point.

Can you give me a comp for Glasser? Ashby with more command and a little less stuff at this point? Small with better stuff? What's his upside? A high end #2? Higher?

1st Half Takeaway's... Positives; 1-Yosh Nijman looks like he's taking yet another step. On those big runs Goodson was gashing the Saints before the Doubs TD, Nijman was opening lanes and on one play, he blew his man off the ball so badly, he went and took out the LBer who was filling the hole(the FB...I believe it's the new TE Becker). But he took TWO men out of the play. That size, that athletic ability. The knock against him was 1-He had TERRIBLE technique. Last year it was not great, but it was ok. 2-He wasn't aggressive and didn't have that attitude. Yosh was showing a LOT of that attitude you want. 2-We've got LBers all over. Off ball, Edge rushers. Gavin, Hamilton, Barnes....Tipa(though he APPEARED to be out of his lane on a couple Kick Offs). But McDuffie was a wrecking ball. Saw one play where the Saints Guard was climbing to the next level and McDuffie blew that stacked the G and knocked him BACK into the RB. Khris Barnes on a swing pass came out and light up the back as soon as he caught it. 3-Tyler Goodson- He's not doing anything special. But Myers, Runyan, and especially Yosh are opening lanes up and he's pressing his landmarks and just taking what's there. Making the right reads. He's not gaining many yards that aren't there, but he's not leaving anything on the field. 4A and 4B-The most OBVIOUS, Jordan Love looked outstanding. Romeo Doubs looked nearly perfect with the one flaw, not coming down with the perfectly thrown corner ball that Love dropped right in and Doubs just didn't get his head around in time. He made a poor throw when he was pressured to Deguara, but you don't really want to float that up when there are 3 guys in the flat waiting for him. On the scramble, he threw the ball where ONLY Taylor could have caught the ball and he put it in a place where he could actually catch the ball. His pocket presence has been so, so much better, his ball placement has been so much better. Negatives 1-Special Teams It's NOT that hard to stay in your lane. You have a couple of free runners...generally, but you can go and see 3-4 guys who are well out of their lanes as the KRer gets out past the 10. 2-Tyler Davis Just...yeah. He'll have to have an INCREDIBLE finish to camp and a very good final pre-season game...if he makes it there to make this team I would think. But, again, we're only seeing a small pct of what these coaches are going off of. 3-Not a big one, but but you CANNOT have a game plan where you have Tipa Galea covering Chris Olave and if you do, you'd better be DAMN sure that Shawn Davis is providing help over the top. Just one play, but it looked like it was some cover 3 match and somehow Galea is on Olave...absolutely baffling. Edit-A couple more positives Amari Rodgers-I don't know if he caught the ball they're reviewing right now, but he has shown a burst and he looks like he could actually be a player. I definitely hadn't given up on him, but he looked so...unremarkable last year. No burst, no acceleration, nothing. He looks like he's got the burst back. He's catching the punts clean(though I understand people are still holding their breath when he goes back to field them). He did make a mistake taking one out at the 3, has to be more aware, but from where he was at the end of last year, not sure he could have looked much better thus far. Caleb Jones/Zach Tom-They're polar opposites and yet they're both getting the job done. Tom is a smaller guy who's got incredible athleticism for any of the OL positions and does a great job moving his feet, great technique. Jones is just like that kid who is freakishly big in Pee-Wee Football. The guy that stands out and is just throwing guys around. But he looks like he's actually pretty light on his feet. DL-We're going to likely cut 2-3 guys who would have been pretty significant contributors for the Packers in the past. Slayton, Heflin, Ford, all three look like they can play. Do they may be trade Dean Lowry? See if they can get a 5th or a 6th for him? Lowry was outstanding last year the final ~12 games of the season after a rough start, but man, Slayton looks like the real deal. Heflin and Ford maybe PS? Maybe they go with 6 and keep Slayton and Lowry?

It doesn't seem like he should from what we've seen...but pre-season games are just a small piece of it. They like Davis and...there is a reason for that. I haven't a clue what it could be. He looks pretty good at practice...kinda. In the couple I've been at. I guess just remember Eric Stokes looked bad last year as well as others who've made the team(I mean, not this bad, but bad).

It's not about an extra year of control so much as it the new CBA and the draft picks for finishing in the top 5 of Cy Voting(one year too late as we'd have gotten 2 last year) MVP voting and then top 3 in ROY voting. If that is the reason though...that's pretty encouraging. It means they think he can win a ROY or be in contention.

They are better, they will be better. You wait for a bet until you know it's a good bet, it kinda defeats the purpose of betting. Packers STs came down to poor coaching. They literally had DT's lined up a yard wide and a yard deep as wings on the FG unit and they blocked the outside man in(allowing a marginal safety to come through untouched). Also...the Packer special teams failures the past decade have been greatly exaggerated by their terrible showing last year. A problem that could have been easily fixed if Matt LaFleur had more tenure and could have hired Rizzi when he was fired from the Dolphins. One of the top STs coaches in the league. Went to GB, wanted the job. Low-balled him with a job that would have made one of the best and a proven STs coached one of the lower paid in the league...and instead, they went with a Pettine guy. This time around they went with the guy most people thought should have got the Raiders HEAD coaching job for what he did during one of the most dysfunctional seasons in NFL history, still getting them into the playoffs...and making him the highest paid STs coach. The STs is better. Just by virtue of a coach who knows how to coach it they're better.

Those two and Garvin looked a lot thicker in the hips vs SF. It'll be a tough call though because at times, Hamilton has apparently looked like the 3rd best, Tipa is by far the best STer, but doesn't have the size to set the edge. He is a slick and slippery edge rusher. Engabare is the most talented of this group and Jones(well, he looked good as well). One thing that could REALLY make the roster spots kinda up in the air has been Quay Walker just dog walking Ryan Ramsczyk on a couple of plays while linin up on on the edge. So if he can play there, Carpenter, the way he looked in space? That could open up a safety spot as they may feel comfortable using Carpenter at LBer(I think he's a lock with his athletic ability to begin with). Seem like we've got 2 obvious studs Walker who COULD be one, but who's attention will be divided...and then a few guys who have talent, but are a bit up and down. A little Micah Parsons light down there.

First of all, just saw the aggregated list and it's a great feature. The scouting reports on everyone, the unique format. But, as always, there's never a consensus on these things and they can only be so long. So players are left off for a plethora of reasons. Just thought I'd make a list and people could mention some of their favorites who aren't on that list. I'm going to start with just one as I don't have much time this morning, but one guy it seems like people have forgotten about; Felix Zamora-SS Currently out for the year with a non-throwing shoulder issue. He must have dislocated it at some point and caused some soft tissue damage at some point, and as a result, it kept coming out(by coming out, it basically just means it moves around in the joint...not that Lethal Weapon, slam it in to a wood beam for no discernible reason to "put it back into place." I've had shoulder injuries and man is that painful. I can only imagine how it is swinging a bat and not kowing if it's stable or if it could come out on that swing. In ANY event, he started out in 2019 with the same shoulder causing him issues. Then 2020, covid. So he got a late starter and in his first year splitting time between LoA and HiA, he hit .301/.404/.421 for an .825 OPS. He re-injured the shoulder this year while...sliding head first if I understand the injury correctly and this led to season ending surgery. Surely with just 20 guys to pick from, I fully understand how you're not going to get everyone in here. But this is a plus defensive SS, a guy who makes good contact and who has a pretty good BB/K ratio. Avina was another I was thinking about, but I'd like to hear from some others. Who are the guys who didn't make top 20 for whatever reason, but guys you could see making a nice big jump next year. If anyone has pitchers they've seen...such as that Anthony Perez...a player I knew very little about until a post today, and they can provide some just basic scouting reports, that'd be awesome. Or just let me know who to follow in the DSL aside from the obvious. The bigger names(or even just a run down of them...I haven't been following it as closely the last couple years. Guys like Para and Severino/Barrios who I know were the big signings.

I could really be convinced to go any number of ways. I think the most realistic is we run it back, hope we get more from our own bats and maybe push the payroll a bit with a Jose Abreu type signing. I see he's projected to get ~10-12 over 2-3 years. That seems light. I'd go 2/30 mutual option for 5M if we decline it. Run it back next year with a lineup or PROJECTED lineup by June of So, option A-The option I believe Attanasio is more likely to be in favor of, acquire a steady, middle of the order bat. Abreu is the most reasonable or would seem to be the most reasonable in terms of cost and also his production has been remarkably steady. Finally, the White Sox aren't exactly a run prevention team, but they can't really keep running out lineup's with 4-5 1B/DH types. Not spending just to spend or pushing the payroll just to show the fans you're doing something, so if the Sox want to keep Abreu and keep Jimenez, Sheets, Vaughn, etc....if they decide Abreu is too important to their culture, we could offer a package for Jimenez who is an outstanding bat and would become our DH. Lauer+a solid prospect may be a good match for both sides there. The quality of the prospect would be contingent upon the CHW throwing in any money. Yelich-LF/DH Adames-SS Frelick-CF Abreu-Jimenez/DH/1B Tellez/Hiura-1B Renfroe-RF Urias/Brosseau/Jace-3B Cartarini/Serverino-C Turang-2B Lefties in italics. It's a whole lot to ask Frelick to hit #3, but I think he'll hit near the top of the order and unless Yelich regains his power stroke, atop the order may be the best spot for him. And you could swap Urias and Turang. I just like that old idea of that sorta 2nd leadoff man hitting 9th. Someone with speed, who walks a lot coming up before the top of the order, but it could create a situation where 3 of 4 hitters are lefties. Not ideal, but just a rough idea. Option 2- Put a 5 year 140M dollar extension in front of Burnes. 15/20/28/32/34 15M deferred, team option for 35. Maybe he bites. Woodruff maybe 5/110 with a similar structure and a team option. I don't really expect either to bit, but if one does, then you sign them, play it out and you have a bit more wiggle room to possibly trade pitching for a big bat. You can now use Lauer, Gasser, Houser(though his value is low until he comes back and I'd still be worried he needs the TJ surgery). Point is, if you know that you've got one of those two, plus Ashby, Peralta for the next 5 years, you can be a LITTLE more aggressive in dealing pitching prospects. At this point, you're effectively in a post-Rodgers era. Not a terrible team, but one that wouldn't have World Series ambitions for a year or two(at least). In the more likely scenario in which they turn them down, I'd look at teams like Texas, Philly, Boston, LAD...and maybe Detroit/Baltimore. Burnes+Hunter Renfroe to Texas for Josh Jung, Kumar Rocker, Owen White, Tekoah Roby Yeah, you get 2 years of a Cy Young, you're gonna get taxed. And for a team that's just spend a defend sized European's GDP on it's IF, fired it's GM because the owner is growing impatient, this is the type of team I could see aggressively pursuing Burnes. And they get Renfroe. Or hell, throw in Ruiz. But a 60H 3B and then three pitchers with TOR upside. Woodruff+Devin Williams to LAD for Bobby Miller, Miguel Vargas, Gavin Stone, Dalton Rushing I might go for Cartaya, but I suspect the Dodger would keep him off the table. MAYBE Williams does get it done, but I doubt it. I also will admit, despite constantly putting up dominant numbers, Williams decreasing velocity has be a bit concerned. When teams can just sit on the change....and if we're trading our two most valuable players, we might as well sell high on Williams. Walker Buehler down for the rest of this year, won't be the same until 2024. Kimbrel is up and down...not that it matters, the Dodgers collect stud relievers like Yasiel Puig collects speeding tickets. I'm sure some will say those teams won't give up those prospects for 2 years of Burnes or Woodruff, I'm sure I'm asking for a lot, but two legitimate aces to two teams who are spending a whole lot to to win now. I'd also consider a trade involving a swap of Woodruff+Adames+Yelich to Detroit for Javier Baez, 40M, Jung and Wilmer Flores younger brother...Wilmer Flores. If we're going to go through this..."reset," we might as well see if we can Baez back on track. Maybe he opts out after next year. Maybe he has a bounce back year and you can get another team to take on that contract. At Josh's younger brother and another high upside pitcher+ a couple lottery tickets and Detroit gets an ace, a replacement SS and they get their own hope at rebuilding a MVP caliber player. Doesn't seem likely, doesn't help that Willy's not really having a great year at the plate but he's still an upgrade on Baez. Really just a convoluted way of trying to get out from under the 7 years left on the Yelich deal OR at least cut off a few years, but...I don't see that as likely. So we'll stick with Burnes, Woodruff, Devin Williams, Hunter Renfroe for; Bobby Miller, Miguel Vargas, Gavin Stone, Dalton Rushing, Josh Jung, Kumar Rocker, Owen White, Tekoah Roby Lineup would be 1B-Miguel Vargas(He's not a very good defensive 3B due to a poor arm, but he's got the size, glove and athletic ability to be an outstanding 1st basemen). 2B-Luis Urias--->Tyler Black SS-Brice Turang 3B-Josh Jung LF-Garrett Mitchell CF-Sal Frelick RF-Joey Weimer C-Cartarini/Severino DH-Yelich SP Peralta Ashby Bobby Miller Lauer Gavin Stone Houser (Minors- Owen White, Kumar Rucker, Tekoah Roby, plus our own Gasser, Small, Miskiorowski, Brewers Twitter-On fire Mark Attanasio--MLB Owners protection program 2023 Attendance 1.5M Vargas, Frelick, Jung, all sign 6 years right out of the gates for 50-60M each coming with 3 option years in the 15-20M range. See how Miller and Stone progress, but Ashby type deals for them could be in order as well. Brewers slash the payroll to ~80M this year saving the 50-60-70(Whatever they make) to push the payroll up in a few years when they're competitive to the 160-170 range with the new regional TV deal(that still pays them ~400M less than the big boys) and the 60-70M in National TV money every team is getting. So to use David Stearns analogy, we throw the apple away for the next couple years and get a whole bushel of them for the future. With all that said, they're ALMOST certainly just going to try and run it back with mostly this same lineup because...when pitching...always gives you a chance and we're really not that far away. We damn near made a world series with 'openers.' The Burnes/Woodruff scenario is more something I'd do if I was playing a video game and could sim through seasons to get back to the good part. I don't think you actually break up a pitching staff like the one we've got or that just finding highly regarded power arms is a guarantee of anything. But for the "prospect" fan in me, these trades offer a whole lot of future potential and are a lot of fun in theory, probably not so much in application.

Like how a certain LA team that claims a certain shade of blue does year in and year out? And then you get guys like Anthony Perez and...I don't know how good he is, but he's 6'3, he has some FILTHY looking stuff and he's only 20. By next May you could legitimately have Chourio, Turang, Mitchell, Frelick, Weimer, Black, Gasser, Ruiz, Misiorowski, Brown Jr, Quero, all guys who could get mentioned in top 100 prospect lists based on how they finish the year. I really have no been this excited about the Brewers farm system since Weeks, Hardy, Prince, etc...and that was a top heavy system. This is a much deeper system.

I agree. I think the worst thing they could do with Turang is start him out not knowing if or where he's going to be playing. Better glove, I think he's got more offensive upside and he's 22 and the future. If they were both 22 and both in AAA...I guess it'd be a coin flip, but he's not. Adames to 3rd, Turang to SS and Urias to 2B would probably makes sense(Turang has a strong arm, so HIM playing 3B would also make sense) but you'd think the Brewers would have Turang playing some 3rd if that was the plan. That he's been playing some 2nd suggests to me they view him as an up the middle defender.

I agree. I think the worst thing they could do with Turang is start him out not knowing if or where he's going to be playing. Better glove, I think he's got more offensive upside and he's 22 and the future. If they were both 22 and both in AAA...I guess it'd be a coin flip, but he's not. Adames to 3rd, Turang to SS and Urias to 2B would probably makes sense(Turang has a strong arm, so HIM playing 3B would also make sense) but you'd think the Brewers would have Turang playing some 3rd if that was the plan. That he's been playing some 2nd suggests to me they view him as an up the middle defender.

Now...I said 2 things, but the 2nd deserves it's own post(Especially if I can ramble on about bunting). It is SO incredibly nice to come over here and not just have a link to all the box scores available and the lineup's, but to get some actual insight from the games. To hear from Joseph Karr how Gasser's slider is moving his first outing. To hear he and damuelle talking about our young prospects making the jump. Actual in-game breakdowns and observations about how players are going. It's by far the best forum of the board IMO, the live, regular updates on the players and how they're performing. It genuinely adds a great deal and on many nights...tonight for instance, where I may just go home and go to sleep, I log on to see what's going on, what happened, and then even simple things like pointing out who some of the less known players are, why there's reason to be excited and little mini-scouting reports and they do so without EVER even approaching the Keith Law, "I'm smarter than you," line when evaluating these guys! So, just wanted to say thanks...it's always appreciated! Even if I don't often contribute much and sometimes just sit back and read what you have to say.

2 things. 1-I somehow love this. I remember when we'd be putting down Sac bunts with Roenicke with a man on 1st in the 6rd inning with 9-1-2 coming up and it'd drive me NUTS. Just giving away an out(not pitchers, that was fine, but I'm talking about pinch hitters). THEN I saw these shifts and the runner on 2nd and there have been SOO many times I've been begging this team(via my TV screen...it feels weird at the stadium and equally as effective) to just push one down toward 3rd with a man on 2nd and no outs. Get him over to 3rd. Especially when one run wins a game! So we went from ~90 sac bunts, a whole roughly half by the pitchers, but still, quite a few by position players....to 2020 when we had...ZERO. Now, 60 game schedule, I get that. So I'll prorate that over an entire season. It's zero per 162 game played at that rate! I didn't play baseball at a high level, I was a HS Baseball player. We used to play pepper and things like that. Just stick the bat out there and let the ball make contact. Right NOW is when we should have guys challenging .400 with these shifts. Ichiro, Carew, Boggs, Gwynn, guys who could just serve the ball over to the 3rd base area. Long story short, I like that we've got guys coming up who can put pressure on defenses and hopefully help us score in a multitude of ways. I still don't wanna be giving up a bunch of free outs, but ya know...happy medium.

I agree, I think it was the back. After that shot to right though, I'm also hoping that back has some life left in it!

I agree, I think it was the back. After that shot to right though, I'm also hoping that back has some life left in it!

I'm inherently skeptical of the un-named sources in the industry when it's a Jeff Passan... That seems like too obvious of a thing to first start coming out 3 years after an injury that ended his second straight MVP season in a failed attempt to try and explain why he just feel off a cliff. I also have friends who work in or around the industry. One who works for Bally telling me Khris Middleton was coming back Gm 5 of the Celtics series, then telling me everyone on the team was questioning his toughness. I'm pretty sure that person just wasn't privy to that information at all because their job in no way is related to the health of the players. Now...that's not to say Tigeruppercut is wrong or that he doesn't know reputable people in the front offices of Major League Baseball(though it'd really have to be the Brewers or how would they know how hard he is or isn't working right now?)...I'll just say I take these types of insults with a grain of salt. You're really kinda insulting who he is as a man and as a person. So I need more than an anonymous person repeating what other anonymous people say before I'll put any credibility into that. With Sheets, we HEARD people questioning his lack of commitment to his conditioning. We saw a very different personality. I don't see that from Yelich. Again, doesn't mean it's not that...I just don't see it).