Hacksaw Jim Duggan

You don't trade away a core player during a pennant race. The time to trade core players is during the off-season. Soto was not a core piece as he wouldn't sign an extension, plus he was on a losing team out of contention. I am all for trading away all of the current Brewers this includes Stearns. But there is a time and a place. July is not the time or the place. November, December, January, February is the time. Give the players time to digest the GM's actions. Also, a lot of the August and September losses can be laid at the feet of the players the GM traded for in July. Stearns shot from the hip without doing due diligence. He looked at numbers and not circumstance.

Maybe instead of trying to side with management posters should look at this situation from a player's point of view. In the heat of a pennant race the GM in all of his infinite wisdom sends a mixed message. He says he is interested in making the playoffs, but I am going to trade away an impact reliever for a bunch of garbage. As a player how would you feel about that? For all the posters who think human emotions aren't a part of baseball maybe you should invent a robot capable of playing baseball and take the human element out of the game. Trading the best reliever in baseball during a pennant chase is about as stupid as you get. To think a grown man with a college degree thought this was a wise move should be demoted and have to earn his way back or maybe trade him too. Stearns was a complete fool in this case enough said. But posters on this site will protect management and blame the player's instead. Tell me did anyone ask the players if trading Hader to San Diego was a good idea? Why not?

Question for those who think we should have kept Hader based on what he's doing now: Should we have also traded for Soto and made several high end free agent signings over the past several years? It's the combination of all those things that got the Padres where they are now. You can't just cherry pick the one thing and say that put them over the top. He's helping now for sure but he also made it harder to get to this point. They were capable of riding out his rough stretch because of everything else they did prior to that trade. We didn't have that luxury. It's not about trading Hader as much as it was about Stearns evaluation. He missed how important Hader was to team chemistry then he acquired an underwhelming amount of talent for a perennial all-star and the best left-handed reliever in baseball the last 3 years. In essence, people are pissed because Stearns gave away the best reliever in Milwaukee history.

The amount of money the team spends is not as important as the direction this team decides to go. I don't think the Brewers will acquire a lot of free agents. Maybe some relievers. I think everyone will be back, but one caveat will be everyone is available at the right price. I think we might see a slow churn of the current core of Yelich, Adames, Burnes, Woodruff, and Hader. To that point Hader has already moved on. I think the Brewers will use 2023 to continue to develop a new core while remaining competitive. Last year, Ashby became part of this new core along with Yelich and Peralta. If a few of Mitchell, Frelick, Wiemer, Turang, Black, Ruiz, Small, and Chourio develop the Brewers have the makings of a new core of players for the next 5-7 years.

The amount of money the team spends is not as important as the direction this team decides to go. I don't think the Brewers will acquire a lot of free agents. Maybe some relievers. I think everyone will be back, but one caveat will be everyone is available at the right price. I think we might see a slow churn of the current core of Yelich, Adames, Burnes, Woodruff, and Hader. To that point Hader has already moved on. I think the Brewers will use 2023 to continue to develop a new core while remaining competitive. Last year, Ashby became part of this new core along with Yelich and Peralta. If a few of Mitchell, Frelick, Wiemer, Turang, Black, Ruiz, Small, and Chourio develop the Brewers have the makings of a new core of players for the next 5-7 years.

Anybody arguing Gasser's importance is foolish. He will never be as important to a team as Hader. For all the stat freaks on this board all you have to do is look at games played. Gasser will never play in more than 20-35 games in a season. I don't care how many innings he pitches he will not have the same effect as a Hader who pitches in 50 plus games a year. I mean look at it this way the worst that Gasser could do is go 0-30 while Hader could go 0-50, doesn't matter innings we are talking about affecting the outcome of a game. Pure foolish argument by anyone that a starter will have greater affect then a reliever because of innings pitched. Also, don't think that pitching the first inning will have the same leverage as pitching the ninth inning. No stat covers that. There is a reason why closers get paid better than 3, 4, or number 5 pitchers by MLB teams maybe posters should wake up to this fact there isn't a stat for everything. Also, Hader as all Brewer fans know has extra value in the clubhouse something stat heads can only guess at with Gasser. Gasser is on the Lauer level of importance to this team at best. Hader was on the Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff, Wily Adames, and Christian Yelich level. There is no argument about who got the best player in this deal. To say that Gasser's WAR and Ruiz's WAR should be used to compare to Hader's WAR is plain stupid. Two players better be greater than one. Do you think Wily Adames and Christian Yelich are better than Mike Trout because their combined WAR is better? Seriously? The game isn't played on paper so quit using stats to back up a statement. Stats are not the entire reason for any trade. There is a reason why Moneyball doesn't win the world series very often. Good teams win the world series.

All I am saying is Milwaukee has 3 quality players that should be traded in the next few years. Stearns better win those trades. He traded a perennial all-star pitcher for a five-million-dollar salary dump, a multi-million-dollar reliever who is a free-agent, and two wild card minor leaguers. Burnes, Woodruff, and Adames will be the best players in their respective trades. Stearns needs to do much much much better or Milwaukee will be drafting top 5 in the future.

What show did Ruiz make? Did you make a cake? Can I have a piece

I made the comment about David Stearns (did I spell it correctly?) in haste trying to ruffle the feathers of the Stearns apologists. Seems to have worked judging by the commentary. Trading the most dominant left-handed reliever of the past three years for washed up bullpen help, a throw in pitcher who was instantly cut, and two sub optimal minor league talents showed an inability of the GM to evaluate talent. Ruiz was washed up until this year as of now he is a one-year minor league wonder. He is no better than a utility fielder in the pros with below replacement level defense. He looked awful in Milwaukee last year and I recall him failing in his callup to the Padres before the trade. San Diego knew exactly what it was trading away a Luis Urias part II. How exactly is a team with playoff aspirations going to suffer through Ruiz batting/fielding struggles in the pros? Will Inman reminds me of Josh Gasser and I will stand by that. Maybe Gasser's floor is a reliever but his ceiling will never be higher than a 4/5 starter. He is no Justin Verlander or even Corbin Burnes. By Double A the prospects have already been evaluated not too many players go under the radar by that level. Has it ever occured to anyone that maybe Ruiz got time in the show and Gasser being promoted had everything to do with the GM trying to save face? As for talking about difficulty finding value for Hader that is simple. Hader is not your typical reliever. He is dominant, left-handed, and in his prime. Recall what the Cubs gave up for Aroldis Chapman and what Cleveland gave up for Andrew Miller. Stearns simply failed and his mea culpa is a fair admission of under evaluating a dominant reliever. How could he not think that trading away the team's most talented reliever wouldn't destroy team moral? Simply put David Stearns (did I spell it right?) destroyed the bullpen because his ace reliever had a tough month?

Gasser reminds me of Will Inman. Ruiz like I said is blocked.

I know hindsight is 20/20 but now that the season is over, but the Hader trade for Dinelson, Ruiz, and Rogers trade will go down as one of the worst trades of the Daniel Sterns era. He gave away the Brewers best relievers with a year of control for two guys that are free agents and a third position player who is currently blocked from the big leagues. Dinelson would have been a really good long reliever or sixth starter for this team. Sterns better stick to plan in the future. He gave away a huge trade chip for nothing.

There are two lines of thought when speaking about arbitration players. Keep the players or don't keep them. The best answer to that line of thinking is to have an honest conversation about whether the team as constructed can make it to the playoffs, let alone win in the playoffs. As we have seen the last 3 years the team can make the playoffs with this group. But they can't win in the playoffs. So now the question becomes what do the Milwaukee Brewers want? A playoff loser or roll the dice on a new direction and put your trust in a GM to correctly evaluate new players. Personally, I don't care which way the Brewers go but there better be 100% commitment either way. No band aids. If you are going to penny pinch on Renfroe I got news for you, he is not the reason why the Brewers will win next year same with Adames, Wong, Burnes, or Woodruff. 162 games eliminates the importance of the individual and puts the onus on team construction. None of these decisions should be made in a vacuum. The GM needs a well thought out plan and if that takes a while fine. After the trade deadline moves that eliminated the Brewers from the playoffs I have little confidence in this GM's ability to stick to a plan.

Forget about fixing the offense. If the bullpen would have done its job the Brewers would have made the playoffs this year. The arms are tired. Too many pitches are getting too much of the plate suggesting the pitchers are mentally worn. Stearns needs to completely revamp the bullpen. Everyone has failed including Williams. He has not earned the closer role since the Hader trade. Closers are lights out, when he pitches the game is anything but secured. Another problem that Stearns needs to own is the complete lack of bullpen options in the minor leagues. He has drafted position players at about a 3 to 1 rate over pitchers the past 3 or 4 years. He prefers taking flyers on pitchers for example high school arms or JUCO arms. This finally caught up to the team this year. Now it's a glaring weakness that he can't fix with the farm system alone. He will need to be creative to get fresh arms and mentally strong pitchers. I prefer Williams in an 8 inning role and Boxburger in the seventh seems the Brewers were on a role when these guys new their roles.

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There isn't anybody on this team I would be opposed not seeing next year. I am a Brewers fan first and a players fan second. If David Stearns thinks trading player A is in the best interest of the team I am all for it. I don't care about individuals bWAR, ERA, or age I care about wins. The past should not be used to predict the future.

Why do individuals break glass bottles in the street? My dog needs shoes to go for a walk.

Even if the Brewers make the playoffs this version is very disappointing. I am looking forward to the offseason to see what Stearns is thinking. Frelick, Mitchell, Ruiz, Turang, and Wiemer earned some playing time in 2023. Going to be a lot of moving pieces this winter.

I looked this up and slugging looks to be only singles, doubles, triples, and home runs. I think OBP might include walks, hit by pitch, and errors. But shouldn't turning a walk or a single into a double or triple be considered in slugging percentage? I say this because I like Brice Turang over Wily Adames. Wily Adames will never be more than he is right now. A glove first shortstop with a high slugging percentage if he hits the ball. Now take a player like Brice Turang maybe he doesn't have a high slugging percentage but when you add in his stolen bases his slugging is comparable to other shortstops. Would Vince Coleman even play with today's GM's?

I agree this team is all or nothing. But the fans are part of this problem. I like Brice Turang. He hits the ball. But lots of posters don't like him because he only hits 10 home runs a year. Now you have had two years of Wily Adames. He was sensational over a short period when he was first traded, but has been pedestrian since. Do you like watching his at bats. The all or nothing approach? 25 home runs looks good on paper but watching him every game is dull.

I think the team in 2022 will look a lot like the team in 2023. The Brewers should be actively seeking relievers. Wong will be let go making room for a Huira/Turang/Urias platoon at 2nd and 3rd base. If 2023 starts to fall apart look for the Brewers to make everyone available for the right price. I don't think the Brewers will be able to keep Adames, Burnes, and Woodruff in 2024 while remaing competitive.

A couple of thoughts on the Yelich deal. I hope Brewer fans stop getting attached to players/individuals, but rather enjoy the team. If baseball is a business why do team's extend player's who have a history of injuries. Millions of dollars are at stake that is a pretty risky venture.

There is a line between defending Yelich and recognizing that blame in certain areas is incorrect. Is he living up to the contract? No, of course not. However, he shouldn't be to blame for signing it (the Brewers offered), and his decline does not appear to be because of anything he has done negatively (lack of effort, prior PED use, etc.). As for Stearns, he has earned some benefit of the doubt; however, myself and many others have been ALL OVER him for this year's deadline. Not necessarily the Hader move on its own, but the way weaknesses weren't addressed and how it seemed like selling while they were in first place. And as I say in this article, he didn't adjust to Yelich's slide enough - if at all - to improve the offense. Lastly, yes, the Brewers are hurt by large contracts with little production - more so than many other teams. However, as has been studied and reported on many times, MLB teams typically make a ton of money every year. There is always room for more expenditures on payroll, and especially when you might be looking at a 2 or 3-year window with talent to get you a Championship. Plenty of "blame" to go around if they can't take advantage of the pitching they have had during this run and get to a World Series. Thanks for the answer Tim, I guess my questions are part of a larger problem of how frustrating it is to follow a small market team while watching the front office stop going for it all in the name of remaining competitive. It is a good way to make the playoffs but never really win anything. I don't know what to think about this idea.

I am curious why do people feel the need to defend Christian Yelich and David Stearns at all costs? Why aren't people allowed to call out this dumpster fire. In the end the Brewers will lose out on all of the quality pitching and improving young players. Also why does every fan assume the Brewers have endless amounts of cash to withstand blunders like this and Lorenzo Cain. These two alone are nearly 30% of the Brewers salaries.