BrewerFan

I did not know that...that is incredible. I knew he'd turned down money and that he was intent on making sure the Bucks stayed in Wisconsin, but I thought it was 650M. That was what the MJS reported way back, but looking at Balmer, it certainly wouldn't be surprising to see him come back and try and up the ante.

Yeah, the Sixers have proven themselves to be playoff juggernauts🙄 This team looks great. When Middleton is healthy(as he is now) and they can rotate Jackson, Beauchamp, get Crowder back, I'm not worrying about the Sixers. Where's this come from? Did I just not pay attention in the past, or was everyone so fatalistic about the Bucks? They've started slow, they've been great going...what, 19-4 in their last 23. It's not even the new year. And Crowder has been an elite defensive player the last few years. You weren't going to go from Jrue to Dame and not see a drop off in defense, but I'll gladly take my chances with this team, if healthy, in the post-season.

How quickly Wilson went from being viewed as one of those star QBs to now being released. I think he'd be an upgrade, but if the Vikings re-sign Cousins they can take some of the void money coming up this year and push it off. If they sign Wilson, they'll just be starting that cycle over again. It'd be smarter for them to go into rebuild mode or just go with Dobbs for a year(IMO).

Sure. And I'm excited about them. I think it's waaay to premature to call Misiorowski a TOR arm and I don't believe Gasser or Rodriguez profile as top of the rotation type pitchers either. They're both more likely to be #3s. Not guys you'd prefer to Game 1. And if they are, awesome. Having more starting pitchers won't be a waste. Misiorowski is a unique talent, but...he's thrown 73 total innings, many believe he'll be a reliever. That seems to be solely because of his delivery and being a little wild, but the point is, there's still a long way to go from turning him into an ace at the Major League level. To be clear, I don't think we've got this baren system with regards to starting pitching, but our system is ranked as high as 3rd on the backs of the position prospects, not the pitching prospects. Right, I wouldn't want to trade Burnes for a pitcher just for the sake of it if a team is offering a potential middle-of-the-order bat. My preference would just be to find a team that fits better. Also, as pointed out, the Os seem to be hoarding their prospects. I'd be looking at the Phillies. If you could get a guy like Painter+2 lower-level prospects for Burnes and Williams? That's a deal I'd make. Abel as well. The Rangers are a team that may be more willing to be patient now, but they may want to double down after a WS. The Jays, the Giants. Teams that may think they've got a reasonable path toward re-signing Burnes after the season would also help. Doubt that'd be the Orioles. I also would trust the Brewers FO. I didn't like the Taylor/Houser trade, but...the only trade they've made that's been really bad(IMO) has been the Reece Olson trade. The marks on the other side of the ledger outweigh that by quite a bit.

To reiterate...they do not. They haven't since Thompson was here.

Yeah, but it's more than that. From Harlan hiring Wolf until 2019, it was Murphy atop that chart, but he hired the GM and then he stayed out of the Football side. His job is similar to the board of directors. They pick a President and they don't make decisions after that. The President picks a GM, he doesn't make FB decisions after that. I'm sure when it comes to a franchise-altering trade such as the Rodgers trade, you would always be expected to go over it with him, but Murphy(and I've linked this already) has gone way over and started to become a problem. From his comments about how Rodgers would only be back if things didn't work out like they wanted...which is just stupid, you're giving the Jets leverage. I'm not sure it ended up mattering, I think we did well, but it was stupid and it MAY have cost us the 1st rd pick this year and it was just strange. I've already commented about his influence or forcing Pettine, Drayton, or the insulting offer to Rizzi(NO ST Coordinator)... This started with the Thompson firing, it proceeded on since then; https://packerswire.usatoday.com/2018/01/12/4-thoughts-on-recent-changes-within-packers-organization/ https://www.packersnews.com/story/sports/nfl/packers/2019/05/09/silverstein-critics-see-cracks-green-bay-packers-new-management-structure/1142267001/ That's the question. Is it Matt LaFleur's call or not? Can MLF just fire people or not? We don't know. And no, MLF does not seem like an authoritarian, but he seems to have the respect of most of the locker room. Or he has until this year. But when you keep employing such a bad coach....thee worst coach I've seen in any of the sports teams I follow, you lose the players trust, you lose credibility...and then they start going rogue. Jaire SHOULD be a leader on the team...he is to blame. I'd say that when things really started to sound bad was Campbell's tweet last week. If Kenny Clark comes out and says something? When is it the trusted vets you trust/believe vs the DC has failed?

Yeah, that's all great, but there's a leadership issue in GB right now. This season was primarily about developing Love and transitioning, but that's also about developing a culture where your leadership and young players...not acting like clowns. I still don't know if it's Murphy, MLF(it's Barry, but it goes up at least one level higher).

I didn't say it excused it, I said Barry is losing the locker room. I'm not sure what you mean by "self-inflicted garbage that is happening on the field," though. Is this a general statement, or about Jaire specifically? I just asked this question in the last week; MLF has to be losing credibility due to the decision-making of Joe Barry and that spreads and infects the team. Players start speaking out, they become more emboldened, then they...make themselves captain and they get suspended. I don't actually think the last part normally happens, but...this is costing MLF, this is a young team and they need more leadership from the staff and it has to come from players/coaches they respect.

They're 17-4 in their last 21 and Middleton is just rounding into form, Connaughton has played poorly early on with his injury and Crowder is out. They'll be fine. I keep hearing PJ Tucker. He's going to be 39 years old. You'd have to trade Portis for him. I believe that's the only option as I don't believe you can aggregate players salaries over the 2nd apron. But that would really be a dumb trade IMO. Let Crowder come back. They just won 7 in a row, 10 of 13 before that. They're fine. 1st year coach, Dame, Giannis and now Khris gelling. Lopez still playing at a high level. All the angst...mainly over the 5-4 start as they've lost 4 games in the 18 since then. I think they'll be fine.

You ever have a boss or a coach who has absolutely no clue, but their poor performance reflects upon you? That's how you lose a locker room. And while I thought there's no point in firing Barry now...it's looking like it makes more and more sense. With a young team, culture is so important. It's a miracle we're 7-8.

Yeah...they're pretty much the same. All of Jaire's run ins with the Police and sideline tantrums, that makes sense...🙄

Well, Wilken, the all-time leader in HRs in the ACC, he'll likely start in AA. Boeve is looking at AA next year. Two advanced bats who can play 3B and two big power prep bats with massive upside on top of what we already had. Black might not have great power, but...I don't really care if he has a .370 OBP, steals 30 bases, and hits 15-20 HRs and 40 doubles. If Wilken develops as expected or as we hope, he's our 3B. Boeve, they're playing at 2B, but can play 3rd. He's probably more of a Cirillo-type player. But the big thing here...when Chourio and all the young OF prospects we've got are up and slugging in 2-3 years and we've got an elite offense, what we're going to miss then...is dominant starting pitching. We drafted heavily on the offensive side, taking an entirely different approach...which takes 4-5 years to pay off(longer with the international FAs, but after Lara, we lost our picks and sat out for two years before investing in the Dominican facilities and the scouting. So we've got the offensive prospects coming, and while I get the impatience, what we need are guys we can build into TOR-type arms...IMO. All that to say...we need pitching more than we need a 3B.

Did you hear his comments after the last last week? He was asked if he'd consider firing a Coordinator in-season and he said "this isn't the time to talk about that," and made other comments that were...not subtle. He made comments earlier in the season about the "definition of insanity." He's called out Barry numerous times. Not by name, but all but. Sure. I'd counter that the defense is STACKED with talent and that the offense is the youngest in the NFL...since the Merger and likely before, but they don't have average ages. So give Love the players around him and talent around him that the D has and I think they'd be elite. Just another year with the same group will push them top 5 IMO. You add a guy like Joe Alt(who I'd absolutely trade a 2nd+ to move up to get if we could) and then some players who fit this scheme like Jaheim Bell out of FSU(look up his tape at South Carolina from '22 if you need, but he's a 6-3 230LB H-Back/RB/WRer/TE...just a dude with size, athletic ability and jaw-dropping athletic ability that translates as he can track the deep ball down the middle). And then you keep adding talent at OG. I think Rasheed Walker can be a star there, Rhyan MAY be, but the point is even without upgrade to personnel, they should be better. The defense right now has the talent and experience to be excelling. This group would excel in Capers style. This group is perfect for his version of the 34. This defense effectively relies on the two-edge rushers to get home. You play 2 gap on your DL...so Wyatt isn't going to get those sacks where he just whoops someone unless he goes rogue. It's a .5 second delay for the DL. Then you have your DBs playing off in a soft zone... Agreed...and of course, we helped, but that kid looks like he could still be a helluva pick. You want to know who the great QBs will be(or more specifically WON'T be)...listen to Merril Hodge. That dude has been nailing it year after year. I grew up with him and I never really thought he was that great, but he breaks down QB play for kids coming out of College and he's been remarkably reliable. Said he liked Young, but wouldn't have a 1st round grade on him just because he's too small and that should be reserved for franchise QBs. Respected how people would say, "Look how tough that kid is," and how he kept getting up from big hits, but that's just not sustainable. CJ Stroud was the one guy he had a 1st-round-grade grade on this year...a guy a lot of people were pretty down on relative to your average top 3 QB pick. Then of course, the famous Johnny Manziel comments!

You're in the NFL, you can't be that delicate. The offense includes and ultimately the responsibility of MLF. He's not firing Barry at this point, he was getting questions about the defense. If THAT is an issue? Again, this was a big story for a POTENTIAL issue in 2019 when Murphy got involved. He was forced to keep Pettine and Barry wasn't his first choice. I'll have more confidence in the entire football operations once Murphy gets his nose out of things. Gutekunst has proven himself. I believe MLF has mostly. If we get Rizzi and don't offer to make him one of the lowest STC in the NFL, we win that SF game(presumably). Every coach is going to make "nepo," hires though. You hire guys you work with.

He runs the offense, he's just taking accountability...I wouldn't look much deeper into THIS specific statement. I still think he's gone, but this was a meaningless quote to me other than to take some of the public scrutiny off MLF.

I get it though. I could see the Brewers...*IF everything goes right with Pratt, Bitonti, Knoth, Misi, and the young guys...being in a similar situation, and I wouldn't want to trade a couple of future stars for a SPer. I didn't like the Sabathia trade when it happened. I wanted to see the Brewers trade for Grienke. I didn't like the Marcum trade. I think I was proven wrong on both(you could argue otherwise with Greinke, but that incredible run CC had was the most historic run for a VERY long period). They probably want to put a team like the Braves offense has on the field(they should start offering extensions now).

It was inferred, but it feels like Campbell's was something that was building and building and blew. I just hope MLF can get these guys back. MM may have gotten stale, but he had his guys motivated and behind him for the most part early on. Leaders like Wood, Pickett, Tasuch, Clifton, they certainly help, but a group this young? MLF needs to grab the reigns back.

You don't feel good about Wilken, Black, Boeve, Adams, Bitonti, Baez(further down, but still...huge upside, particularly with Bitonti). Black is a top 50 prospect, and Wilken will probably be a top 50 by the end of this year. We need to be forward-looking, not looking at what we've had in the past years. We have hitters coming up at EVERY position(a MIFer opposite of Turang would be great, though EBJ among others are also there). But we NEED pitching. We have a #2/3 in Peralta, a #1 to 50IP a season injury risk in Ashby and then 4's and 5's. Who cares what we've had the last 10? It's about this team, this system and this group. (Welcome to the board, just disagree with this argument...which you're not alone in).

That's funny...I never hated Jordan. Now I was 5 or 6 when he won his first title, but I was that kid(as I'm sure many others on here were) who watched Sports Center before school and learned to read on the sports section... I remember watching him play the Bucks and rooting for the Bucks, but just being mesmerized. He was different. I feel like you're a bit hard on LeBron...but it's also hard to argue with. I don't see how Jordan loses to that Dallas team for example. GSW? Sure...not Dallas or even SA. I think I'm more charitable with LeBron, though you look at guys like Beasley or other players and they play better elsewhere. It seems to me that if you're playing with LeBron, you're facing an immense amount of pressure that didn't quite exist when MJ played with Social Media and all that. Still extremely tough to play with MJ and the expectations. Maybe Krause was underrated as he did get a team that fit him so incredibly well. The shooters, Pippen who was an elite on ball defender so Jordan didn't have to be every play. A big who could rebound and defend like Grant and then Rodman. Big bodies so Ewing didn't just destroy them. I really can't tell if it's more MJ had teammates who GREW with him and spent time there while LeBron constantly demands turnover. If it's not working RIGHT NOW, he wants trades. Really interesting points though. That run the Bucks were on in the 80s...it seems so wildly underrated among Wisconsin sports fans. The golden era of the NBA. Magic, Bird, Jordan coming on strong, the Bad boys, Dominique, Moses, Dr. J, Cheeks and Barkley and the Bucks were regularly competitive with the top teams. Some years they beat Boston(or at least one) and they'd lose to Philly or we'd beat Philly and lose to Boston. Then it was the Pistons or the Hawks with one of the truly underrated stars in Dominique Wilkins.

Yeah...I remember that now. Still didn't feel like a shot at Barry necessarily... that's just kinda Jaire to your point. I guess if there were comments as pointed as Campbell's...we'd have talked about it much more. On second thought...I'm not even sure it matters if this is all directed specifically at Barry, the scheme, whatever. If your players, guys who are not trouble makers, if they're getting to this point where they're openly making comments about not playing because of issues with the staff, that undermines the HC. So if you fire Barry, you're going to need to earn back the respect in that locker room. You're 3 years in now. Det and Wash fired him after 2. I understand the priority was Love this year and the offense, but...it's been clear Barry needed to go since very early on.

NOW we're applying "logic" from the Angels end? Burnes is a star. If they were a logical, forward thinking franchise, they wouldn't have traded their top prospects and kept Ohtani and instead, they'd have garnered a unprecedented haul of prospects for a 2 month rental of a player. They didn't do that. There's a reason.

Joe Barry just sticking to his bland D. My memory isn't the same on that. I recall Jaire saying something, but I don't recall it being a subtle or not so subtle shot at Barry... But that's just worse. This has been growing for years then. There is someone in that defensive room who knows what the hell they're doing. You saw it with the scheme to beat Minny last year the 2nd time. You saw it with those fronts with the 3 DL, LVN with his hand in the dirt and then Gary/Smith or whoever lined up as an Edge with Quay lined up inside him and playing press vs Det. Good scheme vs KC. And despite those successes we invariably revert back to this conservative cloud type D.

Well...not really. That's the Vic Fangio D. It got more popular, but it's QUICKLY dying off as those schemes have like 7 of the 10 worst defenses. We had Jaire travel with Jefferson the 2nd game...and while you're never going to match a guy up every play and you'l have help, he was on Jefferson nearly every play. Other teams still do this, but it's teams with aggressive DCs who play man heavy schemes. But the more popular, "drop 7, let my front 4 get home/keep it in front of us," Cover 3, Quarters, those CBs don't travel. And it does make the game worse.

Oh...well, there ya go! Couldn't have been a good deal! He showed you how he went 1-7 and struggled the last 30 games!!! Not worth "cash considerations," which is probably 50K? Proof...🙄

I have zero doubt the Brewers could get a top 50 prospect for Burnes. This isn't like the Hader talks(where I agreed, we'd end up disappointed). Burnes is an Ace on the final year of his deal...so in a contract year and he's an incredible talent. They(Brewers fans) may be disappointed because I remember talk of Jackson Holliday and Grayson Rodriguez last year, but there's definitely a happy medium. I think the Phillies are the exact type of team that'd be willing to trade a Painter or an Abel for Burnes and since they lost Kimbrel, maybe you include Williams to pry Painter away. Again, make it a larger deal. They could also use a LFer... So Burnes, Williams, Mitchell for Painter, McGarry? Gives you a risky potential Ace(not much risk, just a TJ). And then gives you an elite arm that needs to be refined. Maybe the Phills are desperate enough to do it...and with Harper playing 1B, Schwarber at DH...they go all in this year trying to win. And then...they're trying to sign Yamamoto, so... They're aggressively pursuing Yamamoto at the moment, but if they miss out, they may want to bolster both their rotation with a dominant starter to go with Nola and Wheeler, pushing Walker into the 4th slot and Suarez into the 5th and Sanchez into their pen.