dsid74

He has hit into some bad luck too. I can think of at least 2 line drives snared by the 2B that looked like they were going to be hits. Don't know what the metrics say, but he is passing the eye test at 3B. So far, it looks like a good signing.

You are probably right that Made didn't want to sign for what the Brewers were offering and that influenced this deal. I've been saying for a while I'm concerned they won't be able to get him signed to this type of deal. But I disagree that "It is SUCH a player friendly deal that EVEN Scott Boras tells him to take it!" This deal is most likely at worst a break even deal for the Brewers. Cooper's defensive floor means he only needs to be an average offensive player to make this a steal for the Brewers. It is a calculated risk based on what the PD personnel have witnessed during the past 3 seasons. It looks to me that they expect an offensive breakout and wanted to sign him before the price goes up 50% or more. Boras said this was the right deal for Cooper based on his makeup, his desires and of course the security it brings Cooper. I'm no fan of Boras, but I do believe he wants the best for his clients. Cooper could have made more money by waiting but it's what he wanted. Even if he 100% flames out and never makes it to the ML, the downside averages out to $6-7M per year. And in the highly unlikely event this happens, even the Brewers can afford that. But if he becomes an average or better offensive player, the Brewers will have tremendous excess value and all the upside in this deal swings to the Brewers. Anything can happen, but I see this as a deal with minimal downside and HUGE upside.

Hopefully this will turn out to be a great deal for Cooper, the Brewers and us, the fans. We have seen it over and over in sport, teams who sign high quality individuals are rewarded. Everything we have seen/heard indicates the Brewers have done just that. Good luck Cooper...GO BREWERS!

One (hopefully minor) correction to the article. The Brewers and MLB have not announced that Pratt has signed an extension. Not sure what is preventing that. But until it is officially announced, Pratt is not under a long term deal. With recent comparable contracts and Scott Boras as his agent, I wonder if they have hit a roadblock to what appears to be a very team friendly deal.

Yeah Patrick is in the bigs one way or the other. Murphy just said again how our much they will depend on the bullpen. Not just to keep runs off the board but to soak up innings. Patrick could easily pitch 100 innings out of the pen. Same for Ashby if he isn’t starting. The starters won’t get thru the order 3 times very often. I think they will (need) to carry 4-5 multi innings guys.

"Get of to a better start. I dont have the numbers but his 1st 100-150 abs weren't vert good so just those abs probably pull his batting numbers down." First 179AB .218/.311/.324 Last 266AB .282/.350/.429

Gasser gets the 5th spot in the rotation. They need a LH starter. Henderson moves to the pen with Zas optioned...making it 4 LH/RH in the pen. Henderson will work in a quasi starter/piggyback role, as will Sproat when he comes up in May. The Brewers should ask Mis and Patrick to pitch like they did in the playoffs...tick up the velo and dominate for 3-4 innings, throw 50-60 pitches, not 90-100. They have a staff full of multi inning guys. They had more bullpen innings than almost every other team in 2025 and I expect they will have even more innings in 2026 by design. Ask Woody and Priester to give 6IP if possible, the rest of the starters should not be asked to pace themselves. They should go out and try to dominate. Piggyback the other "starters". Everyone stays stretched out. Everyone is capable of starting or relieving. Except for the 9th (possibly the 8th), it doesn't matter where they pitch. They are out getters. Dominate as long as you can and then it's the next man up doing the same.

It’s pretty obvious they need another #2-4 SP. They have more than enough in the prospect pool to get it. Of course knowing the Brewers they will take someone who looks like a #5 (or worse) and turn them into a #3.

“In your opinion with a trade for Baty, where would you play him? Does Turang rotate in more often at shortstop and get Durbin more comfortable with playing second base?” I would think a platoon at 3B with Baty getting the majority of the starts (since he is LHH, would happen.) Durbin would most likely lose PT (at 3B), but that is before injuries and performance issues (his and others) impact the team. I assume Turang has been asked to prep his arm/shoulder for possible time at SS this offseason to avoid the problems they ran into last spring. If Turang can play a game or 2 against tough RHP at SS per week, Durbin would recoup PT at 2B. It’s a good problem to have when u have more deserving players than PT. Baty raises the floor and ceiling, both offensively and defensively. Depending on the rest of the package, I would be happy if they could find a way to get him.

Great article Matthew. I am hopeful that Jake can sustain the adjustments he made in Sept/Oct. If so, (and they don't acquire an OF), he could also get a start in LF every week. His bat will need to be good enough to overcome sub par defense in LF. But at the end of the day, they need the offense and the bat plays. They can hide him out there for 7 innings once (or twice) a week if he is 80% of what we saw in Sept/Oct. I think Jake gets 400 PA next season.

"I don’t want Peralta traded unless we receive an established hitter. Either a decent DH or pesky high average contact hitter. We have plenty of pitching prospects. Why give away our most reliable pitcher for a prospect?" I agree with your comments about trading Freddy for a prospect. I would rather see help for 2026 if he is moved. I don't think a DH or pesky high average guy is what they need. There aren't enough DH AB's to spread across Yeli, Contreras, Bauer and Vaughn already. And the weak link of the lineup is lack of power, so while a pesky hitter fits their mold, I think they would prefer to round out the lineup with someone with more OPS.

Gil probably has more upside than Nelson but has never shown good control. He reminds me of a RH'ed DL Hall in terms of stuff and control and injuries. I think he isn't close to being a finished project and may not even be in our top 5 for 2026. Future value caps out as a #2 or 3, but that is far from guaranteed. Nelson has started to figure it out and is currently better than Gil. He would be more valuable in 2026. The Brewers may be able to squeeze a bit more out of him than the DBacks, but he caps out as a mid rotation guy. Lawler is the highest upside guy listed, but lacks a position. The Brewers would probably try to make him a CF and hope the bat takes off. There is risk he can't find a defensive home (ala Tyler Black). The Dodger pitchers "have been discussed" but that could simply mean the Brewers said these are the guys we are interested in and the Dodgers hung up. All in all, I would vote for Nelson. He keeps the ball in the park, is stingy with walks, and would slot into the rotation ahead of guys like Henderson or Gasser.

"I don’t see the brewers extending him (or re-signing him as a free agent). Even if they don’t have faith in Quero or Dinges as primary catcher options, spending big on a catcher in his 30s is not a risk the Brewers can or should take. " Unfortunately, this sums it up perfectly. I don't believe Bill would sign a team friendly deal. Even if he did, it would be the final 2 years of arbitration and 4 more? We are probably talking over $100 million. The TV revenue debacle probably seals his fate. He just turned 28. He will be 30 when he begins his free agent years. He will want to maximize them. This is most likely his last year with the Brewers. If that's how they see it, it's all the more reason to push more chips into the pot and go for it this season. They can recover much of what they spend when they trade Bill next off-season.

"Ignore Logan Henderson at your own risk!" Oops...And Gasser too for that matter. A couple of these guys will probably remain in AAA to work on finishing/polishing their repertoire, but the larger point remains...this bullpen is designed for length. The lines between starters and relievers is getting blurry. The team needs out getters to have their best stuff for as many batters as they can keep it. If that means 60 pitches instead of 90 for the starter...so be it. The relievers can throw 40 instead of 20 pitches if they have been developed as starters and remain somewhat stretched out.

"unless they use piggybacks a bunch." They are building a pen full of multi inning type guys. Depending on who wins rotation spots, Ashby, Hall, Patrick, Myers, Koenig and Zerpa can all be counted on to get between 3-6, (maybe more) outs...assuming they are managed correctly and not overused. In 2025 the Brewers had more pen innings than almost every other team (3rd or 4th I think). Pitchers are 'out getters" and it really doesn't matter where they pitch (except the 9th). They will not ask their starters to go deep, they will ask them to throw harder for a shorter period and go to the multi inning pen guys earlier. Mis and Patrick showed how good they can be in shorter outings during the playoffs. We know that the advantage swings heavily to the batters the 3rd time thru the order. I think the construction of this staff says they will reduce this exposure as much as possible. By design, I expect them to have even more bullpen innings this year. They are blurring the lines between starters and relievers. Finding ways to "win on the edges." It won't be a "piggyback" system per se...but they will reduce the innings of the starters because they have built/developed a pen full of multi inning guys who can throw hard and get 6+ outs per outing.