Matt Breen

I think Bauer read the article I wrote saying we have to be done with him. Bound to set him on fire.

Love having Yelich back in the lineup. Just huge.

Yea!!!

Yea!

I agree. Frelick is puzzling. I thought he'd step up this year.

Sanchez started out rough, but he's pretty much doing what we expected of him.

Yesterday's HR aside, I guess Ortiz's .333 BA against right handers this season isn't enough for him to beat out Dunn. Sigh.

The power is there. The walk and K rates are good. I think that after a year off, people are willing to cut him some slack. But we shall see if that's the case come June and July. Truth is that Hoskins was never that great. If you get .250 and 30 HR - that's great. As I said, the power is still there. But .219 and a .760 OPS isn't so hot. But it's not awful. Carlos Santana is hitting .188 or something like that. At least we aren't dealing with that. Cross our fingers Hoskins starts to click and get back into the groove and improves.

Brain fart. Sorry.

This is so true. I mean, do you go after a pitcher? A 3B or 1B? We have Hall, Bukauskas, Junis, and Megill on the DL. All could return at some point in the near future (or not). Other guys - such as Devin Williams - will be back in a couple of months. As for hitters - what's Yelich's situation? And Mitchell? Do you wait and hope they make it back to fortify the OF? Tough stuff.

Nice insights. Thank you.

I never understood the Brewers' embrace of Jake Bauers. The club traded for Bauers last November. Yes, they actually traded for him - not just picked him up off the waiver wire. Then, they signed him to a deal worth $1.35 million. So, what’s the appeal? Image courtesy of © Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports In four seasons (not including 2024), Jake Bauers has never had a higher batting average than .226. He has shown modest power (.361 slugging percentage), mediocre defense (at best), and a below-average hit tool. He has a .210 batting average on more than 1,400 at bats so we are not talking about a small sample size. The man likes to strike out (a lot) - as his career 28.2% k rate will attest to (his strikeout rate in 2023 was 34.1%). Does he do anything well? His 11% walk rate is pretty solid. He is mainly limited to 1B/DH, but he can play outfield corner if needed, just not very well. Anything else? He’s left-handed, which can be enticing to a lineup. So, why the appeal? Perhaps it was his one-time status as a top-100 prospect for Tampa. But even that isn’t that special. Bauers never hit more than 14 homers in a minor-league season. And his lifetime minor league OPS of .784 is good but nothing great. So again, why give the guy a major-league contract and a spot on the roster? Perhaps it was Bauers' electric performance at Triple-A in 2023. In 78 at-bats, he mashed 11 home runs and hit .359. I don’t care how old you are, that’s impressive. It netted Bauers a call to the majors, and he went on to spend half the season as the Yankees' first baseman and corner outfielder. Unfortunately for Bauers, the success didn’t carry over to the big leagues. He hit a dozen home runs in 242 at-bats, but that went with a .202 batting average and inflated strikeout numbers. To put Bauers’ performance into perspective, according to FanGraphs, his 2023 fWAR as an outfielder ranked 126 out of 137 players with 250 or more plate appearances. As a first baseman, he was 42 out of 49 players. In the end, the Brewers saw something in Bauers. Perhaps it was untapped potential - something four other teams have tried to unleash - and failed. And there’s the simple fact that he’s cheap. $1.35 million isn’t a lot of money in Major League Baseball. Giving guys like Bauers a shot seems to be a perennial thing for the front office. But the team rosters are littered with the likes of Luke Voit, Darren Ruf, Daniel Vogelbach, and Justin Smoak - sluggers on the cheap that the team was hoping to help emerge or recapture their glory years. So if not Bauers - who? Tyler Black could have opened the season in the 1B/DH spot. Or how about someone like Brandon Belt, who went unsigned this off-season despite an .858 OPS in 2023? Of course, that means we probably would have had to hold off signing someone else (such as Gary Sánchez). And Belt’s health is a concern. But there seem to have been other options than committing to Bauers from the get-go. Black's recent call-up might be a test run to see if he can replace Bauers. That shouldn’t be too hard. Bauers is hitting a paltry .197. His walk rate is the lowest of his career, and his K% rate is his highest ever—38.9 %. I think that pretty much says it all. It’s time for the Jake Bauers era to be over. View full article

Looking back at the draft there was only one place where I really, really wanted a pick that we passed on. That was selecting Hopper in the 3rd round over Payton Wilson. I loved Wilson. Just a force on the field. I know there were serious injury concerns about him - and I can see passing on him due to those. The guy had two ACL tears that have left him pretty much without an ACL in one of his knees. Plus he's had some lingering shoulder issues (after another operation). Some scouts were concerned he was one injury away from never playing again. So while I loved the guy, I understand not taking him due to health issues. Regarding Hopper - he was considered a 5th rounder - maybe 4th rounder - by most scouts. Someone said that there were other teams interested in him as well - and may have been looking to take him soon after the Packers. My question is did the team have him as worth this pick (#91)? Or did they overreach to ensure they got him? If so, by how much? Taking your 150th ranked player at #91 - just because you think someone else is going to take him - is not the wisest use of the pick. But you have the guy ranked as #100 on the board - that's a different story. It's a slight reach on your part. Of course, we don't know any of this. Just hoping we are being smart. I don't like it when we get over infatuated with a player. It makes the team make some reaches. I guess it still stings to have burned a 3rd rounder for Josiah Deguara - a guy most people thought was - at best - a 5th round value. We didn't have a 4th rounder that year. The club thought Deguara would be perfect for the offense - and didn't want to miss out on him. Otherwise, I think the team addressed a lot its issues and added some nice depth. Looking forward to 2024.

That would be interesting...I'm guessing a lot of teams check out moving up at this point. #33 is sort of a nice place to be at.

The Falcons gave the Bears a huge gift with that pick. Still dumbfounded.

Today's second round picks (precluding a trade or someone unexpectedly dropping, such as DeJean, Kool-Aid or Newton): #41 - LB - Edgerrin Cooper, Junior Colson, Payton Wilson. Pick the best guy remaining. Wilson is kind of a weird one. I love the guy, but huge medical concerns. I could see passing due to that. But I like him a lot. #58 - S - Team passed on a corner, so they need to address the secondary, and the best safeties will start falling off the board in the 2nd round. Bullard, Nubin, Hicks, Bishop. Pick the guy that lasts and you like best. I'm not being very original - but I see the need and the value is there.

Regarding the Morgan pick, I think it's fine. OL was high on our list - and this fills it. I liked Barton better because I think he can be an all-pro at C or G. So much about Morgan depends on his ability to play tackle. And if the team thinks he can do it at a high level - great. I like that Morgan is ready to play - not a developmental guy. For me, I sort of looked at Morgan as being the kind of guy who would be a good player - maybe even at tackle - although some question that. I liked Barton because I think he was more of a certainty at G/C. But the club seems comfortable with the idea of him being a tackle in the pros - so good for him. Regarding not selecting DeJean - or another corner - that was tough to pass on. I think it's harder to find really good defensive backs in the later rounds - compared to finding decent linemen. Taking a corner would have meant passing on a guy the club thinks can step in and play right away - including at tackle.

I think justifiably so. Just a weird selection. The team is poised for some good stuff, and could have added a really great player that helps now.

It’s fine. I thought it would be someone else.

I'm guessing we go OL or CB in 1st round. All depends on who drops. I don't see Alt, Arnold or Mitchell dropping to us. The offensive linemen are sort of all over the place with some scouts preferring this person or that person above the other. Otherwise, I think a couple of these guys could drop: OT Troy Fautanu, Washington Olu Fashanu, Penn St. JC Latham, Alabama Taliese Fuaga, Oregon St. G/C Graham Barton, Duke CB Nate Wiggins, Clemson Cooper DeJean, Iowa Kool-Aid McKinstry, Alabama Notes: Not a huge fan of OTs Mims or Guyton as I think they have more of a boom or bust look to them. Of course, the team knows way more than I do - so one may certainly may be our pick. Chop Robinson would be interesting. Good chance he'd fall to us, but I expect we'd pick OL or CB. This would be a bit of a luxury pick. Another route the club could take would be select DT Brian Murphy or Jer'Zhan Newton fi they fall - especially if the club thinks Kenny Clark won't be back after 2024. WR Brian Thomas would be fun, but I doubt we go that direction in round 1. I don't expect Caleb Williams, Drake Maye, JJ McCarthy, Jayden Daniels, Malik Nabors, Marvin Harrison, Rome Odunze, Brock Bowers, Terrion Arnold, Quinyon Mitchell, Dallas Turner, Jared Verse, Laiatu Late, or Joe Alt to be around for us. I'm expecting a LB and Safety in rounds 2-3. And whatever we don't draft in round 1. Will be fun.

Draft is just a few days away. I'm expecting to see OL, LB, CB and Safety in the first 3-4 rounds. A RB and DL will be a little farther down the list - unless someone really cool is available earlier. Trading down is always good, but easier said than done. Excited to see who the new guys will be.

wow

Yuni was the man. Dude had a 3.3 walk rate for his career. He'd hack at anything. If the ball was hit right to him, he was fine. But he had zero range - especially as he got a bit older and put on some weight. It was brutal.