Matt Breen

No it doesn't. Not even close. Why a team gives one player a chance and not another is determined by many, many factors. To say someone who wants to give Villar another chance should be willing to give Feliz another chance actually defies logic.

I saw Dave Cameron at Fangraphs made a wacky comment in today's chat regarding Machado and the Brewers: Dave Cameron: Part of me wonders if the Brewers might try to sneak in here (regarding Machado) Dave Cameron: Could shift Arcia to 2B for a year, play Machado at SS, and really make a run. https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/winter-meetings-live-blog-day-3/ Nothing serious. Just thought it was fun to think about having Machado for a year.

Not at all. I don't want moves just to make moves. With free agents, be disciplined, take what comes to you. That gets us value. Trades will take time since virtually none of the top free agents are off the market. Once that happens, trades start becoming more commonplace.

It probably will be for a few more years until they get so overpaid that one wants them anymore. It's kind of cyclical with relievers. They get overvalued - then there's a market correction - and then they get undervalued - and repeat cycle.

I would have been good with this contract for the Brewers. Two years isn't a huge commitment. And while the money is a little high - it's not surprising.

Rockies have signed FA reliever Bryan Shaw to a 3-year/$27M contract. They also re-signed left-handed reliever Jake McGee to a 3-year deal with an option for a fourth year. No financial details yet. Prices for relievers are coming in higher than many have projected. It's a good year to be a quality reliever. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2017/12/rockies-to-re-sign-jake-mcgee.html https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2017/12/rockies-close-to-deal-with-bryan-shaw.html

I'm guessing this is all a big non-story. Arizona won 90+ games last year. Their team is returning - mostly - intact (JD Martinez is the biggest lose). Their window to win is the next two years - the timeframe they have Goldschmidt under control. Greinke is a legitimate top-of-the-rotation arm. Unloading him would be a huge blow this team, competitively. If they dealt Greinke, they would be forced to move Archie Bradley to the rotation - or rely on a young arm like Anthony Banda or Brandon Shipley. I guess we can't forget about Shelby Miller - but who knows when he'll be back. But non of those guys is a sure thing. On the flip side, perhaps the financial situation is a lot more dire in AZ than anyone realizes. They have a projected payroll of about $120M - their highest ever. But if that's the issue, they were idiots for signing Greinke in the first place as they knew this day would come sooner than later. In the end, Greinke is too good of a player - and the DBacks are too good of a team to unload him.

This is from yesterday: Brewers listening on Santana: Milwaukee is dangling Domingo Santana in its search for an affordable impact starting pitcher but not getting much traction in trade talks, according to ESPN's Jerry Crasnick. The 25-year-old outfielder hit 30 home runs and made just $542,000 last season, so finding a team willing to give up as much as it would take to make a deal worth it for the Brewers won't be easy. http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/21739107/2017-mlb-winter-meetings-daily-latest-news-buzz-rumors

Chavez is fodder at this point of his career. His ability to slide between relieving and starting has been a nice plus to teams - but he's just not that good anymore. We have enough back end types that I'd rather see get the ball (Wilkerson, for instance). The other thing is that if you hand the guy a major league deal, the club almost feels compelled to keep him for an extended time - even if he stinks.

Corbin has often struggled against right handers, especially after people saw him pitch a while. To me he's nothing more than a #5 guy - if that.

That's Boros being Boros. Of course he's pumping up his guy. That's his job - and he's good at it. He can ask for whatever he wants - it doesn't mean anyone will give him a deal that long and at those dollars.

Tampa Bay beat writer says the Brewers are one of many teams who have asked about Archer. http://www.tampabay.com/sports/baseball/rays/Winter-meetings-journal-Rays-closer-Alex-Colome-drawing-interest_163507904

Due to Swarzak's lack of track record, I think he'll get less than Neshak. Maybe more years, but not as much per year. Maybe $6-7M annually for 2-3 years. Just my guess.

SF Giant Executive vice president of baseball operations Brian Sabean indicated that the Giants aren’t going to sign any players who rejected qualifying offers earlier this offseason. Said Sabean, “If you’re asking me personally, my vote would be a no, being that we wouldn’t want to get involved with somebody like that." If that is true, it might seriously deter them from going after center fielder Lorenzo Cain. That could make Broxton a trade target. The Giants want to retool - not rebuild. But they also want to avoid going into the luxury penalty zone. A cheap player like Broxton would be quite attractive. He would fit in nicely in SF - a fast, rangy OF in that park would do them wonders. Any money the club saves could then be spent on other needs.

Nice deal for Neshek. I wasn't sure he would get that much. It shows you the relief market is going to be expensive this year.

Please, please, please, could people just stop the Scooter and Davis back and forth? It does nothing for this board to have this discussion brought up over and over. Threads get derailed, people get angry. It does nothing for us in the end. Don't make jokes about it. Don't make sarcastic replies to it. Don't allude to it. Don't make comments or barbs or whatever about the people who post stuff about it. Don't reply to it. Replying to these kinds of things is what hijacks a thread. It's exactly what some people want. Deny them the pleasure. IGNORE IT. Block the poster. Or if you're so compelled, just politely point out that the thread has nothing to do with Scooter Gennett or whoever else has been twisted into the conversation. Also, if you feel that it is relevant to the discussion and want to say something about Scooter or Davis or whomever - please keep your comments to the point - and don't just repeat the same old stuff that's been brought up over and over. Anyone who brings up those trades knows what you're dealing with - so understand you're playing with fire every time you do so. If you bring up those guys just to grind an axe or vent your frustration - you're doing a disservice to yourself and your fellow board members. You know exactly what kind of response it's going to elicit - so try be thoughtful if the topic is to be broached. It's very important to understand that no one is asking people to NOT talk about Gennett or Davis. Because, in all honesty, there are times that those trades are relevant to a discussion. It's keeping the discussion on target and thoughtful and helpful that is what is important. Thank you.

I can't believe how bad Harvey was last year. 6.70 ERA (and a 6.37 FIP to back it up). The merits of Harvey aside, with only one year of control left, he doesn't seem like the kind of guy for this team. At least not the kind of guy if he costs anything to acquire. If the club has scouted the, looked at video, and felt they could 'fix' his issues - then he might work as a one year stopgap while Nelson recovers. But I'm not giving up anything much of value for him. Paying his salary is enough of a trade off.

Please stop the Khris Davis stuff. This is not a thread about Khris Davis or the merits of the trade. And responding to the comments on Khris Davis only further hijacks this - and other - threads. If you want to start a Khris Davis thread, that's fine. Go do it.

The interesting thing about Panik is that he could really benefit from getting out of SF. Over the last three years, his OPS at home is .719, but .793 on the road. He hit 3/4 of his HRs on the road. Panik has some other really nice qualities - doesn't strike out a lot (most he ever struck out was 54 times), and he has good glove - although he defensive stats were down on him last season. I don't know why he wasn't as good last year. Perhaps age or injury or whatever. Other issues with Panik? He doesn't hit lefties well - he keeps a respectable average (.267 against them the last three years), but his power just gets sapped against southpaws. That makes him somewhat of a platoon guy. Also, he's had some injury issues - back, concussion. Not sure if anything is a long term concern (back issues always scare me). Panik has three years of control left - and is arby eligible beginning in 2018.

Yes, several have - including the prize one - Maitan. It should be noted that scouts were not that impressed with the Braves players. Outside of Maitan, there weren't any guys that people loved. In fact, I read a couple of places that said the Braves were fools because they broke the rules to sign a lot of guys who weren't really that good.

I was interested in Chatwood - but that's a little rich for my blood. Plus the three years is a bit much. I'd rather have done 2 years and an option. But as someone said, I wouldn't have complained if we had done this deal - even if I thought it was an overpay. But it's a good gamble for Chicago. If they add someone else - such as Cobb (or heaven forbid) Ohtani - they've solidified the rotation without costing an arm and a leg.

As people have noted, the trouble with Duffy is that you can get comparable skills in free agency at a similar price (4-years, $50-60M) - Lance Lynn, Alex Cobb - for instance. But with the free agents the only thing you're giving up is a draft pick in the 70-75 range. That's a lot more doable than whatever prospect haul you're going to send to KC for Duffy. I will say that I think Duffy is a little better than Lynn or Cobb (I'm very wary of Lynn) - but not by a ton.

I want us to draft high school pitcher Kumar Rocker because it's an awesome name.

Right...and in my original post on the topic, I offered Keon Broxton (likely wishful thinking) or Corey Ray, a similarly dimmed prospect. Buying low on Norris doesn't mean the Tigers accepting say Hernan Perez for Norris. Rather, a dimmed prospect like Ray for Norris is by no means a stretch in my mind given each of their former prospect pedigree. Ray for Norris seems like the beginnings of something. While both guys have struggled, each offers hope in some fashion. Ray is a buy-low guy - so is Norris. A lot just depends on what each side thinks of the other guy. The Brewers may think Norris is a lost cause - and the Tigers may feel the same way about Ray. Just never know what teams are thinking.

The trade of Stanton will depend on how much the Marlins pay down Stanton's salary. And Miami could take on a contract or two instead of giving back more money -- for instance they could take Denard Span from the Giants. He's set to make $10M or so. It will all get into the details, but it seems like the Giants have their hearts set on Stanton. I think they envision him as another Barry Bonds - a guy who can carry the team on his back.