Matt Breen

Yes. Love it.

This might be a crazy idea, so let me know what you think. The Rockies are bad and they are paying Kris Bryant $28M next year, and $27M every year after that through 2028 - when he's 36. That's $136M. Thus, you would think the Rockies might want to get out from under that contract. Of course, this is the Rockies - so maybe not. But let's speculate. If the Brewers took on Bryant - how much would they have to pay him? This is the hard part. What's his value? I guess if you asked this question it might help: If Kris Bryant was a FA, and it required a five year deal to sign him - what would he be worth? Now, we know Bryant is not the MVP caliber player of his early days. But in 2021 he .265 and 25 HRs. In 2022 (his first with Colorado), he hit .306 - but only hit 5 HR in 42 games due to injuries. This year he's been hurt again - a heel bruise and then a fractured finger from a hit by pitch. He's hit a modest .251 with 8 HR in 66 games. So, we have a former MVP who turns 32 in January. Getting older - but not really old. He would fit in well in Milwaukee - playing 3B. But he's had some injuries and some bouts of ineffectiveness. So what does it take for Colorado to give Bryant to the Brewers? Is it even worth it? And before anyone says we'd only need to pay a minimal amount - let's just admit that won't work. Colorado is better off just hanging on to the guy and hoping he rebounds - making him tradeable during the season - or after 2024. Just saying that Colorado needs to pay down $125M of his salary - or something similar - doesn't fly. Bryant would offer an intriguing bat in our lineup - and would fit in well at 3B. He could also move to 1B or DH or play OF down the road. But right now, he'd look good at 3B. My thought is that the Brewers (or any other team), would need to take on around $10M per season of Bryant's salary. That's a $50M commitment. Too much? Too little? Not worth it? Would the Rockies even do such a thing? Any sort of trade would be the Rockies including a bunch of money - and getting a D-grade prospect in return. So the cost for Bryant would simply be money. I haven't seen Bryant play for a couple of years - so perhaps some knowledge from those who have might help.

I'd love to give Gasser a start or two. See how he does. I think he has a real shot at a rotation spot in 2024.

I'm going to keep things pretty simple for next year. Here we go: Resign Miley. There is a mutual option on him, but work out something to keep him going forward. Bring back Canha to play 1B. We have an $11.5M option, but that's likely too much. Perhaps work out a new deal - 2/$15M or something like that? The guy won't hit 30 HR, but he's a good shot to get 12-15 and hit .250ish - and take some walks. Plus he's not a bad fielder or baserunner. Just plug him in and enjoy the reliability. Give Tyler Black the 3B job. Perhaps this is an awful idea - I just don't know if he can handle things defensively at the corner. But we've been playing the guy there all year - so the team must think it's a possibility. I love his on base skills. One other option is putting him at 1B. Not sure how that's going (he's got a handful of appearances there this year). But I'd like to see his bat in the lineup. As 3B is such a black hole - this would be perfect for him (pun intended). A super sub player is always a possibility as well - 3B, 2B, 1B, DH. Cut the cord with Rowdy and Lauer. Probably Houser as well, but giving up pitching - even mediocre pitching, is always risky. Letting go of these three saves about $15M in Arby salaries. Give Gasser a spot in the rotation. Guy seems ready. So just roll the dice. Bring Ashby along slowly. I'd love to get him so he's ready to be in the rotation later in the year. I'm not trading anyone in this scenario, but it's certainly feasible. I'd look into it - but I wouldn't force anything. We can always move at the deadline if we falters. We can look into extending players - such as Burnes and Woodruff - but I won't speculate on that. I'd love to have those guys around longer. Here's the roster: C - Contreras, (Henry or Caratini or some other veteran) 1B - Canha 2B - Turang SS - Adames 3B - Black INF - Monasterio, Miller OF - Yelich, Mitchell, Frelick, Wiemer, Taylor DH can rotate between all the players on the roster. SP - Woodruff, Burnes, Miley, Peralta, Gasser, Ashby, Rea RP - Williams, Wilson, Payamps, Peguero, Milner, Megill, Uribe Fun to speculate.

I don't have a problem with this - as long as the team thinks they can get Donaldson back on track. His defense is still good - and let's face it - our offense at the position has been pretty bleak this year. I don't think he can do worse. Plus the guy is going to have big reason to come in supercharged. It might be his last chance to show he belongs in the Big Leagues. A small market like Milwaukee might be perfect for him to just focus on playing. NY is not easy for that.

Let's keep it up. Just keep going.

Yes.

Uribe's bad day balanced by Megill's good day. Bullpen is really fun - if a little scary at times. But we won - so all good.

Jackson ChourioSal FrelickJeferson QueroTyler BlackRobert GasserBrock WilkenJacob MisiorowskiAbner UribeCarlos F RodriguezEric Brown JrLuis LaraCooper PrattJosh KnothEric BitontiMike BoeveRobert MooreDaniel GuilarteLuke AdamsLogan HendersonFreddy Zamora

Glad it's done. Good win.

Wilkens' swing just looks beautiful.

A strike. I'm excited. Time to go to bed.

I was always a fan of Urias. I thought he could be a .250-.260 hitter with 20 HR and solid defense at 2B and 3B. Something always held him back. Injuries, slumps, etc. This year was just a disaster. I’m guessing a change of scenery was needed. It seems clear the org no longer trusted him. Better get something now than just keep paying him for the year, and just non tender him in the offseason.

Called it! I'm not really excited about the move - but I did call it. Which I never get to do.

Thanks. Appreciate the insight.

Can anyone give me an honest assessment of how Black has looked at 3B this year? Just wondering. Thanks.

I like the idea of Jimenez in the lineup. His bat would be most welcome. I wouldn't however, pay a lot for him. He's really limited to LF and DH. His injuries are troublesome. And he makes some decent coin ($10M this year, $14M next year. $3M buyout in 2025 and 2026). That said, he is a really good bat when healthy. And the money owed isn't onerous. And the team options in 2025 and 2026 give you flexibility down the road of keeping him or not. For Chicago, I guess it comes down to do they want salary relief - because I wouldn't give them much of a prospect. Eloy simply isn't worth that much. So if money isn't a big issue - they should just hang on to him and hope he's part of their future. Or hold out for a better return (which I wouldn't give). I'd make an offer - but nothing big. Certainly no Black or Quero type players. More like a Zamora type guy.

There was recently a thread on this exact topic. I would follow up in this one.

One nice thing about Santana is that he doesn't have big splits. A supremely average player. Let's hope he catches fire and helps.

That's a good question - and I don't even really know how to make that assessment. I will say that Rowdy is a bad first basemen. And he's a bad baserunner. The .830 OPS as of June 1 is great - but now it's at .672. Last year it was .767. Career .753 OPS. Perhaps there's reason to believe he can rebound and improve. A 30 HR bat is great. Even if you add Canha - or someone else - you could give Rowdy at bats at DH. That's probably where he is best slotted. Winker doesn't seem to be the answer at DH. I'd take a healthy Rowdy over him.

Here's a very simple and low key move if the Mets (who are 46-53) elect to become sellers. Trade for 1B/OF Mark Canha. His numbers aren't great - .238 BA, .719 OPS, 101 OPS+. About as average as you can get. His career numbers are .247 and .770. The good signs are that his BB and K rates are about average for him (solid 10.3 BB% and a 17.1 K%). His BAIAP is 18 points below his career average, so perhaps he's been a bit unlucky this year. He's a right handed hitter - but his splits aren't to dramatic - hitting righties at a .781 OPS clip vs .748 vs lefties. The numbers this year are almost exactly even - .719 vs .720. His bWAR this year is 1.3 - after years of 2.5 and 2.6. Even when good, he's nothing great. But he's a 2.0 WAR guy - better than anything we are getting from Rowdy. Canha - who is 34 - came up as a 1B, but has played OF for most of his career. For the Brewers, you'd be looking at him being a very generic, league averagish 1B. He can cover corner OF if needed - plus DH. He's even got a decent amount of experience in CF, but I'm not sure we'd want him - or need him - there. He's not a bad athlete - but he is on the downside of his career. Canha makes $11.5M this year with a $2M team buyout on another year at $11.5M. So if the Mets elect to sell, we shouldn't have to pay much of anything for him - and perhaps even get the Mets to kick in a little of his salary (or 2024 buyout). I wouldn't expect anyone to pick up his 2024 option - unless he went on a tear these last couple of months. In the end, this is a small, incremental move to improve the lineup. Nothing earthshaking. When Rowdy gets back, he could become our DH - and Winker could be let go. Again, small, incremental improvements. I also like it as it doesn't require giving up good prospects - which I am loathe to do that this point.

Jimenez would need to be full time DH. Which is probably what he's best at. He'd be a real asset there. Otherwise, the return isn't much. But Jimenez has not really produced a lot - and is due some pretty good coin. Jimenez might benefit from a new situation.

Wiemer wasn’t sent down. Not an issue. This is the Frelick thread. If people want to discuss service manipulation, perhaps start a thread about it. It’s and important topic, so I think that would be cool to add.

Love to see Frelick at top of lineup. Move Yelich down. Enough of Miller in the cleanup spot.

Yes. Very excited about this. I think he will be a more valuable player than Wiemer or Mitchell in the long run.