Matt Breen

Some notes on salaries that were provided above: 1. Maldonado will likely make closer to $1 million in his first year of arbitration. 2. Brandon Kintzler is not on the above list. He will likely make around $1 million in his first year of arbitration (should we keep him). 3. Braun is making $12 million in base salary, plus a $2.5 million installment of his signing bonus, for a total of $14.5 million in 2015. Salary info via Cot's: http://www.baseballprospectus.com/compensation/cots/national-league-central/milwaukee-brewers/ The totals are roughly the same, but a couple of things were updated. Some future notes: 1. A-Ram will get $3 million in 2017 and 2018 via deferred payments. 2. Braun's salaries beyond 2015 actually are as follows: 2016: $15M; 2017: $15M; 2018: $15M; 2019: $15M; 2020: $13M; 2021: $15M option with $4 million buyout. Then, starting in 2022, he gets $1.8M every year for 10 years, for a total of $18M in deferred payments. 3. Lohse is due to get $7M in deferred payments between 2016-2018. The exact breakdown isn't provided. The gist of things is that we have over $30 million in deferred payments due to players who won't be with the team. From 2015-18 will be the harshest when we are paying off A-Ram and Lohse. Below is an updated list, with two infielders and one outfielder (all listed as TBD) slotted in at league minimum. C Lucroy 3.0 C Maldonado 1.0 1B Lind 7.5 2B Gennett 0.5 SS Segura 0.5 3B Ramirez 14.0 LF Davis 0.5 CF Gomez 8.0 RF Braun 14.5 OF Parra 6.0 OF TBD 0.5 INF TBD 0.5 INF TBD 0.5 SP Garza 12.5 SP Peralta 0.5 SP Gallardo 13.0 SP Fiers 0.5 SP Lohse 11.0 RP Broxton 9.0 RP Thornburg 0.5 RP Henderson 0.5 RP Jeffress 0.5 RP Nelson 0.5 RP Smith 0.5 RP Kintzler 1.0 Total: 107.0M

A-Ram is back for another year. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2014/11/aramis-ramirez-exercises-option-to-remain-with-brewers.html Aramis will get $14 million next year.

Cubs officially fired Rick Renteria. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2014/10/cubs-fire-rick-renteria.html Bad situation for the man.

1,138 plate appearances, only 48 extra base hits. .061 ISO. Even the 2014 version of Segura kicks his butt.

I'd consider giving Olt a chance, but he's looked awful, both at AAA and the majors. But again, if you can get him next to nothing, I'm not adverse to seeing if the club can turn him around. He was a top 50 prospect just a few years ago. The talent is there - just trying to harness it has been the issue.

Totally agree. MLB trade rumors just did a free agent profile on Lowrie. They predict 3-years/$30 million, so your $10 million a year prediction is right with them. I was thinking a bit lower - more like $8-9 million a year for three years. But it only takes one team to jack up the price.

I always liked Rickie. Tough, tough guy. He never complained, always wanted to play. I admired that. But expectations were so high for him. We got some really good seasons mixed with disappointing ones. I thought the contract extension we gave him was a good one. He was entering his prime years. I envisioned 25-30 HR, .360 OBP, and mediocre (at best) defense. But the ankle injury a few years ago really seemed to affect him. Even hitting decent last year, watching him in the field was painful. I wish Rickie all the best.

I'm trying to think of who Rickie might start for next season. Off the top of my head here are some teams that he might fit with: Yankees, Baltimore, Oakland, White Sox, Toronto, Washington, Miami. Just initial thoughts. Each of these teams may have someone I'm not thinking about. No matter what team he goes to, they'll have to live with bad defense. If Rickie was even an average glove man, he'd have a job in a second. But he's just bad now.

Cubs will add a couple of key pieces this year (Lester and Russell Martin would be good starts), then a couple of more next (David Price would a good start), making them a a true force in 2016. They'll be interesting this year, but with so many young players, it's going to take time for some of them to adjust to the big leagues. Bryant, Baez, Addison Russell, Solar, Almora, Alcantara and Schwarber - it's a great bunch of prospects, but some of these guys aren't quite ready and will need some more minor league time, while others will just take time to adjust to the big leagues. I don't expect Baez to keep hitting .169 like he did last year, but it may take some time to adjust. He (and others) may flame out, but the quantity of guys quality prospects is impressive. If you add in a catcher like Martin, plus Rizzo and Castro, it's will be a fun team. Growing pains for sure, but by 2016 a lot of things should come together. The young position players will allow the team to spend freely over the next couple years on starting pitching, which is lackluster beyond Arietta. Add in Lester and Price, maybe a mid-tier guy, and you start having something really interesting.

Over the last few years,Sandoval has hit equal or better at home (SF) than on the road: Year: Home OPS / Away OPS 2014: .774 / .704 2013: .754 / .761 2012: .874 / .718 Doesn't mean he wouldn't get better at Miller Park, but recent history shows SF's ballpark hasn't hurt his hitting.

Wow, Vitters had a .607 OPS last year at AAA. He just completely fell apart last year. His minor league stats show improvement at every level when his was promoted mid season and returned the following year to the same level until last year. Maybe a fresh start could get him back on track. He's definitely worth a waiver claim with his potential and young age. I totally agree that it's worth putting a claim on the guy. 3B is a such a black hole right now, and I prefer that the team fill that with young (and cheap) talent that has a modicum of upside instead of aging retreads. Another guy I'd look to grab is Matt Davidson, who the White Sox got from Arizona last year and was a top 100 prospect. Davidson had a terrible 2014 (hit .199 at AAA). But prior to 2014, most predicted he'd be the starting 3B in Chicago - a guy who could hit .250-.260 with 20 HR. Get guys like this when they are cheap and try and kickstart their careers. I like Garin Cecchini of Boston, but he'll cost something more (I've suggest Gallardo). He wasn't great in 2014, but not terrible like Vitters and Davidson. Regarding Vitters, his inability to take walks is brutal. I wouldn't be surprised if Yuni had a better walk rate. That makes it tough to have success at the big league level. But then, what's the hurt to give the guy a try.

Wow, Vitters had a .607 OPS last year at AAA. He just completely fell apart last year.

I thought the same thing when I read that. You have one of the biggest (if not the biggest) game of your life right in front of you - and talk about what OTHER team you're going to be playing for next year. Really poor decision. Very strange.

I did. And he has been found lacking thus far. Thus I docked him an 'a' from his name.

Tyler Green is back! Problem solved.

Logan White is joining the Padres: http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/11773645/logan-white-leaving-los-angeles-dodgers-joining-san-diego-padres-front-office

You know, SF isn't that much different than Milwaukee. They just do everything a little bit better: Draft picks or Amatuer signings SF - Posey, Belt, Panik, Crawford, Sandoval, Cain, Lincecum, Bumgarner, Romo Milwaukee: Braun, Davis, Scooter, Lucroy, Peralta, Thornburg, Nelson, Wooten Cheap FA (or minor league FA) SF: Blanco, Vogelsong, Machi, Gutierrez, Lopez, Petit, Casilla Milwaukee: Overbay, Reynolds, Maldonado, Jeffress, Henderson, Kintzler, Duke Established FA signings SF: Hudson, Morse, Affeldt Milwaukee: Lohse, Garza, Ramirez, K-Rod Trades Milwaukee: Smith, Gomez, Broxton SF: Pagan, Pence, Peavy I'm sure I missed some guys. I tried to focus on major players. But if you look at it, SF does things just a little better. They draft a bit better, the low cost FAs SF have contributed a little bit more, they haven't spent as much of free agents but have gotten solid production, and so forth. SF beat us by six games - not huge - but not insignificant. I think that looking at the rosters you see a little more depth and consistency amongst position players. And there are no black holes (unlike Milwaukee, which SS and 1B). While Milwaukee's starters were similar to SF (3.69 ERA compared to a 3.74 for SF), I also think SF managed their bullpen better. They produced a 3.01 ERA out of the pen, compared to 3.62 in Milwaukee. It all made SF just a little bit better in most areas. That translated into 6 more wins. Enough for the playoffs. And the final piece is luck and timing. The nature of a 5 or 7 game series means anyone can win the series. SF is playing well in the playoffs. If they had lost in the wildcard playoff, we wouldn't having this discussion. But they got hot/lucky at the right time.

I'm betting he ends up in LA. It's kind of weird to opt out if you don't have a good idea of what your next step is. Madden could easily sit out a year and look for an ideal situation, but I have to think something is in the works. LA can offer him a ton of money and he'll have the full backing of the front office. And he'd be great for LA. Mattingly has been second guessed by his players, the fans and the media for a long time. It's like he's been a lame-duck leader for about two years. With Madden as manager, there's not question who's the boss on the field and in the front office. Those two guys will have each others' backs. Mattingly? Of course they said he'd be back. You have to hedge your bets in case something goes wrong. But when a guy like Madden shows up on the shelf, you have to make the move. Chicago would be another good destination. A young, up-and-coming franchise - that's pretty attractive to any manager. But I'm betting Mattingly is gone within a couple of days - and LA is the destination. Minnesota isn't a bad franchise, but this could be Madden's one big chance at a major franchise (money, talent, fanbase). The Twins have a lot of nice young players, but they are a ways away. LA can win now - plus pay a lot more.

The Pirates aren't voting for him. Or the Braves. Or the whomever else thinks he doesn't abide by the unwritten rules.

I've heard Lind is a terrible defender at 1B. I know fielding isn't the top priority for 1B, but having lived through Fielder and Francisco at the position in recent years, I just hate having more of the same. Still, I haven't seen the guy (that I recall) in the field. So I'm just going by what I have read.

I wouldn't take him unless I got a lot more than $6M back. That still makes him a $12 milllion a year player - which he isn't close to being. I would be interested as to what people say about his play in 2014. He was wasn't just 'down' last season - he was awful. One of the worst players in the league - fangraphs has him at -1.6 WAR - 5th worst in the league amongst over 700 hitters. Was he hurt? Has he just lost it? His skillset - walks and power - often fades pretty quickly. The team would have to feel confident he could rebound before adding him.

A-Rod gets $6M each for reaching the following HR totals: 660, 714, 755 and tying and breaking major league HR record. That's five milestones at $6M each for a potential total of $30M.

Totally agree. However, it's probably more hit or miss with lower level guys, which likely scares GMs. They want talent now at the ML level, and they want as sure of a thing as possible. The lower the player is, the more likely you are to strike out (but also more likely to hit on something special). But I want upside in our players at this time. It's easier to get it at lower levels - but again, more risky.

Swihart and Cecchini for Gallardo and Maldonado is a dream. Swihart is a top 20-30 type prospect. Boston wouldn't part with him for a backup catcher and one year of a middle rotation starter. Swihart was ranked by BA #14 in their mid season rating, and #24 by mlb.com. Cecchini for Gallardo? That's more realistic, especially if Boston signs a 3B like Sandoval. Same thing goes for Gray. He's a top 10 caliber guy. There's just no way they give up a guy with top-of-the-rotation potential (with six years of control and at a good price) for two mid tier (and pretty expensive) players. I guess you can ask for those players, but it isn't going to happen. Honestly, I'm all for dealing guys like Gallardo and Lohse for younger prospects. I just don't see a huge return. Few teams are giving up high ceiling prospects unless it's for premium players. Lucroy and Gomez would probably by the only two Brewers who could fetch high level prospects.

Cueto and Iwakuma will not be a free agents this year. Their teams, Cincy and Seattle, hold have club options on them at reasonable rates ($10 million and $7 million respectively). Both options will be picked up.