Matt Breen

Pass on Shields. We don't need a back of the rotation guy. If you sign Shields, you're giving him a job. He'll soak up 30 starts and (with luck) keep the ERA in a 4.50 range. But we don't need that kind of pitcher at this time. Nothing against him, but he's a better fit for other teams.

I had forgotten about that. Thanks for sharing.

Robinson was an amazing hitter. I remember seeing him hit later in his career. He could still swing a bat really well. At age 37, he was second in the AL in HRs. And then there was the back of his baseball card. Seeing his 1966 season - 49 HR, 122 RBI, .316 BA. Won the triple crown that year. And this was a pitcher's league at the time. Only two guys in the AL hit over .300 in 1966. I always felt bad for him falling only 57 hits short of 3,000. Amazing hitter.

Baseball great Frank Robinson has died at age 83. Robinson won Rookie of the year, a Triple Crown, and two MVPs (one in each league - the only person to do that). He won a batting crown, and HR title and and RBI title in his time. He was the first African-American to manage a major league club. He had 586 HRs, and 2943 hits. http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/25946566/frank-robinson-mvp-first-black-manager-dies-83

We had a three strikes rule with regard to MASH. Strike 1 - Hunnicutt (Mike Farrell) instead of Trapper John (Wayne Rogers). Hunnicutt was just a lot more boring than Trapper. Strike 2 - Col. Potter (Harry Morgan) instead of Col. Blake (McLean Stevenson). Stevenson was a very funny comedian, and he played off the other actors really, really well. Morgan was fine as Potter, and sort of acted as a moral compass at times. But Stevenson contributed to the anarchy of the early shows. Strike 3 - Winchester (David Ogden Stiers) instead of Frank Burns (Larry Linville). Frank was just a brilliant character - it was hard to top that. Each of these three replacements were fine. The actors were good and so forth. But each made things a little more staid and a little more conventional. Also, when Wayne Rogers left, it made Alan Alda the sole star. And Alda definitely pushed the show into his own direction over time. In all of these cases, I think part of things simply reflected on the tone and writing of the show. As the show aged, the show lost its edge. There were often moments of brilliance, but they were fewer and further in between.

The Grandy Man has had quite a career. He has accumulated 48.7 fWAR and 47.7 bWAR. That's some impressive production. The dude had 23 triples in 2007 (to go with 38 doubles and 23 HR and a .302 BA).

That's just a forum rule. No hate. We simply ask everyone to observe it.

I recommend "Bodyguard" on Netflix. Not the Kevin Costner/Whitney Houston film (that was "The Bodyguard"). It's a 6-part political thriller starring Richard Madden - aka Robb Stark on "Game of Thrones". Really nicely done, intense thriller. Not perfect, but really good.

The thing that scared me most about Miley was that he gave up 3 HR last year in 80 IP. The year before it was 25 HR in 157 IP. Some point to the cutter that Miley refined last year. But Miley still gave up about the same number of walks as he usually does, and he struck out guys at a lower rate than ever. And then I get back to the HRs. Only 3 surrendered is extraordinary. Can that be sustained? In the end, what is real? I'm guessing somewhere in between - when means he's a back-of-the-rotation arm. For $4.5M, that's not a bad deal for Houston. For Milwaukee, perhaps they just feel they can do better - either with what they have, or with what they can sign. We shall see.

You are wrong! I am happy to take $54.

1. Trust the person you are buying the car from. 2. If you don't know the person/shop that did the rebuild, have an independent inspection done. Look at the kinds of parts and the effort put into the rebuild. A person who knows his stuff will recognize shoddy work (cheap parts, etc.). 3. If possible, look at the reputation of the person/shop doing the work -- look for complaints/comments on Google and Yelp or wherever. 4. Some places might offer a warranty of some kind. Make sure it's in writing. A big issue with a rebuilt car is someone getting the car in driving condition - but using parts and techniques that cut corners. You'll end up with trouble sooner than later. I don't know if any kind of rebuild is better than another (meaning if it was water damage or hail or accident or whatever). Water damage would scare me as so much of the new cars are run via computer - and you'd hate for that stuff to crap out on you. Otherwise, there's always a risk with rebuilds. But if you're comfortable going that route, it can save a lot.

I'd extend Knebel for that contract - but I think he gets a more than what you are proposing.

Well, I figured Miley was a likely candidate to return - especially if his price wasn't too hefty (which it wasn't). I thought he'd get $7-8M - maybe even a two-year deal. I guess teams are skeptical, which I can't blame them. Still, at the price, he is a good deal. And Miley is from Louisiana, went to college there, so he's a lot closer to home, which might mean something to him. My next guess is that the Crew are looking for someone better, which might mean they are going for Keuchel. Or perhaps they want Gio instead of Miley. In the end, they might just wait to see if something good falls to them - and if not go into spring training with what they have.

He makes more sense - but less cents.

Thanks for sharing. It's nice to see a bit more about Brown, who kind of gets lost in the prospect mix by a lot of evaluators.

Prospect rankings really can get into a mishmash as you get into the latter half of rankings. I remember John Sickels saying something like ranking the top 50 or so guys is easier than putting together the rest of a list. He said the #75-150 guys are sort of interchangeable depending on the what the evaluator(s) value (or don't value). People look at things different: tools or performance in the upper minors or K rates or walk rates or age or whatever. Nothing wrong with any of it. It's why Ray at 101 or 71 really isn't that big of deal at this point. Of course, in the end, it's nice that our guys get some recognition.

Fixed that for you. Unless David Stearns is a BF.net member.....

I wish Cologaurd had gotten the naming rights. That would have been awesome.

No they don't need two but they could use a lefty. I would suspect they'd deal Anderson or Davies near the end of ST. Some team out there is going to have a pitcher or two come up with a ST injury. i could see them trying Anderson in relief too. He might be able to ramp up is fastball to 96-97 going an inning. I've noted this before -- a lot of the guys linked to the Brewers have been left-handed this off-season. Which makes sense. That's why Miley fits. However, if the Crew feel that Keuchel is getting into 'value' territory - it behooves them to explore things. In the end, I expect them to add a left handed starter. I'm guessing Miley -- but you never know.

Certainly not the 4 years/$82 million that MLB Trade Rumors predicted. I would predict 3 years/$50 million. I was thinking the same thing. Around $16-18M per year for three years. As someone noted early, the Brewers have been about value. $16-18M isn't cheap - but it does represent a better price than anticipated. But it's all speculation now. All these kinds of things are 95% nothing in the end. It only takes one thing to happen to derail the process. We shall see.

Whit Merrifield signed a 4-year extension with a 5th year mutual option. The deal is reportedly worth $16.25M with $2M in performance bonuses. The 5th year is a mutual option that can drive the contract's value up to around $30M. The 4-year deal does not buy out any free agent seasons. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2019/01/royals-nearing-extension-with-whit-merrifield.html $16M for the next four years probably plays out something like $1M, $3M, $5M, $7M - which seems pretty light considering the guy has produced 3.8 and 5.5 WAR in his first two years. If he had played it year-by-year, he could have gotten at least another $5M+ (assuming he stayed healthy and kept producing). I'm guessing the Merrifield was willing to sacrifice the additional cash for the security of the long term deal. The guy is 30 years old, and this is really his only chance to cash in. $16M is a ton of money. It will set him up for life. He's probably never going to get a huge FA contract as he won't reach free agency until he's 34. This will take care of him forever. Yes, he could have tried to get another $5M or $10M by going through the arby process. But an injury or a decline in production could be devastating. Merrifield has been a frequent object of affection by some on the trade boards. It's unlikely the deal includes a no-trade clause, so the contract really doesn't affect Merrifield's trade value. It might, in fact, enhance his value, since he's under contract for such a reasonable amount.

Wolski's Tavern and Ballpark Name problem solved.

Pete Rose had 15 seasons with 700+ PAs. I don't know if that's a record, but that would be my guess.

I agree - which is why I have no problem acquiring him. Not only does he become arguably the best starter on the staff, but he may be a good mentor for Burnes, Woodruff, and Peralta (among others). The Crew's had them to a point where they all won't be super two, and the better they do... the higher the return if they end up being dealt down the road. Besides that... I'd be happy to take his full salary provided the Diamondbacks give the Crew some prospects. Diamondbacks get: RHP Chase Anderson RHP Matt Albers C Mario Feliciano OF Trent Grisham RHP Phil Bickford Brewers get: RHP Zach Greinke C Andy Yerzy LHP Alex Young 1B Pavin Smith If I'm the Diamondbacks, I wouldn't even counter that offer. I'd take it just "as is" in about 1 nanosecond. Only giving up Smith while not having to eat any of Greinke's salary (unless you want to count the 2.5 million owed to Albers which would be a fair assessment) and getting an immediate MLB arm to replace him in the rotation, I'd take that no problem. This would be a good, solid trade for Arizona. Yeah, I was looking at this and thinking the same thing. Yerzy, Young, Bickford, Grisham, Felicano - those guys are all filler. Call that a wash. Anderson gets $6.5M - but he's a serviceable back of the rotation arm that can be cut loose in the future if he falters with minimal financial commitments. Albers is $2.5M of nothing Greinke is owned $95.5M over the next three years. It grows to $97.5M if he is traded due to a $2M trade bonus. Some people quote $104.5M, but that's including signing bonus money - which would be paid by the original signing team (the Dbacks). $32.5M of Greinke's salary from 2019-21 is deferred - but we won't worry about that for calculating overall value. I'm guessing it drives down the overall numbers a few million. Anyhow, for ease of calculation - let's say Greinke is owed $95.5M. Albers takes that down to $93M. Greinke's real value is probably more in the 3-year/$60-70M range. That means you're paying around $25M for Pavin Smith. Smith is an interesting asset. The Brewers loved him in 2016 - and very well could have taken him over Hiura if he had been available. But the guy's star has dimmed. He hasn't developed much power, and he hasn't hit as well as expected. At best he's a borderline Top 100 guy - but more like a 150 type guy. That - plus his potential (which is still intriguing) - make him maybe a $10M asset or so. In the end, you're way overpaying for Smith. We'd definitely need more. Perhaps JosephC and his calculating wizardry would come up with a better idea of a deal.

This draft class has been a bit underwhelming. A lot of injuries. From the guys taken after Ray, you have Kirilloff. Whitley, Trammell, Kieboom all looking pretty good. But even the guys picked before Corey aren't tearing things up (outside of Senzel). Groome was the big wild card - but the Brewers were never going to draft the guy. There were issues that the team did not want to do with regarding the guy. And he TJ last May and probably won't be back until mid-summer. The 2016 draft was a bad one to have a high pick in (if that's really a bad thing). It was weak at the top but had some solid depth. Ray, despite being a college bat, was (and still is) a work in progress. The team knew that. I was really happy about his 2018 performance, but the late swoon was really disappointing. He had a .262 BA on July 29 - then saw his BA plummet over the next 5-6 weeks. If he could have maintained that BA to the season's end - he would have really made some people take note. Still, 66 xbh and 60 walks is pretty sweet. If he can even hit .250ish - he can be really valuable. Maybe not an all star - but still valuable. A lot of people will be watching.