ChapelHeel66

I like Bauers but I hope he turns this down. He has had one good year, and he will be 32. We are going to allocate 15% of our payroll to him? We could sign Goldschmidt for $5-ish. We could put Fischer there with Vaughn. We could sign Ward for almost half that and play him at 1b (a not-great 3b at one point should be able to play 1b). i don’t get it.

Non-Tender: ,Koenig, Wilson, Zerpa, Hamilton, Baddoo Decline Option: May, Senzatela, Naylor Tender: Anderson, Hall, Megill, Ortiz, Turang, Vaughn (and let him play), Frelick, Mitchell Exercise Option: Contreras, Sanchez There’s a Sanchez vs Naylor issue, bat vs field. To me tendering Sanchez gives more flexibility with Contreras. If they move him, do I want Quero/Sanchez or Quero/Naylor? If Naylor had spent more time with our staff I might lean that way, but he is one of the worst hitters in the majors. If Contreras is traded and Quero starts slowly, we would have a huge dead spot in the lineup with Naylor as the alternative. I think there is also an Ortiz vs Hamilton issue. Recency bias aside, Ortiz is the better player and that’s the direction I would go. But Murphy seems to have a crush on Hamilton and a high frustration level with Ortiz. I expect to see a lot of Fischer at 3b, and Ortiz is the better defensive replacement and part-time player there (when Fischer also plays 1b), and an even better backup at SS. Later in the year I think either guy may be squeezed out if/when Made or Pena is ready. I can’t help but notice that with Romero a free agent (and probably too expensive), and declining options on May, Senzatela and Naylor, all the deadline deals will be rentals. But it worked! I’m just sad we lost Ragsdale, who I think has more potential than he is given credit for.

Some cool stuff but I think the Chourio/Babe bobblehead is stretching it.

I used to worry that despite a lot of tools, Mitchell was destined to be a journeyman. He has impressed me a lot this year, and with Frelick struggling mightily, the Brewers have desperately needed his production. I still worry about that BABIP, but with his adjustments I think he can come to rest around league average at the plate even when the BABIP corrects.

We went from having an absolute steal in a trade, and an incredible 1-2 punch in the rotation, to not knowing if he can be trusted in any role at all. And it’s not like he was defying the underlying metrics when he was good and this is just a correction you could see coming. I can’t remember such an about-face in such a short period of time. I am beginning to wonder if the slippage in mechanics combined with what seems to be some mental difficulty recovering from bad outings is what made SFG and BOS willing to part with him. He was a top prospect as recently as two years ago, now on his third team, and struggling to stay on the roster.

I’m sad to say it, but Frelick has become a fourth or fifth outfielder. Because his bat is such a liability from both sides and the other outfielders are so good defensively, in my opinion he is dangerously close to not being worthy of the playoff roster. I think he will be on the PO roster out of respect, but if I had two leave two of the current 28 off, it would be Senzatela and either Frelick or Naylor.

I would be surprised if Happ got the vote because he has become a platoon player. And there really are not many strong defensive left fielders in the NL, with Ewing more often in CF and Benge more often in RF. Homerism aside, I don’t see who else they could pick in LF for the NL, but Chourio.

A break is actually good news — if there was going to be any significant injury. The soft tissues are the scary ones (except broken hamates). Fischer has some flaws, but his OBP is almost as high as Bo Naylor’s entire OPS (I know, those are minor league numbers), and we do not have a regular 3B…didn’t really from the get-go this season. I’m not sure the theory of having Sanchez-Contreras both in the lineup because they can rest more makes up for playing one of the worst hitters in the majors the last few years and keeping Hamilton almost every day at third, but I guess we will see.

No Fischer? The team lacks power and a legit third baseman (although apparently the manager is going to run Hamilton out there no matter what…regardless of how hot Ortiz is and Pratt having a hot game). Meanwhile I keep seeing Adams’s name on callup lists. His primary skill is getting hit by pitches, and he has no MLB position (projects to a below-average defensive 1b, and we are chock full of those).

Problem is that Naylor, while hitting in AAA, has been one of the worst hitters in the majors the last few years.

Well this turned out to be prescient for Tuesday’s game. That was not a particularly tough play. Can we maybe lock Ortiz at 3b and Pratt as SS now? Or bring up Fischer for some 3b pop if Ortiz gets cold? I’m so tired of the experiments with sub-par players: Rengifo, Hamilton. Bae, Ornelas. Brewers buying into their own myth as reformers, but that seems to only be on the pitching side.

What’s the case for Frelick getting his job back? Lara is no superstar hitter, but Frelick has been worse. And while I like Frelick as a defender, Lara looks even better. Plus Lara hits from both sides…and better from Frelick’s side than as a RHB.

Are Fischer (3b) and Adamczewski (2b/of) hurt? We are signing and trading for guys with <600 OPS and no defense. Surely someone healthy on the farm can hit OR field (preferably both).

Any theories about why we are wasting time with Ornelas (as we did with Bae) instead of bringing someone up? These guys are below replacement hitters and not very good defenders. At first I thought we were preserving rookie status for 2027 but we are past that now.

Some of Murphy’s explanations are backfilling, I think. In general he does not love Ortiz’s approach at the plate, and he instantly fell in love with all things David Hamilton. I think that is the overarching factor. Not a granular statistical evaluation, which Murphy generally seems to be skeptical of when he doesn’t like the answer. Because frankly, Ortiz hits righties as well as Yelich does. To me, some of Murph’s decisions are strange, but it seems to be working so I’ll ride those lineup decisions out. The one that most concerns me is the idea that we have enough hitting to see this thing all the way through.