adambr2

I would much rather part with Nottinghamm or Susac (not that he's worth much of anything on his own) than Pina. I'd love to keep Pina. He'd make one heck of a backup.

Don't really agree with this. While Cook wasn't particularly productive last year most of that was from him missing almost half the season. Once he was back and acclimated Rodgers was looking to him often. He got a whopping 32 targets in 3 playoff games. I remember when Jermichael Finley was here Rodgers would look for him almost to a fault. I think the lack of TE production the last few years has a lot more to do with us not having good TE's than Rodgers not being willing to utilize them. Lance Kendricks is going on to his worst statistical year, by far, with the the best QB he's played with, by far. Well, Lance Kendricks isn't a #1 TE and Rodgers has better targets to throw to. Same with Richard Rodgers who I doubt on the other end of the spectrum is going to put up a 58-510-8 TD season elsewhere. My point is simply that if we had a true #1 TE, a Kelce or Ertz type, I don't think they would need to have any concerns about Rodgers looking their way or trying to feed them targets. Bennett isn't an elite TE and Rodgers was certainly making an effort to get him the ball (31 targets in 5 games prior to his injury).

Don't really agree with this. While Cook wasn't particularly productive last year most of that was from him missing almost half the season. Once he was back and acclimated Rodgers was looking to him often. He got a whopping 32 targets in 3 playoff games. I remember when Jermichael Finley was here Rodgers would look for him almost to a fault. I think the lack of TE production the last few years has a lot more to do with us not having good TE's than Rodgers not being willing to utilize them.

The needs seem to be growing with each successive year. WR is turning into a need even if Adams is re-signed, with Nelson and Cobb looking lucky to even finish out their respective deals in 2018. TE is once again a need with the failed Bennett experiment. I'm ok with a Jones/Williams committee at RB going forward. As much as a guy like Le'Veon Bell would be awesome, we have too many needs elsewhere to invest big money or more picks to upgrade from Jones/Williams. We may not be able to count on Bulaga moving forward, and if not, Spriggs is a pretty low end option at tackle. I assume Linsley will be re-signed but C is also a need if he is not. It's hard to even pin down our needs on defense, trying to separate where the deficiencies spring from talent or scheme. I would have thought we were pretty set at safety coming into this year but they sure were a disaster this season. With Randall having a nice year, Jones having talent and King back next year we don't seem to have as pressing of a need at corner as we did coming into this year. Yet despite all this the secondary continues to be a problem. Daniels and Clark appear to make up 2/3 of a pretty good base D-line, yet, recurring theme here, the production doesn't match the talent. Martinez is a nice ILB but could use a coverage ILB to complement him. The only clear need on defense is a need for a much improved pass rush to come from somewhere.

Why does he need to be a poor man's version of either? He is already comparable to Miller in relief IMO. Sale is more of a stretch, but you never know.

After having it thrown out in the open this off-season about how many studs were in Marlin lineup (Stanton, Yelich, Ozuna, Realmuto), makes me wonder why they were not better. Lol.

I hate the position that Trevathan and Thomas Davis have put us in with Adams. We almost have to re-sign him, or our WR corps is going to be ugly fast. That being said he's racking up a heavy concussion history early in his career and is inching closer to Sam Shields territory where we can't be sure how long of a career he'll have. Not a good thing.

1) What is the difference between a very good player and a difference maker? 2) How many defenses have multiple difference makers? I don't care if TT goes. I'm ready for the Wolf era. But there's more talent on the defense than he gets credit for, which becomes more apparent when you see guys like Hayward and Hyde leave and excel in other systems. There's been many different players cycled through the same system for 7 years with the same results.

Still have a ton of dead weight pitching on this 40: Drake - If he survives to the 25 again I'll be amazed. Wang - It was a nice thought. He's just not good. Webb - I totally forgot about this guy. Baker - Wait, who? Not hard to see Yo replacing one of these 4.

What playmakers has Thompson drafted since Matthews? Their personnel stinks regardless of scheme. Daniels is a disruptive leader. Blake is definitely talented. Clark looks like a really good pick. Even Lowry has his moments flashing talent though he has pretty much average starter ceiling. Perry is coming off a double digit sack year and when fully healthy has high upside. Matthews isn't the player he once was but still makes plays. Haha is a very talented highly regarded player having a rough year. Burnett is probably the leader of the secondary. Randall is pretty quietly having a pretty nice year. I'm not saying these are the '85 Bears, but my goodness. There are plenty of DCs doing more with less.

How about Jim Leonhard?

I think the whole purpose of the Dodgers' latest trade was to get them under the luxury tax threshold, so I don't think a deal for Braun putting them right back in the penalty will interest them.

Not really. By no means is he an elite middle infielder but he's been steady and solid for years. In 7 straight years he's never had a WAR under 2.1. You know what you're getting with Walker and it's not bad. I don't think you're wrong about Neil -- he's only decent, not great, but I think you're underestimating what 'decent' costs these days. I wouldn't go 3 years on Walker, but I'd be totally fine with giving him 2/20 and I think he'd be a pretty good value at that price. I'd also be totally fine going with not giving him that and going in an entirely different direction like giving Villar another shot.

You have to look at it in more than a one-year time frame. I understand that keeping Hader in the pen might be better for the 2018 Milwaukee Brewers. However, if he is put in the rotation, throws around 150 innings, and continues to develop he will be far more valuable over his time as a Brewer as a starter than as a reliever. Yes. It would be very shortsighted of the Brewers to use Hader in the pen in 2018 only because he makes them better next year when they could have a young, controllable stud, atop their rotation for the next few years if they put him in the rotation. I know I've repeated myself but to not test the waters with this guy is a huge, huge mistake on their part if it does happen. It's totally possible that Brewer scouts just don't see Hader as a future ace for whatever reason, pitch mix, control, etc. Many scouts feel that way about him. Honestly, I get where you guys are coming from and I definitely agree with some of it. If they see Hader as a pen arm and lose out on an ace because of it if they're wrong, that's a franchise changing mistake. So even if there are some growing pains in 2018 it may be worth finding out. I am a bit concerned of the void that is left in the pen by his departure. I think the value he brought to the pen last year is understated. I like Williams and Houser, but what I'm really looking for is that power lefty, and Wang and Suter obviously aren't it. He's not ready yet but I'd love to see Kodi Medeiros eventually fill that role. Like Hader, he's got an electric arm but in Kodi's case I do think any future value is in the pen. I'd like to see him start 2018 in Biloxi's pen, leave him alone and let him develop as a reliever and see what happens.

As far as I know all MLB contracts are guaranteed. Don't think there is such a thing as a non guaranteed deal other than arbitration year contracts which this is not.

I don't think this is motivated by Arrieta or Darvish. I think the Dodgers are just trying to get under the luxury tax threshold so they can stop paying the 50% overage penalties that they keep paying every year as repeat offenders.

Albers would be a nice addition. I'm just curious as to the reasons behind why he was so bad in 2016, because that year looks like the abberation of the last 7 seasons for him.

Yeah, Walker looking for that 4th year seems like a pipe dream. He'll do well to get 3.

That's a bit over the top. Speaking for myself, I said that I think the non-signing of Swarzak is "troubling" and that I think Stearns has misjudged the reliever market. Let's not make it more than it is. Why is it 'troubling? Stearns set his number of what he thought Swarzek is worth based on the info he has and he stuck to it. Maybe we prefer other relievers. Maybe our scouts don't think Swarzek is likely to replicate his 2017. Maybe Swarzek was intrigued by New York and wasn't going to pick us over them for similar money. I really don't know. But I would be much more troubled if Stearns trumped a top offer for a reliever solely on the basis of he was good for us last year and liked it here.

They are *exploring* the market. There's other avenues to explore as well - current MLB players via trade, AAA guys who are MLB ready who need an opportunity to prove themselves (there are current AAA players that have better stuff, higher ceilings than current MLB players - just an fyi) I totally agree with you. There are numerous options for building this pen that extend beyond throwing market value price at a few relievers. A trade is definitely possible, and I do expect Williams, Houser, and now that he's on the 40, perhaps every Freddy Peralta, to play roles in the pen this year. Long ways to go but I would also guess at this point that they are planning on Hader returning to the pen in 2018 which by itself presents a significant improvement over the pen we opened with and carried for the first 60 games or so in 2017.

No one said that. You're leaving out key facts that make this non-signing "troubling." Briggs kind of literally did say that. I totally agree with TJ on value trumping the market. If Stearns does not feel that the relievers on the market are worth 7-8M a year, he should not pay it. There are other ways to build the pen. I know some people want to see Stearns just blow a hole in Mark A's wallet this off-season simply because we have plenty of money to burn, but that's not the right approach or a sustainable one.

Given that most of those NFC playoff hopefuls are in much more dire need of a Panther loss, I would guess the opposite is true.

[sarcasm]Not if we sign JD Martinez to replace him.[/sarcasm] I know this is in blue but Martinez scares me a lot. I think some team is going to back up the truck for him and I think they'll be happy with it for a year or two before his contract becomes a disaster.

This is certainly a nice argument to have. A few years ago, it would have been no question that Hader would be starting, because the team simply wouldn't even be close to having better options. And I won't argue that he was downright dominant as a reliever. My argument is simply where he's going to provide the most value, and looking at it very simplistic, quality starting pitching is always more valuable than quality relief pitching. Is it, though? I mean if you have a Chris Sale type, then yeah of course, but I think that's far too optimistic of an immediate projection for Hader. Realistically, he's probably capped around 150 innings next year. So which is more valuable, 80 high leverage innings of a 2.00 ERA guy, or 150 starter innings of a 3.00-3.25 ERA guy? I'm honestly curious and think it's a good topic of discussion. I really don't know the answer. I do know our pen with and without Hader in 2017 was a night and day difference, and we don't have anyone currently to replace the role he provided.

Oof. I want Archer, but that's a haul...