adambr2

Should we actually sign Didi, my guess is that the plan is for Urias to go to 2B where he is better suited anyway and Hiura will be dangled as a significant trade piece. I wouldn't put it past DS. I think he may see the trade market as the most advantageous route of improvement this season, and maybe they just don't see a home defensively for Hiura in the NL. Hiura could net a very major return. I don't think they traded for Urias with the plan for him to go to San Antonio, especially when they aren't in a position where they would be playing the service time game with him this year. Of course, let's see if being in on Didi amounts to anything at all. With the market being as it is, even a guy like Didi stands to be overpaid.

IF Kuechel comes in and he's not their ONLY big spend, I can get behind it...but if he's their "headliner" FA, not so much. Like you said, they also need bats, and I LOVE Castellanos. Might be the biggest proponent for him on this board. Think his bat fits perfectly in their lineup and replaces some of what you lose with Grandal and Moose. If their big signings are Kuechel and Castellanos, I would consider it a pretty good off season..if I had to only pick one or the other, I'd take Castellanos if I'm being honest. If you are happy with Kuechel, but only if he is our second biggest offseason signing, I think you are going to be in for a mighty disappointing offseason.

Rick Porcello won a Cy Young even more recently than Kuechel. Stuff changes. Rick Porcello had a 3.89 xFIP the season he won (for having 22 wins), and Keuchel has never stopped being a 3+ WAR pitcher. Sometimes stuff says the same. If you think Kuechel is the same pitcher now as he was in 2015 I guess we will have to just disagree. Anyway, I was simply pointing out that a pitcher winning a Cy Young a few years ago isn't necessarily any guarantee of them being a great pitcher now or worth the investment.

Rick Porcello won a Cy Young even more recently than Kuechel. Stuff changes.

First of all if you are suggesting we should just give Corbin Burnes another shot at this point I don't necessarily disagree. There's too much arm talent there to give up on. Now I would prefer he spend some time in SA first as he's definitely a risk and you'd like him to re-prove himself there first. Secondly to answer your other question of why spend at all, I think you're underestimating the value that the right move can give you on the 2nd and 3rd tiers. We got more value out of Chacin and Miley in '18, Gio in '18 and '19, and Lyles in '19 than a lot of big market teams got out of their first tier spending for guys such as Yu Darvish. Burnes was just an example..My point was...sure you may catch lightning in a bottle once in awhile, like with Chacin and Miley etc..but that's a dangerous way to live if you ask me. What else do all three of those have in common?? They were all one year guys. I just don't think you can keep "shuffling the deck" in the rotation every single year like that, eventually, it's going to blow up on you. And you can say well if it does, at least it only cost them "12 million". To me that's not the point. It's still wasted money. If you aren't going to make a concerted effort to REALLY try and fix the pitching staff from the outside, and I mean give it some stability and continuity in terms of having the same guys for 3-4 years, then save the $$ and stay in house and hope what you have there works out. And you bring up Darvish...that kind of makes my point...yes, the Cubs had a lost first season with him..but...this last year he was VERY VERY good. Why?? Because he's proven. I would rather spend more $$ and get 3-4 really good years out of someone I'm pretty sure will be a stud for me(barring an injury) even if one year is bad, then to keep firing darts on one year guys and hope it works for that year. Guys like Chacin, Miley etc, would be absolutely perfect 3-5 guys, but they should never be your TOR guys even if they pitch like it for a year. You have 3 years of Yelich left...why not "go for it" while he's still here, and lay all your chips on the table?? Once he leaves, you likely have to rebuild anyway, so what's the difference?? The windows are so small for teams like the Brewers that when they do present themselves, to me, you better do whatever it takes to try to capitalize on it while you can, because you never know when it's going to come around again. I would just love to see Woody and another stud at the top of the rotation for the net 3-4 years, that in and of itself might make rebuilding(when that time comes), not be a true rebuild. But this year to year staff thing, will never work long term. I thought Stearns made a HUGE mistake last year before the season even started by relying on the young arms he had, and not signing a veteran. That was pretty easy to see it was going to blow up on him...and it did. Many here thought the very same thing. Now, that could have been mitigated to a HUGE extent, if they would have had another dominant arm to join Woody a the the top of the rotation. They have that and they probably cruise into the playoffs, rather then needing to go on an unprecedented run to squeak in. I would have thought last year if any would have taught Stearns, you can't live like that with your pitching staff(throwing stuff against a wall and hope it works). Obviously it doesn't seem to have...yet. let's see what if any other moves he makes. VERY VERY good? Darvish was fine. He was dominant in some stretches and struggled in others. He was a 4 ERA pitcher. The Cubs can afford to give out that kind of deal for a lost year followed by a 4 ERA. We cannot. Actually, the Cubs cannot really afford to anymore either, because they've spent the last number of years handing out the kind of big name contracts that you like to see to Heyward, Darvish, Kimbrel, and others. Now they are in a position where they're forced to cut payroll because they're reaping the consequences of those decisions.

Holy smokes, I hope he's better at getting on base than his first 500 MLB plate appearances indicate. That .254 OBP would make Hernan Perez blush.

Actually it could have...because when I gave that example, it was merely an example based on AAV and not years or anything else. I was assuming it would take about $30 million per year..Stras's contract is about $35 million per year..So I was in the ballpark..and actually when you consider his contract is really 7/165 with 80 million deferred..That's actually only 23.5 million per year. Doable for the Brewers. I've seen a lot of spin on the boards over the years but this one takes the whole enchilada.

First of all if you are suggesting we should just give Corbin Burnes another shot at this point I don't necessarily disagree. There's too much arm talent there to give up on. Now I would prefer he spend some time in SA first as he's definitely a risk and you'd like him to re-prove himself there first. Secondly to answer your other question of why spend at all, I think you're underestimating the value that the right move can give you on the 2nd and 3rd tiers. We got more value out of Chacin and Miley in '18, Gio in '18 and '19, and Lyles in '19 than a lot of big market teams got out of their first tier spending for guys such as Yu Darvish.

Then how the heck does he have time to spend the day with me?

Ryu has a career 2.98 ERA, has career FIPs and xFIPs just over 3 and strikes out over 8 per 9 for his career. There are nothing wrong with his career numbers. The injury concerns are valid but in no universe should Hyun-Jin Ryu be put in the same category as Jeff Suppan.

The 3 batter or end of inning minimum just reminds me of the NFL trying to institute review of PI this year. It's just a horrible idea that is doomed to fail. I realize it's very different than the PI reviews, but what I mean by it is that it's an idea trying to fix a perceived problem without even considering the multitude of unintended consequences.

They paid more than they thought they could sign him for on purpose? I'm not following. Anyway, I think it definitely affects the market, especially for pitchers. If I'm Cole my floor just went up to 300M, and even a pitcher like Ryu should be thinking he can get 4 years now.

He hasn't had an xFIP under 4.07 his last 3 seasons, he'd be going from one of the most pitcher friendly to one of the most hitter friendly parks in baseball, he'll be really expensive and he's kind of a douche. What's not to love?

Seeing what the free agent market is I think DS will be avoiding all but the mid to low levels of free agency right now. I would not expect any significant signings over the winter meetings. He will wait out this market surge and we'll be buying in January and February from what is left. With that said, it could also mean he is even more active than usual on the trade market.

To answer the question from the other day: No, 4/120 or 5/150 would not have gotten it done for Stephen Strasburg.

Madison Bumgarner looking for 9 figures. Walk away, David.

I would be absolutely stunned if Small ever became a TOR pitcher at the MLB level. He just isn't a guy who profiles as someone who will have the stuff to dominate big league hitters.

I think a lot of the anti-Archer stuff stemmed from knowing how much it would take to get him (a ton), and not feeling he was worth that. Judging by how much it took the Pirates to pry him away from the Rays and how that has turned out for them so far, I'd say those misgivings have been validated. But if you can buy low on him now and just not count on him to be an ace but dream on a bounceback that could possibly occur, and get a high caliber OF to boot? Absolutely, sign me up.

I would for sure do that deal. I don't know if the Pirates would though. They gave up a ton to get Archer so I don't know if they would be willing to turn around and give him up at a big loss just yet.

It just feels different this year. The Rose Bowl doesn't have the "we did it" feeling that it used to. Maybe it's because of the CFP. Maybe it's just because we're coming off a loss so you're not going in on that emotional high like Oregon is. Anyway, I do think it's a solid matchup and obviously a great accomplishment regardless of how it feels.

They aren't signing Strasburg or Rendon. Sorry, obviously my opinion here, but nothing about the Brewers' fiscal habits leads me to believe they are going to dole out that kind of money on a long-term free agent on a long contract that they know won't end well. If you want to dream on a guy or two, dream on Ryu or Donaldson. Those are far more realistic targets that could possibly be in our range on a short term deal for a high AAV.

I find age to be a strange reason to go Ryu over Keuchel Fair enough. How about the reason that Ryu has just been much better than Kuechel the last couple years?

Playoff chances can be summed up as follows with 3 games remaining: 3 wins - Guaranteed first round bye, need help for HFA 2 wins - Guaranteed division championship, need help for first round bye 1 win - Guaranteed playoffs, need help for division championship (unless 1 win is against Minnesota) 0 wins - Need help for playoffs

I never felt like they were going to lose, but I'd just like to have one single quality game to hang our hat on and say "Boy, this team can really dominate. Yeah, I believe this team can go up against Seattle and New Orleans and San Francisco and win in January." I just don't see that win on our resume even at 10-3. Things can happen and maybe things start to click, but right now I don't have a lot of confidence that this team can beat any of the above 3 teams in the playoffs, even at Lambeau.

The 49ers win is big. If we take care of business and win our last 3, we are guaranteed a 1st round bye.