MNBrew

If the price asked for one of those SPs is indeed Burnes, Woodruff, or Peralta, I'm not sure we were "in" with a legit chance of getting one of those starters, though I'd love to be proven wrong. I do wonder if it makes it more likely a Thames or Anderson is traded for the best return offer the Brewers can get. I'd think gaining a bit of payroll wiggle room back might be valuable over the course of a season. Grandal still doesn't solve 2B, but he sure seems to help the overall picture.

Well, this is definitely exciting. I've not been sold on Grandal overall, but the fact that we got the biggest name FA catcher on the market is no small thing at all.

Apparently their 3rd highest pick since the Brewers receive revenue sharing money.

The rumors/speculations of dollar amounts and years may or may not be accurate. If those offers were there before and Harper turned them down, there's no guarantee they're still there. Boras can argue and preach all he wants about what Harper's worth, but it still comes down to whatever the best offer is that's actually put forth and currently/still available. To pick a round number, I might believe I'm worth a $100,000 salary. But if my current employer and any prospective employer would only pay me $60,000 at the most, I'll eventually have to choose between the $60,000 or earning nothing. Bird in the hand... If Harper and/or Machado break the bank setting FA contract records, well, obviously that's good for them. I don't think either's worth nearly as much as the numbers we keep hearing they think they're worth.

^^Heaven forbid that in this analytics-driven age that teams actually get smarter about the length of contract they guarantee! Harper has certainly earned a robust payday even though some of that is predicated on potential, but if Harper's paid any real attention to market doings this year and last, he's blind, misguided, or foolish if he thinks it'll be the last contract he signs until he's close to 40.

Absolutely spot on re: Machado & especially Harper!!! Harper especially has been more hype than big-time production since he was drafted. Yes, his MVP year was massive, and in 2017 he was on a similar production rate before he got injured. Overall, he's definitely a good player. But I'm not sure he's really that good. Other than those two years, Harper's best attribute is that he's a walk machine who's averaged 93 RBIs over the past 4 years.... (I'm sure Mike Moustakas' 95 RBIs last year and consistently solid defense aren't getting him a contract in the range Harper's hoping for. Heck, they're probably not even getting Moustakas a contract in the range that Moustakas is looking for.) - Harper's only had 2 years out of 7 where he's hit over .275 while, for example, Ryan Braun has hit .285 or better 9 out of 12 years (2 of those 3 "below" years being the past 2). - Braun still has a career OPS that's a point different from Harper's in spite of Braun's overall dropping off the last 2 years. - For the concerns about Braun's durability in the year since his injury/suspension (2013) -- his age 30-34 seasons -- Braun's averaged 127+ games played per year. Harper, meanwhile, over his 7 seasons to date -- age 19-25 seasons -- has averaged 132+ games per year -- a mere 5 games/year better than Braun. . . . In the 6 years before his injury/suspension, the only year Braun played in fewer than 150 games was his rookie year, when he wasn't recalled until late May. Harper's good but he's not a "best in the game" level of player. And besides quite ordinary/average numbers in some parts of his offensive game, he's also got legit durability/injury-prone concerns (3 out of 7 seasons he's missed over 1/4 of the year -- 40+ to 60 games). No doubt he's a very desirable free agent. But he's not someone who deserves anything in the realm of a record-breaking contract, media hype and agent-driven hype (which Boras has been building really since Harper was drafted) notwithstanding.

^^^This, at least to a point. I think a solid, true 2B might be more obviously helpful, but Moose was a good Brewer until he became an NLCS K king (of course he had plenty of company in that zone). It's also worth remembering that it only takes one injury to change the whole balance of things, so more quality depth is better than less depth. It worked out last year when Thames got hurt and Aguilar stepped in and played himself onto the All-Star team.

If I had to guess, I still think Stearns wasn't bluffing around the time of the Winter Meetings when he again talked about how much they like the starters they have. That's not to say they wouldn't welcome #1 type on board, but only at a reasonable cost. If some bigger move's still coming, there are certainly a couple guys on the 40-man that could easily be outrighted or whatever to create space (miraculously thus far Aaron Wilkerson keeps hanging on). For all we know, there could be some active trade inquiries into other roster-bubble types (Houser, maybe Barnes) in addition to (hopefully) Anderson, Davies, Thames. Or it could be dead quiet on Stearns' phone, too. Then again, those Santana & Broxton trades sure appeared out of nowhere.

For lack of any other "bigger" action (upper-level SP or starting 2B), I'll take moves like this. Risk is low and cost is within reason, and the fact that he could be sent to AAA is a beautiful safety net whether for performance or needed roster space.

It wasn’t a no hitter, the Orioles already had a hit in the game at that point. The Twins shifted Sisco in a one hit shutout and then were upset when Sisco bunted against the shift to get on base. If it was a no hitter, fine get upset. It wasn’t, they were literally upset about him trying to get on base with a bunt (did I mention AGAINST THE SHIFT) in a non-no hitter situation. That is about as silly as the unwritten rules can get. First, I agree about Dozier's stand being sorta nonsense. And second, no-no vs. shutout obviously isn't the same thing (my mistake on the scenario), although the nature of Dozier's protest is on similar principle. Still, my point is that one view on one situation doesn't define who Dozier is as a player or a teammate. I think the whole "unwritten rules" thing can get somewhat dumb & soapbox-y -- not to mention very Cardinals-ish, which I personally don't care for -- but from what I've seen (and I've seen plenty of him) up here for his whole career, Dozier's a good dude. I'd rather the Brewers decide he's not worth pursuing for our starting 2B for baseball or money reasons, not a sound byte. It seems several here are judging the whole of who Dozier is by the latter.

I got to see an awful lot of Dozier during all his year up here w/ the Twins. He was well-liked by his teammates and the community and is no stick-in-the-mud (with the exception, apparently, of one viewpoint -- rooted in the fact that his teammate lost a no-no because of a bunt hit -- emotions in the moment, anyway, and not a huge deal in the grand scheme of things). I'm not sure I'm into the idea of Dozier as the Brewers' 2019 2B, although I'd like him better than a Perez/Spangenberg duo.

Erceg will just be turning 24 around opening day and may be in AAA to start the season. That doesn't make him overly old at all. He was in college when they drafted him. Unless Will Smith would be in this sort of deal, too, thus necessitating a larger return to SF, and Erceg's not someone I'd be really eager to include since he's our best 3B prospect. Erceg's not position-blocked yet since he's not likely an MLB-ready player yet, either. For that matter, since he wasn't exactly overwhelming at AAA, it's no sure thing he's completely AAA-ready yet. A lot can change in a year's time (Shaw, Hiura, short-term 2B solution, etc.) that might bring him up sooner or make him more valuable to our organization. That said, I really like the idea of Madison Bumgarner as a Brewer and would gladly surrender Corey Ray in a deal if that's what it took.

If Gray continues to struggle in NY, I wonder how long the Yankees will stick with him on their roster. Funny how they publicly denigrate him (or at least his performance, some of which isn't out of line with how he performed) -- the sort of thing teams rarely outright do toward players -- and then ask for a mint for him in trade.

Yes. . . . The first response to your post seemed to take your post in reference to Broxton. I took in it response to Wahl. Wahl was on the Mets' 40-man roster (per the team website), so he's now on ours.

Whether it was his first or second winter as Brewers' GM, I'm not sure, but I distinctly remember a pattern of Stearns consistently managing to get an additional player in the return on his trades, and at scattered levels of development (i.e., Brewers getting more players in return than they traded). Well, Santana & Broxton with their no-options got us Gamel, Zavolas, Wahl, Hill, & Valerio, with 3 of those 5 just finishing their 1st pro year. All in all, pretty darn nice work by Stearns. Like the Lind trade at the time it went down, those young fellas may not turn into anything -- Lind deal was for 3 lottery tickets. Well, Peralta's already held a place in the Brewers' rotation and Carlos Herrera is still in the system, though not advancing in any glitzy way (yet). (Daniel Missaki never pitched for us after Tommy John surgery that happened during the season before he was traded to us). Point is, you never know and it takes time for the real story to play out.

Gamel's an MLB OF with more experience than Broxton and a bit less experience than Santana, so it's not like he's a neophyte or total drop off. The Perez & Spangenberg pieces were already there, plus Thames if he's still around. Basically Gamel's been added to the roster while Santana & Broxton have been subtracted, thus a net "OF asset" quantity change of -1. To me that's not a concern because realistically it was pretty unlikely they'd have kept both Broxton AND Santana through if not even into the season anyway. Plus as others have noted, there are three AAA OFs who are legit OFs and who have all their options remaining. Net effect = flexibility. With any luck it also lessens our K frequency. Broxton's defense isn't to be underestimated, but in such a limited role as he would've had, the impact of his defensive skill set would've been less anyway.

If Astudillo is everything he seems to be, then there's no reason the Twins would want to let him go -- precisely for the same reasons he has appeal to our eyes and maybe others'. It seems curious that the guy has pretty consistently had a .300+ BA, usually with a respectable workload, coming up through the minors (though only a minimally higher OBP), yet he wasn't ranked one of the Twins' Top 30 Prospects coming into this year. Minimal power and okay-ish run production for the most part. Somehow he's on his 4th organization. Hopefully he's indeed just a late bloomer. Otherwise, it seems rather peculiar that such a good-hitting bat like his hasn't gained him more acclaim or organizational traction as a prospect on his way up.

I think most likely he's a depth signing and I hope that still-to-come transactions ensure that. If he turns out to be more than that AND proves productive, it's a bonus... and very possibly because he gets some chances in MIL and perpetuates or improves on his not-trashy career BA vs. RHP.

I'm hardly sold on Spangenberg, but by the Dodgers series it became increasingly obvious -- and painfully so -- that the Brewers' mostly RH bench had no real threats beyond Santana, especially with Thames in an endless 2nd-half slump. That Spangenberg could be one of a few less-glitzy additions that improves the bench's overall offensive contributions is reason enough not to pass initial judgement on signing him. And if he doesn't pan out, at least he has an option remaining so we're not at risk of losing him if we try to get him down to AAA to get him PT or hitting better.

No one's booming & slightly drawn out "Drive... Home... Safely..." can ever beat Bob Betts' daily sign-off to each game's attendees.

I'm okay if we spend a little more than seems practical if it brings in a good 2B for 2018. We need to improve that position the most -- more than SP & RP and especially more so than C. If that's Lowrie, I'm all for it. I agree that he may be the best fit. I also like LeMahieu a lot. I do wonder if we're targeting more of a one-year signing. Hiura can hit BUT it's not automatic (or at least not known yet) if he'll be up forever the first time he gets promoted to the majors, so a more-than-one-year deal may not be so outrageous. Having proven veteran depth is nice insurance, especially in case of injury (in other words, I really don't want Perez to end up starting 100 games). If, per the OP, the next highest-ranked FA options are Dozier & Cabrera, the holes in their respective games make me a bit wary. Neil Walker was respectable for us in 2017 and might be a more quietly solid signing. Moustakas, similar thing as Dozier & Cabrera, but we know that puts Shaw at 2B and, while maybe not completely ideal, we know that configuration can work. I really like the hitter than Daniel Murphy is, but we lost out on him. If it'd been Ian Kinsler v. 2013-ish, I'd be bummed, but I'm not sad to miss out on Ian Kinsler v.2018.

Seriously? First, Shaw & Aguilar are different players. Just because one scenario worked does not make it an accurate predictor for the other. Second, and more importantly, Aguilar has all of 8 MLB appearances at 3B for a total of 16.1 innings (7 appearances for 14.1 innings of which was for MIL) -- not even 2 full games! Doing that basically helped the Brewers get by for a couple games and at the end of a couple late-game double-switches or post-PH field maneuvering instances -- and that's it!

Man, I just looked at Grandal's stats more carefully, then at Pina & Realmuto. I don't get the fascination. He's alright but he's really not that great of a hitter. Yes, he's averaged 24 HRs & 66 RBIs per year the past 3 years, but with a .240-ish BA, .330-ish OBP. Pina's been a better hitter for average even with 2018's atrocious first half, he's a .265 hitter the past 3 years, OBP'd right at .330, and had 500 fewer MLB ABs than Grandal, so RBI/AB rate is 78% of what Grandal's has been in that same time -- not shabby at all, especially for Pina's cost, which also comes w/ defense recognized as being among the best this past year (Gold Glove nominee, thus at least somewhat non-metric).

I don't think a Pina/Kratz or Pina/Nottingham combo is the bee's knees or anything, but they're decent enough and 2B is by far a more glaring issue with a stud SP and then another strong reliever next on the priority list. I think Grandal's more than a bit overrated and definitely overpriced for the difference between him & Pina (Dodgers media attention syndrome) and I don't want Realmuto at anywhere near the mint the Marlins are apparently asking for. If the Brewers are going to shell out major coin or asset value, it needs to be where the upgrade is most needed. Pina was below-the-Mendoza-line-lousy at the plate in the 1st half and a black hole w/ RISP for the whole year, but he hit much closer to his career norms in the 2nd half and that level of hitting success is quite acceptable if 2B production can be significantly upgraded by player acquisition. I also think that Pina's defense is still a little underrated -- he wasn't a Gold Glove finalist just because he's a nice guy.

Defense and.... baserunning. (I just really wanted to post this video again) The hallowed Cardinals Way, right?