I find the love for the rebuilding process curious around here

[FVBrewerFan]

Look at it this way. They couldn't get to the WS with Greinke/Yo/Marcum or Sabathia/Yo/Sheets along with Fielder, Braun, Weeks, Hart, Lucroy, Gomez, etc. That shows you how much talent it takes to win it all, and that you need more than one crack at it every few years.

 

What is the alternative to what they're doing? Go out and get another Garza/Lohse type? Even if they kept Lind and Segura (or even Gomez and Fiers) this would have been a .500ish team at best- if everything went right (which is very rare.) Then in 2017 just to maintain that .500ish team you have to sign Lind, Gomez, Lucroy to big contracts. Always a good idea to sign aging vets to new contracts.

 

And now the same people complaining about the rebuild would be complaining that they can't get back to the playoffs.

[Boomer5]

 

The thing that keeps coming back to me is that no matter how much energy and patience is put into a rebuild, the best that can ever be expected for this franchise that can't go after big money FA or hold on to it's stars beyond 6 years is to field a "a playoff plausible roster". Stearns has acquired talent that projects to be around in 4-5 years, at which point many on here will be contemplating what 2025 prospects they can get back for Arcia. Nelson will be gone by then as well and they'll be counting on young untested arms.

 

I'm fine with a "playoff plausible roster" every year. That's reality for a franchise like the Brewers. Duplicating what the Cubs did is fantasyland. They could have fielded one in 2016 but deliberately chose not to. Sorry but that irritates me. Now .500 gives Counsel a shot at manager of the year.

 

 

Unfortunately, this IS the reality for teams like the Brewers or the Rays. However, the Rays had a stretch of five 90 win seasons in six years. They have more good young talent coming up.

 

You have to be good, or even excellent at drafting. You have to be completely unflinchingly unafraid to trade away talent when it's at the end of it's 6 year team-controlled cycle, and get good young talent back in return. Talent in/talent out.

 

The Rays had Matt Garza at his peak. Instead of re-signing him to a big deal, they traded him to the Cubs for Chris Archer. When Chris Archer is close to big bucks, they'll probably flip him for young talent as well. To operate that way, you absolutely HAVE to be good at identifying that kind of talent, and not having the sentimental attachment to the players on your roster.

 

Is Stearns that kind of guy? We don't know yet. He appears to have NO trouble getting rid of guys, but then he has no attachment to any of the guys currently on the roster. Can he identify talent? We will find out.

 

His eye for talent wont be known for awhile, for good or bad. Right now, we dont know. The MLB talent he picked up are guys the casual fans know due to former prospect status, but they have flamed out pretty hard. The minor league talent that matters in his trades are so young that its impossible to know what we have. Guys like Hill are worthless, but he was supposed to be to facilitate picking up Diaz who does have value.

 

I am far more interested in how our farm system progresses. We do have 5 top 100's that werent acquired by Stearns. I expect an Astros and Cubs like influx the next 3 years. That should be very exciting.

[brewtank34]

The names that we have in our minor league teams is definitely something that gets me excited. I could rattle the ones off that will eventually (hopefully) become a Brewer, but many of you already have.

 

My main concerns as of right now that put any damper into my excitement are the following.

 

1) Where is our Ace? With the dismantling of our team over the last year, we have yet to obtain anyone who is considered Top of the Line Ace quality. Peralta will most likely not be around for the long haul and will eventually get traded for prospects. Nelson? I'm hopeful. But who in our minors has that Ace tag associated with him? To my knowledge, no one.

 

2) Who's going to be our Studs moving forward? As of right now, Arcia and Phillips are the closest thing to good-to-great/All-Star players we have. I like Demi's potential along with several others, but who's our K. Bryant, C. Correa? At this time, we don't have one and this year are hoping that one or several of the names listed in this thread begin to show that they can become studs. My guessing is that the next 2 year's of drafts will provide us our potential studs.

 

Overall, our minor leagues are vastly improved and the excitement levels to watch/follow these youngster's career's should be excitement enough for any Brewer fan.

[Jenkins5]

As of right now, if we were in any other division that didn't have 3 97-100 win quality teams in it, I'd say we actually won't be too bad at all this year.

 

Really

1B Carter

2B Gennett

SS Villar

3B Hill

C Lucroy

LF Davis

CF Santana

RF Braun

 

we have a lot of depth and competition going on this spring. We still have a strong Bullpen and our starting rotation is not bad if guys like Garza & Peralta bounce back, Nelson & Jungmann continue to develop, and Anderson is consistent. Villar as potential to be a very good player. It now sounds like CC will play Santana in CF and corners (find ways to get him on the field. Carter may not hit for great average but his 35+ HRs and his ability to still get on base by walking as much as he does helps. Gennett will go back to playing the way he does. He had bad first couple months and was back to his .300 hitting ways rest of the season.

 

This team is in no way a hopeless 100 loss team people like to claim. Last season from July on, they were nearly a .500 team. The 1st 2 month last season, literally every Brewer outside of Lind was injured or brutally bad. June they started to get healthy and perform better, by July they we what they are. Our roster is really no different than the .500 club we finished season up with.

[FVBrewerFan]

My main concerns as of right now that put any damper into my excitement are the following.

 

1) Where is our Ace?

2) Who's going to be our Studs moving forward?

 

Good questions. Some here would say Medeiros, a few would say Lopez. But I agree, I don't see anything close to a sure-fire ace. There are several guys who COULD surprise and become that type of player. Otherwise, the jury is till out. It wouldn't be all bad to end up with 3 or 4 #2 type pitchers in the rotation at the same time.

 

Studs? Like you said Arcia should be, and Phillips could be. A few others have real potential to be that type of player. Clark, with his swing, is almost a can't miss guy. To take it one step further, a big power bat is where they're short in the system. If Coulter can still be that guy, that would be huge.

[pacopete4]

I'm not sure you ever truly know an "ace" is going to be an ace. Yeah, sure there are highly ranked guys you know are going to be very good but an "ace" I'm not sure on. The key is to get three really good pitchers and two that can hold their own. If the Brewers can do that, we'll be just fine.

[Ennder]

Royals won 95 games and a World Series last year without an Ace. It isn't actually a requirement. They didn't really have a stud hitter that stands out either. Just a whole lot of well rounded players.

[FVBrewerFan]

As of right now, if we were in any other division that didn't have 3 97-100 win quality teams in it, I'd say we actually won't be too bad at all this year.

 

Really

1B Carter

2B Gennett

SS Villar

3B Hill

C Lucroy

LF Davis

CF Santana

RF Braun

 

we have a lot of depth and competition going on this spring. We still have a strong Bullpen and our starting rotation is not bad if guys like Garza & Peralta bounce back, Nelson & Jungmann continue to develop, and Anderson is consistent. Villar as potential to be a very good player. It now sounds like CC will play Santana in CF and corners (find ways to get him on the field. Carter may not hit for great average but his 35+ HRs and his ability to still get on base by walking as much as he does helps. Gennett will go back to playing the way he does. He had bad first couple months and was back to his .300 hitting ways rest of the season.

 

This team is in no way a hopeless 100 loss team people like to claim. Last season from July on, they were nearly a .500 team. The 1st 2 month last season, literally every Brewer outside of Lind was injured or brutally bad. June they started to get healthy and perform better, by July they we what they are. Our roster is really no different than the .500 club we finished season up with.

 

Hopeless 100 loss team? No. But that projected line-up above is pretty bad. Also, you can't just take a piece of a season and say "See, they were a .500 team with essentially the same roster." If they played all of last season without Gomez, Ramirez, Fiers, and Parra (and now without Lind or KRod) I assure you they would not have been a .500 team, and they won't be this season.

 

Seems like some people are holding out hope somehow they will "shock the world" this year. You will enjoy the summer much better if you accept the fact this team is going to lose a lot of games.

[splitterpfj]

In MLB, as opposed to the NFL or the NBA, there are many more questions to ask before you know if a rebuild is working.

 

It isn't just, "What's happening in Milwaukee?" It is also, "What's happening in Colorado Springs?" Biloxi, Brevard County, Appleton, Helena, Arizona, international scouting, and draft prep.

 

Right now, the Brewers have more talent in the minor leagues than they've had since the Sabathia trade, and they'll pick at #5 in June. That's a big deal.

 

Ask yourself this ...

 

If you were a GM who was trying to, "win now", would you be trading major league players, and your best prospects at AA/AAA to achieve that goal? No, the odds are you would not, because you need those players to get it done this year.

 

If you were the GM of a team that's in rebuild mode, would you be hanging on to your best MLB talent, knowing they can walk before you're good enough to contend again, or would you trade them now to get young talent that can come up together and compete when they're ready?

 

The Brewers have pumped a great deal of talent into the system, starting with the 2014 draft, through the Gallardo trade, and then much faster since last July. They're doing what they should be doing.

 

I think the team has a chance to be solid again in 2018, with a better shot at the playoffs coming in 2019.

[Boomer5]

As of right now, if we were in any other division that didn't have 3 97-100 win quality teams in it, I'd say we actually won't be too bad at all this year.

 

Really

1B Carter

2B Gennett

SS Villar

3B Hill

C Lucroy

LF Davis

CF Santana

RF Braun

 

we have a lot of depth and competition going on this spring. We still have a strong Bullpen and our starting rotation is not bad if guys like Garza & Peralta bounce back, Nelson & Jungmann continue to develop, and Anderson is consistent. Villar as potential to be a very good player. It now sounds like CC will play Santana in CF and corners (find ways to get him on the field. Carter may not hit for great average but his 35+ HRs and his ability to still get on base by walking as much as he does helps. Gennett will go back to playing the way he does. He had bad first couple months and was back to his .300 hitting ways rest of the season.

 

This team is in no way a hopeless 100 loss team people like to claim. Last season from July on, they were nearly a .500 team. The 1st 2 month last season, literally every Brewer outside of Lind was injured or brutally bad. June they started to get healthy and perform better, by July they we what they are. Our roster is really no different than the .500 club we finished season up with.

 

We will have to agree to disagree, but that is a seriously bad infield likely the worst in the game. The OF you put together I like, but Stearns does not. It features Davis who is likely to be traded, Santana who wont be in CF. We have discussed Braun to death, but I would not be surprised to see him moved. Luc surely will be traded.

 

The Brewers were carried by Davis' incomprehensible 20 HRs in Aug and Sep and were still under 500 during that time frame.

 

No, this team will not be contending for anything positive.

[Boomer5]

In MLB, as opposed to the NFL or the NBA, there are many more questions to ask before you know if a rebuild is working.

 

It isn't just, "What's happening in Milwaukee?" It is also, "What's happening in Colorado Springs?" Biloxi, Brevard County, Appleton, Helena, Arizona, international scouting, and draft prep.

 

Right now, the Brewers have more talent in the minor leagues than they've had since the Sabathia trade, and they'll pick at #5 in June. That's a big deal.

 

Ask yourself this ...

 

If you were a GM who was trying to, "win now", would you be trading major league players, and your best prospects at AA/AAA to achieve that goal? No, the odds are you would not, because you need those players to get it done this year.

 

If you were the GM of a team that's in rebuild mode, would you be hanging on to your best MLB talent, knowing they can walk before you're good enough to contend again, or would you trade them now to get young talent that can come up together and compete when they're ready?

 

The Brewers have pumped a great deal of talent into the system, starting with the 2014 draft, through the Gallardo trade, and then much faster since last July. They're doing what they should be doing.

 

I think the team has a chance to be solid again in 2018, with a better shot at the playoffs coming in 2019.

 

To me, the barometer was the Brewers having 5 top 100's. That hasnt happened for a long time, and two of them were picked up in the outstanding Astros trade.

 

To me the jury is very much out on the Stearns era of former prospect cast offs and 19 year olds, but assuming we are drafting well the next 3 drafts the rebuilding plan will surely work.

[Boomer5]

The names that we have in our minor league teams is definitely something that gets me excited. I could rattle the ones off that will eventually (hopefully) become a Brewer, but many of you already have.

 

My main concerns as of right now that put any damper into my excitement are the following.

 

1) Where is our Ace? With the dismantling of our team over the last year, we have yet to obtain anyone who is considered Top of the Line Ace quality. Peralta will most likely not be around for the long haul and will eventually get traded for prospects. Nelson? I'm hopeful. But who in our minors has that Ace tag associated with him? To my knowledge, no one.

 

2) Who's going to be our Studs moving forward? As of right now, Arcia and Phillips are the closest thing to good-to-great/All-Star players we have. I like Demi's potential along with several others, but who's our K. Bryant, C. Correa? At this time, we don't have one and this year are hoping that one or several of the names listed in this thread begin to show that they can become studs. My guessing is that the next 2 year's of drafts will provide us our potential studs.

 

Overall, our minor leagues are vastly improved and the excitement levels to watch/follow these youngster's career's should be excitement enough for any Brewer fan.

 

No one projects as an Ace, though I hold out hope for Nelson. He was as close to an ace as Ive seen coming through the Brewers minors since Sheets.

 

As for the studs, welcome to the current MLB roster. Thats where Correa's and Bryant's will come from, or at least they will once this current roster puts us in position to draft them. For the current crop, Arcia has All Star written all over him and Phillips is certainly highly regarded though Id like to see his power numbers this year. The other guys are too low in the minors to be projectable for a year or two.

[MrTPlush]

I really think it comes down to two things and I know it has already been said but...

 

Where is our top of the line arm going to come from? are we going to be able to find that ourselves or will it require a trade? Can Medeiros become that guy and harness some control/more velocity? Will Hader beat the odds and make it as a starter...more importantly a really good one?

 

My other concern is you need some stud guys on offense too. Who are those guys going to be? Is Arcia going to translate offensively at the top level or is he going to be closer to an Alcides Escobar player? What about Clark, Lara, Gatewood, and Harrison? Will some of those guys make an impact before 2020?

 

Put it all together and aggressively you are looking at a .500 team in 2018, but if you ask me it will probably take another year or two after that to truly put a talented team on the field. I like the future of this team a lot, but to get over the hump we need a top of the line starter and some studs on offense.

[Bombers]

I don't understand how the OP is confused for the love being shown for a rebuild on BF.net. How could one be wanting more of the last few years is a better question? How could someone NOT be on board with a rebuild. As Braun said, it isn't like we are breaking up some juggernaut. This team has been mediocre for years. Its the biggest criticism I have had on the Milwaukee Bucks over the years. Quit aiming to be mediocre. I would rather have fun building talent, giving young guys playing time and following the minors, than a yearly continuance of 500. Being stuck at 500 (to me) is the absolute worst.

[adambr2]

A year ago today they were still in the playoff hunt according to most of the projection systems though likely to fall short because of a strong division. Last year was just a disaster year.

 

Things happen in the game. The team has had a playoff plausible roster every season since 2005 until this year. Just some years go better than others.

 

The thing that keeps coming back to me is that no matter how much energy and patience is put into a rebuild, the best that can ever be expected for this franchise that can't go after big money FA or hold on to it's stars beyond 6 years is to field a "a playoff plausible roster". Stearns has acquired talent that projects to be around in 4-5 years, at which point many on here will be contemplating what 2025 prospects they can get back for Arcia. Nelson will be gone by then as well and they'll be counting on young untested arms.

 

I'm fine with a "playoff plausible roster" every year. That's reality for a franchise like the Brewers. Duplicating what the Cubs did is fantasyland. They could have fielded one in 2016 but deliberately chose not to. Sorry but that irritates me. Now .500 gives Counsel a shot at manager of the year.

 

I disagree on several things. First, this was never going to be a 'playoff plausible' team next year. Not any more so than the sense that absolutely everything would have had to go right to even have a chance. They used the 'playoff plausible' approach from 2008 to 2015 and just ran out of talent. The farm was so weak by 2011 it wouldn't have supported contention during 2016-2109 on the previous approach. Sorry, but you're just not going to build a contender around guys like Nelson and Jungmann, and Arcia is just one guy even if he turns out to be a star.

 

6 years is a good long time to control a player as long as you're smart about controlling his service time, which it looks like we are doing with Arcia.

 

It's also not true that we can't get big name FA or keep our own guys past 6 years. Mark A has certainly shown a willingness to write checks when the time is right. Braun, Lucroy, and Gallardo were all contracted here past the 6 year mark of their career, and it's feasible with some future stars to buy out FA years early.

[MadScientist]

 

The thing that keeps coming back to me is that no matter how much energy and patience is put into a rebuild, the best that can ever be expected for this franchise that can't go after big money FA or hold on to it's stars beyond 6 years is to field a "a playoff plausible roster". Stearns has acquired talent that projects to be around in 4-5 years, at which point many on here will be contemplating what 2025 prospects they can get back for Arcia. Nelson will be gone by then as well and they'll be counting on young untested arms.

 

I'm fine with a "playoff plausible roster" every year. That's reality for a franchise like the Brewers. Duplicating what the Cubs did is fantasyland. They could have fielded one in 2016 but deliberately chose not to. Sorry but that irritates me. Now .500 gives Counsel a shot at manager of the year.

 

 

Unfortunately, this IS the reality for teams like the Brewers or the Rays. However, the Rays had a stretch of five 90 win seasons in six years. They have more good young talent coming up.

 

You have to be good, or even excellent at drafting. You have to be completely unflinchingly unafraid to trade away talent when it's at the end of it's 6 year team-controlled cycle, and get good young talent back in return. Talent in/talent out.

 

The Rays had Matt Garza at his peak. Instead of re-signing him to a big deal, they traded him to the Cubs for Chris Archer. When Chris Archer is close to big bucks, they'll probably flip him for young talent as well. To operate that way, you absolutely HAVE to be good at identifying that kind of talent, and not having the sentimental attachment to the players on your roster.

 

Is Stearns that kind of guy? We don't know yet. He appears to have NO trouble getting rid of guys, but then he has no attachment to any of the guys currently on the roster. Can he identify talent? We will find out.

As of right now, if we were in any other division that didn't have 3 97-100 win quality teams in it, I'd say we actually won't be too bad at all this year.

 

Really

1B Carter

2B Gennett

SS Villar

3B Hill

C Lucroy

LF Davis

CF Santana

RF Braun

 

we have a lot of depth and competition going on this spring. We still have a strong Bullpen and our starting rotation is not bad if guys like Garza & Peralta bounce back, Nelson & Jungmann continue to develop, and Anderson is consistent. Villar as potential to be a very good player. It now sounds like CC will play Santana in CF and corners (find ways to get him on the field. Carter may not hit for great average but his 35+ HRs and his ability to still get on base by walking as much as he does helps. Gennett will go back to playing the way he does. He had bad first couple months and was back to his .300 hitting ways rest of the season.

 

This team is in no way a hopeless 100 loss team people like to claim. Last season from July on, they were nearly a .500 team. The 1st 2 month last season, literally every Brewer outside of Lind was injured or brutally bad. June they started to get healthy and perform better, by July they we what they are. Our roster is really no different than the .500 club we finished season up with.

 

We will have to agree to disagree, but that is a seriously bad infield likely the worst in the game. The OF you put together I like, but Stearns does not. It features Davis who is likely to be traded, Santana who wont be in CF. We have discussed Braun to death, but I would not be surprised to see him moved. Luc surely will be traded.

 

The Brewers were carried by Davis' incomprehensible 20 HRs in Aug and Sep and were still under 500 during that time frame.

 

No, this team will not be contending for anything positive.

 

Are you suggesting that this will be the worst offensive or worst defensive infield? I don't think it will be too bad offensively, as long as there is a platoon partner with Scooter, and it isn't actually Hill at third. I think someone else will step up and take third.

 

As for Santana in center, Sterns may not think much of it, but Counsell just said he is a consideration there. Without further trades, that gives the Brewers 4 players with the potential of 30+ homers. Decent enough pop to put up runs. Now if Lucroy and Davis do get traded soon, the lineup starts looking weaker, and they will probably finish worse than last year.

 

Anyway this season is not about wins, but about showcasing the vets and developing the younger players.

 

As for the original title of this thread, I don't love the rebuilding process, I hate having seasons that start with the Brewers having no chance. I do love the idea of the Brewers setting things up for a talented MLB roster and a deep, continually fed pipeline. Something that will set the Brewers up for a long stretch of competitive baseball, and maybe, finally a World Series title.

[bill hAll Star]

A year ago today they were still in the playoff hunt according to most of the projection systems though likely to fall short because of a strong division. Last year was just a disaster year.

 

Things happen in the game. The team has had a playoff plausible roster every season since 2005 until this year. Just some years go better than others.

 

The thing that keeps coming back to me is that no matter how much energy and patience is put into a rebuild, the best that can ever be expected for this franchise that can't go after big money FA or hold on to it's stars beyond 6 years is to field a "a playoff plausible roster"

 

I'm fine with a "playoff plausible roster" every year. That's reality for a franchise like the Brewers..

 

[patrickgpe]

i'm late to this party, but how would the original poster like us to get back on track? They are not signing the likes of Zach Greinke. Their minor league system was bare. They tried last season to bring the band back together after the collapse of 2014 and it was a disaster. noone on this board is happy that the team could lose 100 games, but we are realistic in how a team like Milwaukee can complete against the dodgers and its not by outspending them.

[RobertR]

Baseball Prospectus laid out pretty convincingly why we shouldn't expect much out of this year's roster. They don't project to have any particular strengths. They're not going to walk much or hit for average and they'll probably be among the league's worst in OBP. Carter, Braun, Davis, and Lucroy will hit a few homers, but the rest of the team won't hit many and they'll likely finish average at best. The defense is likely to be below average if not outright bad. Outside of Nelson and Peralta, the rotation is likely made up of back end starters, at best, and there is no Ace to be relied upon to give the bullpen a rest. They don't run particularly well either.

 

Other than potentially the bullpen, this team is quite bad all over. They have depth in bad. That's with counting on the Brewers being healthy. And it's quite possible that they don't have anyone that's going to stick at 3B or CF despite throwing everything at the wall. Couple that with Carter, Braun, Lucroy, Davis, and probably Will Smith on the trading block and things could get a whole lot worse as the season goes on.

[Outlander]

This team is in no way a hopeless 100 loss team people like to claim. Last season from July on, they were nearly a .500 team. The 1st 2 month last season, literally every Brewer outside of Lind was injured or brutally bad. June they started to get healthy and perform better, by July they we what they are. Our roster is really no different than the .500 club we finished season up with.

I would say this team has a pretty good shot at 100 losses, not that it is a bad thing. They were not a .500 team from July on, they were 37-46 which translates to 90 losses for a full season. Sure that is not 100 losses but 90 losses, 100 losses, either way it is pretty hopeless.

[reillymcshane]

All I want to know is what year this team should be .500 and what year this team should make the playoffs.

2016 is experimenting, acquiring assets, seeing who might be part of the future. Some of our young minor leaguers will start to be called up.

 

2017 is about seeing the first wave of minor leaguers emerge, giving guys like Arcia, Phillips, Lopez, etc. time to settle in.

 

2018 will be when we start seeing something interesting. I don't know if it's .500, but what the heck - we can dream (and not unrealistically). It's the year guys Nelson, Jungmann, Davies, Peralta, Hader, Lopez, Phillips, Santana, Arcia, Reed and others will have some experience under their belts. These guys are will be in their primes. Because so many things can go wrong, I don't know if there will be enough talent to get to .500, but 2018 looks like a year to say we'll be decent.

 

We are going to be bad this year.

Yes. So many things need to go right for us to be close to .500 - and that usually never happens.

 

We will very likely be bad next year.

Yes, but I think we can be interesting - even fun. It'll be a blast to see guys like Arcia and Phillips and whomever get a chance. But young players often struggle - so I expect lots of growing pains.

 

What year can I expect we won't be bad?

If 'bad' is below .500, give it 2-3 years. But you never know.

 

How many years of below .500 baseball do I have to endure before I declare the rebuild a failure?

The rebuild never ends. That's the point with what Milwaukee is doing. It's building a sustaining engine. That's why we aren't loading up on AAA guy or whatever. It's about constantly funneling quality talent to the majors. As other have said, it's an approach that requires a constant mining of talent through all available channels, including the draft, trades and more.

 

Perhaps you can say that come the time we get to .500ish is the time the 'rebuild' is done, and it's more of a 'sustaining' mode we go into. I'll be disappointed if this hasn't happened within 3-4 years.

[NievesNoNO]

I would rather have fun building talent, giving young guys playing time and following the minors, than a yearly continuance of 500. Being stuck at 500 (to me) is the absolute worst.

 

I agree. I don't think it's necessarily a love for rebuilding but it's an enthusiasm for not settling for a team that can max out at around .500.

 

There's definitively a risk. We all know that most of what looks like a nice prospect list won't turn out to be stars and many of them won't reach the majors. So, for sure there's a legitimate chance that there won't be enough talent in the current crop of prospects to be a championship team but at least they're not settling for mediocrity.

 

Honestly, this is the time to be enthusiastic because the results of the season won't be all that exciting. They've at least collected a bunch of interesting players both prospect-wise and at the MLB level. I think there's going to be couple pleasant surprises. If Braun, Lucroy and Davis all remain with the team I actually don't think it would be a large stretch for this team to finish .500. Some development of some of the younger pitchers, a rebound by Lucroy and striking gold with one of the rule 5 or former high level prospects they've collected would make this team really competitive.

[bill hAll Star]

The choice to me was to probably

 

Hover +/- 3 games of .500 for 2016 and 2017 and then have a bleak outlook beyond that

 

OR

 

Be bad for 2016 and 2017 while maximizing our assets to have a bright outlook starting in 2018.

[Patrick425]

I don't think anyone "loves" the rebuilding process. Its called planning for the future. People don't "love" taking money out of their paychecks to put into a retirement account, but it's something they do to prepare for the future. People don't love saying no to unhealthy foods or going to the doctor for an annual check up, but they do it so that they will be healthier in the long run. It sounds cliche, but good things do come to those who wait (and have a plan for the future). If you don't plan, that future never comes (see Brewers 1985-2005)

 

As others have pointed out, what other options are there for a small market team like Milwaukee? It's not a "love", it's a necessity.

 

Now, what I won't understand, is when we get to the point where all the planning is starting to pay off and we are a piece or two away from being a solid playoff team and some will argue that we should not sacrifice any young prospects to go out and get those needed pieces.

[JohnBriggs12]

If you took Garza out of the equation, and they should, their rotation looks like Nelson, Peralta, Jungmann, Anderson and Davies. Jungmann and Davies both have options so if they struggle they can turn to Lopez, Pena or any of a number of young arms who'll be in AAA or AA.

 

Nelson has ace-type stuff and has dominated both the Cubs (2.61 ERA in 20 IP) and the Pirates (2.48 ERA in 36 IP). He can be a 1 or at worst a 2 starter with a bit more consistency.

 

Peralta's shown he can be a very solid #3 starter. He did it in 2014. Last year he struggles with little run support and injuries and some battles with his own inconsistencies, but again the stuff is there.

 

Jungmann's numbers as a rookie were really quite good. He tailed off some as can be expected, but there's every reason to expect him to be a solid starting pitcher in 2016.

 

Anderson's put together two solid, if unspectacular seasons in Arizona. With 48 major league starts under his belt, he's a pretty known commodity at this point as a 4th or at worst top of the line 5th starter.

 

Davies showed in his starts in September that he can get big league hitters out and that he's fearless. He goes into 2016 on a 13 inning scoreless streak which includes handcuffing a Cub lineup that was rolling on 2 hits over 6 innings. Who knows what his ceiling is?

 

Sure that's not an established top of the line rotation. But it could be quite decent without any of them doing anything special and there's promising arms behind them. If they perform as I think they can, this team should not lose 95-100 games. If they trot Garza out there to start the season, all bets are off though. I'd love to still have Lind around to solidify their lineup more, and wished they'd addressed the hole in CF with a true major league stop gap (Austin Jackson's still out there), but it is what it is. I see around a 72-74 win team that will lose 100 only if they trade off another established player or two and their young pitching crumbles.

 

Every baseball season has value, or should have value, and even if contending is not in the cards, winning as much as possible is the goal of players, managers and hopefully, the front office. It will be a lot more fun to see them exceed expectations and play reasonably well than it will be for them to did a huge hole like last year and take the focus of fans off the field an on to the trade market by May 1st.