Upcoming schedule - 22 of 24 games against winning teams

[trwi7]

It is indeed OK to rebuild at the same time as compete.

 

Herb Kohl wrote this post or at the very least endorsed it with 100% enthusiasm.

[dacrew101]

If you sit and root for losses and a terrible record you are either 1) a Twins fan, or 2) need to lighten up. It is indeed OK to rebuild at the same time as compete. Hate to burst somebody's bubble but I would bet Lucroy ain't going anywhere whether he plays at an allstar level or poorly.

 

I don't root for losses or care about wins this season, but rebuilding while competing and wasting assets just makes no sense and doesn't work.

 

Luckily for you, their is one team who actually tried that strategy that you can follow. The Padres! last season at trade deadline stood pat and wasted assets.. They're a bad team now but at least they could of been a bad team with a few more assets.

[djoctagone]

Brewers next 24 games leading up the all star break include 22 games against teams with winning records

i wonder how much longer the club will continue with a 13-man pitching staff. the brewers don't return to miller park until 24 june, when an extra position player could come in handy to pinch hit or pinch run in the bottom of the 9th with the game on the line.

[superfly]

It is indeed OK to rebuild at the same time as compete.

 

Herb Kohl wrote this post or at the very least endorsed it with 100% enthusiasm.

 

And where was the talent Herb Kohl led regimes drafted again? Marcus Haislip? My personal favorite was Joe Alexander. I would have to say the Brewers regime appears to have a bit more brains in the head than the Bucks-led regimes of the 2000's.

[brewmann04]

If they have a bad month leading to the Allstate break would not mind another top 5 pick.

[dacrew101]

It is indeed OK to rebuild at the same time as compete.

 

Herb Kohl wrote this post or at the very least endorsed it with 100% enthusiasm.

 

And where was the talent Herb Kohl led regimes drafted again? Marcus Haislip? My personal favorite was Joe Alexander. I would have to say the Brewers regime appears to have a bit more brains in the head than the Bucks-led regimes of the 2000's.

 

http://espn.go.com/mlb/history/draft/_/team/mil

 

Brewers draft history isn't better

[logan82]

The problem was that Herb Kohl always wanted to compete so they never were bad enough to get good players. They didn't trade for young talent and didn't draft well so they were always stuck in the middle being a low seed playoff at best team that wasn't special. That is where the Brewers were for years. Unless you have gobs and gobs of money or draft well every single year you have to take a step back once in a while to get really good. We went to long without taking a step back so it might take longer to pile up talent than it would have a few years back. Once you have talent built up you can compete and try to draft well to keep competing year to year. I hate them but the Cardinals are a well run organization that drafts well even with lower picks every year. They are the model we need to follow in the future. Even the Yankees with all their money haven't been as good lately. When they started being good in the late 90's a big part of the reason was they brought up some really good talent in their minor league system. Of course they could spend when no one else could but they did develop some really good players.

[torts]

ya'll talk about the cardinals as a model the Brewers need to copy... but that wont happen because they have money for free agents. So they can afford to draft middle/late first round every year.

 

you need to shift that conversation to the Pirates. traded off their "stars" for years for other teams prospects, tanked for top 5 picks year after year, and finally built a team/farm system that is budding with talent without the ability to spend tons of money in Free Agency (even though they could, Nutting is loaded but he's a cheapskate).

[FVBrewerFan]

Pirates model definitely closer to reality than Cardinals model. But Mark A is willing to take on more salary than the Pirates when the time is right.

[djoctagone]

If they have a bad month leading to the Allstate break would not mind another top 5 pick.

that would leave them in good hands . . .

[Pugger]

As someone else said they seem to play hard every night and haven't been blown out too often. Which is all I was really hoping for going into the season. Be competitive but chances are you'll still lose 90+. Turns out they've won 6-7 more than they should have, can chalk it up to small sample and expect for it to be made up for (likely in this tough stretch) later in the season. So I'm not going to complain about winning, especially since a good underdog story is always good fun. But yea I'm not going to lose any sleep if they get beat down on this trip to California.

 

They do get a break playing Oakland on this trip, however.

 

I like seeing these kids perform well. I was impressed with Jacob Barns last night. He might be special. Smith did okay but kinda fell apart there and gave up the winning run.

[logan82]

The Cardinals spend about $15m more than we do a year. That is a not drastic amount. That is looking at 2007-2015. I used that range because this year is obviously an outlier and 2007 is when we really had our payroll ramped up. The Cardinals are not a large market team or at least they don't spend like one.

[jerichoholicninja]

The Cardinals spend about $15m more than we do a year. That is a not drastic amount. That is looking at 2007-2015. I used that range because this year is obviously an outlier and 2007 is when we really had our payroll ramped up. The Cardinals are not a large market team or at least they don't spend like one.

 

The Cardinals have spent money to resign guys like Pujols, Carpenter, Wainwright, and Holiday but also let them walk when they weren't worth it like Pujols and Heyward. I can't remember them signing a big money free agent. Jhonny Peralta is probably the biggest. That's really not any different then what the Brewers have done.

[trwi7]

They signed Matt Holiday but I think the market for him was pretty light and he ended up signing back in St. Louis later in the offseason.

[reillymcshane]

Cardinals signed Mike Leake for 5-years, $80M this past off season.

[reillymcshane]

Cardinals don't sign many free agents from other teams for big money. They focus on guys they know - they've gotten extensions to key players, giving them control of these types of guys for seven or eight (or more) years. They've done that with Molina, Pujols, Matt Carpenter, Wainwright and others.

 

Holiday had been acquired in a trade, and hit free agency, but resigned. The Cards had an advantage in that he knew them and vice versa.

 

Many of their free agent signings tend to be shorter term deals, such as Beltran and Berkmann. I think the only main free agents they have on their team right now are Peralta and Leake. Most of their guys are draft picks and trades.

 

By not giving crazy deals, they are able to keep guys when they need them. They valued Molina a ton and gave him big dollars a year before hitting free agency. They splurged on Wainwright and Holiday when they felt they needed. But they let Heyward and Pujols walk - too much money, too many years.

 

I think they are a great organization to emulate. Yes, they spend more than we do, but it's not like Dodger or Yankee spending. They draft well, give young guys a chance, make decent trades here and there, and have the flexibility to sign FAs when needed.

[brewmann04]

The issue i have is the brewers lack a true 1 Rotation guy and believe the Brewers are not going to sign a true #1 starter in FA . They also really don't have a true #1 in the minors our hopes rest on Hader,so i think DS needs to focus getting pitching in any trades for LUC or Braun.

[reillymcshane]

The issue i have is the brewers lack a true 1 Rotation guy and believe the Brewers are not going to sign a true #1 starter in FA . They also really don't have a true #1 in the minors our hopes rest on Hader,so i think DS needs to focus getting pitching in any trades for LUC or Braun.

yep.

 

While I would be really intrigued by a top hitting prospect being added (I think we lack an elite power type prospect in the minors as well as top flight pitchers), I would love to add a great arm. They are riskier, but the need is there.

[LouisEly]

Molina got a 10-year deal, Holliday got $120M in 2010 and got more than Braun did with Braun's deal not starting until 2016 despite never having been a MVP, and they gave Wainwright almost $100M for five years at age 32 three years removed from missing an entire season. How are those not crazy deals?

 

Just because the Cardinals "knew them", that gives them a crystal ball to see into the future to know how they are going to perform?

 

They got lucky in that those deals - at least two of them - panned out. But if the Brewers had given Fielder $120M in 2010, gave Lucroy a 10-year deal, and gave a 32-year-old pitcher $100M for five years, this board would literally have had a meltdown.

[FVBrewerFan]

The issue i have is the brewers lack a true 1 Rotation guy and believe the Brewers are not going to sign a true #1 starter in FA . They also really don't have a true #1 in the minors our hopes rest on Hader,so i think DS needs to focus getting pitching in any trades for LUC or Braun.

yep.

 

While I would be really intrigued by a top hitting prospect being added (I think we lack an elite power type prospect in the minors as well as top flight pitchers), I would love to add a great arm. They are riskier, but the need is there.

 

They need everything. Arcia is a great prospect, but not a big bat- at least not yet. Phillips is the only other bat on the horizon the next couple of years, and he's striking out 1/3 of his abs.

 

This team is nowhere close to getting choosy about what position is needed, even pitching. Yes, they need SP, no secret there. But they need virtually everything else too.

[reillymcshane]

Molina got a 10-year deal

 

Just a note - Molina got a 5-year, $75M deal on his last contract.

[brewmann04]

I think the crew has much more talent with their Batters than Pitching so I rather have DS get a top pitcher if he makes a trade IMO

[stalton]

Well the tallies are in and the Brewers were 8 - 16 in the last 24 games. Obviously not good but a somewhat respectable 7-11 against nonclassy teams. The brewers avoided the 4 or 5 win month they were susceptible to the last 2 years.