Is it possible that we could be buyers at the deadline?

[rcc]

If they had a consistently good bullpen this team would be taking the division handily. Too many games like yesterday afternoon has been demoralizing.

[FVBrewerFan]

Yes. Hader, Williams, and Woodruff in the pen.

 

Trade Broxton for an additional reliever and Hernan Perez can cover center.

 

I keep seeing this in various threads. They are developing these guys to be starting pitchers, they are not going to be added to the Brewers pen. Ditto for Ortiz. Not to mention Williams is coming back from TJ, and likely will be shut down at some point this year.

 

Once the minor league seasons are over, maybe one of those guys can be called up to the pen in September, but that's it.

[NYChez]

The Padres have some decent bullpen arms, including 3 lefties. I know the Brewers would have to give something up, but the alternative - overusing Knebel and Barnes due to the failure of others - should be part of the thinking.

[Boomer5]

This will be an interesting meeting inside the Brewers FO.

 

The metrics and data says we are a horrible team based on career norms (4th worst roster in the game according to fangraphs) but the standings say we are in first place. The Central, which looked like the best division in baseball just last year, now looks very winnable.

 

This will be a battle between the analytics guys and the gate attendance guys inside Miller Park.

 

My guess is we will make some fringe moves but nothing significant.

[FVBrewerFan]

Honestly, I don't think there will be any high drama in the FO. Stearns simply isn't going to give up pieces of the future for a reliever. He is all about value, and he knows better than anyone the cost of a relief pitcher at the trade deadline is insane.

 

Also, attendance is fine and the payroll is below the floor. Not even remotely something that comes into play.

[Humans Need Water]

The only pen moves I can see Stearns making at the deadline are if he's acquiring a controllable arm with upside who hasn't performed to his ability for something we can afford to give up without disrupting the strategy already in place or if another team DFAs a guy that's an upgrade over Scahill/Drake. 5 members of the pen are solid talents (Peralta a wild card at this point) and will improve, just like the rotation has improved. They have track records of success recently and that shouldn't get thrown out the window.

 

Hader and Woodruff won't be up unless it's Sept or if a rotation arm is traded at the deadline and we're still in playoff contention. They both need to continue to develop and work on things.

[KCBrewerfan34]

Neshek would be a great pickup

[pacopete4]

Neshek would be a great pickup

 

Agreed. He and Barnes could be the 7th/8th inning men depending on the matchups and we may have something resembling a bullpen.

 

Also if we trade for him right now, if we stink come July 31st we can trade him somewhere else.

[Humans Need Water]

Neshek would be a great pickup

 

Agreed. He and Barnes could be the 7th/8th inning men depending on the matchups and we may have something resembling a bullpen.

 

Also if we trade for him right now, if we stink come July 31st we can trade him somewhere else.

He's 36 and a FA after the season. What do you propose we give up to acquire him

[adambr2]

Honestly I think the Cubs probably still run away with this division in the end. That hurts to say but they have underachieved pretty badly and still probably have a 87 win floor, and I just don't think we're there yet. As fun as this has been, first place on June 9th doesn't mean much. Hope to be wrong.

 

Looking where the rest of the division is at I do think 2nd place may be realistic which is a lot better than I could have hoped for coming into this season.

[pacopete4]

Neshek would be a great pickup

 

Agreed. He and Barnes could be the 7th/8th inning men depending on the matchups and we may have something resembling a bullpen.

 

Also if we trade for him right now, if we stink come July 31st we can trade him somewhere else.

He's 36 and a FA after the season. What do you propose we give up to acquire him

 

Maybe someone in the 30-40 ranking of our prospects? Anyone have any comps of a guy like this being traded? Contract is worth $6.5m I believe so someone would be on the hook for about $4m of it.

[KCBrewerfan34]

Honestly I think the Cubs probably still run away with this division in the end. That hurts to say but they have underachieved pretty badly and still probably have a 87 win floor, and I just don't think we're there yet. As fun as this has been, first place on June 9th doesn't mean much. Hope to be wrong.

 

Looking where the rest of the division is at I do think 2nd place may be realistic which is a lot better than I could have hoped for coming into this season.

 

 

 

The Cubs rotation is an absolute hot mess

[MrTPlush]

Honestly I think the Cubs probably still run away with this division in the end. That hurts to say but they have underachieved pretty badly and still probably have a 87 win floor, and I just don't think we're there yet. As fun as this has been, first place on June 9th doesn't mean much. Hope to be wrong.

 

Looking where the rest of the division is at I do think 2nd place may be realistic which is a lot better than I could have hoped for coming into this season.

 

 

 

The Cubs rotation is an absolute hot mess

 

and old. This Cubs team may not be all that special and it would not be shocking to see them continue to dissapoint given the age of that rotation.

[Boomer5]

Honestly I think the Cubs probably still run away with this division in the end. That hurts to say but they have underachieved pretty badly and still probably have a 87 win floor, and I just don't think we're there yet. As fun as this has been, first place on June 9th doesn't mean much. Hope to be wrong.

 

Looking where the rest of the division is at I do think 2nd place may be realistic which is a lot better than I could have hoped for coming into this season.

 

 

 

The Cubs rotation is an absolute hot mess

 

And the Russell drama and Schwarber crashing. They look vulnerable.

[HighHeat19]

Yes. Hader, Williams, and Woodruff in the pen.

 

Trade Broxton for an additional reliever and Hernan Perez can cover center.

 

I keep seeing this in various threads. They are developing these guys to be starting pitchers, they are not going to be added to the Brewers pen. Ditto for Ortiz. Not to mention Williams is coming back from TJ, and likely will be shut down at some point this year.

 

Once the minor league seasons are over, maybe one of those guys can be called up to the pen in September, but that's it.

 

Hader is up and Crow has been served.

[adambr2]

Yes. Hader, Williams, and Woodruff in the pen.

 

Trade Broxton for an additional reliever and Hernan Perez can cover center.

 

I keep seeing this in various threads. They are developing these guys to be starting pitchers, they are not going to be added to the Brewers pen. Ditto for Ortiz. Not to mention Williams is coming back from TJ, and likely will be shut down at some point this year.

 

Once the minor league seasons are over, maybe one of those guys can be called up to the pen in September, but that's it.

 

Hader is up and Crow has been served.

 

Hey, he already said he was wrong.

[JohnBriggs12]

He might not come all that cheap but David Phelps would be a real nice pickup plus he's controllable for another year.

[Boomer5]

With that amazing series sweep over the Mets, our Brewers are 4 games over .500. Maybe this is all smoke and mirrors and we'll be back under .500 by the end of this month, but what if this team really is ahead of schedule here and are sitting 5-10 games over .500 by July 1? While I certainly don't want to trade away many of the prospects that we've worked so hard to accumulate over the past 2 years, would you be more willing to trade a couple of them if we were picking up a player that isn't just a 3 month rental, but a guy that we would have control of for the next few years? And, how many of those guys do you think might be on the trade market this July? Would the Mets be willing to part with deGrom if their season continues as it has? Or, how about a Jose Quintana?

 

Would you be willing to part with one of our OF prospects as the headliner in a deal? For example, maybe the White Sox would have a lot of interest in bringing hometown kid Corey Ray to the southside? Obviously, Ray would have to start hitting here soon to even make this an option, but I wonder if he could be a headliner in a deal?

 

I absolutely wouldn't want to trade any of our prospects for a rental, but I might be willing to part with a couple of guys in our deep system, if it helped bring back a pitcher that we could still control for awhile.

 

I know I might be putting the cart ahead of the horse here, but curious to get some thoughts on this.

 

Back to the OP, if this team is 10 over at the AS break and in first place, I would absolutely trade Ray for pitching. No question about it.

 

Look what happened in Cleveland last year. A team that never should have sniffed 500 made a run, added Miller at a high cost, and came within a 9th inning run of winning a WS.

[MrTPlush]

The main concern I have with making bigger moves is the fact I don't want to be making moves if I might end up with a wild card spot. Right now we are on pace for 86 wins. While not bad that isn't what I would call a division winner type squad. Maybe the Cubs really aren't that good and a high 80 win total can take the division, but I would rather not make moves unless this is a 90+ win talent team.

 

With some bullpen help(already started by adding Hader) I think it could be. Obviously Stearns is already trying to make that happen by adding Hader and promoting another top prospect in Phillips. If I was Broxton I would be getting real nervous about my starting job because I doesn't look like the Brewers are too scared to improve internally already.

 

One guy who might be a cheaper bullpen addition would be David Robertson. He might not be super cheap, but he is a rental with a $13mil contract. Absorb whatever will be left on that and we probably aren't going to be giving up a ton prospect wise. Though he would take enough where this team better be looking a lot better than a 86 win club.

[MadThinker88]

One guy who might be a cheaper bullpen addition would be David Robertson. He might not be super cheap, but he is a rental with a $13mil contract. Absorb whatever will be left on that and we probably aren't going to be giving up a ton prospect wise. Though he would take enough where this team better be looking a lot better than a 86 win club.

 

For a team rebuilding (ChiSox) that has a market of clubs looking for experienced late inning closer help (lets start with Washington) & could afford to retain his salary on their books, why would they take a lesser prospect package & move the salary??

 

Please explain that reasoning...

 

This season reminds me a lot of the 2014 season when the Brewers jumped out ahead with a flawed team & capitalized on other clubs suffering some key injuries. Then after the All Star break the Brewers suffered the injuries & others got healthy. In the end the club finished in 3rd place only 2 games over .500 Imagine if the rebuild started that offseason with Lucroy getting dealt away right after the great 14 season. The haul for him ALONE would have been greater than the haul he & Jefferies combined brought back from Texas..

 

The rebuild is working. Don't rush the process.

[pacopete4]

Can only have 40 men on the roster. Eventually some of these guys won't be apart of that. Hopefully Stearns gets hot when it comes to deciding that and moving on from the others.

[Lathund]

I don't want to see us doing any moves that compromise the long term by going for the short term. I'm fine with "buying" if it's for players with either a lot of team control remaining, or if it's short-term deals that don't cost us a lot. We can certainly take on salary for 2017 and 2018, even if it's for a likely rental.

 

But I also don't think it's as clear as being buyers or sellers. I think we may very well see deals that see us selling in areas of strength and buying in areas of weakness. That could be deals like trading away an outfielder for prospects, while using prospects to trade for major league pitching. I like both Aguilar and Thames a lot. But we also have Cooper absolutely tearing it up in AAA (.919 OPS on the road, so it's not just CS), so there's the possibility of trading one of them away without really weakening us too much.

 

Generally when it comes to being "buyers" or "sellers" it all comes down to what kind of deals are out there to be had. We shouldn't be buyers or sellers just for the sake of it. If it's a buyers market and we can get great value for what we give up, we do that. If it's a sellers market, even if that part of the rebuild is complete or at least mostly complete, we at least take a serious look.

[MadThinker88]

Can only have 40 men on the roster. Eventually some of these guys won't be apart of that. Hopefully Stearns gets hot when it comes to deciding that and moving on from the others.

 

That is a solid point. Is there an updated listing somewhere of which Brewer minor league players are needing roster protection from the Rule 5 draft in Dec 17 and then in Dec 18??

[KCBrewerfan34]

This just in, the Cubs lost AGAIN

 

Please stop posting about last year. The Cubs in 2017 are not the 2016 Cubs. Stearns has an opportunity to go for this. we are going to see if he can pull it off. HE will win EOY and Counsell will win MOY if they make the playoffs, don't mortgage the future but use prospects to fill in our holes. All these minor leaguers cannot make the bigs with us.

[clancyphile]

I'm not inclined to trade prospects this year.

 

If anything, the Brewers need to use this run to see which of them are for real. Then, they make trades over the winter.

 

Of course, if someone blows Stearns away with an offer...