Speculating about the unseen Battle Brewing between Stearns & Attanasio

[adambr2]

 

Look, if you have a Bellinger, or a Trout or a Harper or Kershaw in your system, you know it pretty quickly.

 

That's absurd. No one knew that Bellinger was going to come up and do what he's doing right now until he actually started doing it. Jurkinson Profar was the #2 prospect in baseball and he's been terrible. Rickie Weeks was a more highly rated prospect than Ryan Braun. Matt Moore was a can't miss, #3 overall prospect in baseball in 2011, and he's been a terrible pitcher in San Francisco.

 

You can't state that your philosophy is to trade unknown prospects for proven MLB players every time, and when I point out that you'll miss out on guys like Bellinger with that philosophy, come back and say that when you have a special player you just "know."

[Bombers]

 

He should have never let the Cubs get Quintana. I get a little tired of people here raving about the prospects and the brewers farm system. We have ZERO idea what these guys will be when they get to the majors. None whatsoever. However, we do know what Sonny Gray, Jose Quintana and guys like that will do, because they have proven it time and time again. I have no idea why Stearns wasn't more agressive on Quintana, and quite honestly, I have no idea why Sonny Gray isn't in a Brewers uniform right now either. These are young, controllable guys, which is what everyone here wants for the Brewers...and not only that, they are controllable and PROVEN.

 

I just have this feeling that whether this season is catching lightning in a bottle or not, it may well be the Brewers best chance of contending in the next 3-4 years. I have a feeling it will be a lot of wheel spinning over the next few years. What kind of a rebuild is that? Stearns is too passive for my tastes. As the saying goes "scared money don't make money". Well, scared GM's don't have jobs forever either.

 

Neither do GMs who end up trading stars because they're chasing after the next 'proven' commodity time after time and never have the patience to find out what they have in their prospects.

 

Tyler Thornburg was controllable and proven. How's that working out for Boston?

 

Look, if you have a Bellinger, or a Trout or a Harper or Kershaw in your system, you know it pretty quickly. I don't see any of those guys in the Brewers system. And everyone keeps saying "emptying the farm" for Gray. if you can get him for a top 10 prospect, and then a few other pieces..that's not emptying the farm by any stretch. The Cubs certaintly didn't "empty" the farm for Quintana..a couple of A ballers(highly regarded), that weren't going to sniff the majors for awhile anyway.

 

At some point, these prospects will have to be traded anyway..and if you keep thinking "okay next year is our year", or the following year or the following year, and it never comes, then what?? You always deal with the known...and what is known RIGHT NOW, as unlikely as it is, is they are in contention this year. You play to win the game...now. The future is just that, the future and unpredictable.

True it is un predictable. That is why you stand pat. This team is not good enough to compete with the top teams. As you say, you will know it when you see it. Now isn't it. Plus one has to wonder if next year sees regression from Shaw, Santana, Aguilar, Thames, Anderson, Nelson, etc. it would be unrealistic if none regressed and they are all perennial borderline all stars.

 

So build for the future until you "know it" as you say and then go for it. That I agree with

[Brewcrewin07]

So build for the future until you "know it" as you say and then go for it. That I agree with

 

The thing is, starting next week when Packers training camp opens..NO ONE in this state will give two craps about the Brewers anymore anyway. That being said, if they were to make a "big" trade, that would keep people at least somewhat interested. Is that a reason to make a trade?? of course not, but it is the reality of it.

[82brewcrew82]

So build for the future until you "know it" as you say and then go for it. That I agree with

 

The thing is, starting next week when Packers training camp opens..NO ONE in this state will give two craps about the Brewers anymore anyway. That being said, if they were to make a "big" trade, that would keep people at least somewhat interested. Is that a reason to make a trade?? of course not, but it is the reality of it.

 

2011 says differently.

[lcbj68c]

No such thing as "go for it". You always try to acquire the best talent, whether that be for tomorrow or 6 years from now.

[adambr2]

 

The thing is, starting next week when Packers training camp opens..NO ONE in this state will give two craps about the Brewers anymore anyway. That being said, if they were to make a "big" trade, that would keep people at least somewhat interested. Is that a reason to make a trade?? of course not, but it is the reality of it.

 

We hired Stearns with the long-term goal of building a consistent winner in Milwaukee. Not to build one by 2017 or else. Or to make panic moves in July because he's worried people will start watching the Packers.

[Boomer5]

How many seasons of not making the playoffs does Mark A. let Stearns have before he gets the ax?

 

That is not a concern at Miller Park right now.

 

The grade on Stearns is not based on flukey hot streaks by guys who haven't done it before and likely won't sustain it like Junior and Villar. It will be based on Diaz, Dubon, Brinson, Ortiz, Nottingham, Peralta, Ray, Bickford et al.

[Ennder]

“The plan is to consistently win major league games over a period of years,” he said. “If that process begins a little bit sooner than people expected, that’s great. And we’ll react accordingly. But it doesn’t change our strategy; it doesn’t change our plan.”

 

Could we read into this being that they may make a move for this years team? The rest of it reads like many want with a complete rebuild no matter what but I found this comment interesting.

 

I sure hope not. The product that has been on the field since the all star break does not look 1 player away from competing for the playoffs. We need a 4 or 5 guys.

[DuWayne Steurer]

The thing is, starting next week when Packers training camp opens..NO ONE in this state will give two craps about the Brewers anymore anyway.

 

I will.

[DHonks]

Stearns should be interested in continually churning our roster. good roster management means we should also not lose any Rule 5 picks.

 

I have no problem with us trading for a guy like Verlander. He's talented and affordable (given our budget). We could probably get him fairly cheaply, then trade him and cash next year for some more valuable prospects. We have an abundance of talent, and some can be great bargaining chips

[brewmann04]

I am not looking to trade our prospects but DS has acquired a bunch of OF that he could trade for the players he need.But we are still in the races and want to see what DS is planning and Mark is always not afraid to win and add money.

[Oldcity]

Fangraphs had the Brewers at 10% to make the playoffs *before* today's loss. They should absolutely should not be buying at this point. Stearns needs to be allowed total freedom. Maybe Mark should go on vacation until August.

[3and2Fastball]

While noting that even a broken clock is correct twice a day, I guess it wasn't quite just in my imagination

 

https://www.brewcrewball.com/2017/7/22/16014934/david-stearns-mark-attanasio-brewers-trade-deadline

[trwi7]

The thing is, starting next week when Packers training camp opens..NO ONE in this state will give two craps about the Brewers anymore anyway.

 

I will.

 

Even if I wasn't interested, I sure wouldn't switch to being interested in a bunch of dudes running around in shorts for two hours. Preseason football by itself is awful. Watching players get prepared for that is even worse.

[Boomer5]

I think at this point after the free fall that both MA and DS are on the same page.

 

I do think a NBA style trade where we net controllable talent in exchange for taking a bad contract could happen though.

[MrTPlush]

Fangraphs had the Brewers at 10% to make the playoffs *before* today's loss. They should absolutely should not be buying at this point. Stearns needs to be allowed total freedom. Maybe Mark should go on vacation until August.

 

Thank gosh for Fangraphs playoffs odds. What were they at the start of the year? A week ago?

 

Silly silly silly. We don't and won't make decisions on something so random.

[adambr2]

Fangraphs had the Brewers at 10% to make the playoffs *before* today's loss. They should absolutely should not be buying at this point. Stearns needs to be allowed total freedom. Maybe Mark should go on vacation until August.

 

Thank gosh for Fangraphs playoffs odds. What were they at the start of the year? A week ago?

 

Silly silly silly. We don't and won't make decisions on something so random.

 

Stearns is an analytical guy, and he hires personnel strictly for that kind of analytics.

 

You don't think he pays attention to this kind of information? Maybe it's not from Fangraphs, and either way of course it's not the end all be all, but it's one more piece of information that he uses as part of his decision making process.

[trwi7]

We should be making decisions based on the standings and the talent level of the teams we're chasing. We're 2nd in the division against the defending World Series champions who are much more talented than we are. We're 4.5 games out of the 2nd wildcard.

 

Our schedule doesn't offer many breaks at all. Nationals, Cubs, Cards and Rays in our next 12. Still have a 9 game road trip and have to come back right after that with 4 games against the Nationals. Still have 6 against the Cubs in September. Still have 8 games against the Pirates who we're 3-8 against.

 

It would be absolutely moronic for us to buy right now.

[MrTPlush]

It would not be moronic to buy. Maybe rentals, but controllable guys? That would not be moronic.

[nate82]

It would be absolutely moronic for us to buy right now.

 

Not entirely true. If the Brewers can trade for someone who can help for the next 3+ years they should trade for them. Someone like Dee Gordon would be a good trade target kind of a win now and is signed through 2022 I believe at a fairly friendly contract.

 

I would eliminate Gray and Verlander from the list along with a few others. Definitely no to relief pitchers.

[adambr2]

It would be absolutely moronic for us to buy right now.

 

Not entirely true. If the Brewers can trade for someone who can help for the next 3+ years they should trade for them. Someone like Dee Gordon would be a good trade target kind of a win now and is signed through 2022 I believe at a fairly friendly contract.

 

I would eliminate Gray and Verlander from the list along with a few others. Definitely no to relief pitchers.

 

Gordon would be okay I guess. He's controllable but not all that cheap and not young. His best weapon is his speed which I would be a little worried about how valuable that will be in 3 years plus.

 

Total slap hitter which I guess would at least be a different dimension for our offense . Good singles hitter, but much like Perez can't take a walk to save his life.

 

If we were taking on all Gordon's money I wouldn't be willing to give up much more than Villar.

[Ennder]

It would be absolutely moronic for us to buy right now.

 

Not entirely true. If the Brewers can trade for someone who can help for the next 3+ years they should trade for them. Someone like Dee Gordon would be a good trade target kind of a win now and is signed through 2022 I believe at a fairly friendly contract.

 

I would eliminate Gray and Verlander from the list along with a few others. Definitely no to relief pitchers.

 

 

Dee Gordon is 29 already and can't hit. His contract is really not very friendly either, you are probably paying over 7M per win by 2019. He would bring some value on defense but not enough to actually give players up for him. I mean I get the idea but that would be a really poor target.

[Lathund]

It would be absolutely moronic for us to buy right now.

 

Not entirely true. If the Brewers can trade for someone who can help for the next 3+ years they should trade for them. Someone like Dee Gordon would be a good trade target kind of a win now and is signed through 2022 I believe at a fairly friendly contract.

 

I would eliminate Gray and Verlander from the list along with a few others. Definitely no to relief pitchers.

 

 

Dee Gordon is 29 already and can't hit. His contract is really not very friendly either, you are probably paying over 7M per win by 2019. He would bring some value on defense but not enough to actually give players up for him. I mean I get the idea but that would be a really poor target.

 

Indeed. We also have an inhouse option in Mauricio Dubon, if base-stealing slap hitters with good defense is something we're looking at. Obviously no guarantee that he'll be as good as Gordon, but worth exploring if we can get similar production for $9.5m less per year and without giving up any prospects. He's also one of those prospects I feel perhaps irrationally positive about so I'd like to see him given a chance.

 

And before he's ready, we have Jonathan Villar. I'm not a big fan of his, and I think it's 2016 that's the aberration rather than 2017. But that being said, the upside we know is there (Regardless of how likely, or not, you think he is to reach it again) means that it makes sense to not give up on him yet. No matter how frustrating he is to watch right now.

[adambr2]

It would be absolutely moronic for us to buy right now.

 

Not entirely true. If the Brewers can trade for someone who can help for the next 3+ years they should trade for them. Someone like Dee Gordon would be a good trade target kind of a win now and is signed through 2022 I believe at a fairly friendly contract.

 

I would eliminate Gray and Verlander from the list along with a few others. Definitely no to relief pitchers.

 

 

Dee Gordon is 29 already and can't hit.

 

?

 

Gordon is 8th in the NL in hits this year, was suspended half of 2016, led the NL in hits in 2015 and was 5th in 2014. He can definitely hit, he just can't draw a walk.

[Ennder]

 

?

 

Gordon is 8th in the NL in hits this year, was suspended half of 2016, led the NL in hits in 2015 and was 5th in 2014. He can definitely hit, he just can't draw a walk.

 

Out of qualified hitters Dee Gordon is 147th out of 168 players in wOBA. He is among the top 21 worst hitters in baseball. He shockingly has been worse than Broxton. If we traded for him the only player on our team who would not have out hit him this season that isn't a pitcher is Villar. Dee Gordon is a really bad major league baseball player outside of playing above average defense at 2B. He is not worth a $7M a year contract yet he is getting way more than that going on. Unlike Villar this isn't a fluke either, he did the same exact thing last year, he is one of the worst regular offensive players in baseball.