Brewers were exchanging names up until deadline, including one bigger trade

[Greenleaf1]

I'm really totally and completely fine with the approach Stearns took this year to the trade deadline. He was very aggressive, but stopped short of letting real assets go for short term help.

 

The rotation figures to be even better next year, we can use some of our available money to shore up the bullpen during the offseason, and maybe trade for a 2nd baseman (or maybe see what Dubon can do there full time). At this time next year, I'd expect we're going to be in a better position than we were this year and have a better chance at the playoffs. If that's the case, Stearns should still have a lot of trade chips to go out and get us what we need.

 

My only disappointment this deadline was that we didn't get Quintana. I think he would've been worth the price, but even if we did get Quintana there's no guarantee that would've woken up our bats like it did for the Cubs and we could still be in relatively the same position.

 

Next trade deadline and especially the crazy free agency offseason of 2018-2019 should be interesting to see what Stearns/Attanasio do to put this team into contention.

[lcbj68c]

Big Trade probably involved Miami. Maybe some sort of sending Braun home with Stanton or Straily involvement.

[lcbj68c]

The Brewers window hasn't even started.... they have realistically no true core or players outside of Braun who have any track record that 1st half performance wasn't a fluke. This team has more holes on roster than me trying to play goalie in men's league hockey (that's a lot) Arcia is growing & learning, hopefully Shaw, Domingo, Pina are for real, Braun can't stay on field this season. Villar has been terrible. Sogard is not as great as he started out. Our staff can't stay healthy. With way it's been going, he could have traded for one but they prob get hurt as well. Broxton is fire or ice. Brinson is struggling & mostly ice right now. Thames & Aguilar I still don't know what we truely have.

 

This is an overachieving team. Please.... for love of all that is holy look at the Nationals roster & staff! That is a contending team! They have a real core! They have 5 guys hitting .320+ with 20+HRs! Even without Strasburg, their rotation is strong!

 

Trading away our system to pretend we are even close to a true contender would be laughable. Windows start when top prospects come up & perform, Arcia & know Brinson are only two. Hader isn't starting. We will get there but no need to try to skip steps.

 

Great rational post. This is a .470 talent ball club that played .540'ish for the first half. The small grief that I have with Stearns is that he didn't sell. That's not to say he didn't try, but probably didn't try hard enough or wasn't enamored with the return. If you believe in the bats at Biloxi and Colorado Springs, then trade the overachieving hitters in Milwaukee for some higher ceiling/controllable arms. I still can't figure out if the bullpen is retched, Counsell is clueless how to apply their talents to situations, or both.

[Austin Tatious]

I have no idea what was on the table, but I'm glad we didn't overpay for anybody. I'm in the stay the course camp. I'd be pleasantly shocked if we win big this year.

 

Meanwhile, we have Hader, Woodruff, Ortiz, Peralta, and Burnes coming by 2019, with a number of other prospects like Medeiros, Ponce, Diplan, Taylor Williams, Devin Williams et al. Not all of them will end up being studs but there's enough there to see you'll have some starters and relievers on the near horizon. I can't recall a period in Brewer history with that amount of young pitching talent, in numbers, even if there doesn't appear to be a Sheets or Higuera in the mix.

 

On offense, I think you'll see Hiura on a fast track and be up here by 2019, and he will hit. Arcia is looking legit. Santana has been all we could ask for. Brinson and Phillips look really interesting. These guys will all have growing pains, but if you combine the numbers in pitching we have with possible position players, we can be quite balanced. The early 2000s group coming up had more high level position player talent bubbling up but lacked the pitching depth.

 

As for the Cubs, I don't remotely believe they are invincible for the next five years. I think a number of their position players, while good, are overhyped. And they will need to spend beaucoup bucks to keep them all.

 

I like where we are. I don't think there is any precedent in our past that should make is concerned. If anything, history tells us we are in a better position.

 

I agree with the fear of losing Stearns. I hope Mark A is proactive and spends to keep him here. He's a New Yorker and I fear the Mets or somebody trying to nab him. Extend him.

[PeaveyFury]

First off filling holes at the All Star break would have helped us win 2 or 3 lost games..

 

I think this is said with the benefit of hindsight.... we were in pretty good shape at the break, then won our first series afterward. Noone knew at that time that losing the last game of that series would be the start of the massive slide of the next couple of weeks. I don't think anyone was sitting here on July 15th thinking that massive moves needed to be made right then and there.

 

I started the Kinsler thread on July 18. Many others were ready to move on from Villar, especially from leadoff spot.

 

One trade proposal after the slide began doesn't really support your claim, especially when, as others have noted, Kinsler didn't perform well in July, and also doesn't pitch.

 

The trade this team should have made was the Madson/Doolittle trade on July 16th, which could have solidified the bullpen sooner and potentially swung some of the late inning losses into our favor. But again, that's with the benefit of hindsight.

[82brewcrew82]

Without knowing for who or for what, does it surprise anyone the ever passive Stearns didn't pull the trigger??

 

 

No, but it surprises me some people actually think Stearns is passive.

 

He certainly has been this month letting his rivals sew up the division while he stood pat.

 

 

wisely so

[82brewcrew82]

They are contending now!!! So looks like it is time to delete the account.

 

Are you like Briggs and really old afraid you will die before the next World Series appearance? Honest question because that is the only way to rationalize your thinking.

 

I have empathy for fans who will die before they seriously go after a championship. A lot will. Heck it's been 35 years and I see no sign that any World Series are likely anytime in the foreseeable future. There's an awful lot of fans that have passed away since 1982. They had a chance this year. Not a great chance but a chance and guess who got the 2 guys who would have been the most help? That's right. The Cubs did. I'm an optimist. I won't throw in the towel just yet. But it's discouraging.

 

As for the rebuild? That's almost laughable. I wish I had a dollar for every time I heard about some rosy future for this team. They had more hope when John Jaha, Jeff Cirillo and David Nilsson were top prospects in their system. How'd that work? And those guys actually had some success in the big leagues. They have some nice prospects. So what, they should have. Some of them aren't producing in A ball. Oops! Brewers can't go out and buy Jon Lester's of the world. They never will.

 

LOL, and I'm the Pope.

[82brewcrew82]

They are contending now!!! So looks like it is time to delete the account.

 

Are you like Briggs and really old afraid you will die before the next World Series appearance? Honest question because that is the only way to rationalize your thinking.

 

I have empathy for fans who will die before they seriously go after a championship. A lot will. Heck it's been 35 years and I see no sign that any World Series are likely anytime in the foreseeable future. There's an awful lot of fans that have passed away since 1982. They had a chance this year. Not a great chance but a chance and guess who got the 2 guys who would have been the most help? That's right. The Cubs did. I'm an optimist. I won't throw in the towel just yet. But it's discouraging.

 

As for the rebuild? That's almost laughable. I wish I had a dollar for every time I heard about some rosy future for this team. They had more hope when John Jaha, Jeff Cirillo and David Nilsson were top prospects in their system. How'd that work? And those guys actually had some success in the big leagues. They have some nice prospects. So what, they should have. Some of them aren't producing in A ball. Oops! Brewers can't go out and buy Jon Lester's of the world. They never will.

 

Which is why what Stearns has done is the correct play.

[Fear The Chorizo]

I have empathy for fans who will die before they seriously go after a championship. A lot will. Heck it's been 35 years and I see no sign that any World Series are likely anytime in the foreseeable future. There's an awful lot of fans that have passed away since 1982.

 

There aren't many posters on this board who are 6 and under, so pretty much all of us were alive and able to watch the 2011 season, which could've easily been the Brewers' best chance for a WS title had they not run into an even hotter team in the NLCS. And 2008 could've been much different had Sheets not broken down going in the final month and forced Sabathia to get burned out - nobody wanted to see that team in the playoffs when Sabathia and Sheets were both dominating. How do you consider those two teams as not seriously going after a championship? The 1982 squad didn't win the world series either, so they probably weren't serious enough, too...

 

This year's Brewer team is in a far different place than the 2008 and 2011 squads - they are essentially "contending" because the Cubs decided to take the 1st half of the season off celebrating a world series title. Look around the rest of the NL alone - the Dodgers and Nationals are juggernauts, and the Cubs had more than enough to get on a roll even before acquiring Quintana. The Cubs made that move to try and match up with WAS or LAD, not to overtake the Brewers in the standings. Stating the garbage salad that acquiring Quintana suddenly made the Cubs score more runs and the Brewers stop hitting because it motivated or disheartened their respective clubhouses is tired. The Brewers opened up the second half with 7 games against the Phils and Pirates - had they continued their pre AS break hot streak before facing the Nats and Cubs, I think they make more impactful trades with eyes of improving the MLB club this year. Instead they went 1-6, which was likely the death knell of throwing caution to the wind and "going for it". At the MLB level "motivation" comes primarily from the paper they receive every paycheck and their own drive to make the best possible career for themselves.

 

I'm looking forward to the last 2 months of baseball for this club - I think the two reliever deals they made are going to solidify the pen enough to go on another run if the bats come around. I also think it's great during a season where the Brewers were thought to be competing against the Reds for NL Central cellar dwellers that this roster gained experience playing meaningful games well into August/September. This team reminds me alot of the early-mid 2000's rosters who showed flashes and eventually got over the hump of playing winning baseball after 15+ seasons of stinking. It was obvious those rosters had too many holes to take seriously as WS contenders, but you could see the talent in Milwaukee and coming up through the minors, even with a bargain basement payroll - and obvious depth at certain positions in the organization that could be utilized to deal for impact pitching when the time was right.

[Humans Need Water]

My perspective is pretty straight forward. I don't play for the Brewers or any professional sports team so if, for example the Brewers, never make it to or win a WS in my lifetime I don't care. I'm a baseball fan first, Brewers fan second. My life does't, and won't ever, revolve around whether or not they win or lose.

 

The comparison between Stearns (this specific rebuild) and the rebuilds the fans "have been sold" the past 35yrs aren't even in the same ballpark given Stearns is operating in a way no other GM has. The Brewers won 68 games the year before he took over. 1.67 seasons later they're 2.5 games out of the division lead from the reigning WS champs and 4 games over 500 while also having a Top 5 farm system with Santana/Arcia (Top 100) already up full time and Hader/Brinson/Phillips/Woodruff (Top 100) up now or will be starting next year. Then there's still a ton of talent in the system still and we have an insanely low payroll. They're clearly in a good position moving forward.

 

Briggs, you were like 3-5yrs old when the Milwaukee Braves won a championship so it's already happened in your lifetime

[rickh150]

My perspective is pretty straight forward. I don't play for the Brewers or any professional sports team so if, for example the Brewers, never make it to or win a WS in my lifetime I don't care. I'm a baseball fan first, Brewers fan second. My life does't, and won't ever, revolve around whether or not they win or lose.

 

The comparison between Stearns (this specific rebuild) and the rebuilds the fans "have been sold" the past 35yrs aren't even in the same ballpark given Stearns is operating in a way no other GM has. The Brewers won 68 games the year before he took over. 1.67 seasons later they're 2.5 games out of the division lead from the reigning WS champs and 4 games over 500 while also having a Top 5 farm system with Santana/Arcia (Top 100) already up full time and Hader/Brinson/Phillips/Woodruff (Top 100) up now or will be starting next year. Then there's still a ton of talent in the system still and we have an insanely low payroll. They're clearly in a good position moving forward.

 

Briggs, you were like 3-5yrs old when the Milwaukee Braves won a championship so it's already happened in your lifetime

 

Melvin is responsible for many of the Brewers prospects and current players you listed. Remember that whenever you bash the old and praise the new.