What is your 2017-2018 off-season plan for the Brewers?

[pacopete4]

 

Trading Brinson in the right deal is one thing, many seem eager to basically issue a mandate that we must trade Brinson in a package for the best player he can get us this offseason. Talking about trading him for Gray or Archer makes that fairly clear.

 

I don't think this is a fair characterization. There are some that believe Archer is a TOR type of pitcher when looking deeper into this stats. I'm not saying I agree with that but pitching always trumps a position player if this were to be the case.

[rickh150]

If they non-tender Villar.....

First, I'd be thrilled. Not a fan of his. He might be a fine person and all, but I'm not big on noncontact leadoff men who can't run the bases. Funny thing is that he played little in Sept. and CC didn't want him pinch running. Can you believe that? The guy led baseball in steals in 2016!

Second, they would be eating serious crow. They played this guy well into the latter part of the season with few positives. They led him off, actually. And when Walker was added, they HAD to keep his bat in the lineup and play him in CF for a few games. How could they be this high on playing him in August and so low on him now? We'll see what they do.

Finally, the $ can't be a deciding factor, can it? Maybe $2 or $3 mil? It will be fully based on their belief of what he can do, right? Or will they roll the dice, non-tender him, and try to sign him for a little less?

Very interesting day tomorrow...

[adambr2]

Well they didn't non-tender Villar and it's probably the right call.

 

Give him a shot to regain his 2016 form, if he doesn't you can mix in Sogard and then move on from both after 2018. 2-3M for Villar and you have plenty of money to address the pen.

 

He was actually much better in the 2nd half last year. He just never had any chance to play after they acquired Walker.

[JohnBriggs12]

Well they didn't non-tender Villar and it's probably the right call.

 

Give him a shot to regain his 2016 form, if he doesn't you can mix in Sogard and then move on from both after 2018. 2-3M for Villar and you have plenty of money to address the pen.

 

He was actually much better in the 2nd half last year. He just never had any chance to play after they acquired Walker.

 

He was fourth string behind Walker, Sogard and Perez after they acquired Walker. Look Villar has a fairly extensive track record and it's not all that good. 2016 was the anomaly. He strikes out way too much. He makes too many errors, both mental and physical. Anyone who expect him to repeat his 2016 season will be disappointed. Stearns biggest mistake since he became GM was dumping Gennett for nothing and handing his job to Villar. Repeating that move is insane.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Well they didn't non-tender Villar and it's probably the right call.

 

Give him a shot to regain his 2016 form, if he doesn't you can mix in Sogard and then move on from both after 2018. 2-3M for Villar and you have plenty of money to address the pen.

 

He was actually much better in the 2nd half last year. He just never had any chance to play after they acquired Walker.

 

He was fourth string behind Walker, Sogard and Perez after they acquired Walker. Look Villar has a fairly extensive track record and it's not all that good. 2016 was the anomaly. He strikes out way too much. He makes too many errors, both mental and physical. Anyone who expect him to repeat his 2016 season will be disappointed. Stearns biggest mistake since he became GM was dumping Gennett for nothing and handing his job to Villar. Repeating that move is insane.

 

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/JizzeERcZjg/maxresdefault.jpg

[pacopete4]

We get it, Briggs. You love Gennett and hate Villar. Move on buddy, move on.

 

 

Villar will get an opportunity (as he should on a rebuilding ballclub) to win the job at second base. Too much talent there to not give him that opportunity and we'll see if he can do it. If he doesn't, they'll make an adjustment as they did a year ago. This really isn't that big of a deal.

[TJseven7]

Trade:

Broxton Ortiz Grisham for Yelich

Drake for a lottery ticket

 

Sign:

Jake Mcgee 3/24

Cishek 2/15

 

Pina vogt

Thames villar*** arcia shaw aguilar sogard perez

*** half of a season, put up or you get flipped for a prospect and I bring up Dubon.

Yelich santana Braun phillips

Anderson Davies Woodruff suter jungeman***

***Give suter jungemann wilkerson even perrin a shot to see if they can go 6ip at 4era while we have a chance to figure it out. Burnes Hader nelson FA signing or big trade will block them soon enough.

Knebel cishek hader### mcgee jeffress barnes guerra***

### Until secondary pitches are strikes and pitches per inning drop he stays a weapon arm.

***last chance as a long man

 

Rhp

Yelich cf

Thames/Braun 1b (soft platoon)

Shaw 3b

Santana/Braun lf (rest)

Phillips rf

Pina/vogt c (soft platoon)

sogard/villar 2b (soft platoon)

Arcia/sogard ss (rest)

Ph: aguilar perez some pina some braun

 

Lhp

Yelich cf (*rest phillips in cf bats 6th)

Braun lf

Shaw 3b (*rest perez at 3b bats 6th)

Santana rf

Aguilar 1b

Pina c

Villar 2b

Arcia ss

Ph: phillips vogt sogard bit of yelich shaw

 

*shaw yelich do not rest same day

 

If braun wasnt so dang injury prone I'd move aguilar and add wilkerson or perrin to the pen and try a 4-5 buddy system. Maybe we could move on from perez and shuttle dubon or brinson as needed. 4-Suter 18 batters or 5 ip... guerra 18 batters or 4 ip. 5-Jungemann 18 batters or 4 ip... wilkerson 18 batters or 4 ip. Jeffress to get out of 1st arm jams. Pen to close if needed. Barnes 2 ip in blowouts or game over spots.

[HighHeat19]

I know it hasn't been talked about much but I think Stearns needs to focus on increasing the pitching depth and talent on the farm. We really need to grow our own pitchers, especially as a small market team. I would love to see a Eric Thames for Jay Groome trade become a reality. We just don't have that needed stud yet.

[Warning Track Power]

Three moves to start...

 

Domingo Santana and Keon Broxton to Miami for Christian Yelich and Kyle Barraclough

 

Miami continues to shed salary in 2018 and gets an equivalent but different, cheaper player in Domingo for Yelich. Brewers get cost certainty and diversify their offense (less strikeouts, maybe equivalent power in Miller Park) in Yelich. Keon replaces Ozuna once he is dealt. Barraclough is a nice addition to the Brewer bullpen.

 

Monte Harrison, Luis Ortiz and Isan Diaz for Chris Archer

 

or

 

Monte Harrison, Luis Ortiz, Isan Diaz, Trent Grisham for Chris Archer and Jake Odorizzi

 

My proposal for Archer, may be light but may be right (3 top 10 Brewer prospects). I would be willing to expand the deal to get Odorizzi as I think Grisham would probably get Odorizzi straight up right now.

 

Rotation of: Archer, Anderson, Davies, Odorizzi, Woodruff,

Lineup of: Villar, Yelich, Braun, Shaw, Thames, Brinson/Phillips, Pina, Arcia

 

Attempt to sign some a couple of RP like McGee, Watson and Swarzak. Hope Nelson returns and is close to what he showed in 2017. I like this team and think it is competitive for the foreseeable future.

[KeithStone53151]

Three moves to start...

 

Domingo Santana and Keon Broxton to Miami for Christian Yelich and Kyle Barraclough

 

Miami continues to shed salary in 2018 and gets an equivalent but different, cheaper player in Domingo for Yelich. Brewers get cost certainty and diversify their offense (less strikeouts, maybe equivalent power in Miller Park) in Yelich. Keon replaces Ozuna once he is dealt. Barraclough is a nice addition to the Brewer bullpen.

 

Monte Harrison, Luis Ortiz and Isan Diaz for Chris Archer

 

or

 

Monte Harrison, Luis Ortiz, Isan Diaz, Trent Grisham for Chris Archer and Jake Odorizzi

 

My proposal for Archer, may be light but may be right (3 top 10 Brewer prospects). I would be willing to expand the deal to get Odorizzi as I think Grisham would probably get Odorizzi straight up right now.

 

Rotation of: Archer, Anderson, Davies, Odorizzi, Woodruff,

Lineup of: Villar, Yelich, Braun, Shaw, Thames, Brinson/Phillips, Pina, Arcia

 

Attempt to sign some a couple of RP like McGee, Watson and Swarzak. Hope Nelson returns and is close to what he showed in 2017. I like this team and think it is competitive for the foreseeable future.

 

Goodbye farm, hello window. I got the impression Stearns is trying to avoid the window theory and be consistently competitive.

[Warning Track Power]

Three moves to start...

 

Domingo Santana and Keon Broxton to Miami for Christian Yelich and Kyle Barraclough

 

Miami continues to shed salary in 2018 and gets an equivalent but different, cheaper player in Domingo for Yelich. Brewers get cost certainty and diversify their offense (less strikeouts, maybe equivalent power in Miller Park) in Yelich. Keon replaces Ozuna once he is dealt. Barraclough is a nice addition to the Brewer bullpen.

 

Monte Harrison, Luis Ortiz and Isan Diaz for Chris Archer

 

or

 

Monte Harrison, Luis Ortiz, Isan Diaz, Trent Grisham for Chris Archer and Jake Odorizzi

 

My proposal for Archer, may be light but may be right (3 top 10 Brewer prospects). I would be willing to expand the deal to get Odorizzi as I think Grisham would probably get Odorizzi straight up right now.

 

Rotation of: Archer, Anderson, Davies, Odorizzi, Woodruff,

Lineup of: Villar, Yelich, Braun, Shaw, Thames, Brinson/Phillips, Pina, Arcia

 

Attempt to sign some a couple of RP like McGee, Watson and Swarzak. Hope Nelson returns and is close to what he showed in 2017. I like this team and think it is competitive for the foreseeable future.

 

Goodbye farm, hello window. I got the impression Stearns is trying to avoid the window theory and be consistently competitive.

You really aren't eliminating the farm at all. You are trading 2 OFs in Harrison and Grisham (who should be blocked for the foreseeable future by Braun, Yelich, Brinson and Phillips) and still have Ray and Lutz on the farm. You move Ortiz and replace him with Archer which obviously is a huge win. Diaz is replaceable with Dubon or Hiura.

 

The enormous amount of Brewer farm depth takes a small hit but is not the Greinke or Marcum farm-killing deals by any stretch of the imagination.

[FmrBeerMan]

Three moves to start...

 

Domingo Santana and Keon Broxton to Miami for Christian Yelich and Kyle Barraclough

 

Miami continues to shed salary in 2018 and gets an equivalent but different, cheaper player in Domingo for Yelich. Brewers get cost certainty and diversify their offense (less strikeouts, maybe equivalent power in Miller Park) in Yelich. Keon replaces Ozuna once he is dealt. Barraclough is a nice addition to the Brewer bullpen.

 

Monte Harrison, Luis Ortiz and Isan Diaz for Chris Archer

 

or

 

Monte Harrison, Luis Ortiz, Isan Diaz, Trent Grisham for Chris Archer and Jake Odorizzi

 

My proposal for Archer, may be light but may be right (3 top 10 Brewer prospects). I would be willing to expand the deal to get Odorizzi as I think Grisham would probably get Odorizzi straight up right now.

 

Rotation of: Archer, Anderson, Davies, Odorizzi, Woodruff,

Lineup of: Villar, Yelich, Braun, Shaw, Thames, Brinson/Phillips, Pina, Arcia

 

Attempt to sign some a couple of RP like McGee, Watson and Swarzak. Hope Nelson returns and is close to what he showed in 2017. I like this team and think it is competitive for the foreseeable future.

 

Goodbye farm, hello window. I got the impression Stearns is trying to avoid the window theory and be consistently competitive.

 

 

This is the path I would like to see us tread down. Avoid the window theory be consistently competitive and we shall see what happens. I would rather take an extra couple of years waiting for prospects and continuing to build the farm. Try to be consistently competitive like the Cards, rather than having to go through a rebuild all the time after a few years of having a shot.

[bill hAll Star]

Three moves to start...

 

Domingo Santana and Keon Broxton to Miami for Christian Yelich and Kyle Barraclough

 

Miami continues to shed salary in 2018 and gets an equivalent but different, cheaper player in Domingo for Yelich. Brewers get cost certainty and diversify their offense (less strikeouts, maybe equivalent power in Miller Park) in Yelich. Keon replaces Ozuna once he is dealt. Barraclough is a nice addition to the Brewer bullpen.

 

Monte Harrison, Luis Ortiz and Isan Diaz for Chris Archer

 

or

 

Monte Harrison, Luis Ortiz, Isan Diaz, Trent Grisham for Chris Archer and Jake Odorizzi

 

My proposal for Archer, may be light but may be right (3 top 10 Brewer prospects). I would be willing to expand the deal to get Odorizzi as I think Grisham would probably get Odorizzi straight up right now.

 

Rotation of: Archer, Anderson, Davies, Odorizzi, Woodruff,

Lineup of: Villar, Yelich, Braun, Shaw, Thames, Brinson/Phillips, Pina, Arcia

 

Attempt to sign some a couple of RP like McGee, Watson and Swarzak. Hope Nelson returns and is close to what he showed in 2017. I like this team and think it is competitive for the foreseeable future.

 

Goodbye farm, hello window. I got the impression Stearns is trying to avoid the window theory and be consistently competitive.

You really aren't eliminating the farm at all. You are trading 2 OFs in Harrison and Grisham (who should be blocked for the foreseeable future by Braun, Yelich, Brinson and Phillips) and still have Ray and Lutz on the farm. You move Ortiz and replace him with Archer which obviously is a huge win. Diaz is replaceable with Dubon or Hiura.

 

The enormous amount of Brewer farm depth takes a small hit but is not the Greinke or Marcum farm-killing deals by any stretch of the imagination.

 

The Rays, by definition of a professional team with a good GM, will likely be trying to extract our best prospects. If we've got 8 good prospects in a group that we're offering to the Rays, they're going to angle to get the 3 they think will be best. It's possible that we think we are loaded with OF prospects but the evaluators look at it and know that only 2 or 3 are realistically good players. And the Rays will want them.

 

The larger issue I have with it when discussing lower level prospects especially is, "we've got other prospects." If we have a spot to fill, I want 3 prospects for it unless one of them is a blue chipper. Odds are that Ray or Lutz or Brinson are a bust and then you're forced to go the free agent route in a few years to fill the void left by Braun being done or Brinson not living up to expectations. Or one or of them gets hurt.

 

If Braun gets hurt for an extended period, we currently have guys to go to to fill out the roster. After that trade, if Braun or Yelich go down, we're looking to raw lower-level prospects or we're praying that Phillips can be not terrible against lefties in an everyday role. Or we're back to the Doug Melvin playbook of placing a call to Mark Kotsay.

 

If we want to keep the "always competitive" and no windows thing, we can't be just throwing away prospects because "well we've got another guy who might fill that role." The hit rate is not very high and we likely will end up with nobody to fill those roles.

 

To be fair, Lawrie was a bust, but in the discussion of how we'd fill 3B and 2B after Weeks and McGehee, it was, "well, we've got Mat Gamel and Taylor Green." We ended up with nobody in either role and had to fill via free agency. Scooter ended up being alright, but there was an organizational hole at both positions.

[bill hAll Star]

Also, I don't think Miami trades Yelich for Santana, essentially. I also think that Barraclough is more valuable than Broxton.

 

Yelich is the better all-around player at this point. Their contracts aren't vastly different at this point other than this year. If they're trading Yelich, it's for a prospect that's not in the majors yet. By the time they turn the thing around, Santana will be nearing the end of arbitration.

 

Santana is probably 500k/5/8/12 if he's a good player. Yelich is 7/9/12.5/14/option. You save some money with Yelich to Santana but if Jeter is truly concerned with a few million bucks in a non-competitive year, that ownership group is cooked. They're looking for deals that dump 10s of millions like the Stanton deal or attaching something to get rid of Chen. They're not going to give Yelich away for an inferior player to save $5 million this year and $2 million/year for the 3 after it.

[patrickgpe]

I really don't think much is needed. I would love if the brewers traded one OF, resigned Swarczyk, added one more reliever and starter via free agency or trade. I would really like an outfield of Brinson, Phillips and Braun, with Santana traded for said pitching.

[pacopete4]

So far, booooooorrrrrriiinnnnggggg!

 

 

The Winter Meetings (other than the pre-Stanton deal) have just been a dud so far.

[patrickgpe]

I believe last season was similar, not much movement the first 2 days. Groundwork is being laid now for moves and trades. I think once the first big Free Agent signs it will set the market and more moves will follow soon thereafter.

[KeithStone53151]

So far, booooooorrrrrriiinnnnggggg!

 

 

The Winter Meetings (other than the pre-Stanton deal) have just been a dud so far.

 

I couldn't agree more. Aside from the big 2 moves(Stanton/Ohtani) there have been a complete small trade and a couple relief pitchers signed. There are so many big FA and trades that will inevitably happen, I'm not sure what the holdup is.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

I have to say, though, that it's a little unnerving and frustrating to hear the Cardinals attached to every big name free agent and trade target out there, while we hear crickets from the Brewers. Granted its a long offseason, and a big announcement could happen at any time, but it still is kind of a downer to see rivals like the Cubs and Cardinals get better, while the Brewers maintain the status quo.

[pacopete4]

I have to say, though, that it's a little unnerving and frustrating to hear the Cardinals attached to every big name free agent and trade target out there, while we hear crickets from the Brewers. Granted its a long offseason, and a big announcement could happen at any time, but it still is kind of a downer to see rivals like the Cubs and Cardinals get better, while the Brewers maintain the status quo.

 

To be fair, the Cardinals need to make quite a few moves to get better while the Cubs are in a different place than the Brewers.

[KeithStone53151]

I have to say, though, that it's a little unnerving and frustrating to hear the Cardinals attached to every big name free agent and trade target out there, while we hear crickets from the Brewers. Granted its a long offseason, and a big announcement could happen at any time, but it still is kind of a downer to see rivals like the Cubs and Cardinals get better, while the Brewers maintain the status quo.

 

To be fair, the Cardinals need to make quite a few moves to get better while the Cubs are in a different place than the Brewers.

 

The Brewers always keep their specific intentions close to the vest, we might be just as involved in the cardinals on a lot of guys and it just isn't being reported. And there have been very few major signings. We've seen a handful of relievers come off the market, but there are tons of bullpen options and the ones I'm most interested in are still available.

 

I just want some stuff to happen, I was excited for this week and it's been a major dud so far.

[Warning Track Power]

I had some other plans earlier in the offseason, but at this point I think I would like to see:

 

1. Re-sign Neil Walker (2 years $22 million)

2. Sign Jonathan Lucroy (2 years $20 million)

3. Trade OF (Harrison), SP (Ortiz) & 2B (Diaz) prospect for Archer

 

I really love the IF of Shaw-Arcia-Walker-Thames, with Aguilar and Sogard off the bench. Walker would allow the Brewers to move Villar (possibly as a final piece in a deal for Archer) and should cover the years before Hiura reaches Milwaukee.

 

I would love to bring Lucroy back to work with the young pitchers that have made their debuts (Brandon Woodruff, Aaron Wilkerson, Adrian Houser and Taylor Williams) or are going to making their debuts shortly (Corbin Burnes). I think he will be 85% of the Lucroy of old for the next two seasons and a combination of Lucroy-Pina is quite good.

 

I won't beat to death the trade of a few prospects for an SP but Archer remains my target. A mid-season rotation of Archer, Anderson, Davies, Chacin/Woodruff and (hopefully) Nelson looks very strong.

 

The back of the bullpen of Knebel-Hader is near elite and has the potential to be shutdown if Jeffress can return to form and take over the 8th. If pieces are needed, the Brewers still have the ammunition in the farm to acquire a piece or two in July.

 

This team would still be able to compete with older veterans (Braun, Lucroy, Walker, Thames) while also allowing the younger guys to develop and replace them in a few years (Brinson, Phillips, Hiura, etc...).

 

I think this team would win 88+ games and would certainly be in the mix for the playoffs while not decimating the farm system.

[KeithStone53151]

I had some other plans earlier in the offseason, but at this point I think I would like to see:

 

1. Re-sign Neil Walker (2 years $22 million)

2. Sign Jonathan Lucroy (2 years $20 million)

3. Trade OF (Harrison), SP (Ortiz) & 2B (Diaz) prospect for Archer

 

I really love the IF of Shaw-Arcia-Walker-Thames, with Aguilar and Sogard off the bench. Walker would allow the Brewers to move Villar (possibly as a final piece in a deal for Archer) and should cover the years before Hiura reaches Milwaukee.

 

I would love to bring Lucroy back to work with the young pitchers that have made their debuts (Brandon Woodruff, Aaron Wilkerson, Adrian Houser and Taylor Williams) or are going to making their debuts shortly (Corbin Burnes). I think he will be 85% of the Lucroy of old for the next two seasons and a combination of Lucroy-Pina is quite good.

 

I won't beat to death the trade of a few prospects for an SP but Archer remains my target. A mid-season rotation of Archer, Anderson, Davies, Chacin/Woodruff and (hopefully) Nelson looks very strong.

 

The back of the bullpen of Knebel-Hader is near elite and has the potential to be shutdown if Jeffress can return to form and take over the 8th. If pieces are needed, the Brewers still have the ammunition in the farm to acquire a piece or two in July.

 

This team would still be able to compete with older veterans (Braun, Lucroy, Walker, Thames) while also allowing the younger guys to develop and replace them in a few years (Brinson, Phillips, Hiura, etc...).

 

I think this team would win 88+ games and would certainly be in the mix for the playoffs while not decimating the farm system.

 

What I want to see disagrees with just about all of this, but all of those things could make some degree of sense except the Lucroy piece. Why Lucroy? I personally don't want him to work with our young pitchers as I firmly believe he's a terrible game caller. All his pitch selections are way too obvious, every hitter can see them coming from a mile away. And his bat has significantly regressed. We have pina and other solid/unspectacular options behind the dish. Spending like that on what very likely could be a downgrade in Lucroy makes zero sense to me.

[Warning Track Power]

I had some other plans earlier in the offseason, but at this point I think I would like to see:

 

1. Re-sign Neil Walker (2 years $22 million)

2. Sign Jonathan Lucroy (2 years $20 million)

3. Trade OF (Harrison), SP (Ortiz) & 2B (Diaz) prospect for Archer

 

I really love the IF of Shaw-Arcia-Walker-Thames, with Aguilar and Sogard off the bench. Walker would allow the Brewers to move Villar (possibly as a final piece in a deal for Archer) and should cover the years before Hiura reaches Milwaukee.

 

I would love to bring Lucroy back to work with the young pitchers that have made their debuts (Brandon Woodruff, Aaron Wilkerson, Adrian Houser and Taylor Williams) or are going to making their debuts shortly (Corbin Burnes). I think he will be 85% of the Lucroy of old for the next two seasons and a combination of Lucroy-Pina is quite good.

 

I won't beat to death the trade of a few prospects for an SP but Archer remains my target. A mid-season rotation of Archer, Anderson, Davies, Chacin/Woodruff and (hopefully) Nelson looks very strong.

 

The back of the bullpen of Knebel-Hader is near elite and has the potential to be shutdown if Jeffress can return to form and take over the 8th. If pieces are needed, the Brewers still have the ammunition in the farm to acquire a piece or two in July.

 

This team would still be able to compete with older veterans (Braun, Lucroy, Walker, Thames) while also allowing the younger guys to develop and replace them in a few years (Brinson, Phillips, Hiura, etc...).

 

I think this team would win 88+ games and would certainly be in the mix for the playoffs while not decimating the farm system.

 

What I want to see disagrees with just about all of this, but all of those things could make some degree of sense except the Lucroy piece. Why Lucroy? I personally don't want him to work with our young pitchers as I firmly believe he's a terrible game caller. All his pitch selections are way too obvious, every hitter can see them coming from a mile away. And his bat has significantly regressed. We have pina and other solid/unspectacular options behind the dish. Spending like that on what very likely could be a downgrade in Lucroy makes zero sense to me.

Walker and Archer make sense to me for different reasons. Walker to cover the time until Hiura gets to Milwaukee and Archer because he is a cost and team-controlled high end pitcher that wouldn't (in this scenario) require us to give up anything more than replaceable organizational depth (Brinson, Phillips, Burnes, Hiura, Dubon all could replace Harrison, Ortiz and Diaz).

 

Lucroy because offensively he looked back in Colorado and I am afraid of the combination of potential Pina offensive regression, Vogt's age and D and Bandy and Susac's 2017 performance. In 142 ABs after the trade, Lucroy hit .310/.429/.437. I think catcher is a position where it could cost "relatively" little to provide some insurance.

[KeithStone53151]

I had some other plans earlier in the offseason, but at this point I think I would like to see:

 

1. Re-sign Neil Walker (2 years $22 million)

2. Sign Jonathan Lucroy (2 years $20 million)

3. Trade OF (Harrison), SP (Ortiz) & 2B (Diaz) prospect for Archer

 

I really love the IF of Shaw-Arcia-Walker-Thames, with Aguilar and Sogard off the bench. Walker would allow the Brewers to move Villar (possibly as a final piece in a deal for Archer) and should cover the years before Hiura reaches Milwaukee.

 

I would love to bring Lucroy back to work with the young pitchers that have made their debuts (Brandon Woodruff, Aaron Wilkerson, Adrian Houser and Taylor Williams) or are going to making their debuts shortly (Corbin Burnes). I think he will be 85% of the Lucroy of old for the next two seasons and a combination of Lucroy-Pina is quite good.

 

I won't beat to death the trade of a few prospects for an SP but Archer remains my target. A mid-season rotation of Archer, Anderson, Davies, Chacin/Woodruff and (hopefully) Nelson looks very strong.

 

The back of the bullpen of Knebel-Hader is near elite and has the potential to be shutdown if Jeffress can return to form and take over the 8th. If pieces are needed, the Brewers still have the ammunition in the farm to acquire a piece or two in July.

 

This team would still be able to compete with older veterans (Braun, Lucroy, Walker, Thames) while also allowing the younger guys to develop and replace them in a few years (Brinson, Phillips, Hiura, etc...).

 

I think this team would win 88+ games and would certainly be in the mix for the playoffs while not decimating the farm system.

 

What I want to see disagrees with just about all of this, but all of those things could make some degree of sense except the Lucroy piece. Why Lucroy? I personally don't want him to work with our young pitchers as I firmly believe he's a terrible game caller. All his pitch selections are way too obvious, every hitter can see them coming from a mile away. And his bat has significantly regressed. We have pina and other solid/unspectacular options behind the dish. Spending like that on what very likely could be a downgrade in Lucroy makes zero sense to me.

Walker and Archer make sense to me for different reasons. Walker to cover the time until Hiura gets to Milwaukee and Archer because he is a cost and team-controlled high end pitcher that wouldn't (in this scenario) require us to give up anything more than replaceable organizational depth (Brinson, Phillips, Burnes, Hiura, Dubon all could replace Harrison, Ortiz and Diaz).

 

Lucroy because offensively he looked back in Colorado and I am afraid of the combination of potential Pina offensive regression, Vogt's age and D and Bandy and Susac's 2017 performance. In 142 ABs after the trade, Lucroy hit .310/.429/.437. I think catcher is a position where it could cost "relatively" little to provide some insurance.

 

I see your points on Walker and Archer. It's not a route I'd personally prefer to go, but I get it. Lucroy however, I don't. The stat line you list of 310/429/437 is solid, but not in Colorado. That slugging % is abysmal considering his 310 avg and he's in Colorado. There's a reason he was consistently batting 8th in that lineup. The power is gone out of his bat. A good offensive line for him not in Colorado is probably 280/350/400. That isn't bad by any stretch, but then consider he's a liability behind the plate and he's not worth the contract. Not only is he not worth the contract, but it's probably more likely than not that at least one of the four catchers on the roster is more valuable than Lucroy in 2018.