Darvish

[tmwiese55]

The more I think about this, the happier I'd be with the Brewers getting Darvish over Arrieta.

 

I think my enthusiasm wanes the bigger the deal gets though. I really hope that any deal we give any starter is 4 years or less.

 

4/100 is something I could live with for Darvish though, I think, assuming that Attanasio is willing to bump yearly payroll up to the $120M range.

 

Wouldn't the Brewers still be well below that, even with signing Darvish?

 

Yup, in Haudricourt's article today on the topic he said the below. So tack on Yu and you're in the 80s somewhere.

 

"The Brewers played last season with an actual player payroll of less than $60 million, the lowest of the 30 clubs. If they make no further additions of note before opening day, they will operate in that same neighborhood in 2018."

[Warning Track Power]

I think 86 wins with a young team and a bunch of prospects likely to be ready in the next 2 seasons answers whether they’re ready to compete

 

No, there's a ton more to it than that. It's like a job interview except form the employee's end.

 

Stuff like:

What is the projected revenue from the Brewer's in the next 5 years and exactly how much did the Brewer's make and how much can they make. In other words, can the Brewer's spend at future deadlines if needed to push.

 

What are the Brewer's philosophy on hitting, pitching and the game itself?

 

What are Brewer's Front office tendencies?

 

Is there a vibrant Asian community in Milwaukee?

 

Etc, etc....

Two different viewpoints on this from me:

 

1. In order to get Darvish to come to Milwaukee without the vibrant Asian communities seen in the major markets, I would think the offer would have to be 5 years $130ish.

2. If Darvish is asking the other questions, would he take less to come to Milwaukee if he were impressed by the answers to team building and revenue streams given a $25-$30 million contract annually to one player could significantly hamstring these acquisitions?

[MadThinker88]

Being 1 game out of the playoffs with a young team should be enough to be considered competing in coming years. Add in that Cin and Pit are in tank mode and that helps too. .....

 

I would be careful putting Pit as a team on the tank list.

If you thought the Brewers were developing and progressing and the start of 2017 (& not tanking), then the Pirates are not tanking. Both moves were logical and they got players for the current MLB roster...

[tmwiese55]

Interesting idea I thought of as we just talked about the team salary this year would be to front load this deal. Give him much more this year and taper it down in future years. Kind of like a signing bonus in football. I'd think the player would like this as a 'perk' in that they get the money in their hands for investing and so forth. With the Brewers payroll being so low this year it would help them out in the future as they try to add other pieces or start paying prospects who pan out.

 

Also would make the contract more easily tradeable if needed down the line.

[tmwiese55]

Being 1 game out of the playoffs with a young team should be enough to be considered competing in coming years. Add in that Cin and Pit are in tank mode and that helps too. .....

 

I would be careful putting Pit as a team on the tank list.

If you thought the Brewers were developing and progressing and the start of 2017 (& not tanking), then the Pirates are not tanking. Both moves were logical and they got players for the current MLB roster...

 

You're right, "Tank" wasn't the right word there. More just that they are teams you do not expect to compete for the division the next couple years. I wouldn't say they're trying to lose enough to get top 5 picks or anything. So you should get some extra Ws from them and we should expect to be at least top 3 in the division the next few years so that gets you int he WC conversation most years.

[MadThinker88]

Perhaps having the dome helps MKE vs the open air of Minnesota...

 

Don't a majority of the Japanese parks have domes/ covers??

[FVBrewerFan]

Being 1 game out of the playoffs with a young team should be enough to be considered competing in coming years. Add in that Cin and Pit are in tank mode and that helps too.

 

There's a difference between "being competitive" if everything goes just right, and competing at the highest level. Does Darvish believe the Brewers can be a legit WS contender in the next couple years, that's the question.

 

That said, there's no guarantees when it come to this. The Brewers aren't in a position to guarantee they can compete at the highest level the way the Dodgers, Cubs, Nats, Yankees, Astros, etc. can. Point being, it will take a bit of a leap of faith no matter what.

[Eye Black]

If Darvish signs for four years and $100 million I have a feeling it will be somewhere else. If the Brewers are going to land Darvish I think they will need to do at least ONE of these three things:

 

1) Offer closer to a $27-$30 million AAV

2) Add a 5th or 6th year to the deal

3) Offer a player opt out clause in the deal

[tmwiese55]

Being 1 game out of the playoffs with a young team should be enough to be considered competing in coming years. Add in that Cin and Pit are in tank mode and that helps too.

 

There's a difference between "being competitive" if everything goes just right, and competing at the highest level. Does Darvish believe the Brewers can be a legit WS contender in the next couple years, that's the question.

 

That said, there's no guarantees when it come to this. The Brewers aren't in a position to guarantee they can compete at the highest level the way the Dodgers, Cubs, Nats, Yankees, Astros, etc. can. Point being, it will take a bit of a leap of faith no matter what.

 

Very true, the assumption is that the top teams aren't offering legit deals or he wouldn't even be talking to us. Nats/Stros are loaded at pitching. Dodgers would be the easiest thing so there must be a disconnect. Yanks obviously need P but have the tax issue on their hands, they really should be the most obvious landing spot but there must be a disconnect if he's talking to MKE and MN.

 

Then take other seemingly fit teams like Angels, Seattle, TX and it's fair to say MKE has a better shot to win than them. I'd probably call us an MN a wash for winning since the AL central is brutal after Cleveland. But it's AL and cold weather outdoors for the first 6 weeks and in any potential playoffs. I know he's pitched AL majority of his career but pitching in the NL is so much easier as long as you're ok with having to bat.

 

Still, I fully expect him to shop our deal to one of those other teams and they'll beat us by a bit and that will be it.

[FVBrewerFan]

Being 1 game out of the playoffs with a young team should be enough to be considered competing in coming years. Add in that Cin and Pit are in tank mode and that helps too.

 

There's a difference between "being competitive" if everything goes just right, and competing at the highest level. Does Darvish believe the Brewers can be a legit WS contender in the next couple years, that's the question.

 

That said, there's no guarantees when it come to this. The Brewers aren't in a position to guarantee they can compete at the highest level the way the Dodgers, Cubs, Nats, Yankees, Astros, etc. can. Point being, it will take a bit of a leap of faith no matter what.

 

Still, I fully expect him to shop our deal to one of those other teams and they'll beat us by a bit and that will be it.

 

And if that does happen, can't help but wonder if that is by design- similar to the Prince Fielder offer. I doubt it, as Stearns doesn't seem like the type to waste time playing that game. But there will always be that 1% of me that can see it's a nod at the fans to show "See, we're trying to compete with the big boys, and we'll spend the money."

[MrTPlush]

Wonder how much he cares about being “the man” in Milwaukee. He would almost essentially become the face of the franchise. Brewer fans have been dying for a TOR guy, he would have the potential to be a savior of sorts.

[Greenleaf1]

I don't really see the Brewers wading into the Darvish pool unless we thought we could get him for 1. less money or 2. less years, probably a mixture of both.

 

An opt out clause would be interesting, say 4/100 with a player opt out after 2 years? I'm not wild about player opt out clauses in general because it's lose-lose for the team (either the player is really good and you lose them or they're not good and you still have to pay them), so we'll see if Stearns sees value in them to try to woo players to Milwaukee who would prefer to go elsewhere.

 

My hope is that the Brewers have entered the fray because the market is so soft, and not because they suddenly decided to get into the 6 year/$140M range for free agents.

[Boomer5]

Are we all just going to forget his WS performances?

[tmwiese55]

Are we all just going to forget his WS performances?

 

Any pitcher you look at you'll find bad games. It also came out that he was tipping his pitches and Houston figured it out, easily fixable.

 

Would you want Kershaw on your team, he usually gets beat up in the playoffs?

[brewerfan82]

Are we all just going to forget his WS performances?

You mean 3.1 innings out of 850+ career innings? Yeah, I'm willing to look past that.

[StearnsFTW]

Are we all just going to forget his WS performances?

 

I know I am. I'd take Kershaw too despite his bad post season record.

[MrTPlush]

Are we all just going to forget his WS performances?

 

Yah, cause it would be pretty darn dumb to judge a player on 2 games. Do we ignore his NLCS and NLDS performances or his stellar 2012 Wild Care game?

 

For a franchise that hasn’t seen a World Series since 1982 day I don’t think we should concern ourselves with World Series performance when we struggle to make the playoffs more than once every half decade.

[Klements Bratwurst]

For what it was worth on Darvish tipping pitches, they did a big segment on it on the MLB network that I saw a few weeks ago. They showed him before the playoffs and during the World Series. He was if I recall, switching his grip in his hand before coming set. The ball flipping around in his right hand meant that Yu was throwing his slider or cutter because when he didn't do that, he threw a fastball. Houston picked that up and pounded him for it.

[JDBrewCrew]

Jerry Crasnick

‏

Verified account

 

@jcrasnick

49s50 seconds ago

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Yu Darvish has at least one five-year offer on the table, according to a source, but nothing yet has enticed him to take the plunge. It's uncertain if the years or the $$ are the hangup -- or both. #Cubs, #Twins, #Rangers, #Dodgers, #Brewers are all believed to be in the mix.

[wallus]

Jerry Crasnick

‏

Verified account

 

@jcrasnick

49s50 seconds ago

More

Yu Darvish has at least one five-year offer on the table, according to a source, but nothing yet has enticed him to take the plunge. It's uncertain if the years or the $$ are the hangup -- or both. #Cubs, #Twins, #Rangers, #Dodgers, #Brewers are all believed to be in the mix.

 

I am guessing us adding the 5th year is what put us on the map for him.

[pacopete4]

#AlwaysMentionedLast

[HighHeat19]

My source says the Brewers are pushing hard to get Darvish. As in make your mind up soon or were going elsewhere.

[pacopete4]

My source says the Brewers are pushing hard to get Darvish. As in make your mind up soon or were going elsewhere.

Good. Make the diva make up his mind already. Come to Milwaukee, have some beer and pitch like an ace. It'll be fun!

[MrTPlush]

Aggressiveness would probably hint the Brewers are that lone 5 year offer. That would give them a little power because if they drop out he may get stuck with all 4 year offers.

[tmwiese55]

I just want to say thanks to HH for providing what he can. I know on some boards of this nature these guys get nitpicked, bashed when they're wrong, or accused of being full of it. I've never understood that, I'd want anyone to feel welcome providing whatever info they're comfortable sharing rather than fear of being accused of trolling or just wanting attention.