What's Next

[paul253]

Up til the suspension he was valuable in the OF and not fragile. He's old now... and frankly when did we have 3 starters worth starting in the OF in the past 4 years?

 

Last year would have been the perfect time to do it. We hadn’t planned on going anywhere. We had young outfielder prospects making their way up. We had absolutely nothing at first base. Yet it didn’t happen then.

 

I have been fairly outspoken on this in the past but I’ll say it again now. It’s absolute crap that one league has a DH and one doesn’t. For like the third or fourth time in recent memory the Brewers are probably going to make moves they wouldn’t have had to make if they had a DH. Additionally Braun would benefit immensely from being about to DH regularly, as would the Brewers as a whole.

[JohnBriggs12]

While I like the idea of a lineup with Santana, Cain and Yelich, I'd like a defensive outfield of Yelich, Cain and Phillips even more. Santana was the defensive weak link in the OF. Cain and Yelich are ticketed for CF and LF. Braun and Perez are better RF than Santana. Phillips can be outstanding. Start the year with a soft platoon in RF with Phillips and Braun. If Phillips doesn't hit enough, fall back to Braun there getting most of the starts. Until then, get Braun a start or two per week at 1B to get his bat in the lineup during the times that Thames is cold.

 

Get a deal done with Indians for a starter using Santana. Then let's be done with it. Maybe sign Walker for some infield punch too. That would be my plan.

[adambr2]

If Santana gets traded which he should be Braun is starting in the OF somewhere. Phillips if still here will get plenty of PT as the 4th OFer especially being able to play anywhere. I know they are talking about Braun at 1st but it seems like a waste to me when it leaves Aguilar completely out in the cold and I don't see Braun at 1st being any upgrade from a Thames/Aguilar platoon.

 

My preference would be to trade Domingo, Yelich in left, Cain in center, Braun in right. It seems like a waste of Yelich's defensive strengths to me to have him in right. Was Braun really that bad of a defensive RFer? I honestly don't remember.

[MillerParkSouth]

Santana for Salazar and Kipnis? Gets us a pitcher and 2B, both with 3 years control. Maybe Cleveland kicks in some $ for Kipnis' contract. We fill some holes, Cleveland clears some salary and gets their righty OF.

[FVBrewerFan]

While I like the idea of a lineup with Santana, Cain and Yelich, I'd like a defensive outfield of Yelich, Cain and Phillips even more. Santana was the defensive weak link in the OF. Cain and Yelich are ticketed for CF and LF. Braun and Perez are better RF than Santana. Phillips can be outstanding. Start the year with a soft platoon in RF with Phillips and Braun. If Phillips doesn't hit enough, fall back to Braun there getting most of the starts. Until then, get Braun a start or two per week at 1B to get his bat in the lineup during the times that Thames is cold.

 

Get a deal done with Indians for a starter using Santana. Then let's be done with it. Maybe sign Walker for some infield punch too. That would be my plan.

 

Agree 100%. Back when we still had Brinson I dreamed of the day we would have a fast athletic OF across the board.

This would leave Aguilar as the odd man out, but someone has to go. If Phillips hits enough, he would backup CF and OF as well. Ideally Phillips would just rise up and take RF, and Braun gets his ABs planning at 1B and backing up the corner OF.

[MrTPlush]

Ryan Braun could not read a ball off the bat to save his life in RF. His reaction time was bad, lots of first steps in when it was hit hard, and took pretty bad routes. It was definitely below average defense and he probably has not trended up with age.

 

Also Santana was definitely the failed 1B project I was thinking of. The Astros scraped it so fast he never saw game action.

[KeithStone53151]

Ryan Braun could not read a ball off the bat to save his life in RF. His reaction time was bad, lots of first steps in when it was hit hard, and took pretty bad routes. It was definitely below average defense and he probably has not trended up with age.

 

Also Santana was definitely the failed 1B project I was thinking of. The Astros scraped it so fast he never saw game action.

 

The Braun to 1b thing could be 100% misdirection by Stearns, a leverage comment. OR, Braun could have spent all offseason working out at 1b and learning the position. They all claim this isn't somehting that just popped up. He's had months to prep to learn 1b. I don't think they are planning on Braun playing 1b without having some idea whether he can handle it. He's had months to work at it...

[82brewcrew82]

Ryan Braun could not read a ball off the bat to save his life in RF. His reaction time was bad, lots of first steps in when it was hit hard, and took pretty bad routes. It was definitely below average defense and he probably has not trended up with age.

 

Also Santana was definitely the failed 1B project I was thinking of. The Astros scraped it so fast he never saw game action.

 

The Braun to 1b thing could be 100% misdirection by Stearns, a leverage comment. OR, Braun could have spent all off season working out at 1b and learning the position. They all claim this isn't something that just popped up. He's had months to prep to learn 1b. I don't think they are planning on Braun playing 1b without having some idea whether he can handle it. He's had months to work at it...

I heard Counsel on the MLB channel on Sirius XM on Friday afternoon. He said in that interview that he and Braun started having conversations about 1B before last season was over. He also seemed pretty convinced that Santana would be on the team and would be playing a lot. That last part might be misdirection but the former has certainly been in the works for some time.

[adambr2]

While I like the idea of a lineup with Santana, Cain and Yelich, I'd like a defensive outfield of Yelich, Cain and Phillips even more. Santana was the defensive weak link in the OF. Cain and Yelich are ticketed for CF and LF. Braun and Perez are better RF than Santana. Phillips can be outstanding. Start the year with a soft platoon in RF with Phillips and Braun. If Phillips doesn't hit enough, fall back to Braun there getting most of the starts. Until then, get Braun a start or two per week at 1B to get his bat in the lineup during the times that Thames is cold.

 

Get a deal done with Indians for a starter using Santana. Then let's be done with it. Maybe sign Walker for some infield punch too. That would be my plan.

 

Agree 100%. Back when we still had Brinson I dreamed of the day we would have a fast athletic OF across the board.

This would leave Aguilar as the odd man out, but someone has to go. If Phillips hits enough, he would backup CF and OF as well. Ideally Phillips would just rise up and take RF, and Braun gets his ABs planning at 1B and backing up the corner OF.

 

Aguilar is very suited for his role as a platoon only 1B. He did a good job of it and OPSed near. 900 against lefties. Unless you think Aguilar just played well over his head, we gain nothing with a Thames/Braun platoon over a Thames/Aguilar. So Braun will get 50 or so starts at 1st, then what else? It's not like you'll ever use him as a late defensive sub. It's not like he's going to start against RHP very often in the corner for Phillips, or ever for Yelich. I guess you could occasionally put him in LF, Yelich in CF and Phillips in RF when Cain needs a day off, but for the most part Cain is an everyday player.

 

If Ryan Braun is on this team, which he's going to be, he needs to have an every day role. You're not going to waste his bat in a hard platoon with an occasional corner OF start. Maybe if he was a left handed bat you could get away with that, but not as a righty.

 

So I'm good with Braun at 1st, just not in a platoon role. If they want to keep Santana or even roll with Phillips full time, that's fine by me. But you need to be shopping Thames and Aguilar if you're going to do that. I have really no clue what you could get, but the 1B free agent market has been pretty slow, and both Thames and Aguilar are cheap and controllable, so maybe you could peddle them together as an alternative to a 1B needy team who doesn't want to pony up for a guy like Hosmer.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

I heard Counsel on the MLB channel on Sirius XM on Friday afternoon. He said in that interview that he and Braun started having conversations about 1B before last season was over. He also seemed pretty convinced that Santana would be on the team and would be playing a lot. That last part might be misdirection but the former has certainly been in the works for some time.

 

The idea of Yelich in left most of the time, Cain in center and a platoon of Santana and Phillips in right is certainly not the worst thing in the world. Playing 1B could theoretically save some wear and tear on Braun's body.

 

I still think there is a strong probability that Santana gets dealt, but the Brewers certainly don't need to deal him, which lets him maintain strong value. There will likely be some minor deals yet, though, as there is just too many players in Braun, Santana, Broxton, Thames and Aguiar for the spots that are available on the roster, and all of those players are too valuable to let go for nothing.

[KeithStone53151]

While I like the idea of a lineup with Santana, Cain and Yelich, I'd like a defensive outfield of Yelich, Cain and Phillips even more. Santana was the defensive weak link in the OF. Cain and Yelich are ticketed for CF and LF. Braun and Perez are better RF than Santana. Phillips can be outstanding. Start the year with a soft platoon in RF with Phillips and Braun. If Phillips doesn't hit enough, fall back to Braun there getting most of the starts. Until then, get Braun a start or two per week at 1B to get his bat in the lineup during the times that Thames is cold.

 

Get a deal done with Indians for a starter using Santana. Then let's be done with it. Maybe sign Walker for some infield punch too. That would be my plan.

 

Agree 100%. Back when we still had Brinson I dreamed of the day we would have a fast athletic OF across the board.

This would leave Aguilar as the odd man out, but someone has to go. If Phillips hits enough, he would backup CF and OF as well. Ideally Phillips would just rise up and take RF, and Braun gets his ABs planning at 1B and backing up the corner OF.

 

Aguilar is very suited for his role as a platoon only 1B. He did a good job of it and OPSed near. 900 against lefties. Unless you think Aguilar just played well over his head, we gain nothing with a Thames/Braun platoon over a Thames/Aguilar. So Braun will get 50 or so starts at 1st, then what else? It's not like you'll ever use him as a late defensive sub. It's not like he's going to start against RHP very often in the corner for Phillips, or ever for Yelich. I guess you could occasionally put him in LF, Yelich in CF and Phillips in RF when Cain needs a day off, but for the most part Cain is an everyday player.

 

If Ryan Braun is on this team, which he's going to be, he needs to have an every day role. You're not going to waste his bat in a hard platoon with an occasional corner OF start. Maybe if he was a left handed bat you could get away with that, but not as a righty.

 

So I'm good with Braun at 1st, just not in a platoon role. If they want to keep Santana or even roll with Phillips full time, that's fine by me. But you need to be shopping Thames and Aguilar if you're going to do that. I have really no clue what you could get, but the 1B free agent market has been pretty slow, and both Thames and Aguilar are cheap and controllable, so maybe you could peddle them together as an alternative to a 1B needy team who doesn't want to pony up for a guy like Hosmer.

 

I don't think you're going to get big value from either 1b, but if Braun is playing a lot of 1st then one of them shoudl go. I don't hate keeping Thames as depth and to get a chunk of starts at 1b. Braun will still likely play some outfield. The cubs have guys like Happ/Schwarber/Almora/zobrist on their bench not getting full playing time. Some very talented guys as depth on the 25, it doesn't hurt to have a guy like Thames to be that kind of depth for us.

[adambr2]

Schwarber got almost 500 ABs last year even after being demoted for part of the year, so he was basically a full time guy. Thames won't get anywhere near that as a backup to Braun.

 

The other guys you listed are highly versatile. Happ and Zobrist can play almost anywhere on the diamond. Almora can play anywhere in the OF and plays high end defense in CF.

 

Thames is basically a 1B only and an emergency left fielder. Very different.

[Mr Southpaw]

What about Jake Odorizzi from TB? He is projected at about 6-7 million this year with one year of arby remaining. Does this sound fair? We take on a little extra salary, they get more years of service.

 

D Santana

 

for

 

J Odorizzi

D Jennings

 

Then sign Walker for second base and trade Villar and Broxton for a prospect. Our payroll would sit at about $107 million.

 

2 Anderson, 2 Odorizzi, 3 Chancin, 4 Davies and 5 Gallardo until Nelson comes back then 2 Anderson, 2 Nelson, 2 Odorizzi, 3 Chancin and 4 Davies.

 

Cain cf

Yelich lf

Braun rf

Shaw 3b

Thames 1b

Pina c

Walker 2b

Pitcher

Arcia ss

[SRB]

Domingo Santana was a "failed" first base experiment when he played 0 games there in his entire minor league career? No idea what the origin of that claim is.

 

When we traded for him there was still a question of whether he could possibly handle centerfield (yes that seems silly in retrospect), I'm skeptical that Philadelphia or Houston ever contemplated moving him down the defensive spectrum.

[KeithStone53151]

Domingo Santana was a "failed" first base experiment when he played 0 games there in his entire minor league career? No idea what the origin of that claim is.

 

When we traded for him there was still a question of whether he could possibly handle centerfield (yes that seems silly in retrospect), I'm skeptical that Philadelphia or Houston ever contemplated moving him down the defensive spectrum.

 

Defense isn't a linear thing. We've seen that just because guys are good at ss doesn't mean they can handle the easiest position of 1b. Certain players are better suited for certain positions. I haven't seen any myself, but people have reported that Houston tried Santana at 1b and he was bad there. If he was terrible there, they wouldn't put him there in a professional game. Same reason Khris Davis never saw any time in an MLB game at 1b.

[SRB]

Domingo Santana was a "failed" first base experiment when he played 0 games there in his entire minor league career? No idea what the origin of that claim is.

 

When we traded for him there was still a question of whether he could possibly handle centerfield (yes that seems silly in retrospect), I'm skeptical that Philadelphia or Houston ever contemplated moving him down the defensive spectrum.

 

Defense isn't a linear thing. We've seen that just because guys are good at ss doesn't mean they can handle the easiest position of 1b. Certain players are better suited for certain positions. I haven't seen any myself, but people have reported that Houston tried Santana at 1b and he was bad there. If he was terrible there, they wouldn't put him there in a professional game. Same reason Khris Davis never saw any time in an MLB game at 1b.

 

The point is that if you have a prospect who is a potential center fielder, why are you "trying" him at 1B at all, and what's more how can you "try" a minor leaguer at a position without even giving him a single inning there. This story makes zero sense unless someone posts a link to whatever the source of this is.

 

/end derail

[MrTPlush]

Domingo Santana was a "failed" first base experiment when he played 0 games there in his entire minor league career? No idea what the origin of that claim is.

 

He was that bad...so bad he never was attempted in a game. Why do you think Santana has never been brought up as a 1B possibility ever? Khris Davis is another example of a failed 1B guy as mentioned.

 

Lets be honest Santana can't even field a grounder rolling through the OF...let alone in the infield.

[SRB]

Why do you think Santana has never been brought up as a 1B possibility ever?

 

Probably because they're actively trying to trade him now and don't want to admit he's an awful defender in RF

[TJseven7]

Up til the suspension he was valuable in the OF and not fragile. He's old now... and frankly when did we have 3 starters worth starting in the OF in the past 4 years?

 

Last year would have been the perfect time to do it. We hadn’t planned on going anywhere. We had young outfielder prospects making their way up. We had absolutely nothing at first base. Yet it didn’t happen then.

 

I have been fairly outspoken on this in the past but I’ll say it again now. It’s absolute crap that one league has a DH and one doesn’t. For like the third or fourth time in recent memory the Brewers are probably going to make moves they wouldn’t have had to make if they had a DH. Additionally Braun would benefit immensely from being about to DH regularly, as would the Brewers as a whole.

 

We stole Thames and he lit the league on fire out of the blocks. The platoon worked just fine. Broxton and Brinson were bad last year. Phillips was real solid. But i dont think there was a point in time where moving braun made the team BETTER last year. By years end it was in talk for 2018. October Braun was stating that. Now its absolutely needed and there's no arguement that it makes the team better.

 

We don't shuffle braun to 1st so we can play broxton or brinson over thames/aguilar while competing for a division crown.

[MrTPlush]

Mark Attanasio said the Brewers still have room to add one of the big free agent pitchers and David Stearns is still working on it. Hard to say how sincere that is as I am always skeptical of comments made by the owner/GM, but it seems he is quite serious.

[TURBO]

Mark Attanasio said the Brewers still have room to add one of the big free agent pitchers and David Stearns is still working on it. Hard to say how sincere that is as I am always skeptical of comments made by the owner/GM, but it seems he is quite serious.

 

Would MUCH rather have Darvish over Arrieta if that is truly the case. Shell out the cash, get us a TOR and let the games begin.

[KeithStone53151]

Mark Attanasio said the Brewers still have room to add one of the big free agent pitchers and David Stearns is still working on it. Hard to say how sincere that is as I am always skeptical of comments made by the owner/GM, but it seems he is quite serious.

 

I fully believe the brewers intend to add a starting pitcher. Braun at 1b, the free agent market, both things can be used to avoid a team getting leverage on us. With hader announced as heading to the bullpen, we clearly have a hole to fill...I mean unless they plan to start Suter/Burnes/Wilkerson out the gate. Making the moves we made, it doesn't make sense to see what we have in Suter/Wilkerson and I think Burnes has a bit more to prove in the minors yet before he should be counted on as part of a contending rotation. Let Woodruff be our minor league guy with upside to open the season...you don't want 2 of those on a team aiming to contend.

[brewmann04]

I have always thought Mark will add to the payroll to win so i believe we get on of the 4 remaining fa pitchers.

[pacopete4]

I have always thought Mark will add to the payroll to win so i believe we get on of the 4 remaining fa pitchers.

 

Problem is the four remaining definitely are not equal. Darvish and Arrieta are probably the only two who are actually TOR type guys. Darvish puts this team on the map, that’s for sure.

[brewcrewdue80]

I have always thought Mark will add to the payroll to win so i believe we get on of the 4 remaining fa pitchers.

 

Problem is the four remaining definitely are not equal. Darvish and Arrieta are probably the only two who are actually TOR type guys. Darvish puts this team on the map, that’s for sure.

 

I posted splits on the big 4 left. And Arrieta is the worst of the 4. Darvish and it wasnt even close. Lynn/Cobb virtual tie at #2 but Lynn's more GS would make him 2nd best