What should be DS targets

[wallus]

The Lucroy talk has to end. He is a shell of his former self offensively. That bridge is burned, hard pass on Lucroy coming back to Milwaukee.

 

I agree, let's focus on Archer.

[brewmann04]

Have to see how healthy is Archer but feel DS will pull out a rabbitt

[Fear The Chorizo]

Keep an eye on Hamels...he is having a solid season for the Rangers and he could be acquired for a reasonable prospect price if the brewers pick up most of his remaining salary over the next 1.5 seasons. I like the idea of adding a quality veteran LH starter to the rotation.

[Tim_Unroe_Helped]

One name that has crossed my mind is Yangervis Solarte. So far this year, he is hitting .246/.308/.449, so he isn't really the OBP kind of guy that Stearns would normally go after. However, he has played throughout the entire infield, and while I don't think he's particularly great (his dWAR this year, per Baseball Reference, is a pretty horrible -0.5 this year but it was a respectable 0.4 last year), he could play some 2B and SS if Villar starts to falter some or if Arcia's bat doesn't come around this year. He was traded to the Blue Jays for their #17 prospect and another prospect outside of their top 30 this past offseason. He could be a rental but he does have club options for $5.5 million in 2019 and $8.0 million in 2020, so there might be some value in that (at least in 2019).

[pacopete4]

Solarte- Career vs RHP: .269/.332/.431/.762 but the majority of his games have come at 3B where we don’t really need much help.

[Tim_Unroe_Helped]

True- He has mostly been a 3rd baseman, but he played mostly at 2nd base last year and has played a little shortstop as well. He has played in 79 games as a second baseman and in 28 games as a shortstop last year (while only playing 22 as a third baseman), and this was the year where he showed the highest dWAR per Baseball Reference at 0.4 (which is his only year with a dWAR above 0.0, per Baseball Reference). I don't follow his game much, and it could just be a statistical anomaly (or the way Baseball Reference calculates dWAR), but it looks like he can adequately play 2nd base and shortstop.

 

I guess I'm on the side of not wanting to give up the farm to get a rental like Manny Machado but at least get someone like Neil Walker or Jerry Hairston who could shore up some weak spots. It's been disappointing to see Arcia's bat go so cold this year. I tried to look around at non-contending teams for these types of players and Solarte was one of the few who seemed versatile enough to play middle infield while not breaking the bank when it comes to trading away prospects.

[brewmann04]

I would not mind Hammels

[Eye Black]

I saw RHP Nate Eovaldi mentioned in this Tweet. If it wouldn’t cost much he is an interesting high risk, high reward starting pitcher trade candidate. He has come out looking very good in his two starts since recovering from a second Tommy John surgery. He is still hitting the 97-98 mph range with his four seamer according to Brooks Baseball. At his best he had the promise of a being a potential #2-3 starter. He is still just 28 years old and would only be a short-term risk since he is a free agent following the season. He is making just $2.0 million this season. I am at least intrigued.

[TooLiveBrew]

I saw RHP Nate Eovaldi mentioned in this Tweet. If it wouldn’t cost much he is an interesting high risk, high reward starting pitcher trade candidate. He has come out looking very good in his two starts since recovering from a second Tommy John surgery. He is still hitting the 97-98 mph range with his four seamer according to Brooks Baseball. At his best he had the promise of a being a potential #2-3 starter. He is still just 28 years old and would only be a short-term risk since he is a free agent following the season. He is making just $2.0 million this season. I am at least intrigued.

Good target idea. What do you (& others) think it'd take to get him, and what would you be willing to pay?

[JohnBriggs12]

How about reacquiring Khris Davis? Oakland's going nowhere and he's only under their control through 2019. I get he's limited to LF but with Cain and Yelich manning the other two spots, they're still pretty solid defensively in the OF. Might need to move Aguilar to free up Braun to play with more regularity at 1B.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

How about reacquiring Khris Davis? Oakland's going nowhere and he's only under their control through 2019. I get he's limited to LF but with Cain and Yelich manning the other two spots, they're still pretty solid defensively in the OF. Might need to move Aguilar to free up Braun to play with more regularity at 1B.

 

I think Davis is a DH only. I believe that playing him anywhere else would be losing baseball.

[TooLiveBrew]

How about reacquiring Khris Davis? Oakland's going nowhere and he's only under their control through 2019. I get he's limited to LF but with Cain and Yelich manning the other two spots, they're still pretty solid defensively in the OF. Might need to move Aguilar to free up Braun to play with more regularity at 1B.

 

I think Davis is a DH only. I believe that playing him anywhere else would be losing baseball.

Imagine an outfield of Davis/Cain/Yelich... we'd need to call Phillips back up to be a designated thrower

[brewerfan82]

Would you pull the trigger on losing Arcia, Hiura, Burnes, + at the deadline if it meant somehow getting both Realmuto and Machado back? Even knowing we'd lose Machado after the season, I might take a chance on our in-house pitchers the next couple years if we had this lineup for a pennant run:

 

[pre]OPS vs. RHP '18 '16-18 OPS vs. LHP '18 '16-18

---------------------------- ----------------------------

CF Cain .731 .742 CF Cain 1.200 .959

RF Yelich* .902 .876 RF Yelich* .704 .716

SS Machado .991 .844 SS Machado .871 .872

1B Thames* .972 .939 1B Aguilar .983 .911

3B Shaw* .958 .853 3B Shaw* .523 .665

LF Braun .730 .825 LF Braun .824 .927

C Realmuto .938 .809 C Realmuto .733 .738

2B Miller* .782 .760 2B Villar^ .945 .814[/pre]

 

#pipedream

[Fear The Chorizo]

Hamels with another good start yesterday - right now I think he's the best veteran starter pitching for a doormat club that can be acquired anytime between now and the deadline. Brewers and Rangers have ample history getting deals done. Depending on how willing the Brewers are to take on large portions of his remaining contract that runs through 2019, Hamels shouldn't require a huge prospect haul to acquire.

 

Wouldn't surprise me to see the Yankees involved on Hamels, too - which would likely drive up the asking price.

[long ball]

I want nothing to do with Hamels. 6.41 DRA

 

If they feel the need to obtain a starter Happ would be my preference. Ross would be ok too.

 

I think they're more likely to roll with the depth they have at SP and hope Guerra, Chacin, Anderson, Davies, Nelson, Burnes, Peralta, Woodruff, etc are enough to get them effective innings the rest of the way.

[RWeeksFan23]

I want nothing to do with Hamels. 6.41 DRA

 

If they feel the need to obtain a starter Happ would be my preference. Ross would be ok too.

 

I think they're more likely to roll with the depth they have at SP and hope Guerra, Chacin, Anderson, Davies, Nelson, Burnes, Peralta, Woodruff, etc are enough to get them effective innings the rest of the way.

 

I agree with everything in this post. If we are to trade for a starter, I really like Happ and Ross as options for us.

[adambr2]

I totally agree with the last 2 posters about Hamels. There are red flags everywhere with this guy. His BABIP allowed is 30 points below his career average. He's giving up more line drives than anytime in his career, he's become an extreme flyball pitcher, and he's giving up quite a few walks this year.

 

Hamels has disaster acquisition written all over him for someone, and I think DS is too wise to advanced stats to let it be us.

[Fear The Chorizo]

Hamels' 2018 has already included 4 starts against Houston (MLB's #3 offense in terms of OPS), 1 against the Yankees (#1), 1 against Boston (#2), 1 against Cleveland (#5), 1 Dodgers (#7), 1 Angels (#9), 2 against Oakland (#14), 1 TOR (#15), 1 TB (#16), and 1 KC (#26). Plus his home park is one of the most hitter friendly venues in all of baseball.

 

Comparing his 2018 numbers thus far to his career stats, where he spent most of his time in the NL, is probably too small a sample size to really make any decisions on Hamels - particularly when the vast majority of his starts this season have come against really good offensive clubs. And, when actually looking at his traditional stats, the only significant outlier to his career #'s this season appears to be his HR/9 rate - call me crazy, but I'd kind of expect that to be the case based on the lineups he's faced over the season's first 2.5 months.

[Yellin4Yelich]

How about Brad Hand (or another premium RP)?

 

Double down on our competitive edge - it would be an insane bullpen. We could just bullpen the crap out of every playoff game.

 

He's relatively affordable and controllable, but probably will have a high price tag at the deadline

[narwhalattack]

What do you guys think about Kevin Gausman? Was well-regarded a while back, and I’m wondering if he’d do well with a change of scenery.

[liveforoctober]

Barring injury ... I just don't see many spots Stearns is going to feel the need to dish any prospects of note to upgrade the club. I'm sure he will make a minor deal or two to maybe get a middle infielder and maybe another bullpen arm for depth?

 

The biggest acquisition we will be getting at the deadline is Jimmy Nelson. Let's cross our fingers Anderson is starting to round into form ... but with a rotation of Nelson, Anderson, Chacin, Davies, Guerra .... who are we replacing with a trade? Guerra has earned his spot. Chacin might be our best starter. The answer is Davies but he won 17 games last year ... the Brewers are going to give him every chance to figure things out once he's back.

 

The only spot I could see Stearns dishing real prospects for an upgrade is a catcher that has future control.

[Dadbauer]

 

The biggest acquisition we will be getting at the deadline is Jimmy Nelson.

 

Nelson is far far far far from a sure thing to even be back at the all star break - it's only a little over a month away and he's only playing long toss. At this point it seems like late August at the earliest, and even then it's a long long long long longshot that he's immediately effective as he was last year. It took him how many years to figure it out the first time, there's a lot of doubt that he can just drop right in.

[bill hAll Star]

I'm not expecting much from Nelson and will be pleased if we get more than that.

 

That said, the point about our pitching remains: Barring more injuries to the bullpen or various starters, we're gonna make it to September pitching with new-age baseball tendencies. This makes Jhoulys Chacin or Brent Suter backed up by Josh Hader basically as effective as 7 innings of Cole Hamels.

 

And by "make it to September," I mean that once we get to September 1, we'll have even more available arms to finish the season playing the bullpen game and there are enough off days in the playoffs to do what we've already done.

 

Point being from all of this: I think the only true upgrade would be having deGrom or Thor throw 6-7 innings and still have Hader, etc. in the bullpen. I don't think I want to trade for them given the cost to do so. So I think the most likely course of action is to pick up a Swarzak-type cheap acquisition to bolster the bullpen depth if guys like Albers remain out. Beyond that, I think we may just be throwing prospects away to get the same value that we already have in our rotation.

[long ball]

How about Brad Hand (or another premium RP)?

 

Double down on our competitive edge - it would be an insane bullpen. We could just bullpen the crap out of every playoff game.

 

He's relatively affordable and controllable, but probably will have a high price tag at the deadline

 

I'd be down for Hand depending on price. I think some of the other relievers from the Padres like Stammen probably make more sense for the Brewers if the Padres decide to sell some of them of.

 

Even though we've seen the Brewers value relievers we haven't seen them pay high prices for them either in trade or free agency. I don't think Hand is a very Stearns move. I could dream on hand being added to this bullpen though.

[adambr2]

Hand is going to cost an arm and a leg. (Rimshot).

 

Seriously though, he's going to cost too much. Relievers can fetch insane deadline prices, pretty much every contender could use one, and Hand has multiple years of cheap control that make him even more valuable.

 

Padres can probably extract Hiura + type value from someone. Can't justify giving up our best prospects for a luxury add that we don't really need.