If the Brewers miss the playoffs....

[superfly]

Or you just don't beat yourselves. Good thing we saved Hader and Jeffress last night....really needed them today!

[502 to Right]

When not if.

[Boomer5]

Stearns inexperience really showed this year.

 

The good news is while we have been really exposed vs the good teams, we do play a much easier schedule upcoming so it’s not unreasonable that we start winning again. What that would mean in October is another story but the W/L record is likely to get better in the near term.

[Pugger]

Stearns inexperience really showed this year.

 

The good news is while we have been really exposed vs the good teams, we do play a much easier schedule upcoming so it’s not unreasonable that we start winning again. What that would mean in October is another story but the W/L record is likely to get better in the near term.

 

But even if we start winning again what good would that do? Even if by some miracle we sneak in as a WC we will be exposed yet again. *sigh*

[Ennder]

I see a whole lot of opinions in this thread and very few facts and the opinions mostly aren't rooted in facts. Just sad to see what this board has become. I don't agree with every thing the team has done but that doesn't mean Stearns has been awful and the fact we are only slightly over .500 in since the all star break doesn't mean the team is collapsing or failing. The fact some people are saying the team didn't improve at all at the deadline speaks volumes, that is simply an idiotic stance. it may not have improved at the spots you wanted it to but this current team is better than the team we fielded to start the season except for injuries, there really is no argument against that.

[502 to Right]

I see a whole lot of opinions in this thread and very few facts and the opinions mostly aren't rooted in facts. Just sad to see what this board has become.

 

..

 

The fact some people are saying the team didn't improve at all at the deadline speaks volumes, that is simply an idiotic stance. it may not have improved at the spots you wanted it to but this current team is better than the team we fielded to start the season except for injuries, there really is no argument against that.

 

Complains about people not using facts to support opinions. Then doesn't use facts to support opinion.

 

Irony.

[MrTPlush]

I see a whole lot of opinions in this thread and very few facts and the opinions mostly aren't rooted in facts. Just sad to see what this board has become. I don't agree with every thing the team has done but that doesn't mean Stearns has been awful and the fact we are only slightly over .500 in since the all star break doesn't mean the team is collapsing or failing. The fact some people are saying the team didn't improve at all at the deadline speaks volumes, that is simply an idiotic stance. it may not have improved at the spots you wanted it to but this current team is better than the team we fielded to start the season except for injuries, there really is no argument against that.

 

It, so far, has marginally improved at best despite giving up quite a few prospects. Soria has been okay, but has barely played. Moustakas has been nice, but not a massive improvement over Villar. Any gain from there has been quickly wiped away by Schoop playing like crud.

 

I am hopeful that over the long run this season Moustakas gives us a nice boost at 2B and Soria is a solid contributor.

[FVBrewerFan]

Moose as a Brewer: .816 OPS

Villar as a Brewer: .693 OPS

 

I would say Moose has been a significant improvement so far. Soria is obviously a better option in late innings than Barnes, Williams, or even Burnes. Probably could add Knebel to that list.

[MrTPlush]

Moose as a Brewer: .816 OPS

Villar as a Brewer: .693 OPS quote]

 

Right, but defensively Shaw is a notable downgrade and Schoop definitely takes away some of the gain there.

 

Like I said in a bigger sample over the rest of the season I think that will end up a nice upgrade at 2B if Schoop either improves (or stops playing so much). So far though...not much at all.

[tmwiese55]

Some of the gain is being lost by Schoop being so bad that the improvement gained from not playing Shaw vs lefties hasn't come. That should have been a significant boost but hasn't come to reality yet.

[homer]

I see a whole lot of opinions in this thread and very few facts and the opinions mostly aren't rooted in facts. Just sad to see what this board has become. I don't agree with every thing the team has done but that doesn't mean Stearns has been awful and the fact we are only slightly over .500 in since the all star break doesn't mean the team is collapsing or failing. The fact some people are saying the team didn't improve at all at the deadline speaks volumes, that is simply an idiotic stance. it may not have improved at the spots you wanted it to but this current team is better than the team we fielded to start the season except for injuries, there really is no argument against that.

 

It's fine to disagree but don't call people's opinions "idiotic". If you don't like where the board is going post something to improve it.

[FVBrewerFan]

Stearns inexperience really showed this year.

 

The good news is while we have been really exposed vs the good teams, we do play a much easier schedule upcoming so it’s not unreasonable that we start winning again. What that would mean in October is another story but the W/L record is likely to get better in the near term.

 

Fake news.

 

DBacks: 5-1

Braves: 4-3

Rockies: 5-2

Cards: 9-8

Phils: 3-3

Dodgers: 3-4

Cubs: 4-9

 

33-30 vs the best teams in the NL. They've even done well against the Cubs other than a 4 game sweep earlier in the year. Not taking that out since it did happen, just mentioning it for context.

 

They've played very well against all the other "good" teams. I wouldn't call that "exposed," quite the opposite.

[long ball]

If the Brewers miss the playoffs this season I will be very disappointed. I think I miscalculated a little bit on how good this rotation could be this year, but some things didn't play out.

 

I don't know the thought process of Stearns and co, but I felt that Davies and Anderson were going to be stabilizing figures in the rotation this season and were the two most dependable starters for this team in 2018. The two have been anything but. Davies has been injured and ineffective when pitching. Anderson has been inconsistent and had his fair share of blow ups with very few stretches of quality production.

 

I also thought Nelson might come back this season even though i didn't have much faith in him being a big contributor in the amount of innings or quality of production. If he had made it back this season it would have given me a little more hope for him to pitch quality inning in 2019, but now that's a pretty big question mark.

 

I think Stearns has some questions to answer when it comes to the 2019 staff if he wants to take a step forward. Woodruff, Peralta, and Burnes should all be in the rotation next year, but that's dangerous for a team who wants to contend. If those three are in the rotation, that only leaves 2 spots for Davies, Anderson, Guerra, Chacin, and Nelson.

 

I'm not married to Guerra. He's been useful the year, but he's probably the guy they're least invested in due to age and contract situation.

 

Davies is a guy they could upgrade over. He's probably not much of an option out of the pen. He probably doesn't have much trade value given his injury plagued 2018, but he's too good to non-tender. He's probably the most interesting name to follow this off season.

 

Anderson is someone they might be able to trade given his relatively cheap control and average numbers this season. Given what he'd likely return though, I'd just assume hang onto him and hope he bounces back in 2019.

 

Chain could probably work out of the bullpen effectively given his highly effective slider however given how good he has been this season he will have to get bumped from that starting role due to poor performance.

 

Nelson is a big wild card. Given the severity of that shoulder injury it's entirely possible he is never an effective pitcher again.

 

We know you need ~10 SP to get through a season so depth is important. The interesting question is how the Brewers move forward with the 3 young starters. If they're not going to pitch them out of the rotation will they move them in a trade for a more established starter?

 

The free agent market does have some interesting names including Morton, Kuechel, Happ, Corbin, Eovaldi, etc. Kuechel and Corbin are probably out of the Brewers price range. Drew Pomeranz seems like a David Sterns type move. Buy low on a guy coming off an injured/ineffective season who has a history of success. I wouldn't be opposed to a Wade Miley reunion as well.

[clancyphile]

The injuries to Davies and Suter, plus Anderson was on the DL for a bit, IIRC, really did make a hash of the rotation.

 

The team's depth did carry it through - even with the lack of an ace.

 

For the 2019 rotation, I see Peralta, Burnes, Chacin, Guerra, and Anderson as a decent top five, with Nelson, Davies, and Miley also on the list. Roegner will likely be in Colorado Springs, and could be one option. So is Wilkerson.

 

I see Woodruff being put in play as a right-handed version of Hader for 2019, both to avoid early over-use and to give options for the close games.

 

Taylor Williams, Hader, Jeffress, Knebel, Woodruff, Jennings, and Soria is a shut-down bullpen. Give then a lead after five, and these Nasty Boys will shut things down. Then there is Barnes, Torres-Costa, Griep, and Derby to top the AAA backup.

 

Maybe on the bench, you have Hernan Perez, Kratz, and Nick Ramirez for those blow-out games

[Ennder]

I see a whole lot of opinions in this thread and very few facts and the opinions mostly aren't rooted in facts. Just sad to see what this board has become. I don't agree with every thing the team has done but that doesn't mean Stearns has been awful and the fact we are only slightly over .500 in since the all star break doesn't mean the team is collapsing or failing. The fact some people are saying the team didn't improve at all at the deadline speaks volumes, that is simply an idiotic stance. it may not have improved at the spots you wanted it to but this current team is better than the team we fielded to start the season except for injuries, there really is no argument against that.

 

It's fine to disagree but don't call people's opinions "idiotic". If you don't like where the board is going post something to improve it.

 

Sorry if I offend but sometimes what people say is really just wrong. Saying the team did nothing to improve itself at the all star break is ignorant at best, pure and simple. It has no basis in truth and shows a complete lack of understanding of the game. They aren't the moves I would have made personally but they still improved the team.

[brewers888]

If we miss the playoffs the culprit will be Stearns in season moves. He had a great offseason with the Cain and Yelich moves but his in season moves have pretty much all been awful. He ruined the defense which was top notch and didn't add a starting pitcher.

[MrTPlush]

If we miss the playoffs the culprit will be Stearns in season moves. He had a great offseason with the Cain and Yelich moves but his in season moves have pretty much all been awful. He ruined the defense which was top notch and didn't add a starting pitcher.

 

If it comes down to a few games he definitely flopped pretty hard midseason. Now is that good or bad? Well, maybe it is good because we didn’t mortgage too much of the future.

[brewmann04]

Their is no way Chacin does not return to this Rotation next season.

[clancyphile]

If we miss the playoffs the culprit will be Stearns in season moves. He had a great offseason with the Cain and Yelich moves but his in season moves have pretty much all been awful. He ruined the defense which was top notch and didn't add a starting pitcher.

 

If it comes down to a few games he definitely flopped pretty hard midseason. Now is that good or bad? Well, maybe it is good because we didn’t mortgage too much of the future.

 

The only losses that I think really hurt are Carmona and Meideros.

[djoctagone]

if the brewers totally tank, would they cut some of their pending free agents in the final weeks in order to select the contracts of prospects and give them a taste of the big leagues?

 

i know that eliminated clubs often state that they want to put their best team possible on the field to be a spoiler, but is it worth cutting gio gonzalez or curtis granderson to give quintin torres-costa a shot?

[Outlander]

The Brewers are nearly at 90% to make the playoffs, even if they miss the playoffs at this point the final weekend of games vs the Tigers will still matter.

[MrTPlush]

if the brewers totally tank, would they cut some of their pending free agents in the final weeks in order to select the contracts of prospects and give them a taste of the big leagues?

 

i know that eliminated clubs often state that they want to put their best team possible on the field to be a spoiler, but is it worth cutting gio gonzalez or curtis granderson to give quintin torres-costa a shot?

 

They would have to lose 7+ in a row...heck probably even more to even be in a position to be out of it. At that point you got like 14 games, if that? What would be the point?

[Invader3K]

If the Brewer miss the playoffs, I won't be that upset. Disappointed a bit? Sure. However, I never expected the team to be this competitive this year. I figured the starting rotation wasn't good enough yet. I've been pleasantly surprised the team has done so well, but it's hard to figure the team will make a deep playoff run if they do get in. A one game Wild Card playoff game against the Cardinals certainly isn't an ideal scenario.