Sell Mode: Now Buy Mode, We Got Lyles, Pomeranz, Black, and Faria!!

[OldSchoolSnapper]

If you hadn't watched any baseball all year and had the Brewers stat sheet and the standings, you would probably say the team has a fighting chance and should try to add an arm or two and squeak into the playoffs.

 

However if you've been watching the team on a close to nightly basis, it's much harder to be optimistic. Who besides Josh Hader are you even remotely comfortable with protecting a lead? When they hit, they can't pitch. When they pitch, they can't hit. It seems like they strand an insane amount of runners, and always seem to shoot themselves in the foot with dumb basepath mistakes etc. The eye test this year has been especially bad IMO, as bad as anything the numbers suggest.

 

That said circumstances still give them a fading chance. There's no reason to sell before late July. 2-8 in the last 10 but if they go 8-2 in the next 10 then adding a couple guys doesn't sound all that ridiculous anymore.

[Madhawk23]

It wouldn't shock me if Stearns still makes a couple of minor moves (as someone has already suggested), but boy - I'm going to be pretty ticked off if we trade some big prospect package now for a rental player like Will Smith, Bumgarner, etc. Of course - my tune might change a bit depending on what happens here over the next week or so. If we finish out this week 1-5 or 2-4, then I don't think it makes sense for us to do anything next week (unless if we go into sell mode). Go 5-1 or 4-2 the rest of this week, then maybe we get a bit more aggressive towards the deadline next week.

 

I think we all can agree though that this team has just too many holes to fill with just a couple of additions at this stage. This team just isn't nearly as good as I thought it would be this year.

[Eye Black]

From Ken Rosenthal's article yesterday for The Athletic, Twelve burning questions for the MLB trade deadline...

 

10. What will the Brewers and Cardinals do?

 

The Brewers sure do not look like buyers – they’ve lost 17 of their past 26 games, all against clubs with records currently below .500. Their rotation ranks 19th in the majors with a 4.71 ERA. Their once-vaunted bullpen has allowed – gasp – 28 runs in the past five games. Owner Mark Attanasio is not the type to sell, but the Brewers should at least consider reshuffling, starting with a trade of All-Star catcher Yasmani Grandal, a potential free agent.

[shanedog19]

I hate to be a skeptic, but how in the world would we ever beat the Dodgers in a 7 game series? I mean their team is absolutely stacked this year, and we have regressed from a pitching standpoint pretty substantially from last year. You hate to see the Brewers empty the farm system to try and put together a team that has little chance of getting past them, or even making the playoffs for that matter. It would be the perfect year to restock and retool for next year, where you still have pieces in place that can compete for a championship.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

I hate to be a skeptic, but how in the world would we ever beat the Dodgers in a 7 game series? I mean their team is absolutely stacked this year, and we have regressed from a pitching standpoint pretty substantially from last year. You hate to see the Brewers empty the farm system to try and put together a team that has little chance of getting past them, or even making the playoffs for that matter. It would be the perfect year to restock and retool for next year, where you still have pieces in place that can compete for a championship.

 

Baseball. On paper the Dodgers should have won a title by now. It takes the Dodgers coming out with two bad starts and everything changes. Definitely not the expected outcome, but much more plausible than other sports.

[mlloyd10]

I hate to be a skeptic, but how in the world would we ever beat the Dodgers in a 7 game series? I mean their team is absolutely stacked this year, and we have regressed from a pitching standpoint pretty substantially from last year. You hate to see the Brewers empty the farm system to try and put together a team that has little chance of getting past them, or even making the playoffs for that matter. It would be the perfect year to restock and retool for next year, where you still have pieces in place that can compete for a championship.

 

Trade for Will Smith, Mad Bum, Ken Giles and Marcus stroman

[Jopal78]

I hate to be a skeptic, but how in the world would we ever beat the Dodgers in a 7 game series? I mean their team is absolutely stacked this year, and we have regressed from a pitching standpoint pretty substantially from last year. You hate to see the Brewers empty the farm system to try and put together a team that has little chance of getting past them, or even making the playoffs for that matter. It would be the perfect year to restock and retool for next year, where you still have pieces in place that can compete for a championship.

 

Just getting there is what is important, who would have thought that the Rockies would eliminate the Cubs in the wild card game last year? The Brewers don't stack up against the Dodgers on paper, but who knows if the Dodgers will steam roll into the NLCS or get surprised by someone else in 5 game NLDS.

[bill hAll Star]

I hate to be a skeptic, but how in the world would we ever beat the Dodgers in a 7 game series? I mean their team is absolutely stacked this year, and we have regressed from a pitching standpoint pretty substantially from last year. You hate to see the Brewers empty the farm system to try and put together a team that has little chance of getting past them, or even making the playoffs for that matter. It would be the perfect year to restock and retool for next year, where you still have pieces in place that can compete for a championship.

 

Trade for Will Smith, Mad Bum, Ken Giles and Marcus stroman

 

The Dodgers would still be heavy favorites.

[brewmann04]

Joey some of me says your right but think the coat for the bullpen arms will be costly and don't see the guys in the lineup hitting consistently they have been bad this year and in the past especially win men on Base. Maybe they could find a bat too who knows but I do agree the rotation has looked better.

[tmwiese55]

Of course they're the massive favorite, but the Dodgers have been loaded for about 6-7 years now and only made the WS two of those years. WAS had been loaded for 5ish seasons and never made it. It's baseball, the biggest post season crap shoot there is, if you can get there you have a legit chance. Being 2ish games out of a division is just tough to not go for it.

[brewmann04]

I be curious if the Brewers have Reached out to either Moose or Grandal about either signing extensions or being moved to resign with us in the offseason.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

I'd be pretty shocked if Moose came back again. They have cheap money in Shaw and yeah he's been bad, but he's also been good. 2B belongs to you know who. Grandal would make much more sense from many different angles.

[wntrtxn21]

I would listen on Moose and Grandal and perhaps Chacin or Anderson. They'd be foolish not to if they're even 5 back in the division and a couple back in the wild card. Aguliar and Thames aren't going to bring back much. First base/DH market isn't that strong and neither are huge upgrades. I don't think it would be a signal that they are going full rebuild. They may still try to add help in the pen not just for this year but next. That problem has to be fixed for 2020 too.

 

It's not like trading either of those guys will necessarily diminish this year's team that much if Shaw returns to his old self and Frietas' AAA numbers aren't a mirage.

 

If Grandal is traded and Frietas is brought up to replace him, it would not only severely diminish the team, but also signal that Stearns has completely given up on the season. Frietas is a career minor leaguer (10+ years) who is going to be 31 yrs old. Shaw may have figured it out and may be Moose's replacement. If he hasn't, it would be a huge blow to the offense and an end to the season. Chacin won't bring anything other than a a bag of used balls right now. He would be a rental and no contending team would give up any decent prospect for him. Anderson has some value because he is still controlable. Thames may have small value, but again, wouldn't bring any kind of meaningful prospect.

[Brewcrewin07]

Adam McCalvy

@AdamMcCalvy

David Stearns said he hopes to be a buyer at the Trade Deadline, but the team's play will help drive the decision. "It is a very important stretch," he said.

[BlazingGunz]

I think the team might be listening after tonights performance....they want to buy!

[jjfanec]

The Brewers would have to have a bad week to become sellers. A middling week make get them to be minor buyers. A good week and they could be in first place for the division and then i think they become major buyers

[Madhawk23]

The Brewers would have to have a bad week to become sellers. A middling week make get them to be minor buyers. A good week and they could be in first place for the division and then i think they become major buyers

 

I would agree with this. We know Stearns is very calculated in everything he does, so I guess I would be surprised if we do anything major yet this week. I think he waits it out to see how this team gets through these next 6 games before he gets really serious about making any more major moves. Maybe we trade for a 2nd tier pen arm this week, but I just don't think he pulls the trigger on anything significant until we see how we manage these next 6 games at home. Go 4-2 (or better), and I think we become a big player next week. 3-3 might still make us a fairly significant player (depending on how far back we are from the Cubs). 2-4 (or worse), and I think we might just make a minor move or two and stand pat at the deadline next week.

 

Hard to envision us going into full "sell mode" by next week, but I guess it's possible if we really fall on hard times during these next 6 games.

[Zad Fnark]

Hard to see us tanking vs the Reds. Cubs are tied with Miami for worst road record, too.

[Mudville9]

I don't know, I think the injury to Woody keeps us out of the major buyer category unless its a player with a bit of control. It will be interesting to see what happens between the Cubs and Cards.

[KeithStone53151]

Barring us losing 5 or 6 games this week, I would be shocked to see us sell.

[pacopete4]

A sell off of guys we won’t have next year is still probably the smart play but it’s most likely not going to happen.

[Brewcrewin07]

They aren't going to sell...just no way. As far as waiting until after the Cubs series...I think that's a bit dangerous in that they could REALLY use a starter to take Woodruff's spot in the rotation for that series. I'm not(and I sure as hell hope the Brewers aren't) comfortable, trotting out Aaron Wilkerson or anyone else currently in the organization to make that start in a series that COULD ultimately determine who wins the division. Be nice to have an outside arm by tomorrow at the latest.

[pacopete4]

They aren't going to sell...just no way. As far as waiting until after the Cubs series...I think that's a bit dangerous in that they could REALLY use a starter to take Woodruff's spot in the rotation for that series. I'm not(and I sure as hell hope the Brewers aren't) comfortable, trotting out Aaron Wilkerson or anyone else currently in the organization to make that start in a series that COULD ultimately determine who wins the division. Be nice to have an outside arm by tomorrow at the latest.

 

With the off days over the next week, they don’t need another starter until Aug. 3rd if they want to go that route. So yes, they can wait it out a bit if they want to.

[OldHeidelberg]

I don't know, I think the injury to Woody keeps us out of the major buyer category unless its a player with a bit of control. It will be interesting to see what happens between the Cubs and Cards.

 

Yeah maybe we will hear better news after the MRI but if he is out 6-8 weeks it as big of a minus as any one player we could have hoped to add. Hard to be major buyers when you just have a setback like that, he is a big reason we are even talking about still buying.

 

But I don't see a selloff either, the last week means we are almost for sure still right in the thick of things at the deadline, add a second tier reliever or 2 and see what happens.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

They aren't going to sell...just no way. As far as waiting until after the Cubs series...I think that's a bit dangerous in that they could REALLY use a starter to take Woodruff's spot in the rotation for that series. I'm not(and I sure as hell hope the Brewers aren't) comfortable, trotting out Aaron Wilkerson or anyone else currently in the organization to make that start in a series that COULD ultimately determine who wins the division. Be nice to have an outside arm by tomorrow at the latest.

 

With the off days over the next week, they don’t need another starter until Aug. 3rd if they want to go that route. So yes, they can wait it out a bit if they want to.

 

They can, and they more than likely will. Trying to make a deal the day after your top starter goes on the injured list is all sorts of bad optics. Losing Woodruff sucks ... but he wasn't the only member of the rotation who has been pitching well.