Shaw, Claudio, Nelson, Saladino, Guerra Non-Tendered

[reillymcshane]

Nelson and Shaw were tough, but right decisions. Just too much money there.

 

Saladino no shock.

 

Guerra was a toss up in my book, but I suspected he might be gone. He was slated to make around $3.5M, which is a good amount for an average reliever. Still, we need to replace a lot of innings.

 

Claudio was the biggest surprise, in my opinion. I'm not dissatisfied, but just surprised. I'd rather Stearns dumped the guy now than hang on to him just because he had made a trade for him last year. Too many guys let their ego make decisions - and if the Claudio move was a mistake - I'm happy they admit it and move on.

[JosephC]

39th overall pick sacrificed for 1 year of Claudio

 

That was a terrible trade. I remember the first time I saw him pitch in spring training, went to the stat sheet and saw he was coming off a season with a 4.48 ERA and 1.52 WHIP and just couldn't figure out what Stearns would see in this guy. No question that Stearns has done a great job here but this one will forever remain a big head-scratcher. I don't know if this was a good example of where the advanced metrics just totally steered him wrong, he may have seen the 12 hits per 9 innings allowed in 2018 as a total outlier, but Claudio's FIP was going in the wrong direction from 2016 to 2017 to 2018.

 

Also, in fairness to Stearns, it absolutely needs to be pointed out that Stearns probably had no idea a 3-hitter rule (unless ending the inning) was on the way, which may have had a big negative impact on how Stearns views Claudio. Not unreasonable at all to think that Stearns saw him as a multi-year asset, but now doesn't see Claudio as being much of an asset going forward now that they changed the rules.

[True Blue Brew Crew]

Claudio trade was a mistake no doubt. Glad they did the right thing in admitting it and moved on rather than continue to try and justify it.

[MrTPlush]

These moves make no sense on the surface unless the plan is to go after a big time pitcher...finally.

 

There has been a whole lot of cutting costs...so yah, I would expect them to go after someone. Not sure as big as you are hinting, but they should be signing some guys that are notable. Sure, a lot of these guys aren’t worth their salaries, but overpaying first a risk type guy by a couple million isn’t a bad deal all the time here and there.

 

I don’t have a problem with any of the moves they have made, for now. It depends who they replace them with and how they spend that money. If they let these guys go, cut payroll by $20mil or more, and one of these guys rebounds big...well then it is kind of a questionable decision by the Brewers.

[reillymcshane]

Claudio trade was a mistake no doubt. Glad they did the right thing in admitting it and moved on rather than continue to try and justify it.

You said it way more efficiently than I did. Well done!

[3and2Fastball]

Not that i was necessarily in favor of it, but the ONLY way you don't tender Shaw with Moose being gone is if you pretty much have a "locked in" plan already for 3B, right?? You can't non tender Shaw under the circumstances and hope "so and so takes our offer". To me you would already HAVE to know what you're doing.

 

No, they're just winging it. They may not even have a player starting at 3B on opening day.

 

They’ll be in the shift

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

What's funny is that the #1 guy on the team's organizational depth chart at 3B (Erceg) at this moment might get taken next week in the Rule 5 draft. Unless Matthias is a 3B I suppose.

[SRB]

Claudio had a poor 2019 season. That doesn't mean it was a bad trade at the time. Hindsight is 20/20...

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Claudio trade was a mistake no doubt. Glad they did the right thing in admitting it and moved on rather than continue to try and justify it.

 

I give Stearns credit for that. He's not one to stick by a guy he acquired and missed on. It's all about value.

[SRB]

What's funny is that the #1 guy on the team's organizational depth chart at 3B (Erceg) at this moment might get taken next week in the Rule 5 draft. Unless Matthias is a 3B I suppose.

 

I keep a running spreadsheet of the Brewers 26-man based on who is on the 40-man.

 

We are currently rolling with Mark Mathias at 3B and David Freitas as the everyday 1B

 

(Technically you could move Braun to 1B and let Gamel start in RF)

[KeithStone53151]

These moves make no sense on the surface unless the plan is to go after a big time pitcher...finally.

 

There has been a whole lot of cutting costs...so yah, I would expect them to go after someone. Not sure as big as you are hinting, but they should be signing some guys that are notable. Sure, a lot of these guys aren’t worth their salaries, but overpaying first a risk type guy by a couple million isn’t a bad deal all the time here and there.

 

I don’t have a problem with any of the moves they have made, for now. It depends who they replace them with and how they spend that money. If they let these guys go, cut payroll by $20mil or more, and one of these guys rebounds big...well then it is kind of a questionable decision by the Brewers.

 

Maybe not Cole or Stras, but maybe MB or Ryu or someone on that next tier. Our needs are TOR SP, C, and now middle relief with those 2 moves. We have some depth in relief, but we'll need a couple new arms. Hopefully Stearns has a couple gems in mind. I feel like we're generally ok at 1b/3b still. We probably need bodies, but I don't think we need to spend big to fill those holes adequately. And there are a decent number of solid catchers that would be 1a/1b with Pina at this point.

[True Blue Brew Crew]

Claudio trade was a mistake no doubt. Glad they did the right thing in admitting it and moved on rather than continue to try and justify it.

You said it way more efficiently than I did. Well done!

 

See, and I missed yours and once I saw what you said, I liked yours better. The part about not letting ego get in the way is the essence of it.

[JosephC]

 

Guerra was a toss up in my book, but I suspected he might be gone. He was slated to make around $3.7M, which is a good amount for an average reliever. Still, we need to replace a lot of innings.

 

 

I don't like letting Guerra go and am disappointed by this news. He pitched a ton (83 2/3 innings) and all in relief. Ended up with a very respectable 3.55 ERA and 1.12 WHIP. Yeah, there were some negatives in the stat sheet but overall he was pretty solid for what probably would have been a sub 4 million payday which is probably only about 3% of the team's payroll.

 

Just see Guerra falling in the same category as Thames...these guys are no way superstars and sometimes they drive you nuts when you watch them play...but good luck replacing their production at their level of pay.

[trwi7]

Claudio had a poor 2019 season. That doesn't mean it was a bad trade at the time. Hindsight is 20/20...

 

It was bad at the time and there was no hindsight because a lot of posters said it was bad when it happened.

[PeaveyFury]

My (very) rough math has them around $75 million in payroll right now. Lots of money to spend if they choose to.

 

Considering our limited prospect capital, I do wonder if they'll use some of the room to acquire a bad contract or two with a player they like to dramatically lower the cost. Seems like a way to do more with little.

[pacopete4]

Cutting Guerra and Claudio makes a lot of sense considering how over used they were a season ago.

[82brewcrew82]

Not that i was necessarily in favor of it, but the ONLY way you don't tender Shaw with Moose being gone is if you pretty much have a "locked in" plan already for 3B, right?? You can't non tender Shaw under the circumstances and hope "so and so takes our offer". To me you would already HAVE to know what you're doing.

 

No, they're just winging it. They may not even have a player starting at 3B on opening day.

 

They’ll be in the shift

[sarcasm]Position-less baseball is the future[/sarcasm]

[SRB]

Claudio had a poor 2019 season. That doesn't mean it was a bad trade at the time. Hindsight is 20/20...

 

It was bad at the time and there was no hindsight because a lot of posters said it was bad when it happened.

 

Yes, those who undervalue FIP/xFIP or overvalue draft picks. I don't think anyone was predicting that Claudio would revert to a 3.5 BB/9, which ended up being the problem.

[trwi7]

Claudio had a poor 2019 season. That doesn't mean it was a bad trade at the time. Hindsight is 20/20...

 

It was bad at the time and there was no hindsight because a lot of posters said it was bad when it happened.

 

Yes, those who undervalue FIP/xFIP or overvalue draft picks. I don't think anyone was predicting that Claudio would revert to a 3.5 BB/9, which ended up being the problem.

 

No, people ignored hard contact rates and the fact that he should only be a LOOGY, which is fine but again, you can get LOOGYs anywhere for next to nothing money wise.

[Bulldogboy]

Mad Bum come on down I guess??

[TURBO]

Strasburg come on down I guess??

 

Fixed that for you...

[Eye Black]

Claudio trade was a mistake no doubt. Glad they did the right thing in admitting it and moved on rather than continue to try and justify it.

 

I give Stearns credit for that. He's not one to stick by a guy he acquired and missed on. It's all about value.

Agreed, we saw it with Schoop, and now with Claudio. He doesn’t compound a problem by doubling down if they don’t believe in the player’s present value.

[JohnBriggs12]

These moves make no sense on the surface unless the plan is to go after a big time pitcher...finally.

 

There's not only room for a big time pitcher, there's room for Rendon too. If they signed Rendon and Wheeler, they could fill in the rest of the roster with castoffs and reclamation projects. I sure hope Stearns is in serious negotiations with at least two top end FA and we'll hear a big signing announced within the next 10 days. Gotta wonder what's going through the mind of someone like Yelich right now. Practically the entire 2019 roster is gone.

[SRB]

Gotta wonder what's going through the mind of someone like Yelich right now.

 

[sarcasm]"...Claudia? ...Salad-dino? ...Nelson from The Simpsons? Who?"[/sarcasm]

[TURBO]

These moves make no sense on the surface unless the plan is to go after a big time pitcher...finally.

 

There's not only room for a big time pitcher, there's room for Rendon too. If they signed Rendon and Wheeler, they could fill in the rest of the roster with castoffs and reclamation projects. I sure hope Stearns is in serious negotiations with at least two top end FA and we'll hear a big signing announced within the next 10 days. Gotta wonder what's going through the mind of someone like Yelich right now. Practically the entire 2019 roster is gone.

 

Hell, why go with Wheeler when we can get Strasburg and Rendon?