Brewers sign Gyorko - MLB deal

[Brewcrewin07]

I love the pieces people refer to as dumpster diving.

 

Healy, LoMo, Peterson, Tuffy is dumpster diving. Basically free and with no promise of a MLB roster spot.

Smoak Sogard Lindblom Anderson and Gyorko are dumpster diving?

People seem to forget Garcia too.

 

Fangraphs (imperfect I know) valued Smoak at 43.9 million over the last 3 years. He was paid 16.25 million over the last 3. MKE paid him 5 mil.

Sogard was valued at 24 mil over the last 3 years. MKE pays him 4.5

Lindblom was the Cy Young out of the Korean league. 2018 STL snagged Mikolas out of Japan on an 8.75/1. He throws 2.83 ERA ball and he spins a solid year into 68/4. Then falls to 4.16 ERA. MKE is prospecting much the same on Lindblom. If he hits, they have him locked up unlike STL was able to do on Mikolas.

Brett Anderson was valued at 29.7 mil over the last 3 years. Been worth more than 5 mil each of the last 3 and 5 of the last 6. MKE 5/1.

Gyorko worth 27.3 million over the last 3 years. Was paid 30 million over the last 3 years. MKE scoops him cheap.

 

I guess what I'm saying is. You all have much nicer dumpsters than I do.

 

This is all well and good...but it seems you are assuming they are going to hit on every one of these guys..That seems highly improbable. And I don't think it's as easy as saying "well if they bomb, it didn't cost them much". The results are where you take a hit, not financially. And if even 1 or 2 of them bomb, they could be in major trouble. To me, all these guys have pretty low floors, and it's not unrealistic at all to think any or all of them could hit that floor this year. If the do, the results will be catastrophic on the field. It's really teetering on the brink if you ask me.

 

I also wanted to comment on something I have seen in this thread with some saying well a full season of Hiura makes up for Moose etc. Sure, one can look at it that way I suppose, but the way I look at it(and perhaps others as well), is instead of taking those guys and essentially "replacing" those numbers why not ADD to those numbers?? Wouldn't that be a better way of doing it?? Like...saying Hiura is a rarity at 2nd base with his power..sure, that's 100% true, but then why wouldn't you want to "exploit" that by having that be the "stand alone" that it is ,rather then "downgrading a bit at 3rd and 1st" because having a 2nd baseman like Hiura makes up for some of that. I can't look at it like that. Why not have Hiura at 2nd(the rare commodity that he is) and have bring in someone at 1st and third that will be productive enough to make up for what you lost there without having to make up for some of that because now you have Hiura for a full year. Sure, but to me you can/should have that full year of Hiura, plus add to that, not bring in guys you HOPE will produce like what you lost and having a full year of Hiura make up for the remainder.

[Brewcrewin07]

I love the pieces people refer to as dumpster diving.

 

Healy, LoMo, Peterson, Tuffy is dumpster diving. Basically free and with no promise of a MLB roster spot.

Smoak Sogard Lindblom Anderson and Gyorko are dumpster diving?

People seem to forget Garcia too.

 

Fangraphs (imperfect I know) valued Smoak at 43.9 million over the last 3 years. He was paid 16.25 million over the last 3. MKE paid him 5 mil.

Sogard was valued at 24 mil over the last 3 years. MKE pays him 4.5

Lindblom was the Cy Young out of the Korean league. 2018 STL snagged Mikolas out of Japan on an 8.75/1. He throws 2.83 ERA ball and he spins a solid year into 68/4. Then falls to 4.16 ERA. MKE is prospecting much the same on Lindblom. If he hits, they have him locked up unlike STL was able to do on Mikolas.

Brett Anderson was valued at 29.7 mil over the last 3 years. Been worth more than 5 mil each of the last 3 and 5 of the last 6. MKE 5/1.

Gyorko worth 27.3 million over the last 3 years. Was paid 30 million over the last 3 years. MKE scoops him cheap.

 

I guess what I'm saying is. You all have much nicer dumpsters than I do.

 

This is all well and good...but it seems you are assuming they are going to hit on every one of these guys..That seems highly improbable. And I don't think it's as easy as saying "well if they bomb, it didn't cost them much". The results are where you take a hit, not financially. And if even 1 or 2 of them bomb, they could be in major trouble. To me, all these guys have pretty low floors, and it's not unrealistic at all to think any or all of them could hit that floor this year. If the do, the results will be catastrophic on the field. It's really teetering on the brink if you ask me.

 

I also wanted to comment on something I have seen in this thread with some saying well a full season of Hiura makes up for Moose etc. Sure, one can look at it that way I suppose, but the way I look at it(and perhaps others as well), is instead of taking those guys and essentially "replacing" those numbers why not ADD to those numbers?? Wouldn't that be a better way of doing it?? Like...saying Hiura is a rarity at 2nd base with his power..sure, that's 100% true, but then why wouldn't you want to "exploit" that by having that be the "stand alone" that it is ,rather then "downgrading a bit at 3rd and 1st" because having a 2nd baseman like Hiura makes up for some of that. I can't look at it like that. Why not have Hiura at 2nd(the rare commodity that he is) and have bring in someone at 1st and third that will be productive enough to make up for what you lost there without having to make up for some of that because now you have Hiura for a full year. Sure, but to me you can/should have that full year of Hiura, plus add to that, not bring in guys you HOPE will produce like what you lost and having a full year of Hiura make up for the remainder.

[Ennder]

I thought this was a great question posed to McCalvy on twitter...

 

Adam McCalvy

@AdamMcCalvy

·

44m

It's an interesting question. It could be a timeshare at catcher, first base, third base and shortstop. Yet the Brewers are adamant that they intend to contend in 2020.

Quote Tweet

GStone

@stonebrenner99

· 49m

Replying to @AdamMcCalvy

So we're looking at three platoons in the infield? Has anyone ever won with that formula?

 

The Dodgers in 2018 went to the World Series with platoons all over the place. Timeshare at C isn't really a thing, everyone shares time. Last year we basically had time shares at 1B/2B and while Arcia was a full time SS it wasn't pretty. So even last years Brewers were basically the same situation.

[Ennder]

I thought this was a great question posed to McCalvy on twitter...

 

Adam McCalvy

@AdamMcCalvy

·

44m

It's an interesting question. It could be a timeshare at catcher, first base, third base and shortstop. Yet the Brewers are adamant that they intend to contend in 2020.

Quote Tweet

GStone

@stonebrenner99

· 49m

Replying to @AdamMcCalvy

So we're looking at three platoons in the infield? Has anyone ever won with that formula?

 

The Dodgers in 2018 went to the World Series with platoons all over the place. Timeshare at C isn't really a thing, everyone shares time. Last year we basically had time shares at 1B/2B and while Arcia was a full time SS it wasn't pretty. So even last years Brewers were basically the same situation.

[TJseven7]

This is all well and good...but it seems you are assuming they are going to hit on every one of these guys..That seems highly improbable. And I don't think it's as easy as saying "well if they bomb, it didn't cost them much". The results are where you take a hit, not financially. And if even 1 or 2 of them bomb, they could be in major trouble. To me, all these guys have pretty low floors, and it's not unrealistic at all to think any or all of them could hit that floor this year. If the do, the results will be catastrophic on the field. It's really teetering on the brink if you ask me.

 

You are being overly pessimistic and overly optimistic. You sign someone more safe they too can flop. You sign someone inexpensive they can flop. It's real simple. If you have 20 bucks and you see a 3 plausible solutions to your problem that cost $8 and you were wrong, you have $12 dollars to do something about it. If you spend all 20 so that you feel warm and fuzzy about your choices and you are wrong, you are broke and stuck. The best path is to buy on a budget. Before you say, you get what you pay for it truly doesn't play out that way in professional sports. Usually the bottom is fair to low of fair. The middle is vastly overpaid. The top is incredibly expensive but for good reason. It's best to load up options that your numbers believe in. Hope the numbers play out and every hit is a gain because every hit will prove a steal. Every miss is something you can work to replace. The model is options and fiscal based. The less options you have the worse your chances are of hitting. The less flexibility you have the less likely it becomes that you can solve problems as they arise because they can arise anywhere. No one is good enough to predict that perfectly. The old saying, want to make god laugh, tell him your plans.

 

I also wanted to comment on something I have seen in this thread with some saying well a full season of Hiura makes up for Moose etc. Sure, one can look at it that way I suppose, but the way I look at it(and perhaps others as well), is instead of taking those guys and essentially "replacing" those numbers why not ADD to those numbers?? Wouldn't that be a better way of doing it?? Like...saying Hiura is a rarity at 2nd base with his power..sure, that's 100% true, but then why wouldn't you want to "exploit" that by having that be the "stand alone" that it is ,rather then "downgrading a bit at 3rd and 1st" because having a 2nd baseman like Hiura makes up for some of that. I can't look at it like that. Why not have Hiura at 2nd(the rare commodity that he is) and have bring in someone at 1st and third that will be productive enough to make up for what you lost there without having to make up for some of that because now you have Hiura for a full year. Sure, but to me you can/should have that full year of Hiura, plus add to that, not bring in guys you HOPE will produce like what you lost and having a full year of Hiura make up for the remainder.

 

In a perfect market situation sure. This is not that market. Also, beyond a certain point you hit a point of diminishing returns where gain becomes unnecessarily expensive. This is a belief I've formed watching MKE and a few other analytic roster forming teams operate.

 

It's a logical shift from the money ball era. Buying players to buying wins. Well at first this is great because no one else is buying wins. After time plays out, numbers get better and become more readily accepted, you can't just buy wins because you aren't alone. The next logical step is to find out what metrics you have to hit to get to a desired win total. Where gains become unnecessary. Where shortcomings explode into record sinking issues. Then you cross reference that with money spent and risk taken on. There's definitively a point which those numbers all cross in an optimal way. It has to exist and I believe the teams who have bought into the front like of analytical roster building see this and operate in that manor. They are trying to weave their way to 95-100 wins because any team in the playoffs has a chance to win the series. If you can repeat this yearly, without overloading on risk and cost you have the opportunity to push your chips in at times, buy at times when the market cools down, etc. You stay prepared to pounce because you, in theory solved the current issues as inexpensively as possible and held back flexibility money while riding low long term risk options.

 

I mean look at the buys from last deadline. Dubon traded for Pom. Matthias is basically Dubon. Lyles got for a song. What they achieved by getting them was OPTIONS cheap. If your metrics are good and you throw enough options at a wall, enough of them will stick. It's not a crystal ball philosophy, its a probability philosophy.

 

That's MKE. I liked Chacin's addition in 2018 but otherwise I was dumbfounded by the way they structured their staff at first. Never seen something like that. Then I looked into the philosophy, into the Astros and realized this was a "new dawn" type of idea. In 2019 I was nervous because they didn't stack the same depth in the pitching staff. Right now I'm nervous because they haven't stacked the same depth in the pitching staff. I didn't come up with this idea. I learned it from them. I sampled their strategy because it worked and it has nothing to do with being right. It has everything to do with maximizing chances to be right. This has brought me to the crazy conclusion that I want MKE to add Cashner and Sanchez as relievers on the cheap. Will it work, I don't know. There's reason to think it could and having options to be correct is a great thing. Especially with a bullpen for of guys who can be stashed in the minors to start the year.

 

Sogard, Gyorko, Healy, Lomo, Braun, Smoak for the infield corners. You could roll the money spent on everyone (nix braun) into 1 guy and it wouldn't make it any safer or productive. Everyone of these low market guys are paid what they realistically deserve. If they tank, its a slight overpay. If they spike (and I'm sure their numbers point to that probability as a distinct possibility) then they are a big value and hitting 1 makes up for all the other misses due to their low cost/risk.

 

Team options galore also points to this. Why buy low for 1 year when you can opt into a 2nd steal of a year if they rebound or do what your metrics assume possible.

[TJseven7]

This is all well and good...but it seems you are assuming they are going to hit on every one of these guys..That seems highly improbable. And I don't think it's as easy as saying "well if they bomb, it didn't cost them much". The results are where you take a hit, not financially. And if even 1 or 2 of them bomb, they could be in major trouble. To me, all these guys have pretty low floors, and it's not unrealistic at all to think any or all of them could hit that floor this year. If the do, the results will be catastrophic on the field. It's really teetering on the brink if you ask me.

 

You are being overly pessimistic and overly optimistic. You sign someone more safe they too can flop. You sign someone inexpensive they can flop. It's real simple. If you have 20 bucks and you see a 3 plausible solutions to your problem that cost $8 and you were wrong, you have $12 dollars to do something about it. If you spend all 20 so that you feel warm and fuzzy about your choices and you are wrong, you are broke and stuck. The best path is to buy on a budget. Before you say, you get what you pay for it truly doesn't play out that way in professional sports. Usually the bottom is fair to low of fair. The middle is vastly overpaid. The top is incredibly expensive but for good reason. It's best to load up options that your numbers believe in. Hope the numbers play out and every hit is a gain because every hit will prove a steal. Every miss is something you can work to replace. The model is options and fiscal based. The less options you have the worse your chances are of hitting. The less flexibility you have the less likely it becomes that you can solve problems as they arise because they can arise anywhere. No one is good enough to predict that perfectly. The old saying, want to make god laugh, tell him your plans.

 

I also wanted to comment on something I have seen in this thread with some saying well a full season of Hiura makes up for Moose etc. Sure, one can look at it that way I suppose, but the way I look at it(and perhaps others as well), is instead of taking those guys and essentially "replacing" those numbers why not ADD to those numbers?? Wouldn't that be a better way of doing it?? Like...saying Hiura is a rarity at 2nd base with his power..sure, that's 100% true, but then why wouldn't you want to "exploit" that by having that be the "stand alone" that it is ,rather then "downgrading a bit at 3rd and 1st" because having a 2nd baseman like Hiura makes up for some of that. I can't look at it like that. Why not have Hiura at 2nd(the rare commodity that he is) and have bring in someone at 1st and third that will be productive enough to make up for what you lost there without having to make up for some of that because now you have Hiura for a full year. Sure, but to me you can/should have that full year of Hiura, plus add to that, not bring in guys you HOPE will produce like what you lost and having a full year of Hiura make up for the remainder.

 

In a perfect market situation sure. This is not that market. Also, beyond a certain point you hit a point of diminishing returns where gain becomes unnecessarily expensive. This is a belief I've formed watching MKE and a few other analytic roster forming teams operate.

 

It's a logical shift from the money ball era. Buying players to buying wins. Well at first this is great because no one else is buying wins. After time plays out, numbers get better and become more readily accepted, you can't just buy wins because you aren't alone. The next logical step is to find out what metrics you have to hit to get to a desired win total. Where gains become unnecessary. Where shortcomings explode into record sinking issues. Then you cross reference that with money spent and risk taken on. There's definitively a point which those numbers all cross in an optimal way. It has to exist and I believe the teams who have bought into the front like of analytical roster building see this and operate in that manor. They are trying to weave their way to 95-100 wins because any team in the playoffs has a chance to win the series. If you can repeat this yearly, without overloading on risk and cost you have the opportunity to push your chips in at times, buy at times when the market cools down, etc. You stay prepared to pounce because you, in theory solved the current issues as inexpensively as possible and held back flexibility money while riding low long term risk options.

 

I mean look at the buys from last deadline. Dubon traded for Pom. Matthias is basically Dubon. Lyles got for a song. What they achieved by getting them was OPTIONS cheap. If your metrics are good and you throw enough options at a wall, enough of them will stick. It's not a crystal ball philosophy, its a probability philosophy.

 

That's MKE. I liked Chacin's addition in 2018 but otherwise I was dumbfounded by the way they structured their staff at first. Never seen something like that. Then I looked into the philosophy, into the Astros and realized this was a "new dawn" type of idea. In 2019 I was nervous because they didn't stack the same depth in the pitching staff. Right now I'm nervous because they haven't stacked the same depth in the pitching staff. I didn't come up with this idea. I learned it from them. I sampled their strategy because it worked and it has nothing to do with being right. It has everything to do with maximizing chances to be right. This has brought me to the crazy conclusion that I want MKE to add Cashner and Sanchez as relievers on the cheap. Will it work, I don't know. There's reason to think it could and having options to be correct is a great thing. Especially with a bullpen for of guys who can be stashed in the minors to start the year.

 

Sogard, Gyorko, Healy, Lomo, Braun, Smoak for the infield corners. You could roll the money spent on everyone (nix braun) into 1 guy and it wouldn't make it any safer or productive. Everyone of these low market guys are paid what they realistically deserve. If they tank, its a slight overpay. If they spike (and I'm sure their numbers point to that probability as a distinct possibility) then they are a big value and hitting 1 makes up for all the other misses due to their low cost/risk.

 

Team options galore also points to this. Why buy low for 1 year when you can opt into a 2nd steal of a year if they rebound or do what your metrics assume possible.

[folly412]

Faria has been DFA'd to make room for Gyorko.

 

He was on that list of guys who have the bad combination of being at the back of the bullpen and out of options. At least thought he'd make it into spring training.

[folly412]

Faria has been DFA'd to make room for Gyorko.

 

He was on that list of guys who have the bad combination of being at the back of the bullpen and out of options. At least thought he'd make it into spring training.

[jackmadden]

Faria has been DFA'd to make room for Gyorko.

 

He was on that list of guys who have the bad combination of being at the back of the bullpen and out of options. At least thought he'd make it into spring training.

 

It's possible that he still could make it to Spring Training. Stearn's said he wants to retain him if Faria makes it through waivers and can be kept.

 

[jackmadden]

Faria has been DFA'd to make room for Gyorko.

 

He was on that list of guys who have the bad combination of being at the back of the bullpen and out of options. At least thought he'd make it into spring training.

 

It's possible that he still could make it to Spring Training. Stearn's said he wants to retain him if Faria makes it through waivers and can be kept.

 

[reillymcshane]

Interesting signing, but not very inspiring.

 

Gyorko was a perfectly good player from 2016-18. Just cratered last year. Club must feel last year was a fluke.

 

He doesn't seem like the body type to age well (but I said that about Moose as well).

 

I'm not terribly optimistic, but let's cross our fingers. We are rolling the dice on a bunch of players, which makes everyone uneasy, including myself. That's why we love 'proven' players. Sign Moustakas and you pencil him in for .250+ and 30 HRs. At least that's a more likely result than Gyorko hitting 30 HRs again. Everyone loves that predictability.

 

As this is a guaranteed deal, I doubt the club brings in another infielder (short of someone who is AAA filler).

 

Smoak, Hiura, Urias, Sogard, Arcia, Gyorko. Yelich is, of course, a machine. Let's hope Cain rebounds to his 2018 form.

[reillymcshane]

Interesting signing, but not very inspiring.

 

Gyorko was a perfectly good player from 2016-18. Just cratered last year. Club must feel last year was a fluke.

 

He doesn't seem like the body type to age well (but I said that about Moose as well).

 

I'm not terribly optimistic, but let's cross our fingers. We are rolling the dice on a bunch of players, which makes everyone uneasy, including myself. That's why we love 'proven' players. Sign Moustakas and you pencil him in for .250+ and 30 HRs. At least that's a more likely result than Gyorko hitting 30 HRs again. Everyone loves that predictability.

 

As this is a guaranteed deal, I doubt the club brings in another infielder (short of someone who is AAA filler).

 

Smoak, Hiura, Urias, Sogard, Arcia, Gyorko. Yelich is, of course, a machine. Let's hope Cain rebounds to his 2018 form.

[MrTPlush]

2019 ops vs 2020 potential ops

 

C 841 vs 800 Narvaez/Pina (-41)

1b 808 vs. 825 Smoak/Braun (+17)

2b 884 vs. 900 Hiura. (+16)

3b 681 vs. 730 Sogard/Gyorko (+49)

SS 612 vs 715 Urias/Arcia (103), I’m very bullish on Urias

LF 872 vs 825 Garcia/Braun (-47)

CF 686 vs 725 Cain/Gamel (+39)

RF 998 vs 998 Yelich (-)

DH 396 vs 700 (Many options for 10 games)

 

That’s +142 on aggregate ops increase based on reasonable expectations at each position .

 

Over the course of a 162 games...I think that is an important thing to note here. While it may be better with no Shaw/Aguilar train wreck (we hope) if we were talking a postseason series I’m not sure the offense is actually better.

 

I’m not saying regular season production doesn’t matter, it does a ton. Especially those bench bats and the #6-#8 in the rotation. Those guys are huge, but their production means nothing when October hits. Then it is all about the starters (in both sides of the ball). At that point it doesn’t matter that Shaw gave us a .600 OPS for months or how the #7 starter produced for 3 weeks. Because if we are comparing the actual end of the year line up 3B is over -100...a massive downgrade.

 

You gotta get there first or at least to July, I get that completely. I just think it is fair to know the difference between 162 game production and head to head on any given day talent.

[MrTPlush]

2019 ops vs 2020 potential ops

 

C 841 vs 800 Narvaez/Pina (-41)

1b 808 vs. 825 Smoak/Braun (+17)

2b 884 vs. 900 Hiura. (+16)

3b 681 vs. 730 Sogard/Gyorko (+49)

SS 612 vs 715 Urias/Arcia (103), I’m very bullish on Urias

LF 872 vs 825 Garcia/Braun (-47)

CF 686 vs 725 Cain/Gamel (+39)

RF 998 vs 998 Yelich (-)

DH 396 vs 700 (Many options for 10 games)

 

That’s +142 on aggregate ops increase based on reasonable expectations at each position .

 

Over the course of a 162 games...I think that is an important thing to note here. While it may be better with no Shaw/Aguilar train wreck (we hope) if we were talking a postseason series I’m not sure the offense is actually better.

 

I’m not saying regular season production doesn’t matter, it does a ton. Especially those bench bats and the #6-#8 in the rotation. Those guys are huge, but their production means nothing when October hits. Then it is all about the starters (in both sides of the ball). At that point it doesn’t matter that Shaw gave us a .600 OPS for months or how the #7 starter produced for 3 weeks. Because if we are comparing the actual end of the year line up 3B is over -100...a massive downgrade.

 

You gotta get there first or at least to July, I get that completely. I just think it is fair to know the difference between 162 game production and head to head on any given day talent.

[StearnsFTW]

If you take Gyorko's vs LHP 3 year average and Sogard's vs RHP 3 year average and weight it for 61% RHP, you would get a line of .356/.425, which I have to imagine is very close to league average. Imperfect of course, but not as horrible as one might expect after reading this thread.

Looks like a .781 OPS would be average to slightly above average.

 

MLB 3B 2017-19:

 

Thanks, I was unable to locate that info.

[StearnsFTW]

If you take Gyorko's vs LHP 3 year average and Sogard's vs RHP 3 year average and weight it for 61% RHP, you would get a line of .356/.425, which I have to imagine is very close to league average. Imperfect of course, but not as horrible as one might expect after reading this thread.

Looks like a .781 OPS would be average to slightly above average.

 

MLB 3B 2017-19:

 

Thanks, I was unable to locate that info.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Gyorko deal is for $2 million. At least if he proves that he's done, it's not a huge commitment.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Gyorko deal is for $2 million. At least if he proves that he's done, it's not a huge commitment.

[patrickgpe]

This could be the move this offseason, that is not liked by many fans that turns out to be genius. Stearns is good for one a year. Last year it wasn’t until the trade deadline though.

[patrickgpe]

This could be the move this offseason, that is not liked by many fans that turns out to be genius. Stearns is good for one a year. Last year it wasn’t until the trade deadline though.

[Eye Black]

Interesting signing, but not very inspiring.

 

Gyorko was a perfectly good player from 2016-18. Just cratered last year. Club must feel last year was a fluke.

 

He doesn't seem like the body type to age well (but I said that about Moose as well).

 

I'm not terribly optimistic, but let's cross our fingers. We are rolling the dice on a bunch of players, which makes everyone uneasy, including myself. That's why we love 'proven' players. Sign Moustakas and you pencil him in for .250+ and 30 HRs. At least that's a more likely result than Gyorko hitting 30 HRs again. Everyone loves that predictability.

 

As this is a guaranteed deal, I doubt the club brings in another infielder (short of someone who is AAA filler).

 

Smoak, Hiura, Urias, Sogard, Arcia, Gyorko. Yelich is, of course, a machine. Let's hope Cain rebounds to his 2018 form.

This is where I’m at as well. It’s interesting that they are rostering a bunch of bounce back options, and I’m sure a couple of them will have average or better seasons. That’s fine in plenty of circumstances, but for a team I want to see win a championship it just seems like they are simply narrowing their range of possible outcomes. I’d be more into the Gyorko signing if I thought it was a depth move on a team I was confident already had the core of a 90-win team. In this case it seems like they are merely solidifying the floor of a roster that appears destined to project in the typically least desirable position to finish in baseball, a slightly above .500 team.

 

Obviously there is more off-season, and obviously this could all change as the season plays out (and the front office could even turnout looking like complete geniuses). That being said, as we sit here on January 10th I’m not as enthusiastic about the upcoming season as I had hoped I would be once the 40-man roster was filled. When you project to be a mid-80s win team, improving by 4-5 extra wins is more valuable than in any other scenario. Instead of doing that it seems like the off-season thus far has done more to replace lost production than improving significantly in any specific way.

 

Again, more could certainly be on the way, but if nothing else substantial comes to fruition I’ll have to squirt with my Navy tinted glasses on to visualize an avenue where this team achieves a 95+ win outcome.

[Eye Black]

Interesting signing, but not very inspiring.

 

Gyorko was a perfectly good player from 2016-18. Just cratered last year. Club must feel last year was a fluke.

 

He doesn't seem like the body type to age well (but I said that about Moose as well).

 

I'm not terribly optimistic, but let's cross our fingers. We are rolling the dice on a bunch of players, which makes everyone uneasy, including myself. That's why we love 'proven' players. Sign Moustakas and you pencil him in for .250+ and 30 HRs. At least that's a more likely result than Gyorko hitting 30 HRs again. Everyone loves that predictability.

 

As this is a guaranteed deal, I doubt the club brings in another infielder (short of someone who is AAA filler).

 

Smoak, Hiura, Urias, Sogard, Arcia, Gyorko. Yelich is, of course, a machine. Let's hope Cain rebounds to his 2018 form.

This is where I’m at as well. It’s interesting that they are rostering a bunch of bounce back options, and I’m sure a couple of them will have average or better seasons. That’s fine in plenty of circumstances, but for a team I want to see win a championship it just seems like they are simply narrowing their range of possible outcomes. I’d be more into the Gyorko signing if I thought it was a depth move on a team I was confident already had the core of a 90-win team. In this case it seems like they are merely solidifying the floor of a roster that appears destined to project in the typically least desirable position to finish in baseball, a slightly above .500 team.

 

Obviously there is more off-season, and obviously this could all change as the season plays out (and the front office could even turnout looking like complete geniuses). That being said, as we sit here on January 10th I’m not as enthusiastic about the upcoming season as I had hoped I would be once the 40-man roster was filled. When you project to be a mid-80s win team, improving by 4-5 extra wins is more valuable than in any other scenario. Instead of doing that it seems like the off-season thus far has done more to replace lost production than improving significantly in any specific way.

 

Again, more could certainly be on the way, but if nothing else substantial comes to fruition I’ll have to squirt with my Navy tinted glasses on to visualize an avenue where this team achieves a 95+ win outcome.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

The payroll thing is really getting annoying, honestly. It's pretty much the same mentality as "I spent $4k on vacation last year, so this year I have to spend at least $4500." It doesn't work that way.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

The payroll thing is really getting annoying, honestly. It's pretty much the same mentality as "I spent $4k on vacation last year, so this year I have to spend at least $4500." It doesn't work that way.

[patrickgpe]

The payroll thing is really getting annoying, honestly. It's pretty much the same mentality as "I spent $4k on vacation last year, so this year I have to spend at least $4500." It doesn't work that way.

Not really the same. The average players salary increases each year. The value of the franchise went up 200 million least year. I understand that the brewers have other expenses than just payroll though. However I understand, In the last few season they made some significant upgrades to the stadium, renovated their Spring training stadium, bought a single a team, etc. that money does come from somewhere.

 

I get why fans are frustrated, as there has been no dip in attendance and I am a little bit too, but we don’t know the whole financial picture of the team. Nobody wants to win more than mark a, so I’m just hoping this all works out.