Has anyone lost confidence in Stearns

[brewers888]

Most if not all of Stearns offseason acquisitions are just bad baseball players. Urias will hopefully be good and you have to think that Narvaez can at least hit but why did he sign the likes of Smoak, Sogard, and Lindblom. Just a bunch of ugly acquisitions and they were easy to see the day that each of them were made.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Most if not all of Stearns offseason acquisitions are just bad baseball players. Urias will hopefully be good and you have to think that Narvaez can at least hit but why did he sign the likes of Smoak, Sogard, and Lindblom. Just a bunch of ugly acquisitions and they were easy to see the day that each of them were made.

 

Easy to understand Smoak. He profiles as a similar hitter to Thames, but at a cheaper price. Lindblom was a cheap flyer to try to copy what the Cardinals have done with success. Sogard? No idea.

[CheezWizHed]

Much was said the same about when we first got Thames, Sogard (the first time), Chacin, Lyles, Miley, Aguilar, etc... Yes, there have been Boone, Albers, Jennings, etc... that didn't work out.

 

But that is the approach that the Brewers are going to take. And really need to take. Yes, we have a budget (who doesn't???) and no it isn't the Yankees budget.

 

But if you are judging our players by the few games of this season, we need to trade Yellich and Huira too. No one has been hitting well this year on the Brewer's team.

[pacopete4]

All we needed was this thread.

[SomewhereInTime]

Much was said the same about when we first got Thames, Sogard (the first time), Chacin, Lyles, Miley, Aguilar, etc... Yes, there have been Boone, Albers, Jennings, etc... that didn't work out.

 

But that is the approach that the Brewers are going to take. And really need to take. Yes, we have a budget (who doesn't???) and no it isn't the Yankees budget.

 

But if you are judging our players by the few games of this season, we need to trade Yellich and Huira too. No one has been hitting well this year on the Brewer's team.

 

Dan Jennings pitched 64.1 Innings over 72 appearances in 2018 with a 3.22 ERA 12/14 with a lead (11 holds 1 save). His FIP was 4.09 but you basically always see a higher FIP with a contact pitcher. I don't think he belongs in the same category as trash cans like Albers or Boone.

[TigerUppercut]

All we needed was this thread.

 

Bingo. I hope this thread sticks around for the "long haul" because I believe there will be some ridiculous posts to look back on in 30-45 days.

[wildcat2237]

I have not lost confidence in Stearns, but I am losing confidence.

 

I'm not a fan of many moves he made this offseason:

 

1. I don't think I can take another Sogard AB.

 

2. Holt stinks.

 

3. Smoak stinks.

 

4. I'm not a Garcia fan.

 

5. Narvaez stinks.

 

6. Gyorko stinks.

 

I think in the end a Hader trade is inevitable.

 

Might also have to trade Woodruff to bring in the influx of talent needed to avoiding signing more journey bums like Sogard and Holt.

 

What don't you like about Garcia? Why would you trade your only really decent starter?

 

1. He's expensive at about $10 million/year.

 

2. If you remove his All-Star year in 2017, he's generally a low-OBP hitter.

 

3. He offers pretty average power for a low-obp corner outfielder.

 

I would rather have kept Grisham and his likely high OBP

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

I have not lost confidence in Stearns, but I am losing confidence.

 

I'm not a fan of many moves he made this offseason:

 

1. I don't think I can take another Sogard AB.

 

2. Holt stinks.

 

3. Smoak stinks.

 

4. I'm not a Garcia fan.

 

5. Narvaez stinks.

 

6. Gyorko stinks.

 

I think in the end a Hader trade is inevitable.

 

Might also have to trade Woodruff to bring in the influx of talent needed to avoiding signing more journey bums like Sogard and Holt.

 

What don't you like about Garcia? Why would you trade your only really decent starter?

 

1. He's expensive at about $10 million/year.

 

2. If you remove his All-Star year in 2017, he's generally a low-OBP hitter.

 

3. He offers pretty average power for a low-obp coerner outfielder.

 

I would rather have kept Grisham and his likely high OBP

 

Gotta give to get typically, and Urias looks like he may just prove to be quite useful, albeit in a small sample size so far. If Lauer figures some things out and makes himself into a useful pitcher, that very well may turn out to be a fine trade. Maybe even one of those rare ones that turns out good for both teams.

[Eye Black]

Maybe even one of those rare ones that turns out good for both teams.

[sarcasm]Blasphemy! Someone MUST “win” the trade![/sarcasm]

[Eye Black]

All we needed was this thread.

No kidding.

 

Last year this thread (with the exact same subject title) was posted on the morning of Friday, September 6th. Starting with the game later that evening the Brewers went on to win 18 of their next 20 games and clinched a playoff spot. The first three victories of that streak were against the Chicago Cubs as well.

 

This year the thread went up following the game on Thursday, August 13th. Since then the Brewers have run off three consecutive victories at Wrigley Field.

 

This thread might just be the exact piece of motivation this team needed.

 

[balsamlaker]

I like the subtle moves that are being made with those struggling - Grimm to the IR, Lauer sent down, Morrison let go. With little invested beyond this year, it wouldn't be shocked to see moves like this continue. If Holt continues to struggle, I could see them letting him go and bringing the younger Mathias back up.

[DuWayne Steurer]

The defending world champ Nationals were in last place, going into today. Just for a point of reference.

[pacopete4]

The defending world champ Nationals were in last place, going into today. Just for a point of reference.

 

I bet they have no confidence in their GM.

[monty57]

Baseball has a strange way of making you feel that every game is life-and-death, and every streak means a player is great or awful. That's why we need to be reminded that small sample sizes are meaningless, and all it took was one winning series and the feelings about the Brewers has shifted.

 

The Brewers have talent on their roster. They started out 7-10, which isn't that bad, and every team will have losing stretches over the year. It's a short season, so some good teams will probably miss the playoffs due to a rough stretch or unfortunate injury, while some bad teams may sneak into the playoffs due to a hot streak. But overall I like the way Stearns builds his teams with a "core and satellite" type strategy, and while the one-year vets who were signed to fill in the roster may or may not play well, they will be gone next year to be replaced by someone else.

 

As long as we keep a talented, "controlled" core, we shouldn't have long stretches of ineptitude, which is a welcome thing for a lifelong Brewers fan.

[LouisEly]

The defending world champ Nationals were in last place, going into today. Just for a point of reference.

Boston is 6-16 with a $193M payroll and have lost 7 in a row by a combined score of 67-32. Yesterday was the first time in a week that they haven't given up at least 8 runs in a game.

[Zad Fnark]

Yeah, I was watching some of those.

 

ESPN only seems to show New York/Boston games.

 

Their pitching does not look very scary. Milwaukee would probably clean their clocks.

[FVBrewerFan]

Stearns lost Grandal and Moose (and now Cain), yet has this team competing for a playoff birth again. His performance his first few years on the job makes him one of the best GMs throughout pro sports. I actually think this season was his best work yet, since he had little money to spend and extremely limited in top end prospects to deal.

[owbc]

To me, Narvaez looking like Eddie Perez 2.0 is the #1 disappointment by far. But Manny Piña is making up for that. The rest of the pieces seem to be falling in place. It seems like Counsell has righted the ship.

[balsamlaker]

The Orioles are in interesting team to watch as their top four hitters right now, one-third of the way into the season, are waiver wire claims. If this continues, former Brewers shortstop Jose Hernandez will be a major league hitting coach very soon (currently the Orioles assistant hitting coach).

[Jenkins5]

This is the weirdest season in baseball history. We are 20 games into season. I’m traditionally anti doomsday/sky is fall so this just makes me laugh. We are writing guys off and hasn’t even been a month. Omar blasted the ball every game in blue/gold scrimmage but has struggled last 35 ABs so now he sucks & is useless. That kind of stuff is annoying to me. Yeah it’d be great if all these guys started hot, time is limited and I get that but you can’t make real judgement on any player this soon and with how this season/year has went. It’s like saying Yeli got his contract & now is checked out, doesn’t care, and is now garbage because he has had rough go so far.

 

I have lost zero confidence in Stearns. People complain about farm system but we literally just traded off & graduated all our high level guys. We have ton of very high ceiling guys in system they are just mostly under AA. National publications tend to only rate high draft picks or huge international signing babies very highly before AA. Stearns has been very aggressive in international signings but the oldest kid so far is only 21 I think. Takes time to reap some/any benefits of signing all these 16 years. The fact national publications still give no love to Feliciano blows mind. Missed year 19 mostly with injuries but comes back at 20 to win league MVP in one of toughest hitter leagues. At 18, he spent half the season as one of top players in MWL before 1st full season fatigue kicked in. But again, like I said, below AA & not bonus baby or high first round pick.

 

I have a feeling come September this Brewer team will start rolling & be a tough out in playoffs. Don’t think they will win a World Series this year but competitive enough to make a run. 20 games just isn’t enough to get worried about.

[HiAndTight]

I haven’t lost confidence in him, but I never thought he was the almighty great young GM that most fans were propping him up to be. It’s simply too soon in his career to know how well he will fare in the end. He did a great job for 2018, but a lot of that was thanks to what he started with. 2019 was a good step back and then this year looks like falling of a cliff decline (so far).

 

That being said I’m not giving him a mulligan just because it is 60 games. He constructed this roster...60 games or 162 games a garbage roster is garbage. The roster is lame and a funky way to build a team. So far it has been pathetic.

 

 

How was most of that 2018 team's success thanks to what he started with? Wasn't HE responsible for the trade of Yelich, the trades that brought the players he traded Yelich for, the signing of Cain...

 

Who were the significant pieces on that team that he started with vs the players who he acquired?

[dlk9s]

Guys, guys, remember that every single one of a GM's roster moves must work out perfectly.

[RollieTime]

I haven’t lost confidence in him, but I never thought he was the almighty great young GM that most fans were propping him up to be. It’s simply too soon in his career to know how well he will fare in the end. He did a great job for 2018, but a lot of that was thanks to what he started with. 2019 was a good step back and then this year looks like falling of a cliff decline (so far).

 

That being said I’m not giving him a mulligan just because it is 60 games. He constructed this roster...60 games or 162 games a garbage roster is garbage. The roster is lame and a funky way to build a team. So far it has been pathetic.

 

 

How was most of that 2018 team's success thanks to what he started with? Wasn't HE responsible for the trade of Yelich, the trades that brought the players he traded Yelich for, the signing of Cain...

 

Who were the significant pieces on that team that he started with vs the players who he acquired?

 

He also brought in Aguilar and Shaw, who may not be with the Crew now, but did have 67 homeruns combined that season.

[MrTPlush]

I haven’t lost confidence in him, but I never thought he was the almighty great young GM that most fans were propping him up to be. It’s simply too soon in his career to know how well he will fare in the end. He did a great job for 2018, but a lot of that was thanks to what he started with. 2019 was a good step back and then this year looks like falling of a cliff decline (so far).

 

That being said I’m not giving him a mulligan just because it is 60 games. He constructed this roster...60 games or 162 games a garbage roster is garbage. The roster is lame and a funky way to build a team. So far it has been pathetic.

 

 

How was most of that 2018 team's success thanks to what he started with? Wasn't HE responsible for the trade of Yelich, the trades that brought the players he traded Yelich for, the signing of Cain...

 

Who were the significant pieces on that team that he started with vs the players who he acquired?

 

Well, first thing I didn’t say most...so let’s be accurate please.

 

I was referring to the strong minor league system he joined with, was left with an elite trade chip in Lucroy, and notably the haul that was acquired for Carlos Gomez just before he arrived. Not to mention he was given a clean slate with the payroll and didn’t have a bunch of burden contracts hanging over the franchise. It was a pretty favorable situation to build a team from. Of course Stearns did pretty good himself and that is a big reason why it got turned around so fast.

 

Unfortunately, many of those success stories were gone faster than you blinked. Stearns really hasn’t found much talent that has helped us for an extended period of time. Most of it came and went due to FA and/or sucking their way out of town. On the hitting side, outside of Yelich, he really hasn’t found any guys to have consistent success (unless I am forgetting someone). Shaw/Aguilar/Villar were all short lived. The pitching side the only two relevant starters this year have been Woodruff/Houser...both of which were here before Stearns. Four of the main bullpen guys (Hader/Peralta(?)/Williams/Suter) are all pre Stearns guys. Now disclaimer, I do realize Stearns drafting is still relatively young so that has to be taken into consideration.

 

Stearns has done a remarkable job in his time here...I doubt we could have hired someone to get better results in this same timespan. That being said we still don’t know how well he will do building a farm system, which is arguably the most important thing he will ever do to find success in Milwaukee. The system isn’t great right now and the roster turnover the last few years is certainly concerning. It’s a sign we are not developing or finding controllable players...certainly not a recipe for success.

 

I don’t say all of this to mean I think he hasn’t done a good job...I just don’t think the real test as a GM has been seen yet.

[PeaveyFury]

If we're noting that Stearns has found some gems that lost their luster fairly quickly, I think it's also worth giving him credit for not stupidly committing a large amount of resources to those people as previous regimes did. Rather than giving a guy like Shaw a monster deal, they were able to move on without a franchise-crippling financial albatross hanging over them.