What is your 2020-2021 offseason plan for the Brewers?

[baumer16]

They were working on the contract for months. The entire world shut down including sports. And then when it returned they weren’t allowed to have fans. There was no way the Brewers could have foreseen this coming. No one did. Including 99% of all politicians.

[sveumrules]

Here's the original Yelich Extension thread. I couldn't find any posts saying it was stupid to give him the extension with a global pandemic looming since it was sure to limit payroll in 2021 & maybe even beyond, so that position would seem to be benefitting from at least some degree of hindsight...

 

viewtopic.php?f=63&t=39624&hilit=yelich+extended

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

If they do not plan on increasing payroll soon (next season at the latest), Yelich's extension was incredibly stupid.

 

If they could have foreseen the global pandemic, I'm guessing they might have waited on the Yelich extension.

 

He signed the contract less than a week before spring training shut down. The WHO declared COVID-19 a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on January 30th. Must have just magically appeared with no warning that could have been forseen.

 

Uhh ... when they shut down Spring Training, the common train of thought was that it would be for a couple of weeks to a month. COVID really wasn't on the forefront of anyone's mind when Yelich signed his extension. Perhaps that was part of the problem/mistake, but that doesn't make it any less true.

[trwi7]

Kind of seems like when the World Health Organization declares something an Emergency of International Concern that it might be a good idea to take it seriously or at the very least be aware of it and the effects it could have as the President of the organization.

[Madhawk23]

They were working on the contract for months. The entire world shut down including sports. And then when it returned they weren’t allowed to have fans. There was no way the Brewers could have foreseen this coming. No one did. Including 99% of all politicians.

 

Yeah, exactly this! Nobody had any idea what was about to hit us back in late February/early March. I remember hearing about COVID in the news, but there was NEVER a time when I thought to myself that this virus was going to impact our lives to the extent that it has - back then.

[wntrtxn21]

Wonder if we could pry Dalbec from the Red Sox, I would love him at 3B... But I doubt it, he's probably their 1B going forward.

 

Wouldnt mind Chavis either.

 

I wonder if the Crew could get Wendle from the Rays? The Rays have an abundance of corner infielders, but look to need OFs or pitching. Wendle appears to play a good 3B and is controllable for 3 years. They also have Nate Lowe at 1B who may be a target. Just throwing another possibility out there.

[brewcrewdue80]

Wonder if we could pry Dalbec from the Red Sox, I would love him at 3B... But I doubt it, he's probably their 1B going forward.

 

Wouldnt mind Chavis either.

 

I wonder if the Crew could get Wendle from the Rays? The Rays have an abundance of corner infielders, but look to need OFs or pitching. Wendle appears to play a good 3B and is controllable for 3 years. They also have Nate Lowe at 1B who may be a target. Just throwing another possibility out there.

 

Wendle is a good mention for Tampa to trade. I don't know if he has any options, surprised he's 30yrs old already. Arbitration this year 1st time.

Looks like moved down the pecking order and is more a LH bat to be platooned vs RHP. Has experience at 2b and 3b even a little SS.

 

Lowe on the other hand, looks like a fixture for the future for Tampa at 1b. You might wonder on Ji-Man Choi reunion as a 1b fix for Milw. I don't know what the ask would be but being Tampa it'd probably hurt.

[Vollbc74]

FA Signings:

Tommy LaStella (2/16m)

 

 

Trades:

Keston Hiura, Eric Lauer & Omar Narvaez for JD Davis, Dominic Smith & David Peterson

Josh Hader for Keibert Ruiz & Michael Busch

 

 

Arbitration Offered:

Brandon Woodruff (4.5m)

Corey Knebel (5.1m)

 

Non-Tenders:

Alex Claudio

Manny Pina

 

 

Position Players:

 

C

Keibert Ruiz

Jacob Nottingham

 

IF

Dom Smith (OF)

Tommy LaStella

Orlando Arcia

Luis Urias

JD Davis (OF)

Jace Peterson (OF)

Dan Vogelbach (DH)

 

OF

Christian Yelich

Lorenzo Cain

Avasail Garcia

Tyrone Taylor

 

 

Starting Pitching:

Woodruff/Burnes/Peterson/Lindblom/Houser

 

 

Relief Pitching:

Williams/Knebel/Peralta/Suter/Rasmussen/Yardley/Topa/Black

 

Payroll: 81.9M

[PeaveyFury]

Keston Hiura, Eric Lauer & Omar Narvaez for JD Davis, Dominic Smith & David Peterson

 

Wow, that one is VERY interesting.

 

Both trades make a lot of sense, though I'm less sure the Dodgers one flies with them. But you've certainly infused a lot of young talent into the offensive side of the ball...

[MNBrew]

BTW, as a Brewers fan up here in Twins Territory, Twins fans are salivating over Kirilloff. I doubt we'd get him -- let alone with good-contact-guy Arraez -- for Hader. I like the proposed deal a lot. I'm just very skeptical that it's realistic.

 

Then again, Taylor Rogers proved mortal and Sergio Romo was set adrift, so it's possible the Twins might pay a good price for Hader.

 

Being in Twins territory, do you have a feel of what the Twins would be willing to give up to get Hader? Trevor Larnarch is intriguing and he's close to MLB ready. Maybe a Larnarch and Balazovich/Jeffers? I really like Arraez because he's such an on-base machine so would love to somehow get him too.

Honestly, I don't. But with the Twins putting Eddie Rosario on outright waivers today, I'd be all the more surprised to see one or both of their top OF prospects traded right now (granted, Kirilloff is also very much a 1B possibility, though the Twins also have Sano there).

 

Last year's Twins 4 primary OF: Rosario, Buxton, Kepler, & Marwin Gonzalez....

 

Rosario seems to be on his way out the door for cost-control reasons, Buxton's track record with injuries makes Ryan Braun look like he's pretty consistently healthy, & Marwin Gonzalez is a free agent. Hmmm.....

[MNBrew]

FA Signings:

Tommy LaStella (2/16m)

 

Trades:

Keston Hiura, Eric Lauer & Omar Narvaez for JD Davis, Dominic Smith & David Peterson

Josh Hader for Keibert Ruiz & Michael Busch

 

Arbitration Offered:

Brandon Woodruff (4.5m)

Corey Knebel (5.1m)

 

etc....

I still think the Brewers can offer Knebel an incentive-laden contract with a $4.1M base/guarantee (20% max reduction rule) and that is quite possibly more than he'd see on the open market coming off of so-so year in his 2nd year after TJ surgery.

 

I do think LaStella would be a solid add and while I don't love moving Hiura, those two trades have some good logic to them.

[Eye Black]

Well there goes one of my offseason moves...

 

Per Ken Rosenthal:

 

Angels have acquired Jose Iglesias from the Orioles, source tells The Athletic.

[RollieTime]

Here is an update on the current payroll situation.

 

Brewers 2020 Payroll

 

Batters

Lorenzo Cain- $16 million

Christian Yelich- $14 million

Avisail Garcia- $10.5 million

Omar Narvaez- 2.5 million

Orlando Arcia- $2 million

Manny Pina- $1.65 million

Daniel Vogelbach- $1.4 million

Keston Hiura- $600K

Luis Urias- $600K

Tyrone Taylor- $600K

Luke Maile~ $600K

Jacob Nottingham- $600K

Total: $51.05 million

 

Starting Pitchers

Brandon Woodruff~ $3 million

Josh Lindblom- $3 million

Corbin Burnes- $600K

Adrian Houser- $600K

Eric Lauer- $600K

Total: $7.8 million

 

Josh Hader~ $5.5 million

Brent Suter- $1.55 million

Freddy Peralta- $1.2 million

Devin Williams- $600K

Eric Yardley- $600K

Drew Rasmussen- $600K

Justin Topa- $600K

Total: $10.65 million

 

Deferred/Buyouts

Ryan Braun- $4 million

Matt Garza- $2 million

Jedd Gyorko- $1 million

Eric Sogard- $500K

Total: $7.5 million

 

Total Current Payroll: $77 million

[brewcrewdue80]

Just 24players listed. Above.

 

To be honest I feel comfortable the way pitching stands.

OF assume we need 1 more bench player to complete the 25.

Infield needs less catchers and a 3b. I'd suggest a look at Maikel Franco.

Also long way back suggested Asdrubal Cabrera for 1b. Maybe 4mil deals get it done. 77mil payroll becomes 85.

[Brewers Numbers]

You can leave Garza's deferred money out of these lists. That is already paid for and sitting in an account specifically for paying that deferment per the CBA. The question is did they already fully fund the accounts for Braun's and Cain's deferments? If they were really smart they already did. If they wait to the last possible time to do it, then its about $2.8M combined.

[MNBrew]

Just 24players listed. Above.

 

To be honest I feel comfortable the way pitching stands.

OF assume we need 1 more bench player to complete the 25.

Infield needs less catchers and a 3b. I'd suggest a look at Maikel Franco.

Also long way back suggested Asdrubal Cabrera for 1b. Maybe 4mil deals get it done. 77mil payroll becomes 85.

Isn't the 26-man roster a set thing going forward?

[brewcrewdue80]

Just 24players listed. Above.

 

To be honest I feel comfortable the way pitching stands.

OF assume we need 1 more bench player to complete the 25.

Infield needs less catchers and a 3b. I'd suggest a look at Maikel Franco.

Also long way back suggested Asdrubal Cabrera for 1b. Maybe 4mil deals get it done. 77mil payroll becomes 85.

Isn't the 26-man roster a set thing going forward?

 

Ah something I forgot about.

Also forgot to add a 5th OF. Shouldn't be something to hard to fill.

[RollieTime]

I do the player list more to show where the payroll is at currently for people that are interested in it and want to keep it in mind when providing their new ideas of what they want the offseason to look like. It’s certainly not exact, but it’s close.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Given how it ended, it probably won't happen, but as far as value and roster fit, a 3B platoon of Travis Shaw and Jedd Gyorko makes a lot of sense. Both of them are also fine at 1B as well, and would come quite cheaply.

[pacopete4]

I can't imagine Shaw wants anything to do with the Brewers at this point.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

I can't imagine Shaw wants anything to do with the Brewers at this point.

 

You are likely correct. Just pointing out that, in a vacuum, the fit makes sense.

[CheeseheadInQC]

With five 40-man spots left plus a “They can’t really have six catchers on the 40-man heading into camp” spot, I guess that might mean one starter, one reliever, two infielders, one of which is a third baseman, and an outfielder. Then for the last one, maybe a random waived middle infielder with an option left (this year’s Ronny Rodriguez).

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

With five 40-man spots left plus a “They can’t really have six catchers on the 40-man heading into camp” spot, I guess that might mean one starter, one reliever, two infielders, one of which is a third baseman, and an outfielder. Then for the last one, maybe a random waived middle infielder with an option left (this year’s Ronny Rodriguez).

 

It has been awhile since they went this route, but it wouldn't surprise me to see them grab a guy in the Rule 5 draft this year. I could see a pitcher, utility IF or 5th OF grabbed. Some of the names I like include OF Will Benson from the Indians, RP Will Kincanon from the White Sox, INF Kevin Maitan from the Angels, RHP Jose Alberto Rivera from the Astros, 3B Joe Rizzo from the Mariners, LHP Thomas Burrows from the Braves, UTL Kevin Kramer from the Pirates, and RHP Riley Pint from the Rockies.

[DR28]

With five 40-man spots left plus a “They can’t really have six catchers on the 40-man heading into camp” spot, I guess that might mean one starter, one reliever, two infielders, one of which is a third baseman, and an outfielder. Then for the last one, maybe a random waived middle infielder with an option left (this year’s Ronny Rodriguez).

 

It has been awhile since they went this route, but it wouldn't surprise me to see them grab a guy in the Rule 5 draft this year. I could see a pitcher, utility IF or 5th OF grabbed. Some of the names I like include OF Will Benson from the Indians, RP Will Kincanon from the White Sox, INF Kevin Maitan from the Angels, RHP Jose Alberto Rivera from the Astros, 3B Joe Rizzo from the Mariners, LHP Thomas Burrows from the Braves, UTL Kevin Kramer from the Pirates, and RHP Riley Pint from the Rockies.

 

Im surprised Maitan is available, he was supposed to be the next big time international wise.

 

And I think Riley Pint was a 1st rounder couple years ago.

[PeaveyFury]

And I think Riley Pint was a 1st rounder couple years ago.

 

4th overall in 2016. Still VERY young, but his minor league numbers thus far are very... not good.