Brewers sign Jackie Bradley Jr. (2-year/$24M with player option after first year.)

[monty57]

I hear ya, Sveum, but he did choke against Washington.

 

Did Hader really choke against Washington though?

 

He struck out the first batter. He hit the second guy, but it looked like ball hit the knob of the bat & should have been ruled a foul ball, but wasn't. He struck out the next batter. Zimmerman hit a broken bat, bloop single. He was careful with Rendon, who walked. Soto singled & the tying/go ahead runs scored on an error.

 

Even if you want to qualify that one outing with at least three bad luck outcomes (erroneous HBP, broken bat blooper, E9) as a choke, Hader allowed zero runs in his other eight postseason appearances covering 11.1 innings.

 

That's essentially setting the standard at never allow a run ever, which seems like a pretty unrealistic expectation to me.

 

Well argued, I know.

 

But, to quote Robert Plant, "and it makes me wonder.... " why the national stage is always too big for the Brewers, when they could finally break through, and reach the franchise's ultimate goal.

 

I know the stats guys will deride this line of thinking, but it kind of comes down to having "big-time players," ones who have major postseason success...guys who tend not to fold, when the chips are down. Those guys, like Justin Turner, are expensive, and of course Mark did at least see the value in trying to bring him in.

 

Think the Cubs would have won in '16 without experienced leaders like Lester, and Heyward, and *gulp*, even Chapman?

 

The Padres are following that line of thinking now, and I'm jealous!

 

So are you happy with Bradley, who was on the Red Sox 2018 World Series championship team, and whose three playoff HRs that year helped them win it all?

[GenoSeligPrieb]

[\quote]

So are you happy with Bradley, who was on the Red Sox 2018 World Series championship team, and whose three playoff HRs that year helped them win it all?

 

Yeah, I am, monty.

 

But it IS in the David Stearns Playbook to allocate resources to areas we're not desperate for, while forcing square pegs like Moose-Tacos into 2B, and Braunie and Keston into their round hole at 1B.

 

Next year? "Hey, let's open the season with Yelich behind the plate!! Better slugging catcher than Realmuto!!

[pacopete4]

Yeah, I am, monty.

 

But it IS in the David Stearns Playbook to allocate resources to areas we're not desperate for, while forcing square pegs like Moose-Tacos into 2B, and Braunie and Keston into their round hole at 1B.

 

Next year? "Hey, let's open the season with Yelich behind the plate!! Better slugging catcher than Realmuto!!

 

Hasn't the David Stearns playbook been good to you as a fan? I sure as heck know it has for me. He's taken resources and used them to provide some of the most thrilling baseball this franchise has seen. It doesn't have to be by the book, your book, my book, or the Cubs/Cardinals books. He finds value and puts rosters together that compete in the NL Central well and the more he does that, the better chances we have of running into one of those World Series many want to badly.

[sveumrules]

Over the last three years the Brewers are one of only six teams to make the playoffs each season.

 

There were eleven teams that didn't make the playoffs at all the last three years, even with over half the league qualifying in 2020.

 

They are 10th in regular season wins & 7th in postseason wins the last three years.

 

They've literally won as many postseason games in the last three years as they did in the thirty five years before that.

 

I'm cool with the Stearns playbook.

[wildcat83]

Yeah, I am, monty.

 

But it IS in the David Stearns Playbook to allocate resources to areas we're not desperate for, while forcing square pegs like Moose-Tacos into 2B, and Braunie and Keston into their round hole at 1B.

 

Next year? "Hey, let's open the season with Yelich behind the plate!! Better slugging catcher than Realmuto!!

 

Hasn't the David Stearns playbook been good to you as a fan? I sure as heck know it has for me. He's taken resources and used them to provide some of the most thrilling baseball this franchise has seen. It doesn't have to be by the book, your book, my book, or the Cubs/Cardinals books. He finds value and puts rosters together that compete in the NL Central well and the more he does that, the better chances we have of running into one of those World Series many want to badly.

 

Agree with this 100%. The average fan would've just signed whatever 1B and 3B that we could get, whether the value was a net positive or not. That's why Stearns is where he is, he has the ability to find value. Assemble the best team you can with what you have. This era of Brewers baseball has been drastically better than what Brewer fans have endured for decades yet people still complain.

 

I'm excited about this Brewers team, I think they will be drastically more entertaining to watch than last year's team. Yeah, they need some things to go their way to win the division, but that's pro sports. Their possible ceiling is high enough to win the division for sure.

[MrTPlush]

Not sure why you are taking a dig at Stearns for putting Moose at 2B, seems like it worked out better than anyone would have imagined. So good he got a massive deal to play 2B.

[StearnsFTW]

Over the last three years the Brewers are one of only six teams to make the playoffs each season.

 

There were eleven teams that didn't make the playoffs at all the last three years, even with over half the league qualifying in 2020.

 

They are 10th in regular season wins & 7th in postseason wins the last three years.

 

They've literally won as many postseason games in the last three years as they did in the thirty five years before that.

 

I'm cool with the Stearns playbook.

 

Thank you once again for doing the heavy lifting.

[GenoSeligPrieb]

Hey, the Stearns Playbook is way better than the Bando Playbook, and I guess better than the Doug Melvin plan.

 

I just find it odd that DS suddenly prioritizes defense, after Moustakas at 2B, Hiura at 1B, etc. And after our offense struggled mightily, the answer must be...defense!

 

But OK, I'll lay off Stearns for now, as I set my sights on Counsell burning out our pen again!

 

(sidebar: can a mod get in there, and change that 8 in my name to a lower-case " i "? Drives me nuts!)

[pacopete4]

Hey, the Stearns Playbook is way better than the Bando Playbook, and I guess better than the Doug Melvin plan.

 

I just find it odd that DS suddenly prioritizes defense, after Moustakas at 2B, Hiura at 1B, etc. And after our offense struggled mightily, the answer must be...defense!

 

But OK, I'll lay off Stearns for now, as I set my sights on Counsell burning out our pen again!

 

(sidebar: can a mod get in there, and change that 8 in my name to a lower-case " i "? Drives me nuts!)

 

It might just be that there is more than one way to do things and Stearns is flexible enough to realize that. We shall see.

[brewerfan82]

I just find it odd that DS suddenly prioritizes defense, after Moustakas at 2B, Hiura at 1B, etc. And after our offense struggled mightily, the answer must be...defense!

I think this is a misconception. I don't think he's switching gears and prioritizing one thing over another, he's just flexible and adds talent in whatever form is available within his constraints. Which in turn is what makes him a great team builder, he doesn't pigeonhole himself into undervaluing or overvaluing anything specifically. Just do whatever it takes to widen the margin between runs created and runs allowed.

[adambr2]

I also think it's possible he relies heavily on his analytics guys and looks for market inefficiencies in his spending. Maybe it was OBP at one time, maybe it's relievers another time, maybe it's defense, etc.

[RollieTime]

With how inexpensive the relieving market has been this offseason, it sure would have been nice to add another late inning arm for $3-4 million on a one year deal. I have confidence in the young guys like Rasmussen, Peralta, and Topa to remain effective, but one more guy like Alex Colome, Yusmeiro Petit, or Mark Melancon would have been awesome to add to the back of our bullpen. If bullpenning and defense is our focus this season, one more reliable arm would have been a great use of finances.

[wallus]

With how inexpensive the relieving market has been this offseason, it sure would have been nice to add another late inning arm for $3-4 million on a one year deal. I have confidence in the young guys like Rasmussen, Peralta, and Topa to remain effective, but one more guy like Alex Colome, Yusmeiro Petit, or Mark Melancon would have been awesome to add to the back of our bullpen. If bullpenning and defense is our focus this season, one more reliable arm would have been a great use of finances.

 

Personally, I think we have a lot of relivers that are going to be good this year. The list really doesn't include guys like Ashby and Small which could help later in the season possibly.

[RollieTime]

With how inexpensive the relieving market has been this offseason, it sure would have been nice to add another late inning arm for $3-4 million on a one year deal. I have confidence in the young guys like Rasmussen, Peralta, and Topa to remain effective, but one more guy like Alex Colome, Yusmeiro Petit, or Mark Melancon would have been awesome to add to the back of our bullpen. If bullpenning and defense is our focus this season, one more reliable arm would have been a great use of finances.

 

Personally, I think we have a lot of relivers that are going to be good this year. The list really doesn't include guys like Ashby and Small which could help later in the season possibly.

 

I’m with you 100%. I’m high on File (unfortunate injury), Rasmussen, and Small. I just think one more consistent, known high end arm would really put the cherry on top of the offseason.

 

Suter, Rasmussen, and Peralta will most likely do multi inning appearances. A guy you could rely on for one inning at a time and get 70 appearances in the 7th-9th innings to pair with Hader and Williams depending on who needs rest would have made it even easier to deploy Hader and Williams in those tough spots when the game is on the line.

 

I am very confident in the ability of the bullpen and feel good about where we are at. Hopefully Boxberger can be that guy.

[DR28]

With how inexpensive the relieving market has been this offseason, it sure would have been nice to add another late inning arm for $3-4 million on a one year deal. I have confidence in the young guys like Rasmussen, Peralta, and Topa to remain effective, but one more guy like Alex Colome, Yusmeiro Petit, or Mark Melancon would have been awesome to add to the back of our bullpen. If bullpenning and defense is our focus this season, one more reliable arm would have been a great use of finances.

 

Agreed, I would love to sign Shane Greene... Really solid reliever, Greene-Williams-Hader would be nice!

[Eye Black]

Jackie Bradley, Jr. will wear #41 for the Brewers. He said he chose the number because it's the sum of the birth dates for everyone in his family (19+17+2+3).

[pacopete4]

Gross number.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Hey, the Stearns Playbook is way better than the Bando Playbook, and I guess better than the Doug Melvin plan.

 

I just find it odd that DS suddenly prioritizes defense, after Moustakas at 2B, Hiura at 1B, etc. And after our offense struggled mightily, the answer must be...defense!

 

But OK, I'll lay off Stearns for now, as I set my sights on Counsell burning out our pen again!

 

(sidebar: can a mod get in there, and change that 8 in my name to a lower-case " i "? Drives me nuts!)

 

He's finding market inefficiency which changes year to year. One year it was the chance to have Grandal on a one-year deal, now it was buying DRS. It's a much better way to build a team than "I believe in the long ball so we will sign sluggers every year I am GM."

 

Stearns doesn't have a philosophy on what baseball players are the best. He's in a situation where he can't build a roster the same way the richest teams in the league can. He has to beat them by thinking way outside the box and going at it in a way they aren't.

[Eye Black]

Gross number.

#41 makes me immediately think of Glen Rice, and he always seemed cool enough.

[GenoSeligPrieb]

As a fan of my sports teams, 41 is Jim Slaton, but #41 Phil Villapiano, who famously punched the Patriots' owner, is the man!

[TURBO]

I like #41, my high school football number!

[StearnsFTW]

With how inexpensive the relieving market has been this offseason, it sure would have been nice to add another late inning arm for $3-4 million on a one year deal. I have confidence in the young guys like Rasmussen, Peralta, and Topa to remain effective, but one more guy like Alex Colome, Yusmeiro Petit, or Mark Melancon would have been awesome to add to the back of our bullpen. If bullpenning and defense is our focus this season, one more reliable arm would have been a great use of finances.

 

Yeah, Petit would have been great for that contract.

 

I'm sure he didn't want to leave Oakland though.

[Eye Black]

I'll go back to my 2015 Royals comp. They were maybe just above league average on offense (guessing). Everyone goes one way, might be a smart move to go a different direction. We shall see.

 

In 2015 Royals were 7th in runs scored - had the fewest batting Ks - 2nd in batting average - 2nd in hits - 10th in OPS - tied for 9th in OBP - 7th in RBIs

There have been three teams since 2010 that have been slightly below league average in offensive runs scored and played in the World Series, the 2010 Giants, 2014 Royals, and 2015 Mets. There have been two times where both World Series participants finished outside the top ten in runs scored, the first was 2012 World Series with the Giants (#12) and Tigers (#11), interestingly the Brewers finished 3rd in MLB in runs scored that year. The other was the 2014 World Series with the Giants (#12) and Royals (#14).

[OldSchoolSnapper]

That '12 Brewers offense was great and they swapped Fielder for A-Ram basically. They weren't even bad pitchers either. It was the bullpen that torpedo'd 2012. That team really sticks out to me over the past 20 years as one that really underachieved. I look at what they've done under Stearns and just think a team like that one would have been so much better.

[Warning Track Power]

Jackie Bradley, Jr. will wear #41 for the Brewers. He said he chose the number because it's the sum of the birth dates for everyone in his family (19+17+2+3).

You know who else was #41.

 

 

Jeffrey Hammonds

 

 

Thank god the Brewers aren’t counting on JBJ being what he was supposed to be.