Brewers' Offense

[JohnBriggs12]

Hate to bring this up, but Arcia has a 1.284 OPS in AAA with 6 HR and an .830 slugging percentage. Oh and he's struck out just 4 times in 55 PA. How's that trade working out? Maybe Brewers should hire the Gwinnett Braves hitting coach?

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Hate to bring this up, but Arcia has a 1.284 OPS in AAA with 6 HR and an .830 slugging percentage. Oh and he's struck out just 4 times in 55 PA. How's that trade working out? Maybe Brewers should hire the Gwinnett Braves hitting coach?

 

I think it was pretty obvious that Arcia was not part of the Brewers' long-term plans. They committed to Urias at SS. Also, the fact that Arcia is still playing for Gwinnett, despite his hot hitting, probably says something as well.

 

How's the trade working out? Well, the Brewers haven't gotten much from Weigel and we haven't seen Sobotka yet. The Braves haven't gotten anything from Arcia. Right now, it's the definition of a wash.

[TURBO]

If Arcia keeps it up, and Swanson keeps sucking, he might get a chance to prove himself this season.

[adambr2]

Hate to bring this up, but Arcia has a 1.284 OPS in AAA with 6 HR and an .830 slugging percentage. Oh and he's struck out just 4 times in 55 PA. How's that trade working out? Maybe Brewers should hire the Gwinnett Braves hitting coach?

 

I think it was pretty obvious that Arcia was not part of the Brewers' long-term plans. They committed to Urias at SS. Also, the fact that Arcia is still playing for Gwinnett, despite his hot hitting, probably says something as well.

 

How's the trade working out? Well, the Brewers haven't gotten much from Weigel and we haven't seen Sobotka yet. The Braves haven't gotten anything from Arcia. Right now, it's the definition of a wash.

 

Yes -- but it's going to be an abysmal look for the Brewers coaching staff if Arcia starts putting it together for the Braves.

[pacopete4]

I sure hope Arcia does well. Great guy. Wish it had clicked more with the Brewers but boy did he deliver some moments.

[MrTPlush]

He had an OPS over .900 at AAA in 2018. He is a guy who has faced MLB pitching for years...he should mash AAA. AAA stats are so meaningless for experienced players whether they were good MLB hitter or not.

[JohnBriggs12]

He had an OPS over .900 at AAA in 2018. He is a guy who has faced MLB pitching for years...he should mash AAA. AAA stats are so meaningless for experienced players whether they were good MLB hitter or not.

 

True, but I don't remember Arcia being overwhelmed by the moment defensively. Oh he booted his share and could be a little too nonchalant but making multiple critical physical and mental errors in a row when they are trying to protect a lead?

 

Let me know when Hiura starts mashing AAA pitching.

[monty57]

If that's really the case than we really shouldn't be given out such contracts whatsoever and instead following more of a Tampa Rays model.

 

I mean, yes, that's absolutely correct.

 

And I'm fine with that approach. I'm ok with our franchise not committing to the 35+ years of players. I mentioned when Yelich was still under his previous deal that I would have been fine with trading him for a haul with 2 years left on his deal. But it has to be a consistent philosophy to say "yes we can afford to do that" or "no we cannot".

 

You can't give Yelich 7/190 with 3 years left before his previous deal even expires and then say "no we just can't afford 7/150 for Nolan".

 

Yes you can. That's like saying you can't buy a car with a $1,500 monthly payment and then say "no we just can't afford a second car with another $1,500 payment." Maybe your budget only allows one bigger car payment, so any other vehicles have to be less expensive cars with smaller payments. By extending Yelich, Stearns has to leave the Mercedes dealership and shop at the Hyundai lot, where you can find the new Sogard or Vogelbach model.

 

The Brewers are already on the hook for Yelich's contract. That is going to affect their finances until the contract is off the books. That doesn't mean they won't have any money to spend, but it does mean that they will have to be more limited financially than they would have been had they not extended Yelich.

 

There are always risks involved when you are committing to guaranteed payments over an extended period. For the Brewers, with a more limited payroll than some other teams, the risks are magnified. That's why an injury to Yelich or someone like Hiura falling off a cliff derails the Brewers, while an injury or bad year from a Dodgers player isn't nearly as cumbersome.

[PeaveyFury]

Yes you can. That's like saying you can't buy a car with a $1,500 monthly payment and then say "no we just can't afford a second car with another $1,500 payment." Maybe your budget only allows one bigger car payment, so any other vehicles have to be less expensive cars with smaller payments.

 

This is a good summary of my view better expressed than I did above.

[StearnsFTW]

I'll believe it when I see it with Arcia.

[nate82]

Arcia has had hot streaks where he looks really good but then he just drops off for a couple of months.

[brewers888]

Unfortunately the 10 runs yesterday probably bought Haines another month. I think another worthless performance yesterday might have meant a new hitting coach.

[roadcrew3]

If the organization had reached the point where they were going to fire somebody, one game is not going to change that.

[mtrebs]

Yes you can. That's like saying you can't buy a car with a $1,500 monthly payment and then say "no we just can't afford a second car with another $1,500 payment." Maybe your budget only allows one bigger car payment, so any other vehicles have to be less expensive cars with smaller payments.

 

This is a good summary of my view better expressed than I did above.

 

This analogy is good, but it’s missing one thing. There’s an assumption that you are looking for cars within your budget that would not deplete your savings or take away funds from other budget items. But let’s say there was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get your absolute rare dream car in this scenario. Now, you might decide that it’s worth it to eat into your savings or maybe you won’t take vacations for a few years while you pay off the dream car. That’s what we need Attanasio to do. I know it’s a big ask and extremely unlikely, but if he really believes there’s an opportunity to put together a team that really has a chance at winning a World Series in a few year window, I’m hoping he’d spend more than the normal budget and make that push.

[PeaveyFury]

But let’s say there was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get your absolute rare dream car in this scenario. .

 

What if in this case Yelich was that dream car? That's likely the scenario the Brewers are in.

[MrTPlush]

The problem is even greatly increasing your odds or even being #2-5 in WS chances is still such low odds. If Attanasio could take our odds from 40% to 80% for a few years I am pretty confident the dude would do it.

 

Unfortunately the reality is we could probably make our odds go from like 15% to 30%...we would still be an underdog by a great margin. This isn't the NBA, buying or building a champion on paper just doesn't really come to fruition in the game of baseball.

[mtrebs]

But let’s say there was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get your absolute rare dream car in this scenario. .

 

What if in this case Yelich was that dream car? That's likely the scenario the Brewers are in.

 

Fair enough. Hope we didn’t get a lemon.

[monty57]

Yes you can. That's like saying you can't buy a car with a $1,500 monthly payment and then say "no we just can't afford a second car with another $1,500 payment." Maybe your budget only allows one bigger car payment, so any other vehicles have to be less expensive cars with smaller payments.

 

This is a good summary of my view better expressed than I did above.

 

This analogy is good, but it’s missing one thing. There’s an assumption that you are looking for cars within your budget that would not deplete your savings or take away funds from other budget items. But let’s say there was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get your absolute rare dream car in this scenario. Now, you might decide that it’s worth it to eat into your savings or maybe you won’t take vacations for a few years while you pay off the dream car. That’s what we need Attanasio to do. I know it’s a big ask and extremely unlikely, but if he really believes there’s an opportunity to put together a team that really has a chance at winning a World Series in a few year window, I’m hoping he’d spend more than the normal budget and make that push.

 

If you're looking at going over budget for a year, I think Attanasio has shown he will do that. If you're thinking of competing with the "big boys" for a top free agent at 10 years/$350+MM, we're going to be out. Signing a "monster" contract while already having Yelich on the team would mean that the ownership group would have to accept putting in millions of their own dollars in annually for years, or filling the rest of the team with pre-arby guys, of which we have a limited supply because our farm is horrible.

 

No business owner anywhere is going to willfully set it up so that they are guaranteed to lose millions of dollars a year out of their own pocket for every year in the foreseeable future. I'll recant that a bit... the old Tigers' owner knew he was going to die, so he didn't care if he spent his money, but he left it up to his heirs to sort out the mess, and the Tigers have been bad since he died. But, he's dead so it doesn't bother him. Any business owner who doesn't plan on dying soon, and doesn't want to leave a mess for his family when he's gone, will not willfully set himself up in a situation where he will be guaranteed to lose millions of dollars annually for the foreseeable future.

[mtrebs]

This analogy is good, but it’s missing one thing. There’s an assumption that you are looking for cars within your budget that would not deplete your savings or take away funds from other budget items. But let’s say there was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get your absolute rare dream car in this scenario. Now, you might decide that it’s worth it to eat into your savings or maybe you won’t take vacations for a few years while you pay off the dream car. That’s what we need Attanasio to do. I know it’s a big ask and extremely unlikely, but if he really believes there’s an opportunity to put together a team that really has a chance at winning a World Series in a few year window, I’m hoping he’d spend more than the normal budget and make that push.

 

If you're looking at going over budget for a year, I think Attanasio has shown he will do that. If you're thinking of competing with the "big boys" for a top free agent at 10 years/$350+MM, we're going to be out. Signing a "monster" contract while already having Yelich on the team would mean that the ownership group would have to accept putting in millions of their own dollars in annually for years, or filling the rest of the team with pre-arby guys, of which we have a limited supply because our farm is horrible.

 

No business owner anywhere is going to willfully set it up so that they are guaranteed to lose millions of dollars a year out of their own pocket for every year in the foreseeable future. I'll recant that a bit... the old Tigers' owner knew he was going to die, so he didn't care if he spent his money, but he left it up to his heirs to sort out the mess, and the Tigers have been bad since he died. But, he's dead so it doesn't bother him. Any business owner who doesn't plan on dying soon, and doesn't want to leave a mess for his family when he's gone, will not willfully set himself up in a situation where he will be guaranteed to lose millions of dollars annually for the foreseeable future.

 

Yeah, I don’t think anyone foresees the 10-year/$350M deals (so I guess that throws out my dream car analogy), but what I’d be hopeful for is that if he believes we have a real good shot, that he’d increase payroll significantly for a few years to acquire key pieces that may be available for shorter term deals. Kind of like when we picked up Moose and Grandal, but maybe for 2-3 year deals. Of course, there needs to be players that would sign that type of deal within the next few seasons.

[monty57]

This analogy is good, but it’s missing one thing. There’s an assumption that you are looking for cars within your budget that would not deplete your savings or take away funds from other budget items. But let’s say there was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get your absolute rare dream car in this scenario. Now, you might decide that it’s worth it to eat into your savings or maybe you won’t take vacations for a few years while you pay off the dream car. That’s what we need Attanasio to do. I know it’s a big ask and extremely unlikely, but if he really believes there’s an opportunity to put together a team that really has a chance at winning a World Series in a few year window, I’m hoping he’d spend more than the normal budget and make that push.

 

If you're looking at going over budget for a year, I think Attanasio has shown he will do that. If you're thinking of competing with the "big boys" for a top free agent at 10 years/$350+MM, we're going to be out. Signing a "monster" contract while already having Yelich on the team would mean that the ownership group would have to accept putting in millions of their own dollars in annually for years, or filling the rest of the team with pre-arby guys, of which we have a limited supply because our farm is horrible.

 

No business owner anywhere is going to willfully set it up so that they are guaranteed to lose millions of dollars a year out of their own pocket for every year in the foreseeable future. I'll recant that a bit... the old Tigers' owner knew he was going to die, so he didn't care if he spent his money, but he left it up to his heirs to sort out the mess, and the Tigers have been bad since he died. But, he's dead so it doesn't bother him. Any business owner who doesn't plan on dying soon, and doesn't want to leave a mess for his family when he's gone, will not willfully set himself up in a situation where he will be guaranteed to lose millions of dollars annually for the foreseeable future.

 

Yeah, I don’t think anyone foresees the 10-year/$350M deals (so I guess that throws out my dream car analogy), but what I’d be hopeful for is that if he believes we have a real good shot, that he’d increase payroll significantly for a few years to acquire key pieces that may be available for shorter term deals. Kind of like when we picked up Moose and Grandal, but maybe for 2-3 year deals. Of course, there needs to be players that would sign that type of deal within the next few seasons.

 

Attanasio has shown to be open to "Moose/Grandal" type deals. I guess that's a pretty obvious since he signed the Moose and Grandal deals. He might have thought the JBJ signing was that type of deal, as JBJ waited out the market until the very end and "settled" for a short-term deal with the Brewers. Short-term deals have far less potential for harm for a team like the Brewers. Attanasio is a fan, and will sometimes spend like one, but he's a financial guy first and foremost, so he's not going to do something to jeopardize the long-term sustainability of the team. All-in-all, he's a pretty good owner.

 

To keep with the analogy, he's probably the guy who will buy the used convertible without telling his wife. It's not a dream car, but it won't break their bank account, it's sexy, and it can be a lot of fun, but it might mean they have to cut corners elsewhere, so some of the players on the roster will be from the frozen dinner aisle.

[adambr2]

But let’s say there was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get your absolute rare dream car in this scenario. .

 

What if in this case Yelich was that dream car? That's likely the scenario the Brewers are in.

 

Fair enough. Hope we didn’t get a lemon.

 

And this is why I absolutely hate extending guys to enormous deals years before their contracts even expire. Which we have now done twice in the last decade.

 

Braun had 5 years left on his deal. Five!! What is the rush to extend a commitment with that much time already left on it?

 

In that 5 years we saw him go through 2 PED scandals and basically had a lost 2013 season. All before his new deal even started.

 

Yelich -- 3 years out. Now since then he's had a lost 2020 season and a 2021 where he's suffered from chronic back injuries that have kept him off the field completely and left him without a single HR on May 17th. Stop extending guys years away from free agency. You are losing all those years of information and making completely unnecessary commitments that you wouldn't likely make as more information comes in. Think we would really be rushing to extend Yelich again right now, knowing what we know now?

[adambr2]

If you're looking at going over budget for a year, I think Attanasio has shown he will do that. If you're thinking of competing with the "big boys" for a top free agent at 10 years/$350+MM, we're going to be out. Signing a "monster" contract while already having Yelich on the team would mean that the ownership group would have to accept putting in millions of their own dollars in annually for years, or filling the rest of the team with pre-arby guys, of which we have a limited supply because our farm is horrible.

 

No business owner anywhere is going to willfully set it up so that they are guaranteed to lose millions of dollars a year out of their own pocket for every year in the foreseeable future. I'll recant that a bit... the old Tigers' owner knew he was going to die, so he didn't care if he spent his money, but he left it up to his heirs to sort out the mess, and the Tigers have been bad since he died. But, he's dead so it doesn't bother him. Any business owner who doesn't plan on dying soon, and doesn't want to leave a mess for his family when he's gone, will not willfully set himself up in a situation where he will be guaranteed to lose millions of dollars annually for the foreseeable future.

 

But I wasn't talking about going 10/350 for a free agent. I was talking about going 7/150 for Arenado. That's at least as close to a 2/22 for Jackie Bradley as it is to a 10/350.

[Eye Black]

Attanasio has shown to be open to "Moose/Grandal" type deals.

The current Collective Bargaining Agreement expires on December 1, 2021. Assuming there isn’t a new deal in place when we get to that date [spoiler: there won’t be], free agency will be frozen from taking place until the new CBA is executed. If the CBA negotiations take up most of the offseason that will leave little time for signings to occur before the season begins. In that scenario I wonder if more players than usual will take the shorter term, higher AAV deals? Of course that’s a big assumption that a deal even gets worked out during the offseason prior to 2022.

[Jopal78]

 

But I wasn't talking about going 10/350 for a free agent. I was talking about going 7/150 for Arenado. That's at least as close to a 2/22 for Jackie Bradley as it is to a 10/350.

 

With Rendon getting 7/245 at 30 years old, it’s a fair bet Arenado opts out after 2021 if he plays anywhere near his usual numbers. So the Cardinals might be hoping for a 7/150 commitment to Arenado after all the Rockies money comes in, but the reality is Arenado will play there for at least one year, opt out and try to improve his situation (and I’d be willing to bet if he opts out of his contract the Rockies don’t owe the Cardinals another dime) so the Cardinals are probably looking at forming over $35 mil per after 2021

 

Secondly with a no-trade clause it’s a pretty big assumption that Arenado waives his no trade clause to come to Milwaukee without demanding further compensation to do so (the Cardinals had to tack on a 15 million dollar guarantee)

[adambr2]

 

But I wasn't talking about going 10/350 for a free agent. I was talking about going 7/150 for Arenado. That's at least as close to a 2/22 for Jackie Bradley as it is to a 10/350.

 

With Rendon getting 7/245 at 30 years old, it’s a fair bet Arenado opts out after 2021 if he plays anywhere near his usual numbers. So the Cardinals might be hoping for a 7/150 commitment to Arenado after all the Rockies money comes in, but the reality is Arenado will play there for at least one year, opt out and try to improve his situation (and I’d be willing to bet if he opts out of his contract the Rockies don’t owe the Cardinals another dime) so the Cardinals are probably looking at forming over $35 mil per after 2021

 

Secondly with a no-trade clause it’s a pretty big assumption that Arenado waives his no trade clause to come to Milwaukee without demanding further compensation to do so (the Cardinals had to tack on a 15 million dollar guarantee)

 

And again if he opts out then the small return that the Cardinals gave up (and a similar package from the Brewers) would still be well worth one year of production from Arenado.