Upcoming Free Agents

[brewmann04]

Think Stearns will go after one big player but not sure they are going to get anyone but they he must at the very least change up the offense.

[jonescm128]

Think Stearns will go after one big player but not sure they are going to get anyone but they he must at the very least change up the offense.

 

Yeah, I think he understands the limits of the offense. He made the big offer for Bryan Reynolds at the deadline so he recognizes the offense needs help. The last month and the playoffs should cement that into his mind for the offseason.

[monty57]

This team needs a hitter or two that is better than anyone in this current lineup. Guys like Rizzo and Garrett Cooper are not nearly the impact bats that we need. Bryant fills the bill perfectly but he is way out of our price range.

 

Stearns is going to have to get creative to improve a lineup that is not nearly good enough against solid pitching. It would also be wise to acquire right handed hitters as we were pitiful against lefties.

 

I don't think our salary constraints are as bad as people think. Cain and JBJ are only under contract one more year and that will clear $30m from the payroll in 2023. There will be arbitration raises between now and then but they could backload a deal.

 

The problem is that the arby guys will start getting really expensive by then. I hope Burnes, Woodruff, Adames, etc. continue to play at high levels, but if they do, those three could be around $20M each in 2-3 years. We'll still have Yelich, so we could have four players taking up $80-90M of our payroll. That alone probably isn't realistic, let alone adding another high salary player.

[KCBrewerfan34]

Not sure where this should go, Heyman (on MLB) was asked to predict where the upcoming FA's end up and he had Castellanos to the Brewers. Sign me up 4/72 to 4/80 hopefully, would get it done.

 

This would assume Garcia opts OUT.

 

It would be a home run move and may tax the salary next year but Cain comes off the books and after next year and I would doubt Hader will be around 2 years from now.

Edited October 22, 2021 by KCBrewerfan34

[wibadgers23]

Not sure where this should go, Heyman (on MLB) was asked to predict where the upcoming FA's end up and he had Castellanos to the Brewers. Sign me up 4/72 to 4/80 hopefully, would get it done.

 

This would assume Garcia opts OUT.

 

It would be a home run move and may tax the salary next year but cain comes off the books and after next year and I would doubt Hader will be around 2 years from now.

 

Would love this. Sign Castellanos and trade for another impact bat and call it an offseason.

[Jopal78]

Not sure where this should go, Heyman (on MLB) was asked to predict where the upcoming FA's end up and he had Castellanos to the Brewers. Sign me up 4/72 to 4/80 hopefully, would get it done.

 

This would assume Garcia opts OUT.

 

It would be a home run move and may tax the salary next year but cain comes off the books and after next year and I would doubt Hader will be around 2 years from now.

 

As an initial matter, the Brewers probably shouldn't be looking to sign 30 year old sluggers to long term deals for an AAV of 18 or higher.

 

With regard to Castellanos specifically, he had a .700 slugging percentage at GABP, and hit 23 of his 34 homeruns there in 2021. He's simply a monster in that ballpark but less so at PNC (.473 slugging) Busch (.349 SLG) and he's not the type of defender the Brewers usually look for.

 

I'd be happy for him to go chase dollars somewhere else.

[KCBrewerfan34]

He would be a GREAT add for the middle of our lineup. The guy will 30 in March. That's exactly the type of guy you sign if you're serious about the World Series when you have a window like this with this great staff, and a budding minor league system. Edited October 22, 2021 by KCBrewerfan34

[jonescm128]

Not sure where this should go, Heyman (on MLB) was asked to predict where the upcoming FA's end up and he had Castellanos to the Brewers. Sign me up 4/72 to 4/80 hopefully, would get it done.

 

This would assume Garcia opts OUT.

 

It would be a home run move and may tax the salary next year but cain comes off the books and after next year and I would doubt Hader will be around 2 years from now.

 

As an initial matter, the Brewers probably shouldn't be looking to sign 30 year old sluggers to long term deals for an AAV of 18 or higher.

 

With regard to Castellanos specifically, he had a .700 slugging percentage at GABP, and hit 23 of his 34 homeruns there in 2021. He's simply a monster in that ballpark but less so at PNC (.473 slugging) Busch (.349 SLG) and he's not the type of defender the Brewers usually look for.

 

I'd be happy for him to go chase dollars somewhere else.

 

He has a career SLG% of .561 at Miller/AmFam in over 100 PAs.

 

Also, if the DH comes to the NL then I don't think defense or versatility matters as much. You need an impact bat at the DH spot. Can't be relying on the Rowdy Tellez or mid .700 OPS types in that spot unless its for breaks in the field.

[tmwiese55]

Yea he's the bat they'd need but one would think he has every goal of cashing in big here with a 5-6 year deal and we're not going to do that. He got this opt out in his contract for a reason, don't think it's to take another short deal.

[Fear The Chorizo]

honestly, if the NL does get the DH after the new CBA finally gets hammered out, go out and give Castellanos a longterm deal at market value and hope he signs.

 

A righthanded bat that can hit for a high average and pop, plus not strike out a ton is exactly what this team needs.

[KCBrewerfan34]

Yea he's the bat they'd need but one would think he has every goal of cashing in big here with a 5-6 year deal and we're not going to do that. He got this opt out in his contract for a reason, don't think it's to take another short deal.

 

 

I think we're going to find out how seriously the Brewers are going to pursue the World Series this upcoming season. Signing Castellanos or somebody like him would hurt the payroll ALOT but the question is how many more chances will the Brew have a team built like it is for the next 2-3 years.

[tmwiese55]

Yea, and it'll speak to how much they stick to their sustained success Cardinals/Rays style plan vs somewhat of the Melvin 'all in' window type way.

[ThisIsMyCrew]

Yea, and it'll speak to how much they stick to their sustained success Cardinals/Rays style plan vs somewhat of the Melvin 'all in' window type way.

 

We have to be realistic. Our core pitchers (Woody, Hader, Burnes) will likely get $40-50 mil in 2023. Add that onto Yelich $20+. 2022 would be the year to full send for a year. Then unload Woody and possibly Hader next offseason.

 

Kris Bryant would be the dream get. Elite bat and can play all over.

 

I’m going to say this is the most active/high talent acquisition offseason the Crew has ever had. Which could even mean trading Some players we didn’t think would be on the block.

 

Pitching and defense. Stay with that approach. But add something impactful for a year. Nelson Cruz is another name of the DH is around.

[TURBO]

How soon before we know if the DH will be a thing in 2022?

[sveumrules]

How soon before we know if the DH will be a thing in 2022?

 

Once the new CBA is finished, so probably sometime next spring.

[TURBO]

How soon before we know if the DH will be a thing in 2022?

 

Once the new CBA is finished, so probably sometime next spring.

 

So it sounds like we won't be able to sign a strict DH type like Cruz until we know for sure, putting American league teams ahead of National league teams in the pecking order to sign free agents.

 

*not that I want Cruz, just using him as an example.

[sveumrules]

How soon before we know if the DH will be a thing in 2022?

 

Once the new CBA is finished, so probably sometime next spring.

 

So it sounds like we won't be able to sign a strict DH type like Cruz until we know for sure, putting American league teams ahead of National league teams in the pecking order to sign free agents.

 

*not that I want Cruz, just using him as an example.

 

Pretty sure that all transactions will be put on hold while the CBA is in limbo.

 

There is like a month after the World Series & before the CBA actually expires where some transactions could be made, but I'd guess there won't be too much significant activity during that time with so much uncertainty surrounding 2022 & what other changes might be in the pipeline.

[monty57]

How soon before we know if the DH will be a thing in 2022?

 

Once the new CBA is finished, so probably sometime next spring.

 

So it sounds like we won't be able to sign a strict DH type like Cruz until we know for sure, putting American league teams ahead of National league teams in the pecking order to sign free agents.

 

*not that I want Cruz, just using him as an example.

 

That's one potential side effect, but it's potentially even more worrisome than that. There's a lot of things that could happen with the CBA. It could cause a work stoppage, which could shorten or even eliminate next year, which is a year that should have one of the Brewers' best teams in their existence. It could shorten the pre-arby/arby period, which could eliminate some year(s) of control for all of our pre-arby/arby guys, and would make it harder for smaller market teams to compete.

 

I hope things don't change too much, but this CBA could really hurt the Brewers.

[brewmann04]

I don’t see us pony up big money for a hitter at this point.

[Austin Tatious]

Keep in mind the Brewers recently signed a new TV package with a “significant” increase (although I’m not aware of the precise numbers). The club lost revenue due to the pandemic but with attendance hopefully normalizing (fingers crossed) next year and the tv deal, the club should have better cash flow. The prior payroll budget numbers that have been bandied about should be able to get a bump, particularly if Attanasio knows it won’t be for every year. He will spend the appropriate amount of money. He’s signed guys like Cain which this forum would have dismissed as an unrealistic option.

 

I greatly respect Stearns and I suspect we end up with an off-season of more unexpected moves, but they will be good ones. Maybe it’s like the off-season where we traded for Yelich and signed Cain. Perhaps we trade for a young controllable guy (we know they like Reynolds) and sign somebody. But Stearns is like the stock market. He’s liable to do something unpredictable and outside of expected patterns.

[nate82]

Conforto got a QO so that removes him from the FA pool. There is now way he turns down that QO as he was probably looking at a 1-year prove it deal and I doubt teams were going to give him anything near the QO.

[Eye Black]

Final list of qualifying offers per Jeff Passan…

 

Final list of players tendered the qualifying offer, per sources.

 

Freddie Freeman

Eduardo Rodriguez

Nick Castellanos

Trevor Story

Carlos Correa

Justin Verlander

Raisel Iglesias

Corey Seager

Chris Taylor

Michael Conforto

Noah Syndergaard

Brandon Belt

Robbie Ray

Marcus Semien

[Eye Black]

Really surprised the Rockies didn’t extend a qualifying offer to Jon Gray. Why didn’t they trade him at the deadline if they weren’t going to offer the QO.

[sveumrules]

Really surprised the Rockies didn’t extend a qualifying offer to Jon Gray. Why didn’t they trade him at the deadline if they weren’t going to offer the QO.

 

Because that would have been the sensible thing to do & well, they are the Rockies.

[wibadgers23]

Really surprised the Rockies didn’t extend a qualifying offer to Jon Gray. Why didn’t they trade him at the deadline if they weren’t going to offer the QO.

 

Wouldn’t be a bad guy to target if we trade a guy like Houser for offense.