Looking ahead to 2023 Brewers

[NBBrewFan]

12 minutes ago, MrTPlush said:

Garrett Mitchell is ending the year with a nice statline at face value...but we are talking about 52 ABs. One big game will skew that to be good. The guy has been on a hot streak to end the year, but most of his time this year he was sporting a pretty ugly line. Was he just getting comfortable and now he is going to be really good moving forward? Hard to say, I have quite a bit of optimism because his hot streak also saw his K-rate plummet. His last 15 PAs feature only four Ks and no multi game performances. That still isn't great, but better than how he started. 

I don't have a problem going with Mitchell plus other rookies...but yah, it is a huge risk and they could be mega flops next year. Just depends on how hard you are trying to compete and long term intentions with the roster. 

I definitely don't want to give the impression I think he's the next Mike Trout based on those 52 ABs.  What I think is that his advantage and Frelick's and Turang's are that they are all very good defenders and very good baserunners both of which are assets that can help offset some of their initial shortcomings with the bat.  He also should get some props for the fact he has been having a hot streak at the very time we needed it while the rest of the offense has gone fetal when they are most needed.  I would be happy if he was a starter for most of 2023 and he put up 2-3 fWAR.  That would be a great success and an improvement for this team.  I think Frelick has the ability to be very productive by the end of his first year, but Turang will struggle as he has done the first time at a level, but by the end of the year he will could be average.  Ruiz I have much less faith and think he will struggle mightily when put into a regular role.  So 2 struggle bad, 2 good/average.  I hope I am tempering my expectations sufficiently.

[NBBrewFan]

34 minutes ago, brewers888 said:

Is anyone interested besides me in addressing the elephant in the room which is Stearns and his contractual situation. I think its unreasonable to have the top decisionmaker in the organization as a lame duck just biding time till he can go home to the big spending Mets.

Well his last 2 years isn't as encouraging in tying him up long-term nor getting a big offer from the Mets.  In total he has been a very good GM/President, but like Plush has pointed out he isn't that infallible one-in-a-lifetime GM that we thought he would be.  Maybe they should do what some teams have done and extend him 1 year when he has 1 year left on his contract.  So he will have a rolling 2 year contract.  That gives him some security while giving Attanasio some flexibility to make a change without being out a lot of money.  

I think the bigger question is how long does CC get a free ride when his managing this year has been pretty bad.  Given his history he deserves a mulligan, but filling out the lineup card and implementing the teams analytic viewpoint, while 2 important roles they aren't the only ones.  He needs to be a better communicator with the players as the clear unhappiness with the loss of Hader should have been handled by him in house. This team is finding ways to lose and it's not just the talent level of the team.  There are issues that he has to take on and address which he may not think are important, but if the players think they are then they ARE important.

[Jopal78]

3 minutes ago, MrTPlush said:

Brewer Fans: Our offense was absolutely a big disgrace

Also Brewer Fans: Lets non tender or best hitter of 2022 because he will cost 1/$10mil.

I suppose it depends on how you define "best hitter".  True he has the highest slugging percentage on the team. However, Renfroe has an OBP of .318, amongst the bottom half of the roster.  He is also middle of the pack amongst oWAR. 

Now consider Joc Pederson is playing on a one year 6 million dollar contract and has outperformed Renfroe in avg, obp, and slugging, that's a bargain. Renfroe at 10 million dollars isn't a bargain, it's market price. 

Like I said, they're last amongst the teams in the NL actively trying to compete, where do they get better? Maybe Renfroe is back next year, but they may be able to get substantially similar production for less, and use their resources to try to improve other areas of the club for a cumulative gain. 

[MrTPlush]

12 minutes ago, Jopal78 said:

I suppose it depends on how you define "best hitter".  True he has the highest slugging percentage on the team. However, Renfroe has an OBP of .318, amongst the bottom half of the roster.  He is also middle of the pack amongst oWAR. 

Now consider Joc Pederson is playing on a one year 6 million dollar contract and has outperformed Renfroe in avg, obp, and slugging, that's a bargain. Renfroe at 10 million dollars isn't a bargain, it's market price. 

Like I said, they're last amongst the teams in the NL actively trying to compete, where do they get better? Maybe Renfroe is back next year, but they may be able to get substantially similar production for less, and use their resources to try to improve other areas of the club for a cumulative gain. 

I am not sure Joc Pederson being wildly underpaid really means much to Hunter Renfroe. You are comparing Joc post contract agreement to what he signed prior to that performance. Joc got 1/$6mil after being a 0.2 WAR player. Actually he got 1/$6mil after being a -0.4 WAR player over the last three years. Negative value over three years. Not like Joc was some star prior either that inflated his contract...he was exactly like the 2.5 WAR Renfroe we have. 

Your example makes Hunter Renfroe at $10mil seem like a bargain.

[Jopal78]

6 minutes ago, MrTPlush said:

I am not sure Joc Pederson being wildly underpaid really means much to Hunter Renfroe. You are comparing Joc post contract agreement to what he signed prior to that performance. Joc got 1/$6mil after being a 0.2 WAR player. Actually he got 1/$6mil after being a -0.4 WAR player over the last three years. Negative value over three years. Not like Joc was some star prior either that inflated his contract...he was exactly like the 2.5 WAR Renfroe we have. 

Your example makes Hunter Renfroe at $10mil seem like a bargain.

It doesn't really matter. The point is Renfroe has always been about a .300/.490 hitter. The last two off-seasons he was let go/traded rather than be paid what he had earned. Now after having made 7.5 million and due for another raise likely to be at least 10 million, will the Brewers buck that trend and decide he's now worth it? Only time will tell, but I won't hold my breath.  

[MrTPlush]

16 minutes ago, NBBrewFan said:

Well his last 2 years isn't as encouraging in tying him up long-term nor getting a big offer from the Mets.  In total he has been a very good GM/President, but like Plush has pointed out he isn't that infallible one-in-a-lifetime GM that we thought he would be.  Maybe they should do what some teams have done and extend him 1 year when he has 1 year left on his contract.  So he will have a rolling 2 year contract.  That gives him some security while giving Attanasio some flexibility to make a change without being out a lot of money.  

 

I am all for giving Mitchell a shot from the get-go next year. I would personally run out a Mitchell/Frelick/Renfroe OF...or maybe let Frelick fight it out in ST with the other top prospects. To me you run out two of the prospects and have the other two in the wings to get their shot if one falters. I gotta figure between four top OF prospects two can be decent hitters. 

If I drank about 6 beers before GMing the Brewers I would consider shopping Adames. Potentially trade him for prospects and then flip those prospects (plus maybe adding more from the system) for a different infield hitter that is more controllable. Ideally it is a 3B and then put Turang at SS. That is a mini dream if there was such a 3B to acquire. I would want them controllable for 4+ years though. 

One issue the Brewers are going to have is the OF. They have 5 OF prospects in their Top 8. Four are already at AAA and the other is a potential mega prospect that isn't far off in that case either. Every single one of them is an elite defender minus Ruiz, so that is a bit of a logjam. Stearns could try to cash in on some of that value now...or potentially wait another offseason and see how they shake out after 2023. 

[NBBrewFan]

If the Brewers could get a decent RP for Renfroe then I think they should trade him and pick up Wong's option.  That gives you an OF of Yelich/Mitchell/Frelick with Wong as the primary DH.  Depending on the RP that would likely be slightly worse OF defense than with Renfroe and a little less offense, but a better bullpen.  I would do it for the right RP especially if they might be able to handle closer and return Williams to the 8th inning man.  Not sure 1 year of Renfroe will net that much, but it's another option if the right deal comes along. 

That leaves a possible outfield for 2024 with all prospects and a possible opening at 1B if we have success with multiple prospects (I doubt they look at Tellez other than a stopgap until a better option comes along).

[Brewcrew82]

5 hours ago, Ron Robinsons Beard said:

Look at some of the contracts that players much, much worse than Renfroe get on the open market. He won't be non-tendered. If he isn't in RF opening day next year, it means they dealt him. The return wouldn't be spectacular, but it should be decent.

This guy's been towing the "non-tendering Renfroe line" for quite a while now. What an asinine decision that would be. We're struggling mightily on offense right now and the solution is to cut bait with our only regular hitter OPSing over .800 on the season??? Not to mention you will need an established, veteran presence like him in the outfield next year while you break in the young guys....

[Brewcrew82]

2 hours ago, Jopal78 said:

I suppose it depends on how you define "best hitter".  True he has the highest slugging percentage on the team. However, Renfroe has an OBP of .318, amongst the bottom half of the roster.  He is also middle of the pack amongst oWAR. 

Now consider Joc Pederson is playing on a one year 6 million dollar contract and has outperformed Renfroe in avg, obp, and slugging, that's a bargain. Renfroe at 10 million dollars isn't a bargain, it's market price. 

Like I said, they're last amongst the teams in the NL actively trying to compete, where do they get better? Maybe Renfroe is back next year, but they may be able to get substantially similar production for less, and use their resources to try to improve other areas of the club for a cumulative gain. 

Pretty sure that Jace Peterson isn't outperforming Renfroe in avg and slugging. lol Not sure where you're getting your numbers from. Renfroe will have huge value as a steady veteran presence in the outfield while we're trying to break in Mitchell, Frelick, Turang, etc. Yelich will most likely be moved to DH on a semi-permanent basis. 

[MrTPlush]

36 minutes ago, Brewcrew82 said:

Pretty sure that Jace Peterson isn't outperforming Renfroe in avg and slugging. lol Not sure where you're getting your numbers from. Renfroe will have huge value as a steady veteran presence in the outfield while we're trying to break in Mitchell, Frelick, Turang, etc. Yelich will most likely be moved to DH on a semi-permanent basis. 

I was confused at first.

He is talking about Joc Pederson. But it didn't really hold water anyway.

[MrTPlush]

I am really disappointed no one said:

Let go of Wong, Renfroe, and Narvaez to save $25mil

ADD

Aaron Judge

[NBBrewFan]

1 hour ago, Brewcrew82 said:

This guy's been towing the "non-tendering Renfroe line" for quite a while now. What an asinine decision that would be. We're struggling mightily on offense right now and the solution is to cut bait with our only regular hitter OPSing over .800 on the season??? Not to mention you will need an established, veteran presence like him in the outfield next year while you break in the young guys....

I really don't get the non-tendering argument. I'm not a big fan of Renfroe, but he is still valuable at $10M.  He's another hitter who gives up value due to statue defense and poor baserunning, but that doesn't erase 2-2.5 WAR for $10M.  The player who is most likely to get non-tendered is Hiura.  I expect them to see if they can get something of value either straight up or add him into another trade to get a slight upgrade in the pool of players to select.  If neither of those approaches work I can see them just letting him go.

[Robocaller]

16 hours ago, Axman59 said:

It's true!

Trevor Rosenthal  0.0 WAR

Matt Bush -0.5 WAR

Taylor Rogers -0.6 WAR

 

The Brewers would have been better off calling up some chumps from AAA than trading for and using Bush and Rogers.

You might want to look at the stats of the chumps they did call up from AAA.

[NBBrewFan]

33 minutes ago, MrTPlush said:

I am really disappointed no one said:

Let go of Wong, Renfroe, and Narvaez to save $25mil

ADD

Aaron Judge

Why would we need to let Renfroe and Wong go?  We should be able to outbid every large market team for Judge with the current payroll.  Right?

[nate82]

If you non-tender Renfroe then you would probably just want to run with an all rookie OF.  All of the OF in FA that are close to Renfroe's skill level will all cost more than the estimated $10m that Renfroe would be getting.  The only way you are going to be able to get someone cheaper is to get someone on a bounce back type of a contract.  You would have to roll the dice and hope Gallo returns to his former self and can cut down on the strikeouts.  

Joc Pederson hasn't really been all that much better than Renfroe and career wise they are about equal.  I think Pederson is going to get a big pay bump after the year he has had offensively.  He should get a 2-4 year contract that should give him an annual salary around $13-17m.  Something like 3-years $50m sounds about right for Pederson.  

I don't see the Brewers paying FA$ on an OF.  If they are going to spend money in the OF it will be to keep Renfroe for another year.  I don't see the Brewers going after an OF this off season in FA.  Maybe they would do Brantley or Haniger but that would be to play them at DH and not in the OF.  

Here are the possible OF Free Agents and I don't really see any that I would want to pay more than $10m for besides Judge and that is just LOL no chance for the Brewers.

LEFT FIELDERS

Joey Gallo (29 years old, 4.8 WAR)
Andrew Benintendi (28, 4.6)
Adam Duvall (33, 3.6)
AJ Pollock (35, 3.5) -- Player option
David Peralta (35, 3.4)
Robbie Grossman (33, 2.1)
Aledmys Díaz (32, 2.1)
Tommy Pham (35, 2.0) -- Mutual option
Joc Pederson (30, 1.9)
Jurickson Profar (30, 1.9) -- Player option
Corey Dickerson (33, 1.7)
Jorge Soler (30, 0.2) -- Can opt out
Ben Gamel (30, 0.2)
Chad Pinder (31, -0.1)

CENTER FIELDERS

Aaron Judge (31 years old, 14.8 WAR)
Brandon Nimmo (30, 7.4)
Kevin Kiermaier (33, 3.7) -- Club option
Odubel Herrera (31, 1.9)
Lorenzo Cain (37, 1.0)
Kevin Pillar (34, 0.8)
Jake Marisnick (31, 0.8)
Delino DeShields (29, 0.2)
Travis Jankowski (32, 0.2)
Billy Hamilton (32, 0.1)
Shogo Akiyama (34, -0.6)
Jackie Bradley Jr. (33, -1.9) -- Mutual option

RIGHT FIELDERS

Mitch Haniger (32 years old, 2.8 WAR)
Wil Myers (32, 2.2) -- Club option
Tyler Naquin (32, 1.8)
Jorge Soler (30, 0.2) -- Can opt out
Chad Pinder (31, -0.1)
Dexter Fowler (36, -0.1)
Kole Calhoun (35, -0.8) -- Club option
Stephen Piscotty (32, -1.0) -- Club option

I would really like to see the Brewers trade one of Woodruff or Burnes.  I have mentioned before an Orioles trade for Rodriguez/Holliday plus other spare parts.  I think the plan should be to retool for 2023 trading away either Burnes or Woodruff and then trying to resign one.  I think Woodruff is the more likely resigning as I think that would be in the Brewers price range.  I wouldn't be against trading Adames if the right trade comes along but looking at the possible FA SS's this doesn't look like a good year to trade a SS or to be a FA SS.  There just are not that many teams that will be looking for a SS.  Of the possible contending teams maybe the Cardinals but Arenado's extension may price them out of the FA SS market and I think the Cardinals may look at SP more this offseason than a SS.  

[Robocaller]

3 hours ago, NBBrewFan said:

If the Brewers could get a decent RP for Renfroe then I think they should trade him and pick up Wong's option.  That gives you an OF of Yelich/Mitchell/Frelick with Wong as the primary DH.  Depending on the RP that would likely be slightly worse OF defense than with Renfroe and a little less offense, but a better bullpen.  I would do it for the right RP especially if they might be able to handle closer and return Williams to the 8th inning man.  Not sure 1 year of Renfroe will net that much, but it's another option if the right deal comes along. 

That leaves a possible outfield for 2024 with all prospects and a possible opening at 1B if we have success with multiple prospects (I doubt they look at Tellez other than a stopgap until a better option comes along).

To get equal WAR, they'd need to get someone better than Devin Williams, so an elite closer. And their offense from the OF would lack punch.  
IMO, Renfroe shouldn't go anywhere until Wiemer has proven he can hit ML pitchers.  That could be as early as the middle of the season, if Wiemer gets a call up because of injury on the ML club, and does well.
 

[Robocaller]

For all of the hatred given to the offense, they rank 10th in runs scored and OPS.
The pitching staff ranks 17th best in runs allowed and 10th in WHP

What they both do in abundance is strike out: 4th most for the offense, 3rd most for the pitching.

The thing is, the pitching underperformed because some pitchers didn't live up to expectations and some were injured for chunks of the year. The offense was about as good as you can expect from this group of players. 

[NBBrewFan]

4 minutes ago, Robocaller said:

To get equal WAR, they'd need to get someone better than Devin Williams, so an elite closer. And their offense from the OF would lack punch.  
IMO, Renfroe shouldn't go anywhere until Wiemer has proven he can hit ML pitchers.  That could be as early as the middle of the season, if Wiemer gets a call up because of injury on the ML club, and does well.
 

You don't need "punch" at every position.  The Brewers are #5 in MLB/#3 in NL for ISO.  They have plenty of punch.  They aren't losing any getting rid of McCutcheon as he brings the Brewers ISO down.  What they lack and severely lack is BA (and the BA component of OBP) where they are 22nd/11th in MLB/NL. You can get to the same runs scored through different routes and increasing the BA is what this offense needs (IMO).

I speak of equal WAR not 1:1 with Renfroe, but with the lineups with and without Renfroe (plus trade acquisition).  We might take a hit in the overall offense trading Renfroe, but the bullpen could take a step up to narrow the gap.  It requires the right trade partner so I am not advocating it as a must do strategy, just something they could do given the right trade.

[monty57]

Why is everyone so hung up on offense? This is a team that was built on pitching. Their offense is 8th in baseball in Fangraphs WAR, and 10th in Runs scored. They aren't the most fun offense to watch because of their "all or nothing" approach, but the end results are a lot better than you'd think judging by all the flak the offense gets around here.

Meanwhile, they're 14th in pitching WAR, and 18th in ERA, so we've had an above-average offense with an average pitching staff this year. Of course, most of our starting pitchers (the team's biggest strength) missed significant time due to injuries, which is really the reason we're not in the playoffs this year, so the thought of blowing everything up seems misguided. That we were so close to the playoffs while our starting rotation was in shambles most of the season seems like a positive to me.

We do have a lot of talent hitting free agency following the 2024 season, so that will probably start being addressed this offseason with some trades. I'm think that trading Burnes and extending Woodruff could be a reality this offseason. Otherwise, we'll probably trade one this year, and the other next year. Both would bring back a ton of talent, some at the "MLB-ready" stage, and some still in the minors. 

Our starting pitching (assuming they stay healthier than this season) should still be a strength even if one of Burnes/Woodruff is traded. I expect Frelick and Mitchell to be opening day starters, and Turang has a good shot at a starting spot as well. Other than that, we will probably have a lot of the same players on the field. The main addition would be that a Burnes trade should bring in a good young player to "fill a hole" somewhere.

[Jopal78]

19 minutes ago, NBBrewFan said:

I really don't get the non-tendering argument. I'm not a big fan of Renfroe, but he is still valuable at $10M.  He's another hitter who gives up value due to statue defense and poor baserunning, but that doesn't erase 2-2.5 WAR for $10M.  The player who is most likely to get non-tendered is Hiura.  I expect them to see if they can get something of value either straight up or add him into another trade to get a slight upgrade in the pool of players to select.  If neither of those approaches work I can see them just letting him go.

Their both probably going to get non-tendered!

Why did Boston move on from Renfroe after a .315/.501 campaign? They thought they were better off reacquiring washed up JBJ, taking on the 10 million dollars in additional salary and getting the two low level minor leaguers from the Brewers.

Same deal with Tampa Bay in '20. They non-tendered Renfroe with 3! years of control remaining because they determined the money he would cost over those three years would be better spent elsewhere.

Yet in 2022, Renfroe goes out puts up his career line, stands to get a raise to around 10 million dollars, and now its lunacy for  one of the tightest fisted teams in the NL is going to decide they could better spend that 10 million improving their club in other areas?

Sure anything can happen (including Renfroe coming back next year), there just isn't much improvement to be had from this offensive group based on their career marks, and trading an impact pitcher seemingly isn't going to help them win in '22 either and probably would signal a larger rebuild. 

Thus, it seems more likely they will free up as much cash as they can (non-tender Renfroe, Hiura, Bush, maybe Caratini, decline the option on Boxberger, Wong, let McCutchen, Narvaez, Peterson, Rogers walk as free agents--probably close to 45 million dollars in payroll), try to add an impact bat in free agency and some quality bullpen arms, then  play a lot of young players who have  room for improvement to their game. 

 

 

[monty57]

The decision on Renfroe will be interesting. I think they'll find that they'll get more value by having him on the roster next year than they'd get from trading him, plus they'll already have a lot of rookies and will want some "veteran presence," so I think he'll be a Brewer next year. The young guys profile as "bat to ball" / OBP guys, so his bat should fit in nicely as a 4 or 5 hole hitter with some guys on base in front of him.

[MrTPlush]

I think the Brewers could turn around, tinker some stuff, and win 10 more games than they did this year. You hope to luck into some better health and hopefully don't pull off a total 'F' with the bullpen...which can be fluky. Everyone acts like that would be insanity and they would be lucky to win a WC....but it is pretty standard stuff that happens to teams every year. Even with Stearns absolutely bombing the deadline we are still set to win 85-87 games. 

They could definitely go into 2023 and then blow up half the team in July or afterwards. They went from 95 wins last year to this...they are just about as likely to do the same the opposite direction next year. I think I would prefer a long term approach that is a little more clever...but it is a realistic option.

[Oxy]

Wow.  A lot of completely irrational emotional frustration on this site lately.

An 85 win season is far from a disaster. The pitching staff was hurt all year and the bullpen stunk down the stretch...although moreso they just weren't quite good enough in some key moments (same as the offense).

Wong is gone.  Cutch is gone. Peterson is gone. Renfroe and Boxberger will be back.  Trade a P and a prospect or 2 and try and get a big stick at any corner position.  Try to upgrade C if possible, but it probably isn't.  Turang will start soon if not at the start.

I'd guess that one of Frelick or Mitchell will not be a Brewer at the end of next year, just too many overlapping skills w/o one of those skills being "power."  Especially with Yelich's power outage, which makes those skills even more redundant (yikes...to think that Yelich is basically Mitchell/Frelick but with bad defense...but that's what he is).

That's about it.  Hope for a little luck and unexpected development and you win 98 games. With injuries and bad luck you win 85 again.

 

[clancyphile]

23 hours ago, MrTPlush said:

I’m not ready to put Stearns in the hot seat. You are right that a lot of the current success is thanks to being left with a really generous state of the organization and a way better Attanasio to work with than Melvin ever had.…but he still has created good teams himself and made lots of good moves. He still has the organization in a pretty good spot and a nice minor league pipeline.

However, I am kind coming to the conclusion Stearns is probably not the magical unicorn GM everyone kinda labeled him after 2018. I am getting concerned about his philosophy on winning or whatever he is trying to do. He refuses to help the team at the deadline with anything that would cost a decent prospect or two and his bullpen handling at the deadline was a joke. I’m all for trying to extend the window of competing at the expense of maybe not having a juggernaut team for a year or two…but Stearns literally torpedoed a team leading the division into an unwatchable choke job. Stearns refuses to add anything of note, but readily trades away one of the teams best players. That is simply nuts.

If we rewind time back to 2015 and I tell you in a few years we would have two of the best starters in baseball (arguably three aces) and we proceeded to trade the best closer in baseball creating a net loss at the deadline this entire board would probably tell you to burn down the stadium…never to watch baseball again and demand the release of both aces for their own good.

Again, not saying Stearns hasn’t done a good job..,but his last 12 months could not have been any worse. He simply has got to be better than he has been of late and maybe we don’t need to hoard 10 OF prospects.

Outfield is overstocked, and it is time to see who can be dealt for needs elsewhere. It's going to be painful, because Frelick, Mitchell, Wiemer, Chourio, and Ruiz are either at the majors or knocking very insistently at the door.

Does the Crew move Frelick to the infield, where he had some college experience, or maybe use him the way the Reds used Ryan Freel (OF/IF)? Do Weimer and Mitchell form 2/3 of the 2023 outfield, with Taylor and Ruiz as OFs 4 and 5? But that doesn't make figuring out what to do with Lutz, Perez, and Gray easier. Probably trade bait for the next Lauer.

And what about Yelich? DH full-time? Move to 1B when Tellez needs to be traded?

The Hader trade will be seen as a short term loss, but Gasser and Ruiz can probably contribute for 4-5 years on the big league roster. But Hader was not affordable, and if that meltdown had happened while he was on the Crew... we might be damning Stearns for not dealing him,

Narvaez should be allowed to walk. Go with Caratini and Feliciano at catcher. Turang's probably ready to displace Wong at second. 

To me, the bigger failure is to not teach some fundamental baseball. Runner on third with less than two outs? Get him in. Teach those skills. That has cost the team a LOT in the last five years.

[clancyphile]

6 hours ago, Oxy said:

Wow.  A lot of completely irrational emotional frustration on this site lately.

An 85 win season is far from a disaster. The pitching staff was hurt all year and the bullpen stunk down the stretch...although moreso they just weren't quite good enough in some key moments (same as the offense).

Wong is gone.  Cutch is gone. Peterson is gone. Renfroe and Boxberger will be back.  Trade a P and a prospect or 2 and try and get a big stick at any corner position.  Try to upgrade C if possible, but it probably isn't.  Turang will start soon if not at the start.

I'd guess that one of Frelick or Mitchell will not be a Brewer at the end of next year, just too many overlapping skills w/o one of those skills being "power."  Especially with Yelich's power outage, which makes those skills even more redundant (yikes...to think that Yelich is basically Mitchell/Frelick but with bad defense...but that's what he is).

That's about it.  Hope for a little luck and unexpected development and you win 98 games. With injuries and bad luck you win 85 again.

 

I can see both still with the Crew. Frelick may be in AAA for a bit brushing up on his college time in the IF (third base, second base). I could see trading Renfroe to give Wiemer the RF slot.

Catcher upgrade may well be Feliciano and Caratini over Narvaez/Caratini, with Darrien Miller and Quero shooting up the system. Miller's been one I've liked. He's got some BIG TIME OBP skills. Look how much he's walked in 2019, 2021, and 2022!

https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=miller004dar