Matt Arnold elevated to president of baseball operations, David Stearns moves into advisory role

[Jopal78]

18 hours ago, brewers888 said:

Stearns is a far better executive than Brian Cashman who would be worthless without a huge payroll.

I think the so-called experts would disagree with you. Payroll isn't everything, sure it lets on cover up mistakes, but Cashman has been plenty successful in all areas of player acquistion. . One example, Cashman signed Severino out of the Dominican for $225,000, He has a bWAR of 13.3 in 638 career innings. Numbers that are quite similar to Brandon Woodruff (bWAR 14.4 in 613 innings). Cashman also signed Robinson Cano, Melky Cabrera, Alfonso Soriano, Gary Sanchez from foreign leagues.  Drafted Judge, Nestor Cortes, Mark Melancon, David Robertson, Phil Hughes, Jordan Mongtomery, picked up Aaron Hicks of the scrap heap, 

Even if you want to knock him for having a huge payroll, The Angels have a huge payroll and two superstars and struggle to win 81 games annually. Phillies, Mets have also struggled despite having huge payroll, so despite finances the person in control still has to make the right deals. 

[brooks_quichenick]

2 hours ago, Axman59 said:

I'm really not a fan of the Stearns/Attanasio gaslighting routine. Perhaps Stearns' next gig will be as spokesman for the Russian Ministry of Defense.

Might be the most moronic and chauvinistic post on this board. Well done, Axman.

[SeaBass]

21 hours ago, markedman5 said:

I’m not sure how anyone could have watched Stearn’s press conference and come away with the idea that there were hard feelings between him and MA.

At no point was I honestly suggesting there was. I also don't think if there were any strains in their professional relationship that either of those men would choose to have it out publicly. Not everyone takes passive aggressive shots through the media like Green Bay's star quarterback does.

Thing is though, all us outsiders (fans) like to think we know everything. We don't. The best we have to go on is what we get from reporters which everyone should know is company approved. There are always the unnamed sources but a lot of that is a known part of the media game too.

[Hacksaw Jim Duggan]

Anyone who thinks Brian Cashman is worse than David Stearns as a GM must not judge longevity or world series as metrics for quality.  Seems argumentative to say the least.

Personally, I think David is burnt out.  His trades in 2021 at the deadline were questionable especially relievers and this year his trades were definitely questionable.  I hope the new GM is up to the task.  Maybe GM and POBO should be split just some food for thought.  I hope this new GM makes trades an offseason priority and not during the season.

[wiguy94]

1 hour ago, Hacksaw Jim Duggan said:

Anyone who thinks Brian Cashman is worse than David Stearns as a GM must not judge longevity or world series as metrics for quality.  Seems argumentative to say the least.

Personally, I think David is burnt out.  His trades in 2021 at the deadline were questionable especially relievers and this year his trades were definitely questionable.  I hope the new GM is up to the task.  Maybe GM and POBO should be split just some food for thought.  I hope this new GM makes trades an offseason priority and not during the season.

Think you’re ignoring the financial disparities between being the GM of the Brewers and being the GM of the Yankees. You give Stearns an extra $100M a year to work with and I’m betting he would have more success. 

[Hacksaw Jim Duggan]

He did have an extra $100 million.  He signed Yelich, yes?

[Brewcrew82]

1 hour ago, Hacksaw Jim Duggan said:

He did have an extra $100 million.  He signed Yelich, yes?

"A year". Yelich accounts for only about a quarter of $100 million a year. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

On 10/27/2022 at 4:55 PM, brewers888 said:

Stearns is a far better executive than Brian Cashman who would be worthless without a huge payroll.

Whoa whoa whoa, let's pump the brakes here. Have you looked at the players the Yankees have developed under Cashman's tenure? Yeah, he's far from a perfect executive but the Yankees perennially churn extremely good players out of their system. I mean, just Aaron Judge alone kinda disqualifies this statement. 

[MrTPlush]

You can't really compare a big market GM to one in a small market at face value. What they do in either situation is largely based on the ownership. Big market GMs make terrible decisions with all that payroll because the owner expects them to spend it and probably dictate a lot of it. Stearns would probably idiotically spend that extra $100mil like most GMs do/would. If he had money I bet we have Yasmani Grandal and Avisail Garcia. 

It still takes talent to run a large market team. You still need to be incredibly good at developing talent or it won't matter. You can't fill an entire team in FA nor can you trade for talent with garbage prospects. White Sox can't even make the postseason, the Angels are a perpetual joke with a big payroll, Giants struggle to make the postseason etc.

[markedman5]

So they win the World Series and offer Click a 1 year contract? Really?

 

[sveumrules]

1 minute ago, markedman5 said:

So they win the World Series and offer Click a 1 year contract? Really?

 

Forget Shohei Ohtani, David Stearns shaping up to be the top FA next offseason.

[Brewcrew82]

19 minutes ago, sveumrules said:

Forget Shohei Ohtani, David Stearns shaping up to be the top FA next offseason.

Forget next offseason. I think we end up working out something with Houston right now, as Attanasio probably prefers that he go there instead of to New York.

I wonder if there's any possibility we can get Click to come to Milwaukee to team up with Arnold...Or would he want total control to himself given that he's now got a World Series win on his resume? 

[wibadgers23]

Yeah this almost seems inevitable, doesn't it?  Seems reasonable to think we could work something out with Houston.

[nate82]

41 minutes ago, markedman5 said:

So they win the World Series and offer Click a 1 year contract? Really?

 

I think Click was going to reject any offer from the Astros.  The relationship between the owner and the front office in Houston is completely broken.  After the cheating scandal the owner took full control of the front office and everything that the team did had to go through him first.  This included just about everything and anything the front office wanted to do.  

Stearns is probably someone the owner would be comfortable with giving that control over to.  

[markedman5]

1 hour ago, wibadgers23 said:

Yeah this almost seems inevitable, doesn't it?  Seems reasonable to think we could work something out with Houston.

Doesn’t appear so……….

 

[markedman5]

https://fansided.com/2022/11/11/james-click-deserved-better-houston-astros/

[Brewcrew82]

17 minutes ago, markedman5 said:

Doesn’t appear so……….

 

Interesting. Seemed like something that could materialize quickly with his wife being from HOU.

I like having you remain in an advisory role, DS, but please, for the love of god, don't head to New York next season. 

[sveumrules]

56 minutes ago, markedman5 said:

Doesn’t appear so……….

 

"Hey David, MA here. Me and the other MA were thinking about what to get to eat today, can't decide between Texas BBQ or NY style Pizza. Please advise."

[UpandIn]

On 10/31/2022 at 10:31 AM, Brock Beauchamp said:

Whoa whoa whoa, let's pump the brakes here. Have you looked at the players the Yankees have developed under Cashman's tenure? Yeah, he's far from a perfect executive but the Yankees perennially churn extremely good players out of their system. I mean, just Aaron Judge alone kinda disqualifies this statement. 

Yes...they're very good. It also helps when for the majority of that time, he spent more in Latin America and scouting than the next 5 teams combined...and that the Yankees are maybe the most recognizable American Sports franchise in the world. 

 

Stearns had to build up the resources to develop any type of infrastructure in Latin America and it still pales in comparison to the Yankees(and again, teams like the NYY, LAD tend to win when going after the top player if the money is close). 

Saying Cashman would be "worthless without the Yankees payroll," is...WAY over the top. But lets also keep in mind he's spending what the Brewers total payroll has averaged during Stearns time in Milwaukee on Cole, Stanton and Chapman and then Josh Donaldson in a salary dump. That right there is 108M dollars.

Now, if the Brewers could spend roughly twice their salary, do they keep Hader? He'd have been their 4th highest paid reliever. Do they sign or trade for someone?

I DO think Stearns would operate more like Friedman in LA. The team that let Seager go because he was too costly, that let Grienke, Scherzer and among others leave because they didn't think they were worth signing them, not because they couldn't. 

It's ALSO worth noting, it's easier to build an elite farm system when you can fill holes without trading players and or let players develop an extra year because you've got players waiting in the wings. They could let Grandal go with Will Smith, they may be able to let Smith go because of Cartaya. And again, they can go into Latin America and have prospects wanting to sign with them as opposed to the Brewers who have to be more deliberate and...pick up the players who are left, OR just offer more. 

No sport is on an even playing field. The Heat and the Lakers will always be bigger FA destinations than the Bucks(all things being equal...which they're not at the moment). 

So there are just so many built in advantages to running the Yankees than there are the Brewers...or about 25 other teams in the league. 

This makes it very difficult to compare Apples to Apples Stearns and Cashman...but I'll take Stearns over the long haul. 

 

Unfortunately, Stearns couldn't really start signing LA players until ~2018 due to the penalties from the Gilbert Lara signing, so we'll have to wait and see what dividends those players play, but the structure he left in place should be extraordinarily helpful moving forward. 

[UpandIn]

https://www.truebluela.com/2016/6/15/11951878/yordan-alvarez-contract-dodgers-cuba-international-signing-period

Just an example of what almost limitless resources can do.

Yordan Alvarez
Oniel Cruz
And Yardian Alvarez, the highest rated prospect of the 3 who had...some issues and was out of baseball, but is now back after some maturity issues(though who knows if he's still got the triple digit FB and the three plus pitches). 

But they spent 100M on international FAs. They just traded Alvarez, Cruz and kept the other prospects, but MAN, what a juggernaut if they'd kept Yordan, arguably the best put hitter in baseball right now....with respect to Judge and his historic season. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

12 hours ago, UpandIn said:

Yes...they're very good. It also helps when for the majority of that time, he spent more in Latin America and scouting than the next 5 teams combined...and that the Yankees are maybe the most recognizable American Sports franchise in the world. 

Stearns had to build up the resources to develop any type of infrastructure in Latin America and it still pales in comparison to the Yankees(and again, teams like the NYY, LAD tend to win when going after the top player if the money is close). 

Saying Cashman would be "worthless without the Yankees payroll," is...WAY over the top. But lets also keep in mind he's spending what the Brewers total payroll has averaged during Stearns time in Milwaukee on Cole, Stanton and Chapman and then Josh Donaldson in a salary dump. That right there is 108M dollars.

Now, if the Brewers could spend roughly twice their salary, do they keep Hader? He'd have been their 4th highest paid reliever. Do they sign or trade for someone?

I DO think Stearns would operate more like Friedman in LA. The team that let Seager go because he was too costly, that let Grienke, Scherzer and among others leave because they didn't think they were worth signing them, not because they couldn't. 

It's ALSO worth noting, it's easier to build an elite farm system when you can fill holes without trading players and or let players develop an extra year because you've got players waiting in the wings. They could let Grandal go with Will Smith, they may be able to let Smith go because of Cartaya. And again, they can go into Latin America and have prospects wanting to sign with them as opposed to the Brewers who have to be more deliberate and...pick up the players who are left, OR just offer more. 

No sport is on an even playing field. The Heat and the Lakers will always be bigger FA destinations than the Bucks(all things being equal...which they're not at the moment). 

So there are just so many built in advantages to running the Yankees than there are the Brewers...or about 25 other teams in the league. 

This makes it very difficult to compare Apples to Apples Stearns and Cashman...but I'll take Stearns over the long haul. 

Unfortunately, Stearns couldn't really start signing LA players until ~2018 due to the penalties from the Gilbert Lara signing, so we'll have to wait and see what dividends those players play, but the structure he left in place should be extraordinarily helpful moving forward. 

No doubt about it, I think Stearns is the better baseball guy right now. I was merely refuting the notion that Cashman is bad at his job.