Brewers sign Wade Miley

[patrickgpe]

 

2 hours ago, DR28 said:

We didnt sign Ashby to that extension to put him in the pen... Our rotation has to be Burnes/Woody/Peralta/Ashby/Miley?

Houser to pen, Lauer traded Im guessing.

Houser seems like a great pen guy. He just could never get past the 5th. I agree Ashby is probably still a starter. A 6 man rotation with lauer in there makes sense . Miley was injured most of 2022, so I wouldn’t pencil him in for 30 starts 

[CheeseheadInQC]

2 minutes ago, monty57 said:

Not saying anything other than a six man rotation would cost Burnes, Woodruff, and Peralta about five starts each. That doesn’t seem like an optimal solution.
 

I don’t care how you position the pitching staff beyond Burnes, Woodruff, and Peralta, but those three need to start as much as possible. 

There is a difference between starting with a six man rotation and finishing with one. If you lose someone to injury you can drop down to five without worrying about stretching anyone else out or disrupting the bullpen. If you get two months into the season and your chosen six are healthy, then you make the tough call.

[Sweaty]

Lauer being traded for a bat.  Someone to play right field.

[rickh150]

11 minutes ago, Sweaty said:

Lauer being traded for a bat.  Someone to play right field.

Or 3rd.

[Robocaller]

I guess he's a solid #4-5 starter if he's back to normal (pitched OK at the end of the year). 

If I had Burnes, Woodruff, Peralta, Lauer, Houser, Ashby, and Miley, I might try something amusing like  piggybacking my 4th and 5th starters.  though Lauer, Ashby, and Miley might be too many lefties.

Or. . .

maybe use them as multi-inning guys avoiding needing a dedicated 7th inning guy. Whomever was most rested would start in the 4th, 5th slots. Actually I kinda like this idea since we could really use a top late inning guy at this point. Don't know if any manager has the balls to do this, considering future contract concerns among the "starters."

 

 

 

[Robocaller]

2 hours ago, monty57 said:

Not saying anything other than a six man rotation would cost Burnes, Woodruff, and Peralta about five starts each. That doesn’t seem like an optimal solution.
 

I don’t care how you position the pitching staff beyond Burnes, Woodruff, and Peralta, but those three need to start as much as possible. 

Those 3 are all RHP; Lauer, Ashby, and Miley are LHP. I could see them used to pitch the 6(7)-8th innings in relief of our TOR righties, and slipping into a starting slot when needed. Man, I would love to try that. 

[Robocaller]

5 hours ago, wallus said:

I like this signing. Put Houser in the pen until someone gets injured.

Also, I remember the days when the Crew had almost no lefties in the rotation.

Except lefties aren't what we need if beating STL is job one.

[wiguy94]

3 minutes ago, Robocaller said:

Those 3 are all RHP; Lauer, Ashby, and Miley are LHP. I could see them used to pitch the 6(7)-8th innings in relief of our TOR righties, and slipping into a starting slot when needed. Man, I would love to try that. 

That’s definitely a no go for Lauer. He publicly complained at the beginning of the 2021 season when he was pitching between the bullpen and spot starts saying it was impossible for him to get into a routine in that role. 

[Robocaller]

4 hours ago, JefferyLeonard said:

Wow, wow, wow! Now THIS is the type of needle moving signing I have wanted to see. Mark A really stretching that payroll! ?

you needed to put that in a colored font.

[wallus]

3 minutes ago, Robocaller said:

Except lefties aren't what we need if beating STL is job one.

No sense in worrying about a specific opponent in the regular season. The vast majority of games are against teams that aren't the Cardinals.

[brewcrewdue80]

Solid signing. Adds a vet for depth.  Maybe team does the piggyback Lauer/MileySP with Houser/Ashby the finishers if needed.  I'd also wonder on the 6man rotation but keeping the big 3 on their typical 5 days. 

There was a trade provision adding to Mileys salary if he were.  He just may be depth til opening day and traded if we're healthy but another team suffered a TJ casualty before OD.

I'd be fine with Houser to the bullpen. See if his stuff plays up. I think he's a better pitcher than the numbers show. Loses so many times on dribbled infield hits off soft contact.

[Brewcrew82]

27 minutes ago, wallus said:

No sense in worrying about a specific opponent in the regular season. The vast majority of games are against teams that aren't the Cardinals.

Especially this season with the new schedule...

[Robocaller]

How about this for the first 41 games (in parentheses are the guys who are the first guys up in the pen: M-miley, A-ashby, H-Houser, L-Lauer--assuming they weren't used in the previous game or two, and they'd go 2 or more innings):
March 30: Burnes (A, M, L).
April 1: Woodruff (A, H).  April 2: Peralta (A,H).  April 3: Lauer (A,H) April 4: Miley (A,H). April 5: Burnes (A, H).  April 7: Woodruff (A, H). April 8: Peralta (A, H). April 9: Lauer(A, H). April 10: Miley (H). April 11: Burnes (H). April 12: Ashby (H). April 13 Woodruff (H). April 14: Peralta (H). April 15: Lauer (H). April 16: Miley(H). April 17: Burnes (H). April 18: Ashby. April 19: Woodruff (M). April 20: Peralta (M). April 21: Lauer (M). April 22: Houser (M). April 23: Burnes (M). April 24 Ashby (M). April 25: Woodruff (H, M). April 26: Peralta (H, M). April 28: Lauer (H, M). April 29: Burnes (H, M). April 30: Ashby (H, M). May 2: Woodruff (H, M). May 3: Peralta (H, M). May 4: Lauer (H). May 5; Burnes (H). May 6: Ashby (H). May 7: Miley (H). May 8: Woodruff (H). May 9; Peralta (A, H). May 10: Burnes (A, H). May 12: Lauer (A, H). May 13: Miley (H). May 14: Woodruff (H).
Min 5 days off after a start (except bumped up Burnes once to avoid a day off). Burnes gets 8 starts, Woodruff 8, Peralta 7, Lauer 7, Miley 5, Ashby 5, Houser 1. Miley started in the rotation, cycled off for a couple of weeks, Ashby started in the bullpen, Weren't many opportunities for the 7th guy (Houser) but that could change if someone is nicked up and misses a start or two; Houser could get as much work as he could take as the first guy up. I think this could work. Could bump up Burnes or Woodruff occasionally.

 

[Robocaller]

1 hour ago, wallus said:

No sense in worrying about a specific opponent in the regular season. The vast majority of games are against teams that aren't the Cardinals.

Every game against STL is worth two games against any other team, as they are our main competitor.

[Jake McKibbin]

So given the incentives based portion of Miley's contract, It seems fairly clear that he's intended to be a regular starter, at which point you wonder which of Ashby/Houser go to the pen, and I actually think it's a fairly simple answer here

Ashby has shown an elite ceiling potential if he can improve on his 2 strike counts, particularly by using more than just his slider (55% usage), he got absolutely mashed in this count last year. He gets the same weak contact as Houser with greater strikeout potential, is younger, more upside and has an actual reason for his volatility (ie first full season)

Houser was really really poor last season, and despite having one of the best two seamers in the game for GB rate, he could be a much better use for multi innings/piggy back with ashby, but I think, given the contract given to Ashby, that the brewers would rather see him develop as a starter this year, with Houser coming into rotation as and when needed per injuries

This is a really good signing for the crew, and if Miley can stay healthy, has been a really solid pitcher and will bring some real vet level experience to the club house and the rotation, vital for players like Ashby

I still think given last year, I wouldnt want Adames alone to be the heart of the clubhouse, and maybe an Escobar level signing for the position players coming through would be a massive boost and give them time to find their feet at this level. Might have to see if Correa deal goes through, but I really like this signing and Houser has shown a really good multi inning relief player so an upgrade on Suter there for sure

[Oxy]

Meh.  I like stockpiling arms, but this seems like a little bit of TOO big of a commitment.  It's his age 36 season, and if he stinks they can't just cut him ($4.5M) and they cant just send him down to figure it out... I guess there is always the mystery injury to get out of a pickle, but that's annoying too.

Odds are that somebody will be injured to start the year and this will be necessary, in which case I guess that's fine but there are also a lot of guys available in the last week in March for cheap if need be.

It just seems too early in the offseason for this move.

[brewmann04]

couldn't they sign Duvall for RF instead of moving Lauer at this point?

[CheezWizHed]

With the shift ban, I figured Houser was going to be impacted more than anyone on the Brewers team (granted, now Miley gets his share of ground balls too). So moving him to the pen or traded seems to makes sense.

But that still leaves a between with Ashby and Lauer assuming Miley's contract makes him a lock for the rotation. I think Ashby is due to break out this year, so I'd prefer him start... but it seems easier to put him in the pen over Lauer.  Even if Ashby starts in the pen, I doubt he stays there the whole year.  If everyone stays healthy, either Houser or Lauer has to be trade bait at the deadline.  But on any injury, Ashby is the first one back in the rotation. Should be easy to stretch him back out given you can piggy back him with Houser and/or BP games until he can throw 6 innings. 

Opening day rotation: Burnes, Woodruff, Peralta, Lauer, Miley

Sept rotation: Burnes, Woodruff, Peralta, Ashby, Miley/Lauer/Houser

But we need to make it out of ST healthy before all of this is an issue...  Good problems to have and a good depth signing.

[monty57]

2 hours ago, Oxy said:

Meh.  I like stockpiling arms, but this seems like a little bit of TOO big of a commitment.  It's his age 36 season, and if he stinks they can't just cut him ($4.5M) and they cant just send him down to figure it out... I guess there is always the mystery injury to get out of a pickle, but that's annoying too.

Odds are that somebody will be injured to start the year and this will be necessary, in which case I guess that's fine but there are also a lot of guys available in the last week in March for cheap if need be.

It just seems too early in the offseason for this move.

$4.5M doesn't buy much in this market. I think it's a pretty good deal for a proven starting pitcher.

I like this signing, as it adds talent and opens up a lot of possibilities. I just hope that whatever they decide, they set it up for Burnes, Woodruff, and Peralta to get 30+ starts if healthy.

It does open up the possibility for a trade. Both Houser and Lauer will be FAs on the same schedule as Woodruff, Burnes and Adames so they would seem to be the most likely candidates, although a major trade (Burnes or Woodruff) is still a possibility even if it seems unlikely at this point. Trading any of these guys should bring back young player(s) with a lot of team control.

I think they'll move someone to the "Multi-inning reliever" role they value so much. I doubt they could find a decent reliever for this contract, so this allows them to put someone in the role Hader used to play before he became the closer. Having someone you can rely on to come in two or three times a week to pitch a few innings in a close game can add some wins, and it keeps that player stretched out enough that he can step in and spot start if necessary.

Even in the likely scenario that a starter moves to the pen, we'd still have an extra arm (Burnes, Woodruff, Peralta, Lauer, Ashby, Houser, Miley = seven starters). It will be interesting to see what they do. Will they be so bold as to move Houser either Lauer or Ashby into "multi-inning reliever" roles? Have they decided that Ashby's path will be as a late-inning reliever and eventually a closer? Will they make a trade? Stay tuned, something's brewing.

[Brock Beauchamp]

14 hours ago, brewmann04 said:

Anyone feeling it going to be Lauer or Hoser with Hiura being traded. 

[MrTPlush]

Honestly, I think it is a nice gamble with $4.5mil. Miley has been a really effective starter when healthy. Yes, a lot of injury history, but we won't be counting on him to hold down a rotation spot for 30+ starts with no logical back-up plan. We have slew of legitimate starter quality guys to step in if/when he gets hurt. We are going to be quite happy if we get 2018/2019/2021 Wade Miley. 

 

[owbc]

This is great, I was just complaining in another thread about rotation depth. We had way too many games started by guys who didn't belong in a major league rotation last year. 

[Under the Roof]

Crew likes to trade from strength (surplus).  I could see Houser OR Lauer plus a young outfielder (Je Von Ward??) for a young controllable stud 3rd Baseman plus a few pitching prospects.

Don’t know who that 3rd Baseman is.

[sveumrules]

30 minutes ago, owbc said:

This is great, I was just complaining in another thread about rotation depth. We had way too many games started by guys who didn't belong in a major league rotation last year. 

Burnes, Woodruff, Peralta, Lauer, Houser and Ashby started 146/162 (90%) of games.

Alexander (11 GS) got most of the remaining 10% with Small (2 GS), Chi Chi (2 GS) and Bush (1 GS) making spot starts.

Injuries appear to have impacted the quality of starts more so than the quantity with Houser (77 to 117 ERA-), Peralta (67 to 88 ERA-), Lauer (76 to 91 ERA-), Woodruff (61 to 75 ERA-) and Burnes (58 to 73 ERA-) all seeing their ERA- increase by fourteen to forty percent from 2021 to 2022.

[Brock Beauchamp]

11 minutes ago, sveumrules said:

Burnes, Woodruff, Peralta, Lauer, Houser and Ashby started 146/162 (90%) of games.

Alexander (11 GS) got most of the remaining 10% with Small (2 GS), Chi Chi (2 GS) and Bush (1 GS) making spot starts.

Injuries appear to have impacted the quality of starts more so than the quantity with Houser (77 to 117 ERA-), Peralta (67 to 88 ERA-), Lauer (76 to 91 ERA-), Woodruff (61 to 75 ERA-) and Burnes (58 to 73 ERA-) all seeing their ERA- increase by fourteen to forty percent from 2021 to 2022.

It should also be noted that last year was something of an aberration due to the lockout, compressed spring training, and really weird schedule.

I haven't dug into it but I suspect more than a few of those random spot starts were due to the general weirdness of 2022. Obviously, the Brewers also suffered injury issues but I doubt we'll see any "17 games in 16 days" nonsense like we saw last season.