2018 Brewers Discussion - Yelich Signing on Page 45

[coolhandluke121]

Do you remember Jonathan Lucroy or Carlos Gomez's contracts? Braun's first deal was seen as great and at the time, most people were on board with Braun's second deal *waits for hindsight people to inevitably come in and say it was bad*. This was what Melvin would've done.

I don't think anyone has ever said Braun's contract was not a good decision. They were contending at the time and it made sense to lock him up. It just didn't make sense to keep him as long as they did. You don't need hindsight to see why the second half of that contract is not likely to be a wise investment for a rebuilding team. Contracts like that rarely are.

I'm glad Sogard is back. I just want them to keep buying low and giving second chances instead of signing a guy like Walker. It's not that I like that specific decision so much as it is that I'm glad they still appear to be thinking that way.

[Gianstoppable]

Braun contract wont really hurt us during the rebuild besides the fact that if we want to trade him we wont get much of anything. We have cap flexibility, now is literally the best time to be paying this instead of when were contending again and can use another piece that is out of our price range. Idk, you take a shot on a guy who was unbelievably consistent and one of the best hitters in the game, I dont know many people who thought it was bad until he got popped

[coolhandluke121]

Braun contract wont really hurt us during the rebuild besides the fact that if we want to trade him we wont get much of anything.

But why keep him if you're rebuilding? Especially when you could have gotten something for him if you hadn't waited? This whole thing just stinks of not being able to let go. They mostly did the right thing in making rebuilding trades, but I think they went into Herb Kohl denial mode with Braun.

[El Duderino]

Braun contract wont really hurt us during the rebuild besides the fact that if we want to trade him we wont get much of anything.

The biggest issue i have with Braun staying on the team is his presence blocks an everyday outfield spot for a younger player.

In an odd twist though, Braun's injury issues can be a positive in that assuming Broxton were to be traded this offseason, if both Phillips/Brinson make the team, Braun missing 50ish games or more will allow for those younger guys to get those at bats.

Remove Broxton, that's 162 starts open. Braun misses at least 50 games. That's about 210 games open for Phillips/Brinson to share, and Santana will also get games off.

To bad the NL doesn't have the DH because that is not only an ideal role for Braun health wise, it would open up the LF spot for a young player.

[M-C-G]

Braun contract wont really hurt us during the rebuild besides the fact that if we want to trade him we wont get much of anything.

The biggest issue i have with Braun staying on the team is his presence blocks an everyday outfield spot for a younger player.

In an odd twist though, Braun's injury issues can be a positive in that assuming Broxton were to be traded this offseason, if both Phillips/Brinson make the team, Braun missing 50ish games or more will allow for those younger guys to get those at bats.

Remove Broxton, that's 162 starts open. Braun misses at least 50 games. That's about 210 games open for Phillips/Brinson to share, and Santana will also get games off.

To bad the NL doesn't have the DH because that is not only an ideal role for Braun health wise, it would open up the LF spot for a young player.

I'd move him to first base next season and just roll with the young OF, where he could still get spot starts out at the corners.

[Kerb Hohl]

You don't need hindsight to see why the second half of that contract is not likely to be a wise investment for a rebuilding team. Contracts like that rarely are.

As noted by a few posts after that...that is pretty much the norm. I'm not saying that owners and fans are happy to sign guys and let them rot for 3-4 years, but when you're going into a winning window, almost all teams are sitting on a declining veteran through a rebuild. I'd love to not have Braun's contract, but it's getting close to being gone in terms of our long-term deals.

The big market teams are all sitting on 5 behemoth contracts that look bad now but almost all of them got payoff early on. The rebuilding big markets are slowly shedding those (Detroit, Texas) as they drop into a rebuild. They'll come out of it with a good, younger core and the ability to probably sign several massive contracts and open up another 5 year window. I will say that some do look stupid from the start, like Detroit signing Miggy to that extension.

I think in Braun's case, if it wasn't for the steroids issue, we may have had an easier time dealing him or we'd have assumed he'd have been a bit more of a value at this point in his career.

And I agree with El Dude, we want to get some time for the younger guys. I hope that Braun can play 1B. He says he's open to other positions. Hopefully he tries that and picks it up easily. It makes Aguilar expendable.

[Thunder Muscle]

If they can move Braun, I'm for it. If they can't, I'm cool with him on the roster but preference is to maybe give 1B a try and platoon with Thames. By all accounts I think at this stage Braun is a good teammate and may have some value as a veteran presence as well. So I don't feel the need to rid him at all costs, but ideally if can get value for him, you have to do it.

[MVP2110]

What do you guys think we do at First base next year? Do you think we keep the current soft platoon system between Thames & Aguilar? Personally I would love to move Thames and see what Aguilar can do.

[Kerb Hohl]

What do you guys think we do at First base next year? Do you think we keep the current soft platoon system between Thames & Aguilar? Personally I would love to move Thames and see what Aguilar can do.

Eh, it would be cheap, but I'm not sure about that. Aguilar is fat and his defense would get exposed as the season goes by. Aguilar also isn't a great hitter against righties. He's good against lefties, and that's why his numbers looked good at the end of the year. Suddenly you're talking about a below average 1B bat that can't play defense there.

I'd like to just go with Thames and Braun there, if Braun is willing to try 1B.

[MVP2110]

What do you guys think we do at First base next year? Do you think we keep the current soft platoon system between Thames & Aguilar? Personally I would love to move Thames and see what Aguilar can do.

Eh, it would be cheap, but I'm not sure about that. Aguilar is fat and his defense would get exposed as the season goes by. Aguilar also isn't a great hitter against righties. He's good against lefties, and that's why his numbers looked good at the end of the year. Suddenly you're talking about a below average 1B bat that can't play defense there.

I'd like to just go with Thames and Braun there, if Braun is willing to try 1B.

The only reason I would look to move Thames is cause I think you could get some good pieces back for him. That and I think Aguilar could hit about 20-25 hr with 75-80 RBI and a .320 obp or so if given a full season.

[Kerb Hohl]

What do you guys think we do at First base next year? Do you think we keep the current soft platoon system between Thames & Aguilar? Personally I would love to move Thames and see what Aguilar can do.

Eh, it would be cheap, but I'm not sure about that. Aguilar is fat and his defense would get exposed as the season goes by. Aguilar also isn't a great hitter against righties. He's good against lefties, and that's why his numbers looked good at the end of the year. Suddenly you're talking about a below average 1B bat that can't play defense there.

I'd like to just go with Thames and Braun there, if Braun is willing to try 1B.

The only reason I would look to move Thames is cause I think you could get some good pieces back for him. That and I think Aguilar could hit about 20-25 hr with 75-80 RBI and a .320 obp or so if given a full season.

RBIs are mostly luck-based and a bad defender with a .320 OBP at 1B is one of the worst 1B in the league.

[MVP2110]

Eh, it would be cheap, but I'm not sure about that. Aguilar is fat and his defense would get exposed as the season goes by. Aguilar also isn't a great hitter against righties. He's good against lefties, and that's why his numbers looked good at the end of the year. Suddenly you're talking about a below average 1B bat that can't play defense there.

I'd like to just go with Thames and Braun there, if Braun is willing to try 1B.

The only reason I would look to move Thames is cause I think you could get some good pieces back for him. That and I think Aguilar could hit about 20-25 hr with 75-80 RBI and a .320 obp or so if given a full season.

RBIs are mostly luck-based and a bad defender with a .320 OBP at 1B is one of the worst 1B in the league.

Is it really that much worse than what Thames gave up last year? I'll agree thames is better but I think the difference in value on the trade market between the two would lead me to deal Thames over Aguilar.

[Kerb Hohl]

The only reason I would look to move Thames is cause I think you could get some good pieces back for him. That and I think Aguilar could hit about 20-25 hr with 75-80 RBI and a .320 obp or so if given a full season.

RBIs are mostly luck-based and a bad defender with a .320 OBP at 1B is one of the worst 1B in the league.

Is it really that much worse than what Thames gave up last year? I'll agree thames is better but I think the difference in value on the trade market between the two would lead me to deal Thames over Aguilar.

Thames is much more valuable given that he plays from the good side of the platoon. Yes, he's also a terrible defender, but his offense is superior to Aguilar's given which side he gets to play from.

It's possible that Thames will never put up a month like the first one he had with the Brewers and that he's not much more valuable than Aguilar, but he put up a .360 OBP on the season because he is a good hitter against RHP.

The platoon put up good numbers over the season. I think going solely to Aguilar probably guarantees a poor offensive season or average at best.

If you trade Thames...what do you trade him for? You have a weakness at 1B now. Obviously relief pitching or a starter are the other needs.

[MVP2110]

RBIs are mostly luck-based and a bad defender with a .320 OBP at 1B is one of the worst 1B in the league.

Is it really that much worse than what Thames gave up last year? I'll agree thames is better but I think the difference in value on the trade market between the two would lead me to deal Thames over Aguilar.

Thames is much more valuable given that he plays from the good side of the platoon. Yes, he's also a terrible defender, but his offense is superior to Aguilar's given which side he gets to play from.

It's possible that Thames will never put up a month like the first one he had with the Brewers and that he's not much more valuable than Aguilar, but he put up a .360 OBP on the season because he is a good hitter against RHP.

The platoon put up good numbers over the season. I think going solely to Aguilar probably guarantees a poor offensive season or average at best.

If you trade Thames...what do you trade him for? You have a weakness at 1B now. Obviously relief pitching or a starter are the other needs.

I think one of the keys of being a successful small market franchise is identifying when you have excess value somewhere and dealing it to keep your farm system in good shape. I think Thames right now is excess value, and his value is likely never to be higher imo. Whether you replace him with Braun or Aguilar I think you only take a slight reduction in production. I would rather have the prospects you could get for him than the bump in production you get for having him.

However that being said, I think us dealing Thames is quite unlikely and we probably go into next year with a Thames/Aguilar platoon.

[Kerb Hohl]

Is it really that much worse than what Thames gave up last year? I'll agree thames is better but I think the difference in value on the trade market between the two would lead me to deal Thames over Aguilar.

Thames is much more valuable given that he plays from the good side of the platoon. Yes, he's also a terrible defender, but his offense is superior to Aguilar's given which side he gets to play from.

It's possible that Thames will never put up a month like the first one he had with the Brewers and that he's not much more valuable than Aguilar, but he put up a .360 OBP on the season because he is a good hitter against RHP.

The platoon put up good numbers over the season. I think going solely to Aguilar probably guarantees a poor offensive season or average at best.

If you trade Thames...what do you trade him for? You have a weakness at 1B now. Obviously relief pitching or a starter are the other needs.

I think one of the keys of being a successful small market franchise is identifying when you have excess value somewhere and dealing it to keep your farm system in good shape. I think Thames right now is excess value, and his value is likely never to be higher imo. Whether you replace him with Braun or Aguilar I think you only take a slight reduction in production. I would rather have the prospects you could get for him than the bump in production you get for having him.

However that being said, I think us dealing Thames is quite unlikely and we probably go into next year with a Thames/Aguilar platoon.

I agree with the idea of trading excess value, but I'm just not sure I want to go into a season with possibly the worst starting 1B in the league. There will be a few teams with rookies and stopgaps that are worse, but it would be bad.

Thames is signed to a fairly affordable contract, so there is value in just keeping him and having a cheap platoon-mate. I'd prefer it's Braun (not cheap, but now you can save a roster spot) or Aguilar is fine, I guess.

[MVP2110]

Thames is much more valuable given that he plays from the good side of the platoon. Yes, he's also a terrible defender, but his offense is superior to Aguilar's given which side he gets to play from.

It's possible that Thames will never put up a month like the first one he had with the Brewers and that he's not much more valuable than Aguilar, but he put up a .360 OBP on the season because he is a good hitter against RHP.

The platoon put up good numbers over the season. I think going solely to Aguilar probably guarantees a poor offensive season or average at best.

If you trade Thames...what do you trade him for? You have a weakness at 1B now. Obviously relief pitching or a starter are the other needs.

I think one of the keys of being a successful small market franchise is identifying when you have excess value somewhere and dealing it to keep your farm system in good shape. I think Thames right now is excess value, and his value is likely never to be higher imo. Whether you replace him with Braun or Aguilar I think you only take a slight reduction in production. I would rather have the prospects you could get for him than the bump in production you get for having him.

However that being said, I think us dealing Thames is quite unlikely and we probably go into next year with a Thames/Aguilar platoon.

I agree with the idea of trading excess value, but I'm just not sure I want to go into a season with possibly the worst starting 1B in the league. There will be a few teams with rookies and stopgaps that are worse, but it would be bad.

Thames is signed to a fairly affordable contract, so there is value in just keeping him and having a cheap platoon-mate. I'd prefer it's Braun (not cheap, but now you can save a roster spot) or Aguilar is fine, I guess.

I tend to believe that Stearns will side more with you than myself although he has shown to be unpredictable at times. Really looking forward to this offseason to see what Stearns does.

[Kerb Hohl]

I think one of the keys of being a successful small market franchise is identifying when you have excess value somewhere and dealing it to keep your farm system in good shape. I think Thames right now is excess value, and his value is likely never to be higher imo. Whether you replace him with Braun or Aguilar I think you only take a slight reduction in production. I would rather have the prospects you could get for him than the bump in production you get for having him.

However that being said, I think us dealing Thames is quite unlikely and we probably go into next year with a Thames/Aguilar platoon.

I agree with the idea of trading excess value, but I'm just not sure I want to go into a season with possibly the worst starting 1B in the league. There will be a few teams with rookies and stopgaps that are worse, but it would be bad.

Thames is signed to a fairly affordable contract, so there is value in just keeping him and having a cheap platoon-mate. I'd prefer it's Braun (not cheap, but now you can save a roster spot) or Aguilar is fine, I guess.

I tend to believe that Stearns will side more with you than myself although he has shown to be unpredictable at times. Really looking forward to this offseason to see what Stearns does.

Yeah, I just think that there's a reason that Aguilar was never in the majors until now. It appears he's grown into a decent MLB-caliber hitter if you need a right-handed platoon guy, but one that can't play defense is just not useful.

[MVP2110]

I agree with the idea of trading excess value, but I'm just not sure I want to go into a season with possibly the worst starting 1B in the league. There will be a few teams with rookies and stopgaps that are worse, but it would be bad.

Thames is signed to a fairly affordable contract, so there is value in just keeping him and having a cheap platoon-mate. I'd prefer it's Braun (not cheap, but now you can save a roster spot) or Aguilar is fine, I guess.

I tend to believe that Stearns will side more with you than myself although he has shown to be unpredictable at times. Really looking forward to this offseason to see what Stearns does.

Yeah, I just think that there's a reason that Aguilar was never in the majors until now. It appears he's grown into a decent MLB-caliber hitter if you need a right-handed platoon guy, but one that can't play defense is just not useful.

I mean the guy always had decent minor league numbers so it's not like this just came out of nowhere.

[Kerb Hohl]

I tend to believe that Stearns will side more with you than myself although he has shown to be unpredictable at times. Really looking forward to this offseason to see what Stearns does.

Yeah, I just think that there's a reason that Aguilar was never in the majors until now. It appears he's grown into a decent MLB-caliber hitter if you need a right-handed platoon guy, but one that can't play defense is just not useful.

I mean the guy always had decent minor league numbers so it's not like this just came out of nowhere.

Right...decent, but not putting up the video game numbers that an elite/great bat 1B would need to have to justify playing his glove out there.

His final 2 years in AAA he didn't crack an .800 OPS after having solid numbers coming up.

[Thunder Muscle]

Anybody hear rumor of Crew offering (or plan to) 4Y 100M to Arrieta?