The Brewers’ rebuilding efforts have worked more quickly than most outside experts predicted, and GM David Stearns credits the team’s resilience, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes. “Really, last year, while we maybe had a month or two that was disappointing, we never went on those prolonged losing streaks,” says Stearns. “That speaks to what has been a theme of this year – the resilience of this team. We talk about that a lot. A lot of the credit for that goes to the character of our players, and the culture and energy that Craig (Counsell) and his staff have instilled, going back to Spring Training of last year.” Of course, as Haudricourt notes, the Brewers’ success this year does not guarantee they won’t take a step backward in 2018. Stearns, though, has been careful to avoid specific season wins goals, either on the low end or the high end, and focus instead on assembling a talented group of players who can be competitive for the next several seasons. Here’s more from the NL.
- The Phillies have struggled this season, but GM Matt Klentak still seems to have manager Pete Mackanin’s back, as MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki writes. The Phillies extended Mackanin through 2018, with an option for 2019, in May. “When we signed him to the extension, the intention was to take the drama out of both this year and next year,” says Klentak. “Beyond that we’ll have to see, but I think when we signed Pete, that was right in the beginning stages of our struggles. The fact that he and his staff were able to weather the storm and get us going on the right track was really important for us this season.” The Phillies are 57-90, but it seems Mackanin will return next season.
- Dodgers manager Dave Roberts says righty Brandon McCarthy will rejoin the club next weekend, MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick writes. McCarthy has been out since late July with a blister issue. There won’t be space for McCarthy in the Dodgers’ crowded rotation (although Roberts isn’t ruling out the possibility McCarthy could start at some point), but there will in its crowded clubhouse — McCarthy will likely become the 40th active player on the Dodgers’ roster, and will pitch in relief. McCarthy has struggled to stay healthy this season, but has generally been effective when available, posting a 3.84 ERA, 6.9 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9 in 86 2/3 innings spanning 16 starts.
I thought I read somewhere that McCarthy was on the 60 day DL, has he been out that long or am I mistaken and he was never on the 60?
Yes, he is currently on the 60-day DL.
He hasnt pitched since mid july so it has been 60 days
The time it’s been since a pitcher last pitched has nothing to do with placement on the 60-day DL
He was answering the guy’s question, which was “has he been out that long?”
It does in the sense of minimum time to be on the 60 day dl
Yes, he is on the 60-day DL as we speak, so the dodgers will need to clear a 40-man spot to activate him. They’ll either have to DFA one of the 39 players currently on the active roster, or they’ll have to DFA Julio Urias, who is the only player on the 40-man not currently in the majors.
Well Urias isn’t getting DFA’d
Urias won’t be on the 40 man. He’s gotta be on the 60 day dl
He can’t be found on either the 40-man or the DL. Not sure but it might be a result of his being in the minors when he was injured. The OKC Dodgers roster lists as being on the 7-day DL but also on the MLB roster. Go figure.
I like the Brewers, but they seem to have a 2015 Twins smell to them. I could very easily see them struggling next year, especially if the cardinals and pirates don’t decide to reload.
What?
I tend to agree, depending on their pitching.
How much of their success this year was due to their “rebuild” and how much of it was driven by really successful buy low place holder types?
Thames, at the beginning, and Travis Shaw, most of the year, have been their best players. Add in Keon Broxton and Hernan Perez. If you asked Stearns before the year, I’m not sure any of these guys would have been mentioned as part of their core moving forward.
But their success was really driven by the emergence of Chase Anderson, Jimmy Nelson and Corey Knebel out of (almost) nowhere into real solid rotation pieces. If they can sustain that success, the Brewers might be able to transition smoothly into their Arcia/Brinson/Hader (as a starter) core.
Ooops. That is “solid rotation pieces” and an excellent closer”, rather. I’m aware Knebel is not a starter.
Dodgers will have to make a 40 man move. Only thing i can see them doing is DFA Culberson. None of the pitchers they have are DFA candidate unless they want to give up on Font already
There are plenty of DFA candidates other than Font and Culberson
Ravin, Dickson, Trayce Thompson, Segedin and possibly Paredes.
I expect all of them to be purged once the season ends (when teams cut the dead weight off of the 40-man).
I guarantee you that Thompson, ravin and paredes will not be DFA and that is an absolute 100 percent guarantee. Segedin and Dickson are really long shots. Espically dickson
No chance at thompson ravin or paredes getting dfa
Idk why the comment posted twice but it did
Both will be out of options next year and neither has put up sufficient numbers.
The Mackanin bit doesn’t make much sense. Of course the Phillies have struggled this year: they’re a young, rebuilding team. Still, they’ve been competitive since the all-star break and have a significant core of young players. They should probably sign a couple of starting pitchers, since not all of their current crop will pan out and Nola (their best SP) is good but not ace-level, but that’s not exactly something Mackanin controls.
So, all things considered, it doesn’t seem that Mackanin should be faulted for the Phillies not competing with the Nationals. as implied in the line, “The Phillies have struggled this season, but GM Matt Klentak still seems to have manager Pete Mackanin’s back.”
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This is somewhat of a tangent, but consider: The Phillies trade their entire starting infield — Joesph, Hernandez, Franco and Galvis — in one package. It sounds odd, but it would be a splashy move that people would talk about. I’d say they target the Angels, who are weak at three of the four infield spots. The Angels then send Andrelton Simmons to the Blue Jays, who then send Josh Donaldson to the Phillies. What the Angels lose in Simmons’ defense they gain by improving at 2B and probably 3B. Joseph is comparable to C.J. Cron (and thus redundant), so maybe either he or Cron gets moved in a separate deal. (Donaldson is a free agent after 2018, so they’d have to work to keep him—but they have plenty of payroll flexibility to do so.)
That would give the Phillies an infield of Hoskins, Kingery, Donaldson and Crawford. Along with that outfield of Altherr, Herrera and Williams, and Alfaro at catcher, they’d be looking really solid on offense. If they can sign an ace and possibly a second veteran SP, this team would be ready to compete in 2018. If Mackanin struggled to lead the squad into contention at that point, then he’d more open to criticism.
The MacKanin thing does make sense. They gave him a contract extension for next year because they didn’t want him to be a lame duck on a horrible team. They have struggled this year more so than expected because they played better last year, and seemingly gotten worse. I said back around the all-star break that MacKanin was gone unless they brought up some young players who played well. If they didn’t, then he was gone, and likely replaced with their AAA manager who they seem to be grooming anyway. MacKanin has bought himself another year, but that’s probably it.
The idea of trading the entire infield in one shot makes little sense. Who would really want all of those players? And they’re definitely not even close to enough value to get Josh Donaldson, who the Blue Jays won’t trade until July anyway. The Angels probably are a good landing spot for Hernandez, and Joseph will end up playing somewhere else, but expect Franco (would be selling too low) and Galvis (playing second the first couple of weeks of the season while preventing Kingery from building service time, then in a utility role) back.
The Phillies will put out a decent lineup in 2018, but there isn’t an “ace caliber” pitcher to be had. I’d stay away from Arrieta and Darvish on the FA market, and which top level pitcher might be available in a trade? Would the cost be worth it?
The Phillies do need pitching desperately, which makes their last two drafts so confusing. Why draft the same player—Moniak, than Heasley—with first round picks. I understood the Moniak pick, but if they were going to target an older, more developed version a year later that pick would have been better spend on Puk or Groome, a guy who had top of the line stuff/talent.
This team is kind of in limbo…they could get really good really quickly (and that FA class of ’18 is appealing), or they could never acquire enough pitching to be anything more than .500 club.
The Angels have nothing that Really Interests the Phillies, ( Unless it Trout for a big Package from the Phillies )
Phillies one Big RBI bat , and two front end starters ( Like most teams )
I’d take a chance on Andrew Heaney, if he could be acquired in a deal like the ones made for Buchholz or Hellickson.
You left out Rupp, who as the catcher needs to be traded since the Phils have three. I am the first one to beat the “package deal” drum, but no way can you trade all four in one deal. It just isn’t practical, or workable. Could you move Rupp, Joseph ,and Hernandez in one deal to the Angels ? Getting back Nolasco and prospects . Sure. I’m then moving Galvis and Franco, along with Herrera or Altherr, and a pitcher not named SIxto or Nola to the Orioles for Machado and another prospect . Immediately begin negotiations on a long term deal and don’t stop until it gets done.
I’ve now totally traded the entire infield and one OF and a pitcher .
Still have money to buy pitching..
Hard to believe that those filler pieces would do much for the Orioles, and the Phillies giving up pitching prospects for a rental makes little sense regardless. He’s shown no inclination to give a discount to the team that drafted him. Can’t see why he’d be willing to turn around and give a discount to the Phillies
I don’t need a discount from Machado in Philly. That’s the point. Phillies have virtually no salary commitments for 2018 and beyond, and have billions from Tv and a wealthy owner to spend.
Filler pieces ? I know it’s easy to lump all the Phillies as filler pieces since they are in last, but Galvis is a one year , yes, but much cheaper than what you have in Baltimore. Franco is still controllable for several seasons, Herrera is on a cheap contract , Altherr is still arb eligible and the pitching is cheap. All can find a home in Baltimore .
Bottom line Pete needs to go. He doesn’t have a handle on the young clubhouse which is literally his only job considering the team isnt really trying to win.
I dont care about the record, I care about Francos production falling from league average to slightly above league average to well below league average (In terms of OPS+).
I care about Herreras walk rate dropping nearly 50% from 2016 to 2017
I care about Vince Velazquez wheeled out there as a starter week in and week out when its obvious that he could be an all-star closer.
While it might not all be on Pete, it starts with him. He’s the head of the coaching staff- so he should be getting on Stairs and McClure about them not doing their jobs. The team has a lot of talent and potential but the staff isn’t doing an acceptable job facilitating it.
I agree pete’s a nice Guy , but Phillies need someone who can contact with Very Young Players .
I’m extremely happy that the Dodgers are in effect paying McCarthy 48 million to pitch one full mediocre season. So far he has 149 innings and a 4.45 ERA in three years. Based on innings pitched, he’s got to be one of the highest paid pitchers of all time. Kershaw is also breaking down, but at least he’s averaged 180 innings per season during his big contract.
Kershaw is breaking down yet he still leads baseball in ERA. And if you really think 48 million means anything you are getting fooled. 48 million is nothing to them. Its like Bill Gates dropping 5 dollars.