A quick look around the National League…
- The Brewers are arguably in position to spend big on a free agent starting pitcher this offseason, but it’s unlikely to happen “unless prices come down,” Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes. General manager David Stearns claims he’s “comfortable” with the team’s current rotation options – including the newly signed duo of Jhoulys Chacin and Yovani Gallardo. At the same time, he’s still working to improve the Brewers’ pitching and other areas of their roster. “I wouldn’t say we have anything that is imminent,” he told Haudricourt. “But that can always change with one phone call. We are involved on a number of fronts, some of them farther along than others. We’ll see where that takes us.”
- Outfield prospect Edward Olivares is someone San Diego had “been on for some time” before acquiring him in Saturday’s Yangervis Solarte trade with Toronto, Padres general manager A.J. Preller said (via Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune). Preller went on to reveal that the Padres may not be done trading infielders, even after shipping out Solarte. “We’re still having discussions on the different infielders, and we’ll see how things play out,” stated Preller, who admitted after acquiring third baseman Chase Headley last month that he could flip him. Other teams had also called about Cory Spangenberg and Carlos Asuaje at that point.
- The Mets and reliever Jenrry Mejia avoided arbitration this week, settling on a $1.729MM salary, according to Jon Heyman of FanRag (Twitter link). However, Mejia isn’t in position to collect that money, as Heyman notes. Major League Baseball issued Mejia a lifetime ban in February 2016 after his third positive test for performance-enhancing drugs.
Prellers skill is in scouting. He’s one if the best at finding diamonds in the rough. I’m sure this kid he got for Solarte has incredible upside
He sure is.
– Trea Turner
While hahn, alvarez, jace peterson, wisler, paroubeck, eflin, ross, barbato, burch smith, alex torres, hererra, kelly have all washed out or been a negative asset to the team preller traded them to.
But dont let facts get in the way or anything.
Yes taking on Kemp, Shields, and paying out 80 mil dead $ contracts with 20 mil this year brilliant
Your best prospect came from the Shields trade
So teams that are rebuilding shouldnt use their low cap space while they arent competing to acquire prospects along with bad contracts?
It certainly is a mystery why you dont have a GM job.
Cause preller took on melvin upton jr as part of the kimbrel trade to lower the cost of the deal only to flip kimbrel individually for 10x what he gave
which was brilliant.
Hes not a padres fan. Just some whiny little kid trolling who knows absolutely nothing about baseball and constantly embarasses himself with every comment devoid of any intelligence.
Honestly, 100% positive the kids got mommy and daddy issues and the parents divorced cause of him and one of them moved to SD to get as far away as they could from him.
And he just takes his anger out on the padres and san diego.
Pretty sad story, pathetic, but sad.
Just like Yasmani Grandal who you conveniently left out.
Mckenzie Gore is best Padre prospect but they got a good one in Tatis Jr. Not sure if he, Urias or Arias is Padres short of the future? Galvis is a decent place holder.
Since the trade:
Turner WAR: 7.4
Souza WAR: 6.1
Myers War: 6.2
Not saying Turner isn’t more valuable, and that the trade may turn out to be a whiff, and that Nats ancillary pieces have outperformed to date, just that the narative is a little overplayed to date.
Turner is literally like the only good prospect Preller lost…
turner is the one real prospect mistake he made unless i’m forgettibg an obvious one
Acquiring Espinoza for Pomeranz hasn’t exactly worked out, either.
Obviously hasn’t panned out yet, but Max Fried is still a top 10 prospect in the best farm system in baseball
Fried had shown nothing until 2017. No guarantee he would have been protected on the Padres 40man after disappointing them for 5 years.
Won’t have to do much to make that trade a win for the Braves considering Justin Upton is already gone.
That’s why I said scouting. He still has some left to be desired about major league players. Kemp was probably his worst trade. But still, even trading Turner for Myers was to win now, which ownership had a lot to do with. He’s rebuilt a bottom 5 farm to arguably one of the best in 2 years. If we had gotten Ohtani, we would have the best.
Lol
He sure is. Padres the last four years have a stellar record of 290 wins and 358 losses, by my calculations. You can’t put together a team like that unless you are a super scout!
Theres this thing called a rebuild….
Shhh, stop making sense, it makes people triggered.
lol
It’s always the same old song and dance with Preller haters. The Turner trade, the medical records thing, and “the Padres still suck”. They fail to look at what’s really going on in each of those situations.
It’s like that one UConn college basketball coach said: “Get some facts and then come back and see me.”
It’s more than that; I don’t hate Preller but the Kemp-Grandal trade was idiotic, the Turner deal was of course stupid, The entire offseason of 2015 was really just a terrible idea, although it did, eventually, net the Padres Margot and Tatis.
Know what? As a Padres fan, I liked the 2015 offseason.
I liked that it was bold.
It showed their fans that a franchise they’ve suffered with for so long was willing to step up.
It scrambled up the farm system from an old regime when it clearly wasn’t working.
The last phrase “although it did, eventually, net the Padres Margot and Tatis” isn’t an afterthought. It’s the whole point.
Thank you. 100 percent agree with you. Coming out of the Moores 2.0 and Moorad eras; the Seidlers are actually trying to put a winning product on the field.
Yeah, how dare 16, 17 year olds preller signed as IFA and higher schoolers he targeted in the draft who are expected to be ready by 2019/2020 not contribute to the mlb team in 2015, 2016, 2017 or 2018! They are being lazy as they develop in the minors LOL.
How in the world has no team signed you as a talent evaluator fox?
It’s also exceedingly obvious that the trades he made before were the result of ownership telling him to sell the farm. You don’t just bloat the payroll and loot the farm on your own. It was obviously a directive from above because he would have gotten fired if for bad it backfired otherwise. Notice Mike Dee isn’t around anymore and we’re rebuilding traditionally.
Honest question, why would the Mets sign Mejia if he has a lifetime ban?
The ban can be repealed after two years as well….
They should release him instead of wasting a 40 man roster spot.
He’s not on the 40 man roster
He’s cheap since they won’t have to pay him and sandy can brag about the money he has committed to;)
Should have let it go to arbitration. That would have been interesting.
Hey mister bill…Mutt and Jeff didn’t want to act as Sluggo and pay an attorney when the point is moot. Plus their history of discipline and holding temperamental players has been non existent as they don’t understand what management of a team is all about.
Should’ve been included in the post if they’re going to point out he’s banned for life.
How is he still being paid is my question. Was he not released when the ban was issued? I’m just confuse on how a player who’s technically not on the roster still gets arb checks
He doesn’t get paid, but a salary must still be agreed upon in case he gets reinstated at some point before December. He’s just going through the process.
I doubt he will ever get that banned repealed. If they repeal that ban then they might as well repeal rose and Jackson’s ban. Both of those player belong in the hof
Really? A player and manager who bet on his own team should be in the Hall of Fame? I’d disagree strongly.
Add to his Violation of Rule 21d the fact that he admits to having a sexual relationship with at least one teenage girl when he was in his 30’s and married and the HoF is way gone. His defense? Hi thought she was 16…she says she was 14/15.
Padres have a lot of things to do before pitchers and catcher report.
1. trading brad hand
2. trading headley to make room for villanueva
3. trading pirela. personally, id rather let jankowski and cordero battle for LF due to their defense and hope their bat comes around.
Hard to disagree with any of your points, especially the one about giving Cordero more playing time. He sure seems to be progressing in winter ball, hopefully he can make some adjustments early next season and become a regular. Cordero would be a very nice compliment to Margot in the outfield.
Honestly, i wish Jankowski could hit better mainly cause while you lose power jankowski, margot, cordero would be such an elite outfield defense and would cause havoc on the base paths.
I mean one of them gets a single or walks, turns it into a double even a triple via stealing and boom get runs home that way.
I really do hope cordero can hit in st and become a regular.
Could see Headley still with Padres into Spring. Another team losing a 3b to injury in spring could create some demand. If they can’t move him, I could see him playing some 1b if he breaks camps w Padres.
Headley’s metrics aside from last year, I think one of the reason the Padres may be content to hold on to Headley is that they have two of the highest producing ground ball pitchers in Perdomo and Richard. If they believe that Headley can return to form, and that Galvis continues his stellar defense at SS, it may give them the opportunity to both get a clear picture of what they have in Perdomo, and drive up the value of two of their starting pitchers.
Headley isn’t really a bad player; he gets a lot of grief because he never repeated that 31-homer season, but he is what he is: a league average hitter who can still play third base. He’s better than the guy he is replacing on the roster, Solarte,
He’s also signed to a much less favorable contract and is much worse in the clubhouse.
Much worse in clubhouse. How do you know this oh you’re clubhouse cleaner
Wish the Padres would trade Headley to the Braves to hold down 3rd until Riley is ready
Hell, we will give you headley free paying his entire 12.5 mill salary if you send back touki touissant
You can have him and keep Austin Riley for all I care!
I would not like to see that headley playing some 1b this year = wil Myers hurt and/or blocking Dickersons return.
Love having Stearns as our GM.
He’s a good one.
He helped bring a Championship to Houston, he’ll do the same in Milwaukee. When the time is right he’ll pull the trigger on a free agent or trade that will propel this team into the WS.
If the Brewers were ever going to sign an ace, this is the year. Young inexpensive roster with the talent to compete for a playoff spot.
I don’t want to see Arrieta or Lynn. Id be down with Cobb if the price is right but you have to remember they are all at the age when a injury can take them out for a long time. Id rather see them deal prospects for someone in their mid 20’s.
They’re behind STL and Chicago so good luck. Milwaukee overachieved last year, expect a down year in 2018. They’ll be ready to compete in 2 years, but they aren’t a playoff team.
STL was looking up at the Crew in the standings last year and were the last team to be eliminated. They ARE a playoff no matter what your un-objective mind tells you.
If they were a playoff team, they’d have been in the playoffs
thats some really stupid logic
Your username also tells me that you’re unable to have an objective opinion.
But the roster won’t be inexpensive in three years when that ace is still getting paid.
The problem is there are no aces to sign this year. Only good 2/3s.
Mejia wouldn’t help them get David Ortiz and other Latin players for drugs so they made an example of him. To warn Latin players not to mess around.
Totally untrue. Show me your proof.
Basically, mlb used Mejia to set an example. To say, this is what will happen to you if you dont tell us who is providing steroids, who is doing drugs, etc.
Yeah, his ban has nothing to do with what’s expressly written into to CBA.
Look what they did to Copollella. This admin doesnt mess around.
weird i thought the ban was for failing a drug test 3 times…
You should talk to David Ortiz. They tested him 15 times a year most of the time. Showing up at his house in the Caribbean in the offseason.
@Blake Camden,,,read the JDA and you will see that players get tested in the off-season. They are required to let MLB know where they are in case their name comes up for testing. As for 15 times a year…no. her is the quote from 2009……. The team said that Ortiz had been tested “15 or more times” since 2004 and had not tested positive for a steroid.” nytimes.com/2009/08/09/sports/baseball/09ortiz.htm…
I found no source where Ortiz said he was tested 15 times a year.
factually incorrect
Since every major league player is tested three times a season, at minimum and more for previous offenses, I’m pretty sure MLB knows who is “doing drugs.”
You dont get it. They go hard after latin players. Read up on what David Ortiz went through.
anyone who fails 3 tests will get banned, white, black, Latin or purple.
Only the Mets would keep someone around who is banned for life. If there truly was a set up it wont come out. Something that big could lead to many people losing their job , possibly even Manfred
I would get Cobb if they can. Brewers don’t have to spend a ton just yet. I can see them possibly getting a big name position player at the trade deadline and the central will definitely be fun. I’m all for any kind of competition that makes the Cubs make some interesting moves or signings or even the Cardinals giving up the farm to get some guys.
nothing Milwaukee does is going to make those teams do something they were not already going to do
There is a reason they signed him for a contract this year – he’s eligible to appeal his lifetime suspension after two years which, as noted, took place in 2016. Not out of the realm of possibility that he sees a major league mound at some point this season!
Not sure where this reference is to him not reporting other players? If maybe you can point me in the right direction. I thought it was just a clean ‘he tested positive three times’
joshua.barron1…Actually he may have already applied for reinstatement. I player may apply to the Commissioner for discretionary reinstatement after 1 year but must serve a minimum of 2 years.
If the Commish upholds the permanent ban the play can file a grievance. Section 7.A.3 page 38 JDA mlbplayers.com/pdf9/5450924.pdf
I seriously doubt the Manfred will reinstate a player who had 3 failed tests in such a short period. That would make a mockery of the program.
Stearns is a joke and has no idea what he’s doing. I see he’s still fooling plenty of people.
We’ll be starting the bullpen in games again next year with the staff he’s currently assembled. The kid can’t even assemble a major league roster that makes it through the year and people somehow like this?
I better call Cleveland(browns) and get some paper bags to wear to games this year. Counsel and brewers fans deserve better.
Yes, because every team has the same 25 guys on it all year….
The lucroy trade alone makes everything you say false
I hope your just trolling because you do realize he was a major reason the Astros win the WS. He was one of the master minds behind that team and the deals that got done. Then again, maybe your a fan who just doesn’t understand and that’s alright. The world is full of really smart (sarcasm) people.
All I see whenever you post about Stearns and how terrible a GM he is : Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah, I’m an idiot, Drivel Drivel More Drivel Blah Blah”.
So what would you do? Sign Arrieta, Cobb, and Walker to 4-5 year deals? You realize that there will be no way to keep Arcia, Santana, Shaw, Anderson, Nelson, Hader, Knebel, etc once they become FAs. Sure we could hold on to a few but not too many when we’re paying aging players bloated contracts. People like you somehow are always wearing blinders and can never see passed the immediate. Would the team be better in 2018 if we made those signings? Absolutely. But let’s say you’re a still a Brewers fan in 5 years… (Crazy as it may seem.) Would you prefer to be saying “Well shoot we missed our window” OR “Good thing we’ve been set up for long-term success and have another good shot at it this year”? Personally I’d prefer the latter.
They have to sign someone, there is probably no way they are holding on to the entire core that you mentioned. If you think the Brewers will win anything without giving out contracts to “aging” players than you may be waiting quite awhile. The core is good, but they still need a few veterans to lead this team.
Do you know the Brewers history with signing “aging” players? It’s not good.
This is not the same Brewers or front office. Have faith that they know what they are doing.
My guess is they won’t aggressively pursue FAs. Rather they will do what they did in 2011 and trade for a Greinke or a Marcum who have a year or so on an affordable contract. Hence why Stearns has been focusing on building up their farm system. Make a blockbuster trade when the time is right.
It’s not about holding on to them when they are free agents. It’s about holding on to them when the enter arbitration. Three years from now, the players he named will be either in their final or penultimate arbitration years (Arcia will be in his first). Right now, they cost about $10M combined. Three years from, that could easily be $50M. Having $25M tied up in an aging Arrieta makes it impossible to keep many of them.
You talk about windows. Signing Arrieta limits the window to the next two years. Not spending that kind of money might mean the window isn’t open as wide, but it will be open longer.
that’s the thing.. if we don’t improve this team and continue improving over the next couple years, we WILL miss our window.
some people seem to think this rebuild will give us a team that is forever a contender. we aren’t in New York. a rebuild only buys us a few years of contending and then we will lose all our current young guys.
look at the royals.
I think we should sign Cain, trade some OF prospects for archer and win as many games as we can this year. then spend more money next season in FA market and hope to make it deep into the playoffs.
While I do think that Stearns should (and will) find a couple more guys (SP and 2B) to finish out the offseason, I don’t necessarily agree with you here. This team right now is built to last. Look at the farm system. How can you compare us with the Royals (who, by the way, did win a World Series)? They never had a great farm system while their main homegrown guys like Moose and Hosmer were on the big league club. If we can avoid the Suppan contracts, we’ll have a steady inflow of talent for YEARS. And we’ll be able to hold on to them if we don’t owe 35 year old Jake Arrieta $25MM per year. You can’t think like a Cubs fan thinks. Plus it’s not like Stearns is going to stop finding young talent for the minors too… If what he’s done so far doesn’t make you a believer that he can keep our farm stocked, then I’m not sure which team you’re following. The only reason people are looking at Cobb, Lynn, etc is because they’re the only ones available. Would those really be the guys you wanted if you had a broader pool to pick from? Most likely not. The trade front is much more appetizing, and I could see something like you suggested happening with signing Cain and trading from our wealth of OFers. I honestly only believe that will happen if Stearns feels like it’s a huge win for the present AND the future of the team. I feel it’s much more likely that we sign another reclamation project a la Andrew Cashner or Jeremy Hellickson, see who sticks in Spring Training, find out where/when Jimmy Nelson fits in and, reassess the situation at the deadline or next offseason.
If the price is “right” on Cobb I feel comfortable with a 3 year deal on him. (MAX) Aside from that very well put and I certainly feel the best pieces they add will come from trades.
Mucho respect for Stearns great under radar GM
Preller’s done both good and bad and it’s too early to judge his tenure in either directuib, I’m still of opinion the Kemp/Grandal trade which is awful was mostly ownership and maybe a way Preller had to sell them on hiring him, they reportedly were looking to trade for kemp before he was hired. He’s obviously made other mistakes that I think he is liable for: Not trading Justin Upton, holding onto Tyson Ross too long (I think this is 30% AJP fault and 70% luck though he does deserve to be knocked there), the turner trade is bad but not as bad as some fans make it out to be.
Some big wins: Margot, Logan Allen, Javier Guerra, and Carlos Asuaje for Kimbrel, this is not neccessarily to say Boston lost the trade but it has definitely turned out good for SD even with Guerra arguably a non prospect now. I wouldn’t be surprised if Logan Allen was considered a top 100 prospect by middle of this upcoming year btw. The tatis for shields trade is incredibly lopsided and shows his great scouting, Tatis is now considered a consensus top 10 prospect this offseason and could make a couple top 5 list. The royals trade, while neither Strahm or Ruiz are close to sure things, both have legitimate upside especially Ruiz when they really traded a bunch of junk with big questions. He also found Brad Hand as a waiver claim, though still yet to be seen if he can liquadate that asset.
What about Espinoza who can’t stay healthy for Kimbrel?
That was in Pomeranz trade
Espinoza was not in the kimbrel trade and he’s not even 20 yet, that’s a trade to judge further down the line
Agree with waiting for Espinoza to see if he can be as good as Pomeranz already is! Another bad Trade by A.J. “No clue” Preller…
I mean, if we are that upset about losing Pomeranz nothing says we can’t re-sign him in a year.
Sorry to see Solarte go. Our best clutch hitter last year….batted clean up boys and girls. Headcase taking pitches with 2 strikes…Ugh! Headley may play some @ 1B…Myers is albatross…not good @ 1B….dumb base runner…totally guessing as a hitter but that contract was stupid. When it escalates to $20M….are you FKM?…if he is the “face of the franchise” we are screwed. San Diego Seals…our new lacrosse team with a smart owner…maybe that is our shining light!
Solarte was journeyman slow error prone and will never play for competing team
hurrrr da durrrrr
*fart noises*
http://www.entrenchedchatroomclubhouseguy.com
First, the “comfortable” comment by Stearns is a GM saying what he has to so his owner doesn’t go looking for an even younger GM. No competent GM (or other baseball person) could look at the Brewers staff, have payroll flexibility & a team that is at least a wildcard contender, and think that not signing anyone was OK.
Second, my Mets still have Jennry Mejia? How? Or more to the point, why? Jesus….
Brewers won 86 games last year 1 game out of WC and off season not over.
Why the Mets still signing Mejia? What a waste of money.