5:31PM: Lauer “was in close contact with someone who had tested positive” for COVID-19, he told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Todd Rosiak and other reporters today, which caused his delayed arrival in camp. Lauer himself is healthy, thankfully.
TODAY, 8:51AM: Brewers manager Craig Counsell downplayed any issues regarding Lauer while speaking with reporters, including Adam McCalvy of MLB.com (Twitter link). “He’s healthy,” said Counsell, who noted the southpaw “just got slowed down a little bit.” Counsell added that Lauer has a chance to be ready by Opening Day.
JULY 11: The Brewers placed left-hander Eric Lauer on the injured list, the team announced. The placement coincides with the news that Luis Urias and Angel Perdomo are also headed to the IL, and since those two players are known to have tested positive for COVID-19, speculation immediately emerged that Lauer’s absence could also be virus-related.
However, the Brewers did say that Lauer was recently out of action with an illness that wasn’t related to the coronavirus. MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy (Twitter links) guesses that this could be something of “a procedural matter” rather than a positive test, since Lauer is still cleared to participate in workouts and scheduled to throw a bullpen within the next few days. That said, McCalvy figures Lauer’s IL placement has something to do with COVID-19 protocols, as otherwise a specific reason would have been given to his condition. More will be known tomorrow when Lauer is scheduled to speak with the media.
Milwaukee acquired Lauer and Urias from the Padres last November, in a notable swap that saw Zach Davies and Trent Grisham head west to San Diego. Lauer was battling for a rotation job in Spring Training before being shut down with a shoulder impingement that would have seen him start the year on the IL had the season gotten underway as expected in March. Lauer was expected to be ready to participate in Summer Camp before being hit by this mystery illness.
The southpaw has a 4.40 ERA, 2.45 K/BB rate, and 8.2 K/9 over his 261 2/3 career MLB innings, starting 52 of his 53 games with the Padres. Since Lauer might not have enough time to get ready for the new Opening Day, the Brewers (one of the league’s more creative teams when it comes to pitcher deployment) could use him out of the bullpen to begin the year, or perhaps as a piggyback starter or bulk pitcher.
Did we ever find out who the PTBNL in that trade was?
it was cash or a PTBNL so probably cash
It was a minor league catcher, I forget the name.
Damn, both players the daddy’s traded to the Beercrew are down
Neither of the players the Brewers traded to the Padres will be Padres 2 years from now.
Why do you think that,
Davies – free agent after 2021
Grisham – will be DFA’d
Davies yes, Grisham maybe.
(Assuming your a Padres fan) I understand that you were (and are) not a fan of the Urias/Grisham trade , but a season hasn’t gone by with any of the players in that swap playing on the field. I recommend you give it time, but I doubt that you will.
Your stance isn’t necessarily a bad one. If the Padres “lose” the trade you can claim that you “knew” it would happen and if they “win” the trade then you will still end up feeling pretty good. Again, assuming your a Padres fan. Being a Brewers fan makes the latter result a bitter pill to swallow.
By the by, I’m not criticizing your stance, rather I’m trying to give the comment equivalent to a thumbs up; not a middle finger.
I’ve made my opinion known about giving up on Luis Urias after 302 sporadic PA’s. If he busts I am fully prepared to wear this one. If he is good as I suspect his haters will be hearing from me more than they would prefer…
Oh and as for Lauer. Losing him didn’t bother me until I noticed that he had a 3.63 ERA in 2019 when not pitching at Coors Field.
While I could start a “right/wrong” argument about Lauer, your first point makes it clear that you have a particular stance on the trade and your going to stick with it. Unless I am offered money to take a stance on the trade, I don’t see why I should start a no-convincing debate, let alone care if the trade is a good or bad one. That probably has to do with being left to dry by the last team I supported.
My filler aside, I get how you view the trade, at least as much as I can as myself. All in all we can end this conversation feeling good about ourselves.
We’ll just see what happens but I thought Preller would have learned after what happened with Anthony Rizzo and Trea Turner. But as we’ve seen, some people never learn.
So…. Preller should just never trade anybody? Or should he just check with you first? He did alright in the Paddack and Tatis trades.
No tougher job than Monday morning quarterbacking is there?
@Mrs. Preller I didn’t say that. I said he shouldn’t give up on a top prospect after 302 sporadic PA’s. And those 302 sporadic PA’s weren’t even that bad. And he improved as the season went on.
I STill cant get past them signing Kinsler in the middle of all this and then having to buy him out for 4.25 mill THIS year! Just insane
Prellers fumbling of 2b is boarding fascinating at this point
Why will Grisham be DFA’d? There’s no reasoning to this. Just a guess (hope)?
What does Preller have to do with the Rizzo trade? That happened in like 2012
What’s the details of Kinsler’s contract? I thought he retired, wouldn’t that mean he forgoes the rest of his contract?
And he was only one hit away from 2k, you gotta gut that one last hit out!
99% sure Josh Bush, or whatever his Facebook name is, is behind the smellsbad username.
I was scrolling through padre posts on Facebook and saw some loser posting stuff about Mike Embelton being a criminal or something.
To think, a dude you’re obsessed with that you make a username about him and try to call him out on Facebook is the center of your life.
Don’t count on it.
I saw pretty much every AB by Grisham last year and the kid figured something out and has a great eye. He’s above average in the field and can get better there (and at the plate).
His numbers tailed off a bit last year at the end, but he was hitting the rookie AB number where a plateau is reached and adjustments need to be made.
He still had a lot of clutch hits and was mostly good on D. I think you got a good player we let go just as he was reaching his potential.
I thought Davies for Lauer was fairly even, but we did get a lefty with more upside.
I do not feel confident in Urias at all. Not sure why. I honestly think he’s only here to inspire Arcia in a contract year (and Arcia was killing it in spring)..
I think you got a starting OF with some upside and we got a utility IF.
@dvmin98 it shows what happens when one gives up on a top prospect too quickly
@All American Johnsonville Dogs nope, that’s someone else.
@Spike Hyzer Trent Grisham has done nothing outside of 34 games in a hitter’s league in 2019. Plus he’s the SOLE reason the Brewers lost the 2019 Wild Card game.
Luis Urias wasn’t even that bad overall in his rookie year and was starting to turn things around in September once they started using him correctly. He isn’t any kind of utility infielder. Although I don’t think ending up on the Brewers is a good thing for him because he’s mostly limited to 2nd base and the Brewers already have a young 2B they like in Keston Hiura. One of them will have to be traded.
@The Human Rain Delay they honestly should have just brought Freddy Galvis back if they wanted a veteran infielder. More versatile and wouldn’t have needed a guaranteed 2nd year.
Unfortunately you have to give up quality to get quality. We got Grisham and Davies for Urias and Lauer. We weren’t going to get Mike Trout, Ketel Marte or even probably Starling Marte for them.
We needed a CF, Preller got one. He is still basically a prospect. He could be plus CF who hits .270/.360 with 20-HR per year. He could be garbage. Urias could be a plus 2B who hits .300/.380 every year. Or he could be garbage. We needed a CF far more than we needed a 2B, so that is what Preller took a chance on. How about we see how they turn out before we go crazy?
The problem with that is we didn’t get quality. Neither of who we got back is even close to as good as who we gave up. And no we didn’t need a CF more than a 2B. That is just ludicrous. Who even is our 2B?
For the life of me I dont understand why a 2nd yr needed to be included on Kinsler at the time was more my point…….
I cant imagine he had anyone giving him multi yrs
You are right Mike, we would have been fine with Myers in CF. Or Cordero. I know you are a big fan of both of them.
We needed both, a CF and a 2B. Which position is easier to fill? Anyone?
@Mrs. Preller…
1. We had Travis Jankowski and Manny Margot in CF. At least we did. Not sure I believe in Trent Grisham as a CF anyway.
2. If 2nd base is so easy to fill how come the Padres’ production at the position has been completed garbage for going on 10 years now?
@All American Johnsonville Dogs still waiting for you to address your ridiculous assertion about Trea Turner being injury prone
Travis Jankowski and Manuel Margot? Two #5 or #6 defensive replacement only outfielders do not add up to 1 starting CF. Again, the Padres needed both but now hopefully they have filled the more difficult one.
Who on the Padres can play 2B? Cronenworth, Garcia, France, Profar and Mateo. Not to mention Tatis and Machado. Who can play CF? Grisham. Maybe Mateo. Get it?
Preller learn? He’s learned to be a loser and pretty much be a disaster of a GM
Padre fan claims 2 trades in almost 6 years while 112 games under .500. Paddack and Tatis have yet to play a full season myopia at its best
That’s a Preller move spent 24 mil total on Richards and Kinsler last year
Janko can’t hit water from a boat give it a rest with him he’s pathetic at plate
“Travis Jankowski and Manuel Margot? Two #5 or #6 defensive replacement only outfielders do not add up to 1 starting CF.”
I had a little more faith in them than you do. And even if we don’t like them, Trent Grisham is still better suited to a corner spot.
“Who on the Padres can play 2B? Cronenworth, Garcia, France, Profar and Mateo.”
All AAAA players except Garcia, who still has no power and can’t hit lefties.
So, 5 AAAA players for 2B. Fine. At least we have 5 AAAA players who can play CF as well, right? Nope. Just 1. And Grisham who could still be a bonafide starting CF. So without Grisham they would have…nobody but Mateo to play CF? You are right, they had no need to pick up a CF.
Well for one, they didn’t pick up a CF. They picked up a corner OF. And one that hasn’t done anything outside of a 34-game stretch in a hitter’s league. For two, now they need to pick up a 2B. so basically what Preller did was create a hole in order to not-quite-fill a different hole. And the hole he not-quite-filled arguably wasn’t even a hole if you hadn’t already given up on Margot and Jankowski.
So, are you saying that you believe that Margot and Jankowski will be the starting CF for their new teams? Because if not then it isn’t just Preller who doesn’t believe they are starting caliber, is it?
Difference is the Rays have Kevin Kiermaier and the Reds have Scott Schebler and Phil Ervin.
Yeah, Kiermaier hit .228/.278/.676 last year. Tough numbers to beat there. You would have to be Mike Trout to start in CF over a guy like that. The other two are RFs. Are you not even trying anymore Mike? The point is, if they were starting quality, they would start. If they cannot beat out a guy who hits .228/.278, they aren’t starting quality.
Kiermaier is also an elite defender and his track record says he can do better than that on offense.
The two Reds players both played more innings in CF last year than Grisham. Ervin had a much higher DRS/inning than Grisham and then Schebler wasn’t that far behind Grisham in that department. So if they aren’t CF’s then neither is Grisham.
PS: Leave the snark to people who are good at it.
Can we leave that to you?
You seem to be the one here no one likes.
Cain has lost a step or two and Grisham got to balls Cain can no longer dream of reaching. He could be as good as Cain i a year or two, even if I believe he does profile better in RF.
The Crew simply couldn’t admit that the Cain signing was a huge waste. I said we’d be lucky to get 2 good years and we only got one. I don’t expect him to bounce back with the bat this year and his career is done.
They just couldn’t afford to eat 3 years of a contract that pays him 16 million a year. ALL Brewer fans were hugely disappointed to see Grisham go. We all want Cain out now.
Grish is a MLB hitter. Urias is not.
You want a second baseman? The Crew has Hiura, who will be a star for more than a decade, but they also signed a bunch of bums who can play the position.
You can have any of them for a 5th round pick. Brock Holt. Sogard. Name it. You can even have Urias back.
Counsell and Stearns brought Urias in to push Arcia. They have no intention of playing him at 2B. Ever.
Yelich being out was why the Crew lost. They don’t even get to the wild card game if not for at least 3 games won SOLELY due to Grisham’s heroics with the bat during the 18 games Yeli missed. You can’t judge him solely by ONE PLAY. He already looks better than Cain, who has lost a step or two and can’t get to balls that Grish glides under easily. It was rookie nerves. Nobody is perfect their first year.
Urias is depth and nothing more, total crap with the bat.
Grish at least was well above league average at ALL previous levels in vastly dominant pitcher’s leagues. He began to dominate himself over the last 2 months of his AA career, in a pitcher’s league and playing his home games in the worst hitter’s park in the league. He continued to a greater degree in AAA and finally found his power.
He’s a star in the making, even if it must be in RF.
Urias is trash heap utility material. He’s not even as good as Hernan Perez, even if he is a slightly better defender at 2 positions.
Davies has been consistently better than Lauer.
If anything, this trade is slightly better for the Padres. They got guys who can actually play at the MLB level.
The Crew did not (because ultimately the Woodruff, Houser, Burnes, Peralta starting rotation will rival the Orioles of the 70s, and Lindblom is more likely to take the 5th slot). .
The Crew did so with Segura and one other SS prospect in the last decade.
They actually extended Arcia cheaply before the season. They believe in him to a degree. Urias is just there to push him (and he responded with his best spring ever and seems to have turned a corner, because concentration was his only issue).
Urias was not brought in to play 2B. That’s Hiura’s for the next 10 years.
“Grish is a MLB hitter. Urias is not.”
That’s a lie. Grisham hasn’t done anything in his entire professional career sans a 34 game sample in a hitter’s league. Meanwhile, Urias got better every month in the majors once they started using him correctly.
“You can even have Urias back.”
Good thing for the Brewers that they have a smart GM who makes good trades instead of a troglodyte like you.
“Counsell and Stearns brought Urias in to push Arcia. They have no intention of playing him at 2B. Ever.”
Actually they brought him in because they know value when they see it and they definitely got value out of that trade. It’s unfortunate tho that Urias goes to a place where his natural position is already filled. It’s possible he’ll have to get traded a second time to unlock his full potential.
“He already looks better than Cain, who has lost a step or two and can’t get to balls that Grish glides under easily. It was rookie nerves. Nobody is perfect their first year.”
Grisham has never graded out positively at CF. Never. He is a RF long-term.
“Urias is depth and nothing more, total crap with the bat.”
.341 OBP in the 2nd half in 2019 says otherwise.
“Grish at least was well above league average at ALL previous levels in vastly dominant pitcher’s leagues.”
WTF are you talking about???? Grisham did NOTHING until he got called up to the PCL in 2019 and even that was only 34 games. He’s probably no more than a fourth outfielder, let alone a “star in the making.”
“Urias is trash heap utility material. He’s not even as good as Hernan Perez, even if he is a slightly better defender at 2 positions.
So he’s “trash heap utility material” after 302 major league PA’s and being just barely 23 years old? Good to know bud. Need I remind you of Anthony Rizzo?
“Davies has been consistently better than Lauer.”
Lauer literally had a 3.63 ERA last year if you don’t include his starts in Coors Field so…
“If anything, this trade is slightly better for the Padres. They got guys who can actually play at the MLB level. The Crew did not.”
Like Hell! This trade RUINED the Padres! Urias and Lauer are about to dunk on Davies and Grisham!
Take. A. SEAT!
Also……
“Urias was not brought in to play 2B. That’s Hiura’s for the next 10 years.”
1. Brewers only control Hiura for 6 more years.
2. Hiura is going to have to curb his errors a bit for that to be true. Kid can hit but he was borderline unplayable at 2B in 2019.
dunno about that. i always though Grisham was overrated, but that spring showing was stellar meanwhile, Milwaukee’s centerpiece return cant hit above AAA. and on the pitching side, i used to like Lauer, but 2019 was a buzzkill. he needs to step it up if he wants to be better than Davies, who is better then he gets credit for.
Did your parents drop you on the head a lot or was it birth canal trauma?
Do you only look at numbers?
I watch games.
Grish is an MLB hitter with star potential. Urias will not only lose the starting job to Arcia, but he won’t have a job in 3 years.
Lauer may be ever so slightly better than Davies (but is lefty and younger, which is all Stearns wanted).
“Do you only look at numbers?
I watch games.”
Eyes can deceive. Stats do not. The stats are the stats are the stats.
“Grish is an MLB hitter with star potential.”
Trent Grisham has done nothing to prove that outside of a 34-game sample in a hitter’s league. He is by no means guaranteed to be a starter in the majors, let alone a “star.”
“Urias will not only lose the starting job to Arcia, but he won’t have a job in 3 years.”
Can’t wait until Urias proves you wrong.
“Lauer may be ever so slightly better than Davies (but is lefty and younger, which is all Stearns wanted).”
And has 3 more years of control. Which is just icing on the cake.
Aids
I don’t recognize that Brewers jersey in the picture, but I like it a lot
Wonder if that opens the door for Luis Patino.
No.
I wouldn’t expect to see Gore or Patino this year.
Lamet, Davies, Lucchesi, Paddack, Richard, Quantril have rotation spots locked up to some extent.
Patino is still between #8 & #10 on the starting pitcher lineup. For the Padres.
yeah Patino is not coming up this year. no need to rush him.
It’s not like Patino is going to be starting regularly in AA or something. I don’t think this year is a traditional “rush” situation.
If they think he can help out of the pen in a playoff push or if if they’re out of the hunt and want to give him some live game action, he could be up. I’m not expecting to see much of Gore/Patino this year, but I do think they both may get a cup of coffee at the big leave level with no minors this year.
Lauer sucks. 5th or 6th starter, maybe opener for the Brewers, little MLB dominance in his future.
Let’s go Brewers!