Jon Morosi of MLB.com reported yesterday that the Brewers have shown interest in Jake Arrieta, and in a followup column he writes that they’ve expressed interest in most of the top starters on the market, including right-hander Lance Lynn. Milwaukee will be without Jimmy Nelson for a yet-undetermined portion of the 2018 season due to shoulder surgery, and with question marks in the rotation behind Chase Anderson and Zach Davies, shoring up the starting five is a priority for GM David Stearns and his staff. While there’s certainly the possibility that they’ll be outbid on the top names in free agency, the Brewers do have considerable payroll space to surprise people with their spending this winter.
More out of Milwaukee and the division…
- Top Brewers prospect Lewis Brinson has changed representation and is now a client of the Legacy Agency, tweets Robert Murray of FanRag Sports. The 23-year-old center fielder made his MLB debut in 2017 but struggled greatly in 55 plate appearances, hitting just .106/.236/.277. However, Brinson tore through Triple-A at a .331/.400/.562 pace through 340 PAs and is widely regarded as one of the top overall prospects in all of baseball. His switch has been noted in MLBTR’s Agency Database, which contains info on more than 2,500 Major League and minor league players. If you see any errors or omissions, please let us know via email: mlbtrdatabase@gmail.com.
- The Cardinals’ search for an impact bat is expansive, writes Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. President of baseball ops John Mozeliak and his staff have had discussions with virtually every impact bat on the market, including Eric Hosmer, and their trade talks with the Marlins have gone beyond Giancarlo Stanton and also touched on Marcell Ozuna and Christian Yelich (presumably not in the same deal). Two execs with other teams told Goold that the Cardinals have been aggressive in trade talks thus far. “We’ve got capacity to increase our payroll depending on the right situation,” owner Bill DeWitt Jr. tells Goold.
- Jose Martinez is utilizing the Venezuelan Winter League to further familiarize himself with playing first base, writes MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch. The Cardinals gave Martinez, who has spent most of his career in the outfield, 29 starts at first last season and plan to use him there again in 2018 (though more in a backup role). Martinez has started nine of his 13 VWL games at first base and figures to continue to gain more exposure there over the course of the offseason. The 29-year-old hit .309/.379/.518 with 14 homers in 307 plate appearances with the Cardinals in 2017.
With the turmoil going on in Venezuela right now, I wonder how that affects players. Would players be noticeably more reluctant to play there in the winter?
Most established Venezuelan players don’t play winter league in their native Venezuela anymore. The become easy targets for kidnappers among other things.
The Royals helped Salvador Perez get his mom out a couple years ago. I don’t think he goes back anymore.
On the other hand, I’d assume at least some of the players would want to play winter ball so they can try to help their country through such a troubling time in any way possible and also see and be with their families during this time instead of hearing updates weekly if not daily about the problems and dangers and being stuck in America and not able to do anything.
Good idea for Martinez to do extra glovework. His defense at 1B was brutal in ’17.
I guess the Cards’ plan is to free Carpenter to showcase his iron glove, statue-like range, and rag arm all over the infield.
What gets me is that they’re perfectly okay with Carpenter at 3B, but 2015 (I think) was by far the most amount of his time spent at that position, and his defense numbers for that season are atrocious. He had something like a -10 DRS and similarly negative UZR. I honestly don’t think Carpenter’s offense is that revolutionary that he should play over Martinez (1B) or Gyorko. (3B), provided Martinez keeps up the bat and Gyorko could lift his second half slide back to his first half numbers.
I imagine Martinez’s numbers are somewhat unsustainable (higher BABIP), but I do think he’ll be able to keep a close pace with his numbers, and though a 200 AB difference, there was only a .005 difference in OBP between Carpenter and Martinez. Carpenter’s was mainly a glut of walks (which at some point becomes less productive than if he had a hit). I think the two are fairly comparable.
until Carpenter learns to hit to the opposite field, he will continue to slide backwards. With teams constantly putting on the shift, walks and dingers are about all he’s got left.
I agree Carp needs to go back to hitting the ball the other way as he did when he first came up. I also think they could play him 5 out of seven days a week weather it be in LF, 3rd, 2nd, or 1st he does draw a lot of walks and when he uses the whole field hits a lot of doubles. I’m afraid as pitchers get used to Martinez’s long swing he may become susceptible to more off speed pitches. I’m not crazy about Stanton with the salary if they are willing to spend that much money I would rather have moose from KC and Archer from Tampa Bay and resign Lynn. I’ve looked at Todd Frazier from the Yankees for 3rd or LF but his #s aren’t as good as Grich if he played all season. If they want to move an outfielder move fowler or Piscoty.
As the article mentions, if somehow the Cardinals signed Hosmer, i think first base would be few and far between appearances for Martinez barring injury or filling in for days off.
I am curious what JMart could do with an every day role and 600 PA’s, and not just be another bench guy. I am sure he would go thru slumps just like 90% of players go thru. Problem is, where would the Cardinals play him every day?
I don’t think Hosmer would be against STL being he played in KC. Not a ton of difference location-wise, Cards have the money. I don’t like the infield logjam it creates as you hint at, when would Martinez play, where would Carp play, when does Gyorko get to play, etc..
I’d much prefer a trade for Abreu if we’re going infield route, as Carp/Gyorko could be in the package, plus possibly Grichuk so Martinez would at least be a RF/ 4th OF/1B reserve/Bench Bat.
I see Hosmer going back to California. Most likely San Diego
He was born and raised in Florida and has only played for KC, so I don’t follow.
Moustakas is from California, not Hosmer.
All of the talk indicates Stanton prefers San Francisco because of the current Stars on the team and the West Coast. The Cardinals have little to show as for the players they currently have on their team with no star players and not on the Coast close to Los Angeles in comparison. The only way it seems for the Cardinals to sign Stanton is for them to extremely over pay. Take all of the contract and load it with 2 top major league ready pitchers, a major league ready outfielder or 2 and possibly a current starting position Player,or more. Otherwise, he’s going elsewhere. In Stanton’s eyesight, he looks at the Cardinals current lineup and 40 man roster and says — if I’m the only one added to that team will it have a chance to make it to the World Series? His answer as compared to at Giants 40 man roster would be yes it would make a difference. Looking at the Cardinals –No, just his acquisition would not make a difference as to the Cardinal 25 man roster would have a chance for a shot at the World Series. And he’s right unfortunately.
Why would it matter if the cardinals over pay or not? If Stanton doesn’t want to be a cardinal it doesn’t matter the offer!! He can reject the trade and won’t know the offer. Think he’s gonna be like “ hey the marlins are getting a great deal from the cards I’ll got there!” NOPE
By the same logic, if the Marlins get a poor offer, do you think they will say “Hey, that team gave the fourth best offer, but I hear on-line that Stanton would prefer to play there, so let’s do that deal!”
This all will make for a great 30 for 30 episode
Well, Stanton does have that pesky NTC. Best offer, fourth best offer, whatever, if the Marlins are that desperate to shed payroll in the near term, it doesn’t matter how good the offer is – Stanton isn’t going unless he wants to (or is convinced to – guarantee the option in his age 38 season).
so a historically bad giants team has more star power and will contend for a WS with the addition of Stanton more so than a cardinal team that was in the playoff hunt until the last week of the season? Get real! I know Mad Bum was hurt, but the giants were terrible last year. If they want a shot at a WS in 2018, they need way more than Stanton to do so. The cardinals need to add more than him as well, but they are by no means behind the giants……. oh and they aren’t signing him. It’s a trade. the cardinals overpaying has nothing to do with his desire (or lack thereof) in playing for them.
Let the Giants have him. Sign Cargo to a 1 or 2 year deal, and overpay for Harper next year.
He doesn’t want to be a cardinal. PS there’s no way Harper ends up in STL unless they offer 5 or more mil a year than anyone else. And that’s iffy, he’s gonna be a cub just a matter of time.
If Bryce Harper isnt a New York Yankee I’ll eat my hat.
how do you figure he doesn’t want to be in stl? What’s your source?
Stars? On the Giants? The only two people on the Giants I may consider stars are MB and Posey. No one on SF’s 64-98 squad played like a star. Stanton would make a difference on any of the other 29 teams. And in order to have SF as a WS contender next season with the only acquisition being Stanton as you suggest, you’re asking for the offense outside of Stanton to come alive, the rotation live up to its apparent ability it hasn’t shown, have MB not get hurt, have the defense not be the defense of last season, have Melancon become his previous form, and have multiple relievers suddenly able to control the late innings. That’s a huge order, being almost none of it is guaranteed to happen. Also don’t forget, SF wanted to be under the luxury tax threshold, so adding Stanton would put that in jeopardy.
While the Cards also have a lack of star power, adding Stanton would obviously change that, and who says Stanton possibly doesn’t want to show up somewhere and be “the” star? And I’d imagine an OF of Dexter Fowler, Tommy Pham, and Giancarlo Stanton would look pretty nice. Especially up against an outfield of Span, Pence, and Stanton. STL doesn’t have as many ifs and are more likely to add to payroll outside of Stanton, most notably to two relievers, something SF probably won’t do. Most likely at least one being Davis/Holland/Reed, plus someone like Nicasio/Morrow/McGee. Those are the two biggest problems the Cardinals have last year, you’re talking a sizable change in 3 moves. Definite playoff territory.
Don’t assume Stanton won’t go somewhere because it isn’t on a coast. While everyone has preferences to locale, they also have team preferences. Am I going to be in the playoffs? Will I be that difference? Will I be the star? Those all match up to Where would I be playing? All things to consider.
The cardinals were fighting for division last week of season and giants were already making vacation plans at all star break. Dodgers Rockies and Arizona will own giants for many years to come. 10 year contract of Stanton you think shark cueto and bum will be there that long? Cards future much brighter than giants
Lol what are you babbling about cardinals17…if Stanton was to look at te 40 man roster the Cardinals have a way brighter future than the giants…cardinals have a great farm and the giants don’t…giants are over the tax with Stanton…giants have an aging team…The cardinals are in a much better position to content than the giants lol I really needed a laugh this morning so thanks
There’s no way the Cardinals would have to give up that much if they took on the whole contract. It would only cost them one or two very low prospects if they took on the entire thing. It all depends on how serious they are about trading him, and how serious they are about cutting payroll.
Brewers need to sign alex cobb or lance lynn and then trade for chris archer. This solidifies their rotation and keeps payroll in a controllable situation. Also doesnt waste money on old expensive pitchers. They have the farm to pull off an archer trade and cobb/lynn shouldnt be more than 4 years 60 mil ish.
I have to agree on signing Alex Cobb along with maybe bringing in Brett Anderson, and Tyson Ross on minor league contracts. I would really like to see Buxton traded away. I would hold off on trading for someone like Archer, not ready to go all in quite yet in trading these young guys for him. It will take a lot of them. Start getting Braun some playing time at first. Look for maybe another catcher (Lucroy) to go with Pina. I really hope the Brewers start taking a look at some of these young guys that might turn the corner like Derby, Houser, Yin, or even Nathan Kirby. Mostly want to see Villar and Buxton traded away think you could get some decent young pitching back from San Francisco.
Do you mean Broxton? Buxton is on the Twins.
yes my bad lol
also archer is on the rays(?)
If the Cards want to utilize Martinez and get him 250-300 AB’s at first (and some as the 4/5th outfielder) then they should probably focus on signing either LoMo or Yonder Alonso who’ll be way cheaper than Hos (though the thought of EH in Cardinal red would be awesome) and both absolutely rake against righties and platoon Martinez for the other 250 AB’s!
That said, it’s not enough and trading for a impact bat for either one of the corner OF positions will be paramount as well!
I’d be totally down with a platoon of either LoMo/Yonder at first with Martinez and say a C. Yelich in RF who apparently the Cards covet…
don’t think the cards add an outfielder unless it’s stanton, which they can include one or more of the glut of mlb ready outfielders they have now
If Stanton goes to the Giants he will be going back on his word with wanting to contend…he will push the Giants payroll over the tax and hurt any chance the giants have in signing someone else…not to mention the giants will be giving up what little farm players they have…I would like the cardinals to get Ozuna and just make an elite bullpen…remember cardinal fans we missed the playoffs last year because of the 30 something blown saves and leads the cardinals gave up
i honestly could see the Brewers making a couple big moves this winter. They could be dark horse candidate for Ohtani and then trading away someone like Brinson, Phillips, Broxton, or Ray to someone like Tampa for a Chris Archer. or if that all falls through, i could see them making a run and Eric Hosmer and then end up trading either Thames or Braun and bringing back a starter. But honestly, they should consider swaping Villar and someone for Dee Gordon or Ian Kinsler
Dishonestly, I see them making no moves whatsoever.
We need to go sign Maitan now that he was forfeited from the braves. I like the idea of trading for Gordon or the royals Merrifield.
Whit at nearly a 4.0WAR with multiple years of cheap control would cost a pretty penny but I assume you’re a BrewCrew fan and they got the farm system to pull it off so maybe there’s a match.
If I were the Royals and someone blew me away for Merrifield, I’d make the move because Mondesi is as ready as he will ever be and it’s time for him to sink or swim at 2B…
Ugh stay away from vet pitching brewers! If the price is right fine, but can’t overpay in years especially. Just because we have money to blow doesn’t mean we should. Anderson, Davies, Woodruff, Nelson(when he returns) and one of the best pitchers in all of baseball Hader is a great starting 5
Nelson will probably be out well past the all star break, so that only leaves you four starters, two of whom are relatively untested in the rotation. You need depth.
Wisdom has put up some impressive numbers in Memphis, so what’s the knock on him?
I agree I don’t understand why he can’t get a shot. Unless they are holding him as trade bait
His slash line in Memphis this year was .243/.310/.507 with 31 homers, 149 K’s and 38 walks in 506 PAs. That doesn’t particurarly scream impressive to me, especially when you exclude his home run total (which was his first over 15 in a season). Not to mention that he’s getting older at 26. I’d rather use him for trade bait; he doesn’t really have a place on the team especially with the roster jam we currently have. There are other prospects I’d rather protect, which the front office obviously shares given their roster decisions.