The latest on a pair of NL Central clubs:
- The Brewers remain in discussions with free agent right-hander Yu Darvish, Robert Murray and Jon Heyman of FanRag report. A deal isn’t necessarily imminent, though, they suggest. Milwaukee reportedly made Darvish a contract offer a week and a half ago, and the playoff-hopeful club has since added quality pieces to its roster in Lorenzo Cain, Christian Yelich and Matt Albers. On the heels of the Cain and Yelich pickups, owner Mark Attanasio indicated last weekend that general manager David Stearns has been working to bolster the team’s starting staff, and he added that the Brewers have the payroll flexibility to acquire a big-time free agent. Darvish certainly fits the bill as arguably the premier player on the open market.
- Even after signing Albers, Boone Logan and J.J. Hoover this offseason, the Brewers may not be done strengthening their bullpen, per Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Twitter link). They haven’t allocated much money to the group, pulling in Albers and Logan for a combined $7.5MM in guarantees and only handing Hoover a minor league deal. Their relief corps was actually among the majors’ most effective last year (seventh in K/9, tied for eighth in ERA), though Anthony Swarzak and Jared Hughes have since signed elsewhere.
- The division-rival Reds, meanwhile, have addressed their bullpen this offseason by signing Hughes and David Hernandez. After landing Hernandez today, they’re probably done making additions to their big league roster, GM Dick Williams told Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer and other reporters (Twitter link). The Reds are likely to turn to minor league signing Phil Gosselin as their backup shortstop, Williams added.
I would give Yu Darvish a 5 year deal brewers have to sign a SP of his caliber to compete for a division title and a championship
Thanks Connor! Another topic for us Cub fans and Brewer fans to fight each other about! LOL! J/K
I am actually happy that the Brewers are getting a lot of headlines and actually being recognized for their offseason accomplishments. I would much rather hear about them than the Cards any day of the week. But the NL Central is definitely in the spotlight the last week, only on the heels of the Brewers making all this noise. Keep it up Brew Crew!
Haha right seems like every article this is happening. I honestly feel like the Brewers abs Cubs will land Darvish and Cobb. Which one goes where though?
Agreed Jack Taddy ~ Who goes where? lol
Haha we’ll find out soon enough my guy Chiguy!
We Shall Jack Taddy! We shall! Agreed!
get a room
Lmao
classic Joe kerr
Haha just happy to have a friendly interaction with a Cub fan!
That’s because the Cardinals have owned the NL central for the last 20 years. No wonder your tired of hearing about them.
I am Themed! My futile Cubs have finally broken through. I can actually say with confidence I am happy that they get less headlines than the Brewers as of now.
That’s because you cub fans will always be jealous of The Cardinals year in and year out competing and never have resort to tanking which has become a big hit now and ruining baseball. If all teams tried to compete always like the Cardinals do we wouldn’t have this dormant off season. All I can say to cub fans always stay jealous. I love it!
Just curious how last year went for STL?
Hmmmm…. Jealousy might not be the proper word @ Themed. We respected the Cards whipping our asses all the years from Lee Smith to Albert Pujols. You guys were great! No disrespect….. I am just glad we were able to take the crown away as of late. That is all.
Not really sure what they’re jealous of but okay lol competed and didn’t make the playoffs
Lol .. well. See Brewers year and that should anwser your question. Ha ha
Move themed being jelouse is no way to go through life. Nothing will change with the cards this. Year. If anything Milw put more space between them lol.
4th place ,no pitching THE UGLY BREWERS.
Enjoy the next 20 years of Cardinals futility.
@themed
Its obvious who is jealous and that is you. Bitter and jealous.
So says the mad card troll Themed. No body cares about the Cards no more. Get over it. Lol jelouse. Of what? The past lol. Funny how Card fans when they lose and have bad seasons they always go back to the past which people have long forgot. Cards been trash the last 3 years. This now that was then. Most Card fans are lucky to have been around for 4 of their titles. I have more respect for the Reds fans. At least they can take losing and rebuilding like a man. Not troll the Cubs or other teams. They certainly don’t go back bragging on their 75-76 team which was better than any StL team could ever be. They aren’t children they take it like a man. Typical StL fans. StL you should be more worried about the Milw than the Cubs because they have have you in their rear view mirror like the Cubs. Be in denial or not.
Same as the Brewers! No post season!
MichaelW! You should be worried about the jealousy between your GF
and your Goat! Baaaa!
cool your jets, man.
a) he was being cool with you.
b) like Chiguy, I’m a grown man who happens to be a baseball fan, Cubs fan… and I’m not jealous of anything. fandom is a choice…. hard to be jealous when you could attain the object by making a different choice.
c) cards are irrelevant now in the NL Central.
So the cardinals won 86 and finished 2nd in the division and didn’t lose 11 of 18 to the Crew?
Or cuz of dbag fans…
the cardinals could have owned the central the last two years if they had a gm with balls. mo is a yes man and girsch is his house boy.
HERE! HERE!
…and the Cubs could have owned their division in the late 80’s and into the 90’s if ownership didn’t cut the legs out from Dallas Green. Alas, history is what did happen not what could have happened
No doubt the Cardinals have benefited from spying on other organizations and the gross incompetence of the Cubs and Pirates, historically.
i don’t like the words, compete, or competing. it’s all about winning. competers are the first losers.
That’s BS! One employee of the Cards hacked Lunhows computer of the Astros! That’s it! Nothing else! No other teams! No other years! Don’t blame your teams incompetence on that idiocy !
Cards are trash. Themed is a swore Cards fan The cheating birds been trash the last 3 years. N far droned owned anything. Move on troll
Will you please speak and write in English for heaven’s sakes!
GET RID OF DUMP THE BREWERS PLAY IN AND MAY WIN.
Oh yes! The great educated North Siders speak! Maybe you should’ve went farther than 6th grade
and you might be able to structure a sentence! Dumb MF! Baaaa!
Typical Card fan living in the past. Mean time 2015,16,17 have come and gone. Now it’s 2018. Not 2011 or 2006. Lol. Good old mad Themed. lol.
why so much hate?
Because his IQ is around the same amount of games the Brewers won last year!
Tbh fudge the cardinals lol
Agreed.
Dick Williams has to be the oldest GM in baseball by at least 25 years.
all gm’s are older than 22, being that williams is only 47.
Absolutely love what the Brewers are doing. The Pirates can go rot in the cellar.
Hiura, Ray and Woodruff and two young, high A ball type players for Fulmer.
Seems fair. Not sure the Tigers would go for it, and really not sure the Brewers want to part with Hiura just yet.
If think they would go with the quantity of the quality prospects listed, as opposed to a package headlined by Brinson and filler. They have a lot of rebuilding to do and need all they can get. Especially after the poor returns for JDM, Upton and Kinsler
Yeah, trades that work for both teams are usually the ones that actually occur. Brewers are a couple moves away from being serious contenders, and Tigers are definitely in that “stockpiling talent” phase, so I could see it. More likely that Milwaukee for Salazar and/or Darvish/Cobb I think.
Really hope the crew get Salazar that would be amazing
The Brewers can’t offer Brinson and fillers for Fulmer …. hard to trade what you’ve already traded … Brinson should be a starting OF in Miami
Let’s talk money. A few years ago it was common knowledge that the Brewers payroll threshold was around 80 million. Then a twenty million increase in tv money and a thirty million increase in shared revenue happened. Thank you big markets!!! For a few years they we’re over the hundred million mark in payroll with I believe room to spare. I believe they could easily go to 120 million for payroll and still be a profitable organization. This is a business after all. Last year they were at about 70 million and still collecting those checks. Common sense tells me that they made at least fifty million in profits last year and even after Christmas bonuses to the ownership group they still have a ton of money at their disposal.
To sign Darvish to a 5 and 125 is not totally out of the question. If they front load it like 30 million the first two years then twenty five the next, and twenty the last two as I assume at that time the return on Darvish will diminish it wouldn’t hurt the club.
The first two years can be paid for by the profits of last year. The third year can be paid for by increased attendance and hopefully a playoff berth or two and the last two years are just replacing Braun’s contract.
The Milwaukee Brewers baseball organization is healthy and wealthy. While some of the big markets are thinking of next year’s free agent class their looking at this year as a window of opportunity to maybe not get an elite free agent but one that will bridge a gap and make them super competitive. A couple of very good years out of Darvish would be well worth the money especially if you consider there using last year’s money for a good portion of it.
So if you hear they signed Darvish and their payroll jumps to 120 million for 2018 is it really? Or are they still at 90 million and paying Darvish with last year’s money?
I say sign dervish and trade for Chris archer would give the brewers a good 1-2 punch
That would be insane please please please let it happen
That will never happen.
Your only saying that because your a brewers fan “1976”
The Brewers talked to Toronto about Stroman today Darvish Stroman Nelson Anderson in the playoffs would be fantastic.
Wishful thinking. They would get either or. If they did trade for Stroman they be out on Darvish. Teams are thinking trade to save money before signing. That’s why it’s a slow market and been a trade market instead of a signing market.
They be out on ? LoL! Dumb MF! Baaaa!
I really don’t think Archer is a huge needle mover. His advanced stats have been better than his on the field performance 3 years running. Plus he’ll cost you the better part of your farm, and is that really worth it? I know Jimmie Nelson is a bit of a wildcard at the moment, but it might behoove the crew to find another option until he returns then reassess; say Phillips + for Odorizzi. Yes, Archer has the upside. But will he ever learn that 3rd pitch? Right now he’s at best a 2, and if you look at his performance the last two years, you could argue that’s even a stretch. He’s certainly a very valuable piece, but his career ERA and FIP are right at 3.5 ; not exactly ace like. Would you give up Ortiz, Ray and at least several other pieces to acquire him? Is that really the best use of your assets? If you believe the time to strike is most certainly now then by all means they should go for it. But right now the brewers have enough talent on the farm that could make a similiar, if not greater impact than Archer in the very near future, except with more cost control. it might benefit them to hold onto these players rather than spend it on an asset where they’d have to pay say $1.50 on the dollar just to aquire it
Agree. He’s not worth the price they would even consider. A free agent signing and let the talent they have develop.
I think you guys hit it on the head some of the available pitchers that are out there I don’t see as a season changer like Sabathia or Greinke. I like what we have done so far this off-season and I do wander who will be this year’s Villar. Is Santana going to be as hungry as last year? Plus who will be this year’s surprise maybe Wren or Orf? I look forward to see which pitcher could make an impact that we didn’t think about maybe Ramirez
Archer’s value is hi cheap contract and control, while being a front end starter with upside.
He doesn’t have to be an ace. You can enjoy four years for $33M while he is a 4 WAR pitcher. That is an insane surplus of value.
@JF I realize where his value comes from. I mentioned his upside, and even referred to him as a very valuable piece. I didn’t mention his contract bc its super obvious that’s arguably the most attractive thing about him. I just don’t think his acquisition cost justifies giving up a plethora of the brewer’s best prospects. I think the prudent thing to do is hold onto those assets, and see how everything plays out. Ortiz will be knocking on the door to The Show very soon, and Woodruff is already there. That’s more cost control than Archer, with several more years of team control for multiple assets as well. I get it, they may never be as good as Archer. But with the amount of legitimate pitching prospects the crew has near the majors, it makes more sense to wait, and find a solid stopgate option, versus mortgaging their future for an upgrade like Archer who is good, but not great. When you’re a small market team like the brewers, you can’t afford to spend a ton of prospect capital trading for a player who costs way more than the on the field performance would suggest. they need these prospects to consistently come up, and fill the gaps if they want to have a long period of sustained success. Trading 3 or 4 guys from the very top of their system, and 2 or so more from the teens doesn’t help achieve that.
Not surprised that the Reds are finished with free agency. I would rather see Alex Blandino play that Phil Gosselin. Or how about Dilson Herrera? He’s out of options…
Very curious to see what happens with Dilson as well since he’s out of options. He’s primarily a second basemen though correct? Would be interesting if him and Scooter both play well.
Dilson is primarily a 2B as far as I know. I think he used to play SS also, but is just 2B now. Blandino has played 2B, SS, and 3B. I think he should be the primary backup, or at least given that chance over a 29 year old Gosselin.
Dilson is primarily a 2b but if they don’t mind using Suarez as an occasional ss then Dilson is the backup infielder they keep, based on his being out of options and if he plays well this spring. If he sucks in Az. then they’ll try to slip him through waivers and outright him to AAA, which after been hurt all last year might work. Herrera will get every chance to hang around and maybe even take 2b away from Scooter.
Of course, Senzel is the wild card here; if he forces himself onto the major league squad nothing is sacred.
sign Darvish and trade for Chris archer would give the brewers a good 1-2 punch atop their rotation
Screw the Ray’s. They want to much for Archer. He gave up to many long balls in a pitchers park. Even more then Garza.
The Brewers have a very deep team and money to go after a free agent.
The Brewers have offered Darvish the best contract. Let’s just wait and see. If he accepts there done.
Huira won’t be trade at all. I guarantee he will get a look in September with the Brewers because he will make it difficult to keep him down with the year he will have. Honestly the only moves would really want the Brewers to make the rest of the off-season is maybe trade for Duffy or Salazar and sign Cobb maybe. Two guys that I also seeing maybe making an impact this year in Milwaukee is Kirby, Houser, Williams and Derby ok so I was wrong that’s four on the pitchers side lol
I wouldn’t be too sure of that. He’s a bat without a true position. Not good enough for 2B or the INF (maybe 1B when the power comes), so he’s likely in an OF role. Milwaukee already has a glut of OFers so a deal to an AL team like the Tigers makes sense. I’m just throwing it out there lol.
he’s had what not even a full season in the minors. less than that involved throwing so not sure why you say he’s not good enough for 2b
Because in the 42 Rookie league and A ball games he played last year, he DH’ed in 39 of them. Granted, he did have an elbow injury, but there is also this blurb from MLB.com:
“Hiura has played center field in the past and some second base, where he has decent actions but also fringy footwork. Left field is another possibility, one that some evaluators believe could offer Hiura the fastest path to the Majors.”
I’ve never seen him play and guessing you haven’t either, so we can only go with the scouting reports.
I think we can agree with that lol
I went to high school with keston and played on his teams in little league. Always has been a stud
High school is a whole lot different from College. He spent what, 3 years at Irvine I think? Maybe I’m wrong. But anyways, he hasn’t been in high school for 4 years now lol. Lots has changed.
I know we all want to find a Machado or Robin Yount but sometimes a Fydrich is worth it too if you get a World Series!!!!
In a division with reds and pirates it’s nice to see a team like brewers improving. The tallest midget in that division the cubs had a losing record against winning teams? Anyhow since Brew crew only team in baseball currently making noise the hot stove folks thank you
Look at the Brewers go. Finally signing players of quality rather then the Kyle Lohse and Mike Cameron types of the world. A Darvish or Arrieta signing could set them up at a legit run at the NL pennant
Its simple. Brew Crew need to trade for Archer, sign either Cobb or Lynn and probably trade for barraclough of the Marlins, or maybe even Strailey too. Boom, successful offseason done.
Clearly the Rays wants MLB ready talent, going off Longoria trade, so offer Santana or Phillips or hell both, and a mature prospect or two such as one of Ortiz or Woodruff and a couple low level guys.
A one for one gets it done with the Marlins for Barraclough, if its a solidish prospect, a Burnes or Peralta or something similar.
Yu is still holding out for LA. Sick of him holding up the starting pitching market for a dream that’s not happening. Jake needs to get real about his worth too. He is drinking his agent’s kool aide that he should get paid like a young ace.
We honestly don’t know who he is waiting on or what he’s waiting on. It’s been nothing but speculation for 3 months lol
Let’s get creative Milwaukee. With the money they banked from last year’s lowest payroll, offer Darvish a 25 million dollar signing bonus, and 20 million a year for five years.
Make him an offer he can’t refuse!
It seems like darvish is really trying to avoid going to Chicago.