It’s not always fair to judge baseball operations leaders for free agent signings. In many cases, the biggest contracts are negotiated to varying extents by ownership. The same can hold true of major extensions. It’s just tough to know from the outside.
There’s obviously involvement from above in trade scenarios as well. But when it comes to exchanging rights to some players for others, it stands to reason, the role of the general manager is all the more clear.
In any event, for what it’s worth, it seemed an opportune moment to take a look back at the trade track records of some of the general managers around the game. After covering the Diamondbacks’ Mike Hazen and former Astros GM Jeff Luhnow, today we’ll move to David Stearns of the Brewers. (In chronological order and excluding minor deals. Full details at transaction link.)
2019-20 Offseason
- Acquired C Omar Narvaez from Mariners for RHP Adam Hill and competitive balance draft pick
- Acquired INF Luis Urias and LHP Eric Lauer from Padres for OF Trent Grisham and RHP Zach Davies
- Acquired 1B Chad Spanberger from Blue Jays for RHP Chase Anderson
2019 Season
- Acquired LHP Drew Pomeranz and RHP Ray Black from Giants for INF Mauricio Dubon
- Acquired RHP Jake Faria from Rays for 1B Jesus Aguilar
- Acquired RHP Jordan Lyles from Pirates for RHP Cody Ponce
2018-19 Offseason
- Acquired RHP Bobby Wahl, RHP Adam Hill and INF Felix Valerio from Mets for OF Keon Broxton
- Acquired OF Ben Gamel and RHP Noah Zavolas from Mariners for OF Domingo Santana
- Acquired LHP Alex Claudio from Rangers for competitive balance draft pick
2018 Season
- Acquired LHP Gio Gonzalez from Nationals for 1B/C KJ Harrison and INF Gilbert Lara
- Acquired OF Curtis Granderson from Blue Jays for OF Demi Orimoloye
- Acquired LHP Xavier Cedeno from White Sox for OF Bryan Connell and RHP Johan Dominguez
- Acquired INF Jonathan Schoop from Orioles for INF Jonathan Villar, INF Jean Carmona and RHP Luis Ortiz
- Acquired INF Mike Moustakas from Royals for OF Brett Phillips and RHP Jorge Lopez
- Acquired RHP Joakim Soria from White Sox for LHP Kodi Medeiros and RHP Wilber Perez
- Acquired INF Brad Miller from Rays for 1B Ji-Man Choi
2017-18
- Acquired OF Christian Yelich from Marlins for OF Lewis Brinson, OF Monte Harrison, INF Isan Diaz and RHP Jordan Yamamoto
2017 Season
- Acquired INF Neil Walker from Mets for RHP Eric Hanhold
- Acquired RHP Jeremy Jeffress from Rangers for RHP Tayler Scott
- Acquired RHP Anthony Swarzak from White Sox for INF/OF Ryan Cordell
2016-17 Offseason
- Acquired C Jett Bandy from Angels for C Martin Maldonado and RHP Drew Gagnon
- Acquired INF Travis Shaw, INF Mauricio Dubon, RHP Josh Pennington and INF Yeison Coca from Red Sox for RHP Tyler Thornburg
2016 Season
- Acquired RHP Phil Bickford and C Andrew Susac from Giants for LHP Will Smith
- Acquired OF Lewis Brinson, RHP Luis Ortiz and INF/OF Ryan Cordell from Rangers for C Jonathan Lucroy and RHP Jeremy Jeffress
2015-16 Offseason
- Acquired C Jacob Nottingham and RHP Bubba Derby from Athletics for OF Khris Davis
- Acquired RHP Chase Anderson, INF Aaron Hill, INF Isan Diaz and cash from Diamondbacks for INF Jean Segura and RHP Tyler Wagner
- Acquired OF Keon Broxton and RHP Trey Supak from Pirates for INF/OF Jason Rogers
- Acquired RHP Freddy Peralta, RHP Carlos Herrera and RHP Daniel Missaki from Mariners for 1B Adam Lind
- Acquired INF Jonathan Villar from Astros for RHP Cy Sneed
- Acquired C Manny Pina and INF Javier Betancourt from Tigers for RHP Francisco Rodriguez
—
How would you grade Stearns for his overall work on the trade front? (Poll link for app users.)
He gets an A just for that Yelich trade alone
Not entirely true, all those players the Marlins got have high ceilings and are still much too young to write off, its not Brinson’s fault Miami rushed him to MLB.
He -does- get an A for turning Lucroy into Yelich though (Brinson being the headliner in the deal).
Beane WORKED him on the Khris Davis deal though, even if Davis is a DH-only he won a HR title and until he got hurt last year was looking at another same ol’ .247 40+ bomb season.
Yelich was 10 games played away last season from winning his second straight MVP, and none of the players the Marlins have gotten back so far look like anything impressive.
Yamamoto was impressive as hell last year, you clearly only look at numbers. I can see Diaz and Brinson being solid MLBers at some point. Yelich was a salary dump on the Marlins end too, people are ignoring that.
Even if Diaz and Brinson become at the very least solid MLB players, the trade is still a massive bust for the Marlins, and huge win for the Brewers. But seeing as Diaz is the only one I would have hope in, I don’t see Brinson becoming anything good. He has had the 2nd lowest fWAR since 2017 even though he’s had less than 1000 MLB plate appearances. If he got even semi regular playing time since 2017, he would probably be lower than Chris Davis.
It’s not a bust because the Marlins were forced to trade Yelich and that was the best package on the table and still is a good one, both now and especially at the time.
Everyone is so quick to “win/loss” trades but so many of them are not black and white situations and often lead to better players down the line DUE to that trade.
Yelich a salary dumb? Lol. Yeah a 7/50M deal for a guy who averaged .290 with 89 runs, 20 HR, 90 RBI and 12.5 SB with a .373 OBP in 2016-2017 for the marlins. You can’t call a guy making 7.5M per season a “salary’s dumb” let alone one of Yelich’s talent level.
Not to mention Brinson is 25 now. When should they have waited till? 27-28? After his prime years? He’s got a career .183 average in 655 at bats. No longer a small sample size.
Were you not paying attention to MLB when this trade happened? Its salary DUMP not dumb.
Yelich was ABSOLUTELY a salary dump. Why are you saying otherwise? Miami was gutting the team, anyone with a moveable contract got traded. Thats a fact everyone acknowledges but you…arent? Why?
@brewcrew08 you user name says it all – you are a homer. Homers dont like my posts because they live in a reality they cannot fathom and are critical in ways homers cannot handle. Just move along. Go team! Your team with zero rings in like 4 decades is doing great!!! Best team in the game! Yay team!!!
You’re the same guy arguing that the Davis deal was a steal for the A’s but not the Yelich trade for the Brewers. Please forgive me if I don’t have any faith in your baseball knowledge. You are also saying Brinson is a late bloomer. That’s laughable in itself.
Can’t forget about Monte Harrison, I think he will have the better career out of Diaz, Yamamoto, Brinson
“Dump” not “dumb”, right?
Yes it was autocorrect
Sterns is the best thing about the Brewers right now(besides Craig Counsel and Christian Yelich) so I think that the Brewers will win the World Series in 4 games this year.
Yelli is better than Belli.
Mark my Words!!!!!
Let’s go crew and have a true Glove story.
Sterns makes a lot of strange moves at the time, but then it all makes sense in about 2 years. I bet you he has a crystal ball to be able to tell what is going to happen.
Would rather have Bellinger over Yelich right now. Much younger and costs less. Logic.
Not until you have to pay Belli 400 million because that’s what he wants, he knows how good he is. Yelich is a bargain.
The Dodgers have a lot more than Bellinger, a lot more. Add some guy named Mookie to that stacked team. So focus on how good your one player is and completely ignore the difference in talent with the rest of your team when comparing the to the Dodgers. That team is so deep, it’s ridiculous.
“Would rather have Bellinger over Yelich right now. Much younger and costs less. Logic.”
That’s fine, come back next year after Bellinger gets into arb.
Bellinger will still be younger. And better. And on a better team while Yelich gets paid on a mediocre team showing no desire to win. That’s what you’ll find next year.
Are you really suggesting Yelich was a salary dump?!?! He was already an elite player making a fraction of what elite players make. His salary and control was a huge part of the reason that trade has been so lopsided.
What Yelich has already done in two seasons will be tough for Miami to match with the return they received.
so guys in the Yelich trade are too young to talk about, but the return for Davis is fair game? you can’t look at trades in a vacuum. you need to remember the depth and other needs and details of a trade. what would the Brewers do with Davis? he was meant to play defense, he’s a liability in the field (at best), and the Brewers needed depth at the catcher position – I wouldn’t say he was anywhere close to “WORKED” in that situation
I covered Davis’s limitations in my own post, no need to repeat it.
Davis was a top 10 MVP vote getter after being traded and played in a far worse park to hit in. If he had stayed in Milwaukee he would have hit 50+ easily every year. He had a higher OPS every year and Nottingham is not going to be long term MLB player in my eyes. Derby’s career might be over already, who knows. Beane absolutely stole Davis from Stearns, who wanted more but bowed to a superior GM. Just admit it, Beane is better at GM than him, its not a diss, Stearns does a great job, but he got absolutely WORKED by Beane and thats a fact you are arguing is not a fact because you cant fathom your fave team losing a trade. Its ok, all GMs have trades like this.
It’s baffling to me you consider the Davis deal an absolute steal for the A’s but not Yelich for the Brewers. That’s great Davis was top 10 in MVP voting. Yelich has actually won an MVP and would’ve won a second if he didn’t get hurt. Not to mention you are completely forgetting Davis would’ve had to play defense in an NL park which he is atrocious in the OF.
I never said Yelich was not a steal for the Brewers, it was a great trade for the Brewers it paid off amazingly well. But being you werent following baseball back then, it was considered a MASSIVE package for him. So, maybe respect people who were paying attention more and go play MLB the show or whatever you were doing before you found this site a week ago.
That’s great it was considered a massive package. Looking at it NOW it’s a way better deal than losing Davis. They always say wait a couple years to look at trades right? Which one would you rather make if you were a GM? Davis or Yelich? I bet 100% of the people on this site would make the Yelich trade every single time.
No offense, but you should probably turn the smug down a notch or two if you are going to take MVP voting where Davis didn’t actually win it into account. You are being kind of a jerk.
“Homers don’t like my posts because, blah, blah” – mlbtraderumorsDbag
the Yelich trade might be the biggest steal in the last decade, along with the Archer trade for tampa bay. None of the players Miami got back will ever come close to winning an MVP, they’ll be lucky if they’re even still in the big leagues five years from now.
Jordan Yamamoto is absolutely better than any current Brewers SP, but sure, don’t live in reality.
Not as big a steal as Shaw + a slew of prospects for Tyler Thornburg
Look at his numbers, no he wasn’t lol. There was no reason for the Marlins to trade Yelich, especially for such a weak package. the brewers finessed them bigtime.
Man lol come on.
I’m on outside looking in but if your sitting here saying that Yamanto might be a decent #3 for one of top 5 players in baseball i don’t know what to say
You dont know what to say because you broken logic.
I said Yamamoto is better than any Brewers SP and you replied that he’s a decent #3 – those things arent connected at all.
Yamamoto isn’t better than Woodruff. So again your argument is wrong. Woodruff had a 3.3 WAR last year and Yamamoto had a 0.7 WAR.
I love Yamamoto, but I think he’s not AS good as Woodruff. I do think he has a ton of potential though, (and more potential than Woodruff). Diaz is going to be the Marlins everyday 2b. And if Brinson somehow finds any promise, this deal immediately looks good for both sides. Yes the Brewers got a MVP for years to come, but the Marlins- right now- have two players that are going to be regulars on that team, plus if Brinson finds any kind of a spark (I doubt it, but with Villar in CF he won’t have as much stress).
“Jordan Yamamoto is absolutely better than any current Brewers SP”
Brandon Woodruff….
At this point I just think you’re a troll, and maybe you’re BackToCali. Your viewpoints are silly, contradictory, and ridiculous.
“and more potential than Woodruff”
Based on what? Woodruff was lights out last year and throws 97-98.
There is no proof Yamamoto is better than Woodruff. Not yet. In the future perhaps. Not saying much if Yamamoto becomes a better starting pitcher than the rest of the current Brewers staff. Until then, that is a hard no. A player has to prove they are better, Strike Four. As usual, you know zip. Please don’t preach about logic when you know nothing of the sort.
Yelich trade wasn’t even Stearns’ best. That would be the Shaw-Thornburg deal. An absolute heist.
Yelich is a beast but the Brewers had to pay dearly for him. And at that time, he was not nearly the player he became 6 months later. Brinson might not pan out at all, but Harrison, Yamamoto, and Diaz could be a solid haul.
@richt gets it.
He absolutely thinks it was a massive win for the Brewers. It just happened to be his second best deal.
If you’re not trolling, you’re really bad at understanding baseball.
I didn’t think the Yelich deal was a massive win when it was made. I actually was pretty mystified by it. Yelich turning into Babe Ruth is what made that deal good, otherwise I could have seen it becoming an overpay.
Really? It was giving up 3 guys who were hardly guarantees plus Brinson, whose best case was that he turns into Yelich. Harrison was the only one in that trade that had any significant upside. Nobody they gave up has 3+ WAR in the first 2 SDs of their talent bell curve.
The marginal WAR is worth a lot, especially to a team like the Brewers.
I actually think Yamamoto will be the best player out of the 4 Miami acquired. Diaz could be as well. I think the price the Brewers paid for Yelich in 2018 when the trade was made was certainly fair, if not maybe a little high given the player Yelich was at the time. I think they were paying to acquire the team-friendly contract as much as they were paying for Yelich himself.
after the first year it looked that way. maybe not so much now. Lots of things happened that neither GM could control.
I think we can say the Brewers won that trade because Yelich turned into Babe Ruth in July 2018. If he stayed the player he’d been before, the trade doesn’t look as good.
Did you see what the Braves did to JY in the playoffs last year? That, my friend, is not a stud-in-the-making.
Lewis Brinson is classic AAAA – great trade for the Crew.
Brinson is a classic late bloomer. Please don’t talk like that about him until he’s 28.
Brinson is a classic BUST
Classic late bloomer based on what? Lol. He’s gotten worse every year so far. He had a -2.1 WAR last year which says it all.
You don’t see Marlin homers very often. But here we are.
Again, no proof of Brinson being a late-bloomer. Your lean on hypothetical(s) is imbecilic on your part.
honestly i like Stearns’s record more than Hazen’s. Stearns has done a good job of getting lots of prospect value when dealing vets, and then knowing just the right time to give up on the prospects so that they still have trade value. for example, Ortiz, Brinson, and Diaz built up a lot of value with the Brewers, but showed their flaws soon after being dealt away. The Yeli deal is a classic example of how unproven assets are just that – unproven.
though, at the same time, he wolnt be quite as lucky with Dubon id say.
Pomeranz was a huge reason they made the playoffs. Not to mention the got Dubon in the Shaw/Thornburg deal. Give me Pomeranz/Shaw production for the Crew for Dubon any day of the week.
well they didnt have to keep playing Shaw, and probably didnt have to give up Dubon given how mediocre Pomeranz had performed with the Giants.
He gave away Khrush Davis for almost nothing though. Davis might be a limited player but he still is a legit masher who won a HR title after Stearns got rid of him.
All that proves is Beane > Stearns though, which we knew already.
In fact, I’d say the Khrush trade made Stearns better at his job after getting worked by a HOFer, he probably looked at Beane’s Donaldson trade and went “Flip the prospects for the young star, never the other way around”. Respect to him for adapting to the game, 100%. Brewers are in good hands.
Stearns > Beane easily. Davis wasn’t every going to be an everyday player for Milwaukee because he is a massive liability in the field, plus now his numbers have tankes after genius Beane gave him that extension. I think that trade was pretty even.
lol i don’t get it ppl will sit on here and give cashman an A for having 250 mill payroll and winning one World Series the past 20 years
This guy has but together a pretty formidable team while payroll being what 90-110 mill
The team litterally has no starting pitching but the past 3 years has been in it every year
Castellanos is 10x worse than Davis in the field. Braun is really terrible too. Davis was playing the OF kind of regularly in Oakland for a while, still counts. Your points are entirely irrelevant and prove you know nothing about baseball, just like every moronic homer who posts here.
Beane makes the playoffs 50% of his seasons in charge, until Stearns does the same its no contest and youre just a trolling imbecile for writing that.
Nottingham was a top 100 prospect at a position of need. Davis is a barely above average player (despite the HRs) who was blocked by Braun and Santana. Davis can’t play defense.
It wasn’t a bad trade at the time, and sometimes things don’t work out the way you expect. *If* you’re not a troll, this is pretty embarrassing for you.
“Castellanos is 10x worse than Davis in the field”
That is just plain not true. Do you even look at BR or FG? Or BP?
What is it about Yamamoto that makes him better than all the Brewer pitchers? The 4.51 FIP last year?
Khris Davis has a noodle arm and Brewers had a young OB hitter in Domingo Santana to play vs Davis. Needed a Catcher prospect badly without Lucroy. And pitcher prospect never hurts. Davis a 50HR threat was never a thought by Any Scout. Santana did fairly well holding his own.
Never mind Strike Four. People call him the biggest idiot on this site. I don’t necessarily agree but he’d be at least 5-hole in a batting lineup.
F because he traded Lewis Brinson.
Still a burnt Marlins fan I presume?
Umm Brinson is way better than Yelich
I lol’d at that
Bringing Stan Ross back was a genius marketing move.
That’s actually pretty funny
Anthopoulos next!!!
Sterne and Hazen are #1 and #1-A IMHO in all of MLB; maybe a small edge to Sterne. And let’s allow they both have owners that allow them to butt right up against what probably is each’s respective salary limitations.
Sterne’s next job is to rebuild the farm, but as Hazen has shown, that although trades are important, it’s really all about drafting, using the international market, and getting the right development staff.
Their teams have won just one playoff series combined between them, how can they be the best two GMs in the league?
Brewers pitching staff is going to be solid for a long time, he done a great job, A+
Love Stearns, but the Krush Davis trade will forever haunt me. I’d love to see a study on the success rate of high regarded prospects that have been traded twice before reaching AAA (I.e. Nottingham).
and Brinson
Tell that to the clowns who posted earlier in this thread. Beane WRECKED Stearns on the Davis trade and that is a fact, not opinion.
Sure thing, BtC
We get it you like beane. Now go pound sand. Stearns is better.
Davis has yet to crack 3 fWAR despite being able to DH, where his biggest liability is no longer in play. There’s a lot more to offense than just hitting HRs. Chris Carter hit 50 HRs one season for the Brewers and couldn’t get a deal, because he was so bad at everything but hitting home runs.
I didn’t think this place was such a regressive statistical community.
Tbf WAR isn’t the best litmus year for a DH; while defense is removed from the equation, they also receive a massive positional adjustment since they are contributing no defensive value
Correct, they are compared only on bats, so they are compared to a much higher baseline because people who are only hitting are better at hitting on average. The positional adjustment is right to me because the positional adjustment balances based on average performance for the best hitter in the organization not starting.
Factors on Davis trade to just go meh. Brewers had a better OB OF with stronger arm new to team in Domingo Santana. Jon Lucroy trade rumors were aboundant around that time. Brewers didn’t have an upcoming catcher. Brewers can always use a SP in their minors to dream on. Santana did modestly well in Davis’ absence. Davis never had top 100 prospect status. The HRs came from nowhere upon leaving. Santana just was a better player to project moving forward then.
Nah, Davis showed his power in the minors. There was a reason his nickname was “Khrush” Davis. Dude could hit dingers. His problems stemmed from defense and other facets of hitting other than home runs.
His name is Khris Davis. If he hit 10HRs a season his nickname would have been Khrush.
He only had 69HRs for his career in the minors. A sample size that could be thought of as 3seasons. That’s a 23HR a season average. Corner OFs 20-25HRs is thought of as lacking power. So hes a good defender? Nope. Hits for high BA? Nope. Has elite OB skills? Nope. Is a speed demon on base paths? Nope. So what does he do? Hit a HR every 19PAs. Stearns moved on for the better of the team.
It’s showing Mike Hazen’s poll instead of David Sterns.
For those mentioning Krush Davis, he is absolutely not an NL player. The Brewers were worse off with him in the field, and likely would have kept him if the DH was universal.
Davis covered more ground than a lot of LF when he was a Brewerr, He just has an extremely weak arm. In a position that doesn’t require a strong arm.
But it’s not that he was traded, it was the junk that came back in the deal for a guy who’s hit 156 in 4 seasons in Oakland. In return they have one major league HR from Nottingham. Derby still hasn’t made the big leagues and he’s not on any of the lists of Brewer top prospects.
Another real clunker for Stearns was Ji Man Choi for Brad Miller. Choi would look great platooning with Braun. They could have dealt Thames a year or two ago and gotten something in return instead of just letting him go.
I loved Krush but his arm was pathetic. A runner on 1st with average speed new they could get to 3rd on any hit to left that wasn’t short and right to Krush.
That is true, but playing in the MUCH weaker division and hitter friendly home park, youre getting 55 bombs from him along with that noodle arm in LF, which a great deal of teams would take all day every day.
Not only was Davis a terrible OF, he was a below average player because of it.
fangraphs.com/players/khris-davis/9112/stats?posit…
He’s never been better than 3 fWAR in his entire career. He went from below average to above average by getting out of the field. He is a DH. He was not a good defender at any aspect, and YES, arm *does* matter in LF.
Ji man Choi was about to be waived. No options Thames&Aquilar platooning 1b. Miller was a hope and a prayer.
Nick Castellanos is absolutely not an NL player either. Your point is invalid.
Only the Davis and Will Smith deals look bad. Traded for minor league catchers both times. He hit on Pina but since then has brought in vets Grandal and Narvaez. Maybe smart not to waste capital on young catchers.
What about Choi for Brad Miller? That deal looks terrible too.
Meh
Roster crunch dictated this. Shaw was raking. Aguilar was raking and Thames was the lefty 1B option. There was a need at MI. Choi was and is better than Miller but at the time it was a reasonable trade and platoon 1Bs have become very available in recent years.
Khris Davis won a HR title and hit 40+ bombs 3 years in a row immediately after getting traded, in a much harder home park and division. Sure he’s a DH-only but that power should have gotten a real player back, not Jacob Nottingham.
I can’t tell if you have a man crush on Davis or Beane. You’re right though, trading for an actual MVP wasn’t nearly as impactful as trading away Davis.
I can tell you are homer idiot who needs to stop trolling this thread.
I dont have a mancrush on anyone, I am neutral. I am the enemy of idiot homers like you. Bye now loser.
Heck of an argument. I am still baffled how you consider the Davis trade a better deal for the A’s than the Yelich deal for the Brewers. Not only will Yelich win multiple MVP’s he was actually making less the last two years compared to Davis and is arguably the 2nd best hitter in baseball.
I mean, the A’s got a huge amount of production and gave up next to nothing. The Brewers had to give up a lot for Yelich. They got much more production than the A’s got from Davis, but I see his point. A’s bought silver for pennies, the Brewers bought gold for quarters.
“I can tell you are homer idiot who needs to stop trolling this thread.”
Pot and kettle right here. Wow.
That is exactly my argument. MVP (gold) doesn’t grow on trees in the bigs. Giving up possibly decent big leaguers even though none of them have proven anything for an MVP is a huge win.
Beane wrecked the Blue Jays in the Donaldson trade.
– Strike Four.
Homer idiot. are you a child?
Schoop trade was bad too, Schoop stunk as a Brewer.
“Schoop trade was bad too, Schoop stunk as a Brewer.”
I get what he was thinking with it, but yes, this one is clearly his worst trade. I don’t think the Davis trade was good, but it was clearly justifiable at the time, sometimes prospects just don’t pan out. A top 100 prospect for a blocked below average player plus a lottery ticket is a good deal. Davis took a step forward (although not nearly as many steps as strike four seems to think) and Nottingham didn’t pan out (yet).
Schoop was basically unnecessary and was buying high on 2 weeks after half a season of terrible. Stearns even admitted he made a mistake.
Yea, I didn’t mind the Davis trade at all at the time, in fact I was quite pleased with getting Nottingham back then. I really liked Schoop in Baltimore and thought he was the answer, but I thought the package was a bit much on 7/31 before he’d even taken a Brewer AB.
Although Bickford has been tearing it up lately now that he’s clean. Wouldn’t rule him out as an above average bullpen arm
Gotta give him an A, he’s gotten some huge wins and his losses haven’t been crippling. I don’t like the Anderson trade to the Blue jays at all
Salary dump…
Anderson was going to get non-tendered, so being able to get anything for him isn’t too bad.
Stearns gets a solid B. Better trader than Luhnow.
Three ERRORS I think! BUT STILL GREAT WORK!!!!!!!!!!!
States Mike Hazen as the GM in the poll.
I think you forgot the second Aaron Hill trade to the Red Sox.
Erik Kratz deal as well I think.
Pretty good hauls when you look at the totality of all the prospects outside of Kris Davis he never rid the Brewers of anyone significant to team success
B+ in an objective post……
He’s done an excellent job, I believe. The reality of rebuilds is that they only create a limited contention window unless you’ve got a seemingly unlimited supply of money to spend. I know a rebuilding teams sells fans (and probably itself) on this idea that if they lose for a couple of years, it’ll set up years of contention.
We’re seeing in places like Milwaukee, Chicago (Cubs), Colorado, Boston, and (as of this season) Philadelphia that rebuilds or investing in young talent rarely equates to a decade of contention. Only two years ago, the Cubs were considered a sleeping dynasty along with the other face of rebuilding, the Astros. Both only have one title**** to date.
All this to say, that Stearns did well maximizing his window. He gets a B, from me because he never could solve his starting rotation.
In today’s baseball (new playoffs with more teams) a dynasty should not be measured by WS titles but serious playoff contention.
In Sterns, we trust
Aside from Schoop trade, Gotta fell Stearns deserves an A. Hes worked a one season rebuild in to 3 straight competitive seasons and B2B playoff appearances. Somebody will come and say Davis trade is a blemish, but true Brewer fans understand what was occuring during that timeframe. Santana was competing for playing time, Lucroy was a big trade hot topic. No Lucroy future meant a need for a C prospect. Stearns assembled a team that season of higher OB potentials which Davis was not while Santana appeared destined to be.
Team has only been better and uniquely finding new ways putting succesful teams together. This year was going to be new mark for success if his Platoon crew he’d assembled worked.
I wonder how Stearns got his job. They take care of their own (commissioner). It’s a joke.
? What are you talking about?
Stearns worked for the Commissioners office at one point so this clown (bigwestbaseball) is implying it was a fix. Like Manfred made the Brewers hire hin or something.
Would it have been Manfred or former owner/Commissioner Selig?