One of the most interesting aspects of the Brewers rebuilding thus far is that nearly everyone involved in the Carlos Gomez-Mike Fiers trade took a step back in 2016, or raised some question marks about their profile. Mike Fiers and Josh Hader arguably had the best years of the bunch, and even Hader himself still […]
Author: Nicholas Zettel
Grading Trades IV: Current Assets
The Brewers are in an intriguing position entering the 2016-2017 offseason: The club has one of the best farm systems, if not the best in terms of depth and top prospects, in the MLB. Milwaukee has extreme payroll flexibility in terms of guaranteed and arbitration contracts. While the front office was sorting through roster options […]
Grading Trades III: Normative Analysis
What makes a trade valuable? Is it simply a matter of both sides of the deal working out in some sort of WARP/monetized production equilibrium? Can players other than those involved in the trade be judged alongside the trade in order to determine its value to the team? What of the team properly assessing their […]
Grading Trades II: Surplus
Khris Davis, Mike Fiers, and Jean Segura provided approximately 9.7 WARP for near $4 million in salary in 2016, a rate of pay and performance that perfectly frames the challenge of forming realistic trade grades. Given the common assumption that 1.0 WARP is worth approximately $7 million on the market, on the surface Brewers fans […]
Grading Trades I: Inventory
Brewers GM David Stearns earned a quick reputation for deal-making at a rapid pace, and his work followed a severe 2015 trade deadline from President Doug Melvin. Now that the first full rebuilding season is complete, and a season and a half has passed since the first rebuilding deals, it is worth using this vast […]
The Mistaken Rebuild
Since the Brewers entered 2016 with the “Rebuilding” tag on their uniform, many fans and analysts expected a poor showing from the club, and many categories match that expectation. For instance, the offense was particularly below average in 2016, despite the mention of improved discipline or new plate approaches from the team. At the same […]
Aging Ryan Braun
There are two common assumptions about Ryan Braun that fans and analysts use to justify trading the face of the franchise: (1) Ryan Braun has faced an injury-riddled set of years as he has aged. (2) Ryan Braun will face an aging curve that diminishes his performance. Point (1) has been a common line on […]
220: The Rebuild is Over
The Brewers finished their first full rebuilding season, and in the most basic sense these Brewers feel like an improved club. The team improved upon the 68-94 record of the 2015 Milwaukee Nine, which was a relatively stable talent level for that club (they played at a 67-win pace after the trade deadline in 2015 […]
Age in the Minors: A Levels
It’s easy to focus on the success stories of the 2016 Wisconsin Timber Rattlers and ignore the rough season endured by the 2016 Brevard County Manatees. The Milwaukee Brewers system really was split into two different prognoses this season, which provided an excellent reminder that work throughout a minor league system, even during a thus-successful […]
Age in the Minors: Pacific Coast
Not unlike some of his highly-ranked, organizational teammates in Biloxi, Orlando Arcia received cool notes from the press in 2016. Throughout the season, fans and writers alike consistently pointed to Arcia’s Colorado Springs batting line as a sign that the shortstop should not be rushed, that perhaps 2016 was not indeed his year for the […]