Like most rebuilding teams, the Brewers have to figure out how to invest in free agency heading into a season in which they are unlikely to compete for a playoff spot. There are two parts to this decision: They must first choose which (if any) positions to address this offseason, and they must then decide […]
Category: Articles
Where Tanking Meets Messaging
I’m not sure exactly when the Philadelphia 76ers are supposed to start winning games. Saturday’s loss to the Spurs pushed the 76ers to 0-10 for the second straight season. Last year’s 76ers needed didn’t win until their 18th game en route to an 18-64 finish. It was the second year under Sam Hinkie and his […]
Rolling Out the Barrel: Warming Up with Arizona Heat
The season is over and November is here, bringing baseball awards season with it. The Brewers, unfortunately, were (at best) mediocre is almost every single aspect of the game in 2015, and therefore don’t even have much to root for in terms of ultimately-meaningless individual awards. However, the BBWAA released it’s official ballot for the […]
Three Sensible Free-Agent Targets For Brewers
Rebuilding teams should not ignore the free-agent market. In the same vein, rebuilding teams should not avoid spending money on players. Sure, the types of players purchased and the optimal structure of player contracts differ significantly when the club is not expected to contend; however, it’s highly misleading for fans to assume that “rebuilding” somehow equals “cheap” […]
Mark Attanasio: The Key To It All
The Brewers are undisputedly a small-market team. In fact, Milwaukee is the smallest American television market, and they currently suffer from one of the worst television contracts in all of baseball. The largest local contracts have obviously gone to the teams in bigger markets—the Yankees, the Dodgers, and the Phillies, for example—but the Brewers’ deal does […]
When Do The Brewers Sign Free Agents?
It’s that time of year again, the Mariners and Rays just finished a six-player transaction where Seattle received Nate Karns, Boog Powell and C.J. Riefenhauser, while Tampa Bay received Brad Miller, Logan Morrison and Danny Farquhar. On Monday, the Twins surprised everyone and won the bid to negotiate with KBO superstar Byung-Ho Park. The latter […]
Revisiting Corey Knebel
Back in August, I took an in-depth look at Corey Knebel’s inconsistent yet promising rookie campaign. Despite some bumps in the road (mostly early on), he’d impressed to that point, backing up his 3.52 ERA with a 26.9 percent strikeout rate and an 8.8 percent walk rate. From there, I assumed the remainder of the […]
Jeremy Jeffress Takes The Step Forward
Relief pitcher Jeremy Jeffress was one of the few bright spots for last season’s Brewers. The 27-year-old established himself in a setup role for Milwaukee and completed his first full season as a major leaguer. In 68 innings, Jeffress struck out 67 batters, walked only 22, and recorded a 2.65 ERA. For Jeffress, who had […]
Pre-Contention Years: Lessons from Previous 90 Loss Brewer Teams Part II
Welcome to Part II of my review of previous 90+ loss Brewer season, in which I examine previous poor seasons for the Milwaukee Brewers in order to see if I can find some lessons for the current management team. Part I covered the franchise’s first three years in Milwaukee after their move from Seattle. After […]
Rolling Out the Barrel: Every Day is a Day Closer to April
Here are some facts: (1) Former Brewers manager Ned Yost once plugged in Laynce Nix — who carried a 69 OPS+ at the time and was making his season debut in August — into the three-hole for Milwaukee in the middle of a pennant race because he was either unaware that batting order is not […]