It was a supremely rough opening week for the Milwaukee nine, as the Brewers came out flat in their opening series against the Rockies and then were obliterated in the final two games against the Cubs over the weekend. Miller Park had the feel of Wrigley Field North once again — yet another symptom of […]
Tag: Ryan Braun
2017 Brewers Fantasy Preview
The Milwaukee Brewers are not the world’s most interesting team for fantasy baseball purposes. They have two good players and then a lot of interesting young ones, but not a ton in the middle. However, those young players are generally worth monitoring throughout the season, particularly if playing time develops in either the outfield or […]
Optimism Part One: Three Weird Tricks to Get to .500
It’d be a mistake to assume that win totals are linear for a rebuilding baseball club like the Brewers. Prospects fail more often than not, trade value and free agent spending splurges are part timing and part luck, and there’s very much an open question over when a team has actually “bottomed out.” All that […]
A PECOTA-Powered Case Against Trading Ryan Braun
Ryan Braun remains a Milwaukee Brewer, defying the expectations of many. It should surprise nobody, though, that Braun is projected to be the best player on the Brewers by a fairly wide margin. His 2.8 WARP and .288 TAV both dwarf the next best projections on the club, belonging to Orlando Arcia (2.0 WARP) and […]
Making the Case For Trading Ryan Braun
David Stearns made headlines last week by saying that he expects Ryan Braun to be a Brewer going forward. Part of me does not want to read too much into the comment; general managers have incentives to lie to the media to strengthen their bargaining position, and I’m sure that’s at least part of what […]
The Ryan Braun Situation is Complicated
Ryan Braun is currently 32 years old. He will be 33 when the season starts. As you might remember, he was involved in a number of trade rumors during the trade deadline. This offseason, reporters are already asking David Stearns whether or not Braun will be traded. Stearns, as per usual gave a vague answer, […]
The Value of the Brewers’ Long-Term Flexibility
As we all know at this point, the Brewers are rebuilding. Generally, that means the interesting moves are happening in the minor leagues and on the fringes, as the club looks to develop its top minor leaguers and find bargains off the scrap heap. So it is with good reason that the rebuild (and much […]
Ryan Braun’s Worrisome Ground Ball Tendency
As we head into the offseason, perhaps no Brewer has a less certain future than Ryan Braun. Milwaukee’s prodigal son prospered in 2016: The 3.9 WARP that he compiled this year was the highest total since 2012, when he finished second in the NL MVP voting. That exquisite production, together with his fairly team-friendly contract — he’ll […]
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 […]
Brewers Fans Show Their Appreciation Again
The Brewers lost to the Reds on Sunday, but the result of the game between these two cellar-dwelling squads was secondary, as it is with so many September baseball games. No, Sunday’s game was notable because of the assumption around Brewers nation that Ryan Braun may have played his last home contest in a Milwaukee […]