2020 60 Game Season Predictions

National League:

East: Washington Nationals

Central: Milwaukee Brewers

West: Los Angeles Dodgers

Wild Card 1: Atlanta Braves

Wild Card 2: Chicago Cubs

Champions: Los Angeles Dodgers

American League:

East: New York Yankees

Central: Minnesota Twins

West: Houston Astros

Wild Card 1: Los Angeles Angels

Wild Card 2: Chicago White Sox

Champions: Los Angeles Angels

World Series Champions: Los Angeles Dodgers

Initial 30 Man Roster Prediction 2.0

Just one week until Opening Day 2020! So close, I am getting so pumped to finally watch the boys of summer on my TV again. Now that we are just one week away, a final 30 man roster prediction.

Catchers (2)

Omar Narvaez

Manny Pina

Infielders (5)

Justin Smoak

Keston Hiura

Orlando Arcia

Eric Sogard

Jedd Gyorko

Outfielders (4)

Christian Yelich

Lorenzo Cain

Avisail Garcia

Ben Gamel

 

Utility (3)

 

Ryan Braun

Brock Holt

Logan Morrison

Starting Pitchers (5)

Brandon Woodruff

Adrian Houser

Josh Lindblom

Freddy Peralta

Brett Anderson

Relief Pitchers (11)

Josh Hader

Corey Knebel

Brent Suter

Bobby Wahl

Alex Claudio

Corbin Burnes

Ray Black

David Phelps 

Devin Williams

JP Feyereisen

Eric Yardley

Initial 30 Man Roster Prediction

Baseball is back baby! Players report in four days to Miller Park for Summer Camp/Midsummer Training, Spring Training 2.0. Whatever you want to call it. Here is my stab at the way the initial 30 man roster is going to shake out.

Catchers (2)

Omar Narvaez

Manny Pina

Infielders (8)

Justin Smoak

Keston Hiura

Luis Urias

Orlando Arcia

Eric Sogard

Jedd Gyorko

Brock Holt

Logan Morrison

Outfielders (4)

Christian Yelich

Lorenzo Cain

Avisail Garcia

Ryan Braun

Starting Pitchers (5)

Brandon Woodruff

Adrian Houser

Josh Lindblom

Freddy Peralta

Brett Anderson

Relief Pitchers (11)

Josh Hader

Corey Knebel

Brent Suter

Bobby Wahl

Alex Claudio

Ray Black

Eric Lauer

David Phelps 

Devin Williams

JP Feyereisen

Eric Yardley

It Really Happened. Yelich Gets Breaded Up

Never thought it was going to happen. No way, Yeli isn't going to sign an extension to stay in Milwaukee because he is too good. The Brewers will have to trade him the year before he hits free agency or half way through that season. Then he will hit free agency to cash in a huge payday ala Harper, Machado, Cole and what Betts figures to get next offseason. But then the Ken Rosenthal tweet came at 3:14pm on Tuesday March 3rd. It will become a "where were you when the news broke of the Yelich extension?"

BREAKING: Yelich, #Brewers close on $200M-plus deal, sources tell The Athletic. Story: https://t.co/wCK3eSMkt8

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) March 3, 2020

I had just gotten back to the office after a meeting with a customer, got myself my customary afternoon cup of coffee sat down at my desk, and boom there it was. I had to do a double take and make sure it had the blue check mark and that I wasn't getting duped by a fake Rosenthal account. It was pure excitement and joy. Christian Yelich is really going to sign a long term extension with the Brewers to stay in Milwaukee for essentially the rest of his career. A nine year contract through 2028 worth $215 mill with a mutual option for 2029 became official on Friday March 6th at a presser with Yelich, Stearns and Attanasio. Get ready to book a vacation in Cooperstown sometime in July roughly between the years 2034-2038 for the induction ceremony.

You know the resume by now, but let's just go through it because it's so awesome. 2018 NL MVP (should have been 2019 as well, was robbed), two NL Batting Titles, two NL All-Star games, three NL OF Silver Sluggers, NL Gold Glove, All-MLB First Team (19'). Career slash line of .301/.383/.492 w/ 139 HR, 124 SB, 137 OPS+, 33.6 WAR. When the Brewers traded for Yeli in January 2018 we all knew we were getting a really good player, with a ton of potential to be even better. And he has tapped into every bit of that potential his first two years in Milwaukee becoming the best player in the NL and pretty much the second best player in all of baseball only behind Mike Trout.

He loves Milwaukee, he has said that in countless interviews and wrote that tremendous piece in the Players Tribune before the 2018 playoff run. He wanted to be here and we now get to enjoy the ride as we watch a future Hall of Famer day in and day for many summers to come. He's a special player and a special person. I have all the faith in David Stearns, the entire front office and Craig Counsell that they will all do whatever they can to put a good team around him every season so that at some point during this contract they bring a World Series Championship to the state of Wisconsin. It is going to be a great nine plus years, so excited to go on this journey.

Freddy Gets Breaded Up

The five year contract extension and two team options that could keep Freddy Peralta a Brewer through the 2026 season seems like a win for both parties. Freddy has now set his family up for life with a guaranteed $15.5 mill and the opportunity to add another $14.5 mill if the two options years are picked up by the Brewers. The Brewers lock up a very talented, young (23 yo) pitcher who's role is not defined yet but has shown great flashes as both a starting pitcher and reliever. And for Freddy, if he strives over the next seven years in either role or a combination he will be a free agent again at age 30 and have a chance to cash in one more time for a payday.

For the Brewers this seemed like an absolute no brainer. To lock up a young player with the potential of Freddy Peralta at this kind of cost there is hardly any risk. If he is only mildly effective or worse he flames out you are only out $15.5 mill, that is not going to sink your ship by any means. If he strives as either a starter or a high leverage reliever they will have a steal of a deal. For Freddy there is no doubt he could end up leaving quite a bit of money on the table if he fully realizes the potential of the flashes he has shown in both roles. But now knowing he is going to make the club in some fashion could be just what he needs to relax and just go out there and shove and be the pitcher we all hope he can be. That security can he huge for some players.

For me, I still think I like Freddy best as a high leverage, relief ace type pitcher. A right handed Josh Hader perhaps if they can use Peralta in the same way they use Hader. His stuff overall has ticked up from 2018 to 2019, but it really seemed he was able to let it go when coming out of the pen in smaller bursts than trying to go deep into games as a starter. But I will gladly say I was wrong if this new slider Freddy is throwing is legit and he can be a reliable starter for the Brewers, we know he can flash that with his big league debut for the Rockies on Mother's Day in 2018 and his gem he tossed against the Reds in April of 2019. But to truly breakout and have consistent success in either role he will have to improve on his current career 4.2/BB9. He gets a lot of swings and misses in the zone, he just has to keep throwing it in the zone and master his command.

Brewing Thoughts 2/25/20

The games are essentially meaningless exhibitions and the final score really doesn't matter and we all soon forget it after we hear it. But there sure is something special those first few times in February/March when you hear Mr. Baseball's voice back on the airwaves. Just is such a good feeling. Hearing the crack of the bat, snap of the glove and on TV yesterday seeing how the new uni's actually look on the players while they're playing the game. Damn it sure is awesome to have baseball back in our lives, isn't it?

Chad Spanberger the guy the Crew got back from Toronto for Chase Anderson hit a dinger yesterday. And I'll be honest, that was the first time I ever saw him. He is a pretty big dude, really put together. Hopefully he can make more contact and really tap into some of that raw power he possess.

I know Counsell said there was a competition for the final rotation spot between Lauer, Peralta and Burnes. But unless he really unravels I don't know how you don't give it to Lauer. He is probably the safest bet of the three. I still like Freddy as a potential elite reliever so I hope they just put him in the pen and let him be. And as much as I love Burnes as a bounce back candidate this year, I think it might be best for him to start down in San Antonio and he is the first call if any injury arises at the big league level. It was pretty cool to hear about his 94mph slider he got a whiff on. Corbin clearly has top notch special stuff, but can he put it in the locations where hitters are not going to crush it for HR after HR again like 2019?

I never followed Brett Anderson on Twitter until about a month ago or so. But from listening to the Starting 9 Podcast when Dallas and Jared would talk about Brett I knew it was pretty good stuff. Well, it really is. He doesn't tweet a lot, but when he does it is usually funny, smart and witty. You should follow up as well, @_BAnderson30_. You will enjoy it.

Brock The Human Swiss Army Knife

Just when I thought the Brewers had too many infielders David Stearns goes out and signs another infielder. A couple of my buddies and I are in a group chat and our running joke this offseason has been the Brewers seeming to acquire every 2B alive which makes no sense since we have Keston Hiura. Granted they were not acquiring guys who only play 2B, they all play multiple positions and Brock Holt the latest 2B the Brewers acquired is no different. But he is a little more special than the others as he has literally played every position on the diamond (more than 10 games) sans Pitcher and Catcher. I love players like this and this is just the type of player that David Stearns and Craig Counsell love. Holt should be a huge asset for Counsell this season especially with the 26 man roster and having that extra position player.

He seems to play all the positions at least average defensivly. With the bat, not much power, but he can hit for average and he does get on base at a pretty good clip. His OPS+ was over 100 each of the last two seasons. Also Holt is a salt of the earth human from every story I have read about him, lot of Red Sox fans have been quite sad to see him go as they were really hoping the Sox would re-sign him. He was very invovled in the Boston community, especially the Jimmy Fund. Brock was also the star of this clip that I think is just the best. Glad to have you in Milwaukee, Brock Star.

Brewing Thoughts 2/16/20

Excited to hear that Freddy Peralta added a slider to his pitch repertoire while pitching in winter ball. We all heard the stories all offseason how dominate he was in winter ball, which while it's not nothing to sneeze at, having a good winter ball and having a good MLB season are two totally different things. But don't get me wrong, I'm at least hopeful that he really did figure something out with this slider and adding it to his fastball that played up out of the pen in addition to a curve that somtimes looked absolutely filthy. Maybe we see a full season of the nasty Peralta we saw occasionally out of the bullpen in the 2018 playoffs and the 2019 regular season. Sure would be helpful to guys like Hader, Knebel and Suter to make our pen one of the best in the league again.

Josh Hader lost his arbitration case to the Brewers so he will *only* earn $4.1 mil in 2020. The $6.4 mil he and his representation filed for which would have been the record for a relief pitcher in his first year, sure seemed like a tall hill to climb. But I can't really blame them, Hader has been pretty much far and away the best RP in MLB for the past two seasons. And honestly he is more than worth the $6.4 mil, but looks like not having many saves in 2017 and 2018 hurt his cause. It certainly isn't "fair" but it's just the way of an old, somewhat broken arbitration system. Due to his Super 2 status he achieved he gets three more years of arb. I am sure the next few years he will earn much more if he continues to pitch like he has and for his sake and the Brewers sake I sure hope he does.

Was fun to see our MVP Christian Yelich show up at NBA All-Star Saturday night in Chicago and lend an assist to Milwaukee Bucks guard Pat Connaughton in the dunk contest. Yelich rocking a old school Kareem Bucks jersey and used as a prop for Pat doing the "White Men Can't Jump" dunk. Let's be honest, anytime our athletes of our teams crossover and show up to support the other teams in the state we are always going to mark out for it. At least I know I will. Just glad Yeli was left unscathed and will be in AZ in just a day or two to report to camp.

So happy for Brent Suter, a former 31st round pick out of Harvard signs a 2 year deal to avoid arbitration (which a hearing was going to be held tomorrow). $2.5 mil guaranteed for The Raptor. Pretty awesome for a guy picked that late, doesn't throw hard at all and had TJ surgery in 2018. He was obviously huge down the stretch last season for the Brewers when he returned and they will need more of that in 2020 to compete. He has become a huge fan favorite with his quirky personalty and how fast he works on the mound. For me, I look forward to watching him pitch as much as I do Hader. He should be huge as a multi inning RP in 2020 and possibly as a spot starter depending on the health of the top five SP going into camp.

Way To Early 26 Man Roster Prediction

Pitchers and catchers report in less than two days. First spring game is in ten days. Here is my first stab at the way the 26 man roster is going to shake out.

Catchers (2)

Omar Narvaez

Manny Pina

Infielders (6)

Justin Smoak

Keston Hiura

Orlando Arcia

Eric Sogard

Jedd Gyorko

Ryon Healy

Outfielders (5)

Christian Yelich

Lorenzo Cain

Avisail Garcia

Ryan Braun

Ben Gamel

Starting Pitchers (5)

Brandon Woodruff

Adrian Houser

Josh Lindblom

Eric Lauer

Brett Anderson

Relief Pitchers (8)

Josh Hader

Brent Suter

Bobby Wahl

Alex Claudio

Ray Black

Freddy Peralta

David Phelps 

Devin Williams

Injured List (2)

Corey Knebel

Luis Urias

Brent Suter, Brewers Vs Cubs 7/28/17

It was a game in late July, but last nights game vs the Cubs at Miller Park felt like a playoff game. As I watched the game with friends at my neighbors house everyone watched it with the intensity of a playoff game, hanging on every pitch. The atmosphere at Miller Park through the TV was electric and felt like a game with it all on the line in October. The Brewers came into the game after a BRUTAL 2-8 East Coast road trip that saw them lose their grip on 1st Place in the NL Central and actually fall 1.5 games behind the Cubs. You have to give it up for Brent Suter. He was outstanding. Easily the best start of his career. 7 shutout innings, 5 K, 1 BB, only game up 4 hits and had a Game Score of 73. Suter showed some serious #want and #rig on the mound in a game the Brewers desperately needed to win and needed a strong start and with the offense only scoring 2 runs, the margin for error was thin. Suter has now started 7 games this season and has been really good in 5 of them. And one of the two he wasn't so good in, was the game he had to start in an emergency vs the Cardinals when Brandon Woodruff hurt his hamstring in pre game warmups. What I'm getting at here is that Brent Suter has earned his right to stay in the Brewers rotation once guys like Garza and Anderson come off the DL. Once those two guys are back healthy it should be a rotation of Nelson/Anderson/Garza/Davies/Suter. Junior Guerra should go to the bullpen (where he could actually be pretty good) once everyone is back healthy.

Brewers @ Nats 7/26/17

Well, that was a tough loss to swallow. Maybe the toughest of the season. I know there have been at least a handful of other games that have been this hard to take, specifically another game that Jimmy Nelson started against the Dodgers and Clayton Kershaw when he out pitched Clayton Kershaw. But we're not talking about that game. We are talking about tonight's game, when Jimmy Nelson dominated again, against a really good lineup and has nothing to show for it. I don't blame Counsell for pulling Nelson after the lead off walk in the bottom of the 8th. Barnes came in and looked okay, got a couple of ground balls but they got through. I do have an issue with pulling Hader after he got Harper to strike out on four pitches. Is Counsell planning to use Hader as a LOOGY now? I guess the right on right match up of Hughes vs Zimmerman makes sense, but it also could be seen as some over managing. Getting to cute. Of course hindsight is always 20/20 and if he leaves Hader in and he blows it we bitch that he should have gone to Hughes or another RHP. I guess to me, Hader has been so electric and looked so dominate in his time with the big league club that its hard to turn away from him in that spot. I'm a Craig Counsell guy, so while I will question the move, it certainly doesn't make me think he's a bad Manager or can't manage a bullpen. I think that's crazy talk personally.

On a positive note it was great to see Lewis Brinson hit his 1st big league HR. Man that was a shot and a thing of beauty. Hopefully that is the first of many. And with Brett Phillips being sent down to AAA to make room for Anthony Swarzak on the active roster it seems that Brinson will be the everyday CF at least for the time being. Needless to say I'm pretty pumped about this as I think he can really help the club now. With this now being his second stint in the big leagues and getting that 1st HR out of the way hopefully he can relax, slow the game down and just play. As impressive as the HR was, I might have been more impressed with the walk he took in his second AB. He spit on two very tough pitches on ball 2 and 3 in that AB and worked a walk. It was really good patience, if he can show that on a regular basis and pitchers and forced to throw him strikes he could be huge down the stretch. See what they can do against Scherzer tomorrow and get ready for the Cubs this weekend and the battle for 1st place.

Swarzak Trade

It looks like the Brewers have made their first of hopefully a few upgrades to their bullpen today. Jon Heyman tweeted that the Brewers and White Sox had an agreement in place for RP Anthony Swarzak. Later Dan Hayes tweeted that the Brewers would be sending the White Sox minor league OF Ryan Cordell to complete the trade. Swarzak figures to slide right into a late inning role setting up for closer Corey Knebel. Big question will be to make room for Swarzak who do the Brewers give the boot to? Torres? Drake? Peralta? Blazek? Hard to say, Blazek is the only one with an option which could determine what Stearns does. I think most fans would like to see Torres or Drake gone.

Hard to not like this trade for the Brewers. They fill a need for another quality RP on the big league club and deal from a organizational position of depth in the OF from the minor leagues. Swarzak is 31 yo and enjoying the best season of his career. 48.1 IP, 2.23 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 2.34 FIP, 52/13 K/BB, 1.8 WAR. That is a pretty impressive line. He will be a free agent after the season. Cordell who came to the Brewers as the PTBNL in the Lucroy trade with the Rangers is a nice OF prospect who was not in the Brewers top 10, but easily a top 20 guy. I liked Cordell and thought he could be a nice 4th OF for the Brewers at some point, but with all the other OF prospects they have it's not a huge loss. And for a quality arm like Swarzak to give this bullpen a boost it certainly seems worth it on paper. One more bullpen arm would be real nice; Neshek, Wilson, Reed or Ramos. We'll stay tuned.

I'm Not Feeling Gray About It

Ken Rosenthal just tweeted that per sources the Brewers were fading in discussions for Oakland Athletics SP Sonny Gray. Needless to say I am not upset about this. Gray is a fine pitcher and would have been a nice little upgrade for this Brewers pitching staff. But in a sellers market for SP, the price was going to be pretty high and I am glad that GM David Stearns stuck to his guns and was not willing to pay what will probably be a high price for Gray similar to what the Cubs paid to the White Sox for Jose Quintana. In my opinion this is not the time to send away a bunch of highly touted prospects you just spent three years accumulating for a pitcher like Gray. Still in first place, stay the course with what you have and got you here. Chase Anderson should be back in a few weeks and you could turn to Brandon Woodruff at some point. I do hope the Brewers look to add a quality RP or two yet before the deadline. *Fingers crossed for Pat Neshek*

The VFBC Brewers 2016 Minor League All-Star Team!

It's been a very exciting year in the Brewers minor league system this year. After last year's prospect refresh, the system is loaded with talent at all levels and has had some pretty amazing performances. Not only has it been a great year for Brewers prospects so far, but some of the best players haven't started playing or have only played very little because they are playing in rookie leagues, have only been on teams for a very short period of time or have been injured for a majority of the year. So here it is!

Catcher: Manny Pina, Colorado Springs Sky Sox
.349/.388/.566, 4 HR, 30 RBI, 22 R
Pina has had an amazing year at Colorado Springs. The 29-year-old catcher is pretty old for the level, his potential in the majors is most likely as a back up, but that doesn't make his contributions any less impressive or important at the AAA level.

First Base: Garrett Cooper, Biloxi Shuckers
.304/.365/.418, 0 HR, 17 XBH, 28 RBI, 13 R
Cooper has split his time among several positions but has spend a good chunk of his games at first for the Shuckers. Another prospect that's a little old for his level, his development was slowed in the past by injuries and 25 isn't THAT old for hitting prospects. The only disappointing thing about Cooper is his lack of power over the fence, but he's still had big contributions for the team overall ranking in the top 5 on the team in RBI and OPS.

Second Base: Blake Allemand, Wisconsin Timber Rattlers
.321/.387/.440, 2 HR, 14 RBI, 17 R
Allemand was drafted last year and has some decent potential as a major league utility player. After a disappointing start to the year at Brevard County (along with basically ever hitter at Brevard County), Allemand was moved to Wisconsin in need for depth and has had great success. I thought about going with Nate Orf here, but Allemand has been significantly more valuable to the T-Rats than Orf has been to the Shuckers or Sky Sox.

Third Base: Garin Cecchini, Colorado Springs Sky Sox
.280/.346/.404, 3 HR, 21 RBI, 24 R
Garin was an offseason acquisition by David Stearns and a former top prospect. The 25-year-old has had a very good year at AAA after a slightly slow start. While having a good year at a park that really helps its hitters, he's also the only organizational third baseman having a good season. I was tempted to put Wisconsin third baseman Jake Gatewood here, he's had a decent season in the power department but has more than his fair share of strikeouts and errors.

Shortstop: Orlando Arcia, Colorado Springs Sky Sox
.298/.335/.408, 4 HR, 25 RBI, 34 R, 9 SB
There is a lot to like in the organization at shortstop, but there's no doubt Arcia is the best one. Even with Angel Ortega having a great year at Brevard County, he doesn't have nearly the OPS Arcia has. The organization's top prospect has been having a very good season and if Jonathan Villar wasn't playing out of his mind right now, would be breaking down the door to get onto the Brewers' roster.

Outfielders:
Brett Phillips, Biloxi Shuckers
.253/.338/.461, 7 HR, 30 RBI, 31 R
A lot of outfielders have been having decent seasons but even after a stint on the DL, Phillips leads most of the offensive categories on a very good Biloxi team. Phillips has even kept up with the power boost he saw last year that helped propel him into top 100 prospect status -- although he was helped by a three homer game. He continues to be very exciting and a huge grab in the Carlos Gomez/Mike Fiers trade.

Keon Broxton, Colorado Springs Sky Sox
.269/.365/.521, 7 HR, 18 RBI, 21 R, 16 SB
Broxton was acquired in the offseason from the Pirates and has bounced between AAA and the bigs. While his performance at the major league level has been very disappointing, Broxton has absolutely destroyed AAA pitching. Even though he has half the games of most the other players eligible, he's had insane levels of success that make it very hard to deny putting him here.

Elvis Rubio, Brevard County Manatees
.282/.327/.408, 3 HR, 11 RBI, 8 R
Rubio has had a pretty solid year between two levels this year. In fact, he's one of the few players finding offensive success in Brevard County. It also helps that there is a really big drop off in performance in the OF after Rubio. He's one of a growing number of intriguing international prospects in the Brewers' farm system.

Starting Pitchers:
Josh Hader, Colorado Springs Sky Sox
2-1, 0.95 ERA, 57 IP, 73 K, 19 BB
If you've been paying attention this year, you know Hader has had huge success at Biloxi. The only complain is that he isn't going that long into some of his starts due to control issues. Either way, he's on the leader board for minor league baseball, not AA, minor league baseball in a lot of key pitching categories. Hader is probably the Brewers' minor league player of the first half.

Marcos Diplan, Wisconsin Timber Rattlers
5-1, 1.89 ERA, 47.2 IP, 64 K, 24 BB
Marcos was acquired in the Yovani Gallardo trade, had an ok year in rookie ball last year, and is now having a fantastic season at A-ball. The most impressive is Diplan's strikeout rate, higher than it's ever been in his career. Another important detail, Diplan is only 19.

Jon Perrin, Brevard County Manatees
1-5, 2.66 ERA, 71 IP, 77 K, 7 BB
Perrin has had some struggles with the Manatees, but has still had a good year, especially once you combine his stats with the first part of his year at Wisconsin. Perrin has been a nice surprise and has some big league potential for the future. He was a 27th round draft pick last year and is moving very quickly through the minors.

Jordan Yamamoto, Wisconsin Timber Rattlers
3-2, 2.25 ERA, 52 IP, 53 K, 10 BB
Yamamoto has been a very pleasant surprise for the year. He's struggled up until this point in his pro career but is starting to put it all together. Not only has he been able to limit runs, he's been striking players out and limiting walks.

Drake Owenby, Wisconsin Timber Rattlers
2-1, 2.91 ERA, 43.1 IP, 38 K, 12 BB
Another Wisconsin pitcher and 2015 draft pick, Owenby has been having a good amount of success. Being a college pitcher and getting to pitch against high schoolers help but it's still been a good year for Owenby.

Stats come via Baseball Reference. If you have any players you think should be on the list, let us know on Twitter or in the comments!
-Brad

The Brewers Top 10 Prospects: After the First Two Rounds of the Draft

 ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

View From Bernie’s Chalet Brewers’ Draft Twitter Poll Tourney

The finals are here! It's been chalk up to this point, but now we have the two best prep pitchers in the draft class going head-to-head.

Jason Groome: A hard throwing lefty with a group of plus pitches and control Groome is regularly ranked as the best prospect in the class and by all accounts, should be available when the Brewers pick on Thursday.

Riley Pint: The top prospect heading into the year, Pint has fallen off a bit due to concerns about his mechanics. He struggles to consistently throw strikes, but who cares when you're throwing 102 MPH and already have 3 average or better pitches before you've graduated high school?

Vote below and let's see if the prospect the Brewer make on Thursday is the pick the fans want!

The finals are here! View From Bernie’s Chalet Brewers’ Draft Twitter Poll Tourney.

— Brad (@BrewCrewBlue) June 7, 2016

View From Bernie’s Chalet Brewers’ Draft Twitter Poll Tourney

The View From Bernie's Chalet Brewers' Draft Twitter Poll Tourney is moving into round two! All of the favorites won, with the closest race being between Kyle Lewis and Mickey Moniak, but none of the winners had less than 70% of the vote.

Round two sees Jason Groome against Kyle Lewis and Riley Pint against Delvin Perez. Groome is regularly ranked as this draft's best prospect. A high school left-handed pitcher with huge potential, he has ace written all over him if he can put his skills together. I've seen complaints that his control is lacking for the value some teams are placing on him. Kyle Lewis is a potential major league center fielder ranked as having five average or better tools. Many scouts rank his power ability fairly high and say he has a chance to hit for a pretty high average to go with it, along with decent speed on the bases.

On the other side of the bracket, we see two of the draft's most exciting prospects. Riley Pint is a high school right-handed pitcher who reportedly hit 102 mph with his fastball early in the year. Pint's pitches are already regarded as plus or better, and he shows an advanced changeup for his age, however scouts worry about his aggressive throwing motion. They believe it will make it very hard for the talented prep-star to ever consistently throw strikes. Then there's Delvin Perez, one of the prospects most frequently linked to the Brewers in mock drafts. Perez is one of the youngest players in the draft and has a gigantic ceiling to go with no negotiating leverage, which could pay huge dividends when the Brewers are trying to draft high-stock players in the 2nd and 3rd rounds. A slick fielding shortstop out of Puerto Rico, Perez has the chance to develop a well-above average hit tool and even a little bit of pop. It's pretty fun to imagine partnering him at maxed potential alongside current top prospect Orlando Arcia.

So here's the bracket. The voting will be open for two days, and the Twitter polls can be found below. Let's see if the Brewers fanbase can get this pick right!

View From Bernie’s Chalet Brewers’ Draft Twitter Poll Tourney: Round 2

— Brad (@BrewCrewBlue) June 5, 2016

View From Bernie’s Chalet Brewers’ Draft Twitter Poll Tourney: Round 2 #Fight

— Brad (@BrewCrewBlue) June 5, 2016

Don't Trade Braun, Ever (One Homer's Thoughts)

 After Brad wrote that piece a few weeks ago on how the Brewers should trade Braun now and Lucroy later, I felt inclined to share my thoughts on why I don't want the Brewers to ever trade Ryan Braun. Now I'm not saying I don't think it won't happen. It's a possibility. But as a die hard Brewers fan and die hard fan of Ryan Braun, deep down inside I don't ever want to see him wearing another teams uniform.

I am fully aware that it might be best for the club to trade Braun. And if a trade is made and the Brewers get a really good prospect haul in return and don't have to pay any of Ryan's salary for the duration of his contract then I would be fine with it. But selfishly I want Ryan Braun to be a Brewer for his entire career. I think it would be awesome to see him follow suit with guys like Yount, Ripken, Gwynn, Brett and Jones and spend his whole career in one teams uniform. It certainly is a rare sight in today's game of baseball. And we probably won't see too many more going forward.

The biggest reasons I personally don't want to see him traded are simple. First, I'm obviously a huge fan of Braun and he has brought me so much joy over the past 10 years and so many memorable moments that I would like that to continue. The second reason I'd like the Brewers to keep Braun ties into the first. I think he can be a big contributor still on the next Brewers teams that compete and go to the postseason. I know, I know. Braun has had some injury issues/concerns over the past four seasons. The thumb, the back, the wrist, etc. While he misses games here and there, he has still only been on the DL once in his career (2013). If he stays healthy and they manage his games played as they have done so far in 2016, he has a chance to still be very productive.

He is 32 now and will be 37 when his contract expires (including the option year in 2021). Why can't he still be a very productive bat in the last three years of that deal (19'-21') when the Brewers figure to be a contender again? David Ortiz is still productive at 40 years old. Only way he isn't in my opinion is if it's a health issue. And that really can't be predicted one way or the other. I also bet they have him move to 1B sometime in 2018 or 2019 if not sooner to make room for another young talented OF and to put him in a better position to stay healthy. And "IF" he is healthy, why wouldn't he still play and more specifically hit at a high level?

In the meantime I am sure we will continue to read tweets and articles from reporters giving us the latest Braun trade rumors. And when reading those rumors, remember he only has a handful of clubs that he can be traded to without having to agree to said trade. And players usually put those clauses in contracts for a reason. They want to stay where they are at. 

View From Bernie’s Chalet Brewers’ Draft Twitter Poll Tourney

It’s the first ever View From Bernie’s Chalet Brewers’ Draft Twitter Poll Tourney! Ok, maybe the name needs a little work.

Below is a bracket and four Twitter polls. Vote in each contest to determine the prospect you want the Brewers to draft next Thursday. It’s for fun and to determine which prospect the fans want most. Hell, maybe we’ll get it right and the fans can brag about their success and then be disappointed in 5 years when the prospect is bussing tables at a bar!

Twitter poll tourney! Which prospect would you rather draft?

— Brad (@BrewCrewBlue) June 3, 2016

Twitter poll tourney! Which prospect would you rather draft? Bracket 2

— Brad (@BrewCrewBlue) June 3, 2016

Bracket 3!

— Brad (@BrewCrewBlue) June 3, 2016

Bracket 4

— Brad (@BrewCrewBlue) June 3, 2016

Trade Braun Now, Lucroy Later

We all know that Jonathan Lucroy likely won’t be a Brewer for much longer, and now the most successful -- and controversial -- Brewer in a long time is entering the rumor mill in Ryan Braun.

Braun is having his most successful season since the 2012 redemption season. Through 33 games he’s slashing an astounding .376/.439/.600, numbers that could justify any team taking on the remaining $90 million or so of his contract.

There has been some debate about whether or not Braun and Lucroy should be traded in the same year. This got me thinking, if they only traded only one of those players this year, would it be more beneficial to trade Braun or Lucroy? I think the answer needs to be Braun and here’s why:

1. He’s Injury Prone

Ok, Braun hasn’t missed a huge percentage of the season since 2013 when he was suspended and injured, he will be on the field if he can be. There is one thing to note about his injuries over the last few years though, they cause a significant drop in his production. Through nagging muscle spasms and thumb injuries he went from a career OPS of .943 to .825. His number are already likely unsustainable throughout the year even if he’s returned to pre-2013 form and is only getting older and more susceptible each passing minute.

2. He May Never Hold More Value Again

According to his performance from 2013-2015, Braun’s current performance is a stroke of luck. He’s carrying a fairly large price tag -- although small by most other modern MLB contracts -- and a negative perception due to his PED suspension and everything that came with it. The thing is, if he’s performing anywhere close to what he is now by the trading deadline, no one’s going to care. Any team that can get an MVP at his current cost will take all of those bad things, but if we see that production drop off he will go back to being nearly untradeable unless we see another astronomical spike.

On the other hand, Lucroy will only lose some value barring injury. Aside from last year and other freak incidents, Luc doesn’t come with those nagging injury concerns and has been a very consistent performer over the last few years. As long as he continues that straight line projection, he will still hold significant value in the offseason even if teams aren’t getting that extra half-year. You absolutely will lose value but Luc’s value isn’t nearly as volatile as Braun’s is and if I’m wagering a huge amount of prospects on who is most likely to maintain their stock, Luc is the safer bet.

3. If He Goes I Want to Just Rip the Bandaid Off

I am far from a Braun apologist. He made it hard for me to put blind faith and true fandom into athletes. It was a valuable lesson most adults should learn, players can hurt you but the logo and team will always -- in most cases -- be there. However, something inside of me still cheers hard for Braun. He is a huge part of some of the most significant Brewer moments of my life time. I’ll never forget his huge home runs in 2007, 2008 and 2011. He is a part of my number one most cherished Brewers memory, CC Sabathia’s complete game victory over the Cubs. I don’t want to spend every season wondering if he’s gone or not, so rip off the bandaid and send him packing. I can watch Lucroy go, I’ve been campaigning for it longer than most fans and as much as I’ve liked him he is more Cecil Cooper than Robin Yount in terms of my personal feelings.

How do you feel about it? Do you want both Braun and Lucroy to be traded this season? Do you want one to be traded or the other? Or do you want them both to hang around? Weigh in on my Twitter poll.

By the trading deadline, I hope the Brewers...

— Brew Crew Blue (@BrewCrewBlue) May 13, 2016

 -Brad