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.