What We Learned: No arbitration cases for the Brewers

Brewers News & Notes

• The countdown to Opening Day is at 76 days. The look back at previous teams continued with the 1976 Brewers. There's also been looks at the 1977, 1978, and 1979 seasons.
• The deadline to exchange figures for arbitration was on Friday. Before the Brewers arbitration-eligible players exchanged their figures, the Brewers agreed to one-year contracts with Wily Peralta, Will Smith, and Jean Segura.
• Following the deals with the arbitration players, Derek updated his payroll projections for 2016.
• Prior to the Brewers agreeing to deals with all of their arbitration-eligible players on Friday, Travis went through what to expect with the arbitration process.
• At least once a year, talk comes up about bringing the designated hitter to the National League. Travis made his case yesterday on why the DH should be instituted in the National League.
• The Brewers have had a few good seasons in franchise history, but also have had many more losing seasons. Kyle began a review of some of the worst seasons in Brewers history with a look back at the 1985 Brewers.
• On Friday, an article came out on ESPN talking about tanking and the broken system. Derek responded to this article with a break down of what it misses and the truth behind what some of these teams are doing.
• While 2016 is not looking good, the future is looking bright for the team. Michael believes that the Brewers could be competitive as early as 2017.
• FanGraphs conducted a poll recently measuring fans feelings towards a team's ownership. Kyle notes that feelings towards the Brewers owners are lukewarm right now.
• The player lineup for Brewers On Deck was announced yesterday. Carrie Muskat of MLB.com has the complete lineup and more details on the event.
• One player who will not be at the event is catcher Jonathan Lucroy. Adam McCalvy talked to Lucroy, who explained his absence and his current thoughts on his situation.
• With the Brewers heading for a losing season, it's looking to be a tough season to be a Brewers fan. Julien Assouline of BP Milwaukee talks about how to find joy as a fan in a losing season.
• Khris Davis ended 2015 with a hot streak after the trade deadline. Nicholas Zettel of Disciples of Uecker asks how Davis was able to put together such a streak.
• Garin Cecchini enters 2016 with a chance to earn the everyday starting job at third base. Justin Schultz of The First Out At Third believes that Cecchini is a low-risk, high-reward move for the team.
• Continuing in his series looking at the Brewers competing as a small market, Jack Moore looks back at the formation of the revenue-sharing system.
• Cait Covers the Bases notes that the Brewers have named Mike Schwartz as the director of food & beverage hospitality.

Minor League Update

• Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com named Orlando Arcia on his All-Defense Team for MLB Pipeline.
• Jorge Lopez got a chance in the majors last year, but will probably start 2016 at Colorado Springs. Seth Victor of BP Milwaukee analyzes what opportunities that Lopez could have in the majors in 2016.
• Dustin Mazurek of Miller Park Prospects looks at the rise of Jimmy Nelson through the Brewers minor-league system and into the starting rotation for the Brewers.
• Adam McIntosh of Reviewing the Brew has a profile of Jorge Lopez.
• The Ratter Radio blog has a video interview of Michael Reed as he took part in the MLB Rookie Development Program.
• Chris Mehring of TimberRattlers.com looks back at a few articles on the Fox Cities Foxes from the August 24, 1966 edition of The Post-Crescent.
• Brevard County announced a few additions to their front office staff.

Around Baseball

• Many players avoided the arbitration process on Friday with last-minute deals before arbitration figures were exchanged. MLB Trade Rumors has a complete list of all the deals made. In addition, they have a list of players who did exchange figures with the team and have major gaps in value.
• Former Brewer Shaun Marcum has officially retired from baseball and taken a job as a coach at Northwestern Oklahoma State University.
• The Orioles signed first baseman Chris Davis to a seven-year, $161 million contract. His deal includes deferred payments through 2037.
• The Royals signed pitcher Ian Kennedy to a five-year, $70 million contract.
• The Reds signed utility player Jordan Pacheco to a minor-league deal.
• The Tigers signed outfielder Justin Upton to a six-year, $132.75 million contract.