What We Learned: More discussion on Jonathan Lucroy

Brewers News & Notes

• The countdown to Opening Day is at 74 days. Guess what today's article is about? That's right, it's the 1974 Milwaukee Brewers.
• One focus for Jonathan Lucroy this offseason has been avoiding another concussion. Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports that Lucroy has been working on new exercises that should help minimize risk for future concussions.
• What teams could use a catcher? David Schoenfield of ESPN looks at five teams that could benefit by acquiring Lucroy.
• Meanwhile, Jeff Sullivan at FanGraphs asks if Lucroy can recover from his decline in pitch-framing.
• Even though next season is not looking good for the Brewers, there are still reasons to be optimistic. Nicholas Zettel of Disciples of Uecker lists some of the reasons to be excited in 2016.
• A few more players have been added to the On Deck event. Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel notes that Matt Garza and Jonathan Villar will now be at the event.
• The Brewers have cut spending pretty heavily this offseason. Mike Oz of Big League Stew notes that, at just under $9 million spent, the Brewers are #29 of 30 teams in offseason spending. In total, over $2.9 billion has been spent this offseason on new contracts.

Minor League Update

• Marcus Young of Miller Park Prospects answers a few questions about the minor league in his mailbag. Topics include Chris Carter, players that could impact the Brewers in 2016, and the risks of offseason leagues.
• The Rattler Radio blog has a video from MLB Pipeline on Orlando Arcia.
• Adam McIntosh of Reviewing the Brew has a profile of outfielder Trent Clark.

Around Baseball

• Continuing in the discussion on the National League getting the designated hitter, Matthew Kory of FanGraphs makes an argument about why the DH is needed.
• The Marlins designated LHP Mike Strong for assignment.
• The Mets signed LHP Antonio Bastardo to a two-year, $12 million contract.
• The Padres signed reliever Fernando Rodney to a one-year contract.
• The Red Sox signed reliever Junichi Tazawa to a one-year, $3.375 million contract.
• The Rockies will designate outfielder Kyle Parker for assignement.
• The Tigers designated infielder Jefry Marte for assignment.